by M. Merin
“I’m good. Thanks for everything, Amy.”
Washing my hands and putting the casserole pans in to bake, I grab my cut and go outside to call Russian. Hitting the speed dial, I immediately hear the Jackson Browne song Russian has as his ring tone and spin around, into his arms.
“Dammit!” I screech and smack his chest.
“Glad to know it was me you were sneaking off to call, Little Bit,” he laughs before his lips consume mine. As always, he takes control of my mouth and my mind. When he finally pulls back from me, he asks something but my brain is too fogged by his kiss and my hormones are raging for more.
“Betsy, can’t take care of you now,” he gently kisses my forehead. “I’ve got Church.”
“Huh? Oh. Wait!” I finally focus on why I needed to speak with Russian and tighten my arms around him. “Vice was in the kitchen with Amy and me. He, no! Stop and listen to me, Artem. Roy and Flint came in, they said if he didn’t back off they’d take his rank.”
“Motherfucker’s on my last nerve, Little Bit,” he growls and his hands tighten around my arms.
“I can’t take you coming home with bruises and cut knuckles all the time. Please, just ignore him.”
“I…”
“You promised you wouldn’t hold my past against me, did you mean it?” I narrow my eyes at him but know I’m not playing fair.
“Yes. You have no idea what I’d do for you, Betsy,” he continues. “I just ain’t going to take shit from him.”
“I’m not asking you to be someone you aren’t but if he’s going to listen to Flint, than please give it a chance, alright?” he nods in reply to my plea. “You’ve got Church. Don’t be late.”
“Love you,” he says and I lean up to kiss him.
“Come find me afterwards, I need you,” I whisper against his mouth and he nips my lower lip.
“Promise.”
I watch him walk away, unable to keep the big dorky smile from my face. Bliss, I think again. Until I hear gun shots.
Russian
I no sooner get inside the clubhouse than I hear shots ringing out. Spinning around, I run back outside, pulling my gun out I locate Betsy hiding behind a row of bikes.
“Status?” someone yells from inside.
“Probie on watch is down. Five guys with guns and two more are handcuffing someone to the fence,” I call back. “Betsy, I need you to just stay where you are, hear me?” I say in a quieter voice, hating to see the terror on her face. She gives me a nod a moment later and I look over my shoulder to see Vice, Tanker, Hawk, and Smithy come around the side of the building.
Hawk has a rifle with him and doesn’t hesitate, taking out one of the guys securing who I think is one of our probies, Madda, to the fence.
The attackers turn towards his direction and open fire, giving me the chance to cross over to Betsy. “It was Mick, Artem. They shot him twice, he’s dead, Artem.” She sobs in my arms, naming the probie who was on gate duty.
“Shhh. I got you. Real smart hiding so fast, Little Bit. Stay calm for our baby, honey, deep breaths,” I soothe her, keeping an eye on our surroundings, I catch Roy watching us from inside the now opened front doors. I flash him the OK sign and see him nod, holding a hand out so we’ll stay put.
Betsy does as I say and folds her body closer into mine, giving me her absolute trust that I’ll keep what’s mine safe. Hearing a whirring noise, I look up and see a drone flying out from the front doors over towards the gate. My head spins as Hawk gets takes out another attacker. Fucker hasn’t lost his skill, no matter how long he’s been out of the military. Another sob escapes Betsy at the sound of the rifle but otherwise, it feels like her breathing has settled down.
“Hawk just got another one of them, Little Bit. We’re just gonna sit tight, this’ll be done in no time.”
Looking up I see the other attackers getting on their bikes and riding off, leaving a van and their dead behind. “Time to move,” I scoop Betsy up in my arms and head towards the clubhouse. Looking over, I see Vice staring at Betsy before making eye contact with me. I give him a nod and hold her closer, moving to the side as Roy and Jasper run toward the gate.
“Russian,” Flint calls out. “Get her to my old room, unless you think she needs to see Forsythe?”
“I’m okay,” Betsy replies. “Really.” At her assurance, I look around and seeing a few Girlies in the corner, I yell at them to bring her water, as I continue past them and upstairs.
“Do you want a shower? What do you need?” I question, putting her down on the bed, I run my hands over her body to assure myself she’s whole. The feel of her rounded belly is like a knife in me, thinking of how I could have lost both of them.
“Kisses,” she answers with a little grin.
“All my kisses are yours, Little Bit,” I vow, and start by kissing her hand and slowly move my way up her body.
“I have the water,” Stacy announces from the doorway.
“Stay with her until I get back,” I respond, not breaking eye contact with Betsy. “I have to get out there, but anything she needs, you get for her, Stacy.” Betsy squeezes my hand to let me know she’ll be alright.
Looking around the main room, I see one of the honey holes crying over Mick’s body. That kid will be missed by us all. But Vice is eyeing her and unfortunately, he’s gotta make sure the chick can keep her mouth shut before she’s allowed to roll on out of here.
“Roy!” Flint bellows as the probie, Madda, who was chained to the fence is dragged in, covered in blood. “Bring him downstairs. Gentle, you assholes!” he calls out to Tanker and Wrench as they proceed him with their load down to the situation room.
“Hawk and Smithy caught up to them. Some of our Brothers were heading here when they saw the chase and joined in,” Jasper announces walking into the room. “Is Madda gonna make it? I want to know what the hell went down and who those assholes are!”
“Roy and Flint went downstairs with him. His back looked like grated cheese, Pres,” I answer since no one else speaks up.
“Any sign of Nomad?” he asks.
“What? No, haven’t seen him in a while.”
“I had Madda working with him on something,” Jasper responds, quietly. “Whispers about some of the surviving Spiders who joined up with the Rejects from Nevada. Betsy alright?”
I’m so worked up by what’s gone down that his last question throws me off for a moment. “Yeah, Pres. She’s lying down in Flint’s room. One of the Girlies is with her.”
“Grab a few of the guys, get out there and make sure our gate’s secure. All we need is for Michaels to roll up here now.” He pauses for a moment as I look around, assessing who I should take with me. “Get sentries and patrols set up, then get back to her – she understands club business but this far along, she needs to feel…”
“I got that locked down, Jasper. Don’t need advice on how to love my Ol’ Lady,” my hands have curled into fists. I know Pres means well but he doesn’t get to meddle in our relationship.
“Saw her out there on the video feed. Saw you get to her as soon as you could. No fucking doubt in my mind you know what’s best when it comes to Betsy. Doubt she understands it, but she’s come to mean a lot to us. To this MC.” Jasper finishes before turning away and heading down to the infirmary.
Calling for the probies and a few patched brothers, I lead them out to the fence. Setting up patrols inside the fence line and getting a rotation going for the gate, I make sure that all is secured before I head back inside hours later.
Betsy
Tired of Stacy watching me from her perch near the door, I ask her about a job I know she applied for in town.
“Don’t know yet, Uni,” she shrugs at me.
“Uni?” I ask, confused.
“Yep. Fucking unicorn. The whore who became an Ol’ Lady. Not like you didn’t act better than us when you were just a Girlie,” she smacks her gum and shrugs again.
“Really? A man is dead. This club just came under fire and no
w’s the time to be pissy that I said ‘No’ if I didn’t wanna fuck someone?” I roll my eyes and drink more water.
“Sure, you were happier cleaning up our shit than spreading your legs, but you never once thought about how mad some of those assholes got when you pushed them away. How they’d take it out on the rest of us?”
“Did it ever occur to you not to fuck every one of them that motioned for you? I wasn’t looking on being an Ol’ Lady, I just needed a place. A home.” I pause and smile to myself. The first home I ever had was in Russian’s arms and I’ll always be thankful for him.
“Sure you got one now, but I’m the one Vice comes to most often. He fucking loves the stuff I do for him. Things, I bet your cold, bitchy ass never thought about doing.” My jaw drops as Stacy spews all this out in the same tone of voice I’ve heard her discuss manicures in. “One of these days, Russian’s gonna wonder what he’s been missing and I won’t kick his ass out of bed either.”
“Little Bit?” Russian’s smiling at me from the doorway. “You want me to ban her?” he asks and Stacy flies off the dresser she was sitting on.
“She’s just talking shit, Russian,” I answer, not wanting to use his real name in front of her. She throws me a look of disbelief and scurries past my man. He’s quick to lock the door behind her.
“Madda’s in bad shape,” he starts as he crosses over to me. Kneeling beside the bed, Artem rests his head against my rounded belly. “Jasper’s gonna have Roy wake him up pretty soon, get what information he can from the kid. Bree’s here, you know how close she and Flint are to the kid. She’ll be mother-henning him for a good month after this.”
“Lie down with me?”
“Nah, I got to shower…hey!” his head draws back and his eyes get huge. “Did he just? I mean you felt that right?”
“Maybe you woke HER up? That’s why SHE kicked your head?” I smile at him, reliving our back and forth about the baby’s sex.
“I told you, Little Bit,” Russian says standing up and mock-glaring at me before walking to the bathroom. “I need a boy first so I can keep the vultures away from any daughters you give me.”
“Go shower. We want you back here with us,” I smile at him before drifting off.
Chapter 10
Betsy
Russian comes and goes throughout the night. I know they have a lot going on and am not surprised when I wake up at one point to Bree coming in the room.
“I’m sorry, honey,” she smiles at me. “I was nodding off next to Madda and Russian asked if I’d crawl in with you.”
“How is Madda doing?” I ask, smiling to myself. That boy was green as could be when Flint took him in and Bree’s always watched him like a hawk.
“He’s going to live, but the scars he’ll carry!” Bree’s voice trembles and I reach out to hold her hand. “He thinks Nomad’s still being held but he said he was pretty out of it by the time they loaded him into the van. The Rejects caught on to whatever those two were doing, an ex-Spider recognized Madda and the two of them were jumped by several guys. The Rejects are starting to move in on the MC in Boise and were looking for information for around here. I don’t know everything.”
“Iron Savages,” I murmur. “That’s the MC that holds Boise. They’re friendly enough. At least they were until the Maddocks’ went into overdrive.”
“Don’t worry about that now, Betsy,” Bree squeezes my hand and I realize I never released hers earlier. “It was bad enough that you were stuck outside when this happened, but you need your rest now.”
“Yes, mom,” I giggle.
“In a way, all you kids are becoming exactly that to me.”
“Even the ex-club whore?” I raise my eyebrow even though I know she can’t see me in the dark.
“Shut it. We don’t all have straight paths. That doesn’t mean you don’t need a family.” Bree’s voice turns hard.
“Not everyone sees it that way,” I whisper, thinking not only of what Stacy said but the fact that Hawk’s Ol’ Lady, Anne, still holds me at arms’ length.
“Fuck ‘em,” Bree says, surprising me. “You’ve never been anything but sweet and respectful to me, no reason for me to treat you any other way.”
“Emotional pregnant woman here, Bree!” I try to hold the tears back but that becomes impossible when she engulfs me in her arms.
Russian
After a night of patrols and strategizing with Gunner, I head up to Flint’s room. On the verge of calling out when I see him frozen in the doorway, he turns and silences me with a hand gesture.
Looking over his shoulder, I can’t help the smile that stretches my mouth apart. Bree is on her side next to Betsy, her arm is under Betsy’s head as though giving her comfort while she sleeps. And they’re both snoring.
Flint motions me back and quietly closes the door as he steps into the hallway. “Since we weren’t the only ones who had a long night, let’s get them some coffee and breakfast, huh?”
The lump in my throat stops me from doing anything but nodding and following in his wake. He’s a man who can teach me a lot about how to treat my Ol’ Lady. That’s an area I never had guidance in so I decide to pay closer attention going forward.
When we get back with breakfast, I can hear Betsy giggling even before we open the door. Our Ol’ Ladies are thrilled with the food we nuked for them. Technically, it’s one of Betsy’s breakfast casseroles that she leaves in the large fridge for the guys, so I can’t take too much credit.
“Finish up and I’ll get you home, Little Bit,” I say around a forkful of food.
“Are you kidding?” Her eyebrows knit together. “I’m sure it’s a disaster down there, I’ve got work to do.”
“No, what you need to do is give a list of chores to whichever Girlies and probies are milling about,” Flint cuts in. “You’re getting too far along to keep doing it all yourself.”
Fuck yeah. I’m glad he said it and not me. She won’t argue with him, especially once Bree agrees. I just take a swallow of coffee to stay out of the line of fire.
“Alright. If you think that’s okay? I’ll just go and see what needs to be done. Then I’ve got orders to place and bills to pay, so Russian – maybe an hour or two?” She checks with me.
I nod in return and follow her downstairs. As much as I’d love to get a nap in, I want to be around when she starts handing out assignments. Betsy might have wanted to avoid getting into it with Stacy yesterday, so I let it slide at the time. But I will not stand for any shit from that bitch today. My woman has standing here and it’s not just cause I slapped my Property vest on her.
Betsy and Bree head down to the basement immediately. I’m sure Bree will take watch over Madda again, in addition to keeping an eye out for Betsy as she takes measure of what needs to be done. I join Wrench and Vice at a table, hearing the latest update. Smithy, Tanker, and Hawk followed the attackers for several hours before they were certain of their identities. The other two found a motel to hole up in but sent Smithy back, most likely because his girlfriend just gave birth. Jasper’s coming up with a game plan now – I can only hope it involves joining with the Iron Savages and one of our California charters to deliver the wrath of fucking God on those assholes.
“Russian?” comes Bree’s voice from the basement door. Not seeing Betsy, I hurriedly stride towards her. “I may be panicking because of everything that’s happened but Betsy keeps touching her stomach and…maybe you can get her to rest?”
Frowning, I know Betsy’s last check-up went really well but I don’t doubt how stressful yesterday was for her. Bree gives me a quick nod before turning towards the kitchen. I decide to take matters into my own hands.
Striding downstairs, I walk through rooms until I spot Betsy giving directions to our newest probie. He’s smiling at her like she’s a goddess but he sure as hell isn’t listening to a word she’s saying.
“Asswipe!” I yell and his eyes whip over to me. Yeah, this shithead’s gonna get it now. “Oh, you know who mean when I
call out ‘Asswipe’, huh? What did my Ol’ Lady tell you to do, Asswipe?”
“Ah, um, well, she…”
“Time’s up. You’re cleaning the basement and main level. You’ll be eating your next meals off the floor so it’s no one’s fault but your own if you get any fucking diseases.” The kid turns tail and runs to the supply closet and I look at Betsy, her jaw is wide open.
“Artem,” she hisses after checking no one is close enough to hear that name. “I was handling that.”
“Yeah, well, time’s up. We’re going home.”
“Put me down!” she shrieks.
“Not until I get you into our bed.”
“Seriously?”
“You need to rest. The guys’ll call if they need me for anything. Please, Little Bit?” I soften my voice and kiss her nose.
Betsy
Honestly, I’m a bit relieved when Russian comes for me. I am tired and I keep getting random twinges. I just didn’t want to run out when everything was upside down around the clubhouse.
As always, Russian keeps his word. He carries me to his truck, then from there up the backstairs at Rusty’s Bar up to our apartment. The space is nicely furnished. Mostly with Bree’s furniture, but I’ve added in a few items since we moved in here. He carries me straight to the king size bed, handing me the remote control before going to fill up my water bottle, only leaving my side when his cell rings.
“Who’s that?” I call out, not realizing I had fallen asleep. I can hear voices in the front room and soon see Russian coming in, followed by Riley Maddock – Sorenson.
“Little Bit,” Russian starts, soon kneeling by my side. “I gotta get to the clubhouse for Church. Riley’s going to stay with you. Can I get you to the bathroom before I leave?”
I nod, too weary to be stubborn. “Love you so much,” I speak directly into his ear as he carries me and lowers me onto the toilet. “Come back safe to us?”
“Gunner’s going to be riding out, not me. Riley needs your support, Little Bit. I was being selfish asking for someone to stay with you but it works out for Gunner and me.” he whispers back to me. My eyes widen at him disclosing this. I’ve overheard things over the years but was never told anything directly until talking with Bree last night and now hearing this from Russian.