Guts & Glory: Walker (In the Shadows Security Book 4)

by Jeanne St. James

“I’ll wash your back,” she promised, climbing out of bed with a smirk. She grabbed his crutches out of the corner of the room and brought them to him.

  “That’s not what I had in mind, but it’ll be a good start.” He took the crutches from her. “By the way, this interruption doesn’t mean that conversation is over.”

  “O—”

  He cocked a brow at her.

  She stuck her tongue out at him and headed to the spare bedroom where her luggage still was.

  That needed to change and was another conversation they’d need to have when they got back. If not sooner.

  Chapter Twenty

  “It’s dirty money,” Ellie whispered. Though she wasn’t sure why she did, besides the fact they were sitting in a room full of strangers—most of them she only met briefly—talking about a subject which they shouldn’t be talking about. At least not right now.

  “After all that shit, it’s yours, Ellie.”

  “Let Gerald have it all.”

  “Sweetheart, McMaster doesn’t need any more money. He’s got plenty. You sold everything you had to try to pay off that asshole’s debt. It’s paid and then some. There’s more.”

  “It should go back to the people he stole it from.”

  “El, he stole from people like him. Crooks. If you think I’m tracking down...” Walker blew out a breath and shook his head. “Think about your future.”

  “I am thinking about my future.”

  “Are you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Am I in it?”

  She twisted her head to glance at him sitting in the chair next to her only to find him staring intently at her. “Do you want to be?”

  “Kinda figured that was a given.”

  She figured that, too, that’s why she was surprised he asked. Again, this wasn’t a conversation they should be having in a packed hospital waiting room. She glanced around. “Is this normal?”

  Trace barked out a laugh. “Yeah. And there’s more waiting down in the lobby since there’s no more room in here.”

  “Are we going to wait the whole time? Births usually take a while.”

  Yes, he had warned her, but she figured Jewel would be close to the end before everyone gathered. She found it impressive that this many people would want to be at the hospital for the whole birth.

  “Unless you’ve already pushed out two massive watermelons. Then babies just start falling out when you cough.”

  Her lips twitched. It was hard to believe that only a day ago she thought she was going to die. And here she was, sitting next to the man she loved, ready to welcome new life into the world. What a crazy last couple of days. Actually month, since it all started with those texts of George the cartel sent. “I’m sure Diesel’s wife would disagree.”

  “Ol’ lady.”

  She twisted her head back toward him. “What?”

  “Jewel is D’s ol’ lady, not his wife.”

  Her brow scrunched low. “Isn’t this their third child?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And he hasn’t even married her?” she hissed, trying to keep her voice low. Last thing she needed right now was pissing off a bunch of bikers and their ol’ ladies because they thought she was judging them.

  She wasn’t. That fact just caught her off guard.

  “Sometimes that official shit isn’t important. He claimed her years ago at the club’s table.”

  “I’m sorry, what?” A man claimed a woman? Like property? “What does that mean?”

  “He officially claimed her as his ol’ lady in front of their executive committee, the committee voted, and the vote passed.”

  “That’s just...” Archaic. “Weird.”

  Trace shrugged. “Cheaper than a wedding.”

  “But it’s not the same.” A wedding was two people professing their love and loyalty to each other. This “claiming” didn’t sound anything similar.

  “Same enough for them.”

  “But legally...”

  “Right. Third kid about to be born. D needs to make it legal just for that reason.”

  “This ol’ lady of his... Jewel... doesn’t bug him about it?”

  “No. And if she did, we’d hear it since she works with us. And she has no problem making her opinions known.” Trace lifted a finger. “And loudly.”

  “Well, as long as they’re happy, I guess.” To each his own.

  “They’re happy.”

  “Not so sure she’s happy at the moment.”

  He jerked his chin over to another stretch of occupied chairs lining one wall. Trace had introduced them as Diesel’s parents, Ace and Janice. They waited with their two adorable granddaughters, Violet and Indigo. Vi was asleep in her grandfather’s arms. Indie was out cold against her grandmother’s shoulder. “See those girls?”

  “Yes.”

  “They make Jewel happy.”

  “And Diesel?”

  “Hard to believe he’s a great father, but he’s one of the best I’ve ever met.”

  Ellie agreed. The little she’d dealt with Diesel; it was hard to believe. “You had a great dad,” she reminded him.

  “Yeah,” Trace said softly, his blue eyes met hers. “And even though you lost your father when you were young, Frank turned out to be a great stepfather.”

  That was true. She thought back on the conversation she had with her mother yesterday. “I need to visit them.” Nothing like the threat of dying to make you appreciate the people who love you even more.

  “Now you can. You’re rich, sweetheart. You can take them on a vacation. Buy them a new house. Or set them up in an expensive assisted living facility where people will be at their beck and call. Whatever they need, you can provide it for them. If you don’t want to think about yourself, think about them.”

  “There’s nothing nice up there.” She had already searched when she thought she and George could afford it since her stepfather hadn’t wanted to move away from where he grew up himself.

  “There’s a nice one down here.”

  “Trace...”

  “You still want kids?”

  Okay, that was a sudden switch of topic. But then they were in a hospital waiting for a child to be born. “You told me my clock was ticking.”

  Trace smirked. “It is.”

  Ellie rolled her eyes at him. “Need to find a great man before I make him a great father.”

  “There’s one of them down here, too.”

  “Give me his name, I’ll look him up.”

  “Smart ass.”

  Ellie smiled. It was strange, even though they were sitting in a hospital she again realized how free she finally felt. She hadn’t felt that way in a long time.

  She should be exhausted from the last couple of days she had. But coming to the hospital and seeing all the people cramming into the small room and even more in the hallways and lobby energized her.

  It gave her a sense how tight this community of bikers, their women, their kids and even the Shadows were.

  She’d never seen anything like it.

  She hoped to be a part of it as well.

  She also wondered if the waiting room would be just as busy if she was in the delivery room having Trace’s son or daughter.

  Trace was thirty-nine. She was almost thirty-seven.

  Did she even want to consider having children at that age? She had put that dream aside over sixteen years ago because she didn’t think having children with George would be smart.

  Plus, she and Trace already had their children planned and their names picked out way before he enlisted. Having children with someone else wouldn’t have felt right. Every time she had even considered having a baby, she could only picture the infant in Trace’s arms, not George’s. Was it wrong? Yes, and it had made her feel guilty. But she never could shake that feeling.

  “Do you still want that?” she asked.

  “Only with you.”

  She’d been good. She hadn’t cried once after being released from the freezer. But now..
.

  She rubbed away the sting in her eyes until Trace’s deep voice whispered in her ear, “Tyler and Taylor.”

  A sob-hiccup came from nowhere and she covered her face, so she didn’t start blubbering like an idiot. The birth of a baby was supposed to be a happy occasion and here she was sitting in the middle of strangers about to fall to pieces.

  All because Trace mentioned the two names they had picked out for their own babies long before they had even had sex together for the first time.

  Trace had said that Tyler, their son, would be their first born, so he could protect his baby sister, Taylor.

  She and Trace had been such dreamers.

  Her thoughts were interrupted when the big man named Diesel came lumbering down the hall wearing an ill-fitted gown over his clothes. All heads turned that way.

  The man didn’t smile. Nothing. He was totally expressionless. His eyes dark, the circles under them almost as dark. Not the normal look of a father with a healthy newborn, which made Ellie wonder if everything was okay with the mother and baby.

  Her heart skipped a beat at how quiet everyone had become. As if the whole room held their collective breaths.

  But as soon as he hit the room, his eyes slid through it and landed on his parents and his two girls. He immediately went over to them and picked his daughters up. They sleepily wrapped their arms around his thick neck and tucked their faces into it, too. Then, without a word, he headed back toward the hallway.

  “D! Jesus. Don’t leave us hanging,” a deep male voice yelled out. Possibly Diesel’s brother.

  He stopped with his broad back to the room.

  “Is Jewelee all right?” Janice asked, rushing up to him and grabbing a fistful of his paper gown.

  He turned and glanced down at his much shorter mother. “Ended up doin’ a C-section an’ now workin’ on tyin’ her tubes.”

  She gave that handful of gown a shake. “She’s good?”

  “Yeah,” he grunted.

  “Baby’s good?”

  He only nodded. His face, which had been blank, began to twist. “Gotta go. Girls gotta see their sister.”

  At least now Ellie had a good excuse to be caught crying.

  Then just like that, Diesel simply lumbered off with Janice quickly following on his heels.

  The whole waiting room was quiet for another beat, then two. Until it seemed everyone finally took a breath before laughter started quietly and quickly moved through the room, becoming louder as it went.

  “Another girl!” a male voice howled.

  Ace pulled a large bag out from under his seat and began to hand out cigars, yelling, “’Nother fuckin’ granddaughter. Ain’t gonna complain about that!” He stopped in front of a larger man, who Trace had introduced as Hawk. “Guess it’s up to you an’ Keeks to have the boys.”

  Hawk took the cigar from his father and glanced down at the tall, voluptuous woman standing next to him. “Hear that, baby? Time to go home an’ make another son. Looks like we need two more to even things out.”

  The woman named Kiki, a lawyer Trace had told her, made a face and smacked his arm. “Dream on, honey. I’m getting way too old to pop out more babies.”

  “Ain’t never too old to work on makin’ babies.”

  “Working on them and having them are—”

  Kiki was interrupted as all eyes turned back to the hallway. Janice came barreling back into the room, her eyes alit and a big smile on her face. “First of all, since D didn’t mention it, she’s perfectly healthy and just... hell... perfect! And,” she took a deep breath, and announced with a huge smile, “Jewel named her Scarlet.”

  A hoot went up in the corner as one of the men crowed, “Fuck yeah! I won the pool.”

  The bikers were taking bets on the baby? She shook her head but thought that was a hoot.

  “Trace,” she whispered, and she caught his gaze.

  His blue eyes dropped to hers and her heart squeezed at the warm look in them. “Yeah, sweetheart?”

  She pursed her lips as she studied his face. He was so damn handsome. So smart. He’d grown into a great man. And he was so lucky to be a part of the huge family that surrounded them. “I want this.”

  “Want what?”

  “All of it.”

  His eyes crinkled at the corners. “I’ll talk to Z about claiming you as my ol’ lady.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Not that!”

  “Then what do you want?”

  “You.”

  His expression turned serious. “You have me.”

  “Tyler and Taylor.”

  His throat worked for a moment, before he said, “I’ll give you them.”

  “This, too.”

  “This?”

  Her gaze circled the room and then came back to him. “All of this.”

  “I’ll give you all of this, too. Whatever you want, El. Whatever you need, I’ll give it to you.” He tilted his head down as he studied her face. “Just saying, though. You’re going to be filthy rich; you might not need me to give you anything. You’ll be able to buy whatever you want.”

  “I don’t want that blood money.”

  “And that’s why you need to do something with it, El. McMaster’s blood spilled for it, so don’t let it go to waste. Put it to good use. And if you want to buy me a Lambo, I’m not going to say no.”

  Her eyebrows knitted together. “A Lambo?”

  His eyes widened in feigned shock. “The car.”

  “Is it faster than your Dodge?” Because there was no way he was getting anything faster than the car he already had. No matter who was paying for it.

  He needed to be around to be that great father for their future kids.

  “Not really. Maybe a tad.”

  “Are you lying?” She must be overly tired. It took a few moments before it finally dawned on her what a “Lambo” was. A Lamborghini. She knew exactly how fast one of those went.

  “Maybe a tad.”

  More than a tad. “Can you fit a car seat in it?”

  “I can sure as hell try.”

  She shook her head. Her second wind was leaving her quickly. “Can we go home now that we know Jewel and the baby are good?”

  “Yeah. I’ll see the baby at the warehouse once D has her strapped to his chest as he’s barking out orders.” He captured her chin and locked his gaze with hers. “Need a promise from you first.”

  “What?”

  “We always discuss any major decisions before we make them. We don’t do anything crazy without the other knowing.”

  “I’d agree with that, but what about your job?”

  “Job? I thought I was going to be a kept man,” he teased, then said, “My job will be an exception, most assignments we do I won’t be able to discuss with you before, during or after. That’s just something you’ll have to trust me on. And none of them should affect us.”

  “Us,” she repeated softly.

  “Us, Ellie. Took fucking forever, but we’re finally an ‘us.’”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “We’re done with sorries, too. Remember what I said? You can lie down and give up, or you can rise and keep going. We both gave up and were down for a long time. Now it’s time to rise and not only face our future but create it.”

  “I like the sound of that.”

  “I also like the sound of ‘let’s go home.’”

  He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kept it there as they said their goodbyes.

  And they went home to begin the future they’d always planned. They just didn’t realize it would happen later than sooner.

  But she was sure Trace would agree, they would make it worth the wait.

  She couldn’t wait to see what the future held for them both.

  Epilogue

  Three years later

  If Walker could be any more fucking content, he didn’t know how.

  The summer heat had been chased away by the night and the sky was so clear that the stars seemed endless. As they
laid there in the back of his Ford pickup on a pile of blankets, they’d even spotted a shooting star.

  It was like they’d stepped over twenty-two years back in time with the way the crickets chirped, owls hooted in the distance and how the big moon reflected off the still lake.

  The dark cloud that had hung over Ellie’s head was now a distant memory and the sun was shining on their future. The future they were building together.

  They were back north in their hometown to move her mother and stepfather down to Shadow Valley. It took her a while to convince them to move closer and they finally admitted they were getting to the point they shouldn’t live on their own. Though her mom’s excuse was, not that they were getting too old, but they’d be close by when their second grandchild was born.

  Ellie was only starting to show but was definitely filling out. Enough that he noticed it even if no one else did. Enough for her to complain that her clothes were getting tight. Which he didn’t mind one fucking bit.

  He loved when she carried their first child. In fact, he couldn’t stop touching her. And not just her belly, either. Luckily, she also couldn’t stop touching him. Pregnancy seemed to make her even hornier than usual. Seeing her pregnant did it for him, too. Not that he needed any fucking help in that department.

  He grinned up at the night sky. If they hadn’t already agreed to stop after two, he’d plan on knocking her up again as soon as it was possible. Someone had to give Diesel a run for his money when it came to a family brood. Though, he wouldn’t be surprised if Hunter and Frankie had a third soon. Especially since number two for them was a boy and Frankie had been hoping for a girl.

  He hoped this time the baby Ellie was carrying was a boy. His plan to have a son first didn’t work out. Instead Taylor Adelaide Walker was the first one to come screaming at the top of her lungs into the world, looking just like her daddy with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was already a handful which didn’t bode well for them in the future.

  Since she insisted on being born first, Walker guessed he’d have to teach her how to protect her little brother when he joined them.

  It better be a boy. Otherwise, they were trying again. And he hoped like hell, not to be in Diesel’s shoes with four females in his household. Walker swore D’s hair was getting thin from him pulling it out.