Cooper (Savage Kings MC Book 10)

by Lane Hart

“Let’s rinse off and get to bed, what do you say?”

  “I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of us, of this,” I tell him honestly as I lean into his chest.

  “Well that’s good, baby, because I’m not done yet for the night,” Cooper grins as he turns off the shower. “In fact, you’ve got a long, hard night ahead of you,” he adds as he takes my hand and places it on his already thickening cock.

  “I have got to get some sleep,” I giggle much later as Cooper leans out of the bed to check the baby monitor.

  “Soon,” Cooper murmurs, scooting back over to me. “I wanted to ask you something, but we got so ‘busy’ it almost slipped my mind.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Tomorrow night is the memorial for Jenna on the pier. You know the one across from the Savage Asylum?” Cooper asks me softly as I snuggle the side of my face into his chest.

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  “Will you come? You don’t have to if you’re busy. I know you weren’t a fan of any of the dancers…”

  “Sure, I’ll come,” I agree.

  “I want Ruby to be there too even though she won’t know what’s going on or remember it. It’s good for the Kings to see the motherless child we’re responsible for to make sure this shit doesn’t happen again.”

  “Sure,” I agree.

  “We finally have a lead on the bomber,” he says.

  “Oh really?” I ask in surprise. This is the first time he’s mentioned anything about who might be responsible.

  “Yeah,” he replies while lifting our clasped hands to his lips and kissing my knuckles. “We got his name yesterday. Now we just have to track him down.”

  “And then what happens?”

  “I haven’t decided.”

  Lifting my head to see his face, I ask, “What do you mean you haven’t decided?”

  “I haven’t decided, and the Kings are leaving the choice up to me.”

  “Well, what are the choices other than turning him over to law enforcement and letting the criminal justice system handle him?” I ask, resting my chin on his chest.

  “You can’t be naïve enough to think that’s how the Savage Kings will handle this,” he says with a tilt of his head.

  “Why not?”

  “Because he killed Jenna!” Cooper exclaims. “And he nearly killed me, Gabe, Sax and his girlfriend!”

  “That doesn’t mean you should get to take his life!” I tell him as I push myself up into a sitting position and Cooper does the same.

  “It’s the least he deserves,” he says. “I wouldn’t end his life quickly either.”

  “Cooper,” I say in disbelief. “What if you get caught? Is this really worth spending life in prison?”

  “I won’t get caught. The governor said he would help back us up.”

  “The governor?” I repeat. “The governor of North Carolina?”

  “The one and only,” Cooper says. “Sax is dating his daughter.”

  “Wow,” I mutter. “I can’t believe the man we elected would do something so unethical and unconstitutional.”

  “The problem with following ethics and the constitution is that sometimes people don’t get what they deserve.”

  “It’s not up to you to decide what someone deserves. That’s the reason why we have a system, one with juries of our peers in trials, so that a group of unbiased individuals can decide.”

  “No one is unbiased. Besides, this asshole already had his case looked at by a jury of his peers. The Kings and I are as close to ‘peers’ of this guy as you’re going to find around here. Liz, we’re not a brigade of upstanding citizens. Hell, you could argue some of us are worse than this fucker. But we do believe in justice, being held responsible for your actions. I know you want to work within the established system, but that system isn’t infallible. What if they arrest this guy and he gets off on some stupid technicality, like the cops didn’t read him his rights?”

  “That hardly ever happens,” I assure him.

  “Hardly ever, but it happens. Besides, that’s just one example. You know all the loopholes and legal tricks better than I do.”

  “Please don’t do this, Cooper,” I beg him.

  “What would you have me do, Liz? Sit back and let the asshole rot in prison?”

  “Yes!” I tell him. “Serving a long prison sentence is a harsher punishment than death. Believe me, I know. You have no clue how hard it is to have someone you care about waste away while being locked up, having no future to look forward to.”

  “You’re talking about Owen, aren’t you?” he asks.

  “Yes. And seeing how miserable he is makes me feel guilty that I get to wake up and live my life while he’s stuck in the same hellhole, day after day.” Swiping under my eye when a tear escapes, I finally tell him, “Owen is important to me. He was my first…everything, and I can’t do anything to help him. He was only eighteen when he was convicted.”

  “I’m sorry,” Cooper says, cupping the side of my face in his palm and using his thumb to wipe away another tear. “Did you love him?”

  “I do love him still,” I reply honestly. “And you can’t imagine how painful it was for me when he was arrested. How it still hurts his family. They stopped visiting him because he’s all the way in Kentucky and they have other kids and now grandkids. I’m the only one who shows up for his birthday and on Thanksgiving and Christmas. My parents don’t understand why I can’t just come home and be with them over the holidays. But how can I enjoy being with them knowing that he’s sad and alone?”

  “You feel guilty because you care about him and can’t do anything to get him out,” Cooper says. “I get it. That’s why I don’t visit Ian as much as I should. Seeing him in there…it’s depressing as shit.”

  “No kidding,” I say with a puff of laughter. “Ian’s been inside for what, four or five years? Think of how depressing visiting would be after sixteen years.”

  “I’m so sorry you feel that way, baby,” Cooper says as he pushes the hair back from my face and tucks it behind my ear.

  “There’s nothing for you to be sorry for,” I tell him.

  “I’m sorry there’s nothing I can do to take away your pain for him,” he says.

  Covering his hand with mine, I look him straight in the eyes and say, “Please don’t add to my pain. Promise me that you won’t touch the man responsible for killing Jenna. If I lost you to prison or-or another bomb, I’m not sure if I could ever recover.”

  Cooper stares at me for several, long silent moments before he finally blows out a heavy exhale. “Okay, I promise. When we find him, if we find him, I’ll have him arrested. It won’t be easy to do, but for you, I’ll push my anger and need for revenge aside.”

  “You will?” I ask.

  “Yeah, I will,” he agrees. “I don’t want to be a killer. Even though this asshole wouldn’t be the first life I’ve taken. Being with you is worth more than making him suffer. And I have Ruby to think about now…”

  “Thank you,” I tell him, leaning forward to kiss him so hard I ride him back down to the mattress. “I know you would never give up the Savage Kings, so I wouldn’t ask you to. But it means a lot to me that you’ll let this go and not take revenge into your own hands.”

  “The Kings are changing,” Cooper says as he kisses my lips and then my cheek. “At least our charter is. Most of the guys have wives and families now. They’re not going to want to risk them anymore. Our outlaw days are all but over.”

  “That’s good to hear,” I tell him as his lips move down to my neck. “And it makes me think we have a lot to look forward to.”

  “Oh, you do,” he agrees. Then, in one quick movement I’m on my back with Cooper above me. “Starting right now when I make love to you so hard, and I get so deep, you’ll come from just thinking about it tomorrow.”

  “That sounds perfect to me,” I reply with a smile as his mouth keeps moving lower and lower.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Cooper

>   Ruby starts screaming bloody murder right after Liz leaves for work, and I have no idea how to make her stop. She’s so loud that I barely hear the doorbell ring.

  Since walking around with her seems to help, I carry her with me to see who’s here. A quick glance out the peephole and I hurry to unlock and open up the door.

  “Thank god you’re here,” I say to War and Torin, who are standing on the porch. “She won’t stop crying. What the hell is wrong with her?”

  “Isn’t she cute,” War says with a grin. “Loud, but cute.”

  “Have you fed her?” Torin asks.

  “Yes! She slept until four this morning. I changed her and fed her, then she went back to sleep until around half an hour ago. I tried to give her another bottle but she wouldn’t take it.”

  “Is her diaper dirty?” War asks with a wince.

  “Nope. Totally dry.”

  The two veteran fathers look at each other and then apparently come to the same conclusion.

  “It’s gas,” they say.

  “Gas? Seriously?” I ask.

  “She needs to burp after you feed her. I bet she has a tummy ache,” Torin explains, placing his hand on her belly. “Oh yeah. She’s got bubbles.”

  “I thought she was just full. You mean that belly she gets is bloat?”

  “Yep.”

  “That’s just great. So, what the hell do I do?”

  “Try holding her up on your shoulder,” War suggests.

  “How?” I ask. “Is there some weird position that helps promote burping?”

  “Here. Let me have her,” he says and starts to take her. And even though he’s my brother who I trust completely, I still find myself feeling protective over her.

  “I won’t drop her. I promise,” he says.

  “I know that,” I tell him with a roll of my eyes when I finally relent and hand her to him, even though the thought crossed my mind.

  And like magic, War puts Ruby on his shoulder, rubs his palm over her back while lightly tapping it and a manly burp comes right out of her tiny mouth.

  “Whoa,” I say in surprise. “How can something so little sound like that?”

  “I bet she’s feeling better already,” War says when he hands her back to me and I try holding her the same way. She doesn’t make a peep.

  “Wow, it worked. She’s not crying anymore.”

  “There you go,” Torin says. “Make sure you do that every time she eats, and I bet you’ll have a happy baby girl.”

  “I’m trying not to get too attached,” I tell them as I lead the way to the living room, and we all take a seat. “Who knows what the father will decide to do.”

  “Hard to imagine who wouldn’t want their own kid. Especially one so adorable,” War mutters.

  “A married man who doesn’t want a divorce maybe?” I reply.

  “True,” Torin agrees. “That does make things complicated. Are you really sure that you want to do this, though? Being a father is a huge commitment. The little one has to come first in everything you do.”

  “Yeah, I want this, and I think I can figure it out,” I tell them. “But then there’s the club… We need to figure out how to run things legit, without any blowback.”

  “No shit,” War snorts.

  “With the expansion of Avalon into the webcam business and more artists at Savage Ink, I think we should vote on giving up the grow house, at least until the shit’s legal in the state,” I suggest.

  “You’re right,” Torin agrees. “We all have families, so the benefits of the extra cash in our pockets are not worth the risks, especially when we’ll more than make up for the income in our other businesses.”

  “Thanks. That’s really good to hear,” I tell him.

  “I agree,” War says. “We should vote on it at our next meeting.”

  “None of us want to go to prison and leave our women and kids behind,” Torin grumbles. “The shit with the Russians was a close call…”

  “About the Russians,” I tell them. “I’ve decided I want to let law enforcement take Peter down if they find him.”

  “You sure?” Torin asks. “I mean, it would keep the heat off of us, but it’s your decision.”

  “I’m sure. I promised Liz I wouldn’t do anything stupid to get myself locked up. Besides, now I’ve got Ruby to think about,” I say as I look down at the now sleeping angel on my shoulder. “She needs a father more than she needs revenge.”

  “Amen, brother,” War agrees.

  “There’s one other thing I need to bring to the table,” I warn them.

  “What’s that?” Torin asks.

  “No matter what happens with Ruby, I don’t think I want to go back to managing Avalon. Maybe someone else can takeover or we can hire an outside manager?”

  “Sure, yeah,” Torin says. “I don’t blame you. You’re married now, and I know there’s no way my old lady would put up with me working in a strip club. You can still handle the accounting and helping Dalton with the books, if you want, but just do it from the clubhouse.”

  “Exactly,” I reply even though Liz is only one of the reasons I don’t want to go back.

  Elizabeth

  “Thank you all for coming tonight,” Cooper tells the gathered crowd as he climbs up on the top of the pier railing and takes a seat to get everyone’s attention. “I know most of you never met Jenna Higgins, and don’t know a thing about her, other than the fact that she was a stripper. And while that may be true, there was more to her,” he says. “She was a mother, doing her best to take care of her daughter Ruby all on her own. I’ve told some of you about Ruby’s father, and why he hasn’t been in the picture. She was brave to go at it alone, and she hated asking for help, but she was at Avalon the morning of the bombing doing just that because she didn’t know where else to turn.” Cooper pauses and stares off into the distance as if remembering their last conversation. He lets out a chuckle and goes on to say, “Jenna was adamant that she would pay me back in some way for the advance, even though I told her that wasn’t necessary. She was honest and dependable, always filling in for the other girls whenever they needed without hesitation. Even though she had only been here a few weeks and didn’t have many friends, she will be missed. Her daughter will never get to know the mother who did all she could for her, but I hope to tell Ruby what I knew about Jenna. She was a beautiful woman who held her head up high even when she hit rock bottom.”

  Cooper jumps down from the pier and then bends down to pick up one of the white paper lanterns from a cardboard box. “I brought some candles if anyone would like to say a prayer and send it up in Jenna’s memory.” Holding the lantern in one hand, he pulls out a zippo lighter from his pocket with the other and sets the candle inside aflame. “This one is for Ruby. May her mother watch over her and keep her as safe as she can from heaven.”

  Ruby coos in my arms as if telling Cooper thank you. I place a kiss on her little forehead.

  We may have only had her for a day, but I’m already growing pretty attached to her. Cooper is so good with her that I know he would be an amazing father if he gets the chance. That’s why, when I hand her to Cooper to light my own lantern, I say a prayer that Ruby’s father will let us have her before I set it free.

  One by one, the Savage Kings and their wives that came out to the pier light their own candle; and when the sun sets, the sky is lit up with the glowing flames that reflect in the darkening ocean. It’s the saddest and most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Cooper

  It’s eleven o’clock at night and I’m feeding Ruby what I hope will be her last bottle until the morning. I don’t really mind if she wakes up earlier, as I still haven’t been getting much sleep. She’s almost finished when my cell phone rings. It’s not easy, but I manage to hold the baby and bottle in one arm while fishing out my phone from my jean pocket with the other. Liz has just gone to bed, so I hope the ringing didn’t wake her up.

  After some careful acrobat
ics, I’m able to see on the caller ID that it’s Sax calling.

  “This better be really fucking important,” I whisper once I get the device to my ear.

  “It is,” he says. “The governor found Peter. He’s been squatting in an empty house in Morehead City that’s been put up for sale.”

  “No shit?” I ask as my heart starts to race in my chest.

  “He sent me photos of the fucker going inside just a few hours ago. Looks like it’s him, the same guy in the photo Reece found of Kozlov’s son. He wants to know how he should proceed. Should we just call the police and let them deal with this? It’s up to you,” he says.

  “Wow,” I mutter since it’s actually happening, the asshole is finally going down for what he did. I promised Liz I wouldn’t touch him and told Torin and War the same. Now that it’s real, am I certain that’s what I still want to do?

  I want the man who killed Jenna to die as punishment for what he did to her. But at the same time, as I look down at Ruby’s sweet, angelic face, holding her, such a tiny, innocent bundle in my arms, I can’t find it in me to put a gun to a man’s head and kill him in cold blood. I’m not sure if Liz would ever forgive me if I did it either. While I’m not worried about getting arrested, it’s something she’s obviously concerned about because of the shit she’s been through with that Owen.

  “Coop?” Sax asks when I don’t respond.

  “Call the police,” I tell him on an exhale.

  “You’re sure? What if they don’t have enough evidence and he gets away with it?”

  “If he gets out, then we’ll exact our own punishment, but until then, let him rot in a cell.”

  “Okay, I’ll let Lawrence know.”

  “Any word on when Ian’s getting out?” I ask since the governor is supposed to be helping with our brother’s release.

  “He’s doing all he can, but the prison is run by a whole different group of bureaucrats that don’t exactly like taking orders from him. They’re insisting on a hearing before they remove the recent infraction and let him out. As long as Ian behaves for now, and Gabe has warned him he better, well, he should be a free man within a few weeks instead of months.”