Thrill Seeker (Kings of Vengeance MC Book 5)

by Winter Travers

  “Where’s everyone else?” Zephyr asked.

  Kimber bounced Gunner in her arms. “Fancy had to work, so Dyno and Rhino are with her. Core and Quinn were checking out a few leads they got.”

  “And we decided to come to the pumpkin patch because Gunner needs his first pumpkin for Halloween.” Queenie smiled. “Though I don’t think we want one that big.” Her eyes bugged out at the size of the pumpkin behind us. “I swear that’s what Cinderella’s carriage looked like after her carriage turned into a pumpkin.”

  That was probably the analogy I should have used. “Yeah. And I don’t think you want to pay the price for that either.” I had overheard Hank telling one of the customers it was worth well over a thousand dollars. I wasn’t about to pay that much for something that was just going to rot in a couple of weeks. “Over a grand.”

  Queenie cringed. “Jesus,” she muttered. “And you can’t even make pie out of it.”

  Kimber laughed. “Though we know you would try.”

  “Then, let’s get on that hayride and go.” Sledge grabbed Gunner from Kimber. “Gimme my kid, woman. Swear to God, you hold him more than I do.” Gunner went willingly to Sledge with a huge grin.

  Kimber shrugged. “I’m just practicing.”

  Petra’s jaw dropped, and Queenie clutched a hand to her chest.

  “Hold up,” Zephyr called. “What the hell do you mean you’re practicing?”

  Kimber popped the gum in her mouth and smiled. “Nothing, you fools. You really think I’d tell you I’m pregnant like that?”

  Petra sighed.

  “Fucking hell, woman,” Queenie mumbled.

  “Because I would!” Kimber jumped back and held her hands in the air. “I’m pregnant!”

  “Kimber!” Petra screamed. “We got drunk the other night!” She slapped her hand over her mouth. “Oh my god!”

  “The other two nights!” Queenie yelled.

  Petra and Queenie were on the edge of a mental breakdown.

  “You guys got drunk two nights, I only got drunk the first one. I figured out the next day I was pregnant when Quinn hauled my ass to the emergency room.”

  “What?!” Queenie shouted.

  This was all very interesting. Kimber hadn’t hinted at all that she was pregnant. Damn.

  Kimber screwed her finger in her ear. “You think you could stop yelling?” She dropped her finger and cradled her stomach. “My baby is gonna think you’re evil aunt Queenie and Petra before he even busts out of me.”

  Queenie rolled her eyes. “Your visual of him busting out of you is a bit too much for me.”

  “But I saw you drinking when we were making spaghetti,” Petra insisted. She propped her hands on her hips and wagged her finger at Kimber. “You shouldn’t be drinking.”

  Kimber rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You saw me take one sip. Quinn and Fancy drank the rest when you guys weren’t looking.” Kimber shrugged. “And, well, the night I was telling Dad jokes is a different story. I’m trying not to freak out thinking I broke my baby because I was a drunk idiot.”

  Queenie draped her arm over Kimber’s shoulders. “I’m sure the baby is fine and I know you didn’t mess him up.”

  “Am I the only one thinking about this kid who is going to have Kimber and Quinn as their parents?” Zephyr laughed. “Kid is either going to be stoic as hell or a fucking ball of energy.”

  Kimber smiled and laid her head on Queenie’s shoulder. “I know it’s great, right?”

  Petra put her arm through Queenie’s and Queenie hooked her arm through Kimber’s. “We need all the details,” Queenie demanded. The three took off toward the hayride arm in arm,

  “Well, that was a surprise,” I laughed.

  Point shook his head. “Pretty sure you could have knocked all of us over with a feather.”

  That was for damn sure. How she had managed to keep the secret she was pregnant was beyond me. It seemed Kimber couldn’t keep anything in and always just blurted out what was on her mind.

  “Deedra!” Kimber called. “You coming?”

  I pointed a finger to my chest. “Uh, me?”

  Kimber rolled her eyes. “Pretty sure you’re a member of the Book Club. Get your ass over here, so I don’t have to repeat myself later.”

  I looked up at Point. “Uh, I gotta go. My friends need me.”

  Point laughed. “Feels good to say that, huh?”

  I nodded and reached up on my tiptoes. “It sure does. Now I know what you mean when you say the Kings are your family.” I pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “I’ll tell you everything later.”

  I darted off to catch up with the girls and hooked my arm through Queenie’s, then glanced back at Point and couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

  Leaving that man three years ago was the best thing I ever did. If I hadn’t, I would have never found the family I had now.

  *

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  They’re back…

  Point

  “You’re fucking kidding me.” I slouched back in my chair. “I thought we were done with those fuckfaces.”

  Quinn shook his head. “Seems to me they aren’t happy with the way things went down with the Royal Bastards, and now, they are back to fucking with us.”

  “They were the ones who made all of the fucking conditions!” Sledge shouted.

  The Devil’s Rebels were moving in on Whitmore. They were the ones looking to take over where the Clarks had left.

  “These guys are like a fucking cancer that keeps coming back,” Zephyr grunted.

  “But why did they kill Joseph?” I asked.

  “Just like we assumed. The kid started working for the Rebels, but he stuck his nose into shit he shouldn’t have.” Quinn sat back and sighed. “Menace didn’t have a problem letting me know the kid needed to die, and if anyone else decides to get in their way, they’ll meet the same end.”

  “Fuck,” Core whispered.

  I was slightly relieved knowing Deedra wasn’t their target, but I also knew our plans of stomping out the trash in Whitmore was going to be a hell of a lot harder. “So, what do we do now?” I asked.

  “Is Whitmore ours?” Quinn asked.

  A chorus of yays and yes went up.

  “Then, we take out the fucking trash and take it back.”

  *

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Prison or preschool?

  Deedra

  “I’ve never met someone who was in prison.” Petra grabbed a bottle of soda and dumped it into the punch bowl.

  I grabbed a balloon and stretched it. “I’m sure you have. You just probably didn’t know it. My old station manager was an ex-con.”

  “Shut up,” Petra gasped. “How did you know?”

  I laughed. “Because he told us.”

  “How weird is it that only Quinn and Dyno have met Brick before, but we’re all gonna be standing here like strangers cheering that he’s out of jail?” Queenie asked. “He goes from a jail cell to a room full of us yahoos.”

  “Sometimes I’d rather the jail cell,” Sledge called.

  “I can make that happen for you, honey,” Queenie called. “Just say the word. If you’d rather sleep with Bubba than me, you can have at it.”

  “If it would mean I’d get to sleep for longer than four hours, it might be worth it,” Sledge countered.

  Queenie paused and tapped her chin. “You know, maybe we could be a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde. Do a couple of crimes and then sit in prison for a bit. I would kill to catch up on my sleep.”

  Sledge held up his thumb. “Sounds like a good plan. We’ll start on Monday. We should be in prison by Friday.”

  Kimber groaned and rubbed her stomach. “I shouldn’t have eaten that pepperoni. I’ve got such bad heartburn.”

  Fancy laughed and handed her a glass of water. “Drink that, and I’ll see what I got for the heartburn.”

  Kimber grabbed the glass. “You’re a doll.”

  Fancy wagged her finger at he
r. “Doing it to see if I can get that baby named after me, and also, so you treat me the same when Dyno knocks me up.”

  “What?” Dyno called. “What the hell did you say, woman?”

  “Nothing,” Fancy sang out. She lowered her voice. “Dyno is absolutely terrified that I’m going to get pregnant now that Kimber is.”

  “Uh,” Petra drawled. “He does know it’s not contagious, right? It doesn’t work that way.”

  Fancy threw up her hands. “I tried to tell the man that, but he’s convinced we're all gonna wind up pregnant now.”

  I cringed. “Uh, I do not want that, either. At least, not right now.” I just got Point back. I wanted to enjoy him for a bit before I had to share him.

  “Shouldn’t Quinn be back by now?” Core asked.

  Kimber pulled out her phone. “He’s twenty-five minutes away.”

  “Are you tracking Quinn?” Fancy laughed.

  Kimber shrugged. “He does the same to me. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, if you ask me.”

  Dyno walked out of the laundry room with a case of water. “I remember that argument. Quinn was ready to tape his phone to a random truck just to get rid of the damn thing.”

  Kimber smirked. “That’s because he was the one to bring up using the tracking app with me. He didn’t like it very much after he realized he had to be tracked too if he wanted me to be.”

  “Really?” Petra asked.

  Kimber clenched her lips shut and shook her head. She leaned forward and whispered, “No, but I paid the sales clerk at the phone store fifty bucks to tell him that.”

  All the girls burst out laughing, and Fancy high-fived Kimber.

  “What’s so funny?” Dyno called.

  “I was just telling them I almost peed myself the other day,” Kimber lied.

  “Jesus Christ,” Dyno mumbled. “Forget I even asked.”

  Rhino and Sledge worked on filling the coolers with beer and water while the rest of us hung balloons and streamers. When all the decorations were up, we took a step back and looked at our handy work.

  “So, is Brick getting out of prison or graduating from pre-school?” I asked.

  “Uh, well. You know, a little color never hurt anyone,” Kimber reasoned.

  “I think it’s pretty fitting. This way, he sees just what he’s getting himself into as soon as he walks in the door.” Zephyr motioned to the room. “Fucking crazy.”

  “Uh, are we in the right place?”

  I glanced over my shoulder and found two women I had never seen before. Maybe these were the club whores like they had in Sons of Anarchy.

  “Hey!” Queenie called. “I’m so glad you guys could make it.”

  The woman with a bottle of booze in her hand shrugged. “Every now and then, they let me out of the office.”

  “And I figured you could use a bartender,” the other one shrugged.

  “Oh, please,” Queenie laughed. “As if I invited you to work, Robyn.”

  “Lynn told me that, too, but I always seem to get stuck slinging drinks at parties.”

  Robyn and Lynn did not seem to be like club whores.

  Interesting.

  “I think you know everyone but Deedra. She’s new to the group.” Queenie turned to me. “This is Point’s wife.”

  “Oh,” Lynn gasped.

  Queenie laughed. “It’s a long story. They’ve been married for five years.”

  Robyn reached her hand to me. “It’s nice to meet you. I work at a bar downtown. That’s how Queenie and I met.” She tipped her head to the side. “And I know it sounds weird, but you look so familiar.”

  I laughed and shook her hand. “Uh, you probably know me from the news.”

  Robyn quirked her eyebrow.

  “Oh, no! Not anything bad like I was the news.” Well, I had sort of been the news with Joseph’s murder, but I was never mentioned more than as one of the witnesses. “I’m a reporter. Deedra Martin.”

  “Schmid!” Point called.

  I rolled my eyes. “It’s Schmid again. That goes in with the long story about Point and me.”

  Lynn waved at me. “I’m Lynn. I came into the group through Queenie, too. I worked with her sister before she passed away. I’m a therapist.”

  Oh. Now things were starting to make sense.

  “It’s nice to meet you.” I swept my arm around the room. “Welcome to the party.”

  “Uh, I brought a bottle of booze, but it looks more like a kid’s birthday party.” Lynn held up the bottle of whiskey. “I feel like I maybe should have brought juice boxes.”

  Queenie leaned in and whispered, “Kimber is pregnant, and she’s channeling her mommy vibes a little early. Just go with it. We promise the booze will be flowing.”

  Lynn laughed. “Perfect. I need to unwind.”

  “They’re coming!” Kimber called. She squinted at her phone. “They’re turning into the driveway, right…now!”

  “I still can’t believe Quinn lets her track his ass. I’m pretty sure Sledge would throw my phone out the window and not think twice about it.”

  The front door opened and Quinn walked in. “What in the fuck?” He curled his lip and shook his head.

  The decorations weren’t bad, but they also weren’t fit for someone who just got out of prison. They didn’t have a prison release section at the party store.

  A guy walked in behind Quinn and halted in his tracks. “You guys an MC or run a daycare?”

  Quinn moved to close the door. “Somedays, I’m not sure,” he grunted.

  “Welcome home!” Kimber and Fancy shouted.

  Kimber tossed a handful of confetti into the air, and Fancy oohed and ahhed.

  “You guys sure do know how to throw a banger,” Brick laughed. Well, I assumed he was Brick.

  He wore a plain white t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and black boots. His head was shaved short, and his arms were covered with tattoos.

  Forgive me for saying, but the man was model-worthy.

  I think Lynn and Robyn agreed. They both whispered to each other while their eyes raked over Brick.

  “You think his name is Brick because he’s built like a brick shithouse?” Queenie whispered to me.

  I nodded dumbly. “Totally.”

  Queenie folded her arms over her chest. “I love it when the road names are obvious.”

  “Like Point’s?” I laughed. “He told me when he was younger, he used to ramble all the time, and everyone told him to get to the point. They started calling him Point, and he got good at getting to the point. I think it must have traumatized him a bit ”

  Queenie tapped her nose. “Exactly. The one I can’t figure out is Zephyr. Fucking clueless on that one.”

  So was I. I’m sure we would figure it out eventually. Maybe doing a little snooping on Google would figure it out. I was a reporter, after all, and loved a good mystery.

  Brick made his rounds around the clubhouse, saying hi, and thank you to everyone. Things were a little awkward since Brick didn’t really know anyone, but in the end, he had to realize we were all here, and he would get to know us.

  Point sidled up to me and draped his arms over my shoulders. “Having a good time?”

  I nodded and leaned into him. “Yup.”

  “Good, good.”

  I glanced up at him. “What does that mean?” I asked,

  He shrugged. “Just means good.”

  “Why does it feel like there is more behind those good goods than it seems.”

  Point grabbed my hand and pulled me to one of the corners of the room.

  “What is going on?” I laughed.

  He caged me into the corner with his arms and pressed his body against mine. “Hi.”

  “Are you drunk?” What in the world had gotten into Point?

  “Stone-cold sober, Dee.”

  “Oookay. Is there a reason why we’re in the corner and not hanging out with our friends?”

  Point glanced over his shoulder. “Nope.”

  �
�Are you trying to keep me away from Brick?” I laughed.

  He moved to the side and leaned against the wall.

  “You are!”

  “There ain’t nothing for you to see over there,” he grumbled.

  Oh, Point. What a fool. “Do you really think I would take one look at Brick and leave you?”

  “Fucking hell, Deedra. Did you see his arms? It’s like he’s got fucking pythons for arms.”

  Obviously, Point had checked out Brick more than I had. “Pretty sure there’s not a ton to do in prison. He probably worked out every day.”

  Point’s jaw dropped. “So, you noticed.”

  I reached up and cradled his cheek. “I’m gonna need my secure and trusting Point back in about five seconds. Okay?”

  Was Brick hot? Yes. Was that the end all be all? Hell no.

  Point sighed. “He’s still there but slightly threatened by python man.”

  I busted out laughing and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I’ve never been into pythons.”

  Point lifted me in his arms, and I wrapped my legs around his waist.

  “Jesus,” Quinn called. “Can you wait until after you meet Brick to get a room?”

  Point turned to the side but didn’t let me go.

  Quinn and Brick stood there, both with smirks on their lips.

  “You wanna put her down?” Quinn bit off.

  Point shook his head. “Nah, I like her where she is.”

  I giggled and wrapped my arms around Point’s neck. “I’m good here, too.”

  Point squeezed me and pressed a kiss to my neck.

  If Brick being around was going to make Point more affectionate, I wasn’t going to complain. I was going to soak in all of it and just enjoy it.

  Quinn rolled his eyes and folded his arms over his chest. “This is Point and his wife, Deedra. I’m gonna let this bullshit pass for the moment since they just got back together.”

  Brick held out his hand, and Point managed to shake it without dropping me.

  “Sup,” Point grunted.

  Oh, Lord. I was going to really have to show Point he was the only man for me once we got into bed tonight.

  I shook Brick’s hand and smiled. “Congrats on getting out.”