Stripping Callum (Last Hangman MC Book 6)

by Muriel Garcia

  I want a fresh start with Bella and Elijah, and finding a new house—a home—is something I want to consider. I want it to be a surprise for the two of them, but until I can get back to doing my daily stuff on my own, that won’t be happening.

  Elijah is such a great little helper. He’s been handing me whichever tool I need, learning the different ones as I point and tell him the name and their purpose. I laid them all out so he didn’t have to look through my toolbox and possibly hurt himself on anything. This is the kind of stuff that I missed having with my own father and Billy. I’m glad I get to have these moments with Elijah. It’s a bit later in my life than I had wished for, but I guess that’s what was written for me.

  Elijah and I both lost track of time working on the bike. We must have been at it for hours as I spot Bella, who’s back from work, standing in the doorway to the garage.

  “Mommy!” Elijah runs to her and jumps into her open arms.

  “Hey, baby.” She kisses his cheeks and holds him to her. She looks at me with a content look on her face.

  “Hey, Mommy.” I chuckle and get up, walking to her.

  “Hey, Daddy.” She kisses me as I wrap my arms around them.

  “I helped Daddy with his bike!” Elijah exclaims.

  “Did you?”

  “Yes! It was fun!”

  “How did it go?” she asks me.

  “He was better than the guys at work,” I scoff.

  “I’ll be working with Daddy when I get older,” Elijah says, making my heart skip a beat.

  “I could totally replace Aleck or Bennett with you.” I chuckle and wipe my hands on an old cloth. “You can go take a shower and relax while I cook dinner.”

  “I stopped by the Mexican place and got us food.” She kisses my shoulder and walks into the house letting Elijah back down.

  “You’re the best.” I turn off the light in the garage and lock the door. Following her into the kitchen I check her ass openly. I’m a lucky man.

  “Enjoying the view?” She smirks at me.

  “Very much so.” I kiss the crook of her neck and help Elijah wash his hands before washing mine.

  I had a hard life growing up, but having all this good in my life is making up for all the bad of my past.

  Annabella

  Coming home to Elijah and Callum working together on the bike was a sight to see, and my heart along with my panties melted. It was heartwarming and panty-melting at the same time. The things he does to me without even knowing it.

  We enjoyed dinner together and watched a movie with Elijah. He’s been bugging us to watch ‘The Secret Life of Pets’ since it first came out, so we gave in and watched it together. Although I knew they watched SpongeBob together, I thought Callum was just watching it to make Elijah happy or to shut him up. Once he starts talking, there’s no stopping him. Anyway, Callum really does enjoy cartoons. He laughed his head off as we were watching it, and it was good to see another side to my Callum. The carefree side of him.

  This is the life I didn’t know I wanted. My man, my son, watching a movie at night and enjoying some family time. This is heaven for me. Yes, Callum is a biker and has done some illegal shit and killed people. I’m well aware of that, but the good trumps the bad. He’s a caring and loving man when it comes to the ones he loves. That’s all that matters to me. Callum may not be the guy my parents’ would have picked for me, but I know they would have approved of him in the end knowing he treats Elijah and me the right way.

  Suzie and Josie became my substitute mothers, and they both love Callum. Even though Josie is biased as she knew him already. Suzie adores Callum, and they have her husband’s military history in common. Callum was in the Marines with him, and I’ve been surprised, finding them having coffee and talking about the past together. It’s good for them. I know Callum misses that period of his life at times because it made him feel like he was doing something right. He still does something right with his life, but in a different kind of way.

  Life has been good to us since he came out of the hospital, and even though we haven’t had the chance to have a lot of sexy time at night, as Ayden likes to say, it’s still good just sharing his bed and cuddling. I thought he’d be on me every night, but with Elijah being a few doors down, he doesn’t want to risk him walking in on us. We play catch up when Elijah is in school and I’m not working at the coffee shop. I quit stripping, and I’m working on getting my high school degree. It’s not that it really matters in the grand scheme of things. Callum has said many times that I didn’t have to work, but I want to have it. For myself and to give Elijah a good example. I’ve picked up a few shifts at Viv’s bar when they need an extra set of hands. Callum is always up to watch Elijah on his own. I wish I could set up a camera somewhere to see what they really get up to. I bet that’d be a sight to see.

  This is the happiest I’ve been in my life, and it’s all thanks to Callum and my new family. I couldn’t have overcome the trials and tribulations I’ve been through without them.

  Billy, no! I hear shouts and whimpers, and in the back of my mind, I think I’m still dreaming. I hear a strangled cry coming from next to me, and I wake up with a start. I look at Callum who’s shaking in bed, crying the loss of his son all over again.

  I don’t want Elijah to be awakened again in the middle of the night so I wrap myself around Callum’s big frame and squeeze him gently. This is the only thing that seems to be calming him down.

  This is the third nightmare I’ve witnessed, and I’ve learned that besides holding him tightly, there’s nothing else I can do. The comfort and warmth of another body is what brings him down. I thought it would just be Elijah at first because the first two times it was him who calmed Callum down, but it works for me too.

  Slowly, he stops shaking and crying in his sleep and comes around.

  Stroking his cheek, I go to move away from him, but he holds me tightly against him and rolls us over so that he’s lying on top of me.

  “I’m here,” I whisper.

  “I know. I’m sorry I keep doing this to you.” He sighs, sounding defeated.

  “It’s alright, baby. I know you’re not doing this on purpose or can control them. Did you use to have them this frequently before?”

  “Not really. I had them once every other month or maybe I don’t remember them. I only remember the times where I would wake up drenched in sweat.” He sounds so annoyed with himself about having them.

  “The shit storm that happened with Shane and what he said didn’t help. That’s probably why you have them more often.”

  “Probably. It’s always the same nightmare. Exactly how it happened, but there’s a different element to them. Last time was Shane and my father standing in the background, smirking at me.”

  “What was it this time?”

  “It was Alina setting the car on fire.” He sits up and rubs his face.

  “You know that’s just your mind playing tricks on you.” I rub his back and give him a bottle of water that was on my nightstand.

  “I don’t know.” He sighs and downs most of it.

  “You don’t seriously think that she could have done that?” I ask dumbfounded.

  “Honestly? Nothing surprises me anymore. After knowing that she was paid to seduce me and fucked my father and Shane, I don’t know. Shane did say that she wanted them to leave us alone. That she wanted out of the entire masquerade. Maybe she knew they were coming closer and were going to hurt us or them and decided to take hers and Billy’s lives.” I’m speechless for a minute. He looks at me to see my reaction.

  “I’m trying to come up with something that would actually disprove your theory, but I can’t. It could be possible. But why kill yourself and your kid in such a horrible way?” I shudder just thinking about it. Callum wraps his arms around me and holds me close.

  “Because she wanted to make it seem like an accident? I don’t know. It’s all a theory, but it’s a possibility. I don’t even know if she ever loved me or just want
ed a sugar daddy. To get protection from the bad guy and save her from the life she was living.”

  “Don’t think that way, maybe in the beginning that’s what it was, but she could really have fallen in love with you.”

  “I doubt it more and more.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, the whole thing seems a bit farfetched. That she would just fall in love with me and do all she could to get away from the life she was living before and separate herself from the scam she was hired to perform.”

  “You’re very easy to fall in love with.”

  “Am I now?” He looks at me, intrigued, and kisses me softly.

  “Yes, the moment I realized I was fucked and in love with you was the way you reacted to Elijah hugging you for the first time. I knew you were it for me.”

  “Yet, you left me later that night.”

  “You pushed me away and made that stupid ass comment about the fact that it was such a bad thing for me to be a stripper when I was a young mom.” I glare at him.

  “Why the hell did I bring that up?” He chuckles hiding his face in my neck.

  “Lucky for you, I forgave you. I didn’t forget that moment when I saw you with the hoover.” I shudder.

  “Gabe told you?”

  “Yeah.” I chuckle. “You’re all such assholes for giving her a nickname like that.” I shake my head.

  “She’s proud of that nickname, Bella.”

  “What?” I raise my eyebrow at him.

  “Yeah, she was rather proud when she was given that nickname.” He shrugs.

  “I don’t even want to know who gave it to her.”

  “Not me, if you want to know. We lost that guy. He was one of the good ones.” He sighs.

  “To club business?”

  “No, lung cancer.”

  “Oh.”

  “We’re not indestructible.”

  “Sadly.” I blow out a breath and brush my fingers under the scar along his side.

  “Hey,” he says lifting my chin so that I look at him, “I’m always careful on club business. Yes, we’re always risking our lives. We would put our lives on the line for our brothers, you ladies, and the kids, but in the eventuality that one of us dies, you wouldn’t be left alone. You’d be well taken care of.”

  “I don’t even want to think about it.” I frown.

  “I know, it’s just something you need to be aware of.”

  “I’m well aware of it. The girls have kept me up to date on all the rules of being ‘an old lady’.” I snort at that. That term still sounds so weird to me.

  “That’s good. I’m glad you get along so well with them. Did they tell you about the safe house?”

  “Yeah, and they gave me the address. I have a bag with the necessities for Elijah and me in case we must go there quickly.”

  “So, you did listen to them.” He smiles.

  “Well, I figured I’d rather be prepared then feel like I’m losing it in case we have to go. I’m not thrilled about the prospect of having to go there and the possibility that something bad could happen to all of us. I know it has happened in the past. They’ve told me their stories, and I get why it’s a must for our protection.”

  “You’re amazing, you know that?” He kisses me deeply.

  “So you keep saying.” I smile and kiss him again. He rolls me on my back and while most times we’ve had sex it has been passionate, rough, and sometimes just a quick fuck, this is the most passionate things have ever been between us. I don’t know if it’s because of the realness of the situation and our talk, the fact that he acknowledged what’s happened at the warehouse he was held at, or just because we’ve reached that level of intimacy, but this is pure bliss. I’ve finally stripped Callum of his tough exterior, and I couldn’t be any happier.

  Callum

  Last night was a turning point for Bella and me. I finally addressed what was on my mind about the whole thing with Shane and what was said. It wasn’t easy, and I was debating talking about it. Last night was the perfect time to do it. At least now it’s out of the way, and we can move on from it.

  There’s one thing bugging me, though. There are a few similarities between Alina and Bella. I’m probably stupid for thinking about them, but my brain can’t stop going back and forth between them and what Shane said.

  “You alright, brother?” Bennett asks me as we’re sitting by the sheds at the compound. Last night’s nightmare and talk with Bella still on my mind.

  “I’m getting there.”

  “What’s going through your head?” He sits next to me, handing me a cup of coffee. I take a long sip and run my finger along the rim.

  “Just thinking about what happened.”

  “Details?” He chuckles.

  “What Shane told me in that warehouse is still playing on my mind.”

  “That’s understandable, but I’m sure it’s not all of it. You look completely confused. Did you have a fight with Anna about it?”

  “No, she’s been so understanding. I can scream Alina’s name in the middle of the night, and she doesn’t seem affected by it. If it were the other way around, I’d be fucking pissed.”

  “That’s because she’s smart and you’re being stupid. She knows you’re not dreaming about fucking her.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Oh, come on.”

  “I know. Can I be honest with you?”

  “Of course, what’s up?” he asks, sounding worried.

  “You have to promise not to tell anyone,” I insist.

  “I promise, go on.” He chuckles.

  “I’m serious, Bennett. This isn’t just random gossip. This is important, and I don’t know what to think anymore.”

  “Ha! And you were the one making fun of all of us for having feelings and not knowing what to think. Oh, how have the tables turned.”

  “I know, fuck off.”

  “Go on then, what’s wrong?”

  “What Shane told me about Alina has made me think that she was looking for a sugar daddy, someone to provide her with money and whatever she needed for protection against her past. And I’ve been thinking that maybe Bella was the same with the lack of concern she has about my nightmares and what’s been go-” I don’t have time to finish my sentence when a fist connects with my jaw. My cup of coffee is sent flying through the air, and I fall backward on the grass.

  “You listen to me. I won’t allow you to think that way of Anna. She fucking loves you, which I still don’t get why because you’re fucking stupid. She is the last woman who would want a sugar daddy. Hell, she even fought you when you told her it was wrong of her to be stripping. She wants to provide for herself and her kid, and you’re thinking that because she moved in with you and doesn’t seem affected by the fact that you have nightmares about your dead wife and kid that she is just with you for protection? You’re fucked up if you’re serious about any of that. She is the one who walked into that warehouse and held that man who was torturing you at gunpoint. She wasn’t afraid to stand up to him and to end him without hesitation. She’s the one who stood by you when you were in the hospital. She’s the one who made sure you were recovering well. If she was just in it for the money or whatever, she would have hired a nurse to come take care of you so she didn’t have to lift a finger and she would have done it with your money. Instead she was there for you, taking care of you, still working and taking care of her kid! So don’t fucking tell me that you believe the bullshit that just came out of your mouth,” Bennett says, shutting me up. I don’t have anything to say to that. I’m ashamed of myself for what I just thought of Bella, my Bella. “Cat’s got your tongue?”

  “You’re right, I’m fucked up.” I rub the spot where he just punched me.

  “Yes, you are. Man, that fucking felt good to punch you.” He chuckles.

  “I can tell.” I blow out a breath.

  “Your words are safe with me. I won’t tell her anything even though I could as a payback for never telling me I had a brother and that h
e had Nancy.”

  “I knew this was going to come out one day.” I look at him. “I’m sorry.” I mean it. I’m really sorry for all the fucked up shit he’s gone through mentally after finding out the truth.

  “I know you are. I just had to use it. I haven’t until now.” He shrugs and sits by me on the grass.

  “How are you coping with it?”

  “I’m still wondering what would have happened had I not killed him, or if he hadn’t been taken back then. Then I realize that it’s pointless because then I never would have met Nancy. Who knows what could have happened then since her parents’ didn’t care about her and were in trouble with that MC, too. I tortured myself with it for months, but it’s pointless. If I ever slip, Nancy is there to bring me right out of it.”

  “How is she doing?”

  “She’s good as ever. Our women are a lot stronger than us.” He snorts and we laugh. He’s got that right. They really are and it’s frightening in a way that we are the ones supposed to protect them, yet they are the ones making sure we don’t get killed.

  “I’m glad she finally is good.”

  “She was before I could cope with all of it. Thank you for taking care of her over the years. Even though you didn’t get her out and don’t start, I know she didn’t want you risking your life, I’m grateful for the moments you two had together. It made it better for her.” He smiles at me.

  “I do wish I went against her will to let her do her thing and got her out sooner.”

  “She’s good at making us do whatever she wants.” We both laugh because it’s so true. All our women are like that. Hell, I’m a sucker for all of them. They could ask me the stupidest thing ever and I’d do it. “I won’t tell Anna. Don’t worry.”

  “Thanks, brother.”

  “If you ever mention such a thing, I’ll put a bullet through your head,” he says in a serious tone, and I know he fucking means it. I’d do it too if it were him.

  “I was doubting myself, not her. I know you wouldn’t hesitate.”

  “I would because that’d mean breaking her heart and Elijah’s, but you can’t keep thinking the worst out of everybody.”