I pick up my cell and call Camila, telling her everything Sakura just told me to do. She said they’d do it and meet us at the club whenever they got there. I also asked a series of questions that no man should ever be asking a woman until Sakura yanked the phone from my hand and spoke to Camila, who eventually handed the phone over to Ivy. Those two speaking directly was the far better option here.
Sakura came out to my bike with me and informed me she wouldn’t be riding bitch on the back of my bike, and that I could. I told the woman she was insane, saying I’d rather stay here than ride bitch on my own property. I didn’t know what to think of the woman until this evening, but I like her. She’s got one brass pair of balls. I wonder how she even knows how to drive a bike, but when she threatened me again for the third time, I said fuck it and let the chick drive it.
The entire way to the clubhouse I was hollerin’ out directions, hopin’ by the grace of God none of the brothers will see her ridin’ my bike. Fuck, I can’t even begin to think the amount of time it’ll take for them to rag on someone else.
We pull up to the club and head straight over to Kade and Ivy’s trailer where the SUV is parked. Sakura is quick to turn off the ignition, kick the stand up and we both dismount my bike before the front door flies open and Kat reveals herself. “What the hell are you two waiting on? A little help in here would be great.”
Sakura heads up the stairs and I’m right behind her, shutting the front door after I enter their trailer. We head back down the hall towards the master where Ivy is laying down on her bed, the baby in her arms wrapped up in a blanket. I think they call them swaddles but what the hell do I actually know.
Sakura slams the door shut and I stay posted outside the door. I can hear every word that’s spoken between the women, including Sakura introducing herself to Camila, Ivy and Kat. Kat thanks her for coming knowing she shouldn’t have left the bunker in the first place, but Sakura tells her it’s no problem, about how she’d rather come to help versus leaving them to fend for themselves.
Over the next hour I hear Sakura say they can clean the baby off with the all-natural baby wipes next to the bed while she examines Ivy to make sure she’s delivered the placentas and a few other things I can’t quite make out. The only thing Sakura stopped at the drug store for was alcohol, peroxide and some latex gloves. I’m guessin’ women don’t really need much after they have a baby.
I start to regret standing outside the door when Sakura tells Ivy how her hoochie is gonna hurt for quite some time and gives her instructions on how to make her own ‘pad-sicles’ if that’s even the correct term. For the first time in my life I’m even more grateful I was born a man. All this childbirth nonsense is makin’ me a bit queasy. Fuck, I don’t even wanna think about how bad her insides are gonna feel.
Camila opens the door and Ivy is in some new clothes. She appears to be in a loose fitted long sleeve top with those comfortable yoga pants I see Kat walkin’ around the clubhouse in every now and again. Fate is swaddled up in a mint green cloth and Kat smiles proudly as she looks down onto her friend. Right now I’m wonderin’ when Damon and Kat are gonna join the baby makin’ brigade. Hell, their friends over at the Skulls Renegade MC have an entire football team at this point. Especially with Reed adopting those kids from the run he went on with the Soulless Bastards not too long ago. Not that I care what he does. He and I were never on the right foot, even when I was with them. In hindsight I guess I wasn’t supporting the right people. Especially when Max turned out to be a murdering, raping bastard. Hard to believe I ever thought I knew him. In reality I didn’t know a damn thing, only the façade he chose to portray.
Four hours pass and we’ve heard nothing from anyone else. Every single one of us keep checking our phones while Sakura is focused on making sure mom and child are okay.
I’m still havin’ a hard time wrappin’ my head around why Sakura needed to stay in the bunker, considerin’ she seems to be a pretty badass chick. Fuck, she is part of the Yakuza, though. After a while Camila falls asleep in the chair in Kade and Ivy’s bedroom, while Fate sleeps peacefully in the bassinet next to Ivy’s side.
Kat says her goodbyes and goes to her trailer to get some shut eye, leaving Sakura and I by ourselves in the living room. “You can ask. I know you’re dying to.” She says out of the blue.
I keep my eyes straight in front of me as I speak, using the only poker face I know to my advantage. “I have a hard time understanding why you need to hide from your own family. That’s what Eduardo said, his business associates and your family.”
Sakura chuckles lowly, but I don’t miss how she wraps her arms over her chest. Almost as if she’s shielding herself, using her arms as a safe cocoon to speak. “Every family is complicated.”
“I’d have to agree with you there sweetheart, but somethin’ tells me that’s a drastic understatement when it comes to you.”
Sakura turns, shifting her body towards mine. “That gut feeling you have is right. You’re not wrong to have it. Any rift in my family is likely to get the opposing side killed. Only, I’m the opposing person this time and my family isn’t keen on that. I’m the prodigal daughter, the one they had after my eldest sister disowned them, changed her past to fit everyone’s needs and started a new life. Hmm, I don’t blame her for it now. Not after what I’ve seen from them. I understand why she lied, took a different name and told everyone she was Chinese. She was sickened to be a Kobayashi, disgusted to be Japanese . . . I didn’t understand her until not long ago. My only regret is that I didn’t get to speak to her before she passed, to tell her I’ve seen their truth.”
“From what I heard everyone loved Saffron. She was a sweet soul who made this club feel complete.” I state, trying to remember more about her sister’s legacy but I fall short.
Sakura smiles widely, “She always had a big heart. It wasn’t a shock when I heard she was with Fist Monroe after all this time. He had a reputation for being one you should never piss off, but someone you’d aim to be close with. Funny how he held so much compassion. I was shocked to hear of his death, please accept my condolences.”
“Thank you, but I didn’t know the man well.”
“Nonetheless, with his death your club will face a new era. One that you might not be ready for.”
I chuckle, “Now you sound like a fortune cookie.”
I think she’s going to lose it for a moment, but she laughs. “Yes, I suppose I do. So, have you heard anything from anyone?”
“No, not yet.” I shake my head, annoyed at the silence. There’s not even a damn thing said in the group chat.
“You’ll hear something soon hopefully. Do tell me about this woman though, the one that stole Ivy’s firstborn. They were telling me more about her in the bedroom, said you were romantically involved with her.” Jesus. Like I needed this chick to know that.
I nod, taking in a deep breath before I reply. “Yeah, Onyx and I were a thing. I found out a while ago about her doin’ what she’s been doin’. Since then my feelins’ changed completely. I used to love her and now I can’t stand to be within five feet of her.”
“I can’t blame you. When the person you care for more than anything in this world betrays you, it’s a hard pill to swallow.” Boy, she doesn’t have any fucking clue. Or at least I think she doesn’t. The way she speaks to me makes me think she might’ve gone through the same thing, though.
10
The trouble is, you think you have time
~ Buddha
Cobra
It’s a little past three in the morning when the rumbling of motorcycles jolts me awake from my seat on the couch. The door comes flying open and with it walks in Damon. If anyone I expected Kade to waltz right in. It being our Prez makes me concerned for what’s happened over the last few hours.
“How’s Ivy?” Damon asks, looking down the hall to the master bedroom of the trailer.
I shrug, “She’s as good as can be expected. Her daughter is good, a real crier,” I laugh
, but after I do a few moments of silence pass us by before I ask the question at the forefront of my mind. “Did you find Onyx and the other baby?”
Damon sighs, runs his hand through his hair and before he even speaks I can tell something went horribly wrong. A man with good news never draws his brows close and grows quiet from struggling to find the words. “We found Onyx, but the baby wasn’t there.”
Damon and I are alone in Kade and Ivy’s living room since Sakura went in the bedroom to stay close to mom and baby a little over an hour ago. I stand, keeping my voice low so I’m careful not to wake anyone up. “What?”
“It looks like Onyx wasn’t just two timing us. We have no idea who else she was scheming with, but whoever they are has Orion,” Damon states.
“So, what’s the big deal? Ask Onyx who has him.”
Damon huffs, “It’ll be a little hard to do that.”
“Why?”
“‘Cause she had her tongue cut out.”
I blink a good few times processing what my Prez has just said. “Are you serious?”
“When have you known me to joke, Cobra?”
“Fuck, man.”
“Yeah, we owe it to Esme. Without her texting us we wouldn’t have known where Onyx was.”
“Hold up. One of her own girls turned on her?” I question.
Damon nods, “Yeah. Turns out the girls never really liked working for Onyx. There was some awry shit going on behind our backs. Did you know what was going on when the girls would disappear for a few days?”
I shake my head from left to right. “No, Onyx always said the girls were taking a break. I assumed they were just off.”
Damon chuckles in an annoyed manner. “That was a load of shit. Onyx had arranged for them to get fucked by a group of men. Apparently, the payday for her was over ten grand, but she only gave the girls three hundred each.”
Jesus. Nothing is surprising me anymore. “None of us really knew her, did we?” I say, already knowing the answer to my question. Fuck. This not only aggravates me but frustrates me too. I gave this woman so much. She had my trust, my fuckin’ compassion and my heart . . . and here she went betrayin’ the one family that has never turned their backs on me, no matter what fucked up thing I did. Hell, I’m no saint but my brothers didn’t care. They’ve always accepted me for my flaws.
“No. She was a great liar, though. Thank fuck we pinned Mouser on her tail. If we hadn’t, who knows what could’ve happened.”
I nod, agreeing with Damon. “Wish we would’ve figured it out sooner. Now an innocent child is in the wind.”
“I know, one that we’re going to get back soon. We just need to connect the dots.” Damon states with determination evident through his tone.
I plant my ass back on the couch, trying to think of who might wish the club harm. “Let’s think this through. Is there anyone who’d want to not only hurt the club, but Kade or Ivy specifically? While Onyx is a conniving double-crosser, I can’t seem to shake the feeling this is personal. Why else steal a child?”
“There’s only one person I can think of,” Kade’s torn voice says as he comes in through the open front door and shuts it behind him. You can tell the man is a mixture of sullen and heartbroken. If the roles were reversed, I can bet I’d feel the same way too.
“The man who’s escaped the club numerous times . . .” Damon comments.
“Who’s tormented us for years,” Kade adds.
“The one who’s caused immeasurable pain for all of us, including two recent deaths.” Damon responds.
It feels as if these two are talking in code when the puzzle pieces align in my mind. The man they’re speaking of is Grizzly, the Prez of the Bears MC. The man responsible for the bomb that killed Cracker, our deceased VP. He’s also responsible for the fire that ended up killing Saffron. If that isn’t the worst of it, he’s the man who raised Ivy. They didn’t know this until a few months ago, but Ivy’s mother had a secret lover named Machk who’s one of the oldest Reapers. He’s retired these days, but before Ivy and Kade moved down to our clubhouse she was able to connect with her biological father and her half-siblings.
Hell, Grizzly has the largest rap sheet in the history of our enemies. Ivy’s body even has scars all over her skin of the words carved into her body. Words her brother and stepfather wrote on her, forever burned into her skin. She told me a bit ago after she delivered the baby she’d be getting tattoos over most of her body, covering up the scars of the disgusting words marked on her. She said she wanted to find beauty on her body, not resentment.
“He’s been on the run . . . silent for months. No one in Montana has seen him at all, nor have our allies. I’m sure he heard Ivy and I headed down here. My guess is Grizzly has my son, and that fuckin’ bitch better start tellin’ us where he is soon.” Kade hisses out.
“You know we’re behind you, whatever you need,” I state, staring my brother straight in the eyes. “An attack against one of us is an attack against us all.”
“Thank you, Cobra. Onyx is out in one of the sheds. Go and see whatever you can get out of her while I check on my girls and update Ivy on what we’ve discovered . . . or lack of discovery.” Kade starts to head back to his bedroom, but I stop him.
“Kade, we will find him. Your son and that disgusting piece of shit, and when we do, he’ll never breathe the same air as us ever again.”
Kade nods, obviously overcome by emotion struggling to keep his shit together. Fuck, I wouldn’t wish to be in his place right now. If the situation wasn’t hard enough, now he has to go tell Ivy everything.
Turning back to Damon, “Want to accompany me to the shed? I’m tired of being nice to this whore.”
11
We don’t create abundance. Abundance is always present. We create limitations
~ SheHaus.com
Izzy
For the life of me I don’t know how I’ve made it to Friday evening already. Somehow, I’ve managed to escape the gazes of Leonardo and his pack of businessmen goons every single day. While I’ve had a few close calls, I’ve been able to make a turn or go chat with one of my new co-workers to distance myself from him. I want to say I’m not ashamed of what I did, but I am. The guilt that haunts me every morning as I style my hair and put on my makeup is incomprehensible. I was silly enough to think after the first few nights it would dissipate, leaving me like one of those crippling nightmares we all have every now and again, but no. My actions haunt me like a ghost.
I’ve been pretty lucky in certain aspects. Instead of being stuck with the six to eleven p.m. shift I was put on the early afternoon shift, meaning I’m out of here by four to five in the evening depending. I’m at my office, making the last of my posts on my Channel 8 WPOZ social media accounts sadly telling the community it looks like our weekend is going to be abnormally hotter than usual.
“Elizabeth, the office normally goes down the block to Diego’s for drinks. Do you want to come?” Charlotte, one of the producers asks me. Out of everyone here, I’ve come to discover she’s been one of the most genuine, kindest people. Some of the others stare daggers into your back, roll their eyes and look surprised when you see them immediately stop talking when you’ve discovered their hushed whispers which are most likely about you.
I come up with every reason in my head on why I should just take the evening to decompress. After all I left the station I knew to come here, the one where I was comfortable before Martin got an even larger stick up his ass and decided my hair was a problem. Gosh, when he did that I was furious. At the time I didn’t care I was purposefully aiming to get hired by his number one competitor. I was too filled with rage to think about my actions. Now that I’ve had time to process I wish I would’ve waited longer, allowing my feelings to process. I never felt grief leaving my Channel 3 co-workers, people who had been my family so to speak . . . but now I look like a traitor. “I don’t think I should. It’s been a really long week here.” I tell Charlotte, adding a sweet smile to hopefully get her
to lay off me.
She inches in closer to my desk, crossing her arms. “That’s exactly the reason you should come out with me. Working here is no easy task and since you’re becoming Wonder Woman and all that during your time off, you need a strong drink. Am I wrong?” The curvy, short pixie haired woman asks.
She makes a valid point. A drink would be nice after the week I’ve had. Not only have I been working here but on We Stand With You as well. After the segment aired I received a plethora of volunteer applications, some of which are even from lawyers who want to offer their services pro-bono as long as we include their logo on our website.
Last night I let three women know they’ve been accepted and we’d meet up on Sunday afternoon at a local coffee spot to talk about a few things. I’d be lying if I said I knew exactly what I want to do with this charity. The goal is to help countless people who go through what I did, but I know I can’t do it alone. I need innovators who stand alongside me to help my charity blossom into its fullest potential.
“Fine, you’ve talked me into it. Let’s go.” I suggest as I click the post button and log out of my work computer. I rise, pick my purse up off the floor and follow Charlotte.
I don’t know too much about her, besides the fact she’s from Wyoming. Charlotte and I make our way to the elevators on the other side of our floor, walk inside and surprisingly get it to ourselves which never happens. Our office is like too many sardines stuffed into one can. There are rumors Leonardo will be renting out the floor above us to expand into a morning talk show and allow some of the back-office workers to have more space. If it happens I won’t complain one bit.
When the elevator doors open Charlotte and I walk through the lobby, out the doors of our building and make small chit chat with one another for the next block until we’re right in front of Diego’s.
Cobra: Reapers MC Book 8 Page 6
