“What are we going to call this little bundle of joy?” I asked. We had been going back and forth for months, never being able to settle on a name.
“How about McKenzie?” She batted her eyelashes at me, hopeful.
“Nope.” I had vetoed that name from the get-go even though she continually brought it up during these conversations.
“Fine,” she pouted like she always did when I disagreed with her. “What about Emerson?”
There it was, the perfect name for our precious baby. “I love it.”
Her face lit up. “Really?”
“Really, really. Now it’s time for you to get some rest so Emerson can grow big and strong.” I brushed my lips over my sleepy wife’s forehead.
“Good night, handsome,” she murmured as she stifled a yawn.
“Good night, my love.”
Chapter 3
Maccon
Walking into the clubhouse the next afternoon, I was greeted with a sight for sore eyes.
“Maccon!” Abel yelled as he stood up from his seat at the bar. “It’s good to see you again, brother.”
I gave him a quick hug. “It’s been too long.”
“It’s been too quiet in these parts for a while now. About time y’all saw some action in your neck of the woods for a change.” Rave grunted as he walked up to us with a shit-eating grin plastered on his worn face, his axe in its sheath strapped to his back. Ravage was a menacing man in and of himself—tall, grizzled, and wide—but add in his weapon of choice and he was downright scary. That axe had seen more blood than most could even fathom. I guess you don’t get the nickname the Butcher for nothing.
“How are you guys doing? How are Crickett and Raine?” I asked, taking a shot from Abel.
“We’re all good for the most part out in Vilas. Nothing too exciting to report,” Ravage answered.
Abel puffed his chest out with pride before adding, “Crickett is amazing, and Raine is a fifteen-year-old girl. I swear, all my graying hair is from dealing with a teenage daughter.”
“I don’t envy you in the slightest.”
“You have a little one on the way, I hear,” Rave said, congratulating me.
“She’ll be here in a little under two months. Allie is going to be so happy to see the two of you. She’s already started cooking a feast for all of us tonight.”
“I’ll never pass up a free meal, especially when your wife is the one cooking. Please tell me she is making her fried chicken.” Abel licked his lips dramatically.
“She made me get her seven chickens this morning before I could come over here. I hope it’s enough,” I responded with a chuckle.
“Enough for Abel alone,” Rave badgered as he poured himself a shot of whiskey.
“He’s not wrong.” Abel smiled with a shrug as my father walked in behind me.
“Gents, you made good time.” My dad greeted both of them quickly before joining Ravage in taking shots.
“Got on our bikes right after Maccon called. It seemed important.” Rave slammed his shot glass down and poured another round for all four of us.
“Maybe we should go in and talk.” I glanced around the lounge room of our clubhouse. There were too many cut sluts and low-level guys hanging around to speak openly about the reality of our situation.
“Sounds good, brother.” Abel grabbed the bottle and his glass then followed me into the war room.
After we all took seats around the table with our skull and bones burned into the wood, I began to recap the last few days’ events in graphic detail. Abel and Rave sat there with fire building in their eyes as they listened to what all had happened in such a short amount of time.
“At least you took care of the damn asshole. Good for you.” Abel raised his glass to me before shooting down the smooth liquor.
“Do you know what we’re actually dealing with?” Ravage looked from my father to me. “How big is their organization? I don’t remember them ever being a problem for us.”
“Until now, they really weren’t. The Renegade Kings are just about two-thirds the size of this charter in total from what we can tell. They mostly handle drug deals, pretty minor shit. Honestly, I don’t think they’re really the out-for-vengeance types. It gets messy when crank and shit is involved, though. They have a lot of heat on them from that alone to add in bloodshed,” I answered.
My father leaned back in his chair, lighting a cowboy killer with his engraved Zippo. “That’s what worries me,” he muttered, letting out a large puff of smoke.
“Me too. You don’t know what they are capable of if you haven’t seen it before.” Abel looked over to my father with respect and admiration.
“How are Jett and Reese handling all of this?” Rave asked quickly.
I shrugged. “The best we could hope for. Jett hasn’t gone on a killing spree yet. I consider that a win for that crazy son of a bitch.”
My father laughed. “Ain’t that the damn truth.”
“So what do y’all want us to do? How can we help?” Abel looked like he was ready to go on a witch hunt to pick them off one by one.
“I just wanted you here for backup while we see what their play is going to be. I need the best guys here protecting this family. That’s why I called y’all in on this.” I wasn’t shy about admitting we needed help. Our club was getting older, and we weren’t having luck with our newest recruits. I didn’t yet trust any of the young blood to handle the situation with the care and discretion it seemed to warrant.
“We’ll stay as long as you need us to.” Rave looked me dead in the eye. “Anything you need. We’ve got your back, Pres.” The little wink he shot me was priceless. Ravage was like an uncle to me, and it had been hard with him so far away for so many years. It was for the best and I knew it, but it was good to have him home for a change.
“Is it time to go eat?” Abel smiled up at me before slamming his last shot.
“I think it is.” I clambered to my feet. “Thanks again for making the trip.”
“Don’t mention it. That’s what family does for each other. You’d do the same thing for us.” Rave clapped me on the back.
We all walked back out into the main room.
“Let me just call Allie and make sure she’s ready for all of us to descend on the house.”
I walked out front, lighting a cigarette before dialing my wife.
“Hey, handsome,” she cooed into the phone.
“Hey babe. Are you ready for us?”
“I am just getting back from the store now—needed to get some more potatoes. Come on home. We miss you.”
The sound of her voice coursed through me. She was my bright light in a life filled with darkness.
“We’re heading your way now then.”
* * *
It only took a few minutes to round up the guys and give the green light to the others who would be joining us. In a pack of screaming hogs, fifteen of us pulled into my gravel driveway.
Allie rushed out the front door to greet us, smiling and waving with excitement. Just as she got one foot onto the first step, the house erupted into a ball of flames, sending all of us cascading to the ground.
Searing pain shot through me as I tried to scramble to my feet to no avail. The overwhelming sound of ringing crashed into my ears as I inched toward my wife. The heat from the roaring flames was overpowering once I got close enough to Allie.
Her body was sprawled face down on the front lawn, motionless.
Rolling her over, I shouted for her to wake up.
Abel appeared at my side. “Is she alive?”
I could barely hear his words as I pulled Allie’s body into my arms. Resting my hand on her stomach, I prayed for a kick that never came from my little girl.
Everything was a blur. Everything was spinning. My body was screaming.
I didn’t snap back into focus until I was running next to her as the gurney was wheeled into the emergency room.
“You have to save her,” I bawled as doctors and
nurses rushed over to us.
“Sir, we need to get her stabilized and into labor and delivery,” a nurse stated, pulling me away from Allie’s side. “We need to check you out, too. You’re bleeding.”
“I don’t care. I’ll be fine. I can’t leave her,” I cried. “She has to be all right. The baby has to be all right. I can’t lose them.”
“Your wife and baby are in the best of hands.” The nurse tried to comfort me, but there was no way that was going to work. I watched my whole world get rolled away from me, and there was nothing I could do about it. My heart was breaking as I fell to my knees right there in the middle of intake.
Rave’s strong hands gripped me, yanking me back up. “You have to stay strong right now.”
His weathered face was bloody and torn from the blast.
“I can’t.” I could feel every part of me breaking into a million pieces—there was no way I would be able to put them back together without Allie.
“You don’t have a choice, son.” Glaring at me, he shook me hard. “You have to be a president, husband, and father all at the same time right now. You can do this. Let the nurse check you out then go wait for your wife and that precious baby girl of yours. Show your men that you can be strong.”
I felt my knees getting weak again. “I don’t know how to do this.”
Rave quickly steadied me, shoving me against the wall for balance. “Do you know why you have the reputation of being unkillable, Maccon?”
His question took me by surprise. After rolling the words over in my brain for a few seconds, I shook my head.
“Because you fucking are,” he continued. “It’s not that you’re immortal—we’re all going to meet our maker someday. It’s because through all the shit you’ve had to do, all the crap you’ve waded through, your spirit has never died. You’re fierce and determined. You need to remember that. You need to feel it, believe it, and revel in it at times like these. That is what is going to make you the best damn president this chapter has ever seen.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “Thank you, Rave.”
I didn’t know if I believed him, but his words sank in deep. I had to suck it up and be the leader my men needed and my wife deserved. I was about to become a father. I refused to have the first moments of my daughter’s life be while I was weak and falling apart.
I straightened up, clapped Rave on the back, and walked to the waiting area just outside my wife’s room.
* * *
Sitting in the waiting room with all my brothers around me was sheer torture.
Finally, a doctor came out of Allie’s room. I scrambled to my feet as he walked over to me with a tiny baby wrapped in a pink blanket.
“Mr. Allred?” the doctor asked as I nodded feverishly. “I’d like for you to meet your daughter.”
I took the sleeping child into my arms as tears streamed down my face. “Hello, Emerson,” I cooed as I kissed her soft forehead. “How’s Allie?” Looking back to the doctor, I could barely get the words out.
His gaze darted away from me briefly, and I knew it was over.
“I am so sorry.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “Would you like to say goodbye?”
My brothers stood behind me as I took the hardest steps I’d ever had to take.
With my daughter clutched in my arms, I made my way to the bed where my wife lay still. She didn’t even look like herself. Her body was limp, her skin ashen, and her gorgeous lips had lost their pink glow.
“You did so good,” I whispered as I stood rocking my little girl. “Emerson is so beautiful and strong just like you.”
Standing there, I sobbed.
“I don’t know how to do this without you, but I will find a way. I will be the best father I can be and I will never let Emerson forget who you are. I love you so much and I am going to miss you every day.”
My blood boiled. Allie was innocent in all of this. She deserved to be a mother, to watch her daughter grow up. We had been robbed of so much in an instant.
Sinking down on the foot of the hospital bed, I sat gaping at the little miracle sleeping soundly in my arms. She was one last gift Allie gave me, one last piece of my wonderful wife that I would never take for granted.
I didn’t want to leave Allie’s side, but I knew it was time. As I walked back out to the waiting room, all my brothers gathered around me, meeting the newest member of our family.
“Maccon,” a familiar singsong voice called to me. Turning, I saw the sorrowful face of my sister as she ran to me. “I came as fast as I could.”
“Thank you for coming, Piper. Want to meet your niece?”
My sister took Emerson from my arms as she started crying. “She’s absolutely beautiful.”
A nurse came up to us while we were fawning over our little miracle. “I am so sorry, but we need to take her to the newborn intensive care unit.”
As the nurse took my daughter, my heart was crushed again. “Is she all right?”
The nurse gave me a sympathetic smile. “We have to be careful with premature babies, but she’s a strong one. She’s going to be fine, will probably only stay with us for a few days. It’s just a precaution, that’s all.”
“Will you go with her?” I asked Piper.
Giving me a quick hug, she sighed. “Of course, big brother. I won’t let her out of my sight.”
“I’m so sorry, son.” My father pulled me into his arms. “It’s your call. What do you want to do?”
I took a step back, straightening up as I looked at all the guys huddled up. “We’re going to make them pay for all of this, for Katherine and for Allie. We’re going to destroy every last one them if it is the last thing I fucking do.”
Reese put his hand on my shoulder. “Aye, brother. They have no idea who they messed with. Let’s give ’em hell.”
Chapter 4
Maccon
After three sleepless nights at the hospital, I finally got the all-clear to take Emerson home. It should have been the happiest day of my life, but I was empty. The one person I wanted by my side couldn’t be there.
“You sit in the back with her. I’ll drive.” Piper grabbed my keys out of my hand before I could protest.
“Thanks.” I clicked Emerson’s car seat into the back of my pickup and climbed in beside her.
I couldn’t take my eyes off of my fussing daughter as she took her first car ride. I tried everything to soothe her and failed miserably.
“Allie would have known just how to keep her calm,” I muttered to myself.
Piper glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “Hey, bro?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve been thinking—Dad has a spare room in the back of the house. Why don’t I move in to help the two of you with Emerson? I’ve been trying to figure out a way to leave my job at the Quick Stop anyway, and it seems like you could use another set of hands right now. It’s been a long time since Dad dealt with a newborn, and I bet you’ve never changed a diaper in your damn life.”
I didn’t know what to say. I hadn’t thought about what I was going to do once Emerson was home. Piper was correct—we needed help.
“You’re right about the diaper thing, and I think that is a great idea,” I responded in a high-pitched, goo-goo voice as I stroked Emerson’s cheek. “Would you like it if Auntie Piper lived with us? Cry if you think it’s a good idea.”
Emerson wailed, taking the screeching to a whole new level.
“We’re in,” I added while laughing.
“Fantastic.” Piper chortled as she pulled into the driveway of my father’s house. “Home sweet home.”
It wasn’t home, but it would have to do while I was figuring out how to rebuild mine. It broke my heart that the nursery Allie had painstakingly put together for our little girl had gone up in flames, but those things could be replaced. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do it as well as she had the first time around, but I was going to try my damnedest to do it justice.
Just as I was getting
Emerson out of the truck, my phone started ringing. Handing the car seat over to Piper, I picked up.
“Hello?”
“Church. Now,” my father barked.
“I’m just getting Emerson home,” I complained.
“You need to get here now. Piper will understand and your daughter will be in good hands. I wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important.”
I wasn’t going to argue, sure his insistence meant they finally had a solid lead on our newest rivals. “Yeah, okay. Be right there.”
“Let me guess,” Piper stated as she popped out her hip to rest the carrier on it. “Dad just snapped his fingers and you’re going running.”
I kissed her on the cheek. “Don’t start. You know what this is about.”
“Go get ’em.” She tossed me a quick smile. “We’ll be fine here, won’t we, Emerson?”
“You know where the formula and everything is, right?” I asked, quickly hopping on my bike.
“I helped you organize it all yesterday. We’re all set. Be safe.”
“Thanks, Piper. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
* * *
I burst into the room where my men were already surrounding the table waiting for me.
“Did you find them?” I barked, huffing down into my seat at the head of the large table.
I gripped the gavel as Abel cleared his throat. “For drug dealers, these dudes weren’t easy to find, at least their higher-ups weren’t, but I think I pinned down their main safe house last night.”
“What are we waiting for?” I could feel my heart beating out of my chest as the thirst for revenge buzzed through my entire body. It tingled and coursed as flashes of Allie’s lifeless body assaulted my mind.
“For you,” my father admitted. “This is your fight, son. We weren’t going to take it from you.”
Unkillable: An Unacceptables MC Standalone Page 2