Butcher

by LeAnn Asher

  “Liam sent me a letter today.” She tries not to show it, but I can tell she is excited.

  Liam saved her from a very bad situation. Since then they have become best friends, but I can tell that they are totally in love with each other from the letters and phone conversations and how she acts toward him. They aren’t together though, and I think part of the reason for that is because he is a Navy SEAL and he is gone a lot. But I bet as soon as he is out, he is coming for her.

  “How is it?” I smile at her, and her eyes are lit up with happiness.

  “He is good, he is leaving for a mission soon.” Her smile drops when she says “mission.” I know she is scared for him.

  “I am sure he will be okay.” I pull her into a hug, and she hugs me back tightly.

  “I can’t help but worry about him. I know he is a badass and all, but he is not indestructible.” I can see that this has been bothering her for a while. She lets me go and steps back.

  “Nobody is.”

  She cracks a smile and wipes under her eyes. “Butcher probably is.”

  I laugh at that and walk back into the kitchen to make sure everything is ready for the cake delivery I have to make to a wedding in the next hour. They should have the cakes and cupcakes already baked, so I’ll just have to ice them.

  “The cakes and cupcakes are cool,” my newest full-time worker informs me. Her name is Joslyn, and she is so shy around guys it hurts me. She can’t even articulate a full sentence around any guy and Butcher, along with the other girls, thinks it’s the cutest thing ever.

  It really is cute and is why I fell in love with her. She is gorgeous and looks almost identical to Janna Kramer, but she doesn’t realize how pretty she is. She is so shy, but she is an amazing baker, which is why I hired her immediately when she got out of school.

  “Joslyn, you can help me if you want.”

  She smiles widely and begins icing the cupcakes in fluid motions.

  For the next two hours, we work side by side decorating the cake and cupcakes. It was a big order, for a wedding of three hundred.

  “You can come with me if you want to,” I say once we have loaded everything up in the delivery truck.

  One of the MC guys is staying here to watch over Paisley, and he is with another guy from the MC, who is second in command to Lane. His name is Wilder, and he reminds me a lot of Butcher. They are both quiet, and they are both people watchers and are super intense.

  Plus I can’t help but notice how he is staring at Joslyn like she is the best thing since sliced bread. I know she notices him too, because she has been one solid blush since the moment she saw him. Wilder is handsome, but not as much as my Butcher. Nobody can beat him, but Wilder is a close second.

  “Okay.” She hurries getting into the passenger side of vehicle. Wilder is staring her down.

  I tap him on the shoulder, and he averts his gaze from her. “If you don’t quit staring so hard, your eyes are going to fall out.”

  Wilder chuckles and rubs the top of my head. I consider Wilder a cousin—his dad was a member of the club before he retired, along with my father. There are a lot of boys who came from the first generation of the MC, and about twenty new members have arrived, along with three outsiders.

  “She’s gorgeous,” he admits.

  “She really is.” I leave him standing there and climb in the driver’s side of the delivery truck. I pull out of the parking lot with Wilder right behind me. I notice Joslyn staring out the window, watching him.

  “So.” I smile and glance over. As she looks at me, she knows she got caught.

  “Yeah?” she practically whispers, her whole face red. She is so cute.

  “You think Wilder is cute?”.

  “I think so, but he doesn’t know I am alive. No man ever does, but I know for sure he doesn’t. Look at him.”

  I snort and loudly. I see her cringe—she must think I am laughing at her. “Sweetheart, if you only knew what you actually look like. Wilder was just telling me before I got in the truck how gorgeous you are. You’re beautiful, and you can pass for Janna Kramer’s twin. Trust me, men notice you but you don’t see them. I see them trying to approach you, but they don’t got the balls.”

  Her mouth is open, and her eyes are wide as she stares at me in disbelief. What has her so down on herself? “I am?”

  I give her a look that says she is crazy. “Yes, you are. Has no one ever told you how beautiful you are before?”

  She shakes her head.

  “Never?”

  She shakes her head again.

  “Fuck, that’s dumb. Not even your family?”

  “No, it was just my mom who I lived with, I have no other family. She always told me I wasn’t pretty, and once guys never approached me, I guess I started believing it along the way.”

  My heart literally just broke, and now I want to go kick her mother’s ass for saying such horrible things to her daughter. It’s obvious that she is jealous of her.

  “Well, I am sorry—she may be your mom, but she is stupid.” I shake my head in anger. Some people are just horrible.

  She bursts out laughing, and this is the first time I have ever seen her so happy. I am glad that I can put that smile on her face.

  “Thank you, Shaylin,” she whispers and I wink at her.

  “Just telling the truth.”

  It’s six o’clock and I am exhausted. The people at the wedding were snobby bitches who griped over everything. They didn’t like how this one cupcake was sideways a bit, and the decoration on the bottom tier of the cake was slightly crooked. Once I could get away, Joslyn and I practically ran out the door.

  Joslyn and Paisley should be back any minute from their break, and then Butcher will be here to pick me up for dinner.

  Speak of the devil—I see Paisley and Joslyn outside my glass door. They open it and step outside. Paisley looks concerned about something.

  “What is it?”

  She points her thumb over her shoulder. “There are two people slumped over in the car outside.”

  My eyes widen and I run to the door then throw it open. I step out and I see it’s Lexi’s car. Her head is hanging down toward her lap, and the man’s head is lying against the steering wheel.

  Fuck me.

  With hesitant steps I walk closer, and I feel Paisley at my back. I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I put one hand on my back, ready to pull my gun out at a moment’s notice.

  We are about five feet away and I hear a sharp cry, like a baby crying. The back window is tinted so we can’t see inside. I split the distance to the car and put my head up against the window, cupping my hands around my eyes.

  My stomach sinks at the sight. There is what seems to be a two-year-old baby sitting in a car seat that is falling over. It’s a little girl. Her face is blood red, her clothes are stuck to her, and her dark brown curls are soaked.

  The windows are rolled up and the car isn’t on. She is burning up. I bang on Lexi’s window, but she doesn’t move. I scream, “Lexi!” She doesn’t move and I pull the door handle, but it doesn’t budge. Paisley is already on the other side of the car trying those doors.

  All locked.

  Looking around I see a large rock that I sometimes use to hold my door open. I run over and pick it up. I hear a motorcycle pulling up, but I don’t look up—my mind is on getting the kid out of the car. She is going to die if I don’t. It’s one hundred degrees outside.

  I step in front of Lexi’s door, raise the rock above my head, and bring it down as hard as I can. Glass explodes everywhere, and I hear someone running up behind me.

  “Shay?” Butcher yells. I reach inside and click the unlock button. I step back and pull the handle. The door opens and I reach inside, unbuckle the kid, and pull her from the seat.

  “I called the police!” Joslyn yells.

  The baby is hot to the touch, and she is completely soaked. My heart is breaking. She stops crying and lays her head on my chest, her little hands fisted in my shirt.r />
  My heart just broke into a million little pieces.

  “Shay?” Butcher says softly and I spin around.

  “See if they are dead,” I whisper and walk toward the bakery, wanting to get the baby out of the heat. Once we get inside, I sit down in the chair that Butcher usually sits in. “We got some water in the back. Grab me one along with a straw?” I ask Paisley. She runs off.

  The little girl is wrapped around me like a monkey. “It’s okay, angel.” I soothe her and rock her from side to side. She loosens her grip slightly.

  Paisley sets the water down on the counter.

  “Thank you,” I tell her and she nods sadly.

  I take the water from the counter. “Drink, sweetheart.” The bell above the door dings, and Butcher walks inside. He shakes his head, telling me what I already thought.

  Lexi is dead.

  The baby sits up shakily, and I put a hand at the small of her back. I raise the water to her and bend my head down so I can see her face. She reaches her little hands out, takes the water from me, and puts the straw in her mouth.

  She drinks and drinks. Once she is done she hands it back to me, her little hands dirty. She then looks me directly in the face, and I fall in love right then and there. She has the most beautiful eyes in the whole world. They are large and such a light blue they look like ice.

  Butcher walks around the counter and bends down so he is facing her. She studies him, and he just looks her straight in the eyes. She reaches her little arms forward.

  She wants Butcher to hold her.

  His eyes widen and he puts his hands under her arms, lifting her up. She lays her head on his chest. Butcher has a tortured look on his face, and I know I do too. She is breaking my heart.

  I have so many questions! Why was she with Lexi? Is this little girl hers? I didn’t know if she had a kid or not.

  I hear the police sirens outside and I stand up. Butcher and I both walk outside, ready to face the music. Butcher stands to the side with the baby, and Paisley and I tell them exactly what happened.

  The people from the ambulance check to make sure Lexi and the man are really dead and put them into body bags. “Here is the social worker. If we have any questions, I will call you.” I nod and step back to Butcher, and the social worker walks up to us.

  “Hi, I guess this is little Tiana?” The baby who we now know is Tiana raises her head to look at the social worker.

  “Lexi was her mother?” I ask her.

  She nods and her face saddens. “She was taken from her and was in foster care for a bit because of her mother being on drugs. Her mother just got her back six months ago. None of the mother’s family would take her in, and their exact words were, ‘I won’t take in a drug baby.’ So this little one will have to go back into foster care.”

  The social worker reaches to take Tiana, and the little girl starts screaming. She tries to crawl up Butcher’s body and clutches his neck as tight as she can.

  Butcher looks down at me and tears fill my eyes. “I can’t,” I say with a slight sob.

  He nods. “We won’t.”

  I can’t let her go back to foster care. I just can’t let her go through anything else. She is just a little baby, and she has never had a home to call her own. She has been given away from person to person. “We will take her.”

  The social worker shakes her head. “It doesn’t work like that.”

  “I own this bakery, I have no record, and he is a Navy SEAL.”

  I point at Butcher, who pipes in. “No record—not even a ticket.”

  “Please let us keep her, we can give her a good home.” I am ready to get on my knees to beg. Her little eyes are haunting me.

  “There are proper channels,” the social worker stutters.

  “I will give you one hundred thousand dollars to make sure it goes through the proper channels and to get the adoption going as fast as possible,” Butcher says. Thank God Butcher’s role as a main member of the MC yields a generous share of the profits from their businesses.

  Her mouth pops open, and I feel a hand on my shoulder. Looking up, I see Tiana reaching for me. I smile and take her from Butcher.

  “I guess we can do that. Give me an hour to get the necessary paperwork, then I will help you through the proper channels. I also know a judge who will expedite everything. The adoption should be ready whenever you need it, for the right price.”

  “That isn’t an issue. You have to sign a non-disclosure clause.”

  “Of course.”

  They are so corrupt, but right now I really don’t care. I just couldn’t bear the thought of letting her go. It feels like she is meant to be mine.

  “Want me to go get Myra to come get you guys?” Paisley offers. “She has a car seat, and I am sure the baby needs to be checked out.” I want to hug her right now.

  “That would be amazing.” What do kids need? We just have to go shopping tomorrow. “Do you think we can borrow some of Mia’s clothes until we get her some tomorrow?”

  “I can ask.” Paisley steps away to make a call.

  For the next hour I stand there as Butcher signs a bunch of paperwork. The car has been towed, the police are gone, and the ambulance is gone. It’s just me, Paisley, Joslyn, and the social worker.

  Myra pulls into the parking lot, and Ryan is right behind her. I guess they got a babysitter. Myra parks her car and steps out. The social worker recognizes her and greets her.

  Butcher waves me over. “It’s set and final. Just got to go to court,” he whispers in my ear, and my heart lifts.

  Tiana is fast asleep, and it’s getting dark outside.

  “I will speak to you tomorrow about what we talked about.” The social worker gets into her car.

  “Let’s go home,” I tell Butcher. He nods and kisses the top of my head before running his fingers through Tiana’s damp curls.

  * * *

  Butcher

  * * *

  Shaylin buckles Tiana into the car and climbs in the passenger side. Tiana is two years old, and her birthday was yesterday.

  I couldn’t let her leave. She held onto me, crying for me not to let her go. I can’t do that, not to some baby who has never had anything real her whole life.

  Shaylin and I are going to have kids someday; we are just starting early. The sight of Shaylin pulling Tiana from the car fucking infuriated me. Then when I looked at her face for the first time, I saw pain and so much sadness.

  I fucking ache.

  When the social worker tried to say we couldn’t take her, I resorted to fucking bribery. Tiana is mine,

  and I don’t care what I have to do. If anyone in Lexi’s family gave two shits, she wouldn’t have been in foster care in the first place.

  How can someone abandon their family? I lost all of mine in an instant, and I would do anything to bring them back. Some people just throw theirs away.

  Sixteen

  Shaylin

  I carry Tiana into the house, and my mind is going to a million different things right now. There are so many things we need to do.

  Breathe, Shay, one thing at a time. I got this. The door opens and Butcher steps inside. He gives me that look that says everything will be okay. Tiana lifts her head from my shoulder and looks at Butcher.

  “Want to set her on the bar here?”

  I nod and carry her over to the bar. Myra has a bag open and set up on the bar. “I called the doctor. Tiana was seen six months ago. She is allergic to bees so I will write a prescription for an EpiPen. I have one extra here because Mia is also allergic.” She reaches into the bag and hands me the EpiPen.

  Butcher moves beside me. Tiana is staring around the room, and it’s like I can feel her anxiety.

  “Okay, sweetheart, I am going to put this on your chest, okay?” Myra holds up the end of the stethoscope. She doesn’t say anything but allows Myra to do it. “Sounds good. Now I am going to check your ears.”

  For the next few minutes, Myra checks all of her vitals and looks in
her mouth. She lifts her off the counter and puts her on the scale. “She is a bit underweight. So I would grab some PediaSure to help bring it up. I don’t think she has been getting the correct meals she needs.”

  I kind of figured that. Lexi is a selfish bitch. I hate that she is dead. Nobody should feel bad that Lexi is gone, but she has basically abandoned her baby girl. Tiana is underweight and looks like she hasn’t had a bath in god knows how long. Her eyes are the most heartbreaking. They reveal her true feelings—she is so sad.

  “I need to take her blood and make sure everything is what it needs to be.”

  I wince at the thought of her getting stuck with a needle, but it must be done. Myra grabs an alcohol pad and rubs her arm. When she pulls back, Tiana’s skin is a lot paler than I thought—that is how much dirt is on her.

  Butcher’s hand clenches my hip, and I know he and I are looking at the same thing. Myra takes the butterfly needle and vial out. Tiana looks at the needle and starts screaming.

  Butcher jumps into action. He picks her up and she curls into his arms.

  My poor heart. I turn my head to the side to hide my tears. I can hear him whispering, “You are safe,” in her ear. He sets her bottom on the bar top, but she holds her head to his chest, turned away from Myra. Butcher takes her arm and holds it out for Myra.

  Myra walks over and quickly inserts the needle. I bend down so I am eye level with Tiana. I smile at her and run my finger over her cheek. She reaches out and wraps her little fingers around my index finger.

  It hits me right in the feels.

  “We brought a travel bed and some toiletries, along with some clothes, until you can go out tomorrow,” Ryan tells us.

  “Thank you so much, Ryan. This means a lot. Thank you also, Myra.”

  Myra smiles and pulls the needle from Tiana’s arm. “It’s what family is for. You would do the same.”

  Don’t cry, Shay.

  Myra puts the vials of blood in a small case. “I will tell you the results in the AM. We’ve got Alisha’s mom babysitting.”