He grinned. “You need to hear it, baby? Fine. I was waiting for you…in case you weren’t okay. Now, can we go home?”
“Fine. Get in,” I snapped and unlocked the car. How dare he say and do something sweet and thoughtful while I was trying to be mad at him?
I drove home in silence. When I pulled into the garage and got out of the car, I expected Jonah to do the same, but he didn’t. I called his name twice, but he didn’t answer me, so I walked around to the passenger side and quickly realized he was sound asleep. A small part of me wanted to leave him right where he was, but the larger part of me cared about him and couldn’t do it.
“Jonah,” I called again and gently shook his shoulder. “Jonah, wake up.”
He mumbled something and turned his head away from me. I leaned across him and shook him by both shoulders. “Jonah! Wake up!”
Before I could even blink, he had knocked both of my hands from his body and had his hand around my throat. Just as fast as he’d done it, he released me and raised his hands in the air. “Fuck! I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”
“N-no, you didn’t. I was just trying to wake you up,” I stammered as I backed up and put some distance between us.
He dropped his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “I was in the Marines for a few years and I spent a good bit of time in a combat zone. If you can’t wake me up from the side, it’s better to let me sleep.”
“Okay,” I said softly. “Come on; I’m tired, and obviously, so are you.”
With that, he followed me inside the house and to my bedroom where we both fell face first into the pillows.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Dash
When the phone rang in the middle of the night, I was pissed. It wasn’t because it woke me up since I was already awake thanks to my hungry baby girl. No, it pissed me off because of the look it put on my wife’s face.
“You better get that,” she said quietly. “Something must be wrong.”
I snatched my phone off the nightstand and answered without bothering to look at the caller ID as I stepped out into the hallway. “What?”
“Dash, sorry for calling so late, but I have some bad news,” Judge said without preamble.
“What is it?”
“Your mother was found dead earlier this evening. They think it was a drug overdose.”
“What’s the bad news?” I asked. I didn’t give a shit about my mother anymore. I did, at one time, as all children do, but as I got older, I learned that she didn’t care about anyone other than herself and my hopes and dreams of having a loving mother were nothing but hopes and dreams.
“Well, I guess the bad news is you’ll need to deal with the body and any arrangements since your sister flat out refused to.”
“Shit. How did Rain take the news?” I asked. Even though my sister hated me, I loved her very much—so much that I respected her wishes and stayed away from her even though it killed me to do so.
Judge snorted. “I think she would’ve been more upset if I’d told her she had a flat tire. She didn’t seem to care that your mother was dead, but she was fucking pissed when the officers suggested releasing the body to her. She told them to call you and went back to work.”
Fucking hell. I had more important things going on than dealing with my crackhead mother’s rotting corpse, but if it meant Rain didn’t have to do it, then I would. “Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll take care of everything. Do you think Rain would want a service for her?”
“I think you should try to talk to her yourself, man. I don’t know what went down between you two, but this is something that the two of you should deal with together,” he said.
I sighed knowing he was right. “I know; I was just trying to do what she asked and leave her alone. Listen, I can have Byte get it for me, but it would save me a lot of time and trouble if you’d give me her phone number.”
“As long as you don’t tell her you got it from me,” he said and rattled off the numbers. “She gets off work at seven and usually sleeps until two or three.”
“Thanks, man. I’ll give her a call later this evening.”
I walked back into my bedroom to find my beautiful wife gently placing our sleeping little girl back into her bassinet. “What happened?” she whispered.
I pulled her against me and held her for a few moments before I took her hand in mine and walked us out of the bedroom. “Judge called to tell me my mother died.”
“Oh,” she said and started fidgeting with her hands. “Are you okay?” she asked. I hadn’t shared much about my mother, because there wasn’t much to share. She was basically nonexistent during my childhood and even more so during my teen years.
“I’m fine,” I reassured her. “My mother was not a real mother. Not like Annabelle is to you or like you are to Raven. My mother loved herself and her drugs. She had no intention of ever changing her ways and I’m not sorry or saddened that she’s gone.”
Ember studied me in silence for a few moments before she carefully observed, “But something is bothering you.”
“My sister,” I said and cleared my throat. “She’s been working in Devil Springs for the last few weeks and I—”
“What?” she shrieked. “Why didn’t you tell me? How long have you known?”
“Shh! You’ll wake Raven,” I whisper-yelled causing her to give me squinty eyes. “I’ve known since a week or two after she arrived. I didn’t tell you because a few years ago, she asked me to stay out of her life, and I presumed that request also included my wife.”
“You still could’ve told me. I wouldn’t have gone up there and sought her out,” she insisted.
“You might not have, but I can guaran-damn-tee one of the other Old Ladies would’ve.”
She looked to her feet and rubbed her hands together. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right about that. So, what happens now?”
I reached out and pulled her hands apart, taking each into one of mine. “Right now, we’re going to get you back into bed and get some sleep before my little princess wants to eat again. I’ll make some phone calls in the morning and see what I need to do in regards to her remains. Judge said Rain works the night shift and sleeps until two or three, so I’ll try calling her around five or so.”
“No, you will not. You need to go up there. It will be harder for her to shut you out face to face.”
I shook my head. “I’m not leaving you and Raven to drive to Devil Springs to have a door slammed in my face. She didn’t have a problem telling me to fuck off in person last time.”
“Dash, this is different and you know it. You can drop me and Raven off at Dad’s before you go. Plus, you can check on my brother for me.”
“Okay, baby,” I said and placed a soft kiss on her lips. “We’ll talk more about it in the morning. You need to sleep while you can.”
“I love you, Dash.”
“Love you, too, Ember.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
River
I woke up when my alarm went off at three o’clock. I rolled to my side to find Jonah sound asleep. Quietly climbing out of bed, I tiptoed to the door and made my way to his room so I could shower without waking him. If he’d had as little sleep as he’d said, he needed the rest.
After I showered and dressed, I went out to the kitchen and got a pot of coffee going while I started perusing the fridge and cabinets for something to eat. Once I decided on omelets and pancakes, I went back to his bathroom to blow dry my hair and put on a little makeup.
I had just started on the second omelet when someone rang the doorbell. I moved the pan off the burner and quickly ran for the door before whoever it was rang it again and woke Jonah. Without even thinking about looking, I yanked the door open to find a man I most certainly did not want to see standing on Jonah’s front porch.
Before I could slam the door in his face, Jonah appeared beside me and extended his hand. “Dash, good to see you, brother. Come on in.”
Jonah strategically moved me to the side w
ithout me even realizing what he was doing until it was too late. My brother was suddenly inside my space and being friendly with my man and I couldn’t take it.
“Get out,” I said in a low and even tone.
Reed’s eyes widened, but Jonah stepped in front of me and cupped my cheeks in his hands. “You need to talk to him. Your brother is not a bad man. He wouldn’t be in the club if he was. He came here to see you; the least you could do is hear what he has to say.”
“Did you know he was coming?”
Jonah shook his head. “No, I didn’t. I never would’ve sprung something like this on you.”
I nodded and took a moment to think about what I wanted to do. Well, I knew what I wanted—to kick Reed out and devour the scrumptious breakfast I was cooking. But, what I wanted to do and what I should do were likely not one and the same.
“Okay. Let me finish cooking and I’ll hear what he has to say while I’m eating. If he starts talking while I’m hangry, things won’t end well for anyone in this house.”
“All right, lil’ ninja. Get back to cooking so we can keep your monster under control,” he said and placed a soft kiss on my lips.
With that, I returned to the kitchen while Jonah went into the living room with my brother. Instead of trying to figure out why Reed had shown up or what he could possibly want to discuss with me, I focused on the food. In fact, I was so focused on it I didn’t realize I’d made five omelets and twenty-three pancakes until Jonah stopped me from mixing up more batter. “That’s more than enough, baby. Go sit down and I’ll bring yours to you.”
I picked up my cup of coffee and took a seat at the kitchen table. A few minutes later, Jonah placed my food in front of me and returned with two more plates of food just as my brother took a seat across from me.
An awkward and uncomfortable silence surrounded us, so I began shoveling food into my mouth, not even bothering to chew it before I swallowed and shoved in another forkful.
“All right, I’ve had enough of this shit. Y’all have some things to discuss. You want me to stay or go?” Jonah asked.
To my absolute horror, Reed and I both shrugged and said, “Meh, whatever.”
Jonah snorted. “In that case, I guess I’ll stay.”
A part of me didn’t want him to stay and hear the humiliating details of my past, but another part of me wanted him to hear just how much of an asshole his beloved club brother really was. And that part was what encouraged me to get the ball rolling.
“So, what brings you to Devil Springs, brother dearest?” I asked in a chipper tone that was clearly fake.
“Our dead mother,” Reed deadpanned.
“I see. And what exactly does that have to do with me?”
He sighed and sat back in his chair. “Do you want to have a service?”
My fork dropped to my plate with a loud clank. “You can’t be serious.” When his only response was to blink at me, I continued, “No, I don’t want to have a service for her. I don’t want to have anything to do with her or whatever is left of her.”
“So, you don’t care what I do with her?” Reed asked.
“You could let her rot in a potter’s field for all I care.”
“If that’s how you feel, why didn’t you arrange for that to happen?” he asked.
“Because I truly don’t care—dump her in a field, burn her, bury her—it doesn’t matter to me whatsoever. This is no different to me than a complete stranger passing away. If that’s the reason you came, you could’ve saved yourself a lot of time and called or asked Jonah,” I told him.
“It’s not the only reason I came, Rain.”
“River. My name is River,” I snapped.
“Sorry, the last time you spoke to me you went by Rain,” he snapped back.
“Actually, the last time I spoke to you I went by River; I just didn’t give you a chance to use it.”
“Fine, sibling, I also came to make sure you were okay.”
I couldn’t even begin to hide the look of utter shock on my face. “Why do you care?”
“I’ve always cared. Our mother died, and regardless of how you feel about me, I wanted to see for myself that you were okay,” he said.
“Seriously, Reed? You’ve always cared? What kind of bullshit is that?” I yelled and pushed back from the table to stand.
“It’s not bullshit, Ra—River!” he yelled back and got to his feet.
“Enough!” Jonah roared and slammed his hand down on the table. “Both of you sit down and shut up.” I immediately shut my mouth and dropped into my seat. Surprisingly, Reed did the same. “River, why are you mad at your brother?”
I turned my head toward Jonah and pinned him with my best death glare. “He knows why.”
“I didn’t ask if he knew why. I asked why you’re mad at your brother. Answer the question,” Jonah demanded.
I crossed my arms over my chest and fumed. “Because he paid our mother to humiliate me and make my life a living hell.”
“What in the hell are you talking about?” Reed asked, seeming to be genuinely confused, but I didn’t buy it.
“After I found out you paid Spring to have sex with my boyfriend, I started digging through her stuff and found letters from you telling her to make sure I never found out or you’d stop paying her,” I blurted.
Reed’s eyes grew comically wide and he started shaking his head. “That’s not at all what happened. I paid her to make sure you were taken care of. I sent money for clothes, shoes, food, school stuff, spending money, or whatever you needed. I did send extra money that was specifically for her to use, but I told her to make sure you never found out. I didn’t want you to know that I was supporting her drug habit, but I knew she would take the money meant for you if I didn’t. As for the boyfriend, I don’t know anything about that. I didn’t even know you had a boyfriend.”
My mouth dropped open as I stared at my brother. At one time, I loved him more than any other person in the world. He was always there for me, especially on the nights when Spring was out doing who knows what and left us home alone. He would let me sleep in his bed when I was scared. He made sure I had food to eat and clean clothes to wear. In a way, he raised us both. But then he left and everything changed.
“Think about it, Raindrop, I would never do any of the things you said. You know that. Spring was a master-manipulator and only cared about herself. She probably tried running you off so she could keep all the money I was sending for herself.”
“Why didn’t you write me or call me? You left and never came back. What was I supposed to think?” I asked and bit down on the inside of my cheek in a weak attempt to keep the tears at bay.
“I did write you. Every time I sent a letter to Spring, I sent one to you. You didn’t get any of them?”
I shook my head. “Not a single one.”
He sighed. “I couldn’t call because you didn’t have a phone. I paid all the bills for the utilities directly to the company, but I couldn’t arrange for a landline to be installed without Spring’s consent, which she refused to give. I didn’t get many letters from her, but she always said you were doing well. One time, I asked why you never wrote to me and she said you were too busy studying and working hard to get a college scholarship. She said it was easier for her to update me on what was going on with you. I guess I fell for her lies, too.”
“Why didn’t you tell me all of this when you found me a few years ago?” I asked.
“Because you didn’t give me a chance before you told me to stay away. I didn’t know why, but you were so adamant about it and even threatened me with a restraining order. I figured you had your reasons and would eventually change your mind, but that never happened.”
I wasn’t sure what to say or do next. I really wanted to believe him, but I was afraid to. What if he was the master-manipulator? What if he was just trying to hurt me?
“Spring said you hated me because I was the reason our dad left,” I whispered.
“That fucking cunt!”
Reed swore. “I don’t have any memories of the man she claimed was our father, so how could I hate you for something I don’t even remember?”
I sucked in a breath hoping to calm myself, but it had the opposite effect and a sob burst from me before I could choke it back. I covered my face with my hands and then I was wrapped up in familiar arms.
“It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”
“I’m sorry,” I cried.
“Nothing to be sorry for. Just know, I will always love you, Raindrop,” my big brother said and kissed the top of my head.
“I love you, too, Reed.”
When I managed to get my emotions under control, I stepped back and looked around the room. “Where’s Jonah?”
“He left the room a while ago,” Reed said. “Judge! You can come back now!”
Jonah entered the room and looked between the two of us. “Y’all get things worked out?”
I nodded and Reed put his arm around my shoulders. “We did,” he said and I could hear the smile in his voice.
Jonah smiled widely. “Good. Now, let’s eat.”
Reed stayed until it was time for me to leave for my shift at the hospital. He said he would take care of everything regarding Spring and asked Jonah and I to come visit him and his family in Croftridge over the weekend.
“I would love to,” I exclaimed excitedly.
Jonah cleared his throat and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Sorry, I already made plans for us this weekend. Maybe the next weekend that you’re off?”
“Just let me know when you guys are coming,” Reed said. “If we’re not at home, we’re at Phoenix’s house. Raven is still too small to really go anywhere else.”
“I typically work every other weekend, so maybe weekend after next?” I suggested.
“Sounds good. I better get going. Don’t want you to be late for work,” he said and headed for the door.
We hugged again before he climbed on his bike and rode off. I stood on the porch looking in the direction he’d gone until I could no longer hear his pipes. Sighing, I went back inside and got ready for work. Who would’ve thought my mother’s death would be the thing to reunite my brother and me?
Judge (Blackwings MC - Devil Springs Book 2) Page 13