I sat by her bedside praying she would be okay, but I knew in my heart that if my brother killed Ghost, she never would be.
Thankfully, Hammer talked Draven around, and he let Ghost go. Not only that, Draven allowed Ghost and Avery to continue their relationship. However, he made Ghost swear that he'd take care of Avery. I saw how much he loved her the moment he walked through the door to her hospital room. Ghost was heartbroken to see Avery so sick.
I was shocked to learn that I had another brother. Draven explained everything briefly to me while we waited for Ghost to come out of Avery's room. I hadn't known before that moment. I think my jaw hit the floor. I actually felt a little left out by Draven and Avery. They'd known the truth for a while, yet they said nothing to me.
My father and Avery's were siblings, and apparently uncle Vinny told his wife all about my father's secret son. Draven only found out after reading a letter Avery's mother wrote to her, which stated my father had been married again after he left my mother – shock to me because I never knew this fact, he'd been married to my mother when I was born – and one day we'd all know the little boy that was his. The little boy who was being raised by bikers. The little boy, my father's ex-wife, swore blind was someone else's.
Avery had never seen such a letter, Draven never gave it to her. He hadn't known about it until it was brought to him by one of his men. He read it, because it could have been anything, and then took matters into his own hands.
The story goes that when Draven was just a small boy, my father left our mother and then married someone else only two months later. Yeah, God knows if his divorce from my mother was even legal. I didn't think you could get a divorce that quickly.
Apparently, in that marriage, he had another son, but he knew nothing about the child when he left his second wife to go back to my mom just months after marrying Hillary, his second wife. His second marriage fell apart merely because Hillary was terrified of him and wanted out of the marriage that he forced her into. This didn't surprise me, my father was a terrifying man, and as a made man, could make you do anything he wanted you to do. He saw Hillary in a bar, wanted her, and made sure she had no choice but to do what he said.
My heart broke for that woman and what she must have gone through with that man. The story goes that she was still a teenager, and she must have been so scared that this older man had taken her. I had to wonder if he raped her, threatened her family. I shed tears for her.
Avery's father was the Don at the time and hadn't even been informed of my father's marriage to Hillary. He wasn't happy about it at all. A couple of months after my father and Hillary were married, she managed to get away from him and seek out Vinny, my uncle, and beg him for help.
My uncle was furious that my father had done such things to his wife. Vinny was not the kind of man who hurt women, not just for the sake of it. Hillary was an innocent young girl whom my father forced into something she didn't want. So, my uncle ordered my father to let Hillary go. So he did, which tells me that he didn't really want her, to begin with. However, that meant my poor mother had to take him back.
I don't know everything about it, and maybe she loved him because they remarried not long after. I don't like to think the family forced her into it, but I have no doubt my father did.
I was six before my father even knew anything about his other son. He tried to force his ex-wife to allow him to see the child. She swore blind the child wasn't his, that he was her second husband's little boy, the man she'd met before she left my father. The reason she wanted to leave him. I guess she knew that my dad, being a Wiseguy, could have brought hell to her doorstep. He would have taken that child away from her and raised him in the way of the mob, as would have been his right due to famiglia rules, or maybe it was because her new husband was part of the Snakes Henchmen and it would have brought all-out war. The MC would have been wiped out, but I bet they would have put up a good fight.
I don't know how that woman managed to convince my father the child wasn't his, I'm guessing fake DNA results, but my dad backed off. Or so I heard.
Anyway, Draven met with the man my cousin believed was our brother. He laughed, of course, said the whole thing was crazy. The President of the Snakes Henchmen told our half-brother that it was true. Draven and I had an outlaw biker for a brother. His name is Hammer, or such is his road name. His given name is Sam, which no one but his wife has the honor of calling him.
Draven wanted to bring him into the family as our brother, but Hammer wanted nothing from him. I guess he was testing Draven when he said that if he loved Avery at all, he'd let Ghost go and allow him and Avery to be together. Family is everything to Draven, he saw Hammer's side of things, and he did let Ghost go.
Ghost came straight to the hospital that day, told Avery how much he loved her and that he wanted to make her his wife. Which he did, and they are perfect together. They now have a little boy, Daniel, named after his father, born three days after Noah, Hammer's son. I'm happy for them. I'm so glad Avery has Ghost. Draven and I were all Avery had at one point. None of us have parents, and the rest of our family live in Italy or in and around America.
Hammer wasn't very accepting of Draven and me. Draven stood for everything Hammer hated, although they came together to fix things for both the family and the MC. Right now, there's peace in this town and every town surrounding it. Hell, the whole of Tennessee is peaceful. It won't last long, it never does. However, I sleep a little easier at night these days.
My father is still around. Somewhere. I'm not allowed to see him, that was what Draven forced on him because of the vile man he is. Either he stays the hell away from me, or Draven would kill him. I was thirteen. I never forgave my brother for that, because I don't know what my dad did in order to have to leave me. My mother had died six months previously, and then my father was gone, but I could never hate Draven. For any reason. I know he only did what he did because he had to. Regardless of the fact he won't tell me why.
Draven is twelve years older than I am and was plenty old enough to care for me after dad was gone. He prided himself on doing what was right where I was concerned. He raised me right. However, I know I have failed him. I'm twenty-four years old and pregnant with an outlaw bikers baby.
My brother will kill him.
My brother will kill me.
He really will. He warned me not to go near any of them. That we may have a biker for a brother, but that doesn't mean I can stoop to that level and procreate with one. I would stoop to many levels if it meant I got one more night with Jett. God, I know in my heart that I will never find a man who can make me feel the way he did for as long as I live. Men like Jett don't come along very often. Believe me.
I drive right up to the metal gates of the Snakes Henchmen clubhouse. A guy with long blond hair and a scruffy beard pokes his head in through my window, making me scream while jumping out of my skin. Asshole!
“What do you want?” Charming. He looks new. A prospect, maybe? The name on his patch reads Razor.
“I need to see your VP.”
“And why would you need to see him?”
“None of your business!” His eyes widen. I wasn't that harsh, Jeez. I scream as he yanks open my door, unbuckles my belt, and drags me out of the car. Shit! “Take your hands off of me! Do you have any idea who I am?” I yell at him as he pins me back against my car.
“Couldn't care less who you are, toots. You're in my house now.” He's vile, smells of sweat and cigarette smoke. It's on his clothes and his breath, that and the alcohol he's apparently been drinking. Oh my god, I'm going to throw up, my stomach is turning over.
“You're a pretty little thing, aren't you?”
I turn my head away from him, trying to suck in a little fresh air.
“Back the hell off!” I hiss. Oh hell, he's pressing himself against me.
Don't throw up, Maria.
He grabs my face and forces me to look at him, but have you ever looked at someone without really seeing them? Y
eah, that's what I'm doing right now. I look past him and into the trees behind him.
“I'm gonna fuck you right here against your car. Not one person inside this place will care.” His hand is sliding up my leg, and I'm cringing.
Hammer swore to Draven and me that this club wasn't about hurting women and children. That they didn't tolerate men, who forced themselves on a woman, especially not men who rape. So why has this asshole just told me he's going to rape me right out here in the open where everyone can see? Would they really do nothing to stop him?
“If you want to see sundown, you best take your...” I don't get to finish my sentence because he's being dragged away from me, and when I say that, I mean ripped, torn, punched to the ground and kicked the shit out of. My heart is pounding, and I can't believe what I'm seeing.
I watch the huge man in front of me beating the hell out of Razor. Man, these bikers are crazy. I thought my brother was insane, but this guy? Nuts!
“You ever fuckin’ touch her again, and I'll put a bullet through fuckin' your brain!” He screams at Razor. I'm holding my stomach, trying not to throw the hell up.
I jump on my high heels when he turns to look at me. Those blue eyes that have haunted me for over three months look right through me. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you. There's something I need to talk to you about.”
“I told you not to come here. I told you it was one night, that's all.”
“I know, but...”
“But nothing!”
I swallow hard. Jesus, I've been around hardened criminals all my life. My brother is a Mafia Boss, for fuck's sake. Yet this man scares the crap out of me on a whole other level. How is that possible?
He stalks toward me, I instinctively take a step back, bumping my backside against the door of my car. I flinch and close my eyes when he reaches out his hand. For a second there I thought he was going to hit me.
However, he doesn't, he slides the back of his hand down my cheek. I keep my eyes closed for a second, remembering the night we shared and the way he touched me back then. God, it was everything I had ever dreamed of.
“It's not safe for you here, baby. Hammer ain't around, and if I hadn't been, that asshole could have done anything to you without realizing who you were until it was too late. Don't worry he's a dead man.” The growl that rips from his throat... God, help me.
“I know,” I finally open my eyes. “But I had to come. I need to speak with you, it is so important, Jett.” Jett. Even the sound of his name has me weak at the knees.
“I guess you better come inside then.” I clutch his waist, unable to move my shaking legs. “You okay?”
I shake my head. I feel sick. I won't be sick, I never am, but I feel nauseous.
He clasps the back of my neck, bringing my head forward and kissing my forehead. Probably thinks I'm upset about Razor and his wandering hands. I'm not. Asshole wouldn't have got far. However, I let Jett pull me into his arms.
I wrap mine around his back tightly. I rest my head against his powerful chest and breathe deeply. It shouldn't feel this right to be in his arms.
“I'm all right, Jett. Honest.” I say that, but I don't seem to be able to let go of him, but he pulls away slightly with a smile on his face, winks and takes my hand, leading me inside.
Here goes. The most significant moment of my life so far. I only hope Jett agrees to what I'm about to propose. Literally.
He leads me inside where a bunch of bikers are sitting talking and laughing, drinking and being dumb. Most bikers are in my opinion.
Jett's younger sister waves at me. I wave back. That's when I notice her husband, Tank, Hammer's brother. That sounds so weird to me.
“Maria!” I spin on my high heels and laugh loudly as Avery runs at me, wrapping her arms around my neck. I have no choice but to let go of Jett's hand, even though I was trying to keep hold of it.
“What are you doing here?” She asks as she pulls away from me. She looks so different, she's wearing tight jeans, and a leather jacket, which I know has the words Property Of Ghost, written on the back in white stitch work. She's so damn proud to be his wife. I can't believe how quickly she got her figure back after baby Danny's birth. That little boy is beyond cute. I love him so much, and he's already giggling at people.
This isn't the Avery I'm used to. The Avery I once knew wouldn't have been seen dead in anything that wasn't Versace or Gucci. She was spoiled by her father, the Don before my brother. When he passed away, my brother spoiled her just as he did me.
Her mother might be alive, but we don't talk about that waste of space. I guess it's not really her fault that she had a breakdown after uncle Vinny died. However, she's never had much to do with Avery since. I can't imagine what would drive a mother to walk away from her child and never look back.
Draven and I are Avery's family, Hammer and Ghost also. I guess this whole MC. Will they be mine also?
“I came to speak with Jett.”
“Jett, huh?” She eyeballs him while folding her arms around her waist.
I feel so overdressed and uncomfortable. I hardly ever feel uncomfortable, but I'm wearing nothing more than a little black dress that is so tight and short it leaves hardly anything to the imagination. No wonder Razor thought he could do what he wanted to me. I should have been a little smarter in choosing an outfit before coming here, but I didn't even think about it. The way I dress comes naturally. It's not like I dressed like this to impress anyone.
God, I'm going to be in so much trouble when my brother finds out I gave my bodyguard the slip. Again. But is it my fault that he's so dumb he can't keep track of me? He gets paid to watch me and where I go closely. Moron.
“Does Draven know you're here?”
“No. Don't say anything to him. Please.”
“I won't, but he might.” She tips her head.
I turn mine to see Hammer and his wife coming toward us, their baby in his big arms. Yes, I have a tiny little nephew, Noah, just three months old. He's beautiful, but I've never even held him. I've wanted to, but every time I so much as stroke his little head, Hammer pulls him away from me. Yeah, he doesn't like me at all, and that hurts so much. I've been nothing but polite to him, but everything out of his mouth directed toward me isn't.
“What the fuck is she doing here?” Hammer snaps as soon as he's within earshot. I bite the inside of my mouth as Willow, his wife tells him not to make a scene. I don't think I've ever felt this uncomfortable in my life.
“She's here to see me,” Jett tells him. Hammer hands the baby to Willow, who rolls her eyes, and while Hammer and Jett argue about why the hell I'd need to see him, I block them out and stand smiling at my nephew. He's such a beautiful little thing. He's going to be the image of his daddy.
“He's so beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Willow smiles. “Would you like to hold him?”
“Can I?” I think the smile on my face is going to split my cheeks apart. She nods her head and places him in my arms, and something inside of me melts. This is going to be me soon. I'm going to be the one holding the baby, my baby, and for the first time since I found out a couple of days ago, things don't seem so scary.
“What the fuck are you doing?!” Before I can even blink, the baby is ripped from my arms and passed back to his mother. “Take him to Nova.” Nova is Jett and Willow's younger sister. Yes, my brother is married to Jett's sister. Hammer's brother is married to Jett's other sister, and though there is nothing wrong with that, it's somewhat confusing to me.
“I wasn't hurting him.”
“I don't want you near my son!”
“Jesus, Hammer!” Jett snaps. However, it doesn't bother my brother; he just keeps right on looking at me like I'm the devil in disguise.
“What have I ever done to you?” I'm trying to fight back the tears trying to fall from my eyes. I'm a strong woman, but this hurts like nothing ever has.
Many people hate women like me. I'm the sister of a Mafia Don
, so they automatically think I'm some evil, privileged princess. However, I'm not a bad person. I have never done anything bad in my life. I'm kind to everyone, a friend if they need one. Draven might be everything people say he is, but he raised me right. I'm a good person. I know I am.
But then why does my half-brother hate me this much?
Ignoring my question, he says, “Go home, you stupid little girl. You really think this is the kind of place you should be?”
“You really think this is the place your son should be?”
He takes a step toward me, but I hold my ground. He doesn't scare me as much as he tries. He stands with his hands across his big body. “He belongs here. You don't.”
“I'm not leaving. I'm here to talk to Jett about something.” Hammer's eyes shoot to Jett, giving him a deadly look. What the hell is that all about? Jett doesn't seem to be bothered by it, though, he rolls his eyes and pushes his hands into his jeans.
“You have nothing to speak to Jett about, and when I tell Draven you obviously gave Lorenzo the slip and came here, he'll make damn sure you can never do it again.”
“There is something I need to speak to Jett about. I wouldn't have come here for any other reason. I know you hate me, but you don't have to treat me like shit on your boot, Hammer.”
“That's where you're wrong.”
My shoulders sag. I can deal with people hating me; I'm used to it. However, this is my brother, the brother who doesn't have a problem with Draven. They talk, they have dinner together sometimes. Sure, I'm there, but he doesn't say one word to me, nor does he look at me. I don't get this.
I'm not a drama queen, and even though my brother is now dragging me through the clubhouse by my arm, and the grip he has on me may hurt and is strong enough to leave bruises, I don't make a sound. Everyone else behind him is yelling for him to stop, but I won't.
He rants on about me not coming here again, and how he'll tell Draven to keep me away if I so much as show my face at the gate again. Idiot of a man.
Never Give You Up (Snakes Henchmen Book 3) Page 2