Their Saint: Hell’s Rebel’s MC Part II

by Akeroyd, Serena

  When the douche stepped away, I saw the card Wolfe was flipping between his fingers. Flame, spying it, grabbed it, and then began flickering with the lighter that was pretty much glued to him.

  “Don’t set it alight,” Wolfe growled.

  “Not gonna,” Flame denied. “What’s he want?”

  “Guess,” Wolfe rumbled, his eyes on the officers who were heading into their cars.

  Over thirty vehicles, sixty cops, all with doors wide open, and lights flashing like this was something from a goddamn movie.

  I shook my head at the sight. “Ain’t they got other clubs to go irritate? Not like we’re heavy into the drugs anymore.”

  Wolfe shrugged. “If that cunt gave them an in, they’re going to go where the shit stinks. Like true pigs,” he hollered as the cars took off in a wave of dust that had us all choking on it.

  When they were finally cleared, Dagger muttered, “Gonna go and check for bugs.”

  Wolfe nodded. “Sweep in church first, then the surrounding areas. Let everyone know we got a proposition to deal with.”

  “Sure.”

  As he strode off, nodding at a few of the guys to help him work, I grabbed my cell and shot out a text to the church-going brothers.

  “Done,” I told Wolfe, who was staring after the cop cars in the distance. The lay of our land was such that we were on high ground, so we could see all the way down to the turn off for the highway.

  “Glad to know the hidden partition is still good enough,” the Prez muttered.

  I grimaced. “Yeah. Last thing we need to explain is The Pit.”

  A grunt escaped him. “It’s clean, but yeah, explaining that shit would require an Oscar-worthy performance too. Ain’t none of us that good at lying.” He paused, then gritted out, “Speaking of which.” When he strode over to Jinx who’d run over to Bubbles the second he’d been freed, I wasn’t surprised when he picked him up by his cut and demanded, “Is that baby yours? Or is she fobbing it off on you too?”

  Ama, still on her knees next to Bubbles, cried, “Daddy! Not now. There’s a time and a place!”

  Lucie grunted. “Sadly, darlin’, she’s right.” But she didn’t look happy about it, and considering I’d seen her fucking cry in church? Hell, no, I could understand why she wasn’t.

  Wolfe didn’t stand down, though, just glowered at Jinx who shrugged. “Says it’s mine.”

  “She’s said it’s mine and Saint’s too,” he growled.

  “Mine as well,” Dax hollered.

  “Me, too,” Hound muttered.

  “Fuck me, that’s five daddies. Jesus, kid’s gonna have more than you, Ama, if this shit carries on,” Lucie grumbled, and I couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped me at that.

  Jinx turned bright red. “It’s mine.”

  “How the fuck you know that?”

  He wriggled his shoulders. “Did it on purpose.”

  Wolfe’s eyes bugged out for a second. “You trapped her?”

  Another shrug. “Mebbe.”

  “Fuck me,” Wolfe ground out. “Okay, I’ll deal with your ass later. But you can’t leave until after church. We got shit to discuss.”

  “But—”

  “But nothing,” Wolfe snarled. “Jesus, what now?” he snapped, when more sirens appeared. As he twisted around, he grunted at the sight of an ambulance speeding up this way.

  “I’ll go with her, sweetheart,” Lucie said softly, tugging on his hand.

  “No. Need you here for church.”

  Lucie tipped her head to the side. “Something important?”

  He cupped her chin and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Very important.”

  Curiosity sparkled in her eyes, but she shrugged and to Ama, asked, “You want to go with her, baby girl?”

  Ama shrugged. “Can do.”

  Now that she was on her feet, I curved my arm around her shoulders and hauled her into me. “You did good today, babe.”

  She snorted. “I didn’t do anything.”

  “No? You didn’t get panicked or anything?”

  That had her pulling back to look up at me. “Why would it? I wasn’t scared.”

  I shook my head. “You astound me, babe.” And she did. Now I looked at her and cast a glance around the other women, I saw that she and Lucie were pretty much the only ones who weren’t red-eyed and sniffling as they cuddled up to the men. Such bravery deserved a reward so I dropped a kiss to her lips—that was all for her benefit. Not mine. No sirree. “Love you.”

  Seeing the confusion in her eyes, I was grateful that we didn’t have time for this conversation to carry on. I didn’t want her to know I was concerned for her, not outside of the normal amount anyway. It might undermine her and that would suck monkey balls.

  “Love you, too,” she replied earnestly, then her nose crinkled. “Will one of you pick me up from the Urgent Care clinic?”

  I looked around for Keys, surprised that he and Saint weren’t over here like bees around honey now we were free. “Keys can go with you. We have church, but you know prospects ain’t allowed to attend.”

  “Yeah, I know. Thought you might need him out here on the gates, though.”

  “It’s all in hand.” Or it would be. No way was she leaving the compound on her own.

  I hugged her tightly, feeling something inside me settle when she hugged me back. Flame’s words hit me then, hit me square in the fucking heart, and I was helpless to those feelings she inspired in me. I’d spent a long ass time hiding from any softer feelings, mostly because this girl, this crazy ass little girl, had broken me.

  Yeah, I knew that sounded messed up, but it was the truth.

  I’d seen shit overseas I could reason away. It was another world, another time, another place. But Ama? She’d been at home. In her bed. And she’d been taken. Denigrated. Tormented.

  In a way, I’d feared for the world I lived in that could do that to someone so innocent. So vulnerable. Bringing a woman into this life wasn’t something I could handle, not when my mind was fucked over what I’d seen.

  Then, by the time I’d gotten over it, she was sixteen and sneaking into my room to use me as an overgrown teddy bear.

  No wonder I was messed up where she was concerned. She’d had me in knots for far too long for me to even think about being able to unravel them.

  In her ear, I whispered, “Need you, baby.”

  “I need you, too. But I’m okay, Ink. I promise.” She pulled back so she could look in my eyes, and I saw that she was. That any insecurities and vulnerabilities were on me.

  She was weak at night.

  That was when she needed me to be strong.

  But here? Now? Her demons were asleep, and she was more than capable of taking on what our world had to throw at her.

  “I’ll take that promise because I know you don’t break them.”

  Her lips twitched. “Never.”

  As the EMTs jumped down from the ambulance, I tapped her on the nose and said, “Behave.”

  Her wink set me alight. “Never.”

  ❖

  Saint

  I rubbed Keys’ shoulder, unsure of what to do or say to make any of this shit better, so I just sat there. Sat there and watched as my brothers pulled together, trying to get back to some semblance of normalcy.

  When the ambulance arrived, I murmured, “Ama’s going to the hospital with Bubbles. You going to protect her?”

  He dug the heels of his palms into his eyes as he nodded. “Yeah. Don’t want her alone with that lying cunt.”

  “Doubt she’s capable of lying at the minute,” I mumbled. Still, it was surreal seeing the woman I knew cared for me—or as much as she was capable of caring for any man—crumpled on the ground like a newspaper someone had tossed out.

  I didn’t feel much, but I hoped she was okay. She might be a shitty human being, but fuck, we were all capable of change, weren’t we?

  Maybe having a kid would make her a decent person… I doubted it, but hell, she couldn’t be much
worse than the conniving, lying, vindictive piece of shit she was now, so, the only way was up, right?

  Keys got to his feet and loped over to Ama’s side without another word, and I followed too. Giving Ama a kiss when Ink had let her up for air, and telling her to, “Be good.”

  “You both said that. What mischief do you think I can get up to in a clinic?” she mumbled, making me tap her ass as she wandered over to Keys’ side.

  When the EMTs argued with Keys over both him and Ama sitting in the back, Keys just stood his ground, letting Wolfe explain shit for him.

  The EMTs weren’t happy, but they were smiling when Wolfe passed them some Ben Franklins. Within five minutes, Bubbles, Ama, and Keys were on their way, and I knew we had church.

  I’d be glad when Keys wasn’t a prospect, just so I didn’t have to keep shit from him. I knew, living the way we were, was going to make that even harder than it would normally be.

  Keeping Ama in the dark was one thing, but Keys as well? It just smacked of shit when I knew he was a brother to everyone here, and that it was only a matter of time before he was patched in.

  With the ambulance in the distance now, I turned away from the gates to Hell, and stared up at the clubhouse. I knew what it was going to be like inside. I’d been around for another raid a few years back. They tore everything apart. Wrecked all the pillows, knifed the mattresses and sofa cushions in the hunt for whatever shit they were looking for.

  Considering we’d started buying shit last week to replace the other raid?

  We were out of pocket and with way too much stuffing every-fucking-where.

  “You okay?”

  I cut Ink a look. “Been better. You?”

  “I behaved.”

  That meant he hadn’t been beaten. I pointed to my eye. “Might have a bruise in the morning. Got slapped for being too slow in hugging the floor.”

  “Dicks,” Ink grunted. “Ama’s okay.”

  “I saw.” I rubbed my chin. “You think she wouldn’t be?”

  He winced. “Maybe.”

  Slapping him on the back, I told him, “She’s stronger than you think.”

  “I know. I’m learning.” He blew out a breath. “Let’s get this shit on the road. Fucking asshats will have made another goddamn mess.”

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  Ink went to rejoin the council, while I left to go and help with the cleanup, knowing I’d get a text when it was time for church.

  As I waded through the mess the cops had made—like destroying perfectly good leather sofas just for shits and giggles when they had to know we wouldn’t be dumb enough to hide our gear there—I realized how fucking lucky Keys was to be in the hospital with Ama. I’d have taken guard duty again over this crap.

  When, forty minutes later, we got the text, we dropped everything—our overflowing black bags—and headed down to the basement.

  With its concrete floors and unpainted walls, there was no decoration in here except for the Rebels’ logo on the wall behind the council table. The skeleton smoking a cigarette had been spray-painted there a long while ago by a brother who was currently serving life in Rikers, but it summed up what this room was—business only.

  With over two hundred chairs in here, all of them filled, it was crowded, but I could still see the council table, which sat catty-corner to the room. Wheels, Ink, Wolfe, Lucie, Axe, Flame, and Dagger were all there, most of them with serious expressions lining their faces. Well, except for Flame—his, as usual, was just blank.

  Wolfe wasn’t at his usual position at the head of the table. Instead, he’d pressed his ass to the side of the table, had his legs crossed at the ankles, and his arms folded over his chest.

  When everyone had taken a seat, he stated, “Church has begun.” Then, he sighed and said, “Thanks to the last raid, shit’s been kept tight. We’ve had several emergency churches and were due to call a general church in the upcoming days, but things have been expedited.” Another sigh. “You might have seen Kenzie being hauled off by the cops.”

  “What did they arrest her for?” someone hollered from the back.

  Wolfe raised a hand. “Let me speak and then I’ll take questions.”

  I already knew the answer, had heard it from Keys himself.

  “She betrayed us, brothers.”

  The surge of outrage that soared from my brothers was overwhelming and understandable. I lifted my boot, pressed it to my seat, and leaned my chin on my knee as the cacophony of outrage poured from the men.

  We took this shit seriously.

  The last time we’d had a rat, it had been back when Lucie had first arrived. That was a long ass time, but not long enough to suit us.

  “Enough!” Wolfe roared. “I get it. I do. I’m fucking pissed over it as well. But she’s gone now, and you’re under orders to detain her and return her to the compound if you see her, you got me?” The sudden silence was a declaration in itself.

  If Kenzie was stupid enough not to get the fuck out of Texas, she was a dead woman walking.

  “She’s the reason for the raids on the clubhouse. And, prior to her return, on that very day, a shipment of ours was taken into custody because the Knights’ run was intercepted—she was to blame for that. She’s got a lot to answer for, but we have bigger problems to deal with. You all saw John Wayne out there.”

  “The guy with the spurs?” Hurt called out, making everyone snicker.

  “Yeah, well, king dick was on at me the second he could. He knows about our factory and he wants a piece.”

  The hush was instant.

  “Fuck,” I mumbled under my breath.

  “Now, his terms aren’t unfair. Surprisingly,” he muttered. “He’s willing to pay market value for them, but he wants a cut of sales to other buyers. Again, not a bad rate. Five percent.” He scrubbed his hand over his jaw. “He says that we won’t get raided, something he can apparently guarantee which we all know is BS, but he said if we don’t cooperate, we can get used to weekly raids.”

  The grumbles that stirred were heartfelt. No one wanted to be picking shit up every week like we were doing today.

  “Okay, thoughts. I’m throwing this to all of you because it’s for everyone to decide. This ain’t just on me, ya hear?”

  “Sounds like entrapment to me,” Bear grumbled. “I mean, fuck, it’s too good to be true. Why ain’t he asking for more than five percent?”

  “Because we’d tell him where to shove it?” BB hollered back. “He’s got us over a barrel, but we could always disband if he pushed us too far.”

  “Disbanding? The fuck?” Red growled. “Why you talking about disbanding?”

  And the argument carried on for a good five minutes. I watched the council, saw each of them were blank-faced as they let the brothers wear themselves out, but Lucie? She was the one who looked the most pissed.

  I wasn’t surprised when she wolf-whistled loud enough to draw everyone’s attention.

  “Shut the fuck up,” she snarled, slamming to her feet, her hands on the table as she leaned over it to glower at everyone. “Arguing like fools isn’t going to get us anywhere, assholes. We need to think about this with our big brains, not our little ones.”

  Though most grumbled, as could be expected where she was concerned, everyone kept their mouth shut and their heads low.

  “His terms aren’t that bad. What concerns me is that he could be setting us up. We need to figure out a way to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  I raised a hand. When she saw me, she cocked a brow and motioned for me to stand.

  “We need to blackmail him back.”

  Lucie tilted her head to the side. “I’m listening.”

  “See his ring? He’s married.” I smirked. “See how he was eying up the sweetbutts when they were herded into the outhouse?”

  Wolfe grinned. “I like me some honey traps.”

  Lucie folded her arms over her chest. “Take pictures, use them… What if he doesn’t like his wife? What if he’s r
eady for a divorce?”

  “Did you see what he wore on his wrist? Next to his watch?”

  “Enlighten me,” Lucie retorted.

  “He had a friendship bracelet. You know, one of those bracelets made out of cotton thread? Unless he’s pals on the regular with little kids, I’d imagine he has a daughter.” I shrugged. “Whether he likes the wife or not, usually, they don’t want to break up a marriage if they have kids.”

  She drummed her nails against her forearm. “Okay, we need to set a few guys on his tail. See what his situation is. Then we can approach this a little more fairly.” Her nod of approval had me grinning a little as I took a seat again.

  My suggestion wasn’t rocket science, but hell, if it worked and helped us out? It was all for the good.

  ❖

  Ama

  When I yawned, my whole body vibrated because, Jesus, I was tired. With all my men out somewhere, I stared at the bed with discomfort.

  In the short while I’d been sleeping with them, I’d grown used to sleeping in a bed and I didn’t like the alternative. But without them here, it didn’t matter how exhausted I was, sleep wasn’t going to visit me if I felt vulnerable.

  With a grunt, I grabbed a pillow and dropped to my knees. Lifting the bed skirt that went around the base, I sighed with relief when I saw it wasn’t a baseboard and shimmied underneath. It said a lot about how secure I’d been feeling that I hadn’t checked that out earlier—the thought alone took me aback as I settled under the bed, horizontally, so that one side of me was protected by the wall.

  Placing the pillow at my back, I dug out the two possessions I carried with me at all times, the small pistol my dad had given me, and my cell. Settling them within my line of sight, I curled onto my side, rested my hands under my head, and allowed myself to rest.

  It wasn’t the same without the three of them here. I was slowly getting used to their furnace-like warmth, even in this heat, and I liked the fact I was safely tucked between them. They’d never let anything happen to me. I was literally in bed with my saviors…