by London Casey
“This is what we don’t need,” Miller bellowed. “Landon, shut your fucking mouth. Trev, stand down about Griffin. I know you’re hitting his daughter, which is fucking romantic, but if Griffin had a bad name, then he’s got to grapple with that on the other side. Now can we get back to business?”
The table fell silent.
Trev ripped himself free and combed his hands through his hair. “Sure, Miller.”
“Eight Under has been knocking off some gas stations and liquor stores. Petty stuff, but they knocked off two in Frelen.”
“Kill anyone?” Blaine asked.
“No. They either tie the clerk up or just beat him up. Not good in this town. At least it’s keeping Ethan busy. Keeping him off our back.” Miller shook his head. “But it still can’t happen.”
“Ethan will twist that to us,” Blaine said. “He’ll take it to the papers. He’s ruthless.”
“Then we cut that off,” Gaige said.
“How?” Erik asked.
“Simple,” Trev said. “Two prospects at each gas station and liquor store in Frelen. We show force to the PD and when Eight Under tries something, we get the fucking guys. We can give them up to Ethan to show good faith. Or we can cut the fuckers hands off and send them back to whoever the hell is running Eight Under.”
“I like that idea,” Blaine said. He waved a finger. “I really like when Trev gets regular pussy.”
“Okay,” Gaige said. “Enough of the pussy talk for a second. That’s a good idea though.”
“Then let’s list names,” Miller said. “This will give them a chance to get out of their…”
There was a heavy thud at the door.
Miller nodded to Landon.
Landon opened the door.
One of the prospects stood there.
“What do you want?” Trev called.
“I’m sorry to bother you all.”
“Make it fucking quick,” Landon said.
“There’s a woman here.”
“Again?” Gaige asked.
“She’s hurt… beat up… she’s asking for her daughter.”
Trev looked at Miller.
Fuck.
*
Like daughter, like mother.
Jenn took out a handgun and wiggled it in her hand way too freely. Her left eye was bleeding pretty badly. Her right eye was black and blue. Blood on her lips and her shirt was almost torn off her body. She had one high heel on at a time. She looked drunk, beat up, ready to kill.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Trev said as he approached.
Miller tried to breeze by. “Tell me Ripper did this.”
Trev grabbed Miller. “Hey, Prez. Kindness for a second. Let me talk to her. Go inside and get shit set up for her, okay? We have to clean up these cuts and find out what’s going on. Get the guys in line and get the prospects spread out across the lot. Just in case.”
“Fuck,” Miller said.
“I know,” Trev said. “You said it yourself… act smart, right?”
Miller turned and started barking orders.
“There, Jenn,” Trev said. “It’s just us. You and me.”
“Why’d you bring her there?” Jenn asked. She broke down in tears.
Trev took a step closer. When Jenn looked down, Trev made his move. He grabbed the gun and easily twisted it from Jenn’s hand.
“No!” she screamed.
A second later, nails scratched across his face. It hurt like goddamn fire. Trev grabbed for Jenn’s arms and turned her, walking back to a car, putting her on the hood. He needed to be aggressive but he didn’t want to scare her any more than she already was.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Trev said. “I need you to believe me. Christ, Jenn, what the hell happened.”
“Get away from me,” she said.
Trev backed up and unloaded the gun. He put the gun and the clip on the ground.
“Look. It’s just us talking.”
“You fucking brought my daughter up there.”
“Yeah, I did. She’s terrified right now. She was almost killed. Then she came here thinking her father was alive.”
“Oh, Griffin,” Jenn said. She started to weep harder. She lowered her head and lost all control.
Trev looked to his left and saw Blaine standing at a distance.
Blaine mouthed What the fuck?
Trev waved him off.
“Look,” Trev said. “Nobody here is going to hurt you. Whatever happened in the past is done. You and Griffin had a thing and it was… whatever.”
“It was real,” Jenn said. “It just couldn’t come out.”
“Okay. That’s something to talk about with Eden. She was really hurt that you pretended like you didn’t know her.”
“What was I supposed to?” Jenn asked. “Look at my face.”
“Ripper did that?”
Jenn slowly nodded. “Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because of Eden.”
“You told him.”
“He knew,” Jenn said.
“Shit,” Trev said.
“He lost it on me. He always accused me of having an affair with Griffin. There were so many times we almost got caught. But we never did. Then I got pregnant. I had to play it all off, you know?”
“Does Ripper think he’s Eden’s father?”
“As far as I know, yes,” Jenn said.
“That’s why he smacked you around?”
“Yeah. Because she was supposed to be gone from all of this forever. When she showed up… Ripper is in a bad place, Trev. Okay? I’m here because I need help. He lost his mind.”
“Okay. I’m going to take you inside. We’re going to get you cleaned up. Jenn, we will protect you. But listen to me carefully. You’ve been around this life for a long time. Longer than me.”
“You’re still a pup,” Jenn said.
“Yeah, right. A pup. You need to tell us everything. What Ripper’s doing. Who he’s with. Why he’s doing it. If there’s something internal…”
“You’re going to kill him,” Jenn said.
Trev gently touched Jenn’s shoulders. “I didn’t say that.”
“No, I did. It was a statement, Trev. I want you to kill him. I want you to kill Ripper. For all he’s done. For all he’s taken from me. For what he did to Griffin.”
“What did he do to Griffin?” Trev asked.
Jenn touched her eyes and wiped away tears and blood. She then laughed. “I just thought if Eden was safe, I could live this life out. That’s what I told myself. That’s what I believed. I kept my promise to Griffin. I sent the letter when he died. And then I…”
“You sent the letter to Eden?” Trev asked.
“Yes. That was our agreement. Because if Griffin was dead, he wanted her safe.”
Trev felt his stomach and heart flip at the same time. “Okay. Let’s get you inside and cleaned up. Jenn, this is all about honesty.”
“I want to see Eden.”
“You will. Just not like this. Okay? I promise you. Get cleaned up and then we’ll go see Eden.”
Jenn looked at Trev and she started to cry again. She clutched at Trev’s arm. “Please, Trev. Tell me… tell me you love her and you’ll always protect her.”
Trev slipped an arm around Jenn to keep her standing. “Yes… I love Eden. And I will always protect her.”
__
twenty.
Eden hated the apartment. But she didn’t mind the company. Baby Caine was on the floor, sitting up, playing with blocks. Eden was on the floor across from Caine, rolling the blocks to him. When two blocks smacked together Caine would crack up laughing.
“He laughs at the silliest things,” Jessa said. She was on her knees behind Caine, making sure the baby didn’t fall back.
“That’s what babies do,” Eden said. “It’s so good to hear something happy.”
Eden smiled big and rolled another block. It hit two blocks and Caine threw his head back, cackling. Jessa put a hand to Caine to keep him st
eady. Caine then instantly stopped laughing and got a mad look on his face. He grabbed two blocks and started to smack them together. Then his face turned red.
“What’s wrong, little guy?” Eden asked.
“He’s, uh, going to the bathroom,” Jessa said. “That’s his poop face.”
Eden snorted. “Oh. Okay. I’ll give you some privacy then, little guy.”
Eden climbed up into a chair. Jessa put Caine into a portable playpen to let him do his business. She then sat down and put a hand to Eden’s. “How are you?”
“You tell me,” Eden said.
They weren’t best friends. They weren’t sisters. But they were getting closer.
“It’s a tough life,” Jessa said. “I saw a whole other side of it with Blaine years ago. This is a decent life though. They all care. They all try. They’re willing to die for each other. That’s pretty special.”
“I know all that,” Eden said. “There’s just stuff going on inside the club. It’s scary.”
“Just look at Caine. He breaks my heart already. Looks too much like Blaine.”
“I think he looks like you,” Eden said.
“Good. If he ends up anything like his father…”
Eden laughed. “What about Trev? Is he…”
“He’s a fighter. I’ve never seen him with a woman before. So anything he says to you, it has to be real. Just know that. I can tell you that things will sometimes seem like they’re getting worse, but they’re not. I trust all of them with my life. With my son’s life.”
Caine let out a whine and pulled himself to his feet.
“Does that mean he’s done?” Eden asked.
“Give it a few seconds and you’ll know.”
Eden wasn’t sure what that meant but then she caught wind of the smell.
She was going to ask Jessa if she could change Caine but the apartment door opened.
Trev came in and froze. “Whoa. What smells?”
“Blaine’s kid,” Jessa said.
“Ah, I thought it was familiar,” Trev said with a grin. He walked to the playpen and picked up Caine. It sent a surge of love through Eden’s heart. “Hey little Blaine. You shit yourself? Just like your Daddy. And let me guess… you want someone to clean you up and then you’re going to want to suck on a boob for a little bit.”
“Definitely just like his father,” Jessa said.
Trev held Caine and looked at Eden. “Hey, beautiful. We need to be alone for a minute. I have to talk to you.”
“I’m leaving,” Jessa said. “I have his stuff in the clubhouse.”
“Wait up,” Trev said. He went to the door and opened it. “You two shitheads. Get in here. Carry Jessa’s stuff to the clubhouse. Don’t look at her. Don’t talk to her. Do everything she says. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” one of the prospects said.
“They know how to change a poopy diaper?”
“You tell them and they’ll figure it out,” Trev said. He touched Jessa’s shoulder. “Go take care of the little kid.”
“See you later, Eden,” Jessa said.
“Thanks for talking,” Eden said.
Trev shut the door again. “Okay. We’re alone.”
“You want to jump me right here on the table?” Eden asked.
“Oh, beautiful, I would love nothing more than that.” Trev closed in on her. “But I have to talk to you.”
“What’s wrong? Something happened?”
Trev nodded. “You need to stay calm and let everyone work this shit out. Your mother is here.”
Eden felt her heart sink. “What?”
“She’s here. She came down here looking for you. I talked to her for a few minutes and she told me everything I needed to hear. She and Griffin had a deal worked out. Griffin had written that letter a long time ago. When he died, she was to send it to you. To keep you protected. You didn’t come to the MC right away and someone came after you. That’s what they were keeping from happening.”
“Who would hurt me?” Eden asked.
“I don’t know. But what happened…”
“I need to see her.”
Eden lunged forward and Trev grabbed her. He stopped her and held her. “Hey. She’s right outside the door. I’m going to stay outside and let you two talk. But you can’t get scared.”
“Why would I get scared?” Eden asked.
“Beautiful, she didn’t come down here without cause,” Trev said.
“What the hell does that mean? Can’t you just tell me something, Trev?”
“Fine. Ripper used her as a punching bag. He found out she sent the letter to you and then flipped his lid. Okay?”
Eden covered her mouth. “Oh…”
“But it’s not that bad. We cleaned her up. She could use a change of clothes though. And you two need to talk. I’m going to ask just because I love you… are you okay with this?”
Eden dropped her hands and her jaw. “You just said… you love me?”
Trev gritted his teeth. “Of course I do, Eden. I love you. Okay? We’re going to get through all of this together.”
Trev pulled away and walked to the door.
“Trev,” Eden said.
He looked back. “Yeah?”
“I love you too… I swear on it.”
*
“Come on, stop crying.” Jenn handed Eden a tissue. “You’re making me feel bad here. I don’t like feeling like this as it is.”
“Has it happened before?” Eden asked.
“That’s what you want to ask me? All the years gone between us and you’re worried about my face?”
“I’m worried about you,” Eden said. “How to make sense of this. You ignored me. You just… what the fuck were you thinking?”
Jenn nodded. She sucked on a cigarette. “Good. Get it all out. Ask everything. Slap me.”
“Someone beat me to it,” Eden said. She jumped up and walked to the sink. She poured a glass of water, drank it, and felt like she could throw up.
“The answer is no, it’s not the first time,” Jenn said. “But it’s the last time. He’ll never touch me again.”
Eden turned and leaned against the sink. “So why now?”
“Because of you. I want to be alive to talk to you. To tell you the truth. To see you as a woman.”
“You gave all that up.”
“I had no choice.”
“You had a choice.”
“If Ripper is okay with taking swings at me… what kind of life…”
“Yeah, right,” Eden said. “I know. What about my father?”
Jenn grinned. Her eyes lit up.
That’s when Eden knew what her mother and father had was real.
“He was amazing. So different. Still ruthless when he needed to be, but so gentle when it came to me. I never had a man treat me like him.”
“So what happened?”
“The club. The cut. The patches. Whatever you want to blame it on. Your father was helping Ripper with some deals. I guess things down here weren’t so hot and he gave up his patches. He was running outlaw. Do you know what that means?”
“Sort of.”
“Okay. He was bouncing back and forth between The Lost Men and the charter up north. He and I… oh, Eden. He saw what Ripper did to me once. He got into a fight with Ripper and knocked him clean out. Griffin had to take off then. The club was going to kill him. Shit calmed and he and Ripper worked their shit out. He came back and I wanted to thank him for hitting Ripper.”
“Thank him?” Eden asked.
“I rode him until there was nothing left to come out,” Jenn said.
“Gross.”
“Sorry, Eden. You asked. It’s the truth. We fell instantly in love. He started to come around because of me. He was my saving grace. I knew it could never go anywhere. Well… Griffin had a plan. Ripper had been talking to some bad guys about stuff. Griffin sort of pushed the plan, hoping Ripper would get killed or thrown out of the club. Then I got pregnant.”
“So I screw
ed everything up?”
“No, sweetie,” Jenn said. “It’s not your fault. Nothing is your fault. Griffin and I knew the risk. Soon as I got pregnant, I knew what I had to do. I told Ripper and he wanted me to… you know.”
“No,” Eden said. “He really said that?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Look at you,” Jenn said. “I had an image of you from the day I found out I was pregnant. And here you are. More beautiful than I imagined. Why would I keep that from the world?”
Eden felt her throat tighten. “Thank you.”
“So I had to make a deal with Ripper. He asked Griffin to watch over me. He wanted nothing to do with a fat chick. His words, not mine. So I had to let him fuck anything he wanted, which wasn’t out of the ordinary. He trusted Griffin a lot. But it left me with the closest thing I ever had to a family. Griffin took care of me, took care of you. He arranged for everything. Then he made me a promise, Eden.”
Jenn put out her cigarette and stood up. Eden stared at her birth mother, realizing they shared some features. It was a hard thing to look at. To accept. Eden always wondered what her life would have been like if she hadn’t been given up for adoption.
“What was the promise?” Eden asked.
“Simple. He said that he would make sure you were protected. Nobody would ever know how and nobody would ever know the truth. But when he said that, I believed him. It comforted me, okay? He said he would take care of everything. Which he did.”
“So what happened when I was born?”
“Well, I had been knocked out. Not by Ripper, by the doctors.” Jenn smiled. “I woke up and you were gone. The first thing I did was touch my belly and it was gone. You were gone. That’s when it really all hit me. I started to cry. I looked to the door and had this vision. Me getting out of the bed and going to find you. Picking you up and hugging you tight. Then I run off. Just you and me.”
“That didn’t happen.”
“Of course not. I couldn’t move. But the door opened and Griffin came in. He was by my side the entire time I was in the hospital. He held me. He kissed me. He wept with me. He then showed me the information on the people who were adopting you. That gave me some relief. I knew you were safe and I knew you’d be happy.” Jenn reached out and took Eden’s hand. “I know everything that happened. Griffin kept in touch. I’m so sorry about your… your parents…”
