by J. M. Walker
“Fine, then we’ll go with you,” Cyrus said, crossing his arms under his chest.
“No.” The people in this club had already lost their parents. It would kill the club if something happened to Cyrus and Sammy.
“No?” Cyrus scratched his jaw. “Yeah, you see, you don’t get a say in—”
“I need you to watch over Piper and our unborn baby,” I told him.
“Unborn…” Cyrus sighed. “Fucking hell.”
“You can’t go after these fuckers by yourself,” Sammy added.
“I can. I handled it on my own in jail, I’ll handle it on my own outside of it.” I wasn’t taking no for an answer. They could fight me all they wanted.
“We wouldn’t know, Jaron. You haven’t told us shit about your time in jail. Whenever we went to see you, you redirected the conversations to Piper.” Cyrus raked a hand through his jet-black hair. “You haven’t said shit since you’ve been back, and you’ve been back for weeks. Hell, Brynn is almost a year old. If I was Piper, I would have left your ass long ago.”
“Fuck you.” I charged for him, getting in his face. “You don’t know what I had to do to survive. She’s safer without me here anyway. The mayor—”
“You leaving is not going to keep her safe. It’s what they want.” Cyrus tapped my temple. “Use your damn head, Jaron.”
I slapped his hand away, pushing him back. “Doesn’t matter. You can say whatever you want but it’s not stopping me.” I went to walk by him when his next words stopped me.
“So this is it.”
I paused, slowly turning back around. “She deserves better. You have to know that.”
“No.” Sammy stepped in front of his brother. “We don’t because all we see is how she looks at you. We heard her cry herself to sleep. You don’t know the pain she went through. And when she found out she was pregnant. Jaron, that pain was raw. She was alone even though she had all of us.”
Guilt resonated on my shoulders over everything that I had done but it didn’t matter. I needed to find Brynn and if something happened to me, Piper would be better off anyway. She would be safer.
“Piper needs you. This unborn baby needs you,” Cyrus added. “We didn’t grow up with parents. Look at how we turned out.”
“Hey.” Sammy smacked his brother’s shoulder. “I turned out just fine.”
“Brynlee needs me too.” I wouldn’t rest until I had her back in Piper’s arms. Even if I died trying, knowing that my daughter was safe was all that mattered. . Piper would be pissed, angry, hurt, enraged. So many different feelings would course through her. I knew because I felt them too. But she would get over it. She had to. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
***
(Piper)
I no longer had a sense of time. When I saw the look of agony on Jaron’s face after I demanded to know why he never brought Brynlee and me to his parents to keep us safe, I knew that I had fucked up. My mouth had gotten the better of me and made it seem like I blamed him. Did I? No. Not really. I couldn’t even be sure anymore. But what I did know was that I needed him. I needed our daughter. I just needed us to go home and move on. I knew the mayor had it out for Jaron, but I never expected him to go this far.
Jaron had tucked me safely in his bed. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him to make love to me in it. To distract me and himself. Even if it was just for a moment. But those words never left my lips as he backed up and slowly left the room.
I cried myself to sleep then. I couldn’t help it. I could already feel him pulling away. He was going to go after the mayor. I knew because it would be what I would do if I knew exactly where he was. And if I wasn’t pregnant.
A light but firm knock sounded on the door. My heart jumped.
“Come in,” I called out, sitting up.
The door slowly opened, revealing Cyrus and Sammy.
A hard sigh left me at the sight of them. “When did he leave?” I heard myself ask.
“How did you know?” Cyrus asked, leaning against the wall.
Sammy came into the room and went to the window. He opened it and lit up a smoke. “She knows him, that’s how.”
“He’s going after him. The mayor.” I couldn’t even cry, I was so damn furious. It was like this newfound rage coursing through me, closed up my tear ducts.
“He is, kiddo,” Cyrus said gently.
“And neither of you could have gone with him?” I asked, my voice a little more curt than I had intended.
Sammy muttered a curse.
Cyrus’s jaw clenched. “We tried but he wouldn’t let us. He asked us to take care of you.”
“Well it seems to me that you should have been keeping me and my daughter safe and that hasn’t happened. She’s missing. Remember?” I regretted it as soon as I said it.
Cyrus flinched. “That’s not fucking fair.”
“I know.” I shook my head. “I know. I’m sorry. He didn’t even say goodbye. He just left. What if I don’t see him again? What if something happens and he’s taken from me? What if he just gives up on us? What if…” A sob broke free, tears finally filling my eyes. “What if he leaves me because he can’t handle it?” I dropped my head in my hands, covering my face and letting the cries wrack through my body. All of the emotions weighed heavily on my shoulders, making them shake and tremble.
The bed dipped in front of me and I could only assume that it was Cyrus. He was the hugger between the two of them. Sammy not so much. He didn’t like being touched. It made me wonder why when he’d had a damn good childhood. Both of them did. Even though they lost their parents and I could appreciate the pain and anguish they had felt and still felt, it made me wonder if something else had happened.
“You have no reason to apologize.” That was Cyrus.
I looked up, being met by his dark eyes. Sammy still stood by the window, puffing on his smoke. His jaw clenched and unclenched but he wouldn’t meet my gaze. He was probably as pissed as I was.
“Did he say when he would be back?” I asked softly.
“He’ll be back when he has your daughter in his arms, Piper. He couldn’t wait anymore. His contact told him where she was, and he went after her.” Cyrus stood and began pacing. “I’ve always known something was shady about the mayor, but I never knew what. We tried proving that he was operating an underage strip club but couldn’t pin anything on the bastard.”
Sammy only grunted.
“What about Greyson? What about the other guys? Do they know that Jaron went off by himself?” None of this made sense. No bike club would let someone fight a battle by themselves. They were like a brotherhood. I had seen that over the years with my mom and her sisters from the King’s Harlots. I had seen that with Shadow’s club. They must know that Jaron left.
Cyrus stopped pacing, his dark eyes locking with mine. “We were asked to keep this to ourselves.”
Sammy muttered another curse, slamming the window shut. “Why the fuck are we even listening to him? He’s been selfish this whole time and we haven’t seen…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“But it does matter.” I slid out of bed and went to the door. “You two can come with me if you want but I will tell Greyson that his son left.” I lifted my hand when Cyrus and Sammy both took steps toward me. “Try and stop me and I will tell him that it was your idea for Jaron to leave.” I left the room, not waiting for them to respond. Knowing they would follow, I went to the one source who I knew could find Jaron and bring him and our daughter home.
Before it was too late.
Jaron
When I was a boy, I spent most of my time going through the motions. I was searching for something, but I didn’t know what. It could have been anything really. A new hobby. A new class at school. Maybe even a new friend. I had grown up around the same people. Saw them day in and day out. We spent so much time together, we would fight for no apparent reason. It drove my mom crazy and my dad and the rest of the guys would only laugh and shrug it off. Boys will be b
oys, they always said.
Sammy and Cyrus were the brothers I never had. They were older than me and I looked up to them with so much damn respect, I always felt guilty that I had both of my parents when they had neither of theirs.
They never said anything about it, but I could sense the longing. Although my dad took them under his wing, as did the other guys in the club, it wasn’t the same. I knew that. They knew that, even though they would deny it if asked.
It wasn’t fair. They didn’t have their dad to teach them how to throw their first ball or give them tips for their first date. They didn’t have a father who would tell them to man up and stop being a pussy when it came to the women they secretly loved. I wasn’t sure if there was anyone in Cyrus’s life, but I knew there was someone in Sammy’s. He had become grumpier over the past few months. I found that I couldn’t wait to meet her, knowing that no other woman had ever caused him to react this way.
While the twins had my dad, Tray, Catch, and a few of the other guys within the club, I knew it wasn’t the same.
I had never been jealous of their closeness with my dad, knowing what they had been through as children. Luckily for me, I didn’t remember any of it as I was just a newborn when Butcher and Trixie died. But I could feel the pain. The walls of the clubhouse wept with silent cries as vacant memories of their deaths still resonated in the air.
Sammy never went upstairs or down the hall with the pictures on the walls. Maybe in time he would. Cyrus did and then he fell into a bottle shortly after. It had been the same routine for the past few years.
See the pictures.
Drink a bottle.
Or fuck. A lot.
I tried not to let the guilt consume me, but it was hard not to. Especially when I had my parents, and they didn’t. Although they never lacked in family, there had still been something missing.
Before I left the clubhouse, I made Cyrus and Sammy promise that they would look after Piper and that they wouldn’t follow me. I knew as soon as Piper found out I had left, she would want to come after me. I just prayed that the twins prevented that shit from happening. She was carrying our second baby. I didn’t need anything happening to either of them.
Now that I had a family of my own, I fucked up and took advantage of it. That had been what it felt like anyway.
Whenever Brynlee had looked at me, it was like I was the only one who mattered in her little world. If I had it my way, I would be the only man she would ever love, but I knew that it was unreasonable to think that way. When the time came, I would deal with it then but first, I had to find her. I had to bring her home to her mama.
I shouldn’t have left like I did but I needed to avenge our daughter. I would get her back and if I lost Piper in the process, at least Brynlee would be safe in her arms. I would hold my head proud as long as my girls were together.
If I made it out of this alive, I would be lucky. I would then have to deal with Piper’s wrath. My body buzzed at the mere idea of fucking each other because we were furious. It would happen. In time. And I couldn’t wait.
It had been several hours since I left the clubhouse. Even longer since I left Piper in my bed. I was now sitting in the parking lot of a motel a couple of hours away. But it didn’t make sense. Rowan had told me that Price was on the move, but he was heading back in the direction of the town Piper and our friends had grown up in. Did he want to get caught? Did he want to face my full wrath head on? I wasn’t sure, but what I did know was that I needed to see that Brynn was, in fact, okay.
It was now later into the night, well past Brynlee’s bedtime but if my contact was correct, Price was staying in one of these rooms. My phone dinged and buzzed every so often. When I started getting messages that my father and some of the crew were on their way, I put my cell away. There was no point in arguing with them. The only thing I had asked was if Cyrus and Sammy were joining them and when I got back a no, I ignored the rest of the messages. I owed them. I owed them everything. I was thankful that they cared enough about Piper to look out for her and our unborn baby. But I had to do this. Without them. Our family, even though we weren’t all blood, had lost a lot over the years. It would kill them if they lost the twins too. So they had to stay home because I refused to be the reason they died.
A sudden movement in front of me, caught my eye. I was hidden in the shadows across the street of the motel. So I knew I wouldn’t be seen. My bike was parked a block away. It was close enough that I could run for it if I needed to. Or that was what I liked to tell myself anyway. In all reality, I was strung out. I shouldn’t have done this alone, but I didn’t want any more blood on my hands. What I did in jail and the guys I had killed was enough.
A door to one of the rooms on the second floor opened. I thought I was prepared for whatever happened but when I saw a man come out of the room with a small child in his arms, all breath left my lungs.
My knees shook.
My daughter – Piper’s daughter – was only a few yards away. It had felt like an eternity since I had seen Brynlee. Even though I couldn’t see for sure that it was her from where I was standing, everything in my gut said that it was her along with the jackass that called himself the mayor of a fucked up town.
“Baby girl,” I whispered, my feet carrying me forward.
I scanned the area around us. Nothing was out of the ordinary, but it didn’t mean that Price didn’t have his men standing close by. It made me wonder why he didn’t have a few walking with him.
My feet carried me forward another step before I could stop myself when a sound suddenly came from behind me. I stopped, slowly turning my head to look over my shoulder. When I realized that no one was behind me, I took a deep breath and jogged across the street to confront Price himself.
As he was nearing a car, his head snapped up. A slow grin spread on his face, when it dawned on him who was coming toward him.
When Brynlee looked my way, she cried out, struggling in his arms.
He scowled, moving Brynlee to his other arm and holding her tight. That single movement pissed me off.
“Give me back my daughter,” I bit out, not liking the sudden cries coming from her.
“You going to give me something in return?” Price placed a soft peck on her forehead, keeping his eyes locked with mine. “She smells so good. I could get a lot of money for her. She would be conditioned and trained. She wouldn’t know the difference and would spend her life as a slave.”
“You can have me.” I took another step forward. The closer I got to my daughter, the harder my heart raced. I just needed to get her away from him. My car wasn’t far. I could make it. I had to make it.
“Why, Jaron. Do you have a pussy?” Price paused. “Didn’t think so. Men don’t get me much money, so as much as I appreciate the offer, it’s not happening.”
“Why the fuck are you doing this? Is it because of Brody? Is it because you just hate bikers in general? What is it, Price?” I didn’t give a shit how desperate I sounded. Now that I had my daughter in my line of sight, there was no way that I was letting him leave with her.
“Why am I doing this?” Price nodded once, his gaze moving past me.
The sound of a gun being cocked, sent a tremor of unease rushing through me.
Brynn started crying, trying to get out of his arms.
Price ignored her, hugging her even tighter against him.
As I stared down the man who had taken the other love of my life, I realized that seeing Piper earlier that morning could have been the last time I saw her. I should have told her I loved her. I should have made love to her one last time. I should have had a conversation with the baby currently growing inside of her. I should have done a lot of stuff, but I didn’t. Instead, I let my anger get the best of me once again and left.
Knowing whoever was behind me was working with Price, I didn’t bother to turn around. Instead, I crossed my arms under my chest and leaned against the side of his car. “You still doing the mayor thing? Kidnapping a baby does
n’t look too good in the public eye you know.”
Price’s jaw clenched, a dark shadow passing over his face. Looked like I hit a nerve. “How did you find me?”
“Well, it wasn’t like you tried very hard to hide. Did you want to get caught?” None of it made sense. Price knew people. He had his hands in everyone’s pockets. The fact that he had remained out in the open and didn’t even bother to put on a hat or sunglasses to disguise himself, was odd.
“I wanted you to find me,” Price finally said.
I was taken aback by his words. “Why?”
“I was hoping you would have brought that sweet little thing with you but of course, you actually have to be a good guy and leave Piper at home. Where she’s safe.” Price sneered. “For now anyway. Think those twins don’t want her though? I know she’s been with other brothers. Seems like she has a type. Think you can satisfy her? There’s only one of you, Jaron. Piper’s a slut who needs more than one dick at a time to satisfy her needs.”
My back stiffened at his words, rage coursing through me. “Fuck you.”
Price chuckled. The smile suddenly fell from his face. He nodded once.
Something hard pressed against the back of my head, the sound of a gun cocking exploding through me.
“Knees,” Price demanded.
My jaw clenched but I did as I was told and lowered to the ground.
“Good boy.” Price chuckled. “Maybe I can get something for you after all.” He opened the back door of the car and placed Brynlee in the back seat.
“No.” My heart started racing. “Please. Kill me. Whatever you want to do. Just give Brynn back to Piper.”
Price looked from the guys standing behind me, down to me, and back to them. “Fine.”
“How do I know you’ll do it?” I was grasping at straws, but Brynn needed to go back to her mom. I didn’t care about me. I would do anything. I would die first before letting something happen to either of them.