by Sophia Gray
“It’s going to scar,” she had whispered to herself while looking in the mirror.
“It’ll be small. No one will see. Besides, you’re too hot for a little scar to hurt you.” I had kissed her neck, basking in the smell of her body wash. I had tried to get in the shower with her, to alleviate some of the physical stress of knowing she was naked in there, but Madison woke up and needed help with picking out her clothes.
It amazed me how easily I slipped into their lives. Madison wasn’t afraid of me. When I walked out of the bathroom without my shirt on, she pointed to my tats and asked who drew on me. When I laughed and told her I asked someone to do it, she asked me if my mom had gotten mad at me. Because she drew on her arm once with a black marker and Beth had put her in time out for it.
I let Beth strap in Madison, while I took a look at the street again, looking for anyone who look like they belonged. Beth lived in a small subdivision that was made up mostly of small ranch houses. A family neighborhood. Kids were already out playing in the front yards with their moms or sitters sitting on the porches. I didn’t see anything that got my hackles up, so I slid into the driver’s seat just as she was buckling herself up.
“We’ll need plastic for the window in case it rains,” she pointed out, dropping her phone into her purse. She looked worn out. Worried.
I gripped her hand in mine and gave it a little squeeze. “I’ll take care of it this morning.”
She nodded.
“Rafe, can we have pizza for dinner again tonight?” Madison called to me from the backseat.
“That’s your mama’s call.” I handed that over to Beth. She did the mom thing a hell of a lot better. I would only spoil the girl if it was left up to me. Having grown up with so little, it would be easy for me to smother her with anything she wanted. As though that could make up for what I lacked.
“No pizza.” Beth slid her sunglasses on. “I have a frozen lasagna that Mrs. Olsen made us that we haven’t eaten yet. How about that?”
I caught Madison’s scrunched up pout in the rear view mirror and I turned my head so she wouldn’t see me smiling. “Yuck.”
“Madison, Mrs. Olsen made it special for us. And you love her cooking.”
“Actually, do you think Mrs. Olsen could watch her tonight? Tristan’s viewing is tonight, and I want you with me.”
“Why?” She handed Madison a small toy and turned back to face me.
“Because you’re my girl and it’s best if the club sees you with me,” I responded while making a right turn.
“Best for who?” she demanded. I didn’t like the tone, but with Maddie watching us I was a little limited in the things I could say in return.
“Best for us both. Some of the other members from other clubs will stop by to pay their respects, this way they’ll see you by my side and know you’re protected.”
“Or they’ll see me as a way to get to you since you insist on digging into Jason’s death.” Her phone beeped from her purse and she dug it out.
“We aren’t having that conversation again,” I warned her. “Unless you’d like me to pull over and we can step outside.” I took a look at Maddie through the rearview mirror and saw her infatuated with twisting and pulling some stick thing that made music when she manipulated it.
“Stop threatening to…you know. That’s never happening again.” She crossed her arms over her chest and looked out the window. The breeze from the open space blew through her hair. She closed her eyes, seeming to enjoy the wind on her face.
“You look every bit like Madison when you pout.” I laughed. She didn’t turn to look at me, instead she turned even more away from me, giving me her back. I laughed even louder. “Look, I told you this will all be done once I get to the bottom of Jason’s death. Then it will all settle down and we can just focus on us. The three of us.” I rested my hand on her thigh, feeling the warmth of her skin through her scrub bottoms and wanting to move my hand even further to reach the real warmth of her body.
“The three of us?” She finally twisted back to look at me. I could see the hesitation in her eyes and it bothered me. Sure, things were going fast, but when it was right it was right. I wouldn’t bail like her ex; she would have to learn to trust me on that.
“Yeah. I told you, I don’t walk away from what’s mine.” I pulled the car into the hospital parking lot and parked. “You sure Madison is okay at that daycare?”
“Yes. They have security and you have to swipe your card to even get through the doors. She’s fine there. “
“What time do you get off?”
“Four.”
“I’ll be here. The wake starts at three but I’ll wait until you get off and change before we go. Call that Mrs. Olsen. If she can’t take Madison, I’ll call Jason’s wife. She probably won’t be at the viewing; she won’t go near club shit anymore.”
“But she’ll babysit my kid?” Beth opened the door and started to get out. “I don’t even know her.”
“She’ll babysit because I’ll ask her to. She may hate the club, and me, a little, but she loves kids. Besides, it may be the best way to get her out of her house. She’s been hiding since the funeral.”
“Let’s hope Mrs. Olsen can watch her, then, because I’m not leaving her with some woman who hates your club and only hates you a little less than that.” She yanked open the back door and unbuckled Madison.
As they stood up, I was already out of the car. I pulled Beth in for a long, soft kiss. Fuck, just the taste of her made me want to bend her over the hood, rip down her bottoms and fuck her senseless right there in the parking lot.
“What about me, Rafe?” Madison put her hands out to me and I laughed, taking her from Beth and hugging her tight.
“I wouldn’t forget about you, baby girl.” I put a big kiss on her cheek and put her back on the ground. “Now you be good today, no making trouble at daycare.”
“Please. I’m an angel.” She rolled her eyes and grabbed onto Beth’s hand. “Come on, Mama. I don’t wanna miss breakfast.”
“You just had breakfast.”
“But it’s time for second breakfast.” Madison tugged on her hand a little harder.
“Okay, okay.” She flashed me a grin before she let Madison drags her through the parking lot and into the hospital.
I waited until they were inside the building before I got back into the car. I didn’t want to leave them, I wanted them locked down somewhere. I couldn’t lock them at the clubhouse, because I didn’t trust Gray and I couldn’t lock them down at my house unless I was there with them all day, and I had to get to Javier. I had to find out what he knew.
***
The trip to Javier’s side of town took less time on my bike than in Beth’s car. When I pulled up to his run down house a few blocks from the highway, three guys sat on the front porch smoking a joint. The reefer filled the air and I swiped the smoke away from me as I stepped up to the stairs.
“Javier home?” I asked the fat one perched on the top step.
“Depends. Who’s calling?” He wiped the sweat off his top lip.
“Tell him it’s Rafe. He’ll know.” I adjusted my kutte and propped one foot up on the stairs, watching the other two pass their joint back and forth. The railing creaked from the fat guy’s weight when he pulled himself up, and his scrawny counterparts laughed.
The minutes while he was in the house ticked by painfully slow. Between the two pot heads and the hot ass sun beating down on me, I was getting irritated.
“He says go in.” The fat guy shuffled back out, huffing for air and held the screen door open for me.
Keeping an eye on Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, I moved up the stairs. “Thanks.” I nodded to the perspiring fat guy, and stepped into the house.
It was dark. And the stench of rotting food hit me hard. I started breathing through my mouth and made my way to the back of the house where the only light seemed to be coming from.
“Rafe,” a raspy voice called out to me, followed by a dee
p coughing session. I found him sitting in the back bedroom. A blanket covered him up to his chest. His usually dark brown skin looked gray and clammy. His lips were wrinkled and dry.
“Javier? What the fuck?” I stood at the doorway looking at him. The man who used to tower over his crew with bulk and confidence now looked like a strong wind would blow him into dust particles.
“That’s what I said.” He pulled the blanket back to expose the white bandages across his chest. The bandages were saturated in blood and greenish discharge, and the smell nearly knocked me back.
“What happened and why the fuck aren’t you in the hospital?”
“I was knifed.” He moved and grimaced with pain. “I went out to my garage two nights ago. Some asshole jumped me and stuck me three times. My boys brought me to the hospital, but they wanted to call the cops. I got warrants, man, I couldn’t go down that road. I got out of there fast. My boys patched me up best they could.”
Crazy mother fucker. “You’d rather die than deal with the cops?”
“Man, if I go inside again, I will die. If it’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen here in this fucking house.” He tried to slap his hand down on the mattress but his body wasn’t as strong as his spirit.
“What about the guy in the garage, any of your guys out there see him?”
“Nah, they were all passed out in the Living room. And it was fucking dark, I didn’t see shit.”
I stepped closer to the bed. “My girl’s a nurse. I’ll call her over.” I pulled out my phone but he shook his head at me.
“No, no more hospitals.”
“I’ll see if she can come here.”
“No. Just leave it.” Stubborn asshole.
“At least let me shoot her a fucking picture of the wounds so she can tell me what to do.”
“Why the fuck you care? Last time I saw you, you were looking at me like you wanted me dead.”
“I have questions and I’d prefer it if you were alive to answer them.”
He studied me for a long minute. “Fine.” He peeled off one of the pieces of gauze to reveal an open wound, jagged edges, dark red blood dried around it and a light greenish discharge mixed it. The smell was worse than I thought it would be. I had to hold my breath to take the picture.
I shot the text off to Beth and stepped back from him.
“So. What are these questions?” He rested his head back against the headboard and took a deep breath.
“You been in contact with Jason recently?”
“Jason? Nah, not since last I saw your scraggly ass.” He gave a half grin. I was nearly double his size in weight and height. “I heard he got shot.”
“Yeah. You heard right.”
He closed his eyes for a minute, looking like he was waiting out a passing pain, then opened one eye and looked at me. “Sorry to hear, man. Jason was a standup guy. No business sense at all, too many morals, but good guy.”
My phone buzzed and I opened the message from Beth.
Bad infection. Probably needs IV antibiotics. Clean the wounds best you can. If he won’t go to the hospital, not much you can do.
“My girl says you need an IV medicine.”
“Whatever. What other questions?” He waved his limp hand in the air.
I let out a long breath. Stupid man. “Hold on.” I walked back out into the hallway and called Beth’s phone. She picked up on the second ring.
“I’m not coming over there,” she answered with a snarky ass tone.
“I wasn’t going to ask you to, and you can watch your attitude,” I snapped. Between the impending wake of yet another member murdered, one of the guys I hate most laying half dead in the next room, and trying to figure out how to keep it all moving in direction, my patience was starting to wear pretty thin.
“Sorry.” Her muttered apology soothed me just enough to smile.
“If I send someone to get that IV shit, can you get it? Maybe walk me through giving it?” I looked back over at Javier. If he didn’t do something, he’d be dead sooner than I’d like. Besides having some answers I needed, keeping him in charge of his little gang would be the safer bet. If he died, the next in command was his brother. And his brother was nastier than Javier. Javier kept their drugs contained to certain areas of the town, did longer runs for the cartel but managed his local business tight. His brother wouldn’t be so good about that. He was about expansion. He didn’t give a shit who he sold to. But telling him that would only piss him off and insult his brother, and I had enough fights on my hands at the moment.
“No, you can’t just do it from being talked through, you have to get it in the right…did you send someone already?” The wind blew into the phone, making it harder to hear her.
“No. Why?”
“Nothing. He’s gone. He might have been one of yours, I didn’t see his patch. He’s inside now.”
“Did he look at you?”
She laughed. “Would looking at me warrant a beat down?”
I sighed. “No, I just wanted to know if they saw you, looked at you longer than needed.”
“No, didn’t even turn my way, just walked into the professional building next door.”
“I’m sending JC over to pick you up. I need you to help me, babe.”
There was a long pause on the phone. I could hear a car honk, and some people walking past her. “Fine. I just started my lunch. I have one hour, Rafe. One hour! If you make me late getting back…”
“JC’s on his way. You can get what you need, or do you need his help?”
“I think it would be easier for a nurse to swipe some antibiotics and antiseptic than a guy walking in with spiky hair and a motorcycle jacket.” That attitude, lower in intensity, but still thriving on her lips.
“He’ll be there in a few minutes. Don’t give him any trouble, you got me?”
“Yeah, I got you.” She clicked off the call and I shook my head. Bratty as hell, but I still wanted to kiss the hell out of her.
When I got back to the room, Javier was sound asleep. Deciding to let him rest until Beth arrived, I made myself comfortable on the wooden chair next to his bed. His brother wasn’t around, which made things easier for me, but also made me wonder what he was up to.
I heard voices out front and went to see what the ruckus was. Beth stood on the steps with her arms full of supplies and JC glaring at Javier’s men. “Hey, come in.” I opened the screen door and waved down the guys. “She’s going to help him.” I pointed at my girl, who gave me a narrowed glare that distinctly said fuck you as she passed me.
“She give you any trouble?” I asked JC as he entered the house.
He grinned and shook his head. “Not really, but wow she doesn’t keep much of her opinions to herself, does she?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “No, she’s a bit mouthy,” I said as we walked into the bedroom and she looked up at me. “But we’re working on that.” I gave her a wink then stood at the foot of the bed.
Javier was awake again, and grimacing every time she pulled the bloody gauze from his wounds. I watched my woman work quietly. Her complete focus was on the man in the bed. It didn’t occur to her to not help him because of his race or his status in life. She may not have known his exact role in life, but she had to know he wasn’t good news.
“Spike, can you hand me that package right there?” She pointed to a small package of clean pads that was on the bed where JC was standing.
“Spike?” I asked with a raised brow.
“Thanks.” She took what he handed her and went back to work cleaning and checking out the wounds. “Yeah, his hair. Spike.” She shrugged.
That answer got a small laugh out of Javier, who promptly regretted such movements.
She wiped his arm with an alcohol pad. “Rafe, can you get this thing rigged up somehow. I need it to hang.” She pointed the bag of fluids on the nightstand. I moved around the bed looking for a nail in the wall to hang it on. I ended up removing the picture he had of his Lord and Savior from ove
r his bed and hanging the bag from the nail. Propping the picture up against the lamp on the nightstand, I got out of her way so she could finish what she was doing.
“Thanks.” She had a little towel on the bed with her needs and such. “Okay, Javier. A little prick.” She stuck the needed into his arm as she said it.
“I bet that’s what you tell Rafe at night.” He grinned. She only rolled her eyes, not being pulled into a sparring match.
Once she taped down the IV and checked everything over, she stood over him with her hands on her hips. “I’ve done what I can about the wounds. They are already healing, so stitching won’t do much good at this point. But I’m not worried about that.” She waved me closer. “You see these dark lines spreading down his arms and over his chest?”
