Soon, he would take his last breath, and I knew it was for the best.
The world would be a better place without Jenkins, and I would finally be able to sleep peacefully.
Blood isn't always thicker than water.
*
Chapter Seventeen
Brinks
“Have I mentioned how nice it is that the Fallen Lords are able to have such a nice relationship with Leo?” Pipe leaned his chair back and spread a blanket over his lap.
“I wouldn’t get used to flying like this,” Slayer laughed. “I don’t think Leo will be lending out his jet for Fallen Lords vacations.”
Pipe closed his eyes and sighed. “Whatever. I’ll just appreciate the good life now.”
Cora snuggled into me and sighed contently. We had just boarded the private jet that was going to take us back to Weston, and Cora had knocked out before the doors had shut.
“You think she’s okay?” Slayer asked.
I looked down at Cora. “She seems okay physically.”
I wasn’t so sure about her mentally, though. I had asked her if he or anyone else had done something to her, and she insisted she was fine. Jenkins had only roughed her up a little on the way there, and one time, Susie had laid her hands on her. That right there took away any doubt I had about killing Susie. She touched Cora, and she died for it.
“Any news from Wrecker?” Slayer asked Pipe.
Pipe pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Nothing yet. I’m assuming Jenkins hasn’t even crossed the Illinois border yet. I’m betting we’ll be back before he gets to the clubhouse.”
That's what I wanted to happen. We had a two-and-a-half hour flight, and then, we would be back home.
The flight attendant came around to make sure we were ready for takeoff, and then, we were in the air. She came back to see if we needed anything, and of course, Pipe and Slayer took full advantage of Leo’s private jet.
“You hear Wrecker tried to call Warrior and Snapper the other day, but he couldn’t get in touch with them?” Pipe opened a bag of potato chips and popped one in his mouth. “He was wanting to get a few prospects in and figured those two would be best seeing as they were prospects for a bit.”
“They join another club?” I asked.
Pipe shook his head. “Not any that we can figure out. It’s like they just up and disappeared.”
“How bad is it that I can’t even remember what they look like?” Slayer laughed.
I brushed Cora’s hair from her face. “Not that bad seeing as I can’t remember either.”
“We’ll have to start looking for new members.” Pipe hit the call button for the flight attendant.
“What the hell do you need now?” Slayer chuckled.
The flight attendant walked out from the cockpit with a smile on her face. “Is there something else I can get you, Mr. Pipe?”
Even I couldn’t help but laugh. Mr. Pipe? Jesus Christ.
“You wouldn’t by chance have some French onion dip, would you? These chips could use a little something.” Pipe help up a chip and examined it. “Or maybe even some ranch.”
“I’ll see what I can find.” She walked back to the front of the plane and turned into the small kitchen.
Slayer shook his head. “You know Leo is going to bill you for all of the food you’re eating, right?”
“Bullshit,” Pipe yelled. “He sure as shit better not. Not after all of the shit we do for him.”
“I think you have that the wrong way,” I chuckled. Leo seemed to be the one who was always bailing us out of tight spots. I was going to forever be indebted to Leo for letting us not only borrow his plane but for helping us figure out where Cora was.
The flight attendant came back with a bowl and another bag of chips. “We did have some ranch, and I noticed your bag was getting low, Mr. Pipe.”
Pipe grabbed the bowl like he was some uppity and sniffed the contents. “It’ll do. Thank you.”
“Can I get you gentlemen anything?” she asked Slayer and me.
Slayer asked for coffee and any food that wouldn’t be a hassle for her to make. He was also enjoying the good life of being on a private plane but being much humbler.
“Can I get another blanket?” I planned on Cora sleeping the whole way back and didn’t want her to catch a chill or anything. “And a beer?”
Pipe shook his finger at me. “Yes! Now that's what I’m talking about! Beers all around.”
Even the flight attendant couldn’t keep her professional demure up. She laughed and nodded to Pipe. “A round of beer. You’ve got it, Mr. Pipe.”
She headed back to the front of the plane, and Slayer scrubbed his hand down his face. “Do you think you could rein it in until we get back to the clubhouse?”
“I’ve got two hours to act like a rich bastard, okay?” Pipe shoved a handful of chips in his mouth. “Let me live.”
Slayer tossed up his hands. “Yuck it up now because you know Nikki isn’t going to put up with that shit.”
Pipe flipped him off, and they bickered back and forth.
Cora’s eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at me. “Everything okay?” she whispered.
“Just those two idiots going back and forth.”
Cora sighed and closed her eyes. “I never thought I would see the day where I was happy to hear those two argue with each other.”
“You saying you missed the clubhouse?”
She reached up and patted my cheek. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“How far would you go?” I knew living at the clubhouse wasn’t what she wanted for the rest of her life.
She tipped her head back and opened her eyes. “I missed you, Brinks. You were the thing I missed the most. Everything means nothing without you.”
I leaned down pressed a kiss to her lips. “I love you, Cora.”
She smiled sleepily. “I told you not to fall in love with me, Brinks.”
“And I told you the same thing.”
She closed her eyes and snuggled back into me. “We both failed.”
*
Chapter Eighteen
Cora
Alice folded her arms over her chest and glared at me.
“What?” I demanded. I had just been kidnapped, and she was glaring at me like I ran over her dog or something.
“You know damn well what I’m pissed about.” She tapped her foot and continued to glare at me.
Karmen sat down next to me with Cole in her arms. “She still hasn’t told you why she’s pissed?”
I shook my head and kicked up my feet on the coffee table. “Somehow I managed to piss her off when I wasn’t even here.”
We had gotten back to the clubhouse four hours ago, and ten minutes after that, I had showered, packed a bag, and headed to a house I had never been to before. All of the girls were there along with Nickel and Maniac, while the rest of the guys were back at the clubhouse preparing for war.
Brinks draped his arm over my shoulder and pulled me close. He said he wasn’t ready to leave my side yet.
I had to agree with him. Having Brinks touching me was the best thing on Earth. All the nights we spent together I hadn’t appreciated then, but now, they meant the world to me.
“Why don’t you sit down and take a load off,” Maniac suggested. “I don’t think standing and staring at Cora for half an hour is healthy for the baby.”
Alice turned her glare on Maniac for a second. “I don’t think you are involved in what is going on here.”
Maniac tipped his head to the side. “I’m pretty sure you’re the only one involved in what is going on because no one knows why you’re glaring at Cora.”
“Are we allowed in the kitchen?” Carnie called. “Cause it’s a bombass kitchen, and I want to play in it.”
“Do you think she needs to get her head examined?” Nikki asked. “I mean, I don’t mind cooking at all, but I can damn sure tell you that I don’t want to play in the kitchen. Cook it and eat it. That’s how I roll.”
“Hey,” Nickel interrupted. “If Carnie wants to get all excited about a kitchen and wants to cook a five-course meal, I’m down with it. Don’t pop that chick’s balloon and have her stop cooking for us.”
Karmen raised her hand. “I second that.” She patted her stomach and sighed. “A lady asked me how far along I was the other day. I think she about fainted when I told her it was just a food baby.”
Alice pointed to her stomach. “I should tell people that when they want to touch my belly.”
Raven exploded with laughter. “Could you imagine that? Someone starts rubbing your bell and you straight face asked them why they want to rub your food baby. Dying,” Raven wheezed.
“That’s it,” Alice announced. “I am totally doing that. I hope Wrecker is with me the first time I say it.” Thankfully, she was done glaring at me and was now laughing with Raven.
I leaned into Brinks and laid my head on his shoulder.
“You good?” he asked softly.
I nodded. He had asked me if I was all right at least fifty times since he had rescued me from the shack. Right now, it wasn’t annoying, but I knew I was going to get sick of it quickly. “Better than I was this morning.”
“Babe,” Brinks laughed.
“Fine, fine,” I grumbled. “I’m fantastic.”
“Wait,” Alice called. “I’m still mad at you.” She pointed at me and plastered her glare on me.
“Hell,” Karmen laughed. “I thought for sure she had been distracted enough that she was going to let this shit drop.”
“Would you just get to where you tell us all why you’re mad at her?” Nickel demanded.
“You know,” Alice growled. “I’m pretty sure this is a Girl Gang meeting, and you three aren’t patched-in members.”
“We never did get jackets,” Karmen pointed out. “Who do I talk to about that?”
“I think we’re here to make sure none of you get kidnapped,” Nickel pointed out. “But if you want us to leave so you can talk about jackets and kittens, then we can bounce.”
“No one mentioned kittens, Nickel,” Alice snapped.
“I’ve been trying to talk Clash into letting me get a kitten,” Raven muttered. “I found a cute little black one at the humane society and I want to call him ‘darkness.’”
Alice pointed her finger at Raven. “Get him. It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it is for permission.”
Karmen raised her hand. “Vote on it, ladies.’
We all raised out hands, and a chorus of “aye” went up.
“What the fuck just happened?” Brinks whispered.
“Gang vote,” I explained.
He tilted his head to the side, and his right eye twitched. “You just voted for Raven to get a cat and not tell Clash about it?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“That isn’t how this works.” Brinks sat back in the couch. “That’s not how any of this works.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, please. Like you guys don’t vote on stuff all of the time.”
“Back to why I’m glaring at Cora,” Alice interrupted.
“We’re gonna talk about this later,” Brinks muttered.
I gave him a thumbs up. We so weren’t going to talk about this later. Later, Brinks and I were going to catch up on all of the hot, sweaty sex I had missed the past few weeks.
“Who here knew she was knocking boots with Brinks?” Alice called.
No one raised their hand.
Damn straight. I was damn good at keeping my shit private if I didn’t want anyone to know.
Wren popped a piece of gum in her mouth. “For a brief second, I thought he was gay.” She glanced over at Maniac. “And I thought that was hot as hell.”
“Wren!” Maniac gasped.
“What?” she retorted. “I’m pregnant, and I don’t know which way is up at the moment. I’m pretty sure if hot dogs started shooting out of your wiener, I would think it was hot.”
“A wiener shooting wieners,” Alice pondered.
Brinks raised his hand. “For the record, I’m not gay, though there isn’t anything wrong with being gay, I just am not a fan of wieners, whether or not they shoot wieners.”
Karmen leaned forward and hit Brinks’ hand. “You can’t raise your hand. You’re not part of the gang.”
Brinks kept his hand up. “Well, when the gang is talking about my wiener, then I have a say.”
“We’re not talking about your wiener, per say. I just thought for a second that you liked wieners with your wiener.” Wren tipped her head to the side. “I really need to stop thinking about wieners right now.”
“Yeah, you do.” Maniac wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. “Seeing as you’re pregnant by my wiener.”
“So many wieners,” I muttered.
“Only one wiener you need to be worrying about, babe,” Brinks whispered in my ear.
“Anyway,” Alice drawled. “We didn’t know you two were knocking boots.”
I waited for more, but that was all she had. “You’re mad because you didn’t know Brinks and I were a thing?”
Alice nodded and hooked her thumbs in the straps of her cow print overalls. “Exactly.”
“I didn’t know I had to report what wiener I was liking.”
Alice shrugged. “It’s part of the code. We solemnly swear to always be there for any of the gang.”
“And…” I drawled. I don’t know where that meant I needed to tell the gang who I was banging.
“It’s in the bylaws,” Nikki explained.
“Bylaws?” Nickel chuckled. “Do you even know what that means?”
“Of course, she does,” Karmen shouted. “It means we need to know who Cora is banging.”
Maniac sat back in his chair and sighed. “The Girl Gang is so fucked.”
“Hey,” all the girls shouted in unison.
Brinks pulled me close and pressed his lips to my ear. “Can we go to bed now?”
I glanced over my shoulder. “What is that?” I laughed. “The sixth or seventh time you’ve asked me that?”
He pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I lost count. I didn’t have you for almost a month. I’m not going to wait any longer.”
“We’re going to bed,” I called. I was still close to Brinks, and I had a front row seat to watch the sexy smirk spread across his mouth.
“I’m glad you see things my way, babe.”
I more than saw things his way.
Brinks rose off the couch and brought me with him. “I’ll take third watch,” he grunted at Maniac.
“Right,” Maniac drawled. “Pretty sure I’d have better luck getting Elvis Presley to take third watch.”
“Maniac and I can handle watch tonight.” Nickel nodded to Brinks. “You can help out tomorrow night if we still need it.”
Brinks didn’t argue with that. He grabbed my hand and threaded his fingers through mine. “Let’s go.”
“But we didn’t finish talking about you two hooking up,” Alice protested.
“We’re hooking up, Alice. Is that what you wanted to know?” Brinks asked.
“Uh, well…I, mean…” She gulped and shrugged. “I mean, I guess that’s what I wanted to hear all along.”
“Good.” Brinks raised his hand. “Girl Gang meeting adjourned.”
That sent Alice into a whole new tailspin of sputtering. “You can’t…you don’t…this isn’t yours to…AHHH!” she screamed.
Brinks bent over, planted his shoulder in my stomach, and lifted me over his head.
I loved when he did this.
I was a tough bitch who didn’t put up with anyone’s shit, but being lifted up like I weighed nothing more than a feather and carried around was damn hot.
“Night, ladies!” I called.
Brinks carried me up the stairs and down the hallway to our room. “Hit the light, babe.”
I flipped the switch, and then, I was flying through the air and landed on the bed. “Where are we, by the way?”
/>
Brinks pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on the floor. “One of Leo’s houses.” He reached back and slammed the door shut.
“Leo, huh?” I brushed my hand across the comforter and looked around the room. “I should have known he was a part of this by how fancy this house is. A girl could get used to this type of luxury.”
Brinks planted a knee on the bed. “We can stop talking about Leo now.”
“You’re the one who brought him up,” I pointed out.
“All I did was answer your question, babe.”
I rose up on my knees and wrapped my arm around Brinks’ neck. “How about we stop talking with our mouths and have our bodies do the talking?”
He wrapped his arm around my waist and pressed me flush against him. “Now that’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.”
*
Chapter Nineteen
Brinks
Her lips traveled over my neck, and her fingers delved into my short hair.
I planted a hand on her ass, and my other hand pulled her shirt over her head. “You sure you’re okay, babe?”
She nodded and panted against my neck. “I’ve never been better.”
Just this morning, she was being held captive by Jenkins, and now, she was back in bed with me. It was a huge change, and I wanted to make sure I was doing everything I could to make her feel comfortable. “Just tell me to stop whenever you want.”
She laughed and shook her head. “Stop is not in my vocabulary tonight.” She reached up and brushed a hand down my face. “At least, not when it comes to you.”
“It’s gonna be fast and quick, babe. I’ve gone too long without your body under me.” My lips slammed down on hers, and her arms wrapped tightly around me.
I needed to taste her. I needed to feel her body beneath me.
I just needed Cora.
She bucked her hips and nipped my bottom lip. “Then fucking take me.”
It was all arms and legs. Her hands grabbing my clothes, my hand knocking hers away while my other worked on getting her pants off.
Our clothes were soon a pile on the floor, and our naked bodies were a tangled, sweaty mess. My hands just needed to be touching Cora.
Fallen Lords MC: Books 7-9 Page 37
