by T. O. Smith
And now he was searching for someone to fight with, and I knew that someone was going to be me.
I loved Ink, but if there was one thing that I knew about him, it was that he was destructive once he got past his breaking point.
"Why can't you just do what you're fucking told, Reina?" He demanded. I swallowed thickly. "You wouldn't even be in this predicament if you had just listened to me fucking five years ago."
I flinched back from his words, tears springing to my eyes. Even though I had been expecting the fight, I hadn't expected such hateful words from his mouth. That was a low blow, even for him. "Woah, brother, back off." Ghost said, standing up and moving in front of me protectively. "I know you're pissed for whatever reason, but she's not the one to take it out on."
"Oh, so now you want to play the fucking overprotective brother bit?" Ink snarled at Ghost. "You can get fucked. You don't give a shit about your fucking sister, Ghost. You never fucking did, and when she got tangled up with Jordan, you were all too willing to turn your back on her." Ink reminded him.
"This shit isn't about me, Ink. I'm trying to save you from saying some shit to her that you'll fucking regret." Ghost barked at him as he clenched his fists at his sides.
"If she would just fucking learn to listen, no one would be fucking angry with her!" Ink roared at him, shoving my brother back. He narrowly missed falling on me with the force that Ink had shoved him with.
Ghost quickly caught himself and swung his fist out at Ink. Ink dodged, sending a fist at my brother's face in return. I shrieked and jumped up from the couch. "Ink, stop!" I screamed at him. I grabbed his arm, yanking him back from Ghost. "Ink, that's enough!" I yelled.
He ripped himself away from me, and Sabotage gripped his arm, pulling him back from me. Ink glared down at me, fury lighting up his blue-eyed gaze. "Learn your fucking place, Reina." He snarled at me. "You don't get fucking involved in a fight, and you fucking do as your told." He snarled down at me.
Tears leaked down my face, and I saw the moment he registered what the fuck was actually happening, and his face softened as he stepped towards me. I shook my head at him as I crossed my arms over my chest in a defensive gesture, guarding myself against him. Sabotage held Ink back from me when he saw me shake my head. I tilted my chin up at Ink defiantly.
"If that's the kind of woman you expect me to be, then you're fucking mistaken." I told him calmly, my voice shaking with my hurt and tears. Ink opened his mouth to speak, but I continued, not giving him a chance to. "I'm not one of your whores, Ink. I'm your equal, and until you understand and respect that, then we're done. I bowed down to a man before, and I won't fucking do it again."
"Reina, sweetheart -" he started, but I shook my head as I turned to look at Johnny.
"Get me out of here, please." I choked out.
He nodded and led me out of the club house, both of us ignoring Ink shouting for me to wait, that he was sorry, and the last words I heard before the shut door behind me and Johnny was Ink shouting at Sabotage to fucking get off of him.
Johnny handed me a bottle of water and a bowl of spaghetti that he had heated up. "Mom dropped this off earlier." He informed me. "I know you're probably not all that hungry, but you need to eat something."
"Mom?" I asked him, my voice sounding small to my own ears.
He nodded. "She copes by still making food for me. I can cook and take care of myself, but it helps her to still feel like someone needs her, so I let her have access to my house so she can cook, clean – whatever she feels she needs to do." He shrugged.
I swallowed down the lump in my throat. "How bad is she?" I asked quietly.
Johnny sighed. "She has some good days, and then she has some really fucking horrible days. She'd do better if she took her medication every day, but it's a fight with her to get her to do that. She starts having good days, and she thinks she doesn't need it. Then she goes on a downwards spiral."
Before I could respond, the doorbell rang. Ghost sighed at the same time I shot my panicked gaze to his. He shook his head at me. "It won't be Ink. He would be pounding on the door and shouting your name if it was him. Sabotage informed me they've got him on lock down at the clubhouse until you're ready to see him." He assured me.
Ghost went to the front door, and a moment later, I heard arguing. "She's my fucking daughter, kid!" I heard our dad shout at Ghost.
"You fucking disowned her the moment she left town." Ghost snapped at him. "She's going through enough shit without you adding yourself to the fucking mix."
"So, she thinks she can just show back up in this town like nothing fucking happened?" Dad barked. "She ruined this family, Ghost. It took me two years to make the rumors of her and that disgusting boy to go away. You need to make her leave. I won't have her tainting my reputation when I'm trying to run for mayor. Get rid of her."
"Get down!" Ghost shouted at the same time gun shots rang out. I heard glass shatter as I dove for the floor, covering my head. Remembering what Ink had taught me, I low crawled for cover behind the couch and ducked down, pulling my phone out to call the one man I knew would always go above and beyond to protect me, no matter what was happening between us.
"Reina?" Ink asked when he answered. "Sweet girl - fuck, where are you?!" He shouted when he registered the gunshots going off.
"Ghost's." I managed to get out.
"Stay down, Reina." He demanded. "We're on your way, alright? SABOTAGE!" He roared. "We need to go! Ghost and Reina are being attacked! We're on our way, sweet girl. Stay down, and stay strong, you got that? We'll be there soon." Ink assured me.
He hung up the phone a moment later. I could vaguely make out Ghost's returning gunshots through the sound of the automatic weapons. Suddenly, the shots stopped, and I held my breath, straining my ears for any sound of movement.
"Fuck, Reina?" Ghost whispered as he rushed around the back of the couch where I was hiding.
I launched myself into his arms. He held me tightly, his heart thumping wildly in his chest. "They didn't leave." He told me quietly, his voice barely audible. "I sent a message to Sabotage for help. Dad got shot in the back of the head. He didn’t get down in time."
I didn’t feel much remorse for our dad. He’d never been much of a parent to begin with. "Ink is on his way." I whispered.
I heard boots thumping across the floor and the sound of men talking amongst themselves. Right as the boots got close to the couch, I could hear the rumble of engines. I was hoping and praying that it was the Savage Crows that tore into Ghost's yard. I heard the sound of gunshots, and the men in the house shouting obscenities.
"It's fucking over!" Sabotage shouted from outside, and I almost collapsed against Ghost in relief. He rubbed my back as we stayed hidden behind the couch. "You'll either die in that fucking house, or you'll die out here in the fucking yard. You fuckers are surrounded!"
"Stay down." Ghost whispered in my ear.
He pulled his gun out of his cut and eased out from behind the couch slightly. He popped off two quick shots. I heard the sickening thud of two bodies hitting the floor. He quickly ducked back behind the couch as gunshots rang out again.
"One of the brothers will call out when it's safe." Ghost told me over the sound of the automatic weapons firing off rounds.
I nodded in understanding, fearing not only for my own life, but for Ink’s as well. I knew he was out there in the open with the rest of the Savage Crows men.
Please be careful. I silently begged him.
The gun shots died down, and a few moments later, I heard the sound of more boots stepping on the hardwood floor of Ghost’s house and crunching over shattered glass. "All clear!" Grim shouted a moment later.
Ghost shoved the couch forward and stood up, helping me up from the floor. He quickly stepped out of Ink's way as Ink stormed over to us. "Fuck." Ink whispered as he wrapped his arms around me tightly, squeezing me against his frame as I sobbed, tightly wrapping my arms around his waist and burying my face against his chest.
<
br /> "You're okay." Ink whispered as he tilted my face up to press kisses to my forehead, cheeks, lips, anywhere he could reach. "Fuck, sweet girl, you're okay. I'm so fucking sorry - sorry for everything." He apologized. “I’ll never fucking let you down like that again – I fucking swear.”
"Get me out of here." I choked out.
Without another word, Ink lifted me up into his arms and strode out of the destroyed house with me in his arms.
I looked up from my phone as the club house doors opened, Reina and Ink walking through the doors with their baby swaddled in a blue blanket. All of us erupted in cheers and congratulations. Reina hadn't had a smooth pregnancy. She'd had a lot of complications, and I eventually had been forced to pull Ink off the road so he could be home with her.
The woman had gone through a hell of a lot, but she'd come out on top. She was strong and fearless, and she knew how to keep Ink in line. She was honestly the best woman for my Road Captain, and I knew every man in my club would go above and beyond to protect her.
She'd had my vote as Ink's old lady from the fucking moment she showed back up on Savage Crows' territory, and as expected, every man followed in line. She quickly won over everyone.
I watched as Izzy rushed over to Reina, her grin stretching across her face as she gushed over Elijah. Ink laughed at something Thor said as they clapped each other on the back. I kept my eyes locked on Izzy, watching her beautiful smile as she got to hold Elijah in her arms.
"Staring at her won't make her yours." Blink commented as he set a beer in front of me.
I grunted as I took a swig from the cold beverage, ripping my eyes away from Izzy's curvy figure to look up at my dad. "Don't know what the fuck you're talking about, old man." I retorted.
Blink barked out a laugh. "Kid, you look at her the exact same way I look at Lindsey and the way Ink looks at Reina. You want her as your own. Don’t know what the fuck is holding you back.”
"Izzy doesn't need a man of this club as her old man, Blink. She's been through enough shit." I reminded him as I remembered how she had shown up to my clubhouse. Rage still pulsed through my veins as I pictured that day in my mind.
Blink shook his head. "You fucking boys are as stubborn as they fucking come, I tell you. You're going to learn to start letting these women decide what they want instead of deciding for them. You've been staring after her ever since she passed out in front of our gates two years ago. It's time to either make a fucking move or cut your losses and move on. Your choice, son."
With that, he walked away, going over to congratulate Ink on Elijah and give Reina a hug. With a shake of my head, I looked back over at Izzy only to catch her already looking at me. She bit her bottom lip and quickly looked away, her cheeks tinting red.
I readjusted myself in my seat, cursing under my breath. My cock was hard as fuck for her.
Fuck, I both loved and hated when she bit her lip.
Ink strode over to me, his eyes sliding over to Izzy before they slid back to me as he took a seat at the table with me. "You hitting that finally?" He asked me.
What the fuck was it with everyone tonight?
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Watch yourself, brother." I snarled.
Ink shrugged as he leaned back in his chair. He looked tired as hell. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his beard had grown well past a five o'clock shadow. He'd shaved it a few months ago, and had normally been keeping it shaved, but I guess the last couple of months had just worn him down.
"How are you feeling, brother?" I asked him.
Ink looked over at his old lady, a small smile stretching his lips. It was a strange, but nice change to see Ink so content and chilled. "Fucking tired, man, but it's all worth it. The second Elijah was born, I was fucking hooked, Sabotage."
I'm not going to lie, for a while there I was worried that I was going to have to rip Ink of his patch and his cut. But after having a few choice words with his sperm donor, I'd kept his past away from him. And once we dealt with the Angels of Hell at Ghost's place, things had been pretty quiet for the club as well as for Reina.
Which meant Ink finally got his head back in the right fucking place.
Reina strode over to us, smiling at me in greeting as she did so. Ink took Elijah from her, cradling the infant in his arms. Fatherhood actually looked really good on him.
"Sabotage, meet Elijah." He introduced right as Elijah opened his eyes, looking up at his dad before he looked around the room, those striking blue eyes meeting mine.
"Fuck, man, he looks like you. It's a bit alarming." I laughed, knowing that Elijah wasn’t biologically his child. I guess it helped that they were still blood related, though.
Ink shrugged as Izzy came over to us, whisking Reina away to go open some gifts for Elijah. "Brother, just fucking talk to her." Ink spoke up, making me rip my eyes from Izzy’s curvaceous figure again.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Not your business, brother." I retorted, reminding him of his place.
Ink shrugged. "The others may not notice it, Sabotage, but I've got a keen fucking eye, and you know that. I notice the way you look at her. If you want her, go after her."
"Izzy's been through enough shit without one of us trying to fucking claim her, Ink." I grumbled.
Ink rolled his eyes at me. "Honestly, brother, Reina probably has, too, but being a part of this club as my old lady has brought Reina more peace than you would fucking think. Izzy has been here for two years with nothing holding her down to this club. She's been free to leave here at any point, and she hasn't because this is safety and security to her, brother. Think about that next time before you go spouting some bullshit about her not needing this club. She may need it a hell of a lot more than you or anyone else thinks."
With that, Ink got up, leaving me to ponder over his words.
I swear, sometimes I wondered why Ink wasn't the Chaplain instead of Ghost. He had a way with words that fucking left you thinking.
But I couldn’t claim Izzy like that. I wasn’t the kind of man for her. She needed someone that was attentive and sweet, and I wasn’t either. I was rough around the edges, and pretty blunt and brutal.
She and I would never work long term.
Shaking my head, I got up with my beer and strode into the chapel, shutting the doors behind me. I sat down in my chair at the head of the table, leaning my head back tiredly.
A knock sounded on the chapel doors. Sitting upright in my chair again, I shouted for the person to come in. I figured it had to be one of the club girls or one of prospects because one of the patches would have just barged the door open.
"Sabotage?" Izzy asked as she opened the door, sliding into the room and shutting the door back behind her.
"What's up?" I asked her gruffly as I sat up fully, giving her my undivided attention.
She swallowed nervously before she pulled her phone out of her pocket and strode over to me, handing me her phone. I arched an eyebrow at her in question, not looking down at the phone yet. "I need some help." She said quietly.
I looked down at her phone to see a text message.
Prison couldn't hold me forever, sweetheart. Your old room is still here waiting for you.
There was picture beneath the text of a room that looked more like a prison cell than a bedroom. The walls and floor were concrete, and there weren't any windows. And just like a prison cell, it had a toilet in the room. A shower was beside the toilet. There was absolutely no privacy for Izzy in that room.
Rage coursed through my veins, tinting my vision red momentarily before I reigned my temper in. "What the fuck is this, Izzy?" I demanded as I stood up, tossing her phone onto the table.
"It's a long story, Sabotage." She said timidly, her gaze locked on the floor.
I pulled out a chair, pointing to it. "Good thing I don't have shit to do right now. Time to start talking, darlin'." I told her, my voice rough.
I wanted to murder whoever had sent that fucking message to her.
Whoever fucking hurt
her was going to meet their maker - and fucking soon.
You didn’t fuck with Izzy and live to tell the fucking story.
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