JD's Redemption

by Lauren Firminger

  “STOP! I get it. You are pissed because he gets a second chance and you never did. I am going home because this was a mistake. It was a decision made in anger and one I couldn’t take back if I went through with it. You may be a stone-cold hitman Freddie but I’m not. Right now though, my man needs me and I just want to get back to him. I hate that you are hurting, I do, but we don’t work like that. I was trying to force something that just didn’t fit. I still loved JD. It wasn’t fair on you.”

  “Well that is just fucking awesome Ellie. I really hope that I am wrong but when he fucks up, I won’t be there to pick the pieces up again. I will keep an eye on you for him because it’s what we do with all the girls, but that’s it.”

  “Newsflash, I didn’t call you to come and pick me up today. You got hold of a message, how I don’t know, and came of your own accord. I don’t want to rub your nose in this.” I took a deep breath and looked over at him. His jaw was clenched in anger, so I decided to keep my mouth shut for the rest of the drive. I got where he was coming from and I would be lying if, in the beginning, I wasn’t worried that he would slip again but I couldn’t hold on to that or I would push him to do it. He trusted me around Freddie given our history. I trusted him working at the club. I had to or there was no way we could make this last. I knew deep down though, no matter what. He was my person and flaws and all, I loved him. We drove in silence until he finally pulled back into my driveway. Getting out of his truck and slamming the door behind me, I all but ran up to my door.

  “I’m gone a few hours and he is already sniffing around you.” I squealed and came to a halt, looking over at JD who was sitting on my front porch.

  “Jesus Christ! You scared the fucking hell out of me!” Resting my hand on my chest, my heart going crazy, I let out a slow breath and looked back up at him. “You did ask him to look out for me, didn’t you?”

  “Look out for you, yes, not try and move the fuck in on you.” I moved over to where he was seated and stepped in between his thighs. Running my hands through his hair, I looked down at him as his head tilted back to look at me.

  “He doesn’t stand a chance against you.” JD moved to rest his hands against my ass and I leant down, pressing my lips against his. “I love you. You stole my heart back when we were teenagers and I don’t want it back.” Resting my head against his, I closed my eyes.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You’re fine. You okay though?” He pulled back and gave me a nod.

  “I am now.” I brushed my fingers softly along his cheek, not taking my eyes off him.

  “You know you don’t have to pretend with me, right?” He opened his mouth to argue that he was fine, but he closed it again. We both knew that he could lie to everyone else and put up a front but with me, I could see right through that.

  “I will be.” Taking a step back, I took hold of his hand and pulled him to his feet.

  “I know, and I will be right here, always.” He leant down and pressed his lips against mine.

  “I will forever be grateful for that. Goddess, you are my guiding light in all of this. I hate that this shit is tainting you.” I went to open my mouth to interrupt him, but he pressed a finger against my lips. “I am a selfish man though. I can’t let you go as much as you hurting is killing me. Things will get better, but they can only get better if I have you beside me.” I took his hand in mine and rested it against my cheek.

  “Get it through that thick head of yours right now. I am not going anywhere. Come hell or high water, I am roughing this shit out with you. I know it’s not gonna be easy. I have known MC life since you fuckers joined it. I know what I am signing up for. I am in this for the long haul.” I leant up on my toes and kissed him again. “For tonight though, you may want to set something up with the boys because the girls are coming to kidnap me and take me out.” Wrapping his arms around me, I laid my head against his chest.

  “What if I don’t want to share?”

  “Then you are taking on three women who will be very pissy. One of whom is dying to go out for a night and leaving the baby with Dad.” He let out a snort before sighing.

  “I guess I can call Raven.” I lifted my head to look up at him and found him grinning down at me. Sliding my hands between us, I shoved him away from me.

  “You’re an asshole! I thought you were seriously feeling bad then! I was about to go and plead with the girls to change the night. Sell my soul or some shit.” As he chuckled, I shoved him back again. All that did was cause him to pull me closer to him.

  “How long ’til they are coming for you?”

  “Couple of hours.” He gave me a nod and moved to lead me into the house.

  “Tell them I will take you to Raven’s place. They can all meet there and while you girls go out, we can hang out. We’ll come pick you all up when you are ready to come home. Tomorrow though, you are all mine. I want to take you somewhere.”

  “You got yourself a deal, Reaper.” I kissed his jaw as we went inside.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  JD

  When he pulled up in my girl’s driveway and she got out of the shot gun seat of his truck, I could have killed him. I turn my back for a minute and he is already trying shit on her. Did he not hear along the grapevine that she was mine or did he have a death wish? He must have seen my truck though because he took off too quickly for me to do anything. I scared the shit out of Ellie though, but I always seemed to be doing that. She needed to learn to check her surroundings better. We would work on that though. I would have to deal with that idiot first though. When Ellie told me that she was being kidnapped by the girls, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that I wouldn’t get to spend the night with her. She would be back at work tomorrow night so tonight would have been the only opportunity. I couldn’t stop her though. She needed to spend the night with them and I guess it wouldn’t kill me to spend some time with the guys, not working. I had the rest of the afternoon though, so I would use that to my advantage.

  Laying on the bed, my ankles crossed as I rested against one arm behind my head as she got ready to go out, my phone on my chest from messaging the guys, I looked over and watched her reach for this piece of material she called a skirt. “Over my dead body are you wearing that without me around.” Ellie looked over her shoulder and raised a brow at me, challenging me. Defiant little thing she was. “Not even remotely kidding, Ellie. I don’t want to get arrested for kicking the shit out of some guy who tries something on you.”

  “How will you know?”

  “You leave the house in that, I am leaving Raven’s after you do and I will be watching you girls all night. One guy even comes near you, I will be setting an example.” I knew that was possessive, but in this moment, I didn’t care. I had one asshole overstepping his mark. I didn’t want her to have to fight off some loser that didn’t like the word no. Not that they wouldn’t have eyes on them at all times anyway, but the four to one ratio didn’t sit well with me. I just hoped that Raven had that covered or I would be honoring my word.

  “Fine, I will wear jeans. Don’t think you can get away with that shit all the time, Reaper. You can’t control what I wear. I am humoring you now though because I really hate your fucking lawyer and don’t feel like calling him.”

  “Whatever works, Goddess.” She put her skirt back away and took out her jeans that when she wore them, it looked as though they were painted on. I shook my head but let it go. I had to pick my battles.

  “Hey, can I ask you a question?”

  “You just did but go on.”

  “Smartass.” I shrugged one shoulder and nodded. Ellie crossed the room and came to sit on the bed. I wasn’t sure if I should be concerned or not because she was just wearing her bra so it was really hard to concentrate but on the other hand, she had a small frown creasing her forehead. “Do you, Raven and Chaos know what is going to happen to Mischa once she gets moved tonight.”

  “We do, why?”

  “Freddie said you didn’t.
No one would know what happened to her after tonight.”

  “He was either saying that because he isn’t breaking the code to keep outsiders out of our business and he doesn’t know that you now have Old Lady status or the delusional dick thinks he is special. Why were you even talking about that? What was he picking you up for?” She looked down at the bed and played with the covers as she chewed on her bottom lip.

  “Don’t get mad, okay?”

  “No promises. Ellie?”

  “I was texting the girls earlier and somehow he got a hold of a message I sent them saying that I wanted to get my hands on her and finish what I started last night. We were on our way to where you are keeping her when he got your phone call. I was worried about how you sounded and made him turn around and come home. We got into an argument and he told me that once she was gone, that was it. I wouldn’t get a second chance.”

  “I’m sorry, what? I don’t think I heard that correctly. He was taking you out, to the middle of nowhere so he could watch you beat the living crap out of someone and possibly kill her, knowing full well what that fucking does to a person and that you would never come back from something like that. You would never forgive yourself for taking another person’s life. In the heat of the moment, it would have been the most amazing feeling in the world but once that adrenaline wore off, you would slip into the darkest hell that I don’t think I could even pull you out of that. He’s dead. I am going to fucking kill him.”

  “You said you wouldn’t get mad!”

  “No, I didn’t. I said no promises. He doesn’t get to do this. He doesn’t get to drive you to the brink of insanity and pull you back like that.”

  “You did a good enough job of that for the pair of you.” I blinked and went to open my mouth. Snapping it shut though because I knew whatever came out now was going to hurt her, I picked up my phone from my chest and got up off the bed. Leaving the room, I slammed the door shut behind me and grabbed my truck keys off the hall table. Before I could leave though, Ellie was blocking the door.

  “Ellie, move.”

  “No! The only place you are going is Raven’s.”

  “I’m not going to ask you again.” She stood her ground though and crossed her arms over her chest. I had two choices. I could either move her myself and possibly risk hurting her because I used too much force being as fucking angry as I was, or I could wait ’til she was out with the girls before I went to settle the score. He doesn’t get to fuck with my world. Not this time around. Who knew what kinda shit he was filling her head with on the drive there and back. Did she doubt me again?

  “Make no mistake Ellie, I will be settling the score on this one. If he has filled your head with any doubt, I will kill him.”

  “We’re fine. I promise.”

  “Really? Because that comment did not sound like we were. If you are holding on to anything, you need to speak up now. I am not fighting over old demons Ellie. I won’t do it and I swear to God that if I hear the words ‘Freddie said’ ever come out of your mouth again, I will not be responsible for my actions.” She nodded her head but wouldn’t meet my eyes. Letting out a sigh, I closed my eyes. “Go get ready. I will take you to Raven’s.” I turned and headed for the kitchen so she would move away from the door. When I got to the kitchen, I took out a beer and downed that fucker in seconds. It had been years since I had done anything hard but right now, the call for a hit of something much stronger was in the back of my mind. I knew if I did that though, Ellie would be gone. For tonight, I would just have to stick with beer.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Ellie

  After our nice long, hot shower, JD and I got dressed and he drove me over to Hailee and Cameron’s. He saw what I planned on wearing when I first got dressed and quickly vetoed it, I changed into jeans instead, which he was a little happier with that but not a great deal. I think after everything that had happened, he was worried about letting me out of his sight until Jai was found and something was done with him. Thankfully nothing more had been brought up about Freddie after our fight. I thought for sure Jason was gonna leave when I went back into the bedroom to finish getting dressed but I came back out to him sitting on the couch waiting for me. I took my clutch and put my I.D., money and phone into it along with my gloss. He asked if I was ready and I gave him a nod. He walked me out to the car but not another word was said. This was bad, and I didn’t like that we were about to leave it like this.

  We pulled up outside of Cameron’s house and I saw Katy’s car sitting in the drive. JD parked beside it in case she was driving tonight and not drinking like the rest of us or in case Thomas needed to go out. I had a feeling though, Mia was going to be wrapping those boys around her little finger and she would have all eyes on her. A large part of me was jealous because I would much rather be looking after Mia than going out. Maybe soon we could offer to babysit for a night and give Thomas and Katy a break. They hadn’t one since she was born, they even took her with them on holiday. I would have to remember to talk to Katy about it tonight. JD would deal. He couldn’t say no to either of us. JD was Mia’s favorite Uncle.

  Taking his hand as we moved up the driveway to the front door, it opened before we had a chance to knock.

  “Finally! I need your help. Katy keeps giving me options that are making Jack growly and he is threatening to lock me up.” Hailee pulled me inside and in turn, dragged JD inside too. I’ve always loved the nicknames that Hailee and Cameron give each other, Jack and Sally just seemed to fit with them.

  “It’s not a threat, Sally!” I grinned and looked up at JD.

  “Makes your one veto nothing.” I let go of his hand as Hailee dragged me down the hall and into the bedroom. Katy was sitting on the bed with a Cheshire cat grin on her face.

  “Causing trouble again, Katy?”

  “Who me? Never! Someone is just being an ogre!” I shook my head and laughed.

  “Okay so what has he said no to?” Hailee pointed down at the pile on the floor and I saw a whole bunch of material scraps. “You are really trying to be locked away, aren’t you?”

  “What? What is wrong with any of that?!” I picked up the skirt on the floor and held it up.

  “Other than me being able to see what you had for breakfast? Nothing. You could have at least put some leggings underneath it so you could get out of the house and take them off in the car. You would just have to remember to put them back on when you stumbled home though.”

  “See this is why I needed you earlier!” Hailee said, exasperated.

  “Fine, don’t listen to me. I did get out of the house first try though. Just saying.” Katy said as she walked out the door and closed it behind her. Liar. I moved to Hailee’s closet and pulled out her pair of jeans that really hugged her ass and threw them at her.

  “Put them on.” I moved through her shirts and found her black biker, gothic looking top. It was a corset in the middle with lace on the top and bottom with little sleeves covering her shoulder but not enough to cover the Raven she had inked there. Taking her black knee high, heel boots, I turned back to her. “Wear it with these.” She quickly got dressed into the shirt but kept the boots in her hand in case Cameron made her change again. I didn’t think she would have an issue though. She would be covered head to toe, while looking hot ass fuck but showing off her mark. No one in this town messed with the MC’s girls though so we would have watchful eyes on us no matter where we went. I was almost certain that they would have someone we didn’t know looking out for us as well.

  “Now that is much better.” Hailee rolled her eyes and sat down on the couch to pull on her boots.

  “You are such a buzzkill, Jack.”

  “No, Sally, I just like to keep somethings for myself. Your body being one of them.”

  “Can we just go already? Please?” We laughed at Katy who was ready to jump out of Thomas’s lap.

  “I’m sorry! Not everyone can get out of the house on the first try!”

  “Try tenth.” Thomas mu
ttered once he’d finished snorting with laughter. Which earned him a huff from Katy.

  “I knew it!”

  “Oh bite me! I am leaving without you both if you don’t stop!” She turned and placed her hands on Thomas’s cheeks and kissed him. I curled into JD a little more and he squeezed me softly. Resting his hand under my chin, he tilted my head back so I was looking at him. Meeting his eyes, I smiled.

  “Go, Goddess. I’ll be here when you get back. You need a night out to relax and have a good time.” Katy grabbed my hand and Hailee’s and dragged us to the door. We were just able to grab our bags before we were being shoved out the door. One taxi ride later, we met with Abby at the bar and were sliding into a booth.

  “Are you going to tell us what happened?” I looked up and saw three pairs of eyes on me. Setting down my drink, I ran my hand through my hair and shifted.

  “Which part exactly? I’m sure the boys have told you what went down at the club?”

  “We know a little, not all the details though. Is JD okay though? Are you two good?” I shook my head at Hailee’s questions.

  “We got into a massive argument right before we were leaving. I’m a little worried about him and everything that went down but I know him. If he wasn’t ready to be dealing with people than he wouldn’t be here. He would have stayed away a little longer.” I picked up my drink and took a sip. “I kinda did something though.”

  “A good something or bad something?”

  “It could have been a really bad something, but I stopped before I went through with it. When you girls messaged earlier and told me you were taking me out, I mentioned wanting to get my hands on Mischa. Well Freddie came and got me from my place and took me out to where they were holding her. On our way out, JD called him and asked him to please keep an eye out for me if anything happened to him. That phone call didn’t sit right with me, so I made the decision to let it go and went back home. Freddie and I got into a fight because he thinks I am making a mistake with JD and wants me to choose him instead. He told me he would honor his word to JD, but he couldn’t sit around and watch me get hurt again, he wasn’t going to pick the pieces up.” I shrugged and picked up my drink.