Claiming Menace: Ruthless Sinners MC

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Claiming Menace: Ruthless Sinners MC Page 22

by L. Wilder


  I gave my short skirt one final tug, then headed out to the bar and got to work serving tables. Thankfully, it was a busy night, so I didn’t have time to dwell on what had happened with Rossi or with Viper. When the night was finally over, I got on the back of Jared’s Harley, and he drove us home. As soon as we walked in, I went straight back to the bedroom and let Milo out of his kennel. I took him out for a potty break, then came back in to have a chat with Jared. Milo was jumping around, begging for attention as I walked back into the bedroom. Jared was about to get in the shower, but that didn’t stop me from going in to ask him, “Are you going to talk to me about what happened today?”

  “Nothing to talk about.”

  “Seriously?”

  “I know seeing all that today had to take its toll on you, and I’m truly sorry about that.” He stepped over to me and wrapped his arms around me, hugging me tightly. “I wish none of this had ever happened.”

  “Me too.”

  His eyes met mine as he said, “I meant it when I said it’s over. That’s all either of us need to know.”

  His tone let me know the conversation was done, so I nodded and said, “I understand. I won’t say anything more about it.”

  I started out of the bathroom, but I couldn’t leave without asking, “Can you at least tell me if you’re okay?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Viper seemed pretty upset at the bar.”

  “Yeah, but we’re cool. You don’t have to worry about that.”

  “Okay.”

  When I started to leave once again, Jared called out to me, “Bree?”

  “Yes?”

  “Love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  I went to bed that night with a million questions floating around in my head—questions that I would never have answered. It was hard for me to let them all go, but I was a biker’s wife now. I had to accept things for what they were and move on. The next morning, I awoke to the sound of my cell phone ringing in my ear. I was still in a sleepy haze when I grabbed it from the nightstand and answered, “Hello?”

  “Hi, this is Janice Cates from 501 Regency. May I speak with Aubrey, please?”

  “This is Aubrey.”

  “Hi, Aubrey. I’m calling to let you know that we will be sending you an offer of employment to review.”

  “That’s great. I’m really excited to hear that.”

  “Well, I hope you will be pleased with the offer and will come work for us. We’re on a bit of a time crunch, so we will need your answer by close on Monday.”

  “I’ll look it over and get back to you as soon as I can.”

  “Wonderful. I look forward to hearing from you.”

  As soon as I hung up the phone, I rolled over and gave Jared a quick shake. “Babe, wake up!”

  “What’s going on?”

  “I got the job at 501 Regency! Isn’t that great?”

  “That’s awesome.” He rolled back over and curled back into his pillow. “I’m really proud of you.”

  The second the words slipped from his mouth, he was back asleep. I, on the other hand, was wide awake. There was no way I could go back to sleep, so I eased out of bed and tiptoed over to Milo’s kennel. I let him out into our fenced-in backyard for a potty break, then headed straight to the living room and sat down at the computer. I pulled up my email and went through every line of the offer. I was pleased to see that it was even better than I was expecting and couldn’t wait to go over it all with Jared. I was absolutely thrilled that I would finally have the marketing job I had always dreamed of. That thought had me rushing to my closet.

  I started sorting through all my clothes and quickly realized, I didn’t have the kind of clothes I would need for a full-time office job. I figured it was a good excuse to go shopping, so I grabbed something to change into and got dressed. I pulled my hair up and put on a little makeup, then left Jared a note to let him know I had gone into town to do a little shopping. I was about to dart out to my car when I remembered Milo was still out back.

  After I dealt with him, I was finally on my way. I spent the entire day shopping, and by the time I was done, I had more than enough clothes to start my new job. I was excited to show Jared what I’d bought, but he’d already gone to work. I sent him a message letting him know I was home. Milo and I spent a quiet night organizing the closet, and after a long, hot bath, we went to bed alone.

  The next morning, I woke up to an empty bed. For a slight moment, I thought Jared hadn’t made it home, but then I heard a commotion in the kitchen. Curious to see what the hell Jared was up to, I threw back the covers and made my way down the hall. When I reached the kitchen, I found Jared hovering over the stove. He was wearing a pair of his boxer briefs with no shirt, and his hair was still wet from his shower.

  “Damn it,” he grumbled under his breath as he dropped the hot pan of biscuits on the counter and shook his hand wildly at his side. When that didn’t work, he placed the tip of his thumb in his mouth, trying to stop the burn. “Stupid fucking pan.”

  I cleared my throat as I continued into the kitchen. “What’s all this?”

  With his finger still in his mouth, Jared turned to face me. His eyes instantly dropped to my bare legs, widening with appreciation as he stood there ogling me. Several seconds later, he removed his finger from his mouth and said, “I was making you breakfast in bed.”

  “Oh, I guess I kinda messed that up.” I stepped over to the stove and asked, “Need a hand?”

  “Nope, I’ve got it covered, Besides, this is for you. I wanted to do something special to celebrate the new job.”

  “Oh, that’s really sweet of you, but—”

  “No buts.” He pointed the spatula over to the stools at the counter. “Have a seat, and let me work my magic.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  I sat down and crossed my legs, quietly watching as the man I loved finished scrambling our eggs. His eyes skirted over to me as he said, “You’re gonna have to stop doing that.”

  “Doing what?”

  “Looking at me like that,” he fussed. “I’m trying to work here, and I can’t concentrate when you do that.”

  “How exactly am I looking at you?”

  “Oh, you know.” He motioned his spatula over in my direction and said, “And it wouldn’t hurt for you to put on some sweats. Those big, ratty ones you wear all the time.”

  “My sweats aren’t ratty!”

  “If you say so.”

  Loving that I was getting to him, I propped my elbow on the counter and rested my chin in the palm of my hand, giving him my best sultry look. He glanced over his shoulder with a grumble, then warned, “Bree.”

  “Yes?”

  I got up and sauntered over to him and was about to wrap my arms around him when I felt a sting on my thigh. Jared held up his spatula as he warned, “Behave, woman.”

  “You have a thing for spanking me.”

  “Yeah, and you have a thing for being spanked.” He gave me a wink before popping me with the spatula again. “Now, go sit and let me finish cooking.”

  “Fine,” I pouted.

  I went back over to the counter and sat down, quietly watching as he fixed our plates. While I thought it was sweet that he’d made me breakfast, I wasn’t really hungry—at least not for bacon and eggs. I was hungry for him, so as soon as he sat down next to me, I placed my hand on his thigh. I let my fingertips slip under the leg of his boxers teasing him as I whispered, “This looks great, babe, but I have a better way for us to celebrate.”

  That’s all it took. Without saying a word, he turned and pulled me into his arms. After pushing our plates to the side, he propped me up on the counter and positioned himself between my legs. “You’re an evil, evil woman.”

  “I know.” I wound my arms around his neck with a smile. “But you love me anyway.”

  “Yes, I definitely do.”

  There were times in my life when I wondered if I would ever find my happy ending, but as I
sat there wrapped in Jared’s arms, I knew I’d found it. He was my family. He was my home, and when he dropped his mouth to mine, I knew the best was yet to come.

  Epilogue

  Three Years Later

  “Oh my God! He did it again!”

  “Who did what again?”

  “Caleb!” Aubrey shouted. “My phone is on the fritz again. It’s in Chinese this time!”

  “Bring the phone in here, and I’ll fix it.” I looked down at our two-year-old son, and I couldn’t help but smile. While he looked like his mother with his ivory skin tone and crystal-blue eyes, he had a thing for messing around with technology like his ol’ man. I knew he hadn’t intentionally changed the settings on Aubrey’s phone. Hell, the kid was too little for that, but he’d managed to push just the right button and set his mother on a tangent. I offered him another vanilla wafer and said, “You gotta stop fooling around with your mom’s phone, buddy. Otherwise, she’s gonna get us both.”

  “I sworry, Daddy.”

  “It’s okay, bud.”

  “No, it’s not okay.” Aubrey knelt in front of Caleb’s highchair and showed him her phone as she asked, “You know you aren’t supposed to play with Momma’s phone, right?”

  Caleb pursed his bottom lip with a pout as he nodded. “And you’re not supposed to play with Momma’s iPad or the TV remote?”

  Caleb nodded again. “That’s right, sweetheart. Those are my things, and when you start pushing buttons, it’s easy to get things mixed up like the language and my passwords.”

  When our sweet boy nodded once more, I thought she was going to continue scolding him, but instead, she turned her attention to me. “I blame you for this.”

  “Whoa... what?”

  “Oh, don’t play Mr. Innocent with me.” She ran her hand over Caleb’s little head. “He watches you like a hawk. He wants to be just like you.”

  “Don’t see how that makes me to blame here.”

  “He sees you doing all that stuff you do, and he’s trying to copy you.”

  “Babe, he’s two. He can’t begin to do the things I do.”

  She held up her phone as she argued, “It’s in Chinese, Jared! And he’s changed the password on my iPad three times now.”

  “Point taken.”

  “Good.” She ran her hand over her stomach and added, “Because I’m not going through all this again with this baby.”

  “This baby?” I felt my heart skip a beat as I asked, “Are you pregnant again?”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, I just took a test, and I am, indeed, pregnant.” She placed her hand on her hip and said, “I was on my way in here to tell you when I found that my phone was in yet another language.”

  “I’ll fix the phone, Bree.” I went over and pulled her into my arms. “So, we’re having ourselves another kid, huh?”

  “Mm-hmm.” She pressed her lips together with a grimace, then sighed. “I know it’s not what we were planning, but I think it would be kind of nice to have a little girl running around with my nose and your eyes.”

  “It definitely would.” Overcome with pure and unadulterated joy, I lowered my mouth to hers and kissed her long and hard. “Things just keep getting better and better with you.”

  “Right back at ya.”

  “You know we’re supposed to go watch the game at the clubhouse today.”

  “Yeah, I know. We better get going.” Her eyes danced with mischief as she said, “We don’t want to miss the big kick-off.”

  As much as I loved watching the game with my brothers, I wasn’t looking forward to this year’s rival match against Alabama, and for good reason. Tennessee hadn’t had the best season, and everyone and their mother knew Alabama was going to cream Tennessee, and I had no doubt that Bree was gonna give the brothers and me hell about it. She didn’t care a flying fuck about football, but she loved giving us shit whenever we played Alabama. I cocked my eyebrow as I warned, “You better behave yourself today.”

  “What?” she gasped, trying to sound wounded by my warning. “I’m going to behave.”

  “You better, or there will be consequences.”

  Her mischievous smile returned as she asked, “You promise?”

  “Bree...”

  She gave me a wink, then grabbed Caleb and headed out to the truck. When we got to the clubhouse, everyone was already there, preparing for the big game. While I went out to help Country and Lynch with the grilling, Aubrey took Caleb and went to join the girls in the kitchen. As soon as I stepped outside, Country offered me a beer and asked, “So, whatcha think?”

  “About?”

  “The game?” It was clear he was hoping for a big win as he asked, “You think we’ll pull one out?”

  “I wouldn’t hold my breath, brother.”

  “I don’t know, man. I think we’re gonna do it today.” He started flipping the burgers as he said, “It’s been a long time coming.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  Widow leaned in and chuckled as he said, “I want a win as much as anyone, but we both know that shit’s not gonna happen.”

  “Probably not.”

  Once we finished grilling the burgers and brats, we carried them inside and started fixing our plates before the game started. When it was time for kickoff, everyone gathered in the family room and started eating as we watched our boys take the field. As soon as they kicked off, the room filled with the roaring cheers of my brothers. Sadly, it didn’t take long for the cheering to turn to angry, chastising rants. Alabama was killing us, and things weren’t looking good for a turnaround. When ’Bama scored yet again, Bree glanced over to me with a big smile and twirled her hands in the air as she mouthed, “Roll Tide Roll.”

  Even though my team was going down and going down fast, I couldn’t help but smile. Not only did I have my brothers, I had my woman, a son I adored, and another baby on the way. I’d never thought I’d be one of those guys who ended up with a happy fucking ending, but I’d found it. And as I sat there staring back at my wife and son, I knew the best was yet to come.

  The End

  Jagger’s story will be included in the Very Naughty MC Christmas Anthology releasing this winter. There are many amazing authors participating in this anthology, so be sure to pre-order your copy today!

  Short excerpt of Widow’s Undoing after acknowledgments.

  Sign up for L. Wilder’s Newsletter: https://lwilderbooks.us18.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=a2c4c211615b2d7b3dd46289a&id=7f8e916141

  Acknowledgments

  Acknowledgments

  I am blessed to have so many wonderful people who are willing to give their time and effort to making my books the best they can be. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to breathe life into my characters and share their stories with you. To the people I’ve listed below and so many others, I want to say thank you for taking this journey with me. Your support means the world to me, and I truly mean it when I say I appreciate everything you do. I love you all!

  PA: Natalie Weston

  Editing/Proofing: Lisa Cullinan-Editor, Rose Holub-Proofer, Jenn Allen-Proofer

  Promoting: Amy Jones, Veronica Ines Garcia, Neringa Neringiukas, Whynter M. Raven

  BETAS/Early Readers: Amanda Quiles, Tawnya Rae, and Jessey Elliott

  Street Team: All the wonderful members of Wilder’s Women (You rock!)

  Best Friend and biggest supporter: My mother (Love you to the moon and back.)

  Excerpt from Widow’s Undoing

  Prologue

  I grew up in Monterey, a small town just east of Cookeville, Tennessee. With a population of about three thousand, there wasn’t much to the place. There was no mall, no bowling alleys, not even a Sonic. But we had the Little General with the best fried chicken in the state and Mario’s, a small Italian joint that made my mouth water every time I drove by. Our town might’ve been small, but every Fourth of July, it seemed to be the biggest place on earth. All our family and friends would meet up at my Uncle Jamie’s for the barbeque of all b
arbeques with enough food and drinks for an army. The kids would run wild while the parents sat around the grill and threw back a few beers. The Fourth had always been my favorite holiday. I could pretend I was just like every other kid, that I didn’t live in a secret world of hell, but that all changed the summer of ’93.

  My mother had one of her migraines, or at least, that’s what she told everyone when she decided to skip the day’s festivities. She wasn’t one for big crowds, so none of us were surprised that she wanted to stay home. Dad was eager to get over to Uncle Jamie’s, so he didn’t complain. Instead, he just ordered my younger brother Madden and I to get in the truck, and we headed over to join the others. As soon as we arrived, we went to join our neighborhood friends and cousins. We rode our bikes down to Manis pond, fished and caught crawdaddies, then came back to the house and cooled off under the sprinkler. As soon as we got dried off, we grabbed a handful of bottle rockets and were shooting at the black birds when my Uncle Jamie peeked his head over the fence and shouted, “Hey, you crazy hood-rats! It’s time to get down to the park!”

  “Yes!” we all cheered.

  The firework show at Critchfield Park was always a big deal for the folks in Monterey. Everyone in town would gather around with their lawn chairs and coolers, and for a brief moment, all our worries were forgotten. We could all just sit back, shoot the shit, and enjoy the show. Eager to get there and find a good spot, all the kids rushed over and started helping to gather our things. That’s when everything went south.

  I was busy helping my best friend Marcus load some folding chairs into the back of his dad’s truck when my father called out to me, “Hey Ro’, where’d ya put my keys?”

  “Don’t know.” I shrugged. “I haven’t seen them.”

 

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