DEFY
THE KINGS OF RETRIBUTION MC ~Novella~
Sandy Alvarez
Crystal Daniels
Copyright © 2018 by Crystal Daniels & Sandy Alvarez
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, character, places, brands, media, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used as fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission.
The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Book cover created by Crystal Daniels
Edited by Cat’s Eye Proofing & Promos
Created with Vellum
~For Tania~
Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
*
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
*
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
*
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
More Books By Us
CONNECT WITH US
About the Author
Acknowledgments
To our Families — All of this would be meaningless without your constant love and support.
To our editor Cat Parisi — Thank you for the phenomenal job that you do.
To Soledad Mailman — Thank you for proofreading and helping us polish our words.
To Enticing Journey Book Promotions — Thank you for the fantastic job you always do.
To all the bloggers who have helped promote our books — Thank you for all that you do.
To our readers — We can’t thank you enough for taking the time to read our words. We adore all of you.
Chapter One
LOGAN
"Motherfucker," I throw the socket wrench in my hand across the shop. It ends up hitting a shelf full of miscellaneous used motorcycle parts. For the life of me, I can't concentrate on a damn thing. This rebuild shouldn't be taking me as long as it has. Usually, I would have been done with something like this more than a week ago. No, these days my mind is elsewhere. It's on my woman.
Life with Bella has been more than I could have ever imagined it being. I've walked through hell and back for her. Overcome incredible odds in order to hold her every single night. I'm prepared to dance with the devil himself if that’s what it takes to give her everything.
Are there days her sassy mouth overloads her little ass? Yes.
Does she want to defy me on everything? Every. Fuckin'. Day.
But I wouldn't have her any other way. Bella makes me feel more alive than I've ever felt in my life, but this past year hasn't been easy for her- for either of us.
More than anything I want to have a family and grow old with her. Unfortunately, life seems to think otherwise. For months we've been trying to start a family of our own. So far… nothing. I'm all in. I want it as much as she does, but the stress of it all is starting to take its toll.
"What's crawled up your ass this morning, brother?" Quinn quips from the other side of the shop while under the hood of a pickup truck.
Still irritated I fire back at him, "Fuck off, Quinn."
"What the hell is going on out here?" Jake's voice echoes off the shop walls.
Undeterred, I start to walk over to find the socket wrench I threw so I can get back to work.
"Sunshine here is having another bad day, Prez," Quinn remarks as he wipes the grease from his hands.
"Logan. Office. Now," Jake barks.
Turning on my heels, I follow Prez through the shop and into his office.
"Close the fuckin' door," he orders.
I know by the tone of his voice. He is fed up with my attitude. I've been lashing out for a while now. I'm aware of it, and so is everyone else. I think I'm about to get a verbal beatdown. I don't want to hear it, but I've had it comin'. Tense as fuck, I continue to stand with my arms crossed over my chest.
"Sit the fuck down. I ain't lookin' up at you while we have a chat," he gruffs.
Reaching down, I grab the back of the chair and drag the legs across the linoleum floor and plant my ass in the seat.
"I've been overlooking this shit attitude of yours for several weeks now. Always coming in ass draggin' on the floor and snappin' at everyone. Plus you're behind on work," Jake pauses giving me time to answer him.
Letting my head fall back I stare up at the ceiling. "You're right I've been a big dick lately."
"Talk to me, son."
Leveling my head, I scrub my hand down my unshaven face. "Bella and I are having a rough time trying to start a family. Doctors can't find a reason why she can't get pregnant. It's taking its toll." I tell him the short version.
He leans back in his chair. He looks tired. I'm not the only one going through something. I can't put my finger on it because Jake is so tight-lipped about his personal life, but something has had him stressed these days as well.
"It will happen when the time is right, Logan. You're both young."
It's nagging at me. I haven't shared the piece of information I'm about to reveal to anyone. Mostly because the timing hasn't been right. I wasn't about to overshadow all the positive things happening around us. But I need someone to talk to about it. I swallow past the lump in my throat. "Several months ago, Bella suffered a miscarriage." I hang my head in sadness. It feels good to talk to someone and to finally acknowledge our loss. I look back up at him. Sadness mares his face. "She had found out she was pregnant by taking one of those home tests, but before she could go to the doctor to confirm it we lost the baby," I tell him.
I remember both days like it happened yesterday. Bella and I find time every weekend to take a ride on my bike; always ending up at the lake. Bella wore a smile that outshined the sun all day, which in turn made my day even better. While sitting on the ground with her between my legs, we sat in silence. As the hues of golds and reds danced across the surface of the water, Bella spun around, wrapped her legs around my hips and reached into her back pocket.
"Close your eyes," she said as she leaned forward and whispered in my ear.
A smile tugged at my lips, and I played along. Lifting my hand, Bella slipped what she had been holding onto my palm, and I wrapped my fingers around the object.
"Open your eyes," she said softly.
My gaze fell between us to look down at my unopened hand. When I opened it, the word "pregnant" stared back at me from a white and blue stick.
I felt it.
My heart skipped a beat.
When I lifted my head, I took her in. The woman I love. "I'm gonna be a dad?" I would have never thought I could feel so many emotions at once. I wasn't prepared to be so overwhelmed. She bobbed her head up and down giving me a definite yes, then I kissed her.
Nothing could have prepared me for what happened a few days later. She wanted to wait until she confirmed the pregnancy with a doctor first before sharing the news with everyone. The following week, two days before her appointment, she woke up in the middle of the night with terrible cramping and spotting. Worry set in, so we decided to go to the emergency room. A few hours later we wer
e back home. Completely devastated.
Bella was having a miscarriage. I held her until she cried herself to sleep. The one sound that crushes me more than anything in this world is the sound of her crying.
"Why didn't you say anything, son?" Jake lets out a hefty sigh.
"Because her sister had announced at her wedding she and Gabriel were going to have another baby. Bella's miscarriage was a week before that and she didn't want to take anything away from Alba and Gabriel's happy news. So, she asked that we keep it to ourselves for a while. A while turned into weeks and then into months. The timing was never right." I explain to him.
Jake gets quiet. The silence in the room welcoming.
"I could preach that you should have leaned on your family during your loss, but I won't because I didn't either."
I look at him confused.
"Your aunt miscarried twice. Both early in the pregnancy. I wanted to be a father so badly." His eyes start to get a distant look in them, "and she would have made a great mom. I suppose it wasn't meant to be. She clung to you though. You were the child she could never have, and she poured all her love into you. Eventually, I did the same. You became the son I always wanted."
What Jake just shared leaves me speechless. I mean, I know they never had kids, but I never thought they couldn't have them. My aunt was my second mom, and I've always looked at Jake as the father figure in my life.
"Like you, it got to me at times. The hurt would turn into anger. Never at her but because I kept the pain to myself. She shared it with your mom, but I don't think she ever told anyone else. I understand more than you know what you're going through and feeling, Logan. I've been there." He bares a piece of himself to me. "You need to take some time off from work- from life for a while."
"We are swamped around here. There is no way I can take time off from work now," I explain. Maybe I should say fuck it and leave town with Bella. I could contact my dad and see about using the house he has in Aspen. A place away from everyone and everything to get back to us. To finally take the time we need to heal. "I'll stay late to finish the bike I'm working on now. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone, but if you're certain you guys can hold things down around here I might be gone by the end of the week." I tell him.
"You come back when the time is right," Jake affirms. Standing, he pulls me in for a hug and claps me on the back.
I leave his office feeling somewhat lighter than I did before. The rest of the day goes smoother than it has in weeks. I finally find my groove, and by nightfall, I have the bike finished, and I'm closing the shop.
On the ride home, I reminisce about the last trip I took Bella on. It was right after her sister went to college. Never being anywhere outside Montana, I took her to the Bahamas. I booked a small cottage right on the beach, secluded enough it felt like we were on a deserted island. Seeing her in a bikini every day was a bonus. We only stayed one week, but it proved to be the best week of my life.
Eloping never crossed my mind. I always assumed Bella wanted to have a big wedding, yet one night as we were sitting on the beach watching the sunset the mood struck me. I turned to her, and the words fell out my mouth, "Marry me tomorrow." I hadn't even sucked in a new breath of air when she turned her face towards me with a smile and said, "Okay." I was dead serious. It turned out; she was too. Oh, I knew she was going to get some lip from her sister and her friends, and I mentioned it to her. She, in turn, said, "It's about what we want." And, she was right.
The next morning, we went to town and picked our wedding bands out together, and I found someone who could marry us at sunset. The only thing I wasn't allowed to see was the dress she stopped to purchase.
That evening I stood alone with the officiator at sunset just outside our cottage and watched her walk towards me. Fuck, the image of her still steals my breath. I couldn't tell you what type of material the dress was or who designed it; I only know that it looked like it fit her body like it was made just for her. It was an off-white, goddess-like dress. All I could process at that moment while standing on the white sand beach was each barefoot step she took towards me was one step closer to touching her. One step closer to our forever. An entire week I had her to myself with no distraction.
Returning to the present, I lay the hammer down eager to get home.
Chapter Two
BELLA
I look down at the precious baby girl cradled in my arms and into blue eyes that mirror my sister's, and I feel an ache in my chest. A pain. A longing. Valentina Martinez was born a little over three weeks ago. She is beautiful with her pale skin, jet black hair and the bluest of eyes. I'll never forget the shock of finding out Alba was pregnant the first time, but once she had Gabe and I saw the way she was with him, it was clear my sister was meant to be a mother.
It's incredible how far we both have come in just a few short years. If someone had told me three years ago that we both would be married to bikers and my sister would have two kids, I would have said they were out of their ever-lovin' mind. Now though, I couldn't imagine my life any other way.
Sitting in the rocking chair in the nursery, I brush my finger gently over the top of Val's soft hair, and I watch as her eyes grow heavy. And it is not lost on me that it could have been my baby I was holding. Mine and Logan's baby would have been the same age as Valentina. Fate had other plans for us though. We lost our baby at twelve weeks. Logan and I decided to wait until after my first appointment to announce my pregnancy. We were chomping at the bit to tell our family, and we only had one more week to wait. Our announcement never happened. I miscarried four days shy of my second trimester.
One week later Alba and Gabriel were married, and she announced they were expecting baby number two. The news had been a blow to both Logan and me. We were over the moon happy for my sister and Gabriel but couldn’t help the feeling of hurt. To this day neither one of us has told our family about our loss. I told Logan I didn't want our devastation to overshadow my sister's time of celebration. Logan and I were each other's rock during this time. Some days having to put on a brave face is harder than others, but so far, we have been weathering the storm.
Reaching up, I swipe away a tear making its way down my cheek.
"Bella, what's wrong?" a concerned Alba asks walking into the room.
I wave my hand at her trying to brush off her question, "I'm fine. Just happy is all." It's not a total lie. I am happy, but I can tell by the look on my sister's face she is not buying it. Her next words prove I'm right. "Liar," she blatantly calls me out.
Sighing, I stand up and ignore her statement as I walk to the crib with my niece in my arms and carefully lay her down. Satisfied she's not going to rouse, I make my way out of Valentina's room with my little sister on my heels. When we make it to the living room, Alba speaks up once again. "Please tell me what's wrong, and don't tell me nothing, Bella. You haven't been yourself lately. Don't think I haven't noticed. You're my sister. I know you. I've been waiting for you to talk to me. I'm not waiting anymore. I want to know what's going on with you."
When I give her an irritated look, she adds, "Don't look at me like that. If this were the other way around, you'd force me to talk too."
She has a point there.
Sighing, I take a seat on the couch and Alba follows suit. "You know I'm happy for you… right?" I ask.
My sister scrunches her brows together, "Of course."
As I'm about to open my mouth, Alba grabs hold of my hand. "I know you're struggling with something, Bella."
And that's all it takes. My sister's words make me crumple into her arms and sob. I was stupid to think I could hide my feelings from her. She knows me, just as well as I know her. She understands me. Alba knows how happy I am for her and how in love with my nephew and niece I am, but on the inside my heart is aching. Though no one knows of our loss, they all know how long we have been trying to start a family of our own.
I don't know how long I go on with my sister holding me as I cry, but soon the tears stop
and when I pull back and look at her, I see nothing but understanding. Using the sleeve of her shirt, Alba wipes the tears from my face. And when she dries my tears, I confess the secret I have been keeping from her. The one that has been eating me up inside. "I had a miscarriage."
Dropping her hands to her side and looking at me in shock, Alba asks, "What… when?"
"Just before you and Gabriel got married. Logan and I wanted to wait until the doctor confirmed everything. I was around twelve weeks." I confess.
Placing her hand over her mouth, I see my sister fighting back her tears. "I'm not even going to ask you why you never said anything. I already know. And I will tell you now, Bella. Don't ever keep something like that from me again," She says with love and anger all rolled into one.
I shake my head in protest, "You were getting married and then after the wedding you and Gabriel announced you were pregnant with Val. I couldn't bring myself to put a damper on your happiness. I couldn't do that to you, Alba."
Cutting me off, Alba stands up from the sofa, all but yelling, "I don't care what's going on in my life, Bella! Our whole lives it's always been you and me against the world. When I hurt, you hurt. When you're happy, I'm happy. We may be married now, but that is one thing that will never change between us."
She's right. We are married now and have our husbands, but nothing can ever take away the bond we share as sisters.
Standing up from the couch, I wrap my arms around Alba. "Promise me you will never keep a secret like that from me again," she whispers into my neck.
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