“Your woman went down to the station to wait for Brooks to get his ass there,” Digger said from where he stood at the bar.
All eyes turned to Brooks. Horror dropping into his face, he shook his head. “I’ve not seen Roxanne,” he managed.
A thoughtful expression crossed Outlaw’s features. “Bailey, you ever hear of a motherfucker name Joyner Amfinger?” he asked.
“How do you know that evil fuckhole?” Alexia demanded.
Staring at Outlaw, Bailey nodded, unease creeping into her face, while Knox’s stomach sank.
“Joyner Amfinger is Creighton’s minion,” she answered in a faint voice. “He does anything and everything Duke’s father tells him to do.” She swallowed. “Why?”
Knox staggered back, the horror overcoming him almost knocking him off his feet.
“Amfinger got a fuckin’ record?” Outlaw pressed.
“Cretin’s a lawyer,” Pearllene called. “And connections. All anybody would ever see in public records is his ass being a gun dealer or some shit.”
Carissa snorted. “Amfinger wish he had the balls or the brains to do shit like that. It’s Creighton. All Creighton.”
“Call that motherfucker cretin like the goddamn heathen he is,” Pearllene demanded. “He met a Jessica Rabbit-looking heifer at one of the strip clubs he owns. Which, by the way, is also the basis for his drug operation.”
“Roxanne knew what Creighton was up to?” Johnnie demanded.
“Yeah. I found the evidence in her house,” Pearllene answered. “She never told me. In all the years since her divorce, she never once mentioned it. I think she thought if she just pushed it away, it would go away. But diseased-brain motherfuckers keep turning up. Creighton not going nowhere.”
“Oh, yeah, the fuck he is,” Outlaw declared. “As soon as I get my fuckin’ hands on him, him, Amfinger, and the fuckin’ guns gonna be blown the fuck up.”
“No!” Knox said. “We can’t kill them. Let the law take care of them.”
“For fuckin’ real, assfuck?” Outlaw demanded. “If you get to the motherfucker before my ass, have him arrested. Otherwise, fuck you. We gotta figure where the fuck Roxanne at. What happen to Aintfinger and Cretin can be fuckin’ debated later. Stretch, get a bead on Amfinger phone. If we find him, we find her.”
Knox debated on whether or not to do it his way or Outlaw’s way. Then, Knox remembered Outlaw was part of Roxanne’s close-knit family, which meant Knox was to. Therefore, he’d stick with them and hope when the time came for retribution he’d be able to look the other way.
Tied to a chair with a gag in her mouth, Roxy glared as Joyner circled her. The tight clothes he wore and the highness of his hair made him look like a caricature of a man. Except he was more than fucking real.
“Would you like to hear how Knox’s ex-wife pleaded for her life? Begged me not to kill her.” Joyner laughed as tears began to stream down Roxy’s face. “Don’t know why I did it?” He shrugged. “Oh, that’s right. Lassoing Knox in was taking too long and it annoyed me. I’d been holed up in a shitty little town, with a warehouse full of guns, expecting the job to be easy. I never expected that biker, Outlaw, to be so suspicious.”
Stopping in front of Roxanne, he thumped her forehead so hard that her neck snapped back. Trying to speak but failing, Roxy kicked his shin.
Joyner groaned and slapped her cheek. “Don’t test me, woman! I still haven’t gotten back home to my women. I’ve been stuck at this motel with suitcases filled with money, waiting for a chance to get Knox. We finally decided to put our plans into motion tonight, when your daughters told your son they were heading this way for wedding celebrations. Tomorrow, would’ve been your turn. Then, you ended up in a limo by yourself and we expedited the plan.” He smiled. “And here we are.”
She was dizzy and cut-up. The white dress she intended to preserve for prosperity as part of her wedding ensemble, was torn and stained with blood—hers and the limo driver’s.
A knock came on the door. Rubbing his hands together, Joyner grinned at her, then went to the door and looked through the peephole.
“Our guests have arrived,” he announced, unlocking the door and opening it.
Of all the people she expected to see, Creighton and Duke would’ve been the last two she’d guessed. Her son had gotten taller since the last time she’d seen him. But seeing her boy with two of the vilest men she’d ever known sent tears to her eyes. Being with them meant he was against her.
“I have a fine son,” Creighton announced, smiling.
At one time, she thought he’d been so handsome when he strolled into the office where she’d worked part-time as a receptionist. Within weeks of meeting, he’d proposed to her. A year later they’d married, and ten months after that Duke was born.
“Pity you’re his mother,” Creighton finished, glaring at her. Coming closer, he slapped her across the face.
For a moment, Roxy thought she saw anger flash across Duke’s face, but it must’ve been a trick of her wooziness and pain.
“What kind of a stupid bitch are you?” Creighton demanded. “Leaving evidence of my dealings in your house where your low-class, miserable daughters could find them and tell my son.” He straightened to his full height, then sidled a glare at Duke. “Who then took it upon himself to confront me?”
“You tried to have MeMe killed, Dad!” Duke said. “That’s why I confronted you.”
Unable to talk, Roxy grunted through her gag, shocked at the news.
“There were two bikers who saved her. Mortician and another dude,” Duke said.
“And made two of my men disappear,” Creighton said. He walked to Duke and turned so they faced each other. The same type of blow he gave to Roxy, he hit Duke with.
Roxy kicked her legs, trying to get words out, while Duke grabbed his jaw.
“Because of you, I’ve been living a nervous existence for months,” Creighton continued, pacing in front of Roxanne. “So Amfinger and I devised a little plan. Frame Knox Harrington. Humiliate him. Maybe, find a few bogus charges to add in if I found the right prosecutor. His life ruined. Your life ruined. Yet knowing you still had information that could destroy me didn’t sit right. I realized I had to neutralize the threat. Get rid of you, and that old biddy you call a mother wouldn’t last long after your death. Or, if she lingered for more than a week or two, take care of her as well. I have special plans for Alexia and Carissa. Bailey, though, will present a problem because of her husband.”
Through her haze, Roxy thought she heard the rumble of motorcycles. Again, it must’ve been merely her imagination. The guys couldn’t rescue her because they wouldn’t be able to find her. Her purse with the tracking device and her phone with the tracking app were gone.
Blearily, she watched Joyner hand Creighton a gun. He aimed it at her head.
“Dad!” Duke cried, situating himself in front of Roxy. “I can’t allow you to kill my mama. I’ve done everything you told me to do! Let her live for me.”
A moment of silence before the report of a gun. Duke crumpled to the floor.
Tears rushing to her eyes, Roxy screamed, the sound muted because of the material in her mouth.
Creighton raised the gun again. Before he fired, the door was kicked in. Outlaw shot the gun out of Creighton’s hand, while Mortician fired on Joyner, blowing one side of his face away.
Val, Johnnie, and Digger parted ways to allow Knox to rush through. He slid to a halt at first glance of her, the hand holding the gun slackening at his side. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. She felt bloody, beaten, and swollen. If she saw herself, she’d probably stare like that, too.
“Roxy, baby,” Knox cried, “who did this to you?”
“Duke, you little motherfucker,” Mortician yelled.
Knox pulled the gag from Roxy’s mouth.
“Don’t hurt him,” she screamed. “Creighton shot him. Duke was trying to protect me!”
“Protect you from being shot?” Knox asked in a s
trangely calm voice.
“Yes!”
He stared at her, then focused on Creighton. “You were going to kill her?”
“Not going to,” Creighton snarled. “I will. I’m going to dance in her blood.”
“No, the fuck you not, son,” Mortician growled, going for his gun again.
Knox still held the weapon. Before Mortician drew, Knox aimed at Creighton’s head and opened fire.
He stood still and silent for a long moment, then clenched his jaw, shoved the gun into his waistband, and rushed to Roxy. Once he freed her, he lifted her into his arms and carried her away. Still not speaking a word.
Chapter Sixty-One
He’d gotten very little rest because, after finding Roxanne at seven in the morning, he’d taken her to the hospital, while the guys got Duke there. While Knox was happy all of this had taken place on the outskirts of Hortensia, where the club had pull, that didn’t help timewise.
Duke had been shot in the side. Emergency surgery had removed the bullet. Once Roxanne was seen to and released, she rushed up to her son’s room in ICU. By then, it was noon, with their wedding taking place in five hours.
Knox was happy to see them makeup. Duke’s treatment of her had been weighing on her for months. To think, it had all been orchestrated by his father. This crusade had begun before Roxanne’s cancer. Creighton thought she’d succumb to the disease, so he’d backed off. Instead, she’d survived and then met Knox.
Duke was too afraid to go to his grandmother, sisters, or mother, so he went along with Creighton’s schemes, convinced his father had so much power that he’d destroy anyone Duke confided in. Creighton also swore to Duke if it came to that type of destruction, he’d tie the boy up and make him watch as Creighton murdered Roxanne.
Knox hadn’t intended to kill the man. Outlaw had surprised Knox and said he’d leave all motherfuckers alive, until they heard them out, because he had a debt to pay because his newest child and his wife were both alive.
At first, Knox hadn’t known why Mortician had killed Joyner. Later, he’d discovered the asshole had pulled a weapon out. Seeing it, Mortician fired.
Discovering Joyner had murdered Callie made Knox wish Mortician had taken that bastard to the meatshack and tortured him for a while.
Outlaw recovered the club’s money and now had possession of the cash he’d paid for the guns and the weapons themselves. The fire department had extinguished the blaze before it grew too out-of-control. Along with the limousine—and the body inside—an abandoned cabin had burned along with fifty acres of forest.
Given all that had happened, Knox thought the wedding would be postpone two or three days. Instead, the start time had been pushed from five in the afternoon to eight in the evening. His mother’s private secretary had contacted all the guests to inform them of the changed time.
Somehow, it had all worked out. Except he hadn’t slept in over a day. Neither had Roxanne. On top of that, she’d been injured.
“Well, Mr. Harrington, you look the worse for wear,” Father Wilkins remarked as the bridal party marched down the aisle. He looked ridiculous wearing a cut over his priestly garb, but Knox kept his opinion to himself.
“C’mon, bruh,” Digger said to the priest. “Don’t start this. This a high-class function. Even Knox momma decided to come. If she can behave, you can.”
“Lest I remind you, you’re in my church.”
Mortician glowered at him. “Lest I remind you, you got a lot of cash from my wife. Not a motherfucker alive more larcenous than you.”
“It is not larceny, Mortician,” Father Wilkins said. “It’s looking out for one’s self.”
“Well, when one’s self finds one dead don’t be fucking surprised,” Mortician retorted.
Father Wilkins looked at Mortician over the top of his glasses, but snapped his mouth shut.
Five minutes later, the wedding march began and the guests got to their feet. Mortician beamed as Johnnie marched Bailey down the aisle. Unable to wait, he met them halfway and transferred Bailey’s hand from Johnnie’s arm to his own, walking her to the altar.
Roxanne appeared, holding onto Outlaw as she limped down the aisle, banged and bruised but gorgeous and alive.
Outlaw stopped at the edge of the altar and lifted a brow at Father Wilkins.
“This where you say who the fuck give this woman,” Outlaw said.
“She been given too many times for that bullshit, Outlaw,” Pearllene called from the audience.
“Ain’t movin’ until this motherfucker say it,” Outlaw said stubbornly.
“This is ridiculous,” Knox said, annoyed. He glared at the priest. “Would you just say it so the wedding can commence?”
“My dear friends and family,” his mother began, suddenly standing from her seat. “Please don’t let these people be a reflection of me and my Hal. My Knox might be a lost cause—”
“Really, Mother?” Knox called, glaring at the back of her head.
“Sit down, Joan,” his father said around a cough.
“Here, take her, Knox,” Outlaw called. “The lil’ motherfucker said it while your ma was actin’ just as bad as us.”
Kissing Roxanne’s hand, Knox guided her to the altar. When the priest got to their vows, Roxanne halted the ceremony, stood and summoned Grant, who’d been sitting in the row with Meggie, Outlaw, and most of their children. Rebel, CJ, and Diesel had been members of the wedding party.
“Yes, ma’am?” Grant said when he walked up to Roxy.
“Come here, sugar,” she said, guiding Grant to stand next to Knox. “I don’t ever intend to take the place of your mama,” she started, “but I want you to know the ring your Daddy is putting on my finger means the three of us are family. You can come to me with anything, at any time, and I’ll be right there for you. I will love and cherish you as if you were my own son and help you to keep your mama’s memory alive.”
A tear slid down Grant’s cheek, and he nodded, sniffling. Roxanne swiped it away, then kissed the top of his head. “Stand next to your Uncle Cam while me and your daddy finish our vows.”
He started to follow her directions, then stopped and hugged her. “I love you, Roxy.”
“And I love you, Grant,” she whispered back.
“I love both of you,” Knox said gruffly. He looked at the priest. “Bind me to the woman, man, because this is the beginning of the rest of my life.”
Epilogue
One Month Later…
Wearing thigh high boots to protect her skin from the hot pipes and exposed metal of Knox’s new, custom-made motorcycle, Roxy wore a short, leather skirt. She held onto Knox as he leaned into a curve in the road with ease. It had been a hard-won victory to get her interfering-ass son-in-law off her back, so she could hop on the back of Knox’s bike. For a solid week, Mortician demanded Knox ride with a passenger wherever he went.
Although it annoyed Knox, he understood Mortician’s concern. Instead of arguing, Knox complied.
He pulled into a clearing and rode behind a copse of trees.
Pushing the kickstand down and planting his booted feet firmly on the ground, Knox killed the engine, removed his helmet, and hung it on one of the two hooks, that he paid to have installed on each side of the handlebars. The boys refused to disgrace a bike in such a manner, and Knox insisted on the convenience of the hooks.
Without prompting from him, Roxy got to her feet, removed her own helmet, and hung it on the other hook, then she turned to him and met his gaze.
She smiled. “Mr. Harrington,” she murmured.
Grinning, Knox raised her left hand to his lips and kissed her ring finger. “Mrs. Harrington.”
Her pink princess cut diamond on the engagement ring Knox had bought specifically for her sparkled, seeming to reflect how she felt and what her life had become—a warm, bright place gleaming with love and laughter. She and her son had made up. She had a child in her life again that she was partly responsible for. Bailey would give her another grandch
ild soon. Harley and Lou were two of the most beautiful kids in the world. Her mother and Hamish were still going strong, and Carissa and Alexia were now both in relationships.
Outlaw, Meggie, and their kids were once again the rollicking bunch that brought joy to her heart. Johnnie and Kendall both had a long road ahead of them, but they were working on themselves individually, as parents, and as a couple. Bunny and Ophelia were both pregnant again. Val had brought a pot-bellied pig home and, somehow, got Zoann to agree to keep it as a pet. Diesel had gone off to college, while Cam and Jordan were also increasing their family by adopting newborn twins.
Knox placed his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. “The guys told me there’s nothing in the world like bike sex.”
Roxy brushed his lips with her own, then slipped her tongue into his mouth to deepen it. She didn’t want to answer that.
Besides, he was right. The naughty thought made her giggle.
“You have the most joyous laughter, Roxanne,” he told her, sliding backward to give her room to climb in front of him.
She settled her legs on each side of Knox and leaned back against the handlebars. “Thank you. Guess what I don’t have?”
Knox lifted a brow. “What might that be?”
“Panties on,” she cooed, sliding her skirt up partially.
“Fuck! For real?”
She blinked at how like Outlaw Knox sounded, and burst into laughter.
“What can I say? The man grows on you,” he said, knowing what she found so funny without her saying it.”
“I told you those boys were good people.”
“They are, and I’m lucky to know them.” He snapped his finger as if a thought had just occurred to him. “That reminds me. I have something to show you.”
He removed a sheet of paper from the inside of his leather jacket pocket, then held it out to her. When Roxy opened it, she saw measurements for a plot of land.
“What’s this?”
“The acreage I purchased from the club to build our house on. It’s at a diagonal from Bailey and Mortician.”
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