“Good job you already got an Old Lady, she needs to get sewing this on.” My head rose as my brain registered what he had said. I looked at my cut to see that he had thrown down a patched member patch on top of it. “Book some time in with Tat, to get branded.”
“Good to have you, brother,” Holes said as he held his hand out to me.
“Am I hearing this right?” I laughed.
“Yep, party this weekend. Bring your Old Lady,” Holes said. Prez slammed the gavel down and the room emptied as I stared at my Cornish Crusaders patch, I was a proper brother, a patched member. I couldn’t quite believe it.
“Iron,” I looked up at Prez as he spoke. “Road name, Iron. I think it suits all this muscle you got going on.”
“Thanks, Prez.”
“Now you’re lucky I’m a family man. As soon as you picked Ashlyn over your club I admired you. That you would give up the only family you have for the woman you love. But break another one of my rules, any of my rules and I won’t hesitate to kick you out or worse.”
“You got it, Prez. I’ll never break another rule.”
“Get out of here,” he slapped me on the back. I grabbed my cut and new patch and headed towards the door. “Iron?”
“Boss?”
“Take the new prospect, Tyler. Here’s where Ashlyn is.” He handed me a piece of paper and I unfolded it to see an address in Devon. This turned out to be a great day, I got my patch and now I was going to go and claim my woman for good. I just had to make a stop on the way.
I ambled down the path to the CC tattoo and piercing shop, I needed to get my ink done. I wanted it to show Ashlyn. I had done a piss poor job of sewing on my new patch, but it was there and that’s all that mattered.
I pushed open the door and a bell chimed above me.
“Hey Drake, oh sorry, Iron. That’s gonna take some getting used to,” Cammie smiled as she rocked Harley in her arms.
“Hey Cam. Is Tat about?”
“Yeah, he’s out the back. You getting inked?”
“Yep, my patch,” I smiled at her.
“You mind if I watch while I wait for Mason?”
“Not at all.” We both walked to the back of the shop where Tat’s tattoo room was set up.
“Hey, man. You ready for your ink?” Tat asked.
“Sure am, I’ve been waiting a year for this.” He patted the dentist like chair and I sat down.
“Where you having it?”
“Calf muscle, please.”
“Alright, drop your trousers.” Tat started gathering everything he needed and he positioned the couch so I could lie down.
“Sorry, Cam.” I smiled as I opened my jeans and pushed them down my legs, thankful that I decided to wear boxers. She waved her hand as if it wasn’t an issue.
“Have you seen Ashlyn?” I asked her, trying to distract myself as Tat got to work on the outline.
“Not since the night she turned up at DD and I was there.”
“Have you spoken to her?” she nodded. “Is she ok?” she hesitated. “What is it?”
“She’s confused and upset,” I frowned at her. “She told me what you two did… Getting married,” she exhaled and shifted Harley so he was laying against her shoulder. “She hasn’t heard anything from you, Dra, Iron.”
“I’ve had no way to contact her. Prez has finally given me her address, I’m on my way to see her as soon as I’m done here.”
“You could have asked me for her phone number.”
“Yeah, I could have. I wanted to… But I wanted to know where I was at with the club first, so I knew what I had to offer her. I couldn’t have rocked up there like ‘hey, here I am. We can live on the streets’. I couldn’t do that to her, Cam. She deserves more than that.”
“Yeah, she does.”
“Why the hell are you laying there in front of my wife and son in your boxers?” Holes growled.
“Getting my club tat,” I pointed to my leg. He moved around the couch until he could see it better.
“Looks good, Iron.” All three of us looked towards Cammie as Harley let out a small sob. “He hungry?” VP asked his Old Lady. She looked at the clock on the wall.
“Yeah,” she nodded.
“Come on, you’re not feeding him here in front of these idiots.” He wrapped his arm her back and began leading her away.
“Come and let me know how it goes with Ash,” Cammie said over her shoulder.
“I will do. Hopefully I’ll have her with me.”
“Hold still, man.” Tat complained. I laid my head back down, just wishing that he was done already so that I could get to my woman. It’s been way too long since I’ve seen her, held her in my arms and kissed her soft lips. I needed to stop thinking about her before Tat seen it all through my boxers.
Drake
“Thanks for bringing me, man,” I said to Tyler as he turned left onto a quiet street, I looked up and down the road to see most of the houses were detached with neat, tidy and colourful gardens. It was a hell of a lot different from where I grew up, living in a small two bedroom terraced house with no front garden and where our door opened up right onto the pavement.
“No problem, Iron. I’ll do whatever it takes to get my patch.”
“How long you been a prospect?”
“Two weeks now,” he smiled with pride.
“How old are you?”
“Nineteen.” I thought he looked young with his blonde hair that was cut short and baby face. “Here it is.” He snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked out of the car window at a detached house with freshly cut grass and bright flowers edging the path.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be.”
“No problem, the Prez told me to wait for you.” I looked at him to see him pull his phone out of his pocket and he immediately logged onto Facebook. I took a deep breath and pushed the door open. I was excited and nervous to see her, I hoped this was going to be a good surprise for her. I walked slowly up the path keeping my eyes focused on the yellow door. She was only on the other side of that door. I rang the doorbell and stood back as I waited for someone to answer it, it was strange to think this could be the first time I meet my in laws.
“I’ll get it,” I heard being called from inside. Ashlyn’s voice rung out and my body heated at the thought that I was going to be face to face with her in seconds. I held my breath as the door handle turned and I looked up as I heard a gasp. My beautiful girl was standing in front of me in a pair of black leggings, a long grey jumper and pink slippers.
“Drake?” she smiled.
“Hey, darlin’.”
“Ah, I can’t believe you’re here,” she screamed with excitement and threw herself at me, pressing her lips onto mine. I held her up with my good arm and kissed her back. “Are you ok?” she mumbled against my lips. I lowered her back to the floor and took in the slight blush that had crept up her neck and face. Someone was very pleased to see me.
I was about to answer her when a little girl pushed her way through the door and stood by Ashlyn.
“Mummy, who that?” Was I hearing that right? Mummy? She called Ashlyn mummy? Ashlyn hooked her hands under the kid’s arms and lifted her until she was sitting on Ashlyn’s hip.
“This is Drake, can you say hi?”
“Hi,” she whispered and then hid her face in Ashlyn’s neck.
“Drake, this is Lacey, my daughter.”
“Hi Lacey, how old are you?” She didn’t remove her face from Ashlyn’s neck as she held out three fingers.
“She’s two and a half,” Ashlyn giggled, tickling Lacey’s tummy. She let out a little shrill and I couldn’t help but smile. “Go and find grandma, ok?” She told Lacey as she placed her on her feet. As she ran away her blonde hair bounced around her shoulders. “I’ve missed you so much,” Ashlyn smiled as she took a step towards me. I took one back and her face fell.
“You’re my wife,” I muttered.
“I’m well aware of that.”
“You didn
’t tell me about her.”
“I didn’t tell anyone. I couldn’t risk someone finding her or hurting her.”
“Where’s her dad? You all playing happy families together now?”
“What? No. I…”
“I gotta go,” I cut her off taking another step back.
“Dray,” she pleaded as I turned around and began walking down the path. “Please?” she called out, a sob escaping her. I didn’t turn around, I couldn’t. I almost gave my whole life away for her and she was keeping a huge secret from me. What else was she keeping from me? She had me questioning everything, did she really want me or was it just because I was there at the time? Did she have a relationship with Lacey’s dad? If so where was he? Who was he?
“Get driving,” I demanded as soon as I sat in the passenger seat. Tyler fumbled with his phone, dropping it on the floor. He was searching for it when a knock came at the car window. I looked to my left to see a guy standing there. I rolled the window down.
“You Drake?” he barked.
“Yeah. Who the hell are you?” He answered with his fist when I saw it flying towards me, clipping me on the chin. Who the fuck was this guy? The kid’s dad?
“Owen!” Ashlyn cried, running down the path in her pink slippers. “Stop.”
“She’s been hurt enough without her own husband walking out on her.” Seriously, who the fuck was this guy.
“Drive.” I barked at Tyler, he started the car and pushed his foot down on the accelerator causing the tyres to squeal before we were driving away from them. I looked in the side mirror to see that guy had his arms around her, her hands were covering her face. Was she crying? That thought made my chest hurt, I wanted her with me at the club, that wouldn’t be happening now that I knew she had a kid. I had nothing at all to offer them.
I stormed through the clubhouse and straight to my bedroom. I dug my hand into my inside pocket of my cut and pulled out the ring box. I threw it against the wall and it bounced on the floor. I spun around when I heard a yelp.
“Hey,” I sighed as I fell to the bed and rubbed my good hand over my face.
“What’s this?” Cammie asked as she picked the box up off the floor and placed it on the bed next to me.
“I bought that for Ashlyn.” Cammie walked over to the bed and sat next to me, placing her hand on my back.
“Where is she?”
“Did you know she has a kid?” I looked at her as I said it, I wanted to see the true reaction on her face.
“No, no I didn’t. Wow.”
“Yeah, a gorgeous little girl, looks just like Ashlyn, she’s two.” I smiled at the thought of them both together.
“Drake, what’s wrong?” I rose my eyebrows at her. “Shit, sorry. I’m never going to get used to calling you Iron,” she laughed.
“I have nothing to offer them. All I have is a small room in a biker clubhouse. That’s no place to bring up a kid. At least the Prez has his own apartment in the building.”
“What about the apartments and houses that the club owns? Maybe Prez will let you rent one of those?”
“What houses?”
“All I know is that there are some properties owned by this club. I know Solar rents one of the apartments and has his room here. It’s always good to have a place to get away to. Speaking of, we are going back home to our house tonight. Now that all the danger has been taken care of and the lockdown has been lifted.”
“Thanks Cam. I’ll talk to the Prez.” She climbed to her feet and patted me on the back.
“Iron… Do you love her?”
“Yeah, I really do. With all my heart.”
“Then don’t give up on her.”
“What about the kids dad?”
“What about him?”
“What if she loves him? Wants to be with him? What if he can provide a better life for them?”
“You know Ashlyn. She’s an honest person, she must have had her reasons for keeping her daughter a secret. She never would have married you if she was in love or wanted someone else. She’s liked you for a long time, I saw every time she got jealous when you were with a local girl.”
“I don’t know how to fix this, Cam. I left her there, I walked away. I couldn’t protect her, I failed her and he got to her and hurt her again.”
“Hey, that’s not your fault. You were left for dead on the side of the road.” She crouched down in front of me and placed her hands on my knees.
“It will all be ok, it’ll work itself out,” she smiled.
“Hey, what’s going on?” I looked to my right to see Holes standing there with Harley in his arms.
“Nothing, VP. I’m just acting like a pussy today, feelings and shit,” I chuckled.
“You ready to go home, sweetheart?”
“I sure am.” Cammie walked into Hole’s outstretched arm. They were the perfect little family, full of love and happiness. Could I have that with Ashlyn? We had that before all this shit happened, we could have it again.
“Enjoy.” I smiled at them before I headed to the bar for a well-deserved drink.
Ashlyn
I was up in the bedroom that I shared with Lacey, her cot was pushed up against the far wall and my bed was in the middle of the room with a bedside table on each side. I had a matching white set of furniture, including wardrobe and drawers. A large toy box was underneath the window and Lacey was sitting on the pink rug surrounded by her toys.
“Ashlyn. There’s someone here to see you,” mum called up the stairs. My heart soared at the chance that it could be Drake. I jumped to my feet, picked up Lacey and a couple of her toys and darted towards the stairs. “There you are,” Mum smiled. “Your friend is here to see you.” She pointed towards the living room, I took a deep breath and walked inside.
“Cammie?” I smiled. She was looking happy, a smile covered her face and her blonde hair was straight and down her back. She stood by the three seater sofa that was in front of the coffee table. Our living room was joined to a dining room so it was large with a fake fireplace and two sofas.
“Hi, I hope you don’t mind us popping in,” she smiled back, pointing at Harley in his car seat. I placed Lacey on her feet.
“Baby,” she squealed, rushing over towards Harley. I hurried after her, making sure she didn’t grab at him or anything.
“Wow, Iron was right. She is gorgeous and looks just like you.”
“Iron?” I asked in confusion. Was he the guy that drove Drake over here the other day? Did he see Lacey from the car?
“Oh sorry, Drake. He’s Iron now.”
“He got his patch?” I smiled.
“Yeah, did he not tell you?” I shook my head. Why didn’t he tell me?
“Do you want a drink?”
“Tea would be great.”
“I’ll get those,” Mum said, walking into the room. “You sit and talk to your friend.”
“Thanks mum.” I kissed her cheek and Cammie and I got settled on the sofa. Harley was asleep in his car seat and Lacey was playing with a toy bus that you put shapes into on the rug. It didn’t take her long to get bored with Harley.
“How are you?” I asked.
“Now I should be asking you that. I hear Iron didn’t react too well to the news,” she nodded at Lacey and I sighed.
“What did he tell you?”
“Not much really, that she was gorgeous and looked like you.”
“He walked away.”
“He was in such a state when he got back to the club. I think you two really need to talk.”
“I miss him so much,” I muttered. I missed him holding me while we slept, kissing me goodnight and keeping the night terrors away. I woke up in a cold sweat every night, I was just thankful that I never woke Lacey up.
“You should come to the club this weekend, it’s Iron’s patched in party. Mason’s mum is going to look after Harley for a couple of hours. It’ll be like old times. Please?”
“I don’t know. He may not want me there.”
; “Here we are,” Mum said as she carried a tray in with cups of tea and biscuits on it.
“Grandma, juice.” Lacey demanded.
“What do you say?” I asked her.
She scrunched her face up while she thought about it. “Pwease?”
“Good girl. Come on, let’s see what else we can find you,” Mum took hold of Lacey’s hand and led her away.
“Why didn’t you tell me about her?” Cammie asked as I passed her a cup of tea.
“I didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t want to risk her being hurt, can you imagine if Switch found out about her. It doesn’t bare to think about,” I shuddered at the thought.
“Were you never going to come back for her?”
“Yeah, I missed her every day. It was so hard not being able to be with her, but I sacrificed what I had to, in order to keep her safe. You know what it feels like, you’d do anything to protect your child from harm. I longed for the day I could hold her in my arms again. I dreamt of the three of us together, cuddled up on the sofa watching a Disney film or playing at the park.”
“Three?” she asked.
“Me, Lacey and Drake. That’s what I want. Us to be a proper family.”
“What about her dad?”
“He left before she was even three months old. He left us in a small one bedroom flat with no money, luckily my parents took us in. He said he was too young. We’ve not heard from him since.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Cammie placed her mug on the coffee table as she bent forwards and pulled a fussing Harley out of his car seat. She plonked him on me and took my empty mug from me. I positioned him in the crook of my arm and gazed down at him.
“He looks just like Holes.”
“Yeah and that’s all I hear from Mason. He’s a very proud dad.”
“And a proud husband,” I smiled, nudging her with my knee. “You got a good one there.”
“And so have you. I can’t believe you got married without me.”
“We were all a little surprised when we found out that bit of information.” Mum said as she followed Lacey in, who was happily munching away on a cookie. “I said we should at least have a party or something to celebrate.”
South Coast Brothers: Part One Page 63