“I know.” She said softly, twisted her hand, knitted their fingers together and held onto his hand.
In that moment Ice knew he would maim, kill and die to ensure the safety of his family. Emma Coetzee held the secrets he needed to keep his family safe and she had better still be alive because he was going to extract those secrets from her.
As soon as he had his family settled he was going to deal with the bitch.
River
I could see darkness moving behind Ice’s eyes as he held my hand. He drove one-handed, only letting go if he needed to change gears. Sometimes not even then.
He hadn’t hidden that they had uncovered a threat against me inside the hospital. I had been only too happy to get out of there. I had hated not seeing Duncan but I didn’t want him coming to the hospital and seeing me lying in a hospital bed.
Glancing into the back seat I smiled at my boykie. He was so excited about us moving in with Ice he could hardly sit still. Thankfully he was strapped into his carseat and couldn’t move around. Something he would have done if we had allowed him to sit in the back without a carseat. He would have wriggled out of the seatbelt in seconds. His carseat enabled him to see out the window and all his attention was focused outside the vehicle on the bikers protecting us.
“Are we there yet?” His little voice piped up as we started slowing down.
“Almost, son, we’re almost there. Just a few more minutes.” Ice answered with a grin.
Where had these come from I thought to myself as we turned off from the main road and drove through gigantic wrought iron gates that slowly opened as we approached.
I frowned and turned to Ice. “Those weren’t there when I came to the braai.”
“They were, but they were open, Blue. We closed them to control access to our property.” He explained as the gates swung closed behind us and we drove down the tarred road towards the clubhouse.
But we didn’t turn into the clubhouse, we passed it. And like the wrought iron gates at the entrance to the property the heavy steel gates were closed and there were heavily armed men watching us from the top of the walls.
“They got beeeg gates.” Duncan mumbled from the back.
On our left was the high game fence and on the right the high white wall that enclosed the Iron Dogz MC’s compound. Armed men patrolled on the steel catwalk along the inside of the wall, watching as we drove past. The wall eventually swung away from us, continuing towards the back of the compound.
We passed the gated entrance to a big house set away from the road behind a tall steel palisade fence. There were cars and bikes parked out front and heavy bars covered all the windows and a steel cage and a security door protected the front door. The two upstairs balconies facing the road were completely enclosed by steel cages.
“Who lives there?” I asked as we drove past.
“Rider and his old lady with their baby girl and Beast recently moved in with his two little girls. At one time it had been the club’s guesthouse for visitors, but for the last few years it became somewhere Hawk stashed his women. Now it’s a family home."
I glanced back at Duncan but he was totally engrossed in watching the scenery rolling past the windows. Hawk had more than one woman? Did DC know about this?
“Are you telling me Hawk has more than one woman?” I asked with big eyes.
Ice grinned. “Used to, Blue, not anymore. That shit happened before he met DC. He knew almost from the start she was the one for him and he got rid of all the women. We both know DC would have kicked his ass to the curb if he had tried that sharing shit with her.”
Ice slowed as we approached a walled property with a guarded gate on our left. I caught a glimpse of a paved road snaking away from the gate and disappearing between thick trees as we slowly drove past.
“That’s my mom and dad’s place. It’s where I grew up.”
I looked around at the unspoiled veldt around us and marvelled at the way he had grown up.
“You were very lucky. Not many kids get to be so lucky.”
Ice grinned and squeezed my hand as we slowed to an almost crawl. The road ended in front of another heavy steel gate and as we approached it slowly started to slide open. This property was walled as well, the unplastered bricks blending into the surroundings. Inside the gate two of Ice’s brothers stood with automatic weapons cradled in their arms. They nodded as we drove past. The tar road stopped at the gate and a paved driveway led us further into the property. I was fascinated as the winter dry veldt slowly morphed into a well-kept garden.
I stared wide-eyed when an imposing thatch roofed house came into view. But we didn’t head towards the house. We drove past and kept following the driveway as it circled around towards the back of the house. Through the trees I caught fleeting glimpses of the house but not enough to satisfy my curiosity. It was an enormous house for only one man. DC had better start making plans to fill that house with some babies, soon. My boys were going to need some friends around here. I grinned internally as I thought about DC getting pregnant. She would totally freak out.
My mouth hung open when we stopped in front of a smaller version of the main house.
I sat forward painfully staring at the house then looked at Ice. “This is his pool house?” I questioned in disbelief.
Ice grinned. “It isn’t really a pool house it’s one of three guest houses. My aunt used to call it the pool house and it stuck.” He pointed to the left where the big house was hidden from view because of thick plantings of trees and shrubs. “The pool is down a path through the trees over there.”
“Why did they build such a huge house when they only had Hawk?” I asked.
“The house was built before they knew there would only be Hawk but the house was never empty. Someone was always staying over or visiting. My aunt loved kids and she was always having us over so our parents could hang out at the clubhouse. She was a homebody and I don’t think Bounty liked her hanging out at the clubhouse. They had a very different relationship than most of the other couples. I loved staying here and so did Kid. He stayed over more than I did because his dad was and is an abusive asshole.”
There was more to the story but now wasn’t the time to probe. We had little ears in the back seat that soaked up whatever was said in his vicinity and then blurted it out at the most inopportune moments.
The house was stunning. A double volume entrance led into a large lounge with a huge fireplace. There was a proper dining room and the kitchen was a dream of glossy grey granite counters and cherry wood cupboards. All the appliances were brushed steel and looked very expensive.
The dining room furniture was dark glossy wood and in the lounge there were leather couches with Persian rugs on the wooden floors. It was definitely not decorated with children in mind.
I was only allowed a brief glimpse as Ice carried me through to the main bedroom. A dark wooden sleigh bed stood waiting for me, it was already turned down and pillows were stacked for my comfort. The white linen with deep blue piping gleamed in the sunlight falling across the bed. A vase filled with a colourful assortment of roses was set on a table against the wall. Their lovely scent filled the air. A beautiful welcome arranged on very short notice.
Ice set me down against the pillows and tucked me in with a soft kiss on my forehead. I relaxed into the comfy bed and between one blink and the next I was fast asleep.
I woke when I was gently pulled into a hard body and enveloped in my man’s scent. I tried to pull back but he tightened his arms around me.
“Go back to sleep, baby.” He murmured.
“Where’s Duncan?”
“My mum and Gail came over to check on you and he was having such fun playing with my nieces they invited him over. Johan or my dad will bring him home later.”
I was amazed. “He’s already having a play date? He usually takes forever to make friends.”
Ice’s chuckle vibrated through me and it warmed me from the inside out.
“When you meet th
e girls you’ll see he didn’t have a hope in hell against those two. Those girls are super friendly.”
“I’m happy he’s made some friends. He’s going to miss Sammy and Robby. They’re his best friends.”
“We’ll see what we can do about arranging something for them, baby. Just not right now. We need to keep everyone safe and we don’t want to endanger his little friends and their parents.”
I didn’t like it. Not at all. And I felt my entire body tense up and dull pain streaked through my chest.
“Baby, relax, nothing is going to happen to anyone, I promise.”
“You can’t promise that, Ice. These people are crazy. They killed Sparrow. Look what they did to get to me. They almost killed Wrench.”
Ice jerked. “Who told you they killed Sparrow?” He growled.
“That crazy bitch did. She was bragging about how easy it was.” My voice broke a little as I explained.
“Jesus, baby. I’m sorry you had to find out like that. I was going to break it to you gently at a later date.”
“It’s okay, babe. As long as she pays and we are safe. That’s all I want.” I whispered. His arms tightened even more.
“Shhh, Blue, we are safe here. They can’t get to you and they definitely can’t get to Duncan. The brothers will die before they allow anyone to hurt our boy.”
“And that’s what I’m worried about. I don’t want anyone else hurt.”
“Until we force these people to back off the club our lives and lifestyle is in danger, baby. We are being careful, and no one is taking any chances. You saw the men on the walls around the compound but what you didn’t see were the men patrolling the grounds. These bastards think we’re ignorant bikers but they are wrong. They caught us unprepared before, it won’t happen again. We had a rat in our midst, but he has been neutralised.” I gasped. “No, baby, he’s not dead, he’s just locked up.”
I could hear the amusement in his voice at my shocked gasp.
“And now I’m done talking about club shit.” Ice said forcefully and slowly set me back on the pillows. Taking care not to hurt me. He leant over me, his hands on either side of my shoulders.
His face was so very serious as he stared down at me, and my stomach contracted as I prepared for whatever he was about to say.
“We’re getting married, Blue. As soon as you are well enough to walk down the aisle we’re doing it. And I’m not going to listen to any excuses. I want you to be my wife before our boys are born.”
Shocked I could only stare up at him.
“Aren’t you going to say anything, Blue?” His dark brows drew together as he frowned down at me.
I cleared my throat because it felt as if I had a huge lump stuck in it. “We’re getting married?” I whispered. “Aren’t you supposed to ask me to marry you, not tell me it’s what’s going to happen?”
A wide grin lit up his beautiful face. “Not only are you my old lady, you are carrying my boys in your belly, getting married is the next logical step, baby.”
Bikers, they are all the same, not a romantic bone in their bodies.
“What about the romantic dinner where you go on one knee, show me the ring and ask me to be your wife? Don’t I get that?” I didn’t really want that, I was just teasing. It wasn’t what I wanted at all.
Ice smiled and it softened the hard planes of his face. Dropping his face into the hollow between my neck and shoulder he drew in a deep breath and kissed up to my jaw before pulling away and looking deep into my eyes.
“No romantic dinner right now, Blue, but I promise, once this shit is done we will be going away for a romantic weekend where I’ll give it all to you.”
I smiled up at him and drew his head down for a quick kiss. His lips were soft and I sighed against them.
“Okay, we’ll get married and then have the romantic weekend. Trust us to keep on doing things back to front.”
Ice balanced himself on one hand as he reached down and pulled something from his jeans pocket. His hand came back and held between his thumb and forefinger was a ring. A beautiful ring. A platinum band held a light blue sapphire surrounded by sparkling diamonds. I stared open mouthed then looked up in his warm green and yellow eyes.
“Ice, it’s the most gorgeous ring I’ve ever seen.” I whispered.
Shaking his head he sat back on his knees, gently took my hand and slipped the ring on. It was a perfect fit. Bending over my hand he kissed my finger and then the back of my hand. Coming back up over me he dropped a soft kiss on my lips.
“This ring is my promise, Blue, my promise to always love you. I can’t wait to make you my wife.”
This amazing man, he came into my life unexpectedly, then totally shook up my comfortably boring life and in the process gave me a precious gift, our babies.
“I love you, Ice. I’ll wear your ring as my promise to always love you and I’ll marry as soon as I’m out of this bed.”
Ice gave me a lascivious grin. “Not going to let you out of this bed once you’re better, baby. We’re going to be spending a lot of time right here.”
I smiled. “I’m looking forward to it, Ice, Ice, baby.”
He laughed and his eyes twinkled. “I want to introduce you to my brothers, Blue. What do you think about an engagement party for our families and friends at the clubhouse?”
My man was moving at the speed of light. “That sounds nice. I would love to celebrate our engagement with our families and friends.”
“Then it’s a date. I’ll get my mum and Aunt Beryl on it, you don’t worry about anything, baby. All you have to do is be there at my side, the rest will be taken care of.”
“Are you sure? I know my mum will want to be involved as well.” I knew for a fact my mum would want to be in the middle of organising the engagement party and the wedding.
“No worries, I’ll tell my mum to call her and between the three of them they can organise all the shit that needs to be organised. I’ll call Hawk later to let him know.”
And just like that we were engaged and soon to be married.
“Blue?”
“Yes?”
“Can’t wait to marry you, baby.”
He kissed me and I smiled against his mouth.
“Me neither, baby.”
Ice
His woman was looking incredibly beautiful as she lay sleeping in their big bed. Every night he held her in his arms and thanked God she and their boys had survived the attack. It’s been almost two weeks since the attack and she wasn’t in much pain anymore and moved around quite freely. She had a check-up later today and it was freaking him out. He had gone over the safety precautions with Jagger more than once and he still wasn’t happy. He would have been happier if the doctor could have come out to the house to check her wound.
Tomorrow afternoon was their engagement party at the clubhouse. He couldn’t fucking wait. What his old lady didn’t know was that she would be getting his patch at the same time. He had had her ‘property of’ kutte made soon after he found out she was expecting his babies but had been waiting for the right time to give it to her.
Tomorrow she would be wearing his name on her back and his ring on her finger and very damned soon he would be adding a wedding band to that ring. He had been lost until he found his Blue. With her by his side he would never be lost again.
Unfortunately he had to get going, he had club business that had to be handled before taking his woman to the doctor. His brothers had carried the weight of all the decisions regarding Emma thus far but it was time for him to step up and do his part. Hawk had explained what had gone down with the interrogation and Ice could honestly say he felt nothing. Nothing at all.
They had decisions to make regarding the information the bitch had given the Crow. According to Hawk she hadn’t stopped talking. The information had come pouring out in a steady stream. A final decision had to be made regarding the sluts in the dungeon rooms below the club. Ice knew not all of the bitches were as rotten as Lizzy and Laney but all
of them had conspired with Jane to attack DC. Punishment had to be seen to be handed out.
If they didn’t punish the bitches the club and Hawk would look weak. And it would weaken DC’s already rocky position in the club. They could not allow that to happen.
Hawk was going to have to make his decision and fucking soon.
Ice knew Hawk didn’t want to be as harsh as Bounty had been. Bounty had never hesitated to use force and he never let a bitch fuck with the old ladies. They disappeared never to be seen again. His uncle hadn’t regretted a single decision he ever made. That was one of the last pieces of advice he had given Ice before he died. Stand by your decisions, no regrets.
Hawk had wanted to be a more approachable leader but after DC walked out of the clubhouse and stayed with Blue he had changed. He was colder and harder around the men. Something was going on behind those hawk-eyes of his and Ice knew his president was at his most dangerous right now. He wondered who else had noticed the change in him.
If Ice had to be truthful, and he always tried to be, the attitudes of a few of the brothers were the reason why DC wasn’t settling in. She came down to the pool house every single day after work and had dinner with them most nights. Ice could see it pissed Hawk off when DC ignored the plans he made for them to have dinner with the brothers at the clubhouse. She didn’t feel comfortable surrounded by people who still haven’t accepted her fully. People she didn’t trust.
Ice wanted the fucking bitches out of the dungeon and gone, and the brothers who had a problem with it had the option of transferring to another chapter. Ice was going to see to it that they did. He didn’t need men around he couldn’t trust to safeguard their women.
If it was up to Ice the bitches would be permanently eliminated because they couldn’t afford to set them free. Not now and not any time soon either. They knew too much.
Kissing his old lady on the forehead he silently left the room.
He knew without any doubt at all that if he had been in Hawk’s shoes the sluts would have disappeared never to be seen again. Just the way Emma was going to disappear. And when they found Jane she would be gone as well.
Lost And Found In Blue (Iron Dogz MC Book 2) Page 31
