by Violet Noir
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Kade
I was surprised when he didn’t shoot me. Instead, Bruno and his men left me in the room. Cold dread gripped my chest. If they knew all along, they knew Elise was alone at my house. I’d left her with free run of my house. She was completely unprotected. At least if I’d left her in her basement room, Bruno’s goons wouldn’t have been able to get in.
I’d promised her protection, and I’d failed. All that was left was to make sure that Elise made it out of this thing alive. Hopefully, I could get a message to her before I died. I could tell her to go to the MC. I knew which brothers would respect my dying wishes. I’d send her to them, and they’d take care of her.
So, I sat in that room and waited. It was dark and cold, and I was glad that I’d been with Elise one last time. When I died, I’d think of her sweet smell and the warmth of her body.
The minutes felt like hours, but eventually the door opened again. Bruno and two guards walked in with Elise. One of them shoved her into the center of the room, and it took all of my strength not to lunge at him right then. But, I knew better, and I would not risk Elise’s life if I didn’t have to put her in danger.
“Kade,” she said and reached for my hand.
It was so cold and sweating. I turned to look in her eyes, and all I could see was terror. Elise was pale and shaking, and it made something inside of me snap.
I gave her hand a squeeze. “Go to the MC. Ask for Stumpy,” I said.
Before she could say anything else, I spun around and lunged at the goon nearest me. My elbow met his nose, and I heard a sickening crack. He dropped his gun, but I caught it before it hit the ground.
I spun again and the other goon took two to the chest. He stumbled back in shock, and then fell to the ground.
All I’d wanted was to protect Elise, and I feared that I couldn’t take all three of them out before one of us was killed. It turned out that I only had to worry about two.
Bruno fled like a coward, but I wouldn’t let him get away that easily. I chased him out of the room. “Freeze,” I called out as he ran past the girls’ cages.
The girls all screamed and huddled in the back corners of their cages. For a second, I watched them cower and cry. I felt a stab of guilt in my chest. I’d left them there to rot because all I wanted was Elise for myself.
I hated myself in that moment. I’d let rage turn me into a coward no better than Bruno.
“Kade,” he said and began to turn around. “We can work something out.”
“Stop,” I said. “Put your gun down and face me. I don’t shoot men in the back.”
He laid the gun down on the ground and smiled. “Come on man, we can work this out. You can have…”
I put a bullet in his brain. There was nothing he had that I wanted. The girls started screaming again, but they calmed a little when they saw Elise come out of the other room with a key.
“I’m going to let them go,” she said.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” I said.
And, I didn’t. With no one to take care of them, who knew what would happen to them all. Turning them loose on the street seemed stupid and cruel. They had no idea how to live, and putting them into the system wouldn’t help either.
“What about the club?” Elise asked softly.
It wasn’t a half bad idea. I doubted we could support them all in our local chapter, but we had room for a few. The rest could go to other chapters. There were worse fates than to end up a biker’s old lady.
“Alright,” I said, but we’ve got to get them out of here quickly and they have to cooperate.”
“Can you do that?” Elise asked them all.
A resounding “Yes, Sapphire” went up, and I knew I’d made the right decision about not turning them loose. They’d all need a lot of help and a strong hand to make it in this world, but I knew my brothers would rise to the challenge.
We led them out of the house and down the street to a nearby park. I called Stumpy and told him what was going down. “Bring the truck and van.”
I heard the sirens coming toward Bruno’s house, but no one bothered us. The girls sat cross legged in the park on the grass until my brothers rolled up and took them out of there. They were dressed in nothing but filthy rags, and they had their faces turned up to the sun. I wondered how long it had been since any of them had felt it on their skin. Not one of them tried to get up and run, and if I’d been a softer man, it would have broken my heart.
Chapter Thirty
Elise
When the girls were back at the clubhouse, and Kade and I were home, I had a decision to make. My heart was bursting at the way he’d put his own life in danger to save me, and I had to decide if I was going to tell him how much I loved him. Or, did I wait for him to say it first?
“Do you want to go out to dinner tonight?” he asked, and I froze.
“Like, out to a restaurant?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Like a date. It’s not something I’m very good at, but for you, I’ll try.”
“I think I’d rather stay in and have empanadas and meat stew by the pool,” I said cautiously.
“Elise, you know I had to fire her,” Kade said, but I could hear a hint of regret in his voice.
“It was my fault, Kade. People mess up. I’ve heard it’s hard to quit smoking. You’re helping me detox, and maybe you should help Gabriella, too,” I said and crossed my arms over my chest.
He thought about it for a moment. “It’s what you want?”
“Yes.”
“Then, I’ll call Gabriella and give her job back,” he said and smiled. “For you. But she’s on probation. You’re the woman of the house now, so it’s your job to make sure the staff stays in line.”
I swallowed hard. I’d never had staff, and I’d certainly never been anyone’s boss. “You think I can handle that?”
He crossed the room and swept me into his arms. I couldn’t help but giggle. That was something I’d never done before, and the sound made Kade’s eyes light up. “I like that,” he said and kissed my nose. “Yes, you can handle it, baby doll. I’m convinced there is nothing you can’t handle.”
“I love you,” I said before I could stop myself.
“I know,” he said and laughed when my eyes went wide.
“You know?”
“I heard you. The doors in this house are good, but they aren’t impenetrable.” He kissed my nose again. “And for the record, Elise, I love you too.”
Kade
3 Years Later
“Come on,” I called into the bedroom. “Let’s get going.”
“Nothing fits,” Elise called back from the master bathroom.
“I swear I’m going to come in there and spank your ass if you don’t move it,” I said with a smile on my face.
“Again?” Elise poked her head out of the bathroom and then ducked back in.
“Gabriella’s got the food ready, and I’m about to light the fire in the fire pit, Elise.”
It was the anniversary of the night I’d killed Bruno and Elise and I had said “I love you” to each other for the first time. It was kind of a twisted anniversary, but it worked for us. Everything about us was a little twisted.
Gabriella had come back to work immediately as soon as I called. She’d fixed us empanadas and meat stew for dinner, and Elise and I ate it by the pool with a fire in the fire pit. It was our tradition to do that same thing again every year on that date.
I had a surprise for Elise, though, and I was coming out of my skin waiting for her to get her butt down to the pool. I’d purchased the largest pink princess cut diamond engagement ring the jewelry store had, and I wanted to ask her to be my old lady.
“Just go light the fire, Kade. I’ll be down in five,” she said without coming out.
“You’re getting mouthy,” I teased.
“If you want my mouth to do anything for you later, you’ll just get out of here.”
She seemed a litt
le crabby, so I decided to let her be. Elise had been grumpy a lot the last couple of weeks, and she hadn’t been eating much. She said she thought she caught a stomach virus or something. If she didn’t eat enough of our anniversary dinner, I was calling in the doctor.
I went down to the fire pit and got the fire rolling. Elise made good on her word and joined me a few minutes later. She was dressed in a simple white gauzy sun dress that made her look like a goddess who had stepped out of heaven.
“You look beautiful,” I said, and she blushed.
It was one of the things I loved most about Elise. Even after three years, she still blushed when I complimented her. She never took anything for granted, and it made spoiling her even more fun.
“Thank you,” she said and sat down at the table. “But, I’m getting fat.”
She had a little more meat on her bones, but Elise was nowhere near fat. She was soft in all the right places, and I loved those places dearly.
“You’re not fat,” I said and joined her at the table. The ring box in my pocket poked me in the leg and reminded me that I had work to do. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”
“I’ve got a surprise for you, too,” she said and looked down quickly. “Though, I’m not sure how you’re going to like it. It involves both of our lives changing and me getting even fatter.” A single tear ran down her cheek.
“What is it, baby?” I was out of my chair and kneeling beside her in a flash. “Are you sick? We can get through anything. I’ll take care of you.”
“I’m not sick,” she said and took a deep breath. “I’m pregnant.”
I wasn’t expecting that. The doctor said that Elise probably couldn’t have babies, but thankfully, the doctor had been wrong. Excitement just about burst out of my chest. I was happier than I’d ever expected that news to make me.
“Say something, Kade,” Elise pleaded, and I realized I was just sitting there with a dumbstruck look on my face.
“Well, then I guess that’s going to make my surprise that much sweeter,” I said and pulled out the ring box.
“You knew,” she said and began to sob. “Put it away. You’re only asking because I got knocked up.”
“Baby doll, no,” I said and took her hand. “I didn’t know. I was going to ask you tonight. I’ve been planning it for months.”
“You didn’t know?”
“No,” I said and shook my head. “I had no idea. Last I heard you couldn’t have babies.”
“And you’re happy?” she asked, hopeful.
I stood up and swept her up into my arms. “Of course, I’m happy, baby doll. You’re going to be my wife, and we’re going to have a real family.”
She kissed me hard before saying, “I’m going to be your wife, huh? I never answered, you know?”
“Well, then hurry up and answer so we can celebrate.”
She tossed her head back and laughed the laugh that would be my saving grace for the rest of my life. “Yes, Kade. I will marry you.”
***
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Copyright© 2018 Violet Noir
This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons living or dead is coincidence.
