Cox’s face went tight. “Eva,” he warned, “you can’t—”
“Shut up,” I hissed. “I can, and I will. I will tell her not only have you not left your wife, but that you are still fucking everything on two legs that comes your way. So, what’s it gonna be, Cox? Are you going to let me back there, or are you going to lose Kami?”
Glaring at me, he moved out of my way and swept his arm to the side. “Go right ahead, you fuckin’ bitch.”
Deuce’s door was locked, but the doorknob was cheap. Two solid fist drops to the top, and it busted. I kicked the door open, and Deuce’s eyes flew open.
“Eva!” Miranda exclaimed, turning red. “You’re here!”
Deuce was pushing out from underneath her, pulling himself up into a sitting position. His eyes were bloodshot and unfocused, courtesy of the empty bottle of Jack lying on the floor next to the bed.
“I’m not here,” I informed her. “I just need to tell him something, and then I’m gone.”
She started getting up, and I signaled her to stop. “You should stay,” I told her. “After I’m done with him, he’ll probably need to fuck you again.”
“You stupid fuckin’ bitch,” Deuce growled. “Get the fuck outta my club.”
That hurt worse than walking in on him and Miranda. If he truly loved me, I didn’t understand why he didn’t want me to be part of his life.
Miranda scrambled off the bed. “I’m…uh…I’m gonna go.”
Without bothering to find her clothing, if she’d even had any to begin with, she took off down the hall.
“How the fuck did you get back here?” Deuce yelled.
I shrugged. “I’m a whore. I jumped a couple of beds.”
Deuce was instantly sober and across the room. Gripping my bicep, he started dragging me out of his room and down the hallway. Butt naked.
“Since you’re kicking me out, I’ll make this quick,” I told him. “I get why you’re mad about Chase, but Frankie is different. I’ve loved Frankie for as long as I can remember.”
Deuce’s face went hard, and he started walking faster, forcing me to scramble just to keep up with him.
“We grew up together; we went through a lot together. He was always there for me, and I was always there for him. He lost everything at a very young age. He latched on to me as a child, and it was in no way sexual. It wasn’t until later that he needed me for that as well.”
Deuce yanked me to a stop. “Needed you for that?” he hissed. “Do you have any idea how fucked that sounds?”
“Yes!” I shot back. “But I loved him! I wanted to help him!”
“You’re sick, babe.” He started walking again, dragging me with him. “Frankie made you sick.”
“Yeah,” I yelled. “I know!”
“What do you fuckin’ know?”
“I know I’m fucked-up. I know I’ve been fucked-up for a long time. I know I don’t know the first thing about a normal relationship because fucked-up is all I’ve ever known, but I have been trying so hard to make us work! I also know that I am sick of your bullshit! You made me promises, and I left my entire life for you! And you bring me to the middle of nowhere and dump me in a house with your kids and expect me to be your old lady when you knew, you fucking knew, that was the last thing I wanted. So I let you treat me like a piece of fucking furniture who’d be right where you left me every time you decided to grace me with your presence because I promised you I wouldn’t run. But I can’t do it anymore!”
“Cox!” he bellowed, making me jump. A heartbeat later Cox appeared at the end of the hall.
Deuce shoved me forward. “Get her the fuck outta here. Make sure she gets home and stays there.”
Cox didn’t move. “Sorry, Prez. I’m not draggin’ an angry pregnant bitch that just caught her man slammin’ a whore anywhere. I like my fuckin’ balls where they are.”
I swiveled on Deuce. “Don’t worry about it. I’m leaving. You have whores to attend to, and I have fucking life I’d like to start living!”
I whirled on Cox, and he took a step back.
“And you! I don’t give a shit how you treat your wife. I don’t care if you want to fuck every man, woman, and dog on the planet, but you keep fucking with my girl, and I will end it! You assholes love to spout off about brotherhood and the code of the road, but you never think about the trail of women you’re leaving behind you, and I’ll be fucking damned if one of those women is going to be Kami!”
“Jesus, Eva,” he whispered. “What the fuck did I ever do to you?”
“Not me,” I hissed. “Kami. She is not club ass, and I won’t let you treat her like it!”
“GET THE FUCK OUT!” Deuce bellowed.
“I’M GOING!” I screamed.
I made it two steps outside the door when blinding hot pain shot through my lower back. More pain followed; my vision swam as my belly tightened painfully, and sharp stabbing sensations prickled across my midsection. My hands flew to my stomach. “No!” I cried. “Please, God, no!”
• • •
“Bitch caught you with your cock in Miranda and didn’t even flinch.”
Deuce glared across the bar at Cox. “Whose fuckin’ fault is that?”
Cox glared right back. “Prez, she already knew what you were doin’. Bitch had your number before she even got here. Bitch has everyone’s number. I’m startin’ to think she knows us better than we know ourselves.”
Blue threw back a shot and cleared his throat. “’Course, Foxy’s got us tagged. She’s a biker brat who grew up in a club full of brothers who fuckin’ love her more than they love their old ladies.”
“That’s the fuckin’ problem,” he muttered. “Bitch doesn’t know her place ’cause Preacher’s a fuckin’ idiot.”
Blue shook his head. “Son, you are a fuckin’ moron. You wanna know what I see? I see a girl who isn’t just a girl, but a fuckin’ prize, and why the fuck she chose an asshole like you to give that fuckin’ prize to I haven’t a fuckin’ clue. Stupid if you ask me.
“But you’re throwin’ it all away ’cause you can’t stop fuckin’ whores and ’cause you’re refusing to give her a piece of the club. Not a lot to ask, if you ask me, but since you ain’t askin’, I’ll shut the fuck up and let you be a fuckin’ moron.”
He glared at Blue. If the bastard weren’t so damn old, he would be in a world of hurt right now.
“You need to start bein’ straight with yourself,” Mick said quietly, speaking up for the first time. “You’re not really mad at her; you’re fuckin’ jealous.”
He looked around the bar at his somber-faced boys. “What the fuck?” he yelled. “Why are you all gangin’ up on me?”
Mick shook his head. “Just givin’ it to you straight, Prez. You need to man up and admit it. You’re jealous of Frankie for gettin’ her for all those years, for gettin’ to marry her, for her undyin’, misplaced loyalty to his crazy ass. You’re jealous of Chase just ’cause he got a taste, and she liked what he was givin’, and you’re jealous of that fuckin’ baby inside her ’cause you’re thinkin’ it might not be yours, and you want that kid so bad to be yours ’cause you want so bad to own that bitch that you ain’t seein’ shit straight.
“You’ve had a hard-on for Eva Fox for a long time now, and you’re so used to either fuckin’ her or fightin’ with her or losin’ her that you don’t even realize you finally got her. That bitch loves you, has for a long time now. You’re not the only one who’s known her for a grip. I saw the way she was lookin’ at you way back when in Chicago. She was just a kid then, but fuck me if she didn’t think the world of ya.”
Tap nodded. “He’s right, Prez. Don’t think you’re gonna be gettin’ another chance this time. She looks tired as hell, can see it on her face. I’m bettin’ Frankie wore her down somethin’ fierce with his bullshit. Only so much bein’ shit on a woman can take before she just can’t take it no more. Look at me. Tara left, split to Atlanta. Now she’s shacked up with some computer programmer, who my
baby girl is tellin’ me is a big fat dork—her words, not mine. But I’m guessin’ he couldn’t fight a fly if he had to. But Tara wants him and not me ’cause I didn’t treat her right, and he treats her like a goddamn queen.”
He didn’t know how to respond to that—mostly because it was all true—so he tossed back another shot instead. Mick smirked at him. Fucking asshole.
He wasn’t doing right by Eva; he knew that. His old habits were dying hard. But he couldn’t afford to go soft and get weak, and Eva made him soft and weak. Spending too much time with her and he’d end up gluing her to his side. He needed the space. He needed a clear head. Didn’t want to drop the ball.
Shit.
He didn’t know what to do. Half of him wanted her to go home, and the other half stopped breathing at the thought.
“PREZ!” Hands and arms covered in blood, ZZ came barreling across the room.
“Eva!” he said breathlessly. “She’s not talkin’…eyes are closed…so much fuckin’ blood…called an ambulance…”
He didn’t hear the rest because he was running out the door.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Deuce sat in the hospital waiting room in the same position he’d been in for four days, elbows propped on his knees and face in his hands.
He fucked up a lot in his life, but he never fucked up this bad.
He’d gotten Eva so fucking upset she’d gone into labor six weeks early and nearly bled out doing it. Doctors had done an emergency C-section, and now there was a tiny baby girl in an incubator with tubes up her nose because she couldn’t fucking breathe on her own, and a woman—his woman—who was refusing to speak to him because he was a fucked-up asshole who was out fucking other women when he had the one he wanted in his house, in his bed, and hanging with his kids.
“Prez?” Jase nudged him with his elbow.
“What?” he muttered.
“Kami’s here.”
He looked up and found a miniature Cox smiling at him. He smiled at Devin and looked higher. Devin’s crazy mother was scowling at him. He scowled back.
“Chase is dead,” she bit out angrily.
He blinked. OK. Well…that wasn’t exactly bad news.
“So what?” he said. “Saves me the time.”
Kami drew her brows together, looking less angry and more confused. “It wasn’t you?” she said.
He jumped up and got in her face. “Bitch, you crazy? You don’t fucking talk about that shit in public! Fact, you don’t talk about that shit ever!”
“I’m sorry!” she yelled. “You’ll have to forgive me! I tend not to think clearly when I find out my best friend almost lost her baby and her life, and not five minutes later I have the NYPD at my door informing me that my husband was tortured for hours, then gutted! Fuck, Deuce, they said his insides were strung around his Christmas tree! He was so mutilated they wouldn’t even let me see his body!”
His blood ran cold. Turned into motherfucking ice.
“Ripper!” he barked.
Ripper was already on his feet, pulling out his cell phone. “On it, Prez,” he said, heading for the exit.
“What’s going on?” Kami demanded.
“Daddy!” Devin squealed and took off running.
“Shit,” Tap muttered, nodding toward the hospital entrance. “Anna’s with him.”
Jase shrugged. “His own fault. Havin’ babies all over the world.”
“He’s still with his wife?” Kami hissed.
It took Cox a millisecond to realize what he’d just walked in on. Deuce watched him have a millisecond of a freak-out before dropping down on one knee. He caught Devin as the kid launched himself at him.
“Hey, little man,” he said gruffly, squeezing him tight.
“What the hell?” Anna shrieked.
Still holding Devin, Cox shot to his feet. “Not in front of my fuckin’ kid, bitch.”
Kami crossed the room and held out her arms to Cox. “I can see you still have things to take care of,” she sneered. “So give me Devin while you do that.”
Nostrils flaring, Cox handed him over.
“Go sit down over there, baby,” she whispered, pointing to a chair across the room. Devin scurried off.
“You fucked this skinny blonde bitch?” Anna screeched. “You had a goddamn kid with her?”
Cox closed his eyes. “Jesus, Anna, get a fuckin’ grip; we’re in a hospital.”
“Yeah!” she screamed. “And I just found out you are still fucking around on me!”
“Did you seriously just call me a bitch, you fucking bitch!” Kami shrieked.
Before this shit went full-blown soap opera, Deuce grabbed Cox and pulled him aside. “Chase is dead. His insides strung around a Christmas tree. Three fuckin’ guesses who did it. Get one of your bitches out of here before there’s a fuckin’ cat fight in the hospital my fuckin’ woman almost died in, and I’m just suggestin’ that it might be Anna you wanna get rid of, seein’ as Kami’s Eva’s girl. And the only way you’ll get her outta here is a lot of kickin’ and screamin’, which will upset my fuckin’ woman—and if you upset my woman, that’s gonna end bad for you.”
Sighing, Cox turned away. “On it, Prez,” he muttered.
“Tap.”
“Prez?”
“Call all the boys. I want round-the-clock guard on Eva and my girls. Cage, too. Best make that discreet though.”
“On it.”
Ripper rejoined the group. One look at his boy’s face, and he knew the news wasn’t good.
“Frankie?” he asked.
Ripper nodded. “Killed three inmates last week, was gettin’ transferred upstate because of it. During transport, he killed all four guards, and from what I heard, the way he did ’em in, shit wasn’t pretty. A real fuckin’ gore fest. He’s been tagged for the Henderson hit, too. Law’s gunnin’ for him. He’s runnin’ scared. Or knowin’ Frankie, he’s runnin’ happy. And no doubt he’s gunnin’ for Eva.”
Kami’s eyes went saucer-wide, and she threw herself at Ripper. “He’s going to kill my Evie!” she cried.
“No, baby, not gonna happen,” Ripper whispered soothingly, rubbing her back while he grinned over her head at Cox. Cox, who had since escorted his hysterical wife outside and returned alone, froze when he saw this.
“Keep fuckin’ touchin’ her, asshole, and you ain’t gonna have hands!”
“Fuck off,” Kami hissed. “Since you’re still fucking your wife and probably half the state of Montana, I’ve decided I’m going to fuck Ripper!”
Ripper, who couldn’t care less that Cox was two seconds from snapping his neck, kept rubbing Kami and grinning like a fool.
“You really want to make him jealous, Kami?” Jase said. “You could give me a try.”
Scrubbing his hands over his face, Deuce left the group of idiots in the waiting area and headed for Eva’s room.
Danny met him at the door. She was wearing her pink sweatsuit from three days ago and looked damn exhausted.
“No, Daddy. Bad idea.”
He took a deep breath. “Bad shit goin’ down, baby girl. I know she’s hatin’ me right now, but I gotta talk to her. ’Sides, you need to take a shower and get some sleep. Call your brother and go home.”
Reluctantly, she stepped aside, and he entered the room, closing the door behind him. The dark curtains were drawn tightly; the room dark and shadowed. Eva was lying in bed on her side. She looked pale and weak, had dark circles around her eyes, and had an IV in her arm. When she saw him, she turned away.
“Go away,” she whispered hoarsely.
His chest tightened. “Baby, I can’t. We gotta talk.”
He rounded her hospital bed so he could see her face, and she immediately rolled to her other side.
“No, we don’t. Go away.”
OK, different tactic.
“Eva. Chase is dead.”
He watched her body go rigid.
“He was tortured,” he continued. “Gutted. Insides strung up on his own Christmas
tree.”
Eva dragged herself into a sitting position, clutching her abdomen. “Where’s Frankie?” she whispered.
“Off the grid.”
“Oh my God. Chase…oh my God…this is all my fault…he didn’t…I…oh my God—”
“Baby.” He gripped her face and forced her to look at him. “Listen to me good. Chase knew what he was getting into when he made that deal with you. He knew Frankie personally, and he worked Frankie’s cases. He knew exactly how fucked in the head Frankie is and what he is capable of. Thing is, he wanted you so bad he didn’t care.”
A tear rolled down her cheek. “He didn’t deserve that. I mean, no one deserves that, but Chase really didn’t deserve that,” she whispered. “He could be a jerk, but he wasn’t a bad person. He just wanted to be loved; he wanted a family to love and to love him…he just didn’t know how…Oh God, Chase…Oh God…”
She was grieving; he got that, but the last thing he wanted was to hear her cry for an asshole she had fucked and had feelings for.
Feeling the jealousy start to creep up and the anger that followed, he sat down beside Eva, took her mouth, and kissed her hard.
She didn’t fight him, and they shared a long, slow kiss, full of wet lips and greedy tongues. When he pulled away, Eva pressed her forehead against his and sighed into his mouth.
“How is she?” she whispered.
He cleared his head. The baby—she was talking about the baby. “She’s still not breathin’ on her own, babe.”
Biting her lip, she nodded. “It’s not your fault,” she whispered.
Yeah, it was. He opened his mouth to protest, but she placed her finger over his lips.
“It was a difficult pregnancy. It’s not your fault.”
His chest compressed, and he sucked in air. He didn’t deserve her. He never had. He never would.
“I named her,” she said softly. “Ivy Olivia West. Ivy because it’s sort of still Christmastime, and Olivia after—”
“My mom,” he said hoarsely, feeling like the biggest piece of shit in the world.
“Deuce?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“The birth certificate. What do you want me to do?”
A Ride or Die Kind of Love Page 145
