by Erin Osborne
Tilting his head, he looks at me and back at her. “Had a point to prove. What brings you here is the more appropriate question,” he replies back to her.
“That’s it,” I begin, “what point do you have to prove, Brother?” I ask Justice.
“The point Ty just made for me. You two are so careless that you just open the door assuming the face on the other side will be a friendly one. Since when did we get so relaxed we don’t even check the peepholes, Vanna?” Justice turns his gaze toward Ty. “You should really have Vault install the type of security we have at the house. These women here don’t seem to quite understand threats are potentially everywhere.”
“Wait a damn minute,” Jenalyn looks at Justice, and then Ty. “No, no you don’t need the type of security we have at the house. Unless, and I strongly advise that you thoroughly discuss this with Vanna first, it will give you both the peace of mind you feel you truly need.” She turns her focus and words to my brother. “And just what exactly do you mean by these women? Since my return, I’ve been stalked, shot, and lost my father.” She pokes her index finger into Justice’s chest. “So, don’t tell me I don’t understand the threats that live outside these walls.” She reaches behind her and lifts the back of her t-shirt, pulling out her nine-millimeter and aiming it at the floor. She looks at me. “I know guns make you uncomfortable, Vanna, but I have a point to make. I promise, I’ll be careful.” Turning her eyes back to my brother, she finishes, “I never leave the house without this, Paine. We live inside a fortress, for fuck’s sake! If someone’s going to take me out, or anyone around me, they’re going to die themselves trying. I have children that need me, and quite honestly, I’m offended and hurt that after everything you don’t trust my instincts better than that.” I can hear her voice begin to crack slightly and tears begin to well up in her eyes.
I look over to gauge Ty’s reaction to his sister’s declaration and he looks sad and unsettled. His cell phone rings and relief crosses his face as he looks down at it before walking into our bedroom.
Jenalyn’s just verbally punched my brother in the heart and his face falls. The words she’s spoken are true and he knows it. I mentally cheer her on but hope she can hold it together because those memories, as painful as they are, will always be a part of her story.
“Fuck,” Justice mumbles in defeat. He takes her pistol and sets it on the counter before he pulls her into his chest to comfort her. With her cheek pressed up against his torso, I can still see the tears as they slide slowly down her cheek. “You’re right, and I’m sorry, my everything. You’ve been through hell and back. I just never want that to happen again…ever. So, yeah, sometimes I might be a little high-strung when it comes to you and potential threats.” Justice’s cell phone rings and still holding Jenalyn in an embrace, he reaches into his pocket with his free hand and answers. It’s mostly grumbling and ‘mhmm’s’ coming from him.
I look back at Jenalyn to see if she’s okay, and notice she’s already attempting to make eye contact with me. As soon as our eyes meet, she winks at me. I can feel my forehead crinkle at this little game she’s just played. Smooth, real smooth, Jenalyn.
Justice kisses the top of her head at the same time Ty comes out of the bedroom. “I’ve got to get to the clubhouse. You gonna be okay? We’ll talk more later, okay?” he states as he lifts her chin with the tip of his finger. She nods her head in agreement with the most pitiful look on her face.
She even gets sympathy from Ty. He leans in and hugs her. “I’m still your big brother and I’ll always here for you, too.”
Justice tells me goodbye, and Ty kisses me before telling me goodbye. “We will talk later, Romeo,” I tell him on his way out.
As soon as the door closes behind them I smack Jenalyn on her arm. “You sneaky little bitch.”
A devilish grin comes to life as her mouth turns upward and forms a grin. “Yeah, well what I said was all true, but I’ve just learned how to play on his sympathies. Is it wrong? Probably, but that’s what I was really coming over here to explain to you. I’m going to pretend online and of course through any texting that he has all the control in the decision-making. Because don’t doubt for a single second that these men have tracking devices and whatever else on our electronics. If they have that, you can almost certainly bet we have zero privacy anywhere else. Of course, when Justice is around though, I can act submissive also while playing to his softer side.” She reaches into my refrigerator and grabs a water, opens it, and takes a swig. “I told you I have plenty of avenues where he’s concerned. Oh, I called Tess on my way here, and she loves the idea, but said if we have some sort of meet-up she won’t be attending. She’s not leaving Carter anytime soon and I don’t blame her. Not after everything they’ve gone through. I’m still waiting to hear from Stormie but seeing as how she’s pregnant and having that terrible all-day sickness, I doubt leaving her bed and the porcelain god sound like fun.”
I don’t fully agree with the method Jenalyn’s using against my brother, but I understand why it’s necessary with him.
“I don’t envy you, but yet I wouldn’t have it any other way. You two were completely made for one another, I have no doubt,” I tell her. “So, has Vault found out anything yet?”
She finishes taking another drink of her water. “Oh, and that’s the other thing I wanted to tell you. Basically, each IP address links back to legit clubs, and none of them are clubs ours has ever had any beef with.”
I gesture with a slight turn of my head and motion with my hand for her to continue, because there has to be something else buried in there for the guys to still be so hesitant. “But?” I question her.
“One of the clubs has an actual law enforcement officer, the chief of police I believe, as a patched member,” she tells me.
“Well, there’s the other shoe I knew was about to drop.” Shaking my head, I go and sit on my sofa. “You may as well give it up, Jenalyn. You know my father will never give an okay for us to continue on with this, not with a legitimate cop involved. Even I can see the concern there, and we don’t even know a quarter of what we probably think we do.”
Jenalyn approaches and takes a seat next to me. “Calm down. How is it that you’re the yoga, Zen master, and here I am having to reassure you? Miss positivity, and everything always works out the way it’s supposed to? Relax, it’s not like we’re on there talking club business because, well, we really don’t fucking know any. All we’re trying to do is vent, lean on one another, maybe offer advice to women who are new to this lifestyle. We aren’t trying to find out information on what type of activities their clubs are involved in.” She stands up, walks toward my front door a little, and turns back around. “And the second any of them start asking anything specifically club-related, I’m done. I’m out. Even I don’t and won’t risk it.” She grabs her gun off the counter and tucks it back into her jeans. “I’ve got to get back home. Clara should be home soon, and Tess and I have an art deal we need to finalize before she has her appointment later with you. I’ll see you tomorrow at the cookout, right?”
“Yup,” I tell her.
“Okay, smooches.” She blows me a kiss and leaves.
She made some valid points. Hell, some excellent points and I may just have to use her waterworks show on my father alongside those if he turns out to be as stubborn as my brother.
Chapter Sixteen
DJ
Waking up the next morning after a fun-filled afternoon, followed by a fucking wicked night, has me stretching to work the kinks out of my body. But damn, was it awesome. With the kids gone until midday, when they come in from school, I wander through the house and after a quick cup of coffee, start the never-ending task of laundry. The kids, even little Maysen, are great about putting their clothes in the right baskets so I don’t have to do any sorting, just toss them in, add the detergent and hit the button. I’m thankful that Jayden decided once we had all four kids under our roof that we needed someone to help with the housework, because I’
d be running from morning to night trying to keep it clean. Our one compromise on that, because I kinda felt like a slacker, was that I would keep our room up and of course, do the cooking. He wasn’t happy about it, but I told him I didn’t want some housekeeper seeing the evidence of our life all over our sheets every time they came. So, I change our sheets on the regular and do the dusting and vacuuming and it’s all good, as far as I’m concerned. Hell, I don’t even mind keeping our bathroom clean, if I’m being honest with myself. Grabbing a second cup of coffee, I quickly put together a crockpot meal and set it on low. Satisfied that things are in order until the kids get home and I have to worry about snacks and homework and those damned notes that seem to populate in their agendas, I head back into our room.
Grabbing some clean clothes, I move into the bathroom and take a quick shower so I’m ready for whatever today might bring. Once I’ve gotten dressed and done my hair, I find my phone and shoot off a quick text to Cara, asking if she and the other women are available for lunch. When she responds that she, Trinity and Hannah are available, I convince her to meet me at our favorite Mexican restaurant. I laugh at the emojis that she sends back as I settle in at my desk and hit my music feature, allowing the soothing sounds of the eighties to fill the room.
I’ve only got a few emails, one of them being from my editor, so I quickly click on it and read her message. DJ, dammit woman! I think we need to put a warning at the beginning of your book to proceed with caution if you plan to eat or drink anything while attempting to read. That scene at the zoo? It had me spewing coffee everywhere and I do mean everywhere. My laughter bursts forth and I send her a response indicating that I am not responsible for what others do.
Okay, now it’s time to hit the old ladies site. I open it up and catch up on all the various chats. Once I’ve responded or liked things, I open up a new post and type - So I know each of our clubs’ IT guys have likely checked into all of us who regularly post. Speaking for myself, I wouldn’t want it any other way, because my family is the most important thing in my life. I hope that we can fully agree that none of us will ever discuss any of our particular clubs’ ‘business’ or for that matter, even our club names. Although, if I’m correct, I’m sure we each know which clubs are in here. Can we agree on that, ladies? I, for one, being pretty much a SAHM now, except for the time I do work for one of our businesses, need the damn interaction. My bestie still works, as do several of our other old ladies and when I’m stuck on something in one of my books, I need to be able to reach out and share something or laugh. So, everyone with me?
Skylar responds: Fuck yeah. I’ve got an army growing here and need y’all too. I agree!
Bristol responds: Thank the maker! Seems like we may have more sense than we’ve been given credit for having.
Lizzie responds: I agree. I may not have much to add, but I’m kinda new to this life so I need it too.
Hannah responds: Reading through the stuff so far, I know I need it and definitely need Skylar’s perspective since she lives with two men too!
Skylar responds: It rocks, doesn’t it, Hannah?
Hannah responds: It does, but now I’m dealing with some censure from a few of the folks in our town.
Wait, she is? Why didn’t she say anything to us? To me? We would have had her back, for fuck’s sake! And who told her about the site? I bet it was Trinity, she’s such a peacemaker. Taking a deep breath, and then another, I decide that we’ll talk about this over lunch.
I respond: Okay ladies, so I have no clue what the initial vision for this site was, but can we do like a daily thread? Unless there’s something critical? That way, those who work out of the home can easily catch up.
Skylar responds: I like that idea. A lot. And Hannah, feel free to private message me if there’s something really wild that you don’t want your ‘sisters’ knowing about.
Hannah responds: I will. Thanks.
I respond: Later ladies!
Arriving at the restaurant, I let the hostess know that there will be at least five of us and possibly some children. Not sure if Trin will bring Shelby or not, or if Cara will have the twins. It’s a fifty-fifty guess at this point in life. The waitress comes by and brings some chips and salsa, and asks me what I’d like to drink.
“Sweet tea please, with lemon on the side,” I tell her. She nods and turns away and I pull out my phone to send a text to Jayden.
Me: Hey, lover. Getting lunch with the girls. Do we need anything you can think of from the store?
Lover: Maybe more of that yogurt shit the girls like, and I think Jasper mentioned he needs new shoelaces. And I need some of that whipped cream.
Me: What do you need whipped cream for?
Lover: My dessert tonight.
The emojis he sends tell me exactly what, or should I say who, his dessert is going to be.
Me: Do you know how messy that’s gonna be?
Lover: Do we not have a shower and also a washer and dryer?
Me: Fine, adding it to the list. I don’t know where you come up with this stuff half the time.
Lover: You’re always on my mind, gorgeous, so of course, it wanders to what I can do to and with you.
Me: Gotta go, girls are here. Love you.
Lover: Love you too.
I’m still shaking my head as I grab the glass that the waitress brought and take a huge drink. My man is insatiable, that’s for damn sure. Hearing a noise, I look up and see Cara, Hannah, and Trinity bearing down on the table. “No kids today?”
“Nope, we figured we could talk about the site and it’s easier to do that with no little ears listening.”
I roll my eyes at Cara’s comment before replying, “The twins are not old enough to repeat anything to their daddy.”
“No, but Shelby might,” Trinity states, taking a seat and pulling a menu close. I don’t know why we even use them because we pretty much always order the same thing. But, old habits apparently die hard.
“She’s three, how clear can her speech really be?”
“Well, she did say something that sounded suspiciously like motherfucker the other day,” Trinity says. “I blame Turk. He’s been working on a few projects around the house and whacked his thumb with the hammer and that word was on repeat. Not sure if the daycare bought that she was saying ‘Mother, truck, here’ or not, but that’s what I told them she was saying.”
At her words, the table dissolves in laughter. “Yeah, they’ll turn into little parrots, that’s for sure,” I reply. “Remember when Ray and Luca started calling everyone assholes?” I ask Cara.
“Oh, fuck, I forgot all about that,” she says, giggling. “DJ’s favorite word for idiot drivers is asshole and we never thought the kids would repeat it. Until one day when they were about what, four? Five? We were at a local department store and it was crowded and the two of them, in their little voices, started yelling, ‘Move out of the way, asshole!’ “
She can’t finish the story because she’s laughing so hard now, she’s got tears rolling down her face. “I totally...totally forgot about that,” she stammers.
“Well, given the fact that all of the kids have bikers for dads, even though they’re all good dads, I’m sure we’re bound to hear those words fly again from time to time,” I murmur.
“Are you ladies ready to order?” the waitress asks.
The other girls give her their drink orders as well as what they want to eat, while I give her my food order. Once she’s gone and we’re back to eating chips and salsa, I look around the table before asking, “Hannah? Why didn’t you say something if you were getting shit about your lifestyle with Smokey and Bandit?”
I see her eyes well up a little before she straightens her shoulders and replies, “Because none of y’all can fully understand it. I mean, it’s a life I chose and I’d do it again every single day if I had to just to have them in my life, but how are y’all gonna understand the nastiness that gets slung my way?”
“Not the point, Hannah,” Cara states,
“we may not understand the specific dynamics of what the three of you have, but we’re your family now and family has one another’s back.”
“What’s being said, honey?” Trinity asks, her voice gentle. She’s got that shit down-pat. I wanna wring some peoples’ necks for making this young woman hurt.
“Oh, that I’m obviously a slut, we’re going to hell for our lifestyle, any kids we have will be bastards...that kind of thing.”
Wait, what? How dare some sanctimonious fuckwad say that to her? “Do you have any names?” I ask. Because I’ve got ways to make folks stop their shit.
“Um, no, not really. I mean, I get notes on my car whenever I come into town.”
“Do the guys know?” Cara asks.
“Not exactly.”
“Oh, hell no, they need to know this, sweetheart. No one deserves this shit, least of all you! And fuck anyone who can’t understand that some folks live like y’all do.”
“Wait, what? Who’s been saying shit, doll?” Smokey growls out, having come up to our table when none of us were paying attention. The look she gives him lets me know that this is the first time they’ve ever heard this.
“It’s nothing, handsome,” she replies, looking at first Smokey and then Bandit, who is also standing there, his arms crossed over his chest.
“It’s not ‘nothing’, khalessi,” Bandit says. “And you shouldn’t have been carrying this shit on your shoulders.”
“I love you guys, it’s nothing, I promise.”
“It’s gonna be nothing,” I mutter, to no one in particular. I have a suspicion I know where it’s coming from and I’ll nip that shit in the bud. No one hurts my family. No one.
“We’ll talk when you get home, doll,” Smokey says, leaning down and kissing her. Bandit follows suit and then I watch as they go over to our waitress, hand her money while pointing to our table and I grin. Because they just covered our lunch.
