“Aye,” I do as the Prez and head off into the garage to get to work. Walking in, I find Tank with two beers and a smirk on his big head as he’s sitting next to Saint.
“Did I almost miss our team building bullshit meeting?” I joke and take the beer from him.
“That shit hurts,” Tanks pouts, rubbing his chest. “I built you, didn’t I? You look pretty damn good, right?”
“I’m doing pretty damn good, brother,” I agree and clink bottles with them both. “Things are getting easier. I’m learning to let go and let things be. They will work out when they’re meant to.”
“See, I have taught you so much with my wisdom and sparkly personality, it just stuck right to you.”
“That, or it was his woman who taught him. But you’re right, it was probably you, Tank,” Saint deadpans.
“Of course it was! How’s Tami doing?”
“I think all this shook her up, but, she gets a little stronger every day. We get stronger together.”
For the first time in a while, it feels like I found some peace, and, even though some things are still up in the air, I can breathe freely.
***
Tami
“My God, it is like a little piece of heaven, you know!”
After I cried my heart out to Emilia and Kat, they loaded me up in the car and drove me straight over to Vegas’ house. Dana was here, lying on the couch and watching, you guessed it, Friends. That was right after she’d binged on Judge Judy.
I snuggle Cortez to my face and breathe in his baby scent. “Blade is a genius with these onesies, or I wouldn’t know which baby I had.”
Vegas’ evil smirk hits her face. “What did you do?”
“I told Blade that I mixed them, you know, for fun.” She points to Cortez, “Look at his calf.” She laughs and holds a hand over her mouth.
I turn him over in my arms, and, sure enough, there’s a Sharpie tattoo of his name. I snort and we all chuckle.
“Check Easton’s leg, too.”
Kat takes off his baby pants, and we see that he also has his little calf decorated with a semi-permanent tattoo by his dad, with his name and a dagger where Cortez has a knife behind the letters.
“I wonder how old they will be before he makes these permanent,” Dana laughs while Vegas takes a picture with her phone.
“God, you don’t want me to answer that, do you?” Vegas mocks, but her happiness is all consuming.
“I really needed baby snuggles badly.” I prop tiny Cortez up and over my shoulder while I rub his back
Emilia steals Easton from Kat, cradling him while she sways back and forth, rocking him. Vegas yawns and squints an eye open, “Why is that?”
I catch Vegas and Dana up on the whole drama that is my life nowadays. They’ve been living in their own world since the twins were born and Dana was put on bed rest. Kat chuckles at how red Vegas’ face got. “I’m guessing that’s why Blade left you out of the loop. You gotta chill, woman, you have babies that need you.”
She scowls and flips Kat off. Jenn laughs, “I get all the fun while you two are living large.” Dana chucks her pillow at Jenn’s head but hits her hand instead and coffee spills all over Jenn’s clothes. Dana’s eyes widen and she chokes on her words, “I s-swear I was aiming for your head!”
“I can’t harass you in your delicate condition, princess. But I won’t forget this,” Jenn threatens with an angry pointed finger and leaves to grab a towel from the kitchen.
Right when I think we’re done here, they all turn back to me for more details. “This is a hostile work environment,” I comment.
Vegas looks left then right, “Who’s working?”
I chuckle, “Fine. I realized something about all of this. We can love on many levels. While I love Pawn, and he really does have a piece of my heart, always will, our timing was off or just never meant to be. I don’t want to live in a world full of what if’s or could’ve been’s. We weren’t right in that we would’ve been sucked down this path of clinging to the other. Where with Solo, he taught me that I needed to believe in myself.”
Kat clears her throat, and all of us turn to look at her. She raises her brows and circles her finger in the air. “And…?” she juts her chin out at me.
“You really need to spend less time with Tank,” Dana recommends, scrunching her nose.
Kat picks up her coffee and takes a big drink. “Siiiiiip. You think so? Siiiip.”
“Oh my God, stop, no, I didn’t mean that,” Dana begs with her hands up in prayer. Kat narrows her eyes at her and looks back at me.
I try hiding my smile as I finish my story for them. “And, of course, I learned a lot from Kat. She taught me to be brave and strong. She held me up and taught me how to make it on my own.”
I put my hand that’s holding my coffee mug up to toast them. “To my bitches without borders!”
∞ ∞ ∞
Solo
Tami spent the day cleaning houses after cleaning the bar, and I’m sure that the woman is dead-beat tired.
I left work early and ran to the bookstore for her. That book I took off her nightstand all those weeks ago, the author just released the third story in the series, Living for Forever, and they had it in stock. I wrapped it up for her, and it’s now sitting on the table next to a lit candle.
If my timing is right, she’ll walk through the door in two minutes. Quickly, I place the grilled steak on her plate next to a salad bowl and the baked potatoes, then wait. Seconds later, her car pulls into the driveway. She walks in and tosses the keys and purse on the couch. “Solo, are you home?” she calls out, and my heart stills because we never said that before.
“Helloooo?” she calls again.
Her words hit me hard. Even though we haven’t been apart at all since we slept together for the first time, I am now home. “Hey, baby,” I tell her as soon as she finds me in the kitchen.
“You made me dinner!” she exclaims.
“I thought you needed it after a long night and then day today, working so hard.”
The little devil smiles. “I worked really hard today.” Why don’t I believe her? “I even helped with the twins.”
She fidgets with her shirt and then sits in front of her plate of food. I nod along because that part does sound like a handful.
We start eating and chatting, and her eyes won’t leave the box I had decorated with ribbons. Eventually, I give in. “I got that for you, go ahead and open it.”
Her fork clatters to the plate and she hurriedly rips the ribbons and wrapping away to see what’s inside. She pulls the book out and stares at it for a moment. “How did you know?” She looks up at me with awe in her eyes.
I pull out her old copy of Betting on Forever and slide it over to her. “I borrowed your book, and then ordered the next one for you.”
She squeals and jumps up from her seat, landing in my lap and peppering my face with kisses. “I love you!”
She sits in my lap and fires off a hundred questions about the book. After she’s satisfied with my answers, we spend the night on the couch. I watch T.V. while she reads with her eyes glued to the pages. Every so often, she tenses and holds her breath.
I can’t think of a better day or night than with my woman like this. Eventually, around two in the morning, she falls asleep with the book on her chest, and I carry her to bed.
I watch her sleeping face for a bit and see my future. She is my everything, and my promise holds true. I will spend my life doing my best to make all her dreams come true.
Chapter 17
Kat
The smoke leaves my lips, floating around me like whispers in the dark as I’m waiting in the shadows of the alleyway. My back rests against the cold brick wall with one foot propped up. I raise the cigarette up to my lips and take another drag.
I am watching Tank from around the corner of the other side of the building. Exhaling, I smile when I see him smack Solo in the back of the head before they take cover behind the van.
&n
bsp; I take another moment to look up at the sky. When in the city, you can’t really see the stars, but I know they are there. Just like I know it is time for me to move forward with my plans, and today is a big step to getting what I want and need.
A car pulls into the spot in front of the apartment building. I throw my smoke to the ground and release the drag with all the anticipation that has built up this moment. My foot crushes it on my way out of the shadows.
Feather gets out of her car. She jumps when she sees me on the sidewalk and our eyes meet. She halts and freezes on the spot. This is why people die, she knows I’m dangerous, yet she stays. Always follow your instincts.
“Hey, I was looking for you all day. I’m sorry it’s so late but I had to get out when Tank couldn’t follow me.”
She relaxes a bit, with her shoulders slowly coming down. “Why were you looking for me?”
“I know that they’re planning on killing you, and I can’t let that happen since you’re pregnant.” I raise my hand to my head and rub my forehead in distress, casting my eyes to the side. “If he finds out I’m here, he could kill me, too.”
Feather’s breathing starts to pick up, and I hear the panic in her voice when she speaks. “What? How do you know? What do I do?”
I fight my smile at how easy it is to crack her. “We have to leave now, I don’t know when they plan on killing you.” Urgently, I move forward and point to my car, “We need to get off the sidewalk, they could be watching us. I’m out of here, now that I think of it. I shouldn’t even be here.” I turn away from her and briskly walk toward the car.
Behind me, I hear the sound of her feet approaching as she runs to catch up with me. “Please wait! Let me come with you?”
I shake my head and unlock my car, opening the door and preparing to get in. “Please let me come! I promise I’ll find my way out of Reno by tomorrow.”
I look around and hesitate, “Let’s go.”
Together, we jump in. I start up my pitch-black Tesla and rip out of the parking lot. “I’ll drop you off at a motel on Fourth Street. Don’t go back home. What the hell happened anyway? Why are they so mad at you?” I check the rearview mirror to make sure that Tank and Solo are following closely behind.
She chews on her thumbnail, trying to decide what she could tell and what she definitely shouldn’t. I decide to play at her heartstrings. “I was so worried when I overheard Tank on the phone. God, what if he tries to kill me too, ya know?”
Feather looks around the car before she breaks, “They killed my boyfriend and I wanted to know who killed him.” She starts crying, then covers her face with both hands.
“Who was your boyfriend, and why would they kill him?” The girl is not making it easy on me, having to pry every detail out of her like this.
“Brad was a cop. He was killed following a lead on one of the the Battle Born men. They, or rather he drove him off the road. Brad died in the crash. The police couldn’t find any evidence, so they’ve never paid for it. They took him away from me for no reason!”
I turn the car into the parking lot of the motel and stop in a dark corner. “Then you got pregnant trying to find out?”
“Yes,” she sobs, “I wanted an abortion, and Pawn sabotaged me and it never happened. I have to have one! I can’t have this baby! I asked around until I found a man to help me pin the assault charge on Pawn. That has to be why they are wanting to kill me.”
“Do you have any family or friends who could help you?”
“Just my parents, they live in Idaho.”
“Call them and let them know that you are fine, that’s the first place the MC will look. Tell them you met a man and you’re moving to Mexico with him. He has a great job and travels a lot, and that you will come home soon. Call them as soon as you can.”
She bites her lip and finally decides to call her parents right now while still in my car. She relays to them word for word what I told her to say. “You don’t have any friends here that we need to protect?”
“No,” she shakes her head, “Brad and I moved here from Idaho not too long before he died.”
“It will be okay.” I smile and look out the window, squinting like I’m trying to see something or someone. Her head whips around to look in the same direction. My elbow strikes her throat just under her chin as hard as I can and with all my weight, but without actually hurting her or the baby. She crumbles back against the window, knocked out from the blow. While she was talking, she didn’t see Solo and Tank pull the van up next to my car.
Tank gets out of the van as I’m pulling zip ties out of my pocket, binding her hands together. He opens the car door and I hand him a couple of ties for her feet. He loops them together like cuffs before securing them together. Effortlessly, he drags her limp body from the car and into the van. After he’s done, he pokes his head in the car. “That was hot, K-Love, drive us home so I can fuck my woman.”
Solo gets into the driver’s seat of the van and pulls out ahead of us.
Tank shuts the car door and leans forward, planting a big kiss on my lips. He pulls back and I see lust filling his eyes. Heat blasts through my body. I push my pants down and so does he before I crawl over the middle console. He reclines the seat back and I ride my man before we go anywhere.
Tank and I have, and always will, be hot and explosive.
Life’s a game of choices. Play wisely.
Chapter 18
Tami
One of these days I am not going to give a fuck. I keep on telling myself that, but I’m a sucker, man, a good girl. Solo crashed from a late night, and I wanted to get Dana’s, then Vegas’, house clean before he woke up, so I drove over early.
As I’m standing out in the cool air, I knock a few more times with no answer. Shit, I am going to get killed. It is a little early, and Dana hates getting up early. I’m about to turn around and head home when I decide to take a quick look through the side door window. I gasp in surprise when I see her lying on the floor of her living room, her cellphone hanging loosely from her hand.
Panic raises inside of me like a hurricane. I fumble with my phone, almost dropping it couple of times as I’m trying to dial Axl’s number.
“Axl,” I scream into the phone as soon as he answers.
“What’s going on, Tami?” His voice is deep and calm.
“Dana is on the floor and I can’t get in!”
“Fuck, Tami, call 911, I’m on my way! Get in the house!” he yells before the call disconnects, and I could already hear the roar of his bike before that happened.
I dial 911 and put the phone on speaker as I tell them the situation. They tell me the same, that, if I can, I need to get into the house to her. I try kicking the door with my feet. I’m about to throw a big rock through the window when I hear sirens in the distance and wait.
A firetruck rolls up to the curb and firefighters run out, one of them grabbing a tool that looks like a crowbar. Another one tries asking me questions and I rattle out everything that I know while I watch them snap the door open like it was a stick. They barge inside just as an upset Axl turns up at the same time as the ambulance. He rushes forward, barreling through the crowd, yelling, “That’s my wife!” He shoves at anyone who gets into his way. They’re no match for his desperation to reach her.
They finally let him through, and he kneels next to her, yelling Dana’s name. Blade runs in after him and shoves him back to let the paramedics get to her. Fists fly between the two until Axl falls back onto his ass with his hands on his head. Blade squats down and says something to him. Axl looks up and calms down.
He then runs to catch up to Dana who’s being loaded into the back of the ambulance on the stretcher. He gets in there with her. The last thing I see before the doors are slammed shut and they leave is Axl kissing her hand.
I realize that the entire time all this was happening, I was like a statue, just taking in the scene. I rub my chest where my heart is pounding violently.
“You doing okay?” I jump
when I hear Blade’s voice in my ear.
“I don’t know,” is all I can say.
∞ ∞ ∞
Blade had called Solo, and he came to pick me up from Axl and Dana’s house. Now we are all at the hospital, waiting to hear how Dana is doing.
A few hours later, Axl comes into the waiting room and announces loudly, “I’m a dad!” The room cheers and he’s all smiles. “Dana is okay, the doctors think she passed out from her diabetes and the stress it put on her body. I don’t know all the details yet, but she’s okay, everyone is good.”
Harley, Axl’s mom, rushes forward and hugs him, “I’m a grandma?”
“Yes, mom, Maddison is here. We have to wait a bit, though, to see her. Dana had an emergency C-section, they are going to move her into a room soon.”
Axl and his mom hug and the rest of us relax a bit. My eyes are glued to the floor. Thank God she’s okay. I feel like I could crash from the relief I’m feeling right now.
“Tami,” Axl calls my name and I look back up to him. “I can’t thank you enough for being there when you were, but, girl, we need to teach you how to break into a house.”
My face reddens from embarrassment while the group gets a good laugh at my expense. “You’re welcome.” I shake my head when, suddenly, Axl wraps me up in a big hug, then abruptly lets go. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but you need to hang out with the crazy crew more. They will show you how to get into trouble, but you will pick up a few good things along the way.”
I refuse to agree with Axl to his face because he doesn’t need his head inflated any more than it already is, but I have picked up so many good things from these women along the way. A family that I never thought could ever exist for me.
These women took in a scared young girl and taught her how to be a woman on her own. These women have become my home and my sisters. Then, of course, there are Axl and Tank who have always been the big brothers a girl would deny wanting but loving all the same.
Always & Forever (Battle Born MC Book 4) Page 10
