Michelle Woods - Becoming Raven's Man (Red Devils MC #7)

by Unknown

  He’d gone to the city to see if they could do something and the doctor there told him that there wasn’t much other than some medication he’d given Reaper that could be done. Reaper didn’t take the meds much because they made him sleep like the fucking dead and when you were the vice prez of an MC you needed to be on point at all times. That meant he ended up just dealing with the pain most of the time.

  Nights like tonight when he was frustrated and worried about something he felt like his head was going to explode and he had to get out of the club. The lights and the music as well as the rowdy men and the girls who wanted his attention drove him nuts. Even so, he fucking hated that he was home on a Saturday night at one am. It’d been years since he’d headed home this early prior to the blow he’d received, lately not so much.

  Reaper walked up the stairs headed to his loft. He scanned his hand with the palm scanner and entered the code into the key pad. He moaned a bit as his temple throbbed and for a second he felt dizzy. Fuck, these migraines were getting worse not better. He needed to do something about his stress levels. The doctor in the city had told him stress was the trigger and it was making the head pains worse. He’d told Reaper to eliminate stressful situations from his life. Reaper snorted, yeah right.

  That wasn’t going to be easy with the bullshit he had to handle for the club almost nightly. Reaper went into the kitchen grabbing a bottle of aspirin. It didn’t really touch the pain but at least it helped some. He headed into the living room, hitting the security button on the keypad that rested by the naked statue of Venus.

  He heard the shutters rolling down over the windows and the door with relief as he moved towards his room and the bed that called to him. Ready to pass out for a few hours of rest. He hoped that when he woke the pain would be gone. Entering his room moving past the painting of two women twined around each other with bare bodies and large tits, he stripped, dumping out four of the aspirin, he swallowed them before heading into the bathroom for a shower.

  Feeling the hot water pour over his head, Reaper leaned into the wall his head still pounding. He thought of Burner. He was worried about the beating Death had told him about. Although he understood why Travis had beaten him, he wasn’t too happy that Travis had needed to. He was however glad that Travis had apparently gotten the girl back with Burner’s help and would earn his cut. He’d always liked Travis, even offered to let him be a part of the Bandits and he was glad the other man was doing well.

  Reaper let the water soothe his tight muscles even as the pain behind his eyes became worse. He wanted these damned headaches to stop they were fucking annoying. After another few minutes Reaper turned the water off getting out of the shower, he grabbed a towel. He looked at himself in the mirror seeing the grim lines in his face that he always got when he had another of these damned migraines jumped him. He was getting fucking old, he’d turned down not one offer but two tonight from beautiful women. There had been a time when he would have taken them both up on their offers and then taken a different woman or two home with him.

  Those had been his wild days when he was young and horny. Not that he wasn’t horny, he was, just not as horny as he was three years ago. He’d found in the past two years he’d become a bit more selective. He had screwed both Candy and Casey in the past. Candy several times in fact and Casey had given him a blow job two days ago. Tonight with his head pounding and the news about Burner he wasn’t in the mood to play nice and a night with Reaper had certain expectations. He took good care of his lovers.

  He supposed age was making him less likely to be led around by his dick. Well most of the time he wasn’t led around by his dick, he snorted. Thinking of Casey’s audition a month ago for the waitress job. After she’d made it more then clear that she was willing to fuck him to get the job. He’d screwed her in the private room because seeing her in the skimpy outfit she’d worn had made him horny.

  He didn’t know what was wrong with him tonight other than age. It was really the only thing that had changed, well that and these damned headaches. Leaning forward he rubbed his jaw feeling the stubble. Fuck, he needed to shave but his head chose that moment to give a particularly violent throb. Deciding that he’d shave in the morning he headed to bed.

  Toweling off he stepped into his room, moving to the bed. He felt his head start to beat loudly, his blood rushing in his ears. Fuck, this shit was getting old, he lay down his bed feeling the pain lessening as he closed his eyes. He really hated these episodes.

  Chapter 2

  Sarah Banner stared at her ex-lovers mother in abject horror. She had just gotten off the night shift at Hal’s Diner. She’d come home early to find the woman passed out on the couch. That wouldn’t have been a big deal if Josh, her two year old son hadn’t been in his playpen screaming his head off. She’d walked in to find Josh nearly exhausted from crying with his little elfin face contorted in rage. He’d told her in his tiny baby voice when she’d calmed him down that he was hungry.

  After changing his soiled clothing and feeding him, she’d begun the process of waking Marta Harris, Josh’s grandmother. Apparently the woman was not fit to care for Josh while Sarah worked. She’d known that the other woman wasn’t someone she’d have chosen to keep Josh, but she hadn’t realized until she’d walked in tonight how unfit the woman was to care for him.

  In the past the woman had at least seem halfway intelligent. At least Sarah had thought so until she’d uttered the last words out of her mouth, which had Sarah questioning her own intelligence for leaving Josh with the woman.

  She’d looked at Sarah through hazy eyes and said, “I pushed his playpen near the cabinet of snacks. Can’t that little brat get his own food. He’s two after all. Jeez, you’re babying that boy.” Then she’d lifted the half empty whiskey bottle to her lips taking a long swig.

  What the hell had she been thinking letting this woman keep her son? Sarah felt rage building inside her over the woman’s callused disregard for her grandson. Sitting beside the couch with an utterly exhausted Josh now passed out in the playpen, she felt almost blinded by her anger. Her hands were fisted in the apron she wore as part of her work uniform to keep from strangling the woman.

  “He’s still a baby, Marta.”

  “Shish, Cody was getting his own food by that point.” She said waving the whiskey bottle in the direct of the sleeping child.

  “Marta, I think that you and I will have to disagree on that point.” Sarah growled anger boiling inside her as she jerkily stood to her feet. She had to get away from Marta before she killed her.

  Sarah could not believe that Marta was so clueless. No wonder her son Cody had turned out to be a loser. She suddenly felt a tiny bit of sympathy for Cody. Until she remembered him shoving credits into her hand and telling her to go have an abortion in the city when she’d told him she was pregnant. He’d disappeared after that and she’d never heard form him again.

  Which was likely for the best since he’d been a alcoholic just like his mother. He’d started two bar fights when he was drunk and Sarah knew that she’d have left him sooner or later. The first time that cruelty had been directed at her or Josh she would have left him so fast his head would spin. She didn’t allow anyone to hit her and she certainly wasn’t going to allow anyone to hurt Josh.

  Of course, leaving him with an incompetent babysitter wasn’t very good parenting. She should have known this wasn’t going to work. Marta had seemed so perfect when she’d offer a few weeks ago to take care of Josh while she worked. Marta had convinced her to move in and allow her to keep her grandson while she was at work. In exchange Sarah could help with the bills she’d said. Ha, more like pay them so that she could drink more of the whiskey she swilled like it was water.

  Sarah her hands tight around the apron as she moved around the apartment gathering Josh’s toys. Marta rolled over on the couch with a loud belch and was likely asleep before Sarah had even collected half the toys into the small bin they were usually in. She and Josh couldn’t stay her
e. They’d have to stay at the motel they’d been at five weeks ago. The place wasn’t very safe and many women had been raped and a few were kidnapped, which was why she’d agreed to move in here in the first place.

  Sarah went into the bedroom she slept in with Josh and began to fill her pathetically small duffle with her clothes and Josh’s. Sarah felt tears stinging her eyes as she sat on the edge of the bed. She indulged herself for a few moments with a pity party. She didn’t know what she was going to do with Josh on the days that she worked at the diner. Maybe Hal the owner would let her keep Josh in the office while she was working. Snorting at that ridiculous thought, Hal was an asshole. There was no way he’d allow it even if she were the best waitress in the world.

  He was a dick to everyone even his wife, who was the fry cook, got the brunt end of Hal’s temper. She’d have to pay for a sitter from the money she’d saved. Then she was going to have to look for a job that included daycare or paid her enough that she’d be able to find a competent babysitter. She didn’t know where she was going to find a job that paid that well. Sarah felt the tears sliding down her checks. She didn’t regret having Josh not even for a second, but sometimes it was hard.

  She’d been alone so long that when Marta had reached out a few months ago she’d been taken in by the woman’s charm. She’d convinced Sarah that she wanted a relationship with her grandson when what she’d really wanted was to use Sarah for her money. Not that she had much, Sarah let out a hiccupping sigh before lying back on the bed to stare at the ceiling.

  She needed to do better. Her son was counting on her to take care of him and she’d let him down. He was such a sweet boy always smiling and happy. The sight of him tonight when she’d walked in had almost broke her. He’d soiled himself because Marta hadn’t taken him to the potty and she’d left him hungry for hours. She knew by the ravenous way he’d eaten the applesauce and chicken she’d given him.

  It horrified her that she’d left him with Marta for the past few weeks and she wondered how many times the woman had let him go hungry or not allowed him to use the bathroom. She’d bet this wasn’t the first time the woman had done this to her baby. Marta had likely fed and changed his clothes just before she’d gotten home. Tonight however she’d been particularly drunk and Sarah had been early. It horrified her to think that Josh may have been treated this way for weeks.

  Dashing the tears from her cheeks, she got off the bed and lifted the edge of the mattress. Looking for the little tin she’d been stashing a bit of money in, she felt around and found the tin. Pulling it free she sat on the edge of the bed opening it. Sarah gasped, inside where she’d stashed three hundred credits she found only a hundred and fifty. Frantically, she counted them again. It couldn’t be! Where were the rest of the credits? But she already knew.

  Getting up she stormed to the door walking out to where Marta lay on the couch. Sarah shook the woman awake again.

  “What?” Marta asked in a slurred voice.

  “Where that hell is the rest of my credits? And how dare you take them!”

  “How dare I? How dare I? You’re a fine one to talk, little miss. You are living here by my good graces and you don’t even pay half the rent. So what? I took a bit of your credits. You owe me. I let you stay here and I keep that brat for you while you work. The least you can do is shut your mouth and be grateful.”

  “Grateful!” Sarah said her voice rising. “You stole from me!”

  “Not more than you owed me.” Marta said sitting there glaring at her. Sarah couldn’t believe the woman’s audacity.

  She’d been giving the woman nearly her whole three hundred credit paycheck for the past five weeks. She’d kept fifty credits for groceries then stored twenty credits in her stash. She’d had a two hundred credits tucked away before she’d started living with Marta.

  “I give you two hundred and thirty credits a week and I buy all the food. How can you say that I owe you?” Sarah demanded glaring at the woman who was swaying on the couch.

  “I have to pay eleven thousand credits to live here between the power and the water. You owe me because your nine hundred don’t cover the whole cost of that, now does it?” Marta asked glaring at her.

  Sarah wanted to scream. She hadn’t signed on to pay the woman’s whole rent. She couldn’t believe that the woman thought she was supposed to. That was the point of living together. Marta had told her that she paid two thousand a month and now she was finding out that it was only eleven thousand. She was livid. Marta been ripping Sarah off for over a month, damn it.

  “Where are the credits, Marta?” She demanded.

  “I spent them. I bought a nice new outfit for going out and I got that brat of yours a toy. Then I got some whiskey.” Marta glared at her as if this shouldn’t upset her.

  Sarah didn’t know what she’d do now. She’d had enough money for five weeks at the little motel, daycare, and groceries for that long while she worked and looked for a better paying job. Now, she’d only have enough for a two weeks if she was really careful.

  She wanted to rage at the woman, to hit her with something, but it wouldn’t fix the fact that she’d have to figure this all out. She glared at the woman who glared back.

  “I can’t believe you. I thought you wanted to get to know your grandson, but all you ever wanted was more credits so that you don’t have to work.”

  “Why should I have to work? As for the brat why did you even have him? My son gave you the credits to get rid of the damned kid. I know because I gave him two thousand of the credits to do it! So lets not talk about how much I took hum. You’ve already spent my credits taking care of that brat.” Marta bellowed.

  Sarah couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Not only had Marta known that Cody had intended for Sarah to get rid of her grandson she’d paid for more than half of it. Sarah felt sick, bile rose into her throat and she felt dizzy. God what was wrong with these people? She shook her head unable to speak. She couldn’t believe that this was the same woman who’d convinced her a few weeks ago that she wanted to create a relationship with her grandson.

  She was so upset over Marta’s utter gall that she couldn’t even speak. She turned on her heal and left the room without another word. She wasn’t going to bother speaking to a woman who’d tried to prevent Josh from ever being born. Entering her room again she gathered the bag of toys and the duffle of clothes. She couldn’t stay here. If she did she’d likely kill Marta for her stupidity. She was glad it was only seven thirty instead of nine when she’d usually gotten off work.

  They’d been slow and Sammy the other waitress had told her to go home when Hal had said they didn’t need two of them. Sammy had been on a double but she’d known that Sarah didn’t get to spend much time with Josh and told her to go. She was glad that she’d allowed her to convince her to. Otherwise she might not have known about how Marta was treating him. Shoving the tin of credits into the bag she carried them out into the living room then out to her car.

  Marta didn’t ask what she was doing and Sarah was glad because she didn’t want to argue with the woman. She’d likely beat her over the head with something and end up killing her. Not that it would make the world a better place without the woman taking up space, but Sarah wasn’t a killer and she didn’t intend to become one.

  She opened the car door on her old station wagon it creaked loudly in protest. She set the bags in the back on the floor next to Josh’s booster seat. She knew that she’d have to wake him in order to load him into the car and although she hated to do that to him after what he’d been through tonight. They were not staying here.

  She headed back inside after shutting the doors and locking them. Once back inside the house she walked to the playpen and looked down at Josh. His tiny face was relaxed in sleep and he seemed to be having a good dream because a small smile was on his lips. She looked around and realized that Marta must have went into her room to pass out again. Sarah really didn’t care what she was doing as long as she didn’t speak to h
er again.

  Sarah lifted Josh out of the playpen lying him down on a blanket she normally used for his playtime. She didn’t want to wake him until the last minute. She folded the playpen and slipped it into the case that allowed her to carry it by a strap on her shoulder. She set it down and turned lifting Josh into her arms blanket and all before she juggled him carefully and slung the playpen over her shoulder.

  Damn, she’d forgotten how heavy it was. She struggled out of the house towards the car. She was panting and her shoulder felt like it was going to fall off if she didn’t set it down. She left it a few feet from the car and walked the rest of the way unlocking the doors. She set Josh, who was still sleeping on the back seat and went back for the playpen. Loading it into the back a few moments later, she move around the car and sat down beside Josh rubbing his head, she was tired and panting. Finally, after she’d watched her sweet boy for several moments while silently apologizing to him, she walked back and locked the door to Marta’s home.

  She debated not bothering and allowing the woman to be robbed while she lay in a drunken stupor. It would serve her right, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Sarah wouldn’t let the hateful woman turn her into herself. She went back to the car waking Josh to put him in his booster seat. He whined and fussed a bit but she was in the drivers seat headed for the motel after a slight scuffle. He’d tried to wiggle away while she locked him into the seat.