by M. Merin
“And the other guy?” Wrench asks.
“We ain’t killing him,” Jake speaks up.
“No, we aren’t,” I agree. “I’ll handle him.”
Shade turns and heads back inside without another word. I finish my smoke before walking back inside. This time, Pistario’s voice is forming words and not just hellish screams.
“How long have I been here?” The agent at my feet asks.
“What difference does that make to a dead man?”
“Because if you put me back near the wreck, my cover won’t be blown and I can get back to the compound long enough to get what I need,” he tries to bargain with me.
“You think I’m going to let you run back to your bosses about this?” I laugh. “Be their fucking wet dream.”
He stays silent after that, thinking the worst and I want him to get in that mindset.
“What is it you have to live for so badly?” I ask him.
“Huh?”
“You heard me.”
“Pistario keeps his daughter and grandson at his compound. They aren’t allowed to leave. I don’t know what measures he has in place if he doesn’t return,” he answers after a moment. “I promised myself I’d get them clear. He married Dalia off to an associate. Later on, he decided the guy was skimming and killed him. She deserves better.”
Well, fuck me.
I walk back outside to get Wrench to see if he can confirm any part of that.
“Yep. Dalia Pistario – Stevens gave birth to a son just over three years ago. She’s almost twenty-four, no sign of her graduating from high school, no work history, no social media,” Wrench recites his findings in under thirty minutes. “Uh, I also pulled Agent Talks-a-lot’s file.
“He’s no boy scout. I think that’s why he got this job. Pistario’s guards don’t have a long life expectancy; it was prolly a win-win for his boss. He’d either get some viable leads or get killed,” Wrench shrugs.
“What does your gut say?” Jake asks from behind me.
“Wipe down the rental car, park it next to the kill room and get ready to light a match,” I respond.
Shade is leaving the bathroom when I walk back inside. “I’m going to cut him loose,” I say, pointing to where we have the Fed stashed.
“Pistario’s dead,” Shade replies. “Would probably piss Michaels off if we killed one of his brethren, so I’m good with that.”
“Grab him, let’s get out of here,” I say.
Chapter 20
Shade
I toss the bundle of my kill blades to Flint before I walk over to turn the gas stove on, before I grab our loose end.
He tenses up the minute I pull him from the floor.
“What’s your name?”
“John Daly,” he says, hesitantly.
“Don’t make me fucking regret this, John Daly.”
“I didn’t know they were going after the Hall woman.” He says quietly.
*
After Jake lights the rental car and property up, we drop Daly off as close to Pistario’s compound as we dare. The rest is up to him.
On the way home, Flint uses an actual payphone to reach out to Jasper. The three of us watch him from the truck.
“Can you picture it?” Wrench breaks the silence. “Flint, back in the day, with dimes in his pocket. No way to leave voicemails for his Brothers?”
Jake and I both smile, but we’re both too worn out to do or say anything else.
“I miss my family,” I whisper words I’ve never thought or said before. Wrench’s eyes jerk to the rear view mirror to meet mine.
“Amen, Brother. Amen,” he says. Flint gets back in and we take off. The ride home is silent, broken up by naps and turns at the wheel.
*
Pulling into the clubhouse the next night, I get out, thinking to find someone to take me to my Rosy.
“They’re in your old room,” Russian calls out and my head whips around, that was not the plan. “We decided to tell you when you got back. We had a lead on Pistario’s man but he got away; hopped a jet at the regional airport. Michaels sent his photo, and at least three aliases, out nationwide. Fucking Riley, she was like a dog with a bone, Brother. Dug up all kinds of shit on him.”
I walk past him, determined to get to my family. “Thank you.”
“Don’t ever need to say that, Shade,” he says the words I’ve heard others exchange. I’ve just never used them myself.
Storming up to the room, I walk in and stop, a large smile breaking across my face. This has to be a goddamn first. There’s a bassinet next to the bed. There’s a fucking bassinet in the clubhouse.
“Shade?”
“I’m here, Jessa,” I return, in a soft voice as I cross to her.
“Is it over? Was it who you thought it was?”
“Yeah,” I crawl in next to her and she instantly wraps herself around me. “No more of that shit for me, Jessa. That’s not what I need anymore.”
“No?” She sucks my earlobe in between her teeth.
“You and Danny, Jessa. And more babies, when you’re ready. That’s what I want,” I tell her, trying to get my pants off. “That’s what I need.”
“Know what I need, Shade?” She smirks up at me.
“Fuck yeah, Rosy. I know what you need,” I roll on top of her and finding her body all ready for me, I sink right in. “I love you.”
Jessa
Shade doesn’t even have the energy to move once he finishes loving me. Not that I mind. I hold him in my arms, happy to have him back. Hopeful the demons in him are truly silenced, that we’ll be enough for him.
In the morning, I wake up to an empty room. Dressing, I head downstairs to the chaos that has consumed the clubhouse since before they moved me here from the Sheriff’s cabin. There are children, Ol’ Ladies, prospects – or probies as the guys call them, all over the place.
Looking around, I see Riley with a sour expression on her face and Gunner trying to get her to eat. A tad bit stubborn, those two. Charlie is seated next to her and sees me as she hands her daughter off to Connal. I wave at her and she helpfully points me in the direction I want to go.
Following Charlie’s finger, I see Shade. His back is to me and he’s swaying on his feet. As I move towards him, Jasper sees me first and says something to him that gets their whole group laughing. Shade turns to me; he’s holding a bottle up to Danny’s mouth as he continues to rock him back and forth.
“Hey, pretty momma,” he smiles at me and leans down for a kiss. “Our little man was squawking and I wanted you to get some rest.”
I wrap my arm around his waist as we stand there talking to Jasper, Tanker, Ink, and Mac – men I didn’t know a week ago, but who have all spent time protecting Danny and me. Eventually, Shade and I peel off to get some food. Finding seats at the table next to Riley and Charlie, we dig in.
Shade keeps looking up and I can tell he’s getting antsy at the awkward conversation going on between Charlie and me. He tries to talk to Gunner, when it hits me that he hasn’t heard the news.
“Shhh,” I say, pretending to look over his shoulder. “Finish and I’ll explain.”
He looks even more confused but does as I ask and we say our goodbyes, heading up to his room.
“What the fuck was that?” He blurts out once we’re in his old room. “Are…I mean, am I imagining it, or are Gunner and Riley fighting?”
“No,” I watch as he transfers Danny to his bassinet. “Riley’s pregnant and Gunner’s gone off the deep end.”
“Fuck! Really?” He grins back at me. “And here I thought it was nuts that someone put a bassinet in here – we’re going to need to start a nursery school soon, aren’t we?”
“Sure, but first let’s just hope that Michaels doesn’t take a restraining order out against Gunner,” I smile at him as he pulls me down onto the bed. “Riley’s in her puking stage and Gunner has been calling Tabby maybe just a little too much.”
Epilogue
Spring, 2020
Church ran late and I race to get home, needing to get a shower in before I take Jessa out for her birthday dinner. I last heard from her after Ellie picked Danny up for the night.
Actually, when I asked Ellie for permission to marry Jessa, I arranged for her to keep him for two nights. I have everything worked out at my favorite steakhouse in town. I’m getting down on my knees and begging my Ol’ Lady to marry me in front of whoever’s there.
Pulling up to the house, I’m immediately on edge. When I enter, most of the lights are off and I hear a faint gagging noise. Reaching for my gun, I slowly make my way through the rooms – following a god-awful smell – until I find Jessa half-naked on the bathroom floor.
Jesus! Had he – Stanley – come back?
“Shade!” She moans. “I’m sorry.”
I kneel beside her and hold her in my arms, “What happened?”
Looking around frantically for blood, I realize the smell is vomit.
“I started to get ready, but then I got sick,” her voice sounds strained. “I haven’t been like this since I carried Danny.”
My breath leaves me and I hold her tighter. Last month, Jessa and I decided to start trying for another baby. Apparently, I’m really good at knocking her up.
“Yeah?” I grin down at her, leaning in for a kiss until the smell brings me up short. “Um, let’s just get you into the shower.”
I help her remove the rest of her clothes and get her onto the bench in the shower before turning the water on, stepping out long enough to toss my now dirty clothes in the tub with hers.
Instead of a fancy dinner, I wash vomit from her body and her hair.
Instead of getting down on my knees in a restaurant full of people, I ask her to marry me as she’s cradled beside me on the bed.
Instead of two days and nights burying myself deep inside my Ol’ Lady, I spend them holding her hair back when she’s sick and keeping her hydrated.
My life is pretty fucking perfect.
It will be about 6-9 months before I get back to the Northern Grizzlies, but I have quite a few other stories planned in the meanwhile! (Don’t worry: Royce will get his story.)
Already out:
Jasper: Northern Grizzlies MC (Book 1)
Flint: Northern Grizzlies MC (Book 2)
Gunner: Northern Grizzlies MC (Book 3)
Charlie: Northern Grizzlies MC (Book 4)
Michaels: Northern Grizzlies MC (Book 5)
Betsy: Northern Grizzlies MC (Book 6)
If you liked this, and even if you just want to leave constructive criticism, could you please leave a review on Amazon? Alternatively, my email is [email protected] – I’ll try to answer within a couple days! My Facebook page is M. Merin and my newsletter is http://eepurl.com/dpHl9T
Thank you, Merin
A big thank you to Elisa Leigh, my husband,
and countless bloggers & readers.
