Rough & Real

by Hayley Faiman

  “Can I just say that we would be related, and I would love that? Plus, the kids they would make would be absolutely gorgeous,” I announce.

  Mary-Anne laughs huskily and nods. “No freaking, shit.”

  “Maybe one day…”

  “Yeah,” she whispers.

  We let the conversation die, and turn back to the rest of the group. No matter how cute they would be together, it can’t happen, at least not anytime soon. He needs to mature a hell of a lot more before I let him anywhere near my sweet girl. Rosalie has been through too much in the past couple of weeks to even think about boys—let alone Bailey Duhart.

  Hacker looks up at me and grunts. I know what that means, he’s got fucking nothing. None of us has a damn thing and it’s frustrating as hell.

  My wife and daughter were threatened and I can’t even protect them. I can’t find out who the fuck called me. I feel helpless and fucking useless.

  “I need some fresh air,” I mutter.

  I don’t wait for a response, turning away from the group of men that have been helping. Walking outside I let the brisk breeze surround me and tip my head toward the sunshine. I bring my hand to the back of my neck and try to ease a little tension.

  “It’s the unknown. It’s fucking stressful,” Soar announces, as the door to the clubhouse slams closed behind him.

  I let out a grunt in agreement. It is fucking stressful, not knowing when, how, why or where harm could come to my family.

  “No shit,” I mumble.

  We stand in silence outside. My eyes just scan the area, unsure of what I’m looking for, if anything. I feel like a caged animal. I need to get the fuck out. I need to do something. I’m antsy and working out then fucking my wife, did very little to take the edge off. I don’t know that anything would actually calm me down at this point.

  I hear the sound of pipes blaring in the silent parking area and my back stiffens as I automatically turn toward them. “I thought everybody was already here?” I mutter.

  “Me too,” Soar agrees.

  The two of us start to walk toward the lone bike. He stops his bike, kicking his stand down. My eyes don’t leave his, as he removes his helmet. It doesn’t take me long to figure out who it is. The eye patch is telling, although he didn’t have it the last time I saw him, but I know from reports that I’m the one who gifted him with it.

  “What’re you doing here?” I call out.

  He’s wearing his prospect jacket and I find it odd since he hasn’t made an attempt to come back here, since our incident. I beat the fucking shit out of him, causing him to lose his eye, and one would think he wouldn’t ever want to come back. I know I fucking wouldn’t want to show my face again anytime soon.

  Derek shrugs and he looks up at me, his good eye focusing directly on my face. “Do you even give a shit about what you did to me?” he calmly asks.

  I blink glancing over to Soar but his focus is on Derek, and Derek alone. “When you play with fire, you’re bound to get burned, prospect,” I grunt, returning my attention back to him.

  His face starts to turn red and he takes one step closer to me before stopping himself. “You asked me to fuck her with you.” Soar makes a choking sound next to me but I can’t look anywhere but at Derek.

  “I didn’t ask you to fuck my wife in my bedroom,” I growl.

  Derek smirks and it’s cocky as fuck. “Nope, but she did, goddamn begged for my dick.”

  There’s a female’s gasp behind me and I know that it’s Ivy. I reach behind me for my gun but Derek must have already anticipated my move because he lifts his and points it at me. “Don’t even fucking think about it,” he warns. “How should I fuck with you, Camo?”

  My back straightens and my body goes alert. “You’re the one who called me,” I whisper.

  He snorts. “You’re a dumbfuck, Camo. A complete dumbfuck,” he chuckles. “Killing you in front of your wife and daughter is going to be fucking awesome.”

  “Then what’s your plan? You have a whole fucking club here to take you down, and they will,” Torch shouts from behind me.

  Derek shrugs. “It’s easy, Torch. Did you think that I came here completely unprepared?” he asks. Nobody answers, we all just wait for him to continue. “All I have to do is press a button on my cell and your little clubhouse goes… boom,” he laughs.

  I want to ask him how, but he was a prospect and we’ve never stripped him of his cut, which means the other prospects guarding the entrance wouldn’t know not to let him in. Hell, we didn’t even think about it, we all assumed he was too embarrassed to show his face here again.

  “After I fuck them, both, I’m going to whore them out, Camo. Every time some sick fuck pays me to stick his dick in your little girl, I’m going to laugh as I pocket his cash.”

  I growl but Soar wraps his hand around my forearm to keep me from charging after him. “Ivy, go get your kid. We’re going to have a great time together, the three of us.”

  “Don’t do anything stupid, we have him surrounded. He will not leave with your girls,” Soar whispers under his breath.

  I keep my body locked tight, forcing myself not to move, my eyes focused on the barrel of Derek’s gun. I hear rustling behind me then in my peripheral vision, I see Ivy walking past me, Rosalie close behind her. I don’t know if I feel relieved or more anxious about them being so close to this asshole. However, I can’t deny that I like the fact that they’re now in my sight.

  “Now the little one can sit on my lap, and you can hug in close behind me,” Derek says with a sick sounding laugh.

  The fucking pervert.

  Once Ivy and Rosalie are behind him, I shift my eyes to them. My gaze connects with my wife’s and she looks eerily calm. I don’t know why, and I don’t have the time to really decipher her look before Derek barks out a laugh and I feel something sharp pierce my shoulder.

  My knees buckle as I suck in a breath as I go down, slamming against the ground with a cry. I hear screaming in front of me and I lift my head to see what’s happening. I look up just as Ivy’s hand comes down to Derek’s neck. Something in her grip catches the sunlight, glinting, and I watch as the fuck goes down. He grabs ahold of his neck but Ivy’s hands come down on him again.

  Soar rushes forward and reaches into Derek’s pocket while his hands are occupied, trying to stop the flow of blood from his injury. Everything seems to be moving in slow motion as Soar tosses the device away from the action.

  Grease appears out of nowhere and picks Ivy up from behind, dragging her backward and Rosalie, automatically follows. Torch rushes up to Derek and Soar. I close my eyes. They’re safe. My girls are safe.

  I allow my body to relax, knowing that they’re going to be okay.

  My brother wraps his arms around me but it doesn’t comfort me or stop my body from shaking. I’m past trembling. Trembling was when I lifted my hand and shoved a knife into Derek’s neck, twice. I didn’t know what else to do. He was going to do unspeakable things to my baby, and he said he had a bomb. No way in hell was he just going to take us and not detonate that thing.

  All I could imagine was that all of the people I love would be blown to pieces. I couldn’t let that happen. Something inside of me snapped. I grabbed the knife when he sent me inside for Rosalie and I told everybody to run out the back of the clubhouse, just in case.

  “You need to snap the fuck out of it,” Barry shouts, giving me a hard shake.

  My eyes lift to his and I nod once. “B-B-Barry,” I whimper.

  I watch as his face softens and he pulls me into his arms for a hug. “You’re okay, Ivy. Everybody is okay,” he murmurs.

  It’s a lie.

  West isn’t okay. I heard the gun go off and I watched him fall to the ground. I allow my brother to comfort me for just a moment though, allowing myself to be lulled into the false security that he’s offering me. As soon as I take a step back, reality will come crashing down on me.

  “Go to Rosalie, now,” Barry states.

  Ta
king a step back from him, I look into his eyes and I give him a nod. Without a word, I turn slightly and I look at Rosalie. Her focus is on what I assume is her father’s body. I don’t want to think about that yet, about what his fate is. He isn’t standing and wrapping me in his arms, so I can only assume it’s for one reason, and one reason only.

  “Mom,” Rosalie cries when I wrap my arms around her and force her head into my neck, turning her back to the scene before us. “Dad’s not moving,” she breathes.

  My eyes close for a beat before I open them. I lock my gaze on West’s unmoving body and my heart starts to slam even harder in my chest. He’s not moving and I know that his brothers are rushing around us doing everything they need to, but my focus is on him, and him alone.

  “He’s going to be all right,” I lie. Her body trembles as I hold her, careful not to get Derek’s blood all over her.

  I watch as Torch rolls my husband’s lifeless body over and searches for a pulse. It feels like this whole ordeal has been going on for hours instead of mere minutes. I wait for him to say something, anything, but he doesn’t. He looks up at me and gives me a sad smile, then I hear the sirens.

  The club never calls an ambulance—not ever.

  My brother shuffles Rosalie into his arms and I look up at him. “Go to him, Ivy. Me and Serina got the kids. We’ll meet you at the hospital,” he murmurs.

  I nod as my feet carry me toward my husband. Torch looks up at me from his position, which is still kneeling at his side. “He’s breathing,” he murmurs. It’s too much for me, the entire situation. I fall to my knees. Covering my mouth with my hand, I let out a sob. “He’ll be okay, it looks pretty clean, babe.”

  “No more,” I whisper.

  “Ivy?”

  I reach out and wrap my fingers in Torch’s shirt, tugging him closer to me. “No fucking more,” I grind out. “Enough.” I know I’m not making any sense, but I don’t care.

  Torch wraps his hand around mine and he gives me a squeeze. “Okay, babe. No more,” he agrees.

  The ambulance arrives and they bring out a stretcher. I watch in horror as my husband is loaded on and strapped down. I don’t even ask if I can ride along, I climb up inside of the back and sit down across from him.

  My knees bounce as I wait for the driver to load up. The man sitting next to me doesn’t say anything as the vehicle starts to drive out of the club.

  “You look pretty pale, you’re not gonna pass out, are you?” he finally asks as we drive through the mountains.

  I shake my head, unable to look away from West. “I’ll be okay,” I mutter.

  “You’re covered in blood,” he announces.

  I look down at my hands, arms, and shirt. My legs start to bounce a little harder. I am covered in blood. Derek’s blood. I can’t tell them that though, in fact, I didn’t even see his body there when we left. I have a feeling they moved it and will take care of his remains themselves. I’m not sure I want to know how, either.

  “I am.”

  “Who shot him?” he asks dipping his chin to West’s body.

  Pressing my lips together I look from West to the EMT, then back to West again before I answer. “I don’t know.”

  “Seriously?” he snorts. “He’s in a motorcycle gang, don’t bullshit me.”

  Tipping my head to the side. I open my mouth to rip this guy a new asshole when the ambulance stops and the doors are pulled open. I’m glad for it, I don’t really have the energy at this point to get into it with some snot-nosed EMT who looks old enough to be my kid.

  I hop down from the ambulance and run after the stretcher, but as soon as it disappears through a set of doors, I’m stopped in my tracks. “Sorry ma’am you can’t go in there,” someone in scrubs tells me.

  “That’s my husband,” I state calmly.

  He shakes his head. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to stay out here. We have some paperwork for you to fill out though.” I watch him walk away and he returns just a few seconds later with a clipboard and a pen. He guides me over to an empty chair and I sit down.

  I don’t even know what I’m doing as I fill this paperwork out. It’s as though I’m on autopilot. I’m just writing information down, and thankfully, I know the answer to every question they’re asking. Once I’m finished, I hear a commotion and I look up to see Barry, my children, and the rest of the club run through the emergency room doors.

  “I have to get this back to the nurses’ station,” I whisper. Serina takes it from my hand without a word and walks away with it. “Did anybody call West’s mom and sisters?” I ask.

  “Already on it, Ivy,” Barry murmurs.

  The nurse from earlier walks over to us and announces that there’s a waiting room ready for our large group. We follow him, but I’m in a complete daze. Reid flings his arm around my waist and holds onto me as we walk.

  “Let’s get you cleaned up,” Mary-Anne whispers as she wraps her hand around mine. Reid falls away from me and she guides me toward the bathroom. “I grabbed an extra shirt for you before we left the clubhouse. I figured you would want out of that one,” she rambles.

  I whisper a thanks, as I turn the water on at the sink. I use the shitty foaming soap and start to rub it all over my arms. Mary-Anne tugs my shirt over my body and then grabs a paper towel and wets it before she starts to clean my neck and face off. I’m too scared to actually look in the mirror, so I keep my gaze down on my arms.

  “Here,” she whispers, shoving a wad of dry paper towels at me. I quickly dry off before taking the plain black T-shirt she offers and pulling it over my body. Only then do I glance at myself in the mirror. I look pale and scared. “He’s going to be okay,” Mary-Anne whispers.

  I look at her through the reflection of the mirror and my bottom lip trembles. “I won’t be able to survive if he leaves me. I thought I could when we weren’t doing so well, but if he leaves me forever, I won’t make it, Mary,” I whisper as tears begin to fall down my cheeks.

  Mary-Anne grabs ahold of my shoulders and spins me to face her. She looks serious and almost lethal before she speaks. “Listen up, Ivy. Stop it, dammit. West is going to be fine. Nothing will happen to him. If you freak the fuck out, then your kids will freak the fuck out,” she announces. “You are an Old Lady, now fucking act like it.”

  My trembling lips turn into a shaky smile and I can’t help but let out a little laugh. “You’re scary when you get all badass,” I whisper.

  “Damn straight,” she nods. “Now, suck in a deep breath, let it out, and let’s get the fuck out there to your kids. They need you.”

  “They do,” I admit.

  I do as she demands and I inhale deeply before I let it all out. I have to admit the calming breath does just that, calms me. I follow behind her and walk out of the bathroom, my shirt free of blood as is the rest of me.

  I ignore everyone’s glances and walk straight over to my children. Reid is sitting between Rosalie and Remi. Reaching down I pick him up and sit down where he was, rearranging him to sit in my lap. Reid lays his head on my chest and I feel his body relax. Remi wraps his hand around mine and Rosalie does the same with the other.

  “Dad’s a mountain, Mom. He’s going to be okay,” Remi announces. My ten-year-old little man, he knows just what to say. I squeeze his hand and close my eyes.

  I’m thankful that the room stays quiet while my body comes down from the adrenaline rush it has experienced. I don’t even realize that West’s family has arrived, or that Torch and the other men are keeping everybody away from the kids and me. I’m thankful for the peace and quiet.

  “Mom,” Rosalie whispers.

  I glance down at her and she looks at me, almost as if more of her is broken and I hate it. “Did you love Derek?” she asks. My heart stops beating in my chest at her question.

  “Why would you think that?”

  She shrugs and glances down at her lap. “I know you guys stayed up late and talked a lot. He was around a lot, and then he was just gone.”


  “The only man I have ever loved is your father,” I truthfully state. “I may have had a small crush on Derek, but it was nothing more and nothing became of it,” I lie.

  She lets out a sigh of relief and lays her head on my shoulder just as someone in scrubs walks into the room. I don’t wait for him to call out West’s name. I hop to my feet, placing Reid on his own, and with all three of my children at my side, we rush over to the waiting doctor.

  “I’m West’s wife,” I announce as soon as I’m right in front of him.

  He looks down at me with a small smile. “He’s going to be okay. It was a clean through-and-through. He lost quite a bit of blood so we did a transfusion, but he’s all stitched up and should be awake soon,” he explains.

  “When can I see him?” I practically beg.

  The doctor looks down at the kids and then back up at me. “One at a time until he’s in his regular room. I can take you back now.”

  Serina and Barry appear at my side and Barry lifts his chin. “Go, we got them,” he grumbles. “Their grandma has been hangin’ on pins and needles to give them hugs, anyway,” he chuckles. Barry shuffles the kids away and I follow behind the doctor.

  I grunt as I roll my head from side-to-side. My fucking shoulder hurts like a motherfucker. The first thing I notice before I even open my eyes is the smell. I know exactly where I am, and then the events from earlier rush through me. My heart starts to race and my eyes pop open.

  Something squeezes my hand and I suck in a breath as I look down. The light brown eyes that look back at me are a fucking welcome sight. “Baby,” I rasp.

  “You scared the shit out of me,” she whispers.

  The room is dark, I don’t know how long I’ve been out or what time it is, but I don’t care. All I care about is my woman sitting right in front of me, safe.

  I shake my hand from her tight grasp and cup her cheek, feeling her soft skin beneath my fingers. “You killed him,” I whisper.

  “I wasn’t going to let him take my baby,” she replies gently.