by Jade Kuzma
“Sheriff Sutton,” I said. “What brings you here?”
The old man in charge of the Ivory police force looked like he’d been doing it for decades. Hair gray and almost gone. Skin wrinkled like it was melting off of his face. The bastard was old enough to make Murph look younger.
I knew I didn’t have much to worry about from him though. Sutton knew how things worked in Ivory with all of the clubs around. I never had much love for pigs but I could respect what he was trying to do.
Sutton put his thumbs into his belt as he looked at me.
“Rock,” he said. “I heard you got out. It’s been a long time.”
“Four years,” I sighed. “Yeah, I’d say that’s pretty long. You didn’t come here to check on me, did you? No outstanding warrants for my arrest…”
“If that was the case, I would’ve had someone do it for me. No, I just came here to check on a rumor.”
“A rumor?” Sebastian said.
“Word on the street is the Devils are riding again. After what happened to the last few patches, I thought I’d heard the end of it.”
“As long as there’s one of us, we’re not going anywhere,” I said.
“I can see that.”
He shifted his eyes and examined the broken-down bar.
“I have a lot of memories in Hades,” he said. “Some good. Some bad.”
He eyeballed Sebastian and took a step toward him.
“I know what it was like back then,” he said. “I’ve been dealing with clubs since before you were born. Don’t do anything reckless.”
“Wouldn’t think of it,” Sebastian said with a sarcastic smirk.
“Hey, Rock!” Murph’s voice suddenly filled the room.
We all turned and watched the old Devil shuffle his way into the bar.
“Help me with this over here—”
He cut himself off when he saw Sheriff Sutton standing there. Murph stood up straight and nodded to the sheriff.
“How you doing, Sutton?” he said.
“Why am I not surprised you’re the one behind all this?” Sutton said.
They looked at one another like they’d known each other for years. They didn’t exchange any more words though. Sutton just turned to Sebastian and me.
“Congrats on the new clubhouse,” he said as he walked out.
“Hey, Sutton,” Seabass called out.
The sheriff stopped in his tracks and turned his head.
“When we’re open, why don’t you stop by and have a beer?”
Sutton looked down at the ground. He didn’t say anything though. He just turned back around and left.
“Rock!” Murph shouted out. “You gonna help me with this or not? Why don’t you put those fucking muscles to use and carry these boxes out?”’
“Calm down, old man,” I said. “I’ll be there.”
Murph kept muttering as he headed to the back.
“Sutton knows what kind of trouble the Devils caused back then,” I said. “He’ll probably have a close eye on us.”
“We’ve had eyes on us our entire lives,” Seabass replied. “That never stopped us from doing what we gotta do.”
Sebastian put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. He’d been with me through everything. I didn’t need any reassurance to know that he’d still be with me.
“How’s Mia doing?” he said.
“Mia’s doing just fine. She’s taking a little break. That baby is just draining everything out of her.”
“It’s probably for the best. Wouldn’t want them dealing with all this fuckin’ dust.”
“Speaking of dust, I should probably check on Murph.”
Sebastian nodded and put his head down as he went back to work.
I headed to the back of the bar to clear out the rest of the room. There was a mountain of work ahead of me but I knew that I would get through it.
Hades was back.
Epilogue 2
MIA
Roman always described Murphy as a bitter old man. He never said it as an insult. ‘Men just get more bitter when they get older’ is what he would say to me.
I never saw Murphy that way. He was old, sure. But he was never in a down mood. If anything, he was more level-headed than most of the older folks I’d been around. You had to know what you were doing if you wore a checkered-suit like the one he had on now.
Roman said that Murphy had a fortune stashed away somewhere, so the old man had even more reason to be more satisfied in his retirement.
Today was different though.
Murphy had a smile on his face that was more noticeable than I’d ever seen it. He hunched over as he straightened a small, framed photo on the wall.
“Does that look straight to you?” he asked.
I turned my head slightly and nodded.
“That looks pretty straight.”
“I don’t want it to be pretty straight. I want it to be straight.”
“It’s perfect,” I said with a giggle.
Murphy took a step back. His hands on his hips, he let out a sigh in admiration of his work. He stared at the photo proudly.
I looked at the old black and white photo. There were five men in the photo. Each one of them looked as tough and intimidating as the next.
“Is that the picture?” I asked.
“What picture?”
“The one with you in it. Roman told me about it.”
“Can’t you tell?”
I didn’t know how old the photo was, but Murphy was barely recognizable in it. I figured it was taken a long time ago.
“I can kind of see it,” I said as I squinted, trying and failing to hold back a grin.
“You laugh now but back in my day, I had it going on. There wasn’t a woman in town who could resist a Devil.”
“I believe you. Those men in the photo look like they got a lot of attention from women.”
“From women and everybody else. The West Devils were the club in Ivory back then…”
I examined the rest of the photo. Each one of them looked like the proud Devil they were. It was easy to believe what Murphy said about them.
“Whatever happened to them?” I asked.
His eyes locked on the photo, Murphy let out a deep sigh through his nose.
“Time happened,” he said. “It was a long time ago, Mia. You can’t expect to be riding around on a bike when you’re my age.”
“I hope they’re doing well…”
Murphy turned to me and nodded. The smile on his lips gave me a bit of relief I didn’t realize I was looking for.
“They’ve all found their peace,” he said to me. “There comes a time when every man has to get off the road. Let the next generation represent the patch just like Roman and Sebastian. And from the looks of things, we’ve got our next patch right here.”
Murphy looked at the baby I held in my arms. I looked down at my son and smiled at the sleeping child.
“It hasn’t even been that long and you’re already sizing Owen up for a patch,” I said.
“Roman is his father. You’re a strong woman. It’s in the boy’s blood to raise a little hell. Isn’t that right, you little Devil?”
Murph held his index finger out and tickled Owen on the chin. I shook my head and moved him away.
“Don’t tempt him,” I said.
“It’s not about tempting him. He doesn’t choose the patch. The patch chooses who can represent it. Just like Roman was chosen.”
“Speaking of him, do you know where he is?”
I looked around the bar. It was the middle of the day. It wasn’t very busy, so the atmosphere was peaceful. I would’ve thought twice about bringing my baby to a place like Hades but it had only just opened.
“I think he’s just outside,” he said. “Here. Why don’t you let me have a little fun with the baby?”
Murphy held his hands out, eager to take my child into his embrace.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” I said as I raised a
n eyebrow.
Murphy frowned at me like I’d insulted him.
“I’ve been around more children than you realize,” he said. “Back in my day, there were plenty of babies running around. If I told you about the kids the old members had… I got all my practice with Ira. You should’ve seen her. She was such a fragile little girl. Cutest thing you’ve ever seen.”
“Okay. If you say you know what you’re doing…”
“You can trust me.”
Murphy reached out and took Owen from my arms. The old man rocked him back and forth and made funny faces even though the child was sleeping. I giggled at the sight before stepping out of the bar. As soon as I got into the parking lot, I saw Sebastian and Roman working on one of their bikes.
“I’m telling you, this panhead’s not like this,” Roman muttered. “Are you sure you took it for a ride every now and then?”
“You know I did,” Sebastian replied. “The thing has been acting up since before you got locked up.”
“I know this thing better than you do. It never acted up like this before.”
“First of all, you don’t know that thing better than me—”
“It’s my ride. I know how it acts.”
“Second of all, I got my own ride. You can’t expect me to take your bike out when I’ve got my own.”
“Well, you should’ve taken my bike out more often. Maybe you’d get more pussy.”
Sebastian turned to me and raised an eyebrow.
“It’s not like you’ll have to worry about trying to get more pussy anyway,” Sebastian said. “I don’t know what you’re complaining about.”
“Why don’t you just go back in the club and start cleaning up?” Roman sighed.
“Fine by me.”
Sebastian walked by me and laughed.
“Maybe you can talk some sense into him,” Sebastian said.
“What’s the problem?” I said.
“Tell him to get a new bike. If he’s gonna rep the Devils, he can’t be riding around on that thing.”
“I don’t know. I kinda like it.”
Sebastian rolled his eyes at me and headed back into the clubhouse.
“You two were meant for each other,” he sighed.
I giggled at him then turned my attention to Roman.
He had his shirt off as he basked underneath the winter sun. His skin was covered in sweat, making the ink and grease all over him glisten. He clenched his jaw while he continued to work on his bike’s engine.
“How are you doing?” I asked. “Is everything all right?”
“Just perfect. This thing is gonna take all day to fix.”
“Why don’t you take a break?”
Roman straightened up and sighed. He gave me a smile like he was relieved that he didn’t have to deal with his bike for the moment.
He cleaned his hands off with a towel then greeted me with a kiss.
“Where’s Owen?” he asked.
“He’s in the clubhouse. Murphy is taking care of him.”
“You left him with Murph?” he exclaimed. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea…”
“He said that he has a lot of experience with kids. It looked like he knew what he was doing.”
“I guess when you’re that old, you’re experienced with everything.”
Roman stood by my side as we looked out onto the street.
Old Town was in a part of Ivory that wasn’t very busy. Most of the surrounding buildings were empty and abandoned. There wasn’t much traffic. The only cars I saw were in the parking lot of the club.
“You’re really doing this,” I said. “You’re really going through with opening this bar.”
“Hades Pub was an institution back then. It won’t be long until the word gets out and everybody knows. Business will be booming in no time.”
He looked at me and raised an eyebrow.
“Why? Worried I’m not making enough money for you?”
“You know I don’t care about money,” I said.
He smiled softly at me, his pearly white teeth shining underneath the sun. His brow dripped with sweat. There was some scruff on his chin from not shaving. He was so handsome that it made me forget what I was thinking about when I looked at him.
“The Devils need a clubhouse,” he said. “I won’t be alone in this. Seabass has got my back. And Murph is there, too, watching over us.”
“A motorcycle club with two members.”
“We’ve got a president. We’ve got a VP.”
“Well… I don’t care if you’re president or vice president or anything else. As far as I’m concerned, one Devil is enough for me.”
I reached up and wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders. A deep kiss reminded me of just how fortunate I was to be with a man like him.
“This is nice,” I whispered. “You’re with me. Owen is safe. The club looks like it’ll be successful. My father has given us his backing.”
“What about school?”
I decided to take a semester off so that I could take care of Owen. I didn’t forget about it though.
I pulled away from Roman and looked out into the distance. I thought about what he just said and couldn’t help but smile.
“My father wanted me to go to school,” I said. “My mother wanted me to go to school. I only have one semester left. I’ll get back there eventually. When the time is right.”
“I’m proud of you either way. You know that.”
“I know.”
He put a hand on my shoulder. I reached up and put my hand on top of his. The two of us enjoyed the weather and the view. Ivory was a desert town, so the winters weren’t as cold as they were in the city. I could’ve stayed out here with Roman forever.
“It looks like we’ve got everything worked out,” Roman said. “I’ll be working here at the club. You’re busy watching over Owen.”
“There’s something else.”
“Is there?”
“Yes…”
I bit my lip as I hesitated.
How do I say this?
“I was talking to my father the other day,” I said. “He’s happy for me. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to keep me happy.”
“He’s already proven that.”
“With Owen here and you still around, you’ve proven that you’re willing to do anything to make me happy, too.”
He took my hands in his and kissed them softly.
“What is it?” he asked.
“My father wants confirmation that you’ll always be there with me.”
“Confirmation?”
“Yes… He said he wants to make it… official.”
“Official. You mean like…”
The blue-eyed stare of his made my heart skip a beat. I kept trying to fight off my grin but it was no use. Roman smiled back at me.
“Oh,” he said with a nod. “That.”
“Yes,” I said, laughing softly. “That.”
“I don’t have a problem with that. I—”
“There’s no need to rush into it. Some women are quick to have a ring thrown onto their finger. I barely just turned 22. You’re not even 30 yet. If we have the rest of our lives together, why hurry? Let’s just enjoy… us.”
He leaned forward and kissed me again. The taste of his tongue reminded me of just how lucky I was to have a man like him in my life. I didn’t want anybody else. I didn’t need anybody else. Roman was everything I could ask for and more.
“Mia! Mia!”
A sudden voice called out to me and interrupted our kiss. Murphy rushed out of the clubhouse, my child squealing softly.
“I think he wants his mother back,” Murphy said as he placed my child back into my arms.”
“I thought you said you knew what you’re doing,” Roman said.
“I do know what I’m doing. And right now, I know he wants his mother.”
“Mia’s gonna be around the clubhouse a lot. Same for Owen. You sure know how to handle kids?”
/> “I handled you just fine, didn’t I?”
Roman rolled his eyes at the old man. I held back a giggle as I rocked my baby softly to quiet him.
“There, there,” I whispered. “It’s all right. Go back to sleep…”
“Who are you talking to?” Roman said. “Owen or Murph?”
Murphy put his hand up and brushed Roman off.
“You know, if you’re not too busy, you could come back inside,” Murphy said. “The customers are eager to meet a Devil. That’s how you make money.”
Murphy disappeared back into the clubhouse. I didn’t pay much attention to him, my focus solely on the child in my arms.
“He’s right,” Roman said. “Gotta introduce myself to everybody. Let ‘em know that the New Devils are in town.”
“Wait,” I said.
“What is it?”
“Just… Stay a little bit longer out here with me. Please?”
Roman smiled at me and nodded.
“Anything for you.”
I took a seat at the side of the clubhouse. With my child in my arms and Roman right beside me, I looked out into the empty streets of Old Town.
Ivory was so far away from the place I called home. Compared to the big city, it was so small and empty. But it was peaceful and quiet. The calmness that surrounded me did the same inside my heart.
I never imagined that I would find what I was looking for when I came here. I thought I would be stuck in the life that my father had planned for me.
But in Roman, I found my freedom. A freedom that allowed me to follow my heart. The biker who was paid to protect me had become so much more. He and my son had become my new purpose in life.
I didn’t know what to think of Ivory before I came here. Now, it was home.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for reading ROCK! It’s the first title in the New Devils Series. Stay tuned for more!
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