by Jade Kuzma
I’d never seen a man as serious as Palazzo looked now. Eyes unblinking. Jaw tense. He wasn’t moving. He didn’t even look like he was breathing.
I swallowed and nodded to him.
“You have my word. I’ll always be with Mia, no matter what.”
The sudden tension in the room was broken when I saw someone from the corner of my eye. Mia walked into the dining room and smiled softly at me.
“Hey,” she said. “Are you two enjoying dinner?”
Palazzo gave a big smile to his daughter.
“Mia. How are you feeling?’
“Just fine,” she sighed. “A bit exhausted.”
She rocked my son back and forth softly in her arms and took a seat next to me. I took a look at the baby. His eyes were closed. His mouth half-open, he breathed softly in his sleep.
Mia appeared worn out. Motherhood had taken a toll on her. Slight bags under her eyes from a lack of sleep. Skin pale and a bit gaunt. Hair messy. But damn if she still wasn’t the most beautiful woman in the world.
“What’s up?” she said as she caught me staring at her.
“Nothing,” I said. “I was just talking to your father about the business back in Ivory. He was thinking about an investment.”
“An investment?” she said, turning to her dad. “Is that something you want to do?”
“I’ll be honest with you,” he said. “I didn’t know much about Ivory until now. It appears there’s something more to that city. Perhaps it’s time I looked into it more.”
“It doesn’t matter if you’re there or not,” she said.
Mia turned back to me, a soft smile on her lips.
“I’ve already found everything I needed in Ivory.”
Chapter 30
MIA
One week later…
When I was younger, I was never sure what I was supposed to make of motherhood. I imagined that having a child was just a burden. Most people could barely take care of themselves. Taking care of someone else seemed like an impossible task. I suppose that’s why I respected what my parents did for me so much.
Now I was able to go through it firsthand. And the experience was more enjoyable than I expected. It helped that my father was there for me, providing for my son in every way he could. Dr. Walters provided a personal touch that put my heart at ease.
Then there was Roman. Having his child created a bond between us that made my feelings for him even stronger. I didn’t think it was possible to love him more than I already did. With our son born, I wanted to be with him now even more than ever.
It was later in the evening when I was resting in bed. I sighed deep breaths with my eyes closed as I faced the ceiling. My darkened bedroom was so comforting and peaceful.
The door opened up and some light shined in for just a bit before it was closed. I felt someone sit on the bed next to me.
“How is Owen?” I asked.
“Sleeping,” Roman said. “Dr. Walters just checked on him and he’s perfectly healthy.”
“I should probably go check on him myself…”
I opened my eyes and slowly sat up from the bed. I couldn’t help but groan. Roman put a hand on my arm and stopped me from getting up.
“It’s all right,” he said. “The baby is in the crib. He’s being monitored. Dr. Walters is in the next room. Your father has enough people in this mansion to watch over him and make sure that nothing happens. Owen has everything he needs right now. And you… you need to take a break.”
Roman smiled at me. I sighed a soft breath through my nose, knowing that he was right. It was hard for me to admit that I needed a moment to myself.
“Maybe you’re right,” I said.
“I am right. You shouldn’t be pushing yourself so hard. You deserve to rest.”
He leaned forward and kissed me softly. I closed my eyes and giggled while I enjoyed the taste of his tongue. Even with how exhausted I was, Roman never failed to light a fire inside of me.
I thought it was only a kiss but his hand slowly started to reach over my nightgown. He cupped my breast and took it softly in his grip.
“What are you doing?” I whispered between his lips.
“What do you think I’m doing? Ever since I got out, I never got the chance…”
Damn…
Even though I wouldn’t stop him, I wouldn’t let him have it so easily.
“I’m supposed to be taking a break,” I said. “Resting…”
“All right then,” he said between kisses. “Take a break and stop.”
I didn’t stop.
Bastard.
I kept kissing him, wrapping my arms around his neck to bring him closer to me. I giggled as I laid back on the bed. He peeled his clothes off, putting that magnificent body of his on display. My body post-pregnancy wasn’t anything to admire but Roman appeared to appreciate me just the same as I enjoyed him.
He took his place between my legs, still pushing his tongue between my lips with messy kisses. I giggled and Roman raised an eyebrow at me in the darkness of my bedroom.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“Nothing… It’s just… I was thinking about what this would be like.”
“What what would be like?”
“When I was younger, I thought about sneaking boys up into my room. It never happened because boys were always scared of my father. They heard rumors of what he was capable of, so nobody had the guts to visit me.”
“Well, too bad for them. Even a man like your father isn’t gonna stop me from doing what I’m about to do.”
“Good.”
I kept giggling as I put my hands to his face. Roman stared at me with a focused intensity that made me swallow with nervous anticipation.
He raised my nightgown up my body and rolled my panties down my legs. I spread myself just for him, letting him position that thick cock of his at my folds. I looked down to admire that big shaft of his on the verge of plunging into me. He was so big that I wondered how he managed to fit it all inside of me.
I bit my lip and sighed when he suddenly buried his dick completely into me. My head rocked back and my hips bucked. My insides spread to accommodate his thickness. I was so wet that he was able to slide right into me.
He started thumping hard into me. His smooth hilt banged into my folds with every thrust. I reached out with my lips, trying to kiss him while I enjoyed the pounding he gave me, but he was just out of reach.
Roman’s grunts started to grow louder. He grabbed my hands and pinned them up over my head. Legs spread. Arms unable to move. I was at his mercy.
“Fuck me,” I sighed. “Just like that…”
He followed my instructions. Deeper strokes made my body shift with every thrust. The bed shook underneath me. My swollen breasts rocked to his rhythm.
Roman fucked me into the mattress like he was trying to break it. I couldn’t hold back how good it felt, moaning louder and louder.
“Fuck… Roman…”
I writhed underneath him but he kept holding me down. I was in agony as the pleasure started to rack my body. I’d been waiting so long for this and now I had him.
The man I fell for. The biker who was the father of my child. Roman was everything I ever wanted. Now he was on top of me, in the mansion I’d lived in for most of my life, giving it to me exactly how I wanted it.
“Come inside of me…” I sighed.
“You might get pregnant. Is that what you want, Mia? Another baby…”
He gave me such a devilish smirk. I giggled as the pleasure continued to rip me apart.
I wanted to stare up into his beautiful blue eyes for as long as I could. But it’d been so long since we’d been together like this, I couldn’t hold back.
My eyes shut. My throat dry. Sweat covering my body. My heart was pounding in my chest.
I clenched my jaw, bracing myself from the pounding and his hilt rubbing against my clit. There was no turning back.
I held my breath as I fell over the edge.<
br />
Roman…
I could only think his name as I started to come. I writhed on the mattress. My back arched up so that he could get even deeper inside of me. My toes curled so much that it almost hurt.
Roman kept me pinned down. He shoved his dick into me and suddenly started to tremble. A splash of his cum wet my insides, bringing back the wonderful memories of the first time he’d done it to me. He kept his cock buried in me until he spilled every last drop.
We both collapsed from our orgasms. He laid on top of me, his hard sweaty muscles pressing against my skin. We were both breathing hard, trying to recover.
After a few seconds, Roman pulled out of me and pushed himself up. Another deep kiss sealed our brief but wonderful moment together.
Freed from his grip, I reached up and put my hands back to his face. The scruff on his chin was rough against my fingertips. He was so ruggedly handsome but looking into his blue eyes now, I saw so much more.
“I love you,” I whispered.
Roman gave me another kiss. His tongue licked mine. The soft but deep kisses echoed off the walls of my room.
He pulled away from me and sighed softly through his nose before finally responding.
“I love you.”
Epilogue 1
ROMAN
Every step made dust rise in the air. The shit was everywhere from the floor all the way to the ceiling. The little furniture that was there was broken. I wouldn’t have been surprised if rats chewed up the place. There wasn’t much light except for the sun shining in through the windows. The high ceiling of the bar looked like it was going to collapse at any moment. The place smelled like ancient history.
“Damn…”
I muttered to myself as I looked around the place.
“…It’s like excavating a prehistoric civilization.”
“Shut up, kid. I’m not that old.”
Murph walked up to one of the chairs off to the side of the room and cleaned it off enough for him to have a seat.
“I’m surprised that they gave you the keys for this place,” I said.
I turned to Sebastian. He looked just as distraught as I was.
“Every place in Old Town is on the verge of getting torn down,” Seabass said. “It’d be a waste of everybody’s time to condemn the place.”
“Now that I’m here, I think that they should.”
“It’s just a little dust and some cobwebs. Nothing you and I can’t handle.”
Sebastian had a dustpan and a broom. I sighed, knowing what I’d already agreed to.
“Let’s get to it,” I said.
I grabbed some of the chairs off to the side of the room and brought them out. While I cleared out the main floor, Sebastian started sweeping up. Murph observed us from a distance, his arms crossed like some strict teacher making sure we didn’t fuck around.
Even though it was a cold day in Ivory, I still started to work up a sweat. Moving and re-arranging the place was going to take hours and even then, the place wasn’t going to look presentable.
I moved over to the wall and saw a few bullet holes lodged in the wood.
“What the fuck is this?” I said. “There was a shooting in here?”
I turned to the old man. He stared at the holes in the wall like he was trying to remember what happened.
“Sometimes people get out of line,” he said. “Shit happens.”
“Right…”
I shook my head and laughed as I cleared out the last bit of furniture. Sebastian finished sweeping up and most of the dust was gone from the floor. Murph gave a satisfying sigh as he got up from his seat.
“We’re getting somewhere,” he said.
“We’re still a long way from where we need to be,” Seabass sighed. “We gotta bring this building up to code. It took half a year just to convince the bastards to open the place up. Who knows what kind of renovations we’ll need…”
“You’ll get there. The place has been dormant for a long time. It’s about damn time that you decided to come here.”
I raised an eyebrow at Murph.
“If you love this place so much, why didn’t you bring it back?” I said. “Don’t tell me you don’t have any money because I know you’ve got cash.”
“I’m not a club member,” he said. “This is your club now. It was your responsibility to bring the clubhouse back. That’s what I wanted you all to do when I recruited you. It’s a damn shame what happened to those other boys…”
The memories of the brothers I’d lost came back to me. Even Murph appeared sadder than I’d ever seen him.
Sebastian put a hand on my shoulder and smiled at me.
“We weren’t much of a club back then,” he said. “Before you got locked up, we were just five guys in vests pretending to be an MC. We were just living off the legacy of an old club in Ivory from a long time ago.”
“With a proper clubhouse, you’ll be a real club,” Murph said.
“Just two members,” I said.
“It don’t matter if there’s just two of ya.”
Murph walked up to me and dug his finger into the patch on my kutte.
“Being a Devil isn’t about having a fancy bike,” he said. “It’s not about having a fancy clubhouse. It’s not even about wearing the patch.”
He moved his finger over my chest and pressed it into me.
“It’s about what’s in here,” he said.
Then he tapped the side of my head.
“It’s about what’s in here. It’s a state of mind. Back in the day, the West Devils were the only true one-percenters in Ivory.”
“That sounds like something,” I said. “Raising hell. Ducking the law.”
“Protecting the sanctity of this town,” Murph said. “Ivory needs a club like the Devils.”
“Is that right? Last I checked there are a lot of clubs that keep this town regulated. Winter Cobras… Black Reapers…”
“There are a lot of clubs in Ivory. That’s true. But there ain’t no club like the Devils.”
“West Devils,” Sebastian said. “It’s good to be back.”
“Nah, you’re right, kid,” Murph said with a nod. “The West Devils had a legacy in Ivory. I’m proud of what we accomplished. I’ll always wear the patch. But you two represent a new era. You have to be your own club. Even an old man like me can see that.”
Sebastian and I turned to one another. I thought about all the shit that went down. All the years I spent locked up. All the people we lost. We were here. We were still standing. I would stand with him.
“So we’re the new Devils,” Sebastian said.
“I can get with that,” I said with a laugh.
“Here,” Murph said. “I got something for you boys.”
Murph dug into his pocket and pulled something out. He held it out to both of us with each of his hands. I took the small piece of fabric from him and looked at it.
“New patches,” I said.
“The old West Devils patch is a thing of the past,” Murph said. “Forge your own way.”
Sebastian ran his fingers over his patch and chuckled to himself.
“Venom…” he whispered.
Murph turned around and started shuffling toward the back of the clubhouse.
“Now if you two kids are done being lazy, you can get back to work. There’s still a shitload for you to do.”
Sebastian stuffed his patch into his pocket and sighed.
“I guess I’ll start dusting the walls and the ceiling.”
“I’ll check the back,” I said. “There’s probably more shit to clean out.”
I walked over to the back where Murph had gone. There was a long hallway that led into multiple backrooms. Each one of them was filled with boxes like they were being used for storage.
“Of course,” I said. “Shit is never simple.”
I sighed as I got to work unstacking the boxes. Most of it was just filled with papers and old bottles of liquor. One by one, I grabbed the boxes and tossed
them out of the room. The amount of work to be done was endless.
I got to one box and felt something rattling inside when I carried it. The shit sounded fragile. I set it down and opened the box up. Inside, there was a bunch of framed photos. I didn’t recognize any of them but I knew who they were just from the patches they wore.
“Is that…”
I narrowed my eyes and looked at one of the men in the photo. I laughed to myself when I realized who it was.
“Yo, Murph! Check this out!”
The old man shuffled into the room I was in.
“What is it?” he muttered.
“This you?” I asked.
I held the framed photo up and showed it to him. He stared at it, his eyes unblinking. I couldn’t imagine what he was thinking with the way he didn’t move.
“That’s me,” he said.
“Damn… Time hasn’t been good to you.”
“Show some respect, boy!”
He swiped the framed photo from my hand. The old man looked like he was stuck in whatever memory the photo brought back to him.
“Ruben… Black… AP… Corey…”
Murph shook his head and smirked at the photo.
“That was us,” he said. “The first five. The original West Devils.”
“No shit, huh?”
“We were the originals. These were my brothers. They’re the reason I’m proud to wear the patch.”
Murph slowly turned his head up.
“When you put that patch on, it’s not about you,” he said. “You watch your brother’s back. Even if it’s just Cain. You remember that.”
Seeing how serious Murph had gotten made it clear to me. I nodded and sighed a deep breath through my nose.
“I know what the patch means to you,” I said. “I’ll never disrespect it.”
“I know you won’t. That’s why I chose you in the first place. You’ve earned your spot… Rock.”
“Why don’t you check the rest of the box out? I’m sure there’s more interesting shit for you to find.”
I tapped Murph on the arm and left the back. I headed to the main bar to check on Sebastian. I held back my surprise when I saw that he wasn’t alone.
