The two men shadowed them, keeping their distance. Rose went directly to a children’s clothing shop and went wild. She bought a couple of really cute party dresses for no apparent reason, a dozen T-shirts and sleepers, a warm, zip-up, fuzzy snowsuit, gloves, shoes, tiny socks, little jeans, and several shirts with words printed on them. Tiffany added some bibs, baby washcloths, a grooming kit, and an extra set of bottles. They also got receptacle covers and grooming products.
Feeling pretty pleased with their purchases, they handed off their purchases to Cork and headed for a tiny coffee shop. Settling into a booth, they sucked on an iced coffee and waited for their food.
“Darkness talked about renovating his upstairs and wants us to snag him some furniture. What do you think he’d like?” Tiffany asked.
Rose’s lips pursed. “I don’t think we should go by what he would like. We should pick furniture a little girl would feel at home growing up in.”
Tiffany thought about it and nodded. “I agree. Maybe we can find something that’s a happy medium. They make cribs that turn into little beds and stuff like that.” She sighed and confided, “It feels a little strange buying for someone I barely know.”
“I’ve known Darkness for years,” Rose said with a wave of her hand. “He’s weird and cool and strange and amazing all at once. Maybe we can find furnishings kind of like him…you know, eclectic.”
Grinning at her enthusiastic, soon-to-be sister-in-law, Tiffany agreed. “It’s kind of sweet that he trusts me with something this important. He hardly knows me.”
“Everyone can tell that you’re a nice person, and you have good taste in clothing, so it’s not a gigantic jump to think you might be up for the job of picking out some cool furniture.”
A server stopped by, dropping food onto the table for them. Digging into their burgers, Rose moaned. “There is nothing in the world like a gourmet burger.”
“I have to agree. These are the best I’ve ever had.”
“My dad discovered this place when we were little. We used to come here every Monday night. He used to say it was our reward for making it through a weekend.”
Tiffany laughed. “Your family must have had more interesting weekends than mine.”
“Maybe,” the teen allowed. “Growing up around the club was fairly stable. Unlike some clubs, the Blind Jacks are like a real family and weather the storms together, and with Darkness holding the gavel, things are pretty stable.”
Tiffany choked on her burger. Thumping herself on the chest, she coughed. Washing the lump of meat down with a drink of coffee, she tried to get her head around that little nugget of information.
Rose giggled at her reaction. “I’ll just bet you can’t imagine anyone more unstable than Darkness.”
Choosing her words carefully, Tiffany said softly, “Let’s just say he’s a little more unhinged than I’m used to.”
Frowning, the teen leaned forward. “He’s not unhinged. Besides, word from the grapevine says you freaked out on my brother the other night, and he had to restrain you.” Glancing away, she sighed. “I did that for a few weeks after my rape. Since my brother ain’t the kind of man to abuse women, I know he wasn’t the cause of your meltdown. That makes me think you’ve been around guys that are way more unhinged than our club president.”
Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, Tiffany tried to figure out how to disclose her past to an underaged person. Saying nothing would be seen as disrespectful to the young woman trying to be her friend. Then again, how much was too much to disclose to a sixteen-year-old?
Settling for the middle ground, she decided to spare the girl the gritty details. “I was in an extremely abusive marriage. My husband was a rich asshole who got off on mental and physical abuse. Sometimes, I still have bad dreams. Your brother knows all about it and has been nothing but nice to me.”
“Well, it sucks that you had to go through such a miserable first marriage. I hope it didn’t last long, and I’m really sorry that happened to you.”
Swallowing thickly, Tiffany hauled in a much-needed lungful of air. “Thanks, Rose. That’s sweet of you to say. I didn’t mean Darkness was unhinged like that. Just that he’s a little more unpredictable and negative than I’m generally used to seeing in a man. Except for my ex, of course, who was totally unglued.”
“I just want you to know that Darkness is nothing like that,” Rose said seriously. “He’s weird, anxious, and says inappropriate things, but he’d never hurt a person just for the fun of it. All the brothers are good men. Most of them are just following in their father’s footsteps or came up rough and joined for lack of better options.”
Tiffany tilted her head. “Do you mind if I ask why you seem so preoccupied with Ace?”
Sitting up straighter, Rose grinned. “I don’t have the hots for him or anything like that. I just feel connected to him because of his brother. If you think about it, we both got a pretty raw deal. I might have gotten sexually assaulted, but Ace ended up with all the dirty looks and loathing that should have, by all rights, been dumped on his brother.”
“Too bad they look so much alike,” Tiffany remarked, feeling genuinely sorry for the guy.
“Yeah, it’s just another little part of life that kind of sucks. I guess I keep thinking if we partner up and get friendly, everyone will see he’s nothing like his brother and leave him the hell alone.”
“Sweetheart, it’s not your job to protect your abuser’s twin brother,” Tiffany said sympathetically.
Anger flashed in Rose’s eyes, and her knuckles turned white around her cup. “Ace is not just some psycho’s twin brother. That’s not his defining characteristic as a human being. If it is, that would make my defining characteristic be a poor little rape victim.”
“I didn’t mean to insinuate that, Rose. I’m just concerned that you take too much on yourself by worrying over Ace. That can’t be healthy.”
Leaning a little closer, Rose spoke in a low, clear voice. “I’m not some brainless little adolescent tripping through life, trying to save the world. I’m sixteen, and I’ve made straight As since first grade. Yours truly is on track to graduate by the time I’m seventeen. I have every reason to believe I’ll be accepted into premed at Denison when I graduate. I grew up in this club, punched my first whore at twelve and pretty much coordinate the club’s biggest annual charity event with whatever help I can scrounge up.”
Tiffany grabbed her arm. “Calm down, I—”
“Button it up, sister, and let me finish,” Rose said, shocking her. “Yeah, I got raped by some idiot, but Darkness pulled him off me and carried me into the hospital in his own arms. I got the help I needed to see that it wasn’t my fault. My brother even nailed the stupid fucker, which is fine by me because now I don’t have to go through life looking over my shoulder.
“I’ve lived a lot in a short period of time. I’m smart and mature for my age. That’s why they thought of me first when it came to helping Darkness with his baby. I’m not whatever stereotype you’ve got floating around in your head of a teen rape victim, so don’t treat me like I’m some clueless fool who needs advice from you.”
Tiffany stared at the annoyed young woman for a brief moment, totally wowed by her grit and determination. Placing a reassuring hand over one of Rose’s fists resting on the table top, Tiffany cleared her throat. “This is one reason I don’t have friends. I really like you and am starting to have this little sister fantasy in my head when it comes to you. I was the only child always longing for a sister or brother. Sorry I tried to press you into that role.”
Rose’s face lit up as her anger melted away. “Except for the whole giving me unsolicited advice, you’d make an awesome big sister.”
“So, I’m forgiven?” Tiffany asked hopefully. “That was a pretty harsh rebuke.”
“Oh, honey, that wasn’t just for you. I spent days working on that little speech when I got out of the hospital. Everyone from my folks to Ryder to Darkness himself has had a taste of it.”
Rose laughed outright. “You’re funny. I’ve always wanted a big sister.”
Tiffany rolled her eyes. “You’ve got a big brother.”
The girl’s smile was back full force. She made a so-what gesture with one hand. “Yeah, if big, muscle-bound freaks who curse like sailors and assign prospects to follow me everywhere were cool, I’d have it freakin’ made in the shade.”
Tiffany laughed. “You ready to get back to shopping, tiger?”
Nodding, Rose quipped happily, “Remind me later that I have a music video to show you.”
Tiffany had a sneaking suspicion which one she might be referring to.
~ Ryder ~
The brothers gathered around the table for church. Today’s meeting dwarfed others because their club president’s life hung in the balance. It had been ten days since that fateful night when he’d taken a bullet in the back. Though not fully recovered, he was moving easier and able to pick his baby up at will.
Today, Darkness had chosen to bring his daughter to the meeting. Ryder was certain his intention was to remind everyone of the little person their decisions would most impact. Their club president might be odd, but he was smart in his own way. The baby was alert and looking around the room. She was wearing blue jeans and a white T-shit, and a tiny pair of black boots someone had brought in for her. The kid was gnawing on a round, rubber teething ring like it was going out of style, which was just about the cutest thing Ryder had ever seen.
His heart squeezed with happiness for his friend, who wore an expression of pride as he looked down at his little girl. His heart skipped a beat when the baby looked up at Darkness and made a happy sound. The scary biker dropped a kiss on her forehead, and she continued to play with the toy in her hand.
“Damn, Darkness, if there’s a more heartwarming sight in the entire world, I’ve not seen it. Your little one is perfect.” Ven’s rough voice sounded pleased for his longtime friend.
Ryder teased his father. “What were Rose and I, chopped liver?”
His dad chuckled. “Rose was all kinds of cute. You came out of the womb a terrifying hellion.”
“Maybe that’s why I fit right in here,” Ryder mused. Glancing at Darkness, he smirked. “The eyes give it away. It’s clear as day, seeing her there on your lap.”
Grabbing his gavel, Darkness tapped it on the table lightly. “Call to order, brothers. We’ve got business to discuss. We’re starting with you this morning, Ryder. As the club’s Sargent at Arms, you’re vested with all things related to protection. Spell out what we’ve learned so far about the attempt on my life.”
Ryder watched the baby grab the gavel the moment Darkness laid it down. Fidgeting with it, she accidentally bumped herself in the head with it. Her eyes got big, and she looked all around.
Ryder stopped midstride to watch her. She waved the unwieldly object around, bumping herself in the head again. This time she got serious, peering all around to figure out who was hitting her. Several of the brothers laughed. Her suspicious expression mimicked that of her father, increasing the family resemblance. Even Darkness chuckled, replacing the gavel with her toy.
Smothering his smile, Ryder strolled up to the front of the table and turned on a large monitor hanging on the wall.
Pulling up a wedding certificate with Darkness and Abby’s names, he pulled up the birth certificate beside it. “These are pretty much the documents that are screwing you right now, boss. Abby, by her own admission, is in deep with the Seven Devils. She admitted to being Devil’s old lady. She also admitted to trying to kill you because they talked her into getting a life insurance policy for a quarter of a million dollars.
“I checked into her story, and the policy doesn’t pay out if there was foul play. That makes me think the whole issue about her trying to snip you was bullshit. I think she just wanted to pretend to be a victim who was being forced to do something horrible to get back on your good side.”
“That was pretty stupid. I don’t have a good side where she’s concerned.”
Ryder nodded. “I believe the fact that you slept with her at Sturgis last year made her think you were still sweet on her.”
“She was pretty persistent, and I was pretty drunk. That was the extent of it.”
“Well, Sturgis was in August. Sammy was born thirty-eight weeks later and two weeks premature, according to the hospital records I pressured Dr. Reynolds into obtaining for us.”
“How is that relevant?” Darkness asked.
“Well, that information coincides with the information Abby listed on the birth certificate, in terms of you being the father. As you already know, the paternity test came back positive. You are little Sammy’s father.”
Darkness frowned and pulled the child closer. “As you already pointed out, anyone can see that.”
Overlaying the results of the paternity test on the screen for everyone to see, Ryder spoke slowly. “I just want every man here to be a hundred percent certain that Sammy is one of our own, ‘cause this is where things get tricky.
“Abby admitted to getting pregnant intentionally, hoping to get money out of you. She stashed the baby with this couple who runs a private boarding school. We just had to pay over eight grand in back fees.”
“Proves that bitches ain’t to be trusted,” Darkness muttered under his breath.
“Don’t you see? They couldn’t take out an insurance policy and kill you unless they figured out how to make it look like an accident. That was just a smokescreen. What they really wanted was to scare some cash out of you by throwing one curveball after another.”
Darkness snorted a laugh. “God knows I ain’t easy to scare.”
Grinning, Ryder continued his speech. “Their plan was to rattle your cage with a near-death shooting by none other than your own damn wife, and then have her hook you up with your little newborn daughter. Any damn man would fall in love at first sight with their own innocent little child. My guess is, Abby insinuating that if she left with the child and no money, they’d take it out on your little one was supposed to seal the deal.”
“Well, if that’s the case, they’re pretty fuckin’ stupid. The fact is, they almost fuckin’ killed me. If I’d died, it would have thrown a wrench into their plan and brought down the fury of the Blind Jacks on their club.”
“Yeah, at least one of the Seven Devils is an extremely poor shot, and I’m betting I know which one. One of their crew ended up dead in a ditch on the outskirts of town the morning after you got shot. He was killed, execution style, with a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. Dr. Reynolds pulled the autopsy off the hospital computer for us. It revealed he was addicted to heroin and in withdrawal when he died. If he almost blew the whole deal with his shaky trigger finger, they might have cut their losses. What good is a strung-out brother who can’t even shoot straight?”
Ven spoke out. “That actually makes sense.”
“There were a couple of things they didn’t anticipate,” Ryder continued. “One is you needing recovery time because of a misplaced bullet. And two, you ain’t quite stupid enough to cough up a quarter of million dollars without thinking things through. Abby is fit to be tied after being locked in a cell for ten days, by the way.”
Darkness murmured, “Fuck that bitch. The problem is, what are we doing about the situation she dropped in our lap? I don’t care to pay up the money…”
Hickory chimed in with a sense of urgency. “If you do that, they’ll keep using women to get to us with children. That’s a shitty thing to go through, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, let alone another brother. Once is enough with this shit.”
Ryder spoke again. “I’ve been mulling this over and running through different scenarios in my mind. I think we should drop the bitch. If she’s dead, there’s no one to contest the parental rights. That solves the kid p
art. We need to hit the Seven Devils hard and teach them our club is not their fucking ATM machine.”
Darkness held up one hand. “We’re not killing the mother of my child. I may hate the bitch, and she might be poison, but my little one is not going to forgive us just killing her.”
Ryder sighed. “I thought you were going to say that, so I developed a plan B.”
Ven stared at him in disbelief. “I sure the hell hope it’s better than plan A, son.”
“We hit the Seven Devils and take out their president, Ratchet. That’ll probably advance Devil to president again. That dude’s got to be chafing under daddy’s rule, after being in charge for the last ten years while his old man was in the pen. He’ll be grateful that we’re doing him a solid. We offer Abby fifty grand or something nominal to sign over custody of the child she clearly doesn’t want and another little bonus for signing divorce paperwork. She can kick Devil the fifty grand and look like she’s a stand-up gal, keeping the bonus money for a rainy day fund.”
Ven nodded. “I like that plan much better. Ratchet is a nasty piece of work, and he’s smart enough to cause everyone a world of hurt all the way around. Getting rid of him is a no-brainer.”
Shifting the child on his lap, Darkness wrapped a protective arm around her. “Tossing them some chump change will soften the blow of taking out their president. The loss of one of their own will dampen their enthusiasm for fucking with us in the future. If I divorce Abby, then we’re not related anymore. That means neither she nor Devil can collect against the policy.”
Ryder asked out loud, “Do any of you have any other suggestions?”
Ace spoke up immediately. “I don’t mean to be a dick, but I think getting her to actually cancel the life insurance policy on you should be part of the deal.”
“Good thinking, brother.” Ryder shot his friend a grateful smile. “Why leave anything to chance, right?”
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