“Mum,” I sighed.
“That’s a great idea,” Cammie agreed.
“No, I told you we don’t want a fuss. We got married because we love each other, we don’t need a party for that to be real.”
“Oh, so where is he then? If he loves you so much?” she perched on the edge of the two seater leather sofa looking at me.
“I’ve told you, he’s been in hospital,” I snapped. All we told my mum and dad was that I got in the way of a plan and was being held hostage. I didn’t want them knowing the full details, I didn’t want them treating me differently.
“I hear you cry at night, some nights you wake up screaming. I don’t know how Lacey sleeps through that. Is that what this man has caused?”
“No. Mum, Drake would never hurt me.” I passed Harley back to Cammie and sat forwards on my seat. Why was she choosing now to bring this up? I could see how uncomfortable this was making Cammie.
“Shall we go to the park?” I asked Cammie.
“Yeah, park,” Lacey shouted, jumping up and down.
“Sounds good,” she strapped Harley back in his seat as I gathered Lacey’s coat and shoes.
“Ashlyn, please see this from my point of view. Why hasn’t he come back for you? Is it because of…” she nodded her head discreetly at Lacey.
“No, he isn’t like that,” I bit. I zipped up Lacey’s coat, slipped on my boots and headed towards the front door.
“I’ll just get Harley’s pushchair from the car.” Cammie said as she left Harley with me and disappeared to her car.
“Thanks for making my friend feel awkward, you couldn’t have waited til we were alone?”
“I’m sorry, I just worry about you.”
“I can take care of myself and my daughter.” I grabbed Harley’s car seat in one hand and Lacey’s hand in my other one. We walked slowly towards Cammie while she assembled the pushchair.
“Everything ok?” She asked as she placed Harley’s seat onto the frame of the pushchair.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “Sorry about that.” I picked Lacey up and we walked down the road to the park. It was colder today, winter was definitely on the way.
“You don’t believe anything she said, right?”
“I know he loves me…” I hesitated.
“But?” Cammie asked. We turned the corner and the park was ahead of us. Lacey squirmed in my arms to get down and I placed her on her feet. She ran over to the swings.
“Mummy, push,” she demanded. I looked at her, waiting for her manners. “Pwease.”
“What if she is right? He hasn’t come for us. What if he isn’t interested in both of us? He walked away when I introduced them.”
“That’s only because…” she started and trailed off. I watched as she tucked the blanket tighter in around Harley.
“Because what?” I asked.
“Huh?” she asked.
“Don’t play dumb with me Cammie,” I laughed as I continued to push Lacey on the swing. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Promise you won’t say anything?” I made a crossing sign over my heart. “Fine, he’s worried that he can’t provide for you. He doesn’t have a house, somewhere you can bring her up. He doesn’t want you both living at the clubhouse.”
“Oh.” I understood what he meant, I didn’t really want to bring my daughter up out of one room at the clubhouse, but I didn’t want us to be apart either, maybe I needed to ask mum if he could move in with us, but then all three of us would be living in the one room too.
“Come to the party on Saturday night, your mum will babysit, right?”
“Yeah, I’m sure she will. But I’m not sure it’s a good idea to come there without being invited.”
“I’m inviting you, besides everyone would love to see you. It’s your club too, remember. You lived there too.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Great. I had best head home. I can’t wait to see you on Saturday.”
“I haven’t made any promises, Cammie.” She hugged me and said goodbye to Lacey before she turned around and walked out of the park.
“Do you want to go on the slide?” I asked as I pulled her out of the swing seat. She nodded as she ran away. I chased her and the laughter that rang out of her was the sweetest sound. I helped her climb up the steps and she sat at the top until I was ready to catch her at the bottom.
“Catch me.”
“I will,” I promised. She pushed herself down the slide and I caught her before she shot off the end, I swung her up in the air and she giggled.
“Again.” I placed her on her feet and we did the same for the next fifteen minutes. A chill crept down my spine and I looked around to see if anyone was near, there was no one around but I got an uneasy feeling. I quickly swept Lacey up into my arms and hurried back home. I wondered if I would ever feel relaxed when I was out on my own or would I always be battling my demons.
Drake
“Thanks Prez,” I called out over my shoulder as I left his office. I headed towards the bar in search of Tyler, my arm was still in a damn cast so Tyler had become my personal driver. There was a hive of activity in the bar, the club girls were frantically cleaning, dancers were practising on the stage and Carla and Cammie were decorating, tonight was my patched in party and they had decided that the theme was going to be pirates. I had never known or seen a patched member have a themed party before, but if it made the women happy I wasn’t going to step in there way.
“Oh, Iron. I left your outfit on your bed,” Cammie smiled at me.
“Thanks.” I was never really in to the whole dressing up thing for parties, I was hoping to just get away with wearing an eye patch and carrying a sword. “Tyler.” I hollered, getting his attention. Once he was looking at me I jerked my chin telling him that I was ready to go.
“Wait, where are you going? We need his help,” Cammie said.
“Sorry, Cam. We got some business to attend to and I still can’t ride.” I rose my broken arm in the air showing her.
“Fine,” she huffed crossing her arms over her chest. She looked adorable pouting, I leant forwards and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“I’m sorting out a future for me, Ash and Lacey,” I whispered in her ear. Her smile almost split her face and she was soon shooing me out of the door.
“Where too, Iron?” Tyler asked as he placed his sunglasses on. It was a chilly day but the sun was bright and low, causing us to have to squint.
“Here,” I handed him the list of addresses I had. “I need to go to all of these places.”
“Ok, let’s go to this one, it’s only five minutes down the road.”
“Are you from here?”
“Yeah, my parents own the Whitsand Bay Hotel.”
“Ah, I’ve heard of it, never been inside though. So, why are you prospecting here?”
“My parents always put me under so much pressure, ‘One day this will all be yours, son’ or ‘Don’t forget to greet the guests, they will be your guests one day’. I never wanted to own a hotel.”
“What did you want to do?” We pulled up in front of a building that looked like it was about to crumble to the ground. “Next,” I said not even bothering to get out of the car.
“I don’t know what I want to do with my life, but I know that I want to have fun and not worry about whether the brass door handles are shined to perfection. I’m only nineteen, you know?”
“Yeah, I hear you.” We sat in silence until we were at the next place, this building was large and from what Prez said it was made up of four apartments. It was overlooking the harbour which was nice and I was sure Lacey would love it, but I wasn’t keen on the fishy smell.
“Let’s head to this one,” I pointed at the piece of paper.
“Saint Germans? It’s only about ten minutes away.” We both climbed back into the car. “It’s a nice place. Has a castle.”
“Great, so tell me more about yourself.”
“Am I under an interrogation or s
omething?”
“Na, man,” I laughed. “Just trying to get to know you.”
“Well, what do you wanna know?”
“You got a bird?”
“No, not anymore,” he sighed. “I loved her, wanted to marry her. I know, everyone says we would have been too young. She had an abortion, man. I begged and pleaded with her to keep our baby, she said she would consider it. I was ready to go and tell my parents that I’d keep my job at the hotel, so I could provide for them. She went off and did it behind my back. I couldn’t handle that sort of betrayal, so I left.”
“Shit, man, that’s some heavy stuff.”
“Yeah.” He got lost in his own head for a minute or two and I just left him to it. I’d have felt the same way as him.
“This one looks good,” I stated as we pulled up outside of a cottage. “I’m gonna have a look inside.”
“I’ll wait here,” he flicked on his hazard lights and I climbed out of the car.
“What a long bloody day.” I complained as I climbed back into the car after looking at the last property on the list that the Prez had given me. “How long we been doing this shit?”
“Only three hours, Iron,” Tyler chuckled as we headed towards Devon, I needed to see my girl. I was pretty sure I had found the perfect place for us to live, but I needed to make sure she liked it and that it would be suitable for Lacey.
After thirty minutes we pulled up outside of her parents’ house, I felt nervous about seeing her again. I didn’t leave in the best way last time, I just hoped that I could convince her to forgive me, after all we were married.
Just as I slammed the car door shut and turned around the front door opened and the guy that had punched me last time stalked down the garden path. I hadn’t even made it through the front gate yet.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he barked.
“I’ve come to see Ashlyn.” I pushed my good hand into my jeans pocket and rocked slightly on my feet.
“I don’t think so, not after the way you left it last time. Besides, she’s not here.”
“Who the hell are you?”
“I’m her brother, the one who rescued her from that sick fucker.” He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at me.
“And I’ll never be able to thank you enough for doing that. She means the world to me.”
“Uncy O.” A little squeal came from over his shoulder. He turned around and picked Lacey up. She was wearing black leggings and a grey jumper, much like what Ashlyn had on the last time that I seen her.
“Mummy’s fwiend,” she smiled, pointing at me.
“Hi, princess,” I smiled at her and was surprised when she launched herself from her uncle’s arms and into mine. The shocked look on my face must have been obvious.
“She’s a very trusting little girl. Much like Ashlyn always was.”
“Drake?” I spun around at the sound of her voice. My body came alive when she was near me and she looked sexy as fuck in her black skinny jeans, long boots, red coat and woolly hat.
“Mummy!” Lacey called out.
“What’s going on?” she asked as she looked between me and her brother.
“I needed to see you.”
“Mummy, need a wee.” Lacey wiggled in my arms and I passed her to Ashlyn.
“I’m sorry, I’ve got to sort her out,” she started to walk away from me.
“Darlin’, please come to the party tonight?” I pleaded. She stopped walking and looked at me over her shoulder.
“I’ll be there,” she waved a bag in my direction and I was pleased to see that it said on it ‘Frankie’s Fancy Dress’.
My heart soared and my body heated, knowing that I was going to be spending the evening with my wife. I would sort all of this mess out, I made a huge mistake walking away from her in the week, all because of my own insecurities.
“Where to?” Tyler asked as I sat back in the seat next to him.
“Clubhouse. We got a party to get ready for,” I chuckled, rubbing my hands together in delight.
Ashlyn
I had just put Lacey to bed and I was now in the bathroom putting the final touches of my make-up on. I was wearing black fish net tights, with long black boots, a red and black striped skirt, black corset and bandana over my long blonde hair. I had black smokey eyes and bright red lipstick.
“Are you sure you should be going?” Owen asked as he leant on the bathroom door frame.
“Yes.” Was all I answered as I ran another coat of mascara over my eyelashes.
“He left you there, Ash. I had to be the one to get you out.” I slammed my hand on the sink before turning around to face him.
“He was left for dead on the side of the road. I had to leave him there, not knowing if he was going to live or die. My husband,” I whisper shouted at him. “No one knew where I was, there were no traces of me, no leads. What did you expect them to do? Just magically appear to save me? It doesn’t work like that.” I pushed past him and checked on Lacey once more. She was fast asleep with her thumb in her mouth and blonde hair spread over the pillow.
“Ash,” My brother sighed from behind me as I grabbed my red coat and slipped it on.
“I love him, Owen. I’m going to him, we’re going to sort this out and be a family, me, him and Lacey.”
I got more and more nervous as I approached the Cornish Crusaders clubhouse. The drive had taken me over an hour and I had almost talked myself in to turning the car around several times. Once the clubhouse was in view I slowed the car down and turned into the clubhouse, I had to wait at the gates to be let in. A prospect approached my car and I wound down my window. He had a clipboard in his hands.
“Name?” he asked like he was bored.
“Ashlyn.”
“Go on in,” he started pulling the gate back and once there was enough room I slowly drove up the small slope and parked my car against the side of the tattoo and piercing shop. I knew that my car wouldn’t get blocked in down here and I’d have a quick escape if I needed it.
I climbed out of my car and locked it, no one was hanging around outside which was unusual, there was always someone outside smoking. When I came face to face with the clubhouse door I took a deep breath and pushed it open. I was met with the smell of booze and fags and the heat was overwhelming. I stripped out of my coat and hung it in the coat cupboard that I knew was there from living here. Hopefully by putting it in there no one would steal it. I was sure that the locals would have been invited tonight too. A patched party was normally a big deal.
I rounded the corner to see that the bar was packed, it was noisy and everyone’s attention was on the dark skinned girl that was prancing around on the stage in just a thong. I glanced around the room looking for Drake, I couldn’t see him but my eyes did fall on Cammie and Mason. She waved at me, I smiled and gave her a little wave, indicating that I was getting a drink from the bar.
As I made my way to the bar a voice stopped me in my tracks.
“Ashlyn?” I turned around to see Cory standing there. He was in a full pirate’s outfit, along with a parrot sitting on his shoulder. His usual Mo hawk hairstyle was covered with a pirate hat.
“Hi, Cory,” I smiled. He bent down and swooped me into his arms, hugging me. I patted his back and pushed him away. Cory was the first guy that I had been with since the first time the Satans had taken me. He was a good guy, soft and gentle. I enjoyed having fun with him, but that’s all that it was. I enjoyed his company, but his kisses never set me on fire, only one person had ever made my body feel like that. My husband.
“How are you? Where have you been?”
“Oh, I just had to go away for a little while…”
“I missed you,” he cut me off, stepping closer to me.
“Cory, I…”
“Hey sweetheart, Iron’s looking for you,” Solar said as his arm fell over my shoulders.
“Iron?” Cory asked.
“Her husband.” There was that voice, the one that sent chill
s down my spine and a deep throbbing a lot further south. I spun around until I was face to face with him.
“Husband?” Cory asked. “Ashlyn, what about us? We were…”
“Having fun with my woman,” Drake growled. I placed my left hand on his chest, trying to calm him down. This was supposed to be a celebration, there would be no fighting.
“Come on, man. Let’s go find some pussy.” Solar said as he led Cory away.
“Hi,” I smiled up at him, stretching up slightly to kiss him, not removing my hand from his chest. His hand gripped the back of my neck as he angled my head to deepen the kiss. My whole body came alive and I wanted to abandon this party and reconnect with him. I pulled back as I felt movement on my hand. I gasped as I looked at my left hand that was still on Drake’s chest. Two beautiful rings had been placed on my ring finger, one solid white gold band and the other had a single stone in the centre.
“What’s this?” I asked, wiggling my fingers against his chest.
“Your engagement and wedding ring. I love you, darlin’.”
“I love you too. Where’s your ring?”
“I don’t need a ring,” he shrugged.
“I want you to have one.”
“Then we’ll get one tomorrow.” He placed another kiss on my lips before pulling back.
“Where’s your costume, Iron?” I smiled at him.
“First, never call me that. I am yours, so always call me Drake. Second, I don’t do fancy dress. Though I’ve got a thing for pirates now. You look sexy as hell.”
“I’m glad you approve. Enjoying your party?”
“I am now that you’re here,” he kissed me again. “Let’s get a drink.” He wound his arm around my waist and introduced me to people as his wife as we made our way to the bar.
“Hi, Ash.” Lottie smiled, she was one of the club bunnies. “What can I get you?”
“Just two bottles of waters for now.” Drake interrupted. I looked at him with my eyebrows raised. “I need you to drive somewhere in a little while.” He waved his arm in my direction showing me that he couldn’t drive. I nodded my head and wondered what all the secrecy was about.
South Coast Brothers: Part One Page 64