RMCB 07_Bound by Consequences

by Ryan Michele

  “Yup, now that you brought my ride here for me, I’ll go get the trailer. And you’re gonna help me get it out of storage, man.”

  “You’re fuckin’ kiddin’ me. I finally get my ass here, and you’re gonna put me to work already?” he teased in his sarcastic way.

  “Fuck yeah.”

  “Your ride is sweet, Tugger. Fuck me. Driving that thing was a dream.”

  I smiled. “Wait until you see what it does.”

  His brow quirked as she shook his head. He knew me. Knew what I needed. He got me.

  “This place is gorgeous. Why the fuck you need such a big house?” he questioned.

  It wasn’t huge. It had four bedrooms and a basement room that could be turned into another if needed. Three baths and one half bath. Then the office, dining room, kitchen and living room. Not atrocious by any means.

  “Plan on livin’ here a long time. Wanna get settled and put in some roots. Sumner is home and always has been. It’s damn time I get my shit together, and this was the first step.”

  Dryerson stepped through the room to the sliding glass door. I knew what he’d see and his reaction. “Holy fucking hell. This is your backyard?” He didn’t ask, just opened the sliding door and stepped through. I followed, smiling.

  “One of the main reasons for this place.”

  Behind the home were two things. Off to the right was a small pond that had a dock. It wasn’t huge but would make a great pool on the hot Georgia days. Off to the left were trees. Lots of trees. It was the best of both worlds meshed into one.

  The biggest bonus, though, was the wraparound porch where I could see myself sitting back, drinking a beer, and listening to the frogs at night. Peace.

  After hearing as many explosions as I have, peace wasn’t too much to ask.

  This place was my peace.

  “Fuck, man. This is unbelievable. So much better than the sandbox.”

  I moved to stand next to him. “Hell yeah it is. The house itself is completely different, but this view … it had always been its selling point for me. Saw it and knew it was mine. A great place to restart my life. To grow.”

  “Grow. Like wife and kids and shit?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest and giving me a brow quirk.

  “Not tomorrow or anything. But in the future. I wanted a place where everyone who comes into my life would have a place and be safe. For me this was it.”

  “What happened to your dick?” he asked, and I punched him in the shoulder. He staggered a step then righted himself. “What the fuck was that for?”

  “Bein’ a dick. Like I said. Not tomorrow, but I want to have a home. Not hotel rooms. Not a crash pad. Not a bachelor’s dream. A home. I’d missed it for years. I left home and went to college, came back, lived in this place when it wasn’t the greatest, then went off to the Marines. While my parents’ house is my childhood home, I needed a place that could grow with me.”

  “Are you gettin’ all sappy and shit.”

  “Do you want me to punch you again?”

  “It’d be better than this shit,” he grumbled.

  Dryerson had several things stacked against him growing up, and he didn’t see himself ever settling down with a family.

  I, on the other hand, did. I wanted the wife and kids.

  I always wanted to be part of the Ravage MC. A family of their own making. One that I was born into and shit on.

  They may not want me around. They may tell me to fuck off. But my mind was made up. The Ravage MC was my family, and I’d do my damnedest to get it back.

  Sumner was where I was meant to stay. If I had to jump through hoops to get to the other end, I’d do it.

  Dryerson turned from the view to me. “You talk to that club of your dad’s yet?”

  While I didn’t give Dryerson the information I’d found on the Ravage MC, I did tell him what I had done. How I was as a child. How I was as a teen. How I was four and a half years ago before I left. Being in the desert with a group of men, we talked because there really wasn’t much else to do.

  “Tonight. My dad’s gonna call in a bit, and I’ve gotta go.”

  “Do you really think they’re gonna beat the shit out of you?” Dryerson knew the Marines. He did not know the Ravage MC.

  “I’m sure there’ll be some hits.”

  “And you want to belong to this?”

  I slipped my hands inside my pockets. “Yeah. It’s where I belong. Know you don’t get it, but you stick around for a while, you will. Hell, you’ll probably wanna join too.”

  He chuckled. “Not sure about that one. Had enough of bein’ ordered around by your ass.” He shoulder checked me and turned to go back in the house. “Now show me my room.”

  On a chuckle, we made our way through the house. With no beds, he was getting an air mattress. Mine was coming out from storage. Anything was better than a dirt floor, though.

  He’d get used to it. This civilian life was something we’d both be getting used to.

  8

  Ensley

  “Seriously, not that one again…” Katie groaned as Remy held up the DVD of Trolls. Sure, we’d seen this movie seven-hundred-thirty-two-thousand times, but it was Remy’s favorite. And it did have Justin in it, so it wasn’t all bad.

  “I’ve got this feelin’…” I began to sing the song the movie was famous for, and Katie’s head flew back on the couch as she looked up at the ceiling.

  “Lord save me from Justin Timberlake.”

  I burst out laughing. Katie was a bit overdramatic. Okay, honestly a lot dramatic, but we loved her. It was also fun to give her shtick.

  “You know you love him. Don’t even pretend you didn’t Google him…” She started to talk, but I talked louder, “And … that you didn’t look up if he was getting back together with his boy band friends so you could watch them.”

  Her blazing yet teasing eyes came to me. “The Backstreet Boys did it in Vegas. Why not them?”

  “And don’t forget New Kids on the Block.”

  “Who?” Katie asked with a puzzled look on her face.

  “You know the ones who started this whole boy band thing. It’s why we have them today. Even that BTS or whatever you like.”

  “They are seriously dreamy,” Katie cooed. She’d had an obsession with them since hearing them on the radio. Living the sheltered life we did for so long, being out in the world with freedoms and simple things like music mesmerized us. Me, I liked the old school stuff.

  “Right. So Trolls it is.”

  Remy jumped up and down, then ran to me and handed me the disk. “Let Mommy get the popcorn and M&Ms, and we’ll get started.”

  The smile on my little girl’s face could light up an entire stadium of people. Damn, I loved her. Would do anything in the world for her. “Come help me.” Remy nodded, pulled the disk from my hand and gave it to Katie, then joined me in our small kitchen.

  “So if I were to crack this…” Katie started.

  “You do that and she cries all night. I’m leaving, and you can take care of her wounded soul,” I barked, pulling the popcorn out of the microwave and putting it into a large blue plastic bowl. Handing the giant bag of M&Ms—because let’s face it, a handful just wasn’t enough—to Remy, we made our way to the couches.

  Remy sat in the middle of Katie and me. “So… Here we go with the Trolls.” Katie pressed the button to the remote to the DVD player and started the movie.

  “I need wine or something,” Katie mumbled, getting up from the couch and moving to the kitchen.

  “We have that red stuff in the back of the cabinet,” I called out.

  “Maybe I want rum instead. It’ll work a ton faster.” That she knew where it was because it was both of our favorites. Something else we had learned about since making our escape. Indulging in adult beverages from time to time was not a bad way to spend an evening.

  “Make me one with orange juice.”

  Katie smiled. “See, you need booze to get through it too.”

&
nbsp; “Shut it and hurry up. You’re gonna miss the best part!”

  “Great, the happy tree, happy forest, and happy trolls who love to hug and dance and sing… Yeah.” Katie came into the room, her tone completely hilarious.

  “You know you love it.”

  She handed me the drink and then sat next to Remy on the couch. Remy, of course, had the popcorn in her lap. We all shared together.

  “Oh great, the spoiled brat who needs to be slapped across the face,” Katie groaned. “I need to be one of those goons who eats those little shits.”

  It was my turn to burst out laughing.

  Movie nights were something we started when Remy was very young. Back then we could choose whatever we wanted to watch and not have to worry about little ears. I wanted my little girl to have traditions. Things that we could do year after year and build upon them. I also didn’t want to shelter her from the world in such a way she would be shocked if she were to see something. The way Katie and I grew up was like living in a bubble. Everything we had exposure to was controlled by our father and the community we lived in. No outside influence ever.

  The movie night was more than once a year, but it still became a routine thing.

  Growing up, we didn’t have things like that. Movie night was an absolute no unless it was something the prophet wanted us to see. Only then would it be okay to watch movies.

  Especially not something as colorful and upbeat as this movie. That was a big no go.

  “Could you imagine watching this back home?”

  Katie’s hand paused heading to her mouth with a wad of popcorn in it. “No way. M-O-M.” She spelled out the word because it was something we didn’t say in front of Remy. She’d never know my mother, and I never wanted to give her the impression that she would. Never would I trust my mother with my daughter. “Would let us. None of the M-O-M-S would. They’d rather throw themselves on a burning fire than tell D-A-D anything that would make him angry.”

  That was a complete understatement. Our father ruled with an iron fist. Literally. One step out of line, and he’d beat the hell out of you. I still had scars to prove that fact.

  “Who would’ve thought we’d be out to live the life we want when we want to live it. Did you ever think we would be free of all that?”

  Katie chewed the popcorn in her mouth as I took a drink from my glass. “No. Never. I never saw a way out of there. You at least got to go out with Ari.”

  “Snuck out was more like it, and it was only twice.”

  “Right. But you had some idea of the outside. Me, that life was all I knew.”

  “Yeah, I had a small taste of it, but I never saw myself living that life even before I snuck out.”

  Katie leaned back and put her head on the couch, turning to face me. I followed suit. This happened regularly when it was movie time with the Trolls. The next thing would be Remy taking our popcorn away and moving to the floor so she could hear the movie.

  “What did you see in your future then?”

  “I never saw myself marrying anyone there. Ever. One husband and one wife. I never wanted to share something that should be precious.”

  “M-O-M liked that.”

  “Did she really? She never smiled. She never showed an ounce of being happy—ever.” I pulled in my lip, then popped it out. “She was always mad, especially when the other M-O-Ms had their alone time.”

  Katie sighed loudly just as Remy got up and moved to her spot on the floor. She knew the drill.

  “Yeah. So you saw yourself out of there?” Katie asked, genuinely curious.

  “I did. You know I hid some books in my room.” Katie nodded. “Well, inside those stories was where I wanted to be. I wanted a partner who was hard on the outside and soft on the inside. The heroes were always tough, but in their hearts they loved their wives with everything they had. One wife, I mean…”

  “I wanted to grab one of your books and read it, but I was too scared.”

  “She,” I referred to our mother, “would’ve hit you. You saw what she did to me.” Just remembering that time had shivers skating down my spine. No. I didn’t want to remember that.

  “Yeah. Keep going.”

  My eyes closed as I breathed in deep, recanting my dreams. “In one of my books the man was a protector. Not only to his woman, but to those around him. While he had blood family, he also didn’t and protected them all the same. He was stability, safety, and comfort. Most of all he was filled with love. That emotion is a powerful thing and tells a lot about a man. He’d sweep me off my feet, taking me far away from our home where we’d get married outside under a large tree, have a family with four children, and be happy. That’s all I wanted was happiness.”

  “You aren’t happy?” Katie asked a very poignant question.

  “For the most part, yes. I have Remy, you, Ryker and Austyn. But I want to believe that there is a man out there for me. One who has all the sticking points I wished for when younger. Hope. That’s what I have. Hope that someday I can give Remy everything.”

  Katie’s hand reached out and took mine, giving it a squeeze. “Girl, you’ve done an amazing job with her. She has everything she needs.”

  “It would be nice for her to have a father figure.”

  “Like we had such a great one. And I think we turned out pretty damn good.” Katie wasn’t wrong.

  “We did. Remy doesn’t need a dad, but it sure would be nice for her to have one who was totally the opposite of ours.”

  “True there. I just want to have fun. Sometimes I feel like a teenager again with all the freedom we have now.”

  My brow quirked. “Not too much fun. We both know where that could lead.”

  “I do know that. We just missed out on a lot.” She paused as I let that sink in. “Do you ever think we’ll go back and get our brothers and sisters?”

  This stunned me. Never had I thought of going back. If one of them were to contact me, that was another story, but to go in and break them out—never.

  “No.”

  “Really? Since we got out I’ve always thought we’d try.”

  A deep sigh left me. “While I’d love to take a big white van in there, open the door and say— anyone who wants out, let’s go—but it can’t happen. If we go back there, they will lock us up; you know that. We wouldn’t come out of there alive. And could you think of what they’d do to Remy?”

  Katie visibly shook. “No, I don’t want to think of that. I just want them to live a life that wasn’t planned for them. One where they could go to school and get a job. One that wasn’t popping out babies to rule the world.”

  “I’d like that too, but we have to focus on what we have now. The risk is too great to ever step foot anywhere near there.”

  “You talked about hope a few seconds ago. Me? I hope those who want to get out can. We made it. Maybe they can too.”

  I pulled Katie into my arms and hugged her tight. “Yeah. Maybe.”

  We didn’t know what this life had in store for us, but we did know it was a destiny of our choosing.

  9

  Micah

  Walking into the clubhouse, my dad was at my back which was a nice gesture, but whatever would be, would be. I’d already made peace with it a long time ago. It was judgment day, and I wouldn’t go away unscathed. It was four plus years in the making, and the brothers anger had time to stir and fester, growing to the point of explosion.

  Judgment day.

  All eyes came to me, and there were a range of emotions I could read, but it was the ones that I couldn’t that held my attention. Training was ongoing in the Marines. They put me through so much shit it made me wonder what the really bad guys could come up with. Torture training was constant.

  One thing I never did, not once, was give in. No way in hell I’d start now. They could do whatever they wanted, but I figured since they wanted me to meet them in the bar of the clubhouse, they wouldn’t be draining my body of blood just yet.

  I was wrong right off the bat.
“To the hole,” Cruz ordered.

  The hole? What the hell was that?

  Not saying a word, I followed the brothers, head held high as I walked through the courtyard, past a huge building, the garage and then into the large field that had a corn silo.

  Cruz opened the door, and everyone filed in one-by-one. The smell of dirt and mold was the first to hit my nostrils. Then the dampness fell on my skin. We were going underground.

  Seeing the steps in front of me, I was right. This was a place these men absolutely one hundred percent were in charge. I should've been scared, but I’d spent four years practicing for this moment. Come what may.

  Following down the stairs, light shone from the bottom of them. All the brothers were standing around the corners of the room. It was fairly large in size. There were toolboxes on several of the walls, and in the center sat a chair.

  “Sit,” Cruz ordered, crossing his arms over his chest and standing in front of me as I followed his order.

  The tension in the room was thick, and if my younger self were sitting in this chair, I would’ve pissed myself. No doubt about that.

  Me, though, I kept my peripheral vision on alert, but my sole focus was looking up full-on with Cruz. He had a right to be pissed. He also had a right to want to murder me.

  Cruz started, “Four and a half years ago you took off to become a Marine, but with you, you took a secret. One that you didn’t tell the club before you left. Not only that, you had to get inside Ravage’s computer systems to find that and whatever else you found. Then you sent your father in with an envelope saying that Crow was my son. You were already long gone by then, but let me guarantee you this—shit didn’t just go away. It stayed with us all over the years.”

  He said nothing for a moment, and neither did I; not knowing if he wanted me to speak or not. Everything that came from his lips was spot on. There was no refuting it.

  “On top of that, since you were a child you've disliked my club. Your mouth got away from you on more than one occasion. We want answers. We want to know why you did what you did. We are not leaving here until we get everything.”