And so fucking solid, he felt good. Calming.
Like home.
She wasn’t lying when she said she’d missed him. It was the hardest thing about staying away. An unfamiliar sting in her nose and eyes had her sniffle, then pull back. “Is Ry as tall as you?”
“Almost.”
“Gangly and awkward?”
“Fuck no. He’s beatin’ the women off with a stick. He’s fuckin’ smart, too. Will miss him when he leaves for college in August. Haven’t had enough time with him.”
“You’ll get it. Just be glad you reconnected. What’s he think about his old man doing shit like today?”
“He don’t know. Sent him to Crazy Pete’s to get him outta here. He don’t know much about club life yet. He’s only been here a week. Shit’s all new to him.”
Jemma wished Ry would stay ignorant of an MC’s ways. “Is he staying with you?”
“No.” He jerked his chin toward the barn structure behind them. “In the bunkhouse.”
“With your club brothers?”
“Yeah.”
“Well then, he’s going to learn real fast, won’t he?”
Judge actually chuckled. Chuckled. It was music to her ears. Yes, she was going to give Cassie a huge hug. Maybe even buy her a dozen daisies.
“Yeah. Told the sweet butts they can’t touch him. But livin’ there, he’ll see the rest. Just wanted him to avoid today. Don’t wanna scare him away before he understands.”
“Think he’ll understand?”
“Don’t know.”
“If he doesn’t, will you give this all up? For your son? For Cassie? For Daisy?”
Judge’s nostrils flared. “Didn’t want it in the first place.”
“The club or the position?”
“Both.”
Jemma locked eyes with her brother’s troubled green ones and whispered, “If you really didn’t want it, you wouldn’t be here.” She stepped around him and put a hand on the door handle. “See you tonight.”
He moved out of her way, and she climbed into the driver’s side and closed the door. She watched her brother’s long legs take him quickly back to the barn.
To his club.
To a group of men who had no problem with her brother beating another one of their own.
She rubbed her chest.
Her heart ached a little.
No, that wasn’t right.
It ached a lot.
Chapter Six
“This is fuckin’ insane,” Cage muttered as he stood next to Trip staring at the single-wide mobile home.
What sat before him was exactly why he’d tolerated that beating a couple of days ago. Because his club, his brothers, had his back. No matter how much he fucked up.
As long as he didn’t screw over the club or his brotherhood.
After Jemma left the other day, he practically crawled back to The Barn but he managed to make it there on his own power. And while they all sat around spit-balling ideas on where Cage could live, even temporarily, he downed about a half of a fifth of Jack.
Simply to dull the pain.
But that also meant he had needed help back to his room in the bunkhouse after their discussion. Or actually in the midst of it, since he missed most of what had been decided.
The next morning he picked up Dyna from Judge and Cassie’s house since they kept her overnight due to his inability to do just about anything.
Though, he did manage not to shit the bed.
Luckily.
Now two days later he still hurt like fuck and looked like he kissed a speeding tractor-trailer.
“Crazy, right?” Trip asked. “Stella found a business that specializes in emergency housing. It’s fuckin’ genius. They set up shit like this when a hurricane or tornado, or even fuckin’ Godzilla, takes out your house. Gives a family a place to stay while their home and life are being rebuilt. Or for when your balls are to the wall with a baby on your hip and you need somethin’ quick. Like you do. They truck it in and set it up. When you’re done with it, they pick it up. Like I said, goddamn genius.” He turned and pointed to the shed where they kept their sleds. It was parked right next to it. “It’s not the best spot since we had to put it near the large shed to temporarily hook it to utilities. It’s a quick fuckin’ fix, but it’ll do you for now.”
Fuck yeah, it would.
Thing looked brand new, too. It wasn’t some dumpy damn tin can that had been sitting and rusting in a trailer park for a couple of decades.
“Thinkin’ about settin’ up a business like this for the club. Gonna talk to Deke about it. Maybe run some numbers by Red. We got the space to park these fuckers. Get some of the guys to get their CDLs and get ‘em trained... For what they charge for haulin’ and rentin’ these fuckers out...” He shook his head. “Once the initial expense is paid off, we might be rollin’ in it. Could be a good investment.”
Cage didn’t have a head for numbers, not like Autumn and Deacon, so he couldn’t comment on that part, but he did catch the part about how much it was costing.
He hadn’t worked in over a week, his hourly salary at the shop was basically shit, and he already owed Dutch a shit-ton due to all the baby shit he had needed to buy.
Not to mention the fucking cost of formula and diapers.
Having a kid wasn’t cheap. And this was only the beginning.
Wraps were cheaper. Unless they were defective.
He stared at the huge expense sitting before him. “Club paid for it?”
Trip turned with his hands on his hips and gave him a strange look. “Dutch.”
What?
“Yeah, he paid for it. Just asked if we could put it here. I was all for keepin’ you guys close. You know how I feel about us bein’ spread out. Don’t like it. Bad enough Dodge is livin’ above the bar, Dutch is in his place in town and Ozzy’s livin’ in the motel’s manager quarters. Beside Dutch, where Oz and Dodge are stayin’ is necessary since they’re managin’ those businesses. And Dutch, well...”
“Enough said.”
“Yeah, you know your pop. Set in his ways.”
“And from what I’ve seen since stayin’ with him, he’d have a tough time stickin’ to the bunkhouse rule of no women stayin’ all night.”
Trip grinned. “Get the fuck out.”
“Not sure where he’s findin’ them, but he’s bangin’ chicks left and right. Young ones, old ones. Quiet ones, loud ones. Fuckin’ guy. Not sure how he does it, but he does. Gotta be impressed. The old man’s got fuckin’ stamina.”
“They weren’t sweet butts?”
“Fuck no. And he’s bonin’ ‘em in every shape and color, too. He’s fuckin’ his way through a goddamn bag of Skittles.”
“Huh,” Trip said softly. “If I didn’t have Stella, I’d be kinda fuckin’ jealous.”
“Right? Man’s got skills I never realized he had. Not that I really wanted to witness all the shit I’ve seen lately. He musta found his groove once Rook and I moved out.”
“Anyway... Done talkin’ about your pop’s dick action.”
“Yeah,” Cage muttered. “Me fuckin’, too.” He glanced at the mobile home again. “Guess I’m gonna owe him big time for this. Goddamn debt’s pilin’ up.”
“Don’t think so. Don’t think he’s doin’ this for you. Think he’s doin’ it for her.” Trip jerked his chin up at the sleeping baby in Cage’s arms.
Cage glanced down at Dyna. Her belly was full, her eyes closed and she breathed loudly through her nose. He never realized how loud babies breathed. The Google lady, who was finally talking to him again, told him it was because babies were “obligate nasal breathers.” He had to look that up, too. A few times, he’d fallen asleep just listening to Dyna’s steady breathing.
He really needed to put her in her car seat because his ribs were aching like hell, but carrying the car seat with her in it seemed to make it even worse. And a stroller wasn’t going to work while they inspected his new place, even if he had one.
&n
bsp; Their new place.
And, if he was lucky, Jemma’s temporary digs, too. If she agreed. It would be nice if she was close by instead of at her aunt’s house. It would hopefully make things easier and, for fuck’s sake, a bit less overwhelming.
Jemma got to meet Dyna for the first time the other night at dinner, since Cassie and Judge had taken her along to Lottie’s after Cage passed out in his bed at the bunkhouse. Without him asking, Jemma also showed up at Dutch’s house the next day to stay with the baby while he tried to recover in bed there, too.
But she had left that night once he dragged himself from his mattress into the living room to check on her and Dyna.
“You still look like the walking dead, but your upright and breathing, so that’s a good sign. That also means you’re on duty. Have a great night,” were her last words as she scurried out the door and headed who knows where.
Probably back to Lottie’s.
Maybe even Crazy Pete’s.
All he knew was he was left alone in his state of disrepair to take care of his daughter.
He managed. Barely.
He did what he had to do to take care of his daughter, just like with the beating.
It wasn’t for him. It was for her.
“C’mon. Gotta check out the inside. It’s two fuckin’ bedrooms, too. Perfect if Jemma agrees to stay here. Only problem, there’s only one bathroom.”
It was more than he ever expected. It was better than living in a tent out in one of the fields.
Hell, it was way better than living in the camper Dutch originally suggested. That rust bucket had been sitting in the garage’s storage yard so long when he went inside to check it out, his foot went through the floor. Worse, he heard mice scrambling to hide.
So yeah, he could live with only one fucking bathroom. He only hoped Jemma could.
Cage followed his president up the portable wood steps and into the mobile home. The interior even smelled new.
Trip stopped directly inside and pushed a door to the right wider. “Got one bedroom on this end. It’s the smaller one. Not quite eight by twelve.”
Cage peeked around him. He didn’t even think about furniture, but it was already furnished. “It came furnished?”
“It’s an additional fee. Dutch is payin’ for it. For now.”
Cage groaned. He’d never be able to pay his dad back for all of this.
Trip turned and they both checked out the living room. It was a decent size. Bigger than the first bedroom and had an open floor plan into the kitchen/dining area. There wasn’t a table in the dining area but there were a couple stools at the counter bar separating the kitchen from the living room. Surprisingly, the trailer seemed to be even roomier than his father’s place.
“You can work on gettin’ your own shit and then he won’t be payin’ that monthly fee.”
Right. With all the spare scratch he was going to have, he’d go right out and get some new furniture. He wasn’t even sure he’d be able to buy used furniture. Maybe he could find some shit at the curb in town when it was large item trash day. He didn’t need new shit raising a kid. Dyna would only most likely damage the furniture anyway once she became mobile.
His mother always bitched that she couldn’t have nice things because of him and Rook.
Now Cage looked back, he didn’t think that was the reason. As an adult, he realized how much his mother lied to her sons. Probably to Dutch, too. However, he never discussed it with his old man.
They stepped into the short hallway off the kitchen. To the left was the full-sized bathroom with a shower stall and to the right was a nice-sized laundry room, which also included another door outside. A back door, he guessed.
“No washer or dryer,” he murmured.
“Nope. Dutch said you can use the shit in the bunkhouse. Actually, his exact words were, ‘He wants a fuckin’ washer and dryer then his ass can buy ‘em. Ain’t payin’ to rent that shit when there’s a perfectly good set in the fuckin’ bunkhouse. His ass can hoof it over there.’”
Cage grinned. Yeah, that sounded like his old man.
They moved to the last room farthest from the front door. The master bedroom. It was definitely larger in size, had a bigger closet and a bigger bed. He guessed this one was a queen versus the double in the first bedroom.
“You and Jem gotta fight it out who takes the bigger room. If I were you, I’d offer her this one. Sweeten the pot a little bit. Then once you find a house mouse and Jemma leaves, you can switch rooms. Or, hell, by then, we might figure out a better setup for you elsewhere. Keeping this here long term will cost too fuckin’ much. Need somethin’ more permanent. Your kid ain’t temporary, your place shouldn’t be, either.”
His chest really ached, and it had nothing to do with his cracked ribs or injuries. It had to do with all of the responsibility beginning to close in on him, starting to smother him.
Sometimes even made it hard to breathe.
Like now.
His whole life was upside down, all due to picking the wrong pussy to stick his dick into.
He closed his eyes, willing that heavy weight to lessen.
“You all right?”
He opened his eyes and met Trip’s concerned ones. “No. Ain’t gonna lie.”
Trip’s lips thinned. “Yeah. Get it. It’s like a direct kick in the nuts, right? One you didn’t see comin’ and had no time to deflect.”
“Yeah,” he murmured.
“No one said you had to keep her. Not one of us woulda blamed you if you hadn’t, brother. Not one of us. It ain’t an easy decision but sometimes it’s the right one. It was right for Autumn and Levi. It could be right for you and it also ain’t too late to change your mind. Plenty of folks out there would love to have a baby.”
Cage slowly inhaled, filling his lungs, the air expanding his chest and shoving that weight off. “Yeah. It’s too late.”
Trip tilted his head and stared at him for a few uncomfortable, silent moments, then gave him a sharp nod. “Then do whatchya gotta do, brother. And do it right. We got your fuckin’ back. That’s the whole point of a brotherhood. That’s the whole reason I came home and decided to rebuild this club from the ground up. For fuckin’ situations like these. You ain’t gonna be the only one raisin’ this baby. We all are. It ain’t just Dutch and Rook at your back anymore. It’s all of us.”
Cage stared at a spot on the floor because he couldn’t let his president see the tears stinging his eyes. But his voice was thick when he lifted his head and said, “Yeah, brother, you don’t know how fuckin’ much I appreciate that.”
Trip swallowed hard. “Okay, got shit to do. So do you.”
Cage stood in the bedroom doorway and watched the Fury prez make his way through the trailer. The whole time Cage kept his eyes glued to the colors on the man’s back.
“See, Dyna? You got a whole fuckin’ army at your back,” he whispered against her soft hair. “Thank fuck for that.”
He took a last look at the bedroom and wandered back through his new home.
Their new home.
Once he got settled in, he wanted to set up an outdoor space right outside the door. The pavilion wasn’t far but it would be nice to sit right outside the trailer to smoke a bowl or drink a beer after a long fucking day.
Or give his baby a bottle.
Your life’s just been changed forever.
Wasn’t that the fucking truth.
Chapter Seven
Cage had texted her earlier asking her to come out to the farm. He had something to show her. She already knew what it was since Judge had given her the head’s up a couple of days ago, but they had wanted to keep it a surprise from Cage.
Being in Dutch’s house for the past few days while helping with Dyna, Jemma could see why Cage wouldn’t want to raise his daughter there.
She didn’t know Dutch well since she had been so young when the club became no more, but she was finding out quickly what a character he was. Being an Original, he was biker thro
ugh and through. But then, his sons seemed to be the same way. He raised them as any MC member would, even though he hadn’t been part of the Fury for over twenty years.
So, it wasn’t surprising that Cage and Rook slipped easily into the MC life.
It still surprised Jemma that Judge had. Deacon surprised her even more. Their cousin had never lived the MC life, never grew up like she and Judge had, but appeared to thrive in the environment.
Since she’d been home, she met Reese. The woman surprised the shit out of Jemma. She was an attorney and not one of those sleezy kind. No, she had a lot of confidence, intelligence, and was stubborn as all fuck. She made Jemma smother a laugh one too many times with how skillfully she handled Deacon.
Even so, it was clear to see both her brother and cousin were deeply in love. She never thought she’d see the day. Especially after Judge’s first disaster of a marriage.
Cassie was perfect for her brother. Daisy was a damn handful. And again, Reese shouldn’t fit in at all, but somehow did. At least with Deacon by her side.
She doubted the MC life was one either women would have chosen if it hadn’t already been part of the men they fell in love with. In fact, she was pretty damn sure both women would’ve preferred their men weren’t involved with the club at all.
Jemma understood that inclination better than anyone. Because there was no fucking way she would ever end up with a biker, or even a man like Ox. A man who put himself above his own child, his own family.
A long shed with garage doors sat to the left and parallel to the stone driveway leading to The Barn, what she learned was the official name of the clubhouse. Right past the shed sat a new mobile home about fifty feet long and twelve feet wide. It had no skirting, nor was it sitting on a concrete pad like they normally did, and she could see where the utilities were connected.
It wasn’t permanent, but only temporary. Just like Jemma being in Manning Grove.
That reminded her she needed to buckle down and find another job in her field. What she was meant to do. Not raise someone else’s child. For free, no less.
She didn’t even want to raise her own child. Not yet. One day she’d be ready, when she found the right man to do it with.
Blood & Bones: Cage (Blood Fury MC Book 5) Page 9
