by Ryan Michele
A hand comes up, and Ryker pulls my thumb away from my mouth. He clasps his hand with mine, intertwining our fingers. “Ready?”
I shake my head, and as I do, my mother becomes alert, even more so than before.
“Yes, you are. Let’s do this and be done.”
Letting out a deep breath, I squeeze his hand. “Okay.”
Ryker lets out a piercing whistle, catching everyone’s attention. The room quiets.
“Austyn has something she wants to tell ya. Not a fuckin’ word from anyone,” Ryker warns, causing a smile to tip my lips. Damn, I love this man.
As all eyes fall on me, my pulse picks up, my heart threatening to jump from my chest and run a marathon.
Ryker pulls me into his side and kisses the top of my head reassuringly.
Letting out a deep breath, I begin, “You all know I was pregnant.” My eyes veer over to Deke, who has Riley sitting next to him, holding her hand, with Emery on his other. His focus is on me.
Emery gives me a small smile. The bandages on her arm and neck freeze me in place for a moment. It pisses me off that he touched her, but it could’ve been a lot worse. I’m thankful it wasn’t.
Sucking in a deep breath, I focus.
“I’m just going to blurt this out and get it done with. JK was the father of the baby.”
Gasps and wide eyes are seen throughout the room, making my stomach twist into a knot.
I hurry and continue, “He drugged me outside of Club Cam’s and took me to a place—I don’t know where. He and his three friends took turns with … me.”
The sound of several chairs screeching across the floor then falling with loud clashes get me to open my eyes that I didn’t realize I’d closed. My father, Deke, Cooper, and Nox are all up on their feet, their focus solely on me, fury radiating off them like no other.
“It’s done. He’s dead. But … Ryker and I talked about it and thought it was best for everyone to know. I didn’t tell you to be pissed off, but I wanted you to know so this will never come up again. I want this laid to rest and in the past. I don’t want anyone talking about it or feeling sorry for me in any way. I don’t need pity. I just want everyone to know so it will never get held over me or any of you in the future.”
Letting out a deep breath, Ryker pulls me to his side, kissing my temple.
“You fuckin’ shittin’ me!” This, surprisingly, comes from Deke. “This is because of me. All this fuckin’ shit!” he yells, flipping the table in front of him as Rylie screams out.
Only then do I break away from Ryker and walk up to Deke. Ryker tries to pull me back, noting the blazing red fury coming from Deke, but I know he’d never hurt me.
Deke heaves in and out, his fists clenched at his sides. His intense gaze hits me like a brand, but that doesn’t stop me from talking.
“He didn’t know who I was until after it was all over.” Deke’s nostrils flare. “He only found out because he looked through my purse and found my driver’s license. You had nothing to do with this, Deke. It was the wrong place, wrong time.”
“You lyin’ to make me calm down?”
I shake my head vehemently. “I lied to you once and vowed I’d never do it again, Deke. It’s the truth.”
Deke reaches out and pulls me to his chest, wrapping me up. “I’m so fuckin’ sorry,” he says in my ear.
“Not your fault, Deke.”
He squeezes me tighter, and that’s how I spend the afternoon.
All wrapped up in my family.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Church,” Cruz calls out, which is to be expected after Austyn just dropped the bomb. In all honesty, they took it better than I thought. I mean, hell, only one flipped table; that’s pretty damn good for the club.
I eye my woman from across the room. She’s sitting with Emery and her mother. When I catch her eye, I lift my chin. She gives me a smile in recognition.
Making my way into church, I feel all their eyes scanning me, searching for answers. This should be fun.
Cruz calls attention. “What else do you know? And is that the reason you had Breaker take pictures of those assholes and send them to you?”
I lean back in my chair on a sigh. “That’s all I know. Everything is out in the open. As for the pictures, I showed them to Austyn so she could identify all four of the assholes who touched her. Fuck, she killed two of them herself.”
Cruz runs his hands through his hair, pain searing his expression. He loves his girl. There hasn’t been one time I saw him with her when he didn’t have his arm around her or laughing with her. Cruz is one scary motherfucker, but his wife and kids are his world. This is tearing him up.
“You’re fuckin’ sure all those assholes are dead?” Cooper asks from next to his father, while Deke stares at me, waiting for the answer.
“She ID’d them clear out. Even trembled when she did so. It’s them. This shit is over with, and Austyn wants it laid to rest. That’s why she told you. She doesn’t want this shit hanging over her head. It’s done. Over.”
“Fuck, I want to crush that motherfucker.” Deke clenches and unclenches his fists on top of the table. There’s no doubt he’s feeling like his retribution didn’t get finished. JK fucked with his life by getting him addicted to drugs then threatening the kids of the Ravage MC if he didn’t leave. When Deke did leave, it caused a horrible rift between him and his father. Deke wanted to be the one to put the bullet in JK. I can’t blame him.
“Know that, but Austyn got there first, even if I want to fuckin’ strangle her for it.”
Deke’s brows go up, as does Cooper’s. Cooper is the one to speak.
“So, you’ve been attached to her fuckin’ hip for the last, hell, I don’t even know how long, and you let her slip through?”
I knew this was coming.
Rubbing my hands over my face, I say, “Got out of the shower and heard the door shut. Lucky for me, it took her a minute, fumbling with her keys to get the door locked. I got dressed, let her get in her car, and followed her. Called you guys, and the rest, you know.”
“I’m just fuckin’ glad the asshole’s gone,” Cooper says.
“Not fuckin’ me,” Rhys puts in. “I could’ve had a hell of a fun time with him.” He pulls out his knife and runs the blade over his fingertips.
“No shit,” Cruz says, slapping his hands down on the table. “Is she okay?”
Inhaling deeply, I let it out. “No, but she will be. It’s a rush for all this to come out. Brother, she was going to keep it to the grave, and if JK hadn’t said anything about it bein’ his baby, I would’ve never picked it up. But it’s over. We all know everything, and it’s done with. Let’s move the fuck on and don’t look back.”
“Right, so you’re off duty and need to be back at the shop,” GT cuts in. “It also means you can move out of my niece’s place.”
I flex my fingers. “Right, like that’s gonna happen.”
“Right,” Cruz says, standing up and holding the gavel. “Better not hurt her or I’ll rip your heart out and feed it to the wolves.” The gavel slams down in finality.
I have no doubt what he says is true. Good thing I don’t ever intend on hurting my woman.
“Now go get her. We have to all talk to her about what she did.”
I’ve been dreading this for a while now, knowing it was coming. She hacked into Ravage’s computers, which is something that isn’t done. Might as well get all this shit done in one go.
“I’ll be back.”
I move out in search of my woman, knowing that, no matter what happens in that room, I’ll protect her. I find her sitting at a bunch of tables with her mother and some of the other ol’ ladies, including Emery.
She smiles as I approach, but it falls when she sees the look on my face. I’m not sure what it is, but she’s hesitant about it.
“They want to talk to ya.”
Panic flashes in her eyes, but she quickly masks it and rises.
Princess stares at us. I j
ust lift my chin, letting her know I’ll take care of my girl.
Out of earshot, I tell Austyn, “They know you hacked into the Ravage computers. I actually knew a long time ago, but we were letting you ride.”
She gasps, pulling away from me, eyes as wide as saucers.
“You’re gonna go in there with your head held high and deal with whatever is said.”
She clasps her throat. “I’m in trouble?” she whispers.
“Not as much as you’d think, but yeah. They want to talk to you.”
We make it to the door.
“As much as I’ve been in this room, I should just be a patched member.” She gives a little chuckle, letting me know she’s okay. She may be a little scared, but she’s going to be alright.
I knock once then enter. Everyone turns their heads as I lead Austyn to the front.
Cruz rises and wraps his arms around her, kissing her on the head.
“Looks like I’m in the principal’s office again,” she jokes, and the room chuckles. That’s better than how I thought this would be. Ravage doesn’t take this shit lightly. She knows this just as well as I do.
The air in the room turns serious as I take my seat, my eyes glued to my woman. She looks nervous but is holding herself together, not even biting her thumb. I’m impressed. However, my thoughts are up in the air on how this could go.
“Tell me,” Cruz says as he sits back in his chair.
Having Austyn on display in front of everyone is a tactic we often use in interrogation.
“The night of one of the parties, I went into Buzz’s room and saved all the information you had on JK onto my flash drive. I took it home and looked through it all.” She breathes out her words, almost coming out as a long paragraph without any breaks.
“So, you stole from Ravage,” GT, the vice president and her uncle, says.
Her eyes shift. “I thought of it as sharing information.”
Buzz clears his throat. “You know that shit is encrypted with so many obstacles that no human or other computer should be able to get into it.”
“Um …”
Buzz continues, “And you were able to do it and put shit back to a point I had to really search to find out what exactly you took and when.”
This time, she says nothing.
“And you picked my fuckin’ lock.”
Austyn closes her eyes then opens them, clasping her hands in front of her. “I’m sorry. I needed to find JK before any of you did. I wanted my revenge, and I wanted him to stay quiet about everything that happened. I didn’t think of it as stealing from any of you. I’m sorry if you do. I was blinded by vengeance.” She blows out a breath, her hair going up with it then back down to her face.
“What do you think we should do about it?” Cruz asks conversationally. If this were anyone else for any other reason, he’d be in a face-off with them, no questions asked.
“You can have the money. It’s millions, Dad. It’s all JK’s. I rerouted it to an account I set up. It should be there by now. I’ll wire it to Ravage.”
“The money you hopped around went into an account for you?” Buzz asks.
Austyn nods while I lean back in my chair. I guess there was another secret I didn’t know about.
“It was payback for what he did to me. I thought I could donate some of it, and then live comfortably on the rest. But I did wrong, and as my penance, I’ll wire all the money to Ravage’s accounts.”
Cruz looks around the room. Austyn has been here her whole life. Been through more than any woman deserves. Still, I know they can’t fully let it go. There has to be some consequences or it will happen again, and that can’t happen.
“Half. Half the money dumped into Ravage’s accounts. Buzz will help you with it.”
Austyn nods, looking down at her hands.
“The rest of it, you start over—fresh. That fucker has no more pull on you. No touch. He doesn’t exist. Understood?”
“Yes,” she replies.
“Since that’s done,” Buzz says, slamming his hand on the table, “you and me are gonna have some sessions in front of the computer, because you’re going to show me how you did everything so I can make the system stronger.”
“Of course. But Tug’s the one who taught me the locks.”
“Pft!” Buzz chimes out, looking over at Tug. “That shit’s child’s play. Computers are the answer.”
“Fucker,” Tug says on a laugh, and it’s done.
Cruz gets up and hugs his daughter, along with everyone else in the room. When she gets to me, I don’t let her go. Even when she transferred the money over and talked to Buzz, she did it on my lap.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Mom, seriously, I said we were coming and I mean it.” Rolling my eyes up to the ceiling does nothing to hide the irritation in my words. Even through the phone, I know my mother can sense it.
“You better be. This is family day.”
“I know. I’m not going to hide out like I did before. Everything is good.”
“No, you’ll just hide out in your place with your man. Don’t think I don’t know you didn’t come to the party last weekend because you were curled up with him.”
I chuckle because she’s right. “Yep, and if you were me, you would’ve done the same.”
“You’re probably right, but don’t miss today.” There’s a smile in her voice.
“Be there in a bit.”
“Good.” She disconnects as Ryker wraps his arms around me. I let my head fall back to his shoulder.
“It’s not a bad idea, ya know—getting back in bed and letting me fuck you until tomorrow,” he says in my ear then gives it a nibble.
I let out a chuckle that turns into a moan. “Yeah, but my mother will probably be here to rip your balls off.”
“Ouch. Way to kill the mood.”
“Emery!” I yell out just as she comes out of her room. Dressed in jeans and a tank, she’s beautiful like always. Damn, I’d kill for that hair.
“Shut it, woman. I’m here.” She stuffs something into her bag. “Let’s go.”
We take Ryker’s bike, and Emery follows in her car.
People surround the clubhouse. As I get off the bike, I feel like I’m home. Food is consumed, along with laughter and a ton of beer.
Bristyl comes over and grabs my hands. “You need anything ever, you talk to me,” she says with a smile.
“Thanks.”
Rylynn breaks away from her mother, Tanner and comes over to greet us. We haven’t seen her in a long time. One, because Rhys has her under lock and key when she’s here; and two, she’s away at school. She just finished her freshman year of college, and I’m so damn happy to have her home. We aren’t as close as Emery and I are, but we’re still family.
She falls into my arms, wrapping hers around me. “I love you. Anything you want to talk about, I’m here. No questions asked.”
With a wide smile on my face, I pull back. “Thanks, but I’m good. How about you?”
Something flashes in her eyes. “School sucks, but whatever.”
“Sorry.”
She waves her hand in the air. “Pft. No worries. I’ll make it, always do.”
We sit and chat for what feels like forever.
That’s when the air in the room changes.
Micah, Tug and Blaze’s son, comes strolling into the clubhouse. A clubhouse, mind you, that he has wanted nothing to do with for years.
When he was younger, he always had his head in a video game, saying he wanted nothing to do with the club. He made it his point—no, his mission—that everyone know he’d never be part of the club.
Emery has loved that boy since they were little, but he has never once given her the time of day. Never. It’s like she doesn’t even exist to him. He’s a fucking moron if you ask me.
What the real kicker is, he has a gorgeous, leggy woman on his arm, with long, thick blonde hair down her back and sparkling blue eyes.
I have to blink a couple
times because I could have sworn it was Emery on his arm, but no, it’s almost an exact replica of her. Almost. Holy fuck.
Darting my eyes around the room, they land on Emery, whose jaw is dropped as she takes in Micah. I’m not going to lie, he looks damn good with his dark hair and five o’clock shadow. But fuck, this is going to cut Emery to the quick. There’s no way to stop it.
As Micah begins to make his rounds, Emery becomes unstuck.
I move away from Ryker, who came over to talk with Rylynn and me. “Gotta get the tequila.”
He chuckles as I move to the bar and ask the prospect for a bottle and two shot glasses.
Emery slides up to me, not saying a word.
“Looks like we have a date with Jose tonight,” I tell her, sliding a glass in front of her.
She doesn’t hesitate, slamming it in one glug then tapping the glass back on the bar.
“We have a long fuckin’ date with Jose, Austyn. Long fuckin’ date.”
Tequila is poured, and we drink … a lot. Rylynn comes over and has a couple of shots. She may only be nineteen, but she’s with family.
A few hours later, Micah and his Emery clone come up to us. And I’m pretty happy that Emery is three sheets to the wind or this could be really bad. Or maybe her being three sheets is bad. Shit.
“Hey, Austyn, Emery. How’s it goin’?” he asks as Emery takes another shot. I’ve lost count of what we’re on, but Ryker hasn’t come over to intervene, so I guess we’re not totally lost yet.
“Good. You?” I answer for her.
“Good. This is Jacklyn,” Micah introduces.
I give a small wave as Emery’s lips tip up just a bit in a snarl, then she releases it.
“Hi,” Emery finally says. I can see her jaw clenched, fighting back from saying any more.
“How are you doing, Emery?” he asks, still holding the girl next to him.
She looks up to the ceiling. “A knife to the neck, arm, and stomach … Doin’ peachy. You?”
Micah looks stunned for a moment. That’s when I see Jacks, one of the brothers, out of the corner of my eye. He’s one of the quiet ones, always in the background, but never really far away. He strolls up to Emery, putting his arm around her and pulling her gently to his side.