Hammer

by James, Nicole

“No news is good news. Isn’t that what they say?” Jessie smiled, trying to lighten the mood. “We’ll hear something soon.” She looked to Skylar. “Skylar, stop pacing!”

  Skylar bit her lip and sat in a chair. “Sorry.” A moment later her phone rang. It sat on the table, and she glanced down at the lit screen. Shades.

  She said a silent prayer and answered. “Baby?”

  “We got him. He’s okay. We’ll be back in Birmingham in a couple hours.”

  “Oh, thank God.” She put her hand to her chest, tucked the phone under her chin, and told Mrs. Dodge and Jessie. “He’s safe. They’re bringing him back.”

  Hammer’s mother clapped her hands together and laced her fingers. “Thank you, God. Thank you, Jesus.”

  Jessie put her arm around her and she collapsed against her in relief. “My baby boy is safe.” She burst into happy tears.

  Skylar returned the phone to her mouth. “Tell Hammer we’re so happy and his mother is doing fine.”

  “Will do. See you soon, baby.”

  “I love you, honey.”

  “Love you too, babe.”

  He disconnected, and she pulled the phone to her lap. She stared at it a long moment. There was one person she needed to call. She scrolled through her contacts and found the one she was looking for.

  The phone rang four times before someone picked up.

  “Skylar?”

  “Tink, we need to talk.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  Hammer sat on his bed, dressing Ethan in the little pants, short sleeve shirt and bowtie outfit that the girls had bought for him to wear to his mother’s funeral. He’d changed his diaper and hoped he didn’t pee again before they got in the car.

  “Don’t you look spiffy, peanut. Your mama would be so proud of you.”

  “Mama,” Ethan mimicked.

  Hammer wrangled his little shoes on, then stood him on the floor. He smiled to himself. It was the first time he’d diapered and dressed Ethan by himself. He’d insisted on doing it all from the moment he got home with him. With Josie gone and his ma sick, he would have to step up and learn to do these things.

  “Wanna help Daddy get dressed?” He’d decided it was time Ethan start calling him by that name. He only hoped he lived up to the title.

  His life would never be the same now that he was a father. Never again would he put himself first, and he was good with that.

  He also knew if he was to remain in the club, a club that had been there for him in his darkest hour, then he may need help in the future raising Ethan. It was hard to imagine that wouldn’t be Tink. It was still hard to give up the dream of her, but he knew he’d do what he had to, and somehow, he’d find the strength to carry on. If that meant moving on, then eventually, he’d have to think about that. He’d have to find someone else, but they would never be what she was to him. Yes, eventually he’d have to think about moving on.

  But not today.

  He moved to his closet, little Ethan at his side, looking up at him. “You see my suit, peanut?”

  Ethan just stared at him.

  Hammer smiled and slid all the shirts on hangers aside until he spotted the suit in the very back of his closet. The last time he wore it was at his father’s funeral.

  He stared at it, and all the hurt came flooding back. All the pain and sorrow of his childhood.

  Ethan wrapped his arms around his jean leg and stared up at him. “Dada?”

  Hammer’s heart melted, and he smiled. Right then, he knew he’d be all right. Whenever the walls started to close in, and he swore he couldn’t go another day with the weight of this pain, all that little boy had to do was look up at him and remind him he was loved.

  Hammer took a deep breath and let go of all the pain of his childhood. Then he vowed silently to be a good father to this baby—the kind his father never was.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  Tink stood in the parking lot as all the mourners headed to their cars. She looked beyond them to the gravesite on the slight rise, the green canopy tent snapping in the wind. The casket was laden with flowers. The chairs were all empty except for one.

  Skylar approached her as Shades and Ghost helped Hammer’s mother to a car. The woman looked older and feebler than the last time Tink had seen her.

  Skylar put her arm on Tink’s shoulder and glanced back. “Go to him. He needs you.”

  Tink nodded, her eyes glassy. She walked slowly forward, her tight black dress and heels forcing her to take small, slow steps in the grass.

  She glanced around at the cemetery. The spot they’d picked for Josie was a nice one, on a rise with a view of the sunset.

  Hammer had Ethan cuddled to his shoulder, and the boy was sound asleep. Tink hoped this day wouldn’t be a bad memory for him. She hoped he wouldn’t remember any of this.

  Hammer rubbed his big hand over the boy’s back, his eyes staring blankly at the mound of flowers. It seemed he didn’t even hear her approach until she was at the end of the row, and he glanced up.

  His eyes flickered with emotion for just a moment before he looked away.

  “I thought you moved out west.”

  Her eyes filled. “I’m so sorry about Josie, Hammer.”

  He stared at the flowers, making no acknowledgement of her expression of sympathy.

  Tink looked down. “She had a lot of people who loved her. Look at all the beautiful flowers.”

  Still he was silent.

  Finally, the silence was too much for him.

  “We’ve got nothing more to say, Alexandra.”

  She almost fell apart then. What hurt even more than what he said was the fact that he’d called her by her given name. So formal, like they were strangers. Like they meant nothing to each other. Her throat closed up, but she knew she had so many things she had to tell him. It was hard to start, so she just began saying all the words that came to her head. “I got all the way to California before I heard your messages and realized what a fool I’d been. I found the next available flight back. It had a connection in Denver, of all places. They had an early snowstorm and the airport got shut down. Can you believe it? I was stuck there for hours and hours. They kept changing my flight, so I decided to rent a car; got the last one they had. The roads were bad. I made it as far as Kansas the first night. I’ve been on the road for…” she trailed off. “I’m sorry, I’m babbling. You don’t want to hear all that do you?”

  He didn’t reply.

  “I’m sorry, Hammer. I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you.”

  “It doesn’t matter anymore,” he replied, his voice monotone, and she felt her world tilt.

  “Yes, it does. I should have given you a chance to explain. I should have believed you. I should have known you wouldn’t do that. Not after you’d just told me you loved me.”

  He stared straight ahead. The only telltale emotion was his jaw tightening.

  “I never should have listened to all the vile things Raven said, all the lies she filled my head with.”

  Finally, he broke his silence, turning his head to look at her. “No, you shouldn’t have. That bitch starts talking, and you believe every word she says. I didn’t remember crap from that night. Last thing I remember is stumbling down the hall to my room so fucking confused and light-headed I could barely stand. I must have passed out. In that condition, ain’t no way I could have fucked anybody.”

  She nodded. “I know. It was all lies. She made it all up.”

  “I’ve had some time to think about it. I’m sure I didn’t undress myself. My cut was on the fucking floor. I never would have done that. No fucking way would I let my colors hit the floor.”

  She shook her head. “Those pictures she sent me, when I look at then now, it’s obvious you weren’t conscious.”

  “I hate to say this about your sister, but I wouldn’t put it past her to have drugged me. She was sitting right next to me, drinking the same damn drink out of an identical glass. She could have slipped something in one of them. It was o
nly a matter of minutes later I started to feel fucked up. I hadn’t had that much to drink, Tink. Not that night.”

  “You’re probably right. I’m back now. I realize I was wrong about all of it. Can’t we pretend that it never happened?”

  “Baby, I never would have done that to you. Never. Way I feel about you, you have to know that, don’t you?”

  She bobbed her head. “Yes, I know that. I believe you. Can we start over?”

  “Things are different now, Tink. My life just got a whole lot more serious. I need someone I can trust.”

  “You can trust me, Hammer.”

  “I need to know you’re not going to doubt me. I need to know you’re not going to run again. I can’t go through that again, and I won’t put Ethan through that.”

  “I won’t run. Never again. I love you, Hammer. You and Ethan. I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to lose either of you. Please tell me you forgive me.”

  “Tink…” he broke off shaking his head, his eyes going to the horizon. “You’re young. You got your whole life ahead of you. You’ll find your way.”

  “Please, honey. I’m in hell, and you’re the only one who can free me.”

  “I love you, Tink. I think I always have, from the moment I first saw you.” He stared at the setting sun. “You know I dream about you. All the time now. Awake or asleep, you’re always in my thoughts.”

  She sat one chair apart from him. “Please forgive me. I love you. I’ll always love you. Till the day I die. I don’t want to be anywhere else but here with you and Ethan. Please, baby.”

  He reached his hand out, clasping hers, and then he pulled her that one chair over, locking their arms together. “I’m afraid to need you again.”

  “Don’t be afraid, baby. I swear I’ll never let you down.”

  “Without you and the baby, I’m nothing. I found that out when I lost you both.” He tilted his head down to meet her eyes.

  She tipped her head up to his. “You haven’t lost us. We’re both here, and we can be a family…the best family ever. The family neither of us ever had, where our home is filled with nothing but love and laughter.” Her voice cracked, and she huffed out a sobbing laugh. “And lots of good cooking.”

  He finally cracked a smile. “You promise, Tink?”

  “I promise, all of it, for all the days of my life.”

  He brought her hand to his and kissed the back of it. “Gonna hold you to that, babe, me and our boy are both gonna hold you to that.”

  She burst into happy tears and wrapped her arms around them both.

  EPILOGUE

  Hammer—

  I sat on a camp chair in the backyard of the clubhouse, a bottle of beer in my hand and a full stomach.

  “That’s some good barbequed brisket,” Ghost said, tossing his paper plate in the bonfire, then leaning back, his legs kicked out in front of him and crossed at the ankles. “Worth every scrapped knuckle we got putting that thing together.”

  That thing being the food truck that sat parked in the alley, its delicious aromas wafting through the neighborhood.

  “Amen,” agreed Shades. “Never thought we’d become experts on converting a U-Haul to a food truck.”

  “She’s doing really well, too,” I bragged on Tink. “Even got a following. They watch for her to post where she’ll be every day.”

  “That’s great, really,” Ghost agreed.

  Shades nodded. “I’m proud of her. Truly. Our little Tink has really come into her own.”

  My eyes connected with his. “Guess I’ve got you to thank.”

  “Me?” Shades frowned. “What’d I do?”

  “She told me how you met. I’m grateful you brought her around, gave her a place she felt free to be herself.”

  Shades grinned and nodded. “I’m glad for her.” He reached over and slapped my knee. “Happy as hell for you two.”

  Tink strut across the yard, headed from the food truck to the clubhouse, and my eyes followed her, fixated in on that tight little ass of hers that fit so perfectly in the palms of my hands.

  I smiled, my dick getting hard like it did every time I looked at her. I remembered all the times I’d sat in this very yard and watched her strut by, longing to touch her, longing to make her mine.

  And now she was. All mine. That fierce, tenderhearted girl was mine. She was smart and sassy, but with a heart of gold, and it was all wrapped up in the sexiest little package I’d ever seen. And I couldn’t wait to take her home tonight.

  I loved the quiet wedding we’d had on the deck at Shades’ house overlooking the lake and the setting sun. She’d looked sexy as hell in the little lace dress she’d worn. It had been just the two of us…oh and a pack of my rowdy brothers and their ol’ ladies. Just five other guests had been invited.

  Ma had come and held Ethan as we’d recited our vows. Tink had invited just three people: her mother, father and Ada. Raven had left town, sent to New Orleans by her father who was determined to let Tink have her special day without any conflict or disruption.

  Tink deserved that and so much more, and I was determined to make sure she had anything her heart desired for as long as I drew breath.

  She was my ol’ lady, my wife, the love of my life, and I didn’t want to ever imagine a future without her.

  She caught me looking and smiled, and that smile still did to me what all her smiles did—had my insides melting like butter. I knew, in that moment, that it would always be that way; her smile would always turn me inside out. I returned it with a wink, and she blew me a kiss.

  Goddamn, I was a lucky man.

  Tink—

  When I see Hammer—anytime I see him—it still sends shivers of desire up my spine. All he has to do is lock eyes on me, and my body heats.

  Things have been good between us. More than good—magical. I’m living a dream where I get to do something that makes me happy. A dream where every morning I wake up to the sexiest man alive. A dream where I never have to question his devotion to me, because he reminds me in a hundred different ways how much he cares for me, worships me, and adores me.

  Yes, I’m living a dream, and I don’t ever want to wake up.

  Hammer—

  I gazed over at the children playing in the playpen we’d setup in the grass. Little Rebel was so good with Ethan, playing with him endlessly, and he toddled around after her like a little puppy.

  I looked at the circle of men sitting around the fire and knew I had to tell them how I felt about everything they’d done to bring that boy home. I stood up, gathering their attention.

  “Listen up, boys. I don’t say this kind of shit often.” I cleared my throat, emotion welling up. “What you did to help me get my boy back—it’s something I’ll never forget. Meant a lot to me, knowing I had you—all of you—at my back. I’m grateful for everything you did for me, Brothers.” I tapped my chest twice, just over my heart, with my fist. “Truly. From the bottom of my heart.”

  Heads nodded around the circle, and some eyes glinted in the firelight, exposing how my expression of gratitude touched them.

  Shades reached over and bumped fists with me. “We’re family. We’ll always be here for each other. That’s what this brotherhood is about.”

  I couldn’t agree more.

  Ghost got to his feet and raised his bottle of beer in the air and brothers all around the bonfire, myself included, followed suit. “Evil Dead, my brothers,” he paused, and we all joined in, our deep voices resounding in unison.

  “First, last, and always!”

  If you enjoyed Hammer, please review is on Amazon!

  Dying to know what no-good, dirty deeds the Devil Kings MC are up to in Tuscaloosa? Find out in…

  DIRTY DEEDS: A Devil Kings MC Quick and Dirty Tale

  Releasing early 2020.

  Preview of—

  DIRTY DEEDS: A Devil Kings MC Quick and Dirty Tale

  Kara Harbinger’s only crime was having a court judge for a father.

  All she wan
ted was to escape his overbearing parenting for some wild college fun. Joining a sorority seemed like a great way to get in on all the parties.

  She thought going to school out of state would be a good idea.

  She thought Alabama was far enough away from her overprotective father.

  She thought she was embarking on the time of her life.

  She thought wrong.

  When the President of the Devil Kings MC ends up in custody with serious gun and drug charges, it looks like the club’s going to lose their President to decades in prison. With a thirty-year possible sentence hanging over his head, the DKs are desperate to make sure that doesn’t happen, and that means right up to and including coercing and threatening the judge—a judge who just happens to have a beautiful young daughter about to start school at the University of Alabama.

  If Judge Harbinger thought sending her to an out of state school would somehow keep her safe, he thought wrong. The DKs are about to use the biggest Achilles heel he’s got to bend him to their will—to buy his decision, to buy his very soul.

  Rusty and Reno aren’t too thrilled with the job they’ve been handed, but it doesn’t hurt that the hot little co-ed is sex-on-a-stick and seems just as eager to get her cherry popped. The men were sent to watch her, abduct her, and hold her until a decision favorable to the MC is handed down, but will they be able to stand the temptation?

  Find out for yourself this winter with a story hot enough to melt ice.

  This quick and dirty read is not for the faint of heart.

  If you like your bad boys alpha, dominant, and dirty-talking, this story is for you. But be warned, this romance is heavy on the alpha for spice with a touch of tender thrown in for sweet.

  Preview of—

  WICKED: An Evil Dead MC Story

  Note: This story first appeared in the Love, Loyalty & Mayhem Anthology as a short story called My Brother’s Old Lady and has now been expanded into a full-length novel. In it I take you back to the New Orleans chapter of the MC.