Broken Wings

by Sweet, Izzy

  “Yeah, he wants to make sure things go right,” Grem says.

  “Alright,” I say. “Soon as the guys arrive, I’ll head on over.”

  “We’re gonna need more guys for guard duty at this rate,” Grem says.

  “Yeah, I know. Find a couple of guys you think are suitable for me,” I say.

  “Will do,” he says before disconnecting.

  “So, what?” Allie asks. “You’re going to hump and dump me on the doorstep?”

  That’s the fucking straw that finally breaks me.

  Letting out a loud laugh, I start to shake as I turn onto our street.

  Then I look over at her pissy face and say, “Aw, baby, don’t be like that. Did I tell you how fuckin’ spectacular your tits look in that vest right now?”

  She growls at me, “You wish, asshole. You touch, I bite.”

  Shaking my head, I stay quiet as I drive up our street and then pull into the driveway. I hated the fucking shit we had to fight through last night, but I can’t lie and say it hasn’t brought us closer.

  Even if she hates me right now.

  Getting out of the van, I look back in to see Allie frowning at me. “You comin’, Allie? Levi’s waitin’.”

  “Yeah,” she grumbles and gingerly lifts herself out of the van.

  As soon as we walk into the house, a child flies across my vision and Levi slams into Allie’s waist, yelling, “Mommy!”

  Allie quickly crouches down and wraps her arms around Levi before lifting him up to squeeze him. “Oh baby! I missed you!”

  “Missed you!” Levi yelps, squeezing her right back.

  “Hey, what about me?” I ask as I hold out my arms to him.

  Looking over his shoulder at me, Levi tilts his head for a moment then he literally monkey jumps from Allie to me, his arms clinging around my neck.

  “Holy fu—” I start to say but Allie cuts me off with a deep, rumbling growl.

  “Missed you, too!” Levi says and I feel like my whole world swirls around me as his arms squeeze me so damn tight.

  “Well, well, how was the honeymoon?” Darlene asks as she comes into view.

  “It was a good night,” I smile at her and ask, “How was it here?”

  “I now know exactly how many movies I’ve missed in the Star Wars series,” she says with a laugh and grabs her purse.

  “Thanks for stayin’ over with him last night,” I say to her with a smile.

  “No worries, he was an angel. At bedtime, he got a little grumpy, but nothing the man of the house couldn’t deal with,” she laughs.

  As soon as Darlene is out the door and on her way home, Allie begins to gently grill Levi on how his night away from her really went.

  “So, did you have fun?” she asks.

  “Lots! She knows how to make paper dinosaurs!” he says as he tugs our hands into the living room to show us all the neatly folded origami animals all over the place.

  Fuck, I didn’t know Darlene could do that.

  “Wow,” Allie says as she picks up a tiny crane.

  “Yeah, and she showed me how to do it too,” Levi says then points to his creations.

  “Dude, that’s awesome!” I say and sweep him up into my arms for another hug.

  “Is she my grandma?” he asks me seriously.

  “Um…” I say and look over to Allie.

  “Well…” Allie starts out to say.

  “Cause I asked her to be and she said only if you guys said yes. Say yes,” he says seriously.

  “Yes,” I say. “We all need as many grandmas and grandpas we can get.”

  Rolling her eyes, Allie counters, “Sweetie, it’s not that simple.”

  I look her hard in the eyes. “The Royal Bastards are our family, Allie. It is that simple.”

  “Coy,” she begins to say, and I shake my head at her.

  “No, Allie. No discussion, they’re family.”

  “What did you guys do?” Levi asks us.

  “We went to a get-together last night and had lots of fun,” I say and carry him with me to the couch so we can catch up.

  Time seems to run too fast for me though because I don’t feel like I’ve gotten to spend nearly enough with them both before I hear the familiar pounding on my front door.

  “Protection’s here,” I say to Allie.

  Nodding her head, she says, “I can tell.”

  “Gonna run over any bikes today?” I ask.

  “If Hammy calls me ma’am one more time, I swear I’ll…” she trails off as Levi looks up at her.

  “Aw, don’t be too hard on him, he’s just bein’ respectful,” I say with a smirk.

  Getting up from the couch where Levi has been snuggled against me, I head to the door and open it up.

  “Coy,” Grem says as he steps into the house, and I see Jude standing behind him with Tampon.

  “Boys,” I say. “Come on in and say hi to the family.”

  “Hey Pres,” Tampon says as he steps in.

  “Coy,” Jude says following behind him. “How’s everything going here?”

  “Good, man, really good. I appreciate you comin’ down to see us,” I say and hold out my hand.

  Shaking it firmly in his grip, he says, before pulling away, “I need to talk to you if you have a moment.”

  “Sure,” I say, closing the door behind us. “Let’s get this finished up and we’ll talk on the way out.”

  “Sounds good.” He smiles as he pulls off his sunglasses.

  Fucker is wearing a three-piece suit in the middle of fucking summer, and it’s a black suit. How the guy isn’t fucking dying of heat exhaustion, I have no clue, but he isn’t even breakin’ a sweat from what I can see.

  “Jesus, man, don’t you ever wear normal clothes?” I ask him as I lead him into the house.

  “Not really,” he says to my back as we reach the living room.

  Immediately, both Levi and Allie tense up when Jude walks into the room and fear flashes in their eyes.

  “Allie?” I ask to get her attention.

  My hand is slowly sliding toward my holster.

  Does she recognize him?

  “Huh?” she says and shakes her head to stop staring fearfully at Jude.

  My hand is about to pull the gun free when Jude frowns at the room.

  “Mrs. Baker, Levi,” Jude says with a nod, and I’m not spottin’ anything on his face beyond concern.

  We all stand in place for a moment, and I can see Grem has caught on to the tension immediately. His hand going for his gun, he pulls it slowly out of its holster.

  “What’s going on, guys?” Tampon asks as he plops down next to Levi and pokes his stomach.

  “He looks like a bad guy,” Levi says loudly and points at Jude.

  “Levi!” Allie says with a scolding, embarrassed tone. “Don’t be rude like that. We don’t know this man.”

  Jude’s been watching me and Grem though and I’m bettin’ he’s reading his own obituary right now.

  “No?” I ask as I slowly let my gun slide back into the holster.

  Looking at me, Allie shakes her head ever so slightly. “No. I’m so sorry, where are my manners?”

  Standing up from the couch, Allie walks over to my side and says, “Hi, I’m Allie.”

  “I’m Jude,” he says and then looks to Grem and me. “I’ll wait outside.”

  Hugging Levi, I kiss him on his head before I drag Allie into the kitchen and ask her, “What was that about?”

  “He… He startled me. I’m not used to seeing men like him in suits around here,” she answers, still looking disturbed and uncomfortable.

  “Like him?” I ask.

  “Yeah, he’s… He’s like Mikhail’s men, and like, well… you guys,” she says with a small shudder.

  Pulling her to my chest, I hug her tightly. “Jude’s a good guy.”

  “Are you sure?” she asks and holds onto me like I’m her lifeline.

  “Yeah. He’s as dangerous as a fox in the henhouse, but he’s our
fox in the henhouse,” I say while kissing the top of her head.

  “He has dead eyes, Coy. Like there isn’t anything there behind them,” she whispers.

  I wonder if I did too before Allie came back into my world.

  “He can be trusted, Allie,” I say and hug her again before pulling away. “I gotta get going though, got a club issue to take care of.”

  Leaning down, I kiss those plump bits of heaven she calls lips.

  Chapter Twenty

  Allie

  It takes me a long time to relax after Coy leaves the house. That Jude guy… The moment I laid eyes on him I swear my heart stopped beating. All the fears I’ve shoved down about Mikhail rose up inside me with a fucking vengeance.

  One glance. It only took me one glance to recognize that Jude’s connected. Made men have a look about them I can spot from a mile away. A slick, oily look that often leaves a bad aftertaste in my mouth.

  Even Levi trembled in fear beside me.

  The only thing that kept me from completely freaking the fuck out and going batshit crazy was Coy and Grem reaching for their guns.

  As insane as it is, for a moment I was terrified that for some awful reason Coy was going to hand us over to Mikhail.

  I know he wouldn’t, but terror can make you unreasonable and stupid. And it was pure, icy terror pumping in my veins when I took in Jude’s cold, empty eyes.

  Cold, empty eyes that looked just like Mikhail’s eyes when he would play with me…

  Shaking my head, I stand from where I’ve been sitting on the couch beside Levi and walk into the kitchen. Needing something to do, a way to keep busy, I start making sandwiches for everyone.

  When I call the guys in for dinner, the suspicious, untrusting looks on their faces is enough to pull me out of my funk.

  “What?” I ask and put a hand on my hip when I watch them approach the kitchen table like they’re afraid the sandwiches I made them are going to bite them or something.

  Tampon is the first one brave enough or stupid enough to ask, “Did we do something wrong, ma’am?”

  Gritting my teeth for a second at being called ma’am again, I doubt I’ll ever get used to it and like it, I say, “No, why?”

  The guys look between each other, having a silent conversation I can’t quite follow.

  I really don’t get their hesitation. Did I do something wrong? Did I forget…

  “Oh,” I say in realization before I sigh and shake my head. “You’ll probably want drinks to go with them.”

  Walking up to the fridge, I grab three of Coy’s cold beers and pass them out to them.

  Poster Boy, Hammy, and Tampon look at me in disbelief, their jaws nearly hitting the floor.

  “What?” I ask, their reactions irritating me.

  “You’re being nice to us,” Poster Boy finally points out.

  I roll my eyes and put my hand back on my hip. “So?”

  “You’re not nice, ma’am,” Hammy blurts out before he looks sick and like he immediately wants to take the words back.

  I’m taken aback by that at first, but when I think about it, Hammy’s right. I haven’t been very nice to them. Especially him.

  I’ve kinda been a bitch…

  Crap.

  Frowning, I catch Poster Boy and Tampon slowly backing toward the door out of the corners of my eyes.

  I nod my head at Hammy and say, “You’re right, Hammy. I haven’t been very nice. I’m sorry.”

  Poster Boy and Tampon both freeze in surprise.

  Hammy still looks like he wants to puke, but he rumbles out softly, “It’s alright, ma’am.”

  I shake my head. “No, it’s not alright. I feel really bad about what I did to your bike. You didn’t deserve that. I’ve asked Coy to help me fix it, but I know now what the bike meant to you. I’m sorry I took that away from you.”

  Looking speechless now, Hammy gives me a sharp nod of his head.

  I walk back to the fridge and grab another beer as a peace offering for him. “I can’t make up for what I did, fully, but I’m going to try.”

  He accepts the beer when I hold it out for him and seems to choke up a little. “Thank you, ma’am. You don’t have to do that.”

  Hammy’s such a good guy, and as big as he is, he seems like a pure, gentle soul. I’d like to think if I knew what I know now when I ran his bike over, I wouldn’t have done it…

  But as crazy as I was, I’m not sure.

  “I do,” I sigh and look at Poster Boy and Tampon.

  Poster Boy is giving me that look again, like he doesn’t know who I am.

  “I’ve been mean to you all and I’m sorry,” I say. “I’ve been going through some things…”

  “Some female things?” Tampon supplies helpfully when I trail off and don’t finish.

  Poster Boy slaps Tampon on the back of the head and glares at him.

  “What?” Tampon yelps and grabs at the back of his head. “What did I do?”

  Poster Boy shakes his head in disappointment, and I can’t help but laugh.

  I was trying to figure out a way to explain all the crazy stuff that was going on in my head, but female things will certainly suffice in this situation.

  “Yes, some female things for sure,” I agree through my chuckles. “I hope you guys can understand and forgive me. I want us to move past this. Coy says we’re a family, and I want you to feel comfortable here when you’re with Levi and me.”

  The three of them insist there’s nothing to forgive, but I can tell they’re relaxing a bit more now that I’ve apologized.

  Once I’ve got the three of them seated with a beer in their hand and a sandwich on their plate, I say, “I only have a couple of requests.”

  You’d think I just told them all I’m pregnant with their children the way they suddenly freeze up.

  Hell, Hammy even has his sandwich hanging from his lips.

  “First,” I go on, ignoring their reactions. I know it will take time for them to trust me after what I did. “I need to know what kind of things you like to eat and drink so I can keep it on hand.”

  They let out collective sighs of relief and I grab a pad and a pen off the fridge to make a grocery list as they rattle off the things they like.

  I’m in this for the long haul now. After what Coy and I did last night…

  Fuck, my ass is still a little sore, but it feels like all the tension that’s been building between us is gone. We finally laid all our cards down on the table, and he pretty much fucked all my worries out of me.

  I didn’t even know that I needed it, but he has this strange way of knowing exactly what I need. He knows me better than myself…

  And I know him too, even if I can’t explain to my own brain how or why.

  I can’t keep lying to myself or being afraid of all these feelings and emotions he invokes in me. I can’t keep fighting what my body and heart have been telling me this whole time.

  I need him with every single ounce of my being.

  Need to be near him. Need to be in his gravity, sucked into his space.

  I need the way he looks at me and touches me.

  I need the way he loves and protects me and Levi.

  Fuck, I think I may even love him.

  I wanted to tell him, I almost told him so many times…

  But it didn’t feel right.

  Maybe when he gets home tonight?

  After scribbling those little cocktail weenies down for Tampon on my list and doing my best not to giggle, I set the pad and pen on the counter.

  “Second and last request,” I say, making a point to look hard at Hammy. “For the love of god, please stop calling me ma’am. I can’t stand it. I don’t know why, but it bugs the hell out of me.”

  Poster Boy immediately starts to snicker and Hammy gets this dumbfounded look on his face.

  “Okay?” I confirm and start to walk out of the kitchen to check on Levi.

  He said he wasn’t hungry yet when I called the guys to the sandwiches, but h
e might be hungry now.

  I reach the doorway before Hammy finally speaks up. “Um… ma’am?”

  Instantly, I spin on my heel to scowl at him. “Hammy, please, I’m being serious. I don’t like it.”

  Gulping, he nods his head. “I understand, but I can’t do that, ma’am.”

  Is he purposely trying to piss me off? Is he antagonizing me so I act the bitch?

  Maybe under that sweet gentleness is real asshole…

  “Why can’t you do it?” I grit out, trying really hard not to snap.

  Poster Boy bursts into laughter, tipping back in his chair. Tampon looks simply confused.

  And Hammy looks like he’s going to puke again when he says, “The Pres ordered me to call you ma’am.”

  I take a deep breath and try my best to keep my sudden anger out of my voice as I ask, “He did?”

  Hammy nods his head slowly. “Yes,” he says then stops and cringes. “Ma’am.”

  Oh Coy, you dirty, rotten, Royal Bastard…

  I’m so going to get you back for that.

  * * *

  After tucking Levi into his own bed for the night, I walk through the house, doing little chores and trying to stay busy. I keep waiting for Coy to come home because it feels like he’s been gone for a long time.

  Bored off my ass, I’m hoping he walks through the door soon.

  Poster Boy, Hammy, and Tampon have grown more comfortable around me. They take turns watching the backyard and keeping an eye on the front.

  I keep them fed and give them the remote so they can watch something besides Star Wars. They even chat with me a bit. Giving me little insights into the club and its dynamics.

  And after our little talk in the kitchen, I feel completely comfortable and safe with them.

  Even though Hammy keeps calling me ma’am, ugh…

  When another twenty minutes passes and Coy still isn’t home yet, I decide to take a shower and get ready for bed. Once I’m clean, dressed in one of Coy’s metal shirts and a pair of his boxers, I wander out to ask the guys if they’ve heard anything from him.

  They reassure me they haven’t, but he’s safe and everything’s fine.

  Disappointed, I try not to let my shoulders slump as I walk back to the bedrooms.