Saviour: A Devil's Spawn MC Novel (Savior Book 3)

by Natasha Thomas

  I don’t disagree, but that won’t be up to me and he knows it.

  “A name would be good,” I say reminding him of my earlier question. “And I’ve gotta say, that slap my woman gave you before is nothing in comparison to what you’re going to be facing when you show up at the clubhouse. You get that, yeah?”

  “Yeah I’m expecting as much, I’ll deal though. As I said, I never met the guy before we arrested him two weeks ago. He was out of Chicago, a long way from home if you ask me.” A chill runs down my spine as I try to recall the last time I heard from Damon. It would’ve been about a week ago. Fuck. Wracking my brain I try to think of anyone else working the operation that came from Chicago, because I don’t want to believe he would betray us like that. “Damon Ulysses Ford, forty-one-years-old, born in some bumfuck town in the Carolina’s, impeccable service record, no suspensions, tested well, and his last psych eval was on the up-and-up. I’ve got no clue what this guys’ motivation was, for all intents and purposes he came up clean on every check I ran. No debts, owns his townhouse outright, decent size bank balance, one credit card always paid before it came due. Shit, the guy was clean as a whistle that’s why it makes no fucking sense. Someone like that doesn’t fit the profile for what he was confessing to.”

  He’s not wrong. By the sounds of it Damon’s checks balanced leaving me with the burning question; why? Why would he confess to something he didn’t do? As much as I don’t want to believe he would, the other side of the sword is sharper. If the bureau has something to do with setting up an innocent man, this goes far deeper than any of us have the ability to handle. Even as a team there’s no way to get to the bottom of a cover up without inside sources. And that would mean federal government involvement, well above any of our pay grades, unless there’s something else I don’t know about these guys.

  Priss breaks into my train of thought that’s barrelling down the wrong track at a million miles an hour.

  “I don’t mean to come across uncaring, but while this is all very educational it doesn’t deal with the matter at hand. Tilly is going to freak if I don’t get home soon, and we need to sort this out before I can do that.”

  “Can we try it this way?” A very softly spoken Sally asks. “How about you tell us what you think the best way to meet with Tilly is sweetheart. You have been her parent for a long time I realise that, but I want to see my little girl. Please,” she begs with tears running down her face.

  I see Priss soften a little at the acknowledgement that she had in fact had to fulfil both roles as mom and dad to Tilly. The worst thing they could do would be to discount the connection the two sisters have. I doubt even I will come before Tilly to Priss. And I’m okay with that, so long as I get my woman in my bed, in my arms, in our house, at the end of each and every day I have no problem sharing her love with Tilly. In fact, I’d be more than happy if Tilly was to move in with us when I convince her sister to do the same.

  “I’m not going to lie, Tilly’s reaction isn’t going to be pretty. I think it’s best if you let me break the news to her…”

  Her suggestion’s cut off mid-sentence when a dishevelled, furious Tallulah Walker storms through the entryway. Fuck…

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Priscilla

  Priscilla’s Rules to live by 101:

  “I may look calm, but in my head

  I’ve killed you three times.”

  Oh shit. That about sums it up when my sister burst in the front door marching directly into the living room where we’re all gathered. If you ask me, things don’t get much worse than your teenage sister, pursued by a pissed off biker I might add, coming face-to-face with the people that broke her heart, causing her to have recurring nightmares for five years.

  Me, I can handle just about anything, and I’ve had to. Raising a teenager isn’t for the faint of heart, and if you value any of the following please reconsider your choice to bring children into the world; your blood pressure, your bank balance, your stuff, your patience, or your sanity, but if all else fails and you do indeed chose the hard road, parenting is also why God created wine. In fact I’m sure of it. It’s also akin to going back to high school yourself; it’s not something you want to do, and if you could get out of it you would, but eventually you’ll see the benefit of it. I haven’t gotten there yet, but I’m sure I will one day. Actually that’s not fair to Tilly, I already see the benefit in being her sudo-parent it’s just that now I can totally understand the sentiment.

  All-in-all Tilly is an awesome kid. She doesn’t give me any real trouble, other than the usual concerns most parents would have over boys. And even then Tilly is pretty subdued in comparison to most. I don’t have to worry about her staying out past curfew, because my seventeen-year-old sister is more interested in painting in her room at night than going out to parties, and parking at the lake. Tilly is a straight A student, she does her homework without me having to badger her, she does her chores without kicking up a fuss, and if we ever have an argument, and to be honest they are few and far between at best, she rolls her eyes or shrugs letting it go. Yeah, I know I’m lucky but to be fair I wasn’t as well equipped as most to being with either.

  This situation right here is a glaring example of that. I don’t know whether to let her yell, scream, throw shit at them; or if I should intervene, try to calm her maybe. Your guess is as good as mine at this point. Her reaction is going to go one of two ways. Either she’s going to be furious, lose her temper and lash out, or she’s going to retreat into herself, taking me the next month to pull her back out of her shell. I don’t get to decide how to react before the choice is taken out of my hands.

  Saint grabs Tilly’s upper arm in his huge fist and tugs her to his side bending to whisper something in her ear when she’s close enough. Which if you ask me is too close. I mean, I know she’s seventeen and in all fairness nearly eighteen, but I can’t help but feel protective over her. The reaction from the rest of the room is just as interesting as Saint’s commandeering of Tilly is.

  My dad looks like he wants to blow a gasket, and if he doesn’t I can tell that he’s at higher risk of having a stroke if he doesn’t calm the fuck down. His face is beet red, his fists are clenched and so is his jaw, and he’s even got a tick under his left eye which signals he’s really, really pissed. Hunter has even taken a tentative step towards him also noting his reaction.

  In Hunter’s case he appears torn. Tilly and he are tight. As in, tight. If I was to have a co-parent it would be Hunter, because of that I can almost hear his thoughts he’s projecting them so loudly. He wants to rip her away from his brother, but he also wants his hands free to deal with my dad if he loses his ever-loving-mind.

  Mom is standing with one hand over her chest and one over her mouth. I don’t know if it’s the shock of seeing Tilly all grown up, or that a man, a very attractive lickable man, has an interest in her. Hmmm… That’s a thought to ponder. I’ll have to tackle that little issue another time, because I think we are close to critical system overload with all the emotion, and testosterone in the room.

  “What the fuck are you doing with your hands on my daughter?” My dad bellows. And when I say bellows, I mean the windows shake with how loud he is. Jesus. If I hadn’t had a headache coming on before, I definitely did now.

  Tilly replies with a snarl that I haven’t heard come from her, ever.

  “Who are you?”

  “What the fuck do you mean? I am your fucking father, and this kid has gotta be what, five years older than you, at least?” If it’s possible, dad’s going even redder in the face. Just a thought, but I don’t see this ending well. At all.

  My sister is just staring at him with Saint staying close watching dad’s every move. I like the fact he’s looking out for her, but I have no doubt with the glare Hunter is giving him that they’ll be having words later.

  “Oh, I’m sorry you must be mistaken because my parents died in a car accident years ago, you should see a doctor if you’re having a
n identity crisis.”

  A laugh bursts from my lips, and every eye in the room is on me in a heartbeat. I wave them off and lock eyes with Tilly communicating silently with her, the way my dad and Hunter were not all of half an hour ago.

  “On that note, I think Tilly and I are going to go in the kitchen and have a little chat. You all stay here, and be nice. No death or dismemberment while we’re gone.” I say pointing my finger at each of them. Tilly places her hand in mine, and I tug her in the direction of Hunter’s massive kitchen. At least it’s in proportion to everything else about Hunter I muse. Probably an inappropriate thought to have at this point, but whatever.

  When we reach our destination Tilly hops onto the bench taking up her normal position, me pulling a dining chair around to straddle so I can face her. I don’t think she’s taken a breath since first spotting them when she walked in, so I give her a minute to collect her thoughts deciding it’s better to let her approach the conversation we’re about to have her way. I don’t have to wait long. With a frown Tilly asks,

  “How long have you known?”

  “About an hour longer than you, babe. They showed up at Mo’s while I was there with Hunter, it shocked the shit out of me, but I brought them here to find out what the deal was before letting them see you. I know you think…” I manage to explain before she cuts me off.

  “I’m not angry at you, Sis just confused. I mean they’re supposed to be dead, we buried them, had a wake, mourned them, I don’t get it.” I know the feeling, but chose not to address that aspect yet. I’ll have to sit her down and feel out where her head is when we have more time because I don’t think for a second the two bikers out there will give us that kind of time right now.

  On a sigh I say,

  “Look, apparently there was some threat to the club, their families and ours, and the only way for them to deal with it was for them to leave. That threat has only been taken care of in the last couple of weeks, so now they’re back. I don’t know much more than that, and I don’t know if I want to.” I omit the details about dad, Hunter, and our uncle’s at the MC being FBI, it isn’t important for now she’s dealing with enough as it is.

  “Well then why didn’t anyone else have to leave? Why only them?” It’s a valid question, but one that again isn’t for now. That story is too long to delve into in the space of time we’ve been given. For now I need to know how she feels, and what she wants to do about them showing up. Tilly also needs to know the truth about their intentions for her to live with them. There’s no way in hell I’m allowing them to spring that on her, and I don’t think she’d forgive me if she found out I knew about it beforehand.

  “I promise I’ll explain what I know, and give you a chance to ask questions later babe, but right now we need to talk about what you want to do about them being here. I don’t know about you, but I need some time to process this shit before I go making any commitments to sit down with them, or let them back into our lives.” Swaying her in either direction isn’t my intention, however she needs to know where I’m coming from.

  “What do they want, have they said?” She asks in a timid voice borne from what I can only assume is fear. She has absolutely no reason to be scared, I’d never let anything happen to her, and if they think they can take my sister away from me after all this time without a fight, they’ve got another thing coming.

  I roll my eyes pulling a face at her to try and lighten the mood. I highly doubt it will be effective after what I’m about to tell her, but it’s worth a shot. Tilly cracks a small smile, it doesn’t reach her eyes though.

  “Truth?” I question. At her nod I go on. “They want you to go back and live with them.”

  There was no other way to say it that would’ve softened the blow. And this will be a blow to Tilly, mark my words.

  “No fucking way!” She exclaims loudly. “That is not happening. Not ever, so I hope you told them no.”

  She’s livid, she has the right to be. I know I’d have the identical reaction if I was in her position, but thankfully I’m not. They never even made mention of including me in their plans. While I’m glad they didn’t, I can’t help but be a little hurt by it at the same time. Stupid, but true.

  “I may have mentioned something like that, but I don’t think I was quite as eloquent.”

  Giving me the first genuine smile since she walked in Tilly asks,

  “So what do we do now? I’m not sure I want anything to do with them at all Sis, what they did was pretty unforgiveable in my book.”

  See I told you, this parenting shit is hard. It’s times like this that I’d prefer to be immersed in a pit of tarantulas, and I’m petrified of spiders, than risk giving her the wrong advice, so I go with the truth.

  “I honestly don’t know, babe. Part of me wants to tell them to fuck off and not come back. They’ve been absent so long anyway what would another six years matter? The part of me that’s looking out for you tells me that I should hear them out, see whether or not them hanging around will be good for you. There are pros and cons for both options Tilly, so I really don’t know. I need your guidance on this, babe.”

  A lot of parents will probably say that it’s wrong for me to put a crucial decision like this in the hands of a teenager, and they can go and fuck themselves. In reality it’s Tilly that this has the biggest impact on. Her opinion will be the defining one when it comes to whether I ask Hunter to ask them to leave, and not come back or not. And yes, I’m not above using Hunter to do my dirty work for me, he’s the better candidate for the job anyway. If they refuse Hunter can be very convincing if he has to be. Tilly’s facial expression is saying it all. She’s just as confused as I am.

  “Do we have to make a choice now? I mean we have time right?”

  There’s little to no chance they’ll be going anywhere, so we’ve got time. Her question isn’t just about whether they will hang around long enough for us to make a decision based on what’s best for Tilly, it has a deeper meaning. She wants me to reassure her that they aren’t going to disappear again, and that’s unfortunately something I can’t do with absolute certainty.

  “If you need time Tilly I’ll make sure you get as much of it as you need. It’s up to you whether you’re ever ready to deal with them. If you are or aren’t, I’ll support you either way. You know that right?” I need to know that she understands regardless of her choice I’ll be here for her. There is nothing she can do that will change that. Even if she chooses to have a relationship with them that progresses to her living with them my stance on it won’t change. There is something else I want to ask her about before we go back out there though. “Hey, question for you. What’s the deal with you and Saint? You do realise with him being a brother and all if that shit goes wrong you won’t have a chance but to see him all the time.”

  Her quizzical look makes me grin wide. I’ve known for ages that she’s got a major league crush on the young biker. And who wouldn’t, he’s hot. I mean if I were into younger guys I might even consider fighting her for him. Okay, so not really, he’s a little too broody for me, and that’s saying something, because Hunter is plenty broody himself. I don’t think she knew that I’ve been aware her and Glock have never been a thing. It’s pretty obvious if you spend enough time around them that it’s purely friendship they’ve got going on.

  Not knowing enough about Saint I don’t know if he has a reason for his closed off nature, but what I do know is that he’s going to be one tough nut to crack if Tilly chooses to walk this path. I can only hope she knows what she’s doing because this could all easily end in heartbreak for my little sister. Throwing her head back she lets out a raucous laugh. I’m not seeing anything funny about this, but what do I know?

  “Ummm…Nothing. He was indirectly my Hunter assigned babysitter seeing as Xavier couldn’t do it.”

  I don’t buy that explanation for a second.

  “If that’s the case then what did he say to you before?”

  “When?” She says p
laying dumb. I know her game. If Tilly doesn’t want to answer something she pretends that it either didn’t happen, or she didn’t hear you. That’s not going to fly this time, so she might as well give it up.

  “Nice try missy. You want to try that again?” I say raising my eyebrow at her.

  When she answers she can’t look at me, which is confirmation that there’s more to it than what she originally said. Huffing at me rolling her eyes, her usual response to me probing her for information, she says,

  “All he said was that he has my back if I want him to get me out of here. Seriously there wasn’t anything more to it than that, I promise.” I have no doubt that’s all that happened then, it’s the before I’m worried about. But she’s nearly a legal adult, so the decision to get involved with him will be out of my hands soon too. Satisfied with her answer I give her a hug, wrapping my arms around her squeezing her tightly. She’ll never be too old for this, and for that I’m grateful, because sometimes there is nothing better than a hug from your favourite person in the world.