I climb out of bed, still tender, and walk out of the room and into the kitchen. My most favorite sight in the world greets me. Bates and Stella are sitting at the kitchen table eating pancakes. Stella is talking, and her little girl voice fills the room, but I don’t hear her words. Instead, I’m focused on Bates—more importantly, the way he’s looking at my daughter. His eyes are kind, crinkled around the edges, and he’s focused completely on her. It’s as if what she’s saying are the most important and intriguing words he’s ever heard.
I shuffle my feet and Bates must hear me because his head shifts up a bit. He winks at me as Stella continues her story. I shake my head and continue over to the counter to get myself a cup of coffee, hoping it will cure the little bit of hangover I’m sporting.
“Mommy, Bates says we go shop today,” she squeals. I look over at them in surprise.
“Get dressed, yeah, babe?” he asks, grinning at me.
“What are we shopping for?” I ask in confusion.
“Girlie shit. Now come on, get dressed,” he grumbles. I look at him in confusion before I turn and do as he’s demanded.
I dress in pair of dark blue leggings and a loose fitting white tank top. I know Bates wants to go shopping for girlie shit, but all I want to do is curl up on the sofa and watch sappy movies all day. My everything hurts, and my head is still pounding a little from my slight hangover.
“Ready?” Bates asks, popping his head into our room as I finish throwing my hair into a messy bun on top of my head.
“Yeah,” I say before I yawn.
“How are you feeling?” he asks, sliding his hand around my hips.
“Okay. Sore,” I admit with a shrug.
“Let’s go get malyshka some pretty things and then bring you home to rest, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I sigh, reaching up to cup his cheek. Running my thumb along his bottom lip, my eyes are completely focused on the path it makes.
“Come on, or I’m gonna fuck you right now,” he grunts. It makes me laugh.
Bates snags my hand and pulls me behind him before he bends down and picks up Stella with his other arm. He doesn’t say a word as he walks us to his pickup and shuffles us inside before he starts the engine and we take off in silence.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
He doesn’t answer.
He pretends not to hear a word I’m saying. It’s frustrating as hell, but also cute, in a gruff, badass kind of way. He obviously wants to do something for us as a surprise.
I recognize the road as we begin driving to the next town over. I don’t say a word to Stella, now that I know what city we’re going to, but I still don’t know the reason why. I sigh and look over at Bates, so freaking happy right now. We’re good, so good. I don’t know if there’s something terrible lurking in the shadows, but I don’t care anymore. We will confront it together, and jump whatever hurdles are thrown in front of us.
I look at him in surprise when we pull into a car dealership—a Ford dealership, to be precise. I look over to him as he puts his pickup in park and jumps out. Quickly, and confused, Stella and I follow right behind him.
Bates shakes a man’s hand and I watch as the man hands him a set of keys. He looks at me and winks as he lifts his chin and we follow him.
“Mommy, wha happening?” Stella asks, tugging on my arm.
“I don’t know, sweet girl,” I admit truthfully.
Bates stops at a huge black pick-up truck. It’s lifted with gigantic tires, and its quite possibly the most massive thing I’ve ever seen.
“What the heck is happening here?” I ask, trying to keep my words PG for Stella’s sake.
“Bought a new truck,” he shrugs. I stare at him slack jawed.
“Bates,” I hiss, knowing how expensive these pickups are.
“Got money, baby, got plenty of money,” he assures me, already sensing my worry.
“How?” I ask.
“Don’t matter. Just know I can take care of my girls, and that means getting a better truck for them. Also, gonna need to get you your own ride soon, too,” he murmurs, wrapping his hand around my waist and pulling me into his chest. His head dips down and he places a kiss on my lips.
“You’re too much,” I sigh when he lifts his head.
“Ain’t nothin’ too much for my girls. Now let’s finish this shit,” he grunts as he helps us into his new pickup. It even smells new, like leather, and a little like Bates.
Stella asks a million and ten questions about the pickup, but all I can do is stare out the window. I hope that he isn’t trying to break himself to live up to the monetary things that Scotty provided for us. I didn’t care about them back then, and I don’t care about them now.
I won’t lie and say that the perfect, shiny life was exciting, but when I discovered the strings that came attached with it, I didn’t want it anymore. I love Bates’ little country house, his old pickup truck, and his bike.
I love him the way that he is.
I don’t need shit to make me happy.
We stop at a Mexican restaurant for lunch, and I can’t get the uneasy thoughts out of my head. Bates notices and he wraps his arm around me, nudging me slightly.
“What’s up, babe?” he asks nonchalantly.
“Did you buy the truck because of Scotty?” I blurt out, then cringe at my words.
“The fuck does that mean?” he barks harshly, making Stella jump a bit. His eyes fly over to her sitting across from us and he grins, waiting for her to smile back. When she does, he focuses back on me.
“I don’t want you to think you have to buy this stuff, spend money to compete with him. I like you and your truck and the house just the way it is,” I explain. He throws his head back laughing. I’m momentarily mesmerized by the beauty of his deep rich laugh, but he stops and looks at me, completely serious.
“Babe, I could give a fuck what Scotty had. I bought the truck ‘cause I needed it. Mine was old as hell and wasn’t going to make it through the winter without some major work. Been needing the upgrade; but having you and Stella with me now, I needed it a bit sooner. Which is fine. Had my eye on that truck for a while now. Knew what I wanted.
“As far as the house goes, I’m not leaving it anytime soon. You can fix it up however you like, but I like the house and the land it sits on. I’m not rich, but, baby, I ain’t scrapin’ by either. We can have some nicer things, even if you want to quit and stay home, doesn’t matter to me. We’ll be just fine. I pull in plenty of cash regularly,” he informs me. I just stare at him, shocked, and kind of impressed.
“Okay,” I nod.
“You know it’s never been a competition with him, right? I love you because I’ve always loved you. I want you because you’re mine, and I’ll provide for you the best I can. I can’t give you what he could, but I can give you everything he couldn’t,” he murmurs. My eyes water.
Bates can give me everything Scotty couldn’t, and more. I love him for that—every rough, ragged, raw edge of him. He’s mine and I’m his, and this life—it’s going to be perfect for us.
Sniper
After lunch, I take Brentlee to the mall. No way in fuck do I want to go to the mall, but they have one store I need to dip inside of without her noticing. I figure she’ll get sidetracked with Stella in one of those clothes stores they always talk about when the mail comes. Some bullshit about Janie and Jack—I have no fuckin’ idea.
When Stella see’s the store, she begs to go inside, and I know it’s my cue to get to where I need to be. I tell them I’m going to grab a soda from the food court and hightail it to the jewelry store.
I found what I wanted to get Brentlee online and cleared it with LeeLee before I made the trip here. I had the store hold it for me, and now I get to see it in person.
“How can I help you?” a man asks from behind the counter.
“Had a ring on hold for Bates Lukin,” I announce as I walk up to the counter.
His eyes scan me, slowly, and he huffs before he walks
through the door leading to the back of the store. I wait a few moments and he returns with a box in his hand. I wait for him to open the little velvety book and then take the ring out.
It’s a huge, round solitaire diamond. Simple, yet beautiful. It’s Brentlee. Classically stunning. The asshole prattles about clarity and quality, but I ignore him, too invested in imagining Brentlee wearing nothing but this fuckin’ ring and a smile.
I know I’m rushing shit, but I don’t care. I’ve been in love with this girl since I was a punk ass kid, and that shit ain’t never changing.
“Now what we can do to dress up the diamond is accompany it with a ring guard,” he suggests and pulls out a ring with a missing center but diamonds on each side of it in a row. I watch as he places the ring I’ve picked in the center and it makes my mouth drop at a bit.
It’s blinged out and epic.
“Wrap it up,” I grunt.
“Um, sir, maybe you should look at some of the less expensive sets just like this one,” he gently suggests. It greatly pisses me off.
“Wrap.It.Up,” I grind out between my clenched teeth.
“Sir, I don’t think you understand. This set right here will be forty thousand dollars.” He almost smirks and it pisses me off. He could say it was a hundred grand at this point and I’d buy it just to prove a point.
“Wrap the fuckin’ thing up, man,” I grunt.
“Fine,” he mumbles.
I should have pulled cash out and shoved it in his face, but my bank card will have to suffice. I hand the piece of plastic over to the dickface and wait for him to run the card. To his surprise, it clears. Of course it does. I’m not some poor bastard off of the streets.
I take the little velvet box and shove it into my jeans pocket, ignoring the stupid as fuck tiny little bag he tries to shove at me. I grab the receipt and crumple it up to stick in my back pocket. Without a word, I turn around and leave him standing behind the counter, his mouth hanging wide open.
When I find the girls, Brentlee has about fifteen things in her hand, but she’s looking around in worry, confusion, and maybe apprehension.
“That what you’re buying?” I ask as I walk up behind her and wrap my hands around her stomach.
“No, it’s all way too expensive. These are the things she wants, but I’m going to let her pick two items. She doesn’t really need them.”
“You two hardly have any clothes, babe. She needs it. We’ll get it for her,” I announce.
“Bates, this stuff is insanely priced. We can go somewhere a lot cheaper and get a hell of a lot more,” she murmurs.
“She wants it, she can have it,” I say.
“You’re going to spoil her. She can have two items and then we’ll go somewhere more reasonably priced if you want to get her more. She’s three, baby, I don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on her clothes,” Brentlee says. I widen my eyes in surprise before I take something off the top of her pile.
I hold it up, a little white dress with pink bows on the shoulders. It’s cute as hell, but when I look at the price tag, I burst out laughing. Ninety fuckin’ bucks.
“This shit is insane,” I say between my outburst.
“I know. She’d get it dirty in about two seconds, and then it’d be ruined,” Brentlee says, looking at the dress before shaking her head.
“You want to get this for her, I’ll buy it, babe,” I murmur.
Brentlee shakes her head and smiles up at me before she sets the pile down on an empty table. I watch as she takes Stella’s hand and then walks for the entrance without looking back. I follow, trying to keep up. Once we are outside, she turns to face me.
“That store, that white dress that she can’t get dirty, that is our old life, not our new one. We live in the country now. We’re happy and we smile and Stella plays in the dirt and rides bikes. She needs clothes that represent that. Fuck that place,” she practically shouts. I watch as her chest heaves.
“Okay, shit that represents us. Walmart?” I ask. I then watch as her nose wrinkles, which makes me laugh, and then the three of us begin to laugh—together.
We don’t go to Walmart. She takes me to some fuckin’ place called the Gap, then to about ten other stores. By the end, I’m regretting this little trip. But when I look over at my girls, fast asleep in my new ride, I can’t help but feel my heart swell at the sight of their sleepy, slight smiles. They had fun, and that’s all that matters.
I can’t wait to give Brent the ring in my pocket. But I’m selfish and a dick. I’ll want to fuck her after I do, and she’s too sore tonight for that. So the ring will wait another day. But today, my girls had a good day, a fun day, and that’s all I give a shit about.
Brentlee
I slide my brand new skinny jeans up my legs and grin when I see myself in the mirror. Legs for days. They look long and lean, Bates’ favorite part of my body, and these jeans make them look fantastic. I pull on a tight halter top and slide my feet into the red high heels that are my absolute favorite. Tonight I’m working. After spending three days with Bates and Stella, we need to get back to our work week.
I won’t lie. As I was getting ready this evening, I thought that maybe, just maybe, I might like to be a stay-at-home mother again. But as enticing as that sounds, I also like to interact with adults, even nasty biker men. And I like knowing I have my own income. I don’t want to be completely beholden to anybody ever again.
“Babe, we gotta head out,” Bates shouts. I quickly grab my purse and run out of the bedroom.
Tammy is sitting on the floor, playing Barbie’s with Stella, and Bates is standing by the front door, looking down at his phone. When he looks up, I watch as his eyes drag over my body, and he grins when they meet mine.
I quickly say my goodbyes to both Stella and Tammy and hurry after him out of the door. He’s already straddling his bike when I close the front door behind me, so I rush to climb on behind him. We take off down the road and I wonder what he seems to be in such a hurry for. He doesn’t usually drive this fast with me on the back. I hold on tighter than normal, and when we arrive at the clubhouse, I notice that the parking area is completely full of bikes.
“What’s going on?” I ask, looking around at all of the bikes.
“Fury’s dad is here. The original charter,” he grunts. I tug on Bates’ hand and make him stop walking.
“What does that mean?” I ask, looking up at him.
“Means we’re gonna party tonight, probably end up at the Devils later on. Means I’m gonna have church tomorrow. It also means you make sure all those fuckers can see your ink,” he growls, wrapping his hand around my hip.
“You aren’t going into Devils?” I ask as I slide my hands up his chest and link them around the back of his neck.
“Candy’s in charge until I get there. I’ll be here, watching you,” he murmurs, dipping his head down to place a gentle kiss on my lips. He releases me, but keeps one hand at the small of my back.
When we walk into the clubhouse, its wilder than I’ve ever seen it before in my life. There are men and women everywhere. The women are either topless or barely dressed, and the men are in all states of action. Some are just sitting around talking, some are playing pool, smoking, and drinking, and some are actually fucking girls. It’s even crazier than the patch-in party I attended.
Bates stops to talk to someone, but I need to get behind the bar. I have to help out the prospect who looks like he’s two seconds away from crying as he quickly hands beers out to men. I leave Bates and make my way toward the crowd of people.
I feel a hand wrap around my upper arm and it halts my mission to the bar. I turn around and my eyes widen at the man in front of me. He looks exactly like Fury, except a few years older. He’s a freaking hot as hell silver fox.
“Where are you in a hurry to, darlin’?” he asks, his voice smooth and slightly slurred.
“Behind the bar… to work,” I offer shakily.
“You should stay with me,” he murmurs, his thum
b slightly caressing my arm and his eyes fixated on mine.
“MadDog, wanna take your hand off my Old Lady,” Bates’ deep voice growls from behind me. I jump as MadDog lets his hand fall from mine.
“Your what?” he asks with a chuckle.
Bates roughly shifts me so that my tattoo is in view. MadDog’s eyes widen in surprise before he looks up at me and narrows his eyes.
“You’re Kentlee’s sister,” he announces. I nod. “Fucking hell. Good for you, brother. And how the hell did I not notice that shit the last time I saw you?”
“We were a little busy, with all that drama,” Bates says with a smirk.
MadDog slaps Bates on the shoulder with a smile, and Bates returns the gesture, making me breathe a sigh of relief. I go to my toes and whisper to Bates that I need to get behind the bar, and his answer is a wink and a pat on my ass, whatever that means. I ignore him and hurry behind the bar, thankful for no new altercations.
I spend the evening slinging beer and shots. I’m so thankful nobody wants anything mixed, because my bartending experience is limited to only beer and shots.
The party is wild, so insane that I can’t believe my sister is even here. But she is. I noticed her the second she walked inside. Now she’s perched on Fury’s lap as he talks to his father, who has a topless skank perched on his own lap.
When I get a minute to breathe, my eyes scan the room for Bates. I don’t see him anywhere. Not playing pool, not at any of the tables, and I even scan the sofas where people are screwing and don’t see him. My heart starts beating against my ribcage. I imagine him in his room with some clubwhore, and my head spins.
“Looking for me,” a rough voice whispers from behind me. I spin around to see him grinning at me.
“Where were you?” I ask, my curiosity always getting the best of me.
“Outside hangin’ out with Torch,” he shrugs.
“What was Paxton doing outside?”
Rough & Raw (Notorious Devils Book 2) Page 26
