Wicked Legacy: A Motorcycle Club Romance (Rough Jesters MC Book 8)

by Brook Wilder

  Pushing to my feet, I wandered over to the bed and fell on it, taking the pillow he had slept on and breathed in his scent. I hoped he didn’t come back around. I couldn’t deal with the hurt all over again. At first light, I would gather up my family and we would head to the border and get the heck out of Mexico.

  Screw Clayton, screw the club, and screw Red. I was done with this life and could only move forward from here.

  Chapter 20

  Halftrack

  I gripped the bottle by the neck and turned it up, feeling the slow burn of the whiskey straight to my stomach. After dropping off Cora, I had realized that I didn’t have a way to the clubhouse, so I had backtracked to the parking lot where my bike was, glad to see that it was still there.

  The night ride should have cleared my head, but it hadn’t done that, only made it even more confusing.

  But the whiskey would make me forget.

  Well, once I passed out, that is.

  I gave the full moon a rueful smile, the sounds of laughter filling the air. It seemed that no matter where the clubs went, they enjoyed themselves, but mainly this time it was because Chains had stated that tomorrow they would head back home, finished with this leg of destroying the cartel. Word had been passed along to Siren and Voodoo about Red and his dealings and the club would leave it up to the resistance to deal with him.

  I personally wanted to have his head severed from his body for what he had done to Cora.

  The ache grew in my chest and I took another long sip of the liquor. Cora. Dammit, I had screwed up with her. I had been hurt that she hadn’t trusted me enough to tell me the truth, but when she had told me the story, hell, I knew I had been in the wrong. Cora hadn’t done anything without Red controlling her, and the club had given her leniency because of it.

  The problem was, she saw it as us abandoning her and her family, most of all, me. I had questioned yet again if the kid was mine when deep down, I knew she was. The moment I had held her in my arms at the clubhouse, I had known that precious little girl was one of the things I had done right in my life.

  Now I wouldn’t even watch her grow up.

  “Shit,” I said to myself, scrubbing a hand over my face. I was exhausted, unsure of what to do with myself or the mess I had created with Cora. I couldn’t just walk away knowing that Red was still alive and that the cartel could be after them. My conscience would never allow me to do so.

  Plus, it was my fucking job as her father, and the man who loved Cora, to protect them.

  I froze as I realized what I had just thought, testing out the waters to see if it was true. Did I love Cora? I hadn’t met a woman who was stronger than she was, who had more guts than any member of the Bitches. Hell, she ran circles around them.

  This was far deeper than her being Amelia’s mother. This was about the way I had felt with her, the way she had slid into my life, and now I couldn’t picture it without her. Even now, after Cora had literally told me to go fuck myself, I wanted her desperately.

  “I figured you would be out here.”

  I chuckled as Chains joined me in the dark, the smell of his cigarette filling the air. “You come to drink or to fight?”

  “I came to drink,” he answered, holding up his own bottle of whiskey. “Damn, man, your liquor bill alone is gonna bankrupt the club if we don’t get back to work.”

  I sighed, taking another drink. “Well, I’m sure everyone is happy to be going home then.”

  “You’re not going, are you?”

  I shook my head. “I can’t, man, not with them still here and Red still alive.”

  Chains sighed. “I figured as much. You’re really into this kid and that woman, aren’t you?”

  Heaven help me, I was. “It’s my kid.”

  “It’s your kid,” Chains answered, flicking his cigarette into the brush. “You should have seen the look on her face when you made the announcement. She was shocked you had done it so publicly.”

  Rolling my shoulders to ease the tension there, I looked over at the man I considered a friend and not just the president of the club. “What would you do if Kris was pregnant?”

  A flicker of regret scrolled across his face. “Hell, I don’t know. You can’t raise kids in this shit. Kris and I, well, it hasn’t been a bed of roses lately. More like a field of cacti.”

  I chuckled, slapping him on the back. “Dude, it’s just a rough patch. Think about all you’ve been through together.”

  Chains stared out over the brush, his mind a million miles away. “Yeah, I hope so. Just don’t make the same fucking mistakes we made, all right? You got a kid, man. That’s something special.”

  I grinned. “Yeah, it is.” That little girl had grabbed me from the moment she had landed in my arms and I felt this overwhelming urge to keep her from the ugliness, which meant I couldn’t leave Mexico just yet. Like it or not, Cora and Amelia were coming with me.

  Well, once I figured out how to apologize to her about everything that had been said, everything that had been done.

  “Mama Bear was right about the other girl,” Chains said after a swig of his bottle. “I saw the evidence myself. She was in it with the cartel. Didn’t look like she enjoyed it, but she never tried to leave.”

  Well, it was a relief to know that we hadn’t executed an innocent girl. I doubted Cora would ever believe that fact, though. “What are you gonna do about Mama Bear?” I asked, curious to know how the club was going to play nice with her.

  Chains shook his head. “Hell, I don’t know. Kris won’t talk to me about her and I know she’s still hurting about her leaving. They were like family to each other.”

  Having Mama Bear around was like having Mac all over again. While I didn’t think that the woman would wage war against her former club, her power was still present, and she could easily pull more away from the club without realizing it.

  That was a threat, a big one.

  “I’m gonna find a bed,” Chains said. “Don’t drink too much.”

  I chuckled. “Go make up with your wife.”

  “I’m gonna try,” he answered, touching my shoulder before walking back inside. I looked down at the half-empty bottle before pouring the rest of it in the brush. Chains was right. I shouldn’t drink too much if I was going to keep a clear head about attempting to fix this with Cora. I couldn’t blame her for not telling me everything. Her secret had been painful enough, and I had blamed her for not baring her soul to me, which was, frankly, none of my fucking business.

  And then I had pretty much told her that I didn’t believe that precious girl was my daughter. I was a real asshole for that. Cora had not given me any indication that she wasn’t, nor had she asked for my help when she found me. She had taken on single parenthood like a champ and I had thrown it in her face.

  Hell, she was likely never to talk to me again and I wasn’t so sure that I didn’t deserve it.

  Still, though, I wondered what would happen if she happened to find it in her heart to forgive me. What would life be like with her and Amelia? I would bring them over to the States, set them up in my apartment until we could find a house for her to grow up in with a large backyard.

  Hell, I would turn into one of those neatly lined neighborhood dads.

  Was that something I could handle? I gazed up at the moon, a frown on my face. I didn’t know anything other than the club in my life, which meant I would have to find something else to support my family with. They would be betting on me coming home each and every night and Chains was right; a club was nowhere for kids to be in. I could already tell how hard it was on the other guys who had kids, how they were constantly worried about not going home like they had promised.

  It made it real difficult on us single guys, trying to keep their asses alive, that was for sure.

  And Cora. I could make an honest woman out of her. Life would not be boring with her at my side or in my bed.

  But I would have to get her back, and that would likely be the hardest thing I did in my
entire life.

  Sighing, I chucked the bottle into the brush before shoving my hands in my pockets. I did want her in my life. I wanted to be a father to Amelia, the kind of father that she would be proud of as she grew into a strong, beautiful woman.

  I wanted to sit on the couch with Cora at night and watch some mindless show on TV while her feet were propped up in my lap, both of us with beers in our hands.

  I wanted to be the guy that erased all the hurt from her life, who made her forget about her past and feel cherished like she damn well should.

  Which meant I needed to tell her. I needed to put it all out there for her to figure out if I was worth the aggravation in her life, if she could forgive me for everything I had ever said to her, including how I had doubted the paternity of our daughter.

  I would have to crawl and beg forgiveness for that one.

  Turning toward the building, I tried to decide my next steps. First, a few hours of sleep. Cora was going to be as safe as she could be with the hired security I had watching her apartment. She wouldn’t notice them, but there was no way I was going to leave her alone to deal with any repercussions from Red. They had strict instructions to call me the moment she moved from that apartment so that I could intercept whatever she was gonna get herself into.

  But come morning, she and I were gonna sit down and discuss our future.

  I wasn’t gonna let her go that easily.

  Chapter 21

  Cora

  I played with the coffee mug in front of me as I listened to my sister ramble on about the plans I had just sprung on her, saying she couldn’t just up and leave her job without giving proper notice. “It’s not like we are going to come back, Em,” I reminded her.

  “But what if I need a reference?” she said. “I can’t not work my notice and expect them to give me a glowing recommendation.”

  “We need to get out of here as soon as possible,” I said firmly. “Our lives could be in danger.”

  “So you say,” she sighed. “You made it through the night without anyone bothering you, right?”

  Yes, we had, though I hadn’t gotten much sleep, too worried about someone attempting to break in and murder us in our sleep.

  Well, that, and my thoughts had been filled with Clayton. “I can’t depend on that for long. There’s no reason for us to stay, Emily.”

  “What about Clayton?”

  What about him? My chest ached and I forced it aside. “We are done. He doesn’t believe that Amelia is his daughter. End of story.”

  “I don’t believe that,” Emily said softly. “You should have seen him the day he held her, Cora. I thought he was going to have a heart attack when I put her in his arms, but he didn’t. He just gazed down at her like she was the most precious thing in the world. I think he believes you.”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat, wishing I could have been there when he held her for the first time. How many times had I dreamed of that moment? How many times had I wished that he could be here for her first smile or the first time she had latched onto my finger and not let go?

  There were so many milestones he had missed and so many more he wouldn’t be there for, milestones that I would have to explain to our daughter why her father wasn’t around.

  Not only that, but I would have to deal with this heartache, one that I knew I wouldn’t get over anytime soon.

  “Why don’t I bring over some food?” Emily suggested as I wrestled with my emotions. “We can talk about this some more.”

  There wasn’t anything left to talk about. I wanted to get out of Mexico, and I wasn’t about to leave my sister behind in an effort to do so. “Sure,” I finally said. “That sounds good.”

  “Great,” Emily said brightly. “I will—what the hell?”

  I heard the sound of something breaking before my sister screamed into the phone. “Emily?” I shouted, my heart racing in my chest. “Em! Answer me!”

  “Emily can’t come to the phone right now,” a familiar voice answered instead. “She’s otherwise occupied.”

  “Let her go,” I told Red, a chill sliding down my back. Up until now, he had only targeted me, but now he had my sister and I knew he wasn’t going to just talk to her. “She’s not the one you want, it’s me.”

  “Oh, you have that right, sweet Cora,” he laughed. “You have caused me a great deal of trouble over the last few days. I hear you got my Amy killed too.”

  Amy’s death was still something I was dealing with, the image of her being shot replaying in my mind every time I closed my eyes. “Don’t hurt my sister.”

  “She’s a right pretty thing,” he said in a sly voice. “I never thought there were two of you. I bet she’s never had a man plant his seed in her, though. I could be the first.”

  My stomach roiled at the thought of Red touching my sister. “Just tell me what you want,” I begged him.

  “You’ve lost a lot of money for me,” he said after a moment. “A shitload, in fact. I think your sister here can earn it on her back in no time.”

  “I’ll take her place,” I said quickly. “Please.”

  “Now that is an offer I can’t refuse,” he chuckled. “And I want to be the first to have you, Cora. You’ve got twelve hours to come find me before I hand your sister off to the cartel. Twelve hours.”

  “Where?” I asked. Please God, not Emily. I couldn’t let anything happen to her.

  “The bar,” he answered before clicking off.

  I stared at the phone, the tears falling in earnest. Emily would be so scared, unable to deal with the horrors that Red would show her if I didn’t rescue her.

  Looking over at the baby sleeping, I knew I had to get Amelia somewhere safe first. I had no friends here, no one that I would trust to watch over my child and know that they would protect her if the time arose.

  No one except one person.

  I pinched the bridge of my nose, attempting to think of other solutions. She couldn’t come with me, just in case I was unsuccessful with the rescue.

  No, the club would be the only course.

  ***

  An hour later I drove up to the clubhouse with Amelia in her car seat, biting my lip the entire time. I had never been so nervous in my entire life over what I was about to do, but it was the right thing.

  The flurry of activity around the clubhouse, however, was making me concerned. Bikers were moving in and out constantly, loading things into delivery trucks like they were leaving town.

  Maybe they were, but I hoped Clayton was still here.

  After pulling Amelia’s car seat out of the back of the car, I approached the door cautiously, the words I would say to him going through my head. I needed his help, which meant I would have to forget the past twenty-four hours and focus on the future and saving my sister.

  What would he say to me? Would he be happy to see me and Amelia or would he turn me away, washing his hands of us both?

  That didn’t sound like Clayton.

  I wasn’t going to ask him for his help, just a safe haven for Amelia.

  And if anything happened to me, that he would take her and raise her. My chest caved in as I thought about not being there for her, but I had to get Emily back. She was innocent in all this mess.

  The moment I stepped inside, Widow Maker noticed me, stalking over with an angry look on her face. “What are you doing here?” she hissed, grabbing my free arm. “You aren’t supposed to be here.”

  “I know,” I said quickly as she attempted to propel me back to the door. “I need Clayton’s help.”

  “Haven’t you done enough to him?” she asked as I dug my shoes into the floorboards of the house. “You hurt him.”

  I knew that as well, but he had hurt me too. “My sister has been kidnapped by Red.”

  That got her attention and she quit trying to push me out the door. “When?”

  “This morning,” I said, looking down at my sleeping daughter. “I just need him to protect her while I go after Emily. I’m not asking f
or the club’s help, only protection for his daughter.”

  Widow Maker looked down and I saw her face soften at the sight of Amelia. “She’s precious. And his, no doubt about it.”

  “Please,” I begged, thrusting the car seat toward her. “Please keep her safe.”

  Widow Maker looked undecided about what to do, biting her lower lip. “I can’t. You have to tell him. We can figure this out, but if you are lying, I will cut your throat.”

  “I’m not,” I forced out, tears gathering in my eyes. “I swear.”

  She took the car seat carefully. “Come with me.”