by K. J. Dahlen
Which led to another problem. Raine lifted his eyes and stared at the woman in the kitchen. She looked older than the last time he’d seen her but it had been seventeen years. The bruises and blood were long gone but her eyes remained haunted to this day.
“Stop staring at my woman.” Came a growl from behind him.
Raine didn’t bother turning to face the threat. The hairs on the back of his neck told him who was standing there. “Why don’t you sit down?”
Gator pulled out the chair and sat. “What the hell do you want here Raine?”
“Would you believe me if I told you I just want peace between us?” Raine said softly.
“Not bloody likely.” Gator scoffed.
Raine looked up and asked, “Why? I never did anything to you or to her.”
Gator’s hands fisted and the rage buried deep inside him rose to the surface. “That’s right you and your family didn’t do anything to stop your brother from hurting her. You stood there and watched as he beat the hell out her of time and time again.”
Raine nodded. “That’s true enough, we didn’t stop him. Hindsight is a bitch isn’t it? But then, we all had our own problems to worry about, didn’t we? It wasn’t like she ever said anything until it was too late, did she?”
“I don’t want you here, she doesn’t want you here, why don’t you just go home and leave us alone?”
“I can’t,” Raine admitted. “I live here now. For better or worse, this is my new home.”
“Bullshit.” Gator growled. “Go back to Maine with the rest of your family.”
Raine shook his head. “I have too much to make up for. The past haunts us all, not just you or her.”
“She’s the only one I care about,” Gator admitted. “I would put my life on the line for that woman and I won’t stand here and watch you destroy her.”
“Man, I don’t want to destroy her,” Raine tried to explain. “I want the chance to help her. I want her to know that while I wasn’t there for her in the past, I want to try and help her now.”
“She doesn’t need your help.” Gator growled. “Just get of out here, go away and never let her or me see you again or things could get very ugly between us.”
“Things are going to get ugly very soon anyway.” Raine stared directly at him.
Gator leaned closer as his eyes turned to blue steel. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Bulldog is getting out of prison soon and you and I both know he’s going to come looking for her when he gets out. I don’t want him to find her or you.”
Gator paled. His words were like a death toll in his heart. Snapping his head around, he found Reva in the kitchen. His eyes searched over her body and he took a deep breath. Looking back to Raine, he asked, “When?”
“He has another parole hearing in less than a month. He’s been keeping his nose clean this past year or so and his attorney thinks he might have a better chance this time.”
Gator sat there for a moment then asked, “Do you really think he’d come after her?”
Raine snorted. “Oh yeah, he will come after her. I got a letter from him before we got here, and that was over a year ago. Bulldog wants her and you dead. He ranted and raved about the fact the he’s spent the last seventeen years behind bars because of you two and he’s going to get his revenge.”
Gator snarled. “He’s spent the last seventeen years in jail because of what he did. It had nothing to do with anything we did.”
Raine nodded. “True enough, but he never thought she would press charges.”
Gator scoffed. “She didn’t have much choice. He never gave her a choice. He destroyed something inside her that night. He shattered her spirit and stole her child. What the hell did he expect?”
“I don’t know.” Raine shrugged. “He was truly out of control.”
“Don’t you dare sit there and defend what he did to her that night.” Gator sneered. “Not to me and certainly not to her.” He got to his feet and stood over the other man. “If he comes here looking for trouble he’ll get it and this time…I will kill the bastard.” Gator turned and stomped into the kitchen. He took Reva into his arms and held her close. Gator turned his head and glared at Raine.
Raine lifted his cup and acknowledged the glare. He finished his drink and got to his feet. He did what he had to do and now, it was time to go to the hospital. He wanted to be there when Melora had the baby. He wanted to see the look on Sam’s face when his son was born.
He looked over at the kitchen area again. He knew why Reva and Gator didn’t go when everyone else left and he was genuinely sorry for that. Reva would never know the joy of having another child, she would never know what it felt like to grow huge with a child in her belly, all because of his brother. But she wouldn’t have to run this time.
Making his way through the streets of Troy, Raine had time to think again, about what happened all those years ago. They knew something had been going on with Bulldog but they hadn’t realized it was as bad as it was. But Reva knew and she didn’t say a word. Bulldog had her living in fear for years and no one in his family knew it.
They should have known it but they didn’t. That was on them, even though Reva paid the price.
When Raine entered the hospital and made his way to the maternity floor, he found everyone waiting, just as they had waited when Cassie had the twins. The only ones missing were Melora and Sam.
“So how are things going?” he finally asked Deke.
“She should be delivering any time now,” Deke replied.
“Already?” Raine was surprised. “That was a short labor.”
“The silly woman has been in labor all day,” Deke explained. “She just didn’t tell anyone.”
Raine looked around the room and found Mountain looking pale and just a little bit shaky. “Her dad don’t look so good.”
“I’m pretty sure he’d like a drink about now.” Deke laughed softly.
“Yeah, all of them look like they need one,” Raine noted.
“Well, it’s not every day you become a grandfather.” Cassie joined them.
“How is Adriana handling all of this?” Raine asked after he spotted Sam’s young daughter huddled in the corner.
Cassie rolled her eyes. “She couldn’t have gotten here at a worse time. And Sam hasn’t said why he had to bring her here, today of all days.”
“Well, there had to be a good reason,” Raine defended his friend. “Sam wouldn’t have missed his own wedding, not when he was the one pushing for it.”
“I know,” Cassie agreed. “Which leads me to believe the girl or her mother are in some sort of bad trouble.” She nodded toward Adriana. “We just have to hang on to her until Sam is able to explain himself.”
Raine studied the girl. “Shit, she looks scared to death.”
“Yeah, she does,” Deke agreed. “It doesn’t help that the minute Sam got back, Melora was in labor. He didn’t even have time to introduce her to anyone.”
Raine left them and went over to where Adriana was sitting.
When he sat down beside her, she stiffened and refused to look at him.
“Hi, my name is Raine.”
Adriana turned her head. “What the hell kind of name is Rain?”
Raine chuckled. “It’s only a name.”
“What’s your real name?”
“Chris.”
“Ok, Chris, what the hell is going on?”
Raine chuckled. “Sam and his old lady are having a baby.”
“So how many kids does Sam have anyway? Besides me, I mean.”
“Well, there’s Deke.” He pointed her brother out. “And there’s Quinn.” He motioned to her other sister, “Then there’s you and now, the new baby.”
“Sweet Jesus! Doesn’t the man know about birth control?” she whispered. “I know about it and I’m only fourteen.”
Raine chuckled but didn’t say anything. If she only thought about it o
n another level, she would feel stunned: If Sam had used it, she wouldn’t even exist.
CHAPTER TWO
The doors at the end of the hall opened up and a nurse came through them. She gazed around at the waiting room filled with bikers and swallowed hard as she called out a name, “Tory.” When everyone got to their feet, she could see that some of them were well over six feet tall and some, nearly 3 feet wide, she backed up a step as she swallowed hard. Then she took a deep breath, turned and led the way to Melora’s room.
When everyone came in, the room suddenly got very small.
Melora sat on the bed holding her son and Sam was standing there grinning from ear to ear. “I’d like to introduce you to my son.”
“His name is Talon Boone Morgan Tory,” Melora announced. “But we’re gonna call him T-Bone.”
Izzy came over to her friend’s bed and with tears in her eyes whispered the name, “Boone?”
Melora nodded. “I hope you don’t mind?”
Izzy shook her head. “I don’t think he’d mind at all.” Tears rolled down her face as she mouthed the words, “Thank you.”
When her dad, Mountain came up behind Izzy and peeked over her shoulder at his grandson, he smiled. “Now why would you go and name the kid Talon?”
“Because my mother loved a man with that name,” Melora told him proudly.
Sam lifted his hands. “I had nothing to do with it at all. She wouldn’t even tell me what my son’s name was until now.”
“I’ve wanted that name since I was a little girl,” Melora told him. “I gave him your name too.”
“Yeah you did, even though we didn’t get married today.” Sam shook his head. “Things just didn’t work out the way they should’ve but we’re still going to get married.”
“I know.” Melora glanced over at Adriana. “But now we have the whole family together and that’s more important.”
Adriana stared at her for a moment then glanced at the baby in her arms. “So this baby is my brother?”
“One of them.” Melora nodded at Deke. “He’s the other one, and Quinn is your sister too.”
“Yeah, I kind of got that part.” The girl shrugged her thin shoulders and commented, “Sorry, I screwed things up for you.”
Melora smiled. “You didn’t screw things up for anyone. I’m glad you’re here.”
“Why? You don’t even know me.” Adriana just stared at her with no expression in her eyes at all.
“I may not know you yet, but you’re part of Sam’s family and that makes you important to me,” Melora replied simply.
Adriana shook her head. “Yeah, well don’t get too hyped, this situation is only temporary. I will be going back to my Mom.”
Deke came up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
Adriana stiffened then shrugged his hand away. She moved over to the corner and slid down the wall.
Melora watched her from the corner of her eye and shook her head. Then she turned her attention to her son as Deke took the baby from her.
Holding him close, Deke murmured to the baby sleeping so content in his arms. He glanced up at Melora and smiled. “You did good, little mama.”
“Thanks,” she whispered.
“T-Bone huh?” Deke whispered. “I like it.”
“Yeah, me too.” Melora smiled. “Not sure Sam is thrilled but he didn’t really have a choice.”
“He’ll get over it,” Deke smirked.
Melora glanced over at Sam and noted the slightly panicked look on his face. “He won’t even hold his son,” she whispered. “He looks scared to death.”
Deke studied his dad and then glanced down at the baby in his arms. “Maybe he’s never held a baby before. I remember he wouldn’t hold his grandkids until they were a little older.” Before he could think about it, Deke went over to where his dad was standing and pushed the baby into his arms. Sam tried to protest but Deke wasn’t taking no for an answer.
The baby opened his eyes but didn’t make a sound when he gazed up at his father.
Sam just seemed stunned. He looked down at the baby in his arms and couldn’t believe he was holding him. His arms were frozen and shaky as if he were afraid of dropping this tiny human being.
When Izzy came over, he gladly gave up the baby. The baby fussed at being taken away from his dad but settled down quickly. Izzy took him over to his grandfather and grand uncles and he was passed around quickly.
It wasn’t long before the nurse stepped back in and suggested it was time to go. She looked a little afraid of all the large men in the room in their motorcycle vests, but she firmly nodded her head at them all.
Mountain finally passed the baby back to Melora. Leaning over her bed, he kissed her forehead. “You did good, baby girl,” he whispered. “But who is Boone?”
Melora gazed at her father with tears in her eyes. “Maybe you should ask Izzy. He’s very important to her and she is very important to me. I told you we had a history.”
Mountain glanced over his shoulder at the woman that was becoming very important to him. “I’ll ask her.” He gazed down at the baby. “We’ll be back in a few hours to see you.”
Melora smiled. “Can you have Izzy grab the bag I packed for the baby? I didn’t have time to grab it before we got here last night.”
“Sure thing.” Mountain straightened up and glanced over at Sam. He held out his hand and when Sam grabbed it, they shook briefly. “Take care of your family, old man.”
Sam nodded. “I will.”
~* * * *~
Slowly, the room emptied until there were only Sam, Melora, the baby and Adriana.
Deke had asked the girl to come home with him for the rest of the night but she didn’t want to go and rather than start something, he’d just left her there.
Now, it was just them left and Melora knew she had to deal with the situation.
Before she could say anything, Adriana got up and came over to sit on the side of the bed. “So did Sam tell you what the deal is?”
“No we hadn’t got that far,” Melora replied. “Why don’t you tell me about it?”
Sam started to say something but Melora gave him a look and he snapped his mouth shut.
“The MC in Saratoga Springs is about to go to war with an MC in Glens Falls. My mom didn’t want me caught in the middle, so she called Sam to get me out of the way.”
“Why were they going to war?” Melora asked.
“The MC in Saratoga Springs is called the Blue Devils. My Mom is involved with Radar, he’s the President of the club. Anyway, the Enforcer of the Red Cajuns, that’s the MC from Glens Falls, he thought he could just come in to our town and start some shit. Radar taught him a harsh lesson and the Red Cajuns didn’t take it well.” Adriana shrugged. “They sent three men after my mom and me, thinking they could use us against the club.”
Sam spoke up now, “They almost got their hands on Adriana, and Stacy shot one of them before the guys got to them. They sent the other packing but figured they’d be back. Stacy wanted Adriana protected and away from the coming firefight.”
“I don’t blame her.” Melora shuddered. Tightening her hold on her son, she couldn’t help herself. “I would do whatever I could to protect my kid from that kind of violence too.” Holding out her hand, she grasped Adriana’s hand. “I’m glad you’re here and you’re safe.”
“Are you?” Adriana asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Melora asked with a frown.
“Oh, I don’t know, probably because I stopped the wedding.”
Melora smiled. “I don’t think you’re to blame for that.” She lifted her son. “I think he might have had something to do with that as well.”
Adriana sat down in the chair next to the bed. “So now what’s going to happen to me? I mean I can’t stay here.”
“I think you should go home with your dad and get settled in,” Melora advised. Sam started to protest but she put her hand up.
“The two of you need some time one on one. The baby and I will be just fine and you can come back tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?” Sam whispered as he leaned close to her and the baby.
“Yeah, I am,” Melora assured him. “I’m tired and she needs you tonight. She can’t help but be worried about the mess her mother is in. I know I would be. She needs you.”
“Sam can always just take me home, you know.” Ariana shrugged.
“No baby girl, I can’t,” Sam told her. “I promised your mom I’d keep you safe and I plan to do just that.”
“But who’s going to protect my mom?” she asked softly. “The Cajuns will kill her to find me.”
“Why would they do that?” Melora asked.
Adriana turned away and didn’t say anything for a moment or two. Then she turned to Melora with tears in her eyes. “I heard Benny and Radar making a deal. Radar has hated me since him and my mom got together four years ago. Radar told Benny he would sell me to the Cajuns when I turned fifteen for a price. Mom doesn’t know I heard it but I did. That’s why she called Sam tonight. My birthday is the day after tomorrow. Benny came by the club and Mom saw him. I have a feeling if Radar can’t produce me, Benny might start a war.”
Sam growled as her story unfolded. “What the fuck kind of man is this Radar piece of shit?”
Adriana shrugged. “I’m really worried about my mom. She tried to get away from him once and he beat the hell out of her. I don’t know what he’ll do when he finds out I’m gone.”
“Do you think he’ll come here looking for you?” Melora asked.
Adriana shook her head. “He has no idea who my father is. Mom refused to tell him. All she would ever say was that my father was no longer in the picture. She talked as if he were dead.”
“Why would your mom get involved with this loser anyway?” Sam asked. “I thought she had more sense than that.”
“It wasn’t her fault!” Adriana cried out. “She didn’t have a choice. Radar chose her and made it difficult for her to say no. He threatened my life.”
Sam sat down hard on the bed next to Melora. “Why didn’t Stacy ever say anything to me before? I would have come for you, hell I would have taken you both to safety.”