“Justice,” her sibling choked out, “I have men searching for him.”
“Is Art a part of that search? Does he even know what’s happening?”
Lynx was regretting his deception. “I don’t know if Diesel has told him.”
Justice didn’t ask for me to set her down, so I didn’t. I held her back to my chest as she spoke with a tragic betrayal mixed with hatred. “You should have killed him.”
“He was a child—”
Her body coiled in my arms. “He was a monster!”
“Twelve! He was fucking twelve!”
Her arms and legs began to flail again. “He fucking tortured us! A twelve-year-old who already was the darkest of the fucking dark!”
Restraining Lynx, Elle trapped between them, Dagger yelled over his shoulder, “Giver! Get her out of here!”
Brothers cleared a path as I removed the woman who had gone mad. She bellowed, “The darkest of the dark! The cruelest of the cruel!”
Lynx’s voice echoed from his room, “I don’t kill fucking children!”
Not caring what her bother had to say, Justice kicked at walls and anything else in her path! “He is deranged! He is the devil’s spawn!”
Saint, where the hallway bent, waved me to follow his lead. “Outside. Let’s get her to the Pasture.”
I followed him up the Barn stairs and carried my belligerent woman out into the early morning sun. The rays did nothing to calm the awakened beast inside her. Saint, reacting as he suspected nothing less would happen, ran ahead of us, searching for something. When he spotted the baseball bat Brat had used, I knew he had a plan. Saint motioned for me to keep following him while Justice screamed about a child who had made her life a living hell. A child who was even more sadistic than his dead father.
By the side fencing of the compound, Saint laid a baseball bat on the ground and yelled over Justice’s howls of injustice. “When I’m far enough away, set her down by this and then run, Giver!”
At this point, I was willing to listen to anyone. Justice was spitting, sweating, and swearing, blinded by a rage so deeply rooted she could no longer see or hear logic.
It was time to let this caged wild animal… free.
As soon as Saint was far enough away, I whispered, “I love you,” in Justice’s ear, even though I knew she was too far gone to hear me. Then I set her on her feet… and fucking ran!
Like a deranged beast, Justice spun around to attack but ended up tripping over the bat. As soon as she eyed it, it was in her angry hands and swinging madly at a ghost I could not see because it was all in her mind. It was as if she was reliving her horror, but this time with a weapon to protect herself. Every tree, fence post, and nearby object took a ferocious hit. She swung and struck as if she would die if her wrath was not released.
Saint, without a word, offered many apologies.
I was grateful he had given my girl an outlet. Now, he needed to check on his. “Go. Go to Jamie.” I faced my raging woman. “This is where I belong.”
Saint ran back to Jamie, who had probably heard everything and was worried.
I stayed rooted for as long as it took for Justice to find some peace. My chest ached at witnessing her fury. It was raw and full of such anguish; I wanted to hit my knees and beg God to heal her. But God prefers we work through our terror. I guess He feels it is part of our journey. As much as I understood that lesson of life, I wasn’t going to let Church Eyes walk that path alone. I wasn’t going to leave her unaided in memories that stole her sanity in this way. No. I watched over her and guarded her, like Dick had done for me.
A spent joint lay in the ashtray next to our tub, Justice laying on top of me. Too worn out to move, she was on her side, curled up, her mind finally returning. With a warm, wet washcloth, I wiped dirt from her face. I had many questions but didn’t ask a single one. My girl needed the weed to own her for a while, giving her a reprieve from the madness that had stolen her.
I’m not sure why I thought water would help, but it did.
In the tub, we were both fully clothed, even had our biker boots on. But at least now she was calm.
Dazed, but calm.
In the water, her long hair floated around us. Mine, now shoulder-length, mingled as if asking permission to enter her world again.
I kissed the top of her head while dripping warm water over her shoulders. When she took a long inhale, then slowly released it, I knew the worst was over.
Her voice was raspy with her damaged vocal cords, but her words were angelic and everlasting. “No man will ever be loved more than I love you, Giver.”
Once dried off, under covers, and sleeping, I went to the kitchen to make Justice a tray of anything she may need when she woke up. Elle was there making hot tea. She lifted the cup. “Some of this, with honey. Good for her throat and soul.”
She was no longer in her nightgown. Too many hours had passed, but it was all I could see. Not wanting to mettle, but feeling what I witnessed needed to be acknowledged, I quietly asked, “Is there anything you need?”
It was weak, but Elle smiled. “Giver always giving.”
I respected her silence on the subject, so I asked, “Prez okay?”
She swirled a spoon in her hot tea. “Neither one of them have come to terms with his death.”
“Who’s death?”
“Legend’s.” She said the name in such a way, there was no way of denying the thick history. It was no longer the tea she was seeing when she said, “The founder of Steel Stallions.” Her eyes drifted shut. “Their father.”
Ah, shit. I didn’t move. My mind was trying to put pieces—that I didn’t even know existed—together.
Eventually, Elle grabbed another teacup and filled it with hot water and sunk an herbal pouch in it. While it soaked, she went into one of the big industrial refrigerators and grabbed some food. Making a plate of fruit and cheese wedges, she softly explained, “Legends live on for good reasons, even if the truth has been misconstrued. The two people you and I are in love with struggle with what they want to remember, what they wish they could remember, and what the truth is.” She placed the plate and cup on a tray, then handed it to me. “But don’t we all?”
Standing there and accepting the tray, I felt like she was offering me so much more than food and a beverage. As I walked back to our bedroom, I thought about my past and wondered what I wanted to remember. Answer? Only what didn’t hurt.
What did I wish I could remember? Now that was a loaded one because, in truth, I wish I could’ve remembered events that never happened. Maybe a birthday party when I was young. Maybe a barbeque with a homemade water slide. Jenny, never dying…
Inside our bedroom, tray in hand, I stared at my sleeping Justice. What do you wish you could remember, baby? What memories do you wish you had with… Legend?
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The Stallion’s number one enemy had fallen off the face of the earth. After some of the recruited teenagers met an untimely death by a sister chapter, our enemy knew we were figuring out what was happening, so he went underground and burrowed so deep, all trails faded away.
With that, guards came down, Legend’s ghost went back to the silent heartbeat, and life marched forward. Lynx and Justice once again found their connection and unity, just in time. My son, Rhett Gunn Dalton, came during a hell of an ice storm. Austin didn’t offer many nasty winters, but sometimes reminded us who was boss and would give us a good ol’ icing over. On this night, the icicles ended up hanging from everywhere. After a long night that was intended to be a simple vaginal delivery, even though my last child resulted in a cesarean, fate was not smiling on us and this delivery also ended with another c-section.
Dagger, holding my newborn son, who was decked out in Stallion everything, chuckled. “So, give him his Road Name now? Ice?”
Ice… It was perfect.
Brothers corralled around him, all so proud of the addition. How the men were allowed in the nursery? We were tight with security due
to our time-to-time visits and injuries. Plus, Crow was fucking one of the nurses who claimed all the deep voices settled the infants.
Leaving my son in excellent hands, I went back to Saph’s hospital room. I stopped at the cracked open door when hearing Justice and Sapphire quietly talking.
Justice sniffled, “Who would have ever known that some little bunny who entered my club would one day be one of my most treasured friends?”
Saph hiccupped a cry. “Who would have ever known a bitch from hell could be my best friend someday?”
I won’t pretend to understand girly shit, but somehow, through all our train wrecks, these two women had become tight. Like, sisters from another mother, tight. I missed most of their budding friendship because the club played such a huge role in my life. I learned how to filter diamonds into the system without the government catching wind of our trails, and I learned how to move pot on the streets without being caught or ratted out. I didn’t feel guilty either. The stones had been taken from the filthy rich who only craved more power. Fuck them.
The weed? Well, shit, I smoked that ganja, too! It was straight-up incredible stuff! We even had it going to athletes for injuries. Football players for their brain injuries. Cancer patients who said the governed crap was nowhere near as good or effective.
What did we do with all the money? We lived our best lives and tried to make others’ better. Sapphire helped set up the program for brothers to guard children in court. I was so proud to use my ‘scary’ appearance for something good. Children are incredible bullshit detectors. My long beard didn’t fool them in the slightest. They saw the teddy bear who lived underneath my fake identity. They may have even recognized the kindred spirit in me. Damaged can recognize damaged. It’s as simple as that.
We even made more friends at the police department. They really appreciated the help. Those uniformed men and women love kids. Witnessing so much abuse and the system failing so many children, they saw our cuts as a blessing and a standup way of giving back to the community.
“Are you spying?”
I jumped in the hospital hallway, then answered Elle, “What?” Yes. “No!” I pushed open Saph’s door. “I was just being courteous and letting these girls finish talking before I interrupted—” At the end of the bed, I stopped, so taken by the sight. The mothers of my children were with little red noses, puffy eyes, in bed together, and in each other’s arms.
It was… beautiful.
“What?’ snarled my biker girl.
She was rough around the edges at times, and never wanted to be seen as weak. Little did she know, her vulnerable moments were her most beautiful ones. But I let her keep face. “Nothin’. Don’t get your panties in a wad.”
“Dada!”
I turned to see my Gracie in Vice’s arms. What can I say? The biggest, baddest, and scariest of the Stallions made for the perfect babysitter.
“Dude,” I chastised him while catching my leaping daughter, “why do you have glitter in your beard?”
“Gracie’s art project exploded in the waiting room. Fucking looks like fairies shit everywhere in there.”
Gracie twisted in my arms to see the women in her life. “Mama! Ju-Ju!”
She wanted to climb into the bed with them, but that was no go. “Gracie, Mama has a boo-boo. You have to stay with Daddy.”
The toddler’s lips pushed out to offer kisses for her mama’s boo-boo.
Melt my motherfucking heart!
I bent over, holding that baby to my chest, kissing every part of her I could reach. She squealed, loving all the attention.
Before I knew it, Rhett joined forces with my angel, and they both caused blissful havoc in our world. With Dick having not been seen in many months, the kids got to spend a lot of time with us at the club. We were careful, of course. No drugs or guns were allowed within Gracie’s reach. We weren’t animals.
Now, cell phones, keys, remote controls… these were all an option. If you left them too low to the ground, they were confiscated and properly hidden. One night, Justice and I came home after a ‘date night’ and found a bunch of bikers sitting on the couches in the Barn, staring at the dark TV. “Umm,” I cautiously asked since their expressions were far from pleased. “What’s going on?”
Dagger’s nostrils flared, which was comical because a sleeping Gracie was sprawled across his chest, slobbering on his cut. “She hid the remotes.”
Justice tried to muffle laughter, but it was heard. All heads turned to her.
Lynx, with a sleeping Rhett over his shoulder, snarled from a captain’s chair. “Oh, go ahead, have a good laugh. We missed an episode of SOA.”
Now I was laughing. “A bunch of bikers are sitting around watching a bunch of actors pretending to be bikers on TV?”
Lynx shrugged. “Elle thinks I look like Jackson.”
All surrounding brothers grumbled about an ego that needed to be checked.
Still laughing, I asked, “Where is Elle?”
Lynx sulked. “No Jax, no ass.”
At that very perfect moment, Rhett let one rip, right next to Lynx’s face. He glared at us both. “You assholes have made my club a laughingstock with your gassy hellions.”
Justice cooed as she walked to him. “Let me have my Ice baby.”
Ice, Ice, Baby started singing my brothers.
“Is that puke on my cut?” bitched Lynx, even though the word was he didn’t share Ice very well when we were gone. In fact, he was a bit of a hog over the little man. He played tough, but we all knew the truth. He wanted a Junior so bad he could taste it.
Grabbing Gracie from Dagger, I said, “Thanks, Pops.”
I’m not sure when that name became my go-to with Dagger. I guess with the kids, he took that grandpa role since he was such a father figure for me. Either way, it felt right, and he never objected.
Our bedroom had become a little on the overstuffed side since adding two cribs, but we made it work. After getting her GED, Saph was taking college courses. She was loving being a mother but also loving the freedom we offered so she could also make a life for herself. Her goal was full independence. Even though she knew I would never give up responsibility, nor stop paying for my kids, she thrived with all the possibilities life had finally offered her.
After we would drop off the babies back to Saph, Justice and I fucked like mad rabbits, making up for lost time. God, I loved her like crazy.
My Old Lady was a planner with her biker boys. They made it from point A through Z without a hitch, ever. But planning a wedding, it seemed to make her skin crawl. Hence it not happening yet. So, I enlisted the other women I knew, who happen to be heavy hitters in the ‘girlie’ department—Elle and Saph. I even got Jamie to help.
“Me?” She sat at one of the small tables, her fingers passing through long blonde hair that finally had grown back after being so ruthlessly shorn from her head by the sickos who had abused her.
Saint smiled, no longer needing to point out the nervous habit she had developed about pulling at the hairs on her head now that they had grown to a length she was happy with. “I think this is a great idea!”
As if nodding to a past conversation these two had recently had, she set her shoulders back and faced me, her hazels beaming with pride. “Giver, this would be an honor. Thank you for letting me be a part of it.”
From behind the bar, Elle dipped her chin to me with respect before handing a new Prospect a tray of dirty beer mugs and shot glasses from the night before. I wasn’t sure about the young man. Gracie didn’t seem keen on him. That was a warning sign for me.
No wedding rings or tattoo bands on Justice’s or my ring fingers, we were advised. For rivals who didn’t know better, we didn’t want any of them linking Justice and me. It was a recipe for disaster. If in the middle of a gunfight or some sort of turf war, an enemy learned who Justice was to me, they could take me to my knees with one blow. I refused to put a mark on her back like that. Her job as an Officer was dangerous enough. And, since she was
a known sister of our President, her going down could cripple two Stallions at once.
Two birds. One stone…
Justice only had a few requests for Elle and her helpers when it came to the wedding. “No pink shit. No high heels. My boots or nothin’. No wedding games. Gag me.”
Elle complained, “Can it at least be a sunset wedding, or do you prefer machine guns?”
Justice clucked her teeth. “Smartass. Oh! And no bachelorette party bullshit.”
Happy as Hell my girl wasn’t gonna be sucking on dick straws or going to male strip shows, I shrugged, telling the girls, “I can agree to those terms. I just want my woman to be happy.”
Justice added, “And he ain’t havin’ no bachelor party.”
“Huh?” I almost squeaked.
Bikers spit out their shots.
“Are you shitting me?”
“Isn’t that like sacrilegious or something?”
“I don’t even understand the words that just came out of Captain’s mouth.”
“What do we do with all the strippers?”
She faced her brothers. “Bring them on! I’ll watch them with ya! Those bitches are hot as hell. Just, none of them are touching my man.”
I couldn’t help it. I smiled.
Months later, as we showered, Justice kept teasing and trying to slither behind me. I wouldn’t let her because it would ruin the surprise for our wedding. “Giver! I can’t take the suspense! What have you been hiding?”
Water flowed down her face and over her perfect perky titties. “You have to wait.”
She followed my lusty gaze. “Wait, huh? That’s a coincidence because I was just about to tell you—”
My eyes raced to hers. “Don’t you dare.”
“—that you, too, have to wait,” she cupped her breasts, “for these,” she cupped her core, “and this.”
I hissed in horror. “You’re heartless.”
She shrugged. “At least I ain’t pussyless.”
Bleed Me (Haunted Roads Book 3) Page 22