by Sam Crescent
Robin wasn’t Flora.
She hadn’t died or turned rat.
She’s lost a baby because of the car accident caused by O’Klaren. He didn’t know if Preacher was going to heed his warning or if he was going to turn the town red with O’Klaren’s blood.
Either way, he was glad he wasn’t on the wrong side of Preacher, and those men, whoever they were, were going to do a whole lot of begging and praying before Preacher was done with them.
****
After sending Bishop to the hospital, Rebecca looked toward the station, and knew O’Klaren was inside.
No one was around to report her going to him or to even notice she paid him a visit.
Right now, she wanted to claw his fucking eyes out for his stupid way of handling Robin. With her bag high on her shoulder, she marched into the station. No one was on the front desk, which was what she was counting on.
She found O’Klaren at his desk, going over some paperwork.
“What the fuck did you do?” she asked, stepping into his office.
“What a pleasant surprise. Come to suck my dick again?”
“She’s alive,” Rebecca said. “You know that, right? Preacher and Robin are alive. She’s in the hospital and will make a full recovery. She lost the baby though.”
O’Klaren sat back.
“So, it was a car accident. No one would suspect a thing.”
She stared at this cop. He was handsome in a pretty, boy-next-door kind of way, but there was a mean streak within him. She hadn’t spent a lifetime with a bunch of bastard bikers not to detect it.
He was cruel, but along with it, he held power and he knew it. In a way it was addictive to be around someone who truly believed they were above the law. This was what this man was, above it all because he owned the law. He knew how to keep on the right side of the law.
“That’s not possible,” O’Klaren said.
“Believe me it is, and what’s more, the men you hired to do this job, they said your name. Preacher knows it’s you.”
“He can’t do anything about it.”
“I told you to make her disappear, not to run them off the road. Do you know what you’ve done? You’ve turned her into some kind of freaking saint. She’s lost a baby, and now they will all adore and care about her.”
“You know, for a spiteful mother, why didn’t you kill her when she was a baby?”
Rebecca glared at him. “You’re an asshole.”
“I’m an asshole, but remember, you’re the one who wanted me to plot to bring Robin down. She’s no longer pregnant, so that makes it a hell of a lot easier to remove her.”
“And how do you figure that when you’re going to be dead soon?”
“I’m not going to be dead, Rebecca. Preacher can’t kill me without exposing himself. I’m going to be around for a long time, and when Robin’s out of the hospital, no one will be keeping an extra eye on her. She’ll be vulnerable, and when she is, the order is for her to be taken.”
“Your ego is going to get you killed. I want no part of this,” Rebecca said. The man clearly didn’t know who he was dealing with. Preacher may not strike immediately, but he would.
“I suggest you be careful, Rebecca. You think I don’t have the necessary evidence to send to your precious club? I do, and they can find out just want a spiteful little cunt you are.”
****
“She’s not dead?” Bishop asked, entering the room.
Preacher looked up at his son and shook his head. “She’s not dead. If you look closely you can still see her breathing.”
“I … had no idea this could happen.” Bishop stepped up to the bed, and as he did, Preacher let go of her hand so he wouldn’t see.
“What do you mean?”
“I know I didn’t want her to be pregnant, but I didn’t want any of what happened between the two of you to have happened, you know. Robin’s going to be heartbroken.”
Preacher stayed silent. There was no need to confirm what happened.
“What are you going to do?” Bishop asked.
“What I have to.”
“What is going to happen to Robin now? Will she stay with us? Go back home?”
“You’re both still married. I guess that’s between the two of you.” He noticed his son never wore a wedding band. “Why don’t you wear one?”
He had Robin’s on a chain around his neck. He’d taken it off her while they led her into the surgery.
“It’s here,” he said, pointing to his chain around his neck. “I never wear it I guess because it had never seemed real.”
“You’re married to her, so why can’t it seem real?”
“We’ve never been together.”
“Son. Not everything is about sex. It takes more than fucking to be married.”
“How would you know? You’ve never been married.”
“You’re right, I’ve never been married, but I’ve been witness to many married couples and believe me, you need more than good sex to stay together. I need to get some air.” He got to his feet. If he stayed in the room with Bishop for another moment, he’d kill the kid, and it wouldn’t be pretty. “Will you stay here or run out when I need you to be here?”
“I’ll stay,” Bishop said. He took the seat beside her. “You can count on me.”
“That would be a fucking first,” Preacher said, leaving the room.
He walked down the long corridor, passing nurses, doctors, and other medical staff. He stood at the vending machine, looking at the coffees on offer or the hot chocolate. None of them appealed to him, but he needed to stay awake. He could sleep when he knew Robin was okay.
“I can recommend the plain coffee with sugar,” Randall said.
“What are you still doing here?”
“I’m helping out where I can. I do more than run my private practice. When the hospital is understaffed, I try to do my bit to help. Besides, I’m going to be here for Robin when she wakes up.”
“A familiar face will help her.” He took the coffee and had a sip of the scalding liquid. It burned, but he put up with it.
He needed to feel something, anything than the pain of what had happened tonight.
“How are you feeling?” Randall asked.
“I’m fine.” While Robin had been in surgery, he had a nurse do a quick check on him. He’d been wearing his seatbelt while Robin had removed hers to get more comfortable. Had the men been waiting for that opportunity to run them off the road? He was pissed off as he’d not noticed a car following them until it had been too late.
“Robin will be fine, Preacher. She’ll be a healthy woman and will be able to have lots of kids and be happy.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t hear her. She is going to be so heartbroken.” He blew across the surface of the coffee before taking another sip.
“I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. She’s experienced a loss, but so long as she has family and friends around her, she’ll be able to handle anything. She’s a strong woman.” Randall slapped him on the back. “If there’s anything you need, let me know.”
Preacher didn’t stop the doctor from leaving. He knew Robin was strong. He just hoped she was ready to handle the loss of their daughter, because there were moments he wasn’t sure he could.
****
“What are you doing down here, Robin?” Preacher asked.
The lights were low. The music soft, sexy, and the pulse between her thighs continued to thrum.
“I couldn’t sleep.” She wore a nice silk negligee, and each time she moved, the soft fabric brushed across her body, making her ache in all the right places. This man had been stopping her from sleeping, and now, as he stood at the fridge, his heavily inked arms and muscles, they were calling to her.
“I couldn’t sleep either.”
“Did you have dreams?” she asked.
“I always have dreams.”
She stepped up close, taking hold of his hand. There were red cuts on his knuckles, and she lifted
them to her lips. “Tell me about them.”
“You shouldn’t be doing that to me.”
“What?”
“Kissing me.”
“But I want to kiss you.” She took the hand she’d been holding and placed it on her breast. She moaned. “See, that’s not so bad, is it? You can touch me whenever you want.”
“This is wrong, Robin.”
She stepped close, feeling the hard ridge of his cock against her stomach. “If it’s so wrong, why are you so hard for me? Tell me, Preacher, you don’t want me. Tell me to get the hell out of your life.” She ran her hand down his stomach, cupping his hard cock. “Or admit we’re linked, even if you don’t want to be.”
He grabbed her wrist. “You think I don’t want to be linked with you? You think I don’t want this?”
Within seconds she was naked and spread out on the kitchen counter. He stood between her thighs, and she gasped as he touched her pussy.
“You want this, don’t you, Robin? You want my rock-hard cock.”
“Yes, please, Preacher, please, please, I need you. Don’t take the baby away.” She frowned as the scenery changed and she was alone in the darkened forest. She was dressed, and the arousal of moments ago was gone.
Fighting against the darkness, she had to wake up.
She had to.
Opening her eyes, she stared up at the ceiling.
Everything had been a dream.
“Robin, oh, my God, you’re awake. I need a doctor,” Bishop said.
She touched her stomach, but there was nothing there. No baby.
Everything came crashing around her, and she opened her mouth, letting out an ear-piercing scream.
Chapter Sixteen
Two weeks later
Robin stood at the door of the nursery.
She lifted her hand as if to put it on the door but stopped herself. She couldn’t go through the door, or touch it.
She stepped back, staring at it.
Touching her stomach where the baby had once been, her eyes started to fill, and she quickly turned away from the door. She didn’t go far, just to the top of the stairs, where she sat down. All it would take was the turn of the head to see the door right there. She wasn’t so far away from the room.
She’d been back at Preacher and Bishop’s house for a couple of days now. Neither of the men had pushed her to do anything. She sat with them in silence as they ate their meals. She had gone to school, but that had become too much. There wasn’t a lot she’d missed, but it wasn’t the same.
Everything was different.
No, it wasn’t different at all.
The club was still the same. The colors on the walls and trees were all the same. The only thing to change was herself.
She was the person who was different.
No one else.
She dropped her elbows to her knees, resting her head in her hands.
How could life have changed so much in the past couple of weeks? She didn’t understand it.
One moment she’d been happy, pregnant, with a few rough patches.
Now, she wasn’t pregnant, and life seemed dull.
Preacher cleared his throat, and she looked up to see him on the stairs, watching her.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.” Her voice sounded croaky even to her. Other than the scream at the hospital, she hadn’t spoken a single word.
Speaking seemed like a lot of hard work.
“How are you doing?” he asked, moving up the stairs until he was really close.
“Fine. Better than could be expected, I guess.”
“Have you talked to Randall today?”
“No. I don’t need to talk to him.” She got to her feet and brushed past him.
Preacher didn’t stop her from going, and she went into the kitchen. She needed a drink. Her first thought was to reach for the whiskey. She hadn’t drunk a drop of alcohol since that night.
She picked up the bottle, which was on the counter. Preacher followed her into the room.
“I know I shouldn’t drink my sorrows away,” she said.
“No, you shouldn’t. Drink is not the answer to any of our problems.” He grabbed the bottle out of her hand, produced two glasses, and poured them both one. “But, sometimes, a drink can help.”
He pushed the whiskey toward her.
“My stitches?”
“You’re healing, Robin. You can take the drink, or not, it’s really up to you. I’m not going to force you to drink.” He downed the whiskey in one gulp. “With everything going on, I’d say we earned it.”
She stared at the amber liquid.
For once, she wanted to stop thinking about the pain. The memories consumed her, and she hated how her dreams would go from sex to being trapped in the forest with no one. Lifting the glass to her lips, she knocked the whole thing back, and coughed as she did.
“It’s strong.”
“No kidding.”
He poured her another glass.
“The stuff is horrible.”
“That’s the point.”
“You drink horrible stuff on purpose?”
“It’s strong and gets the job done.” He finished his second glass. “That’s me done. It’s the first time I’ve had any alcohol since finding out I’d knocked you up. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
“Yeah, you did. I was pregnant, and now I’m not.” She didn’t drink this glass all in one go. She sipped at it, savoring the strong aroma.
All of her senses seemed to be on high alert, and she hated how delicate she felt, and how everyone was treating her. Even Bishop.
“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Preacher asked.
Randall had been trying to get her to talk or to speak to a shrink or someone. She didn’t want to talk.
She’d kicked Bishop out of her bed because to have him there felt like a betrayal. He’d not wanted her to be pregnant in the first place, so he didn’t understand the pain. Bishop would always hold her stomach, and for now, she just wanted people to keep their hands to themselves.
“No, I really don’t want to talk about anything. I just want to … I want to forget.”
“There’s no forgetting, Robin.”
“I know. I’m trying to find an easy answer. It’s not like I even knew her, you know. I didn’t get to hold her. I felt her kick, and she’d move around.” She shook her head as the tears started to fall, and she couldn’t stop them.
Preacher pulled her into his arms.
She didn’t fight him.
Wrapping her arms around his back she held onto him, not wanting to let go.
“I’ve got you,” he said.
Sobbing against his chest didn’t help her, but it at least allowed her the chance to mourn.
Preacher stroked her back, his fingers sliding between the strands of her hair. His touch felt amazing to her.
She rested her head against his jacket and breathed him in.
“I know I’m not much of a person to talk to, but if you ever need me, all you’ve got to do is call me and I’ll be there, I promise.”
She tilted her head back, and smiled.
“Okay?”
He cupped her face, wiping away the tears. His touch was so soft.
They both pulled away from each other as the door opened and closed.
Bishop entered the kitchen seconds later and she was already preparing herself a sandwich.
“Hey, all,” Bishop said. He walked to her, put a hand on her waist, and kissed her head. She tried not to tense up.
It was getting harder to accept any kind of physical contact from him as the days passed.
“You’re in a chipper mood,” she said.
“I am. I’ll have a sandwich if you’re making for everyone. Dad, I’ve got to talk to you.”
“In my office.”
She watched both men leave. It was club stuff. From what she knew so far, Preacher hadn’t hit out at O’Klaren, but she knew he would. It wou
ld only be a matter of time. The cop himself hadn’t been by to talk to her.
She’d not seen him either, and she didn’t know exactly what she’d do if the cop came near her. Because of him, she’d lost her little baby, and she hated the man for it.
She’d never been one for hatred, but knowing what he’d done and what it had cost her, she wanted him to hurt.
With all three sandwiches complete, she walked to the dining room, sitting down.
Preacher and Bishop joined her.
She took a bite out of her sandwich and stared across the room.
Silence hung heavy in the air.
“There’s something I wanted to ask you, the both of you,” she said.
“What is it?” Bishop asked.
“I know we’re married, but I was thinking if we should get it annulled.”
“Why the fuck would you want to do that?” Bishop asked.
“We’re not together. We’ve never been together, and now the baby is gone, there’s no reason for us to stay married.”
“Robin, you’re my wife, and we both know this is how it was always going to be with us. We’re together. You don’t have to try and annul anything. Nothing has changed.”
“Okay, then do you want me to leave? To move out? I was only here because of the baby, and with the baby gone, there’s no reason for me to remain here.”
“There’s every single reason,” Bishop said.
“Robin, you don’t have to leave,” Preacher said. “I know there’s a lot going on for you right now, but I’m not going to be pushing you away. You’re more than welcome to stay here for as long as you want. I won’t push you out. The decision is up to you. Do you want to leave?”
She shook her head. The thought of going home, living with her parents again, it held no appeal. In fact, it scared her a little bit.
“I don’t want to go back home.”
“Then it’s settled,” Bishop said. “You don’t have to go home. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want. You’ll stay here. We’ll stay married, and we’ll find a way to make this all work and be happy.”
Robin nodded. She finished her sandwich and got to her feet.
One day at a time.
It was the piece of advice Randall had given to her. She had to take her life one day, and the pain would eventually lessen.