THE BABY OATH

by Sophia Gray

  “He says go in.” The fat guy shuffled back out, huffing for air and held the screen door open for me.

  Keeping an eye on Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, I moved up the stairs. “Thanks.” I nodded to the perspiring fat guy, and stepped into the house.

  It was dark. And the stench of rotting food hit me hard. I started breathing through my mouth and made my way to the back of the house where the only light seemed to be coming from.

  “Rafe,” a raspy voice called out to me, followed by a deep coughing session. I found him sitting in the back bedroom. A blanket covered him up to his chest. His usually dark brown skin looked gray and clammy. His lips were wrinkled and dry.

  “Javier? What the fuck?” I stood at the doorway looking at him. The man who used to tower over his crew with bulk and confidence now looked like a strong wind would blow him into dust particles.

  “That’s what I said.” He pulled the blanket back to expose the white bandages across his chest. The bandages were saturated in blood and greenish discharge, and the smell nearly knocked me back.

  “What happened and why the fuck aren’t you in the hospital?”

  “I was knifed.” He moved and grimaced with pain. “I went out to my garage two nights ago. Some asshole jumped me and stuck me three times. My boys brought me to the hospital, but they wanted to call the cops. I got warrants, man, I couldn’t go down that road. I got out of there fast. My boys patched me up best they could.”

  Crazy mother fucker. “You’d rather die than deal with the cops?”

  “Man, if I go inside again, I will die. If it’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen here in this fucking house.” He tried to slap his hand down on the mattress but his body wasn’t as strong as his spirit.

  “What about the guy in the garage, any of your guys out there see him?”

  “Nah, they were all passed out in the Living room. And it was fucking dark, I didn’t see shit.”

  I stepped closer to the bed. “My girl’s a nurse. I’ll call her over.” I pulled out my phone but he shook his head at me.

  “No, no more hospitals.”

  “I’ll see if she can come here.”

  “No. Just leave it.” Stubborn asshole.

  “At least let me shoot her a fucking picture of the wounds so she can tell me what to do.”

  “Why the fuck you care? Last time I saw you, you were looking at me like you wanted me dead.”

  “I have questions and I’d prefer it if you were alive to answer them.”

  He studied me for a long minute. “Fine.” He peeled off one of the pieces of gauze to reveal an open wound, jagged edges, dark red blood dried around it and a light greenish discharge mixed it. The smell was worse than I thought it would be. I had to hold my breath to take the picture.

  I shot the text off to Beth and stepped back from him.

  “So. What are these questions?” He rested his head back against the headboard and took a deep breath.

  “You been in contact with Jason recently?”

  “Jason? Nah, not since last I saw your scraggly ass.” He gave a half grin. I was nearly double his size in weight and height. “I heard he got shot.”

  “Yeah. You heard right.”

  He closed his eyes for a minute, looking like he was waiting out a passing pain, then opened one eye and looked at me. “Sorry to hear, man. Jason was a standup guy. No business sense at all, too many morals, but good guy.”

  My phone buzzed and I opened the message from Beth.

  Bad infection. Probably needs IV antibiotics. Clean the wounds best you can. If he won’t go to the hospital, not much you can do.

  “My girl says you need an IV medicine.”

  “Whatever. What other questions?” He waved his limp hand in the air.

  I let out a long breath. Stupid man. “Hold on.” I walked back out into the hallway and called Beth’s phone. She picked up on the second ring.

  “I’m not coming over there,” she answered with a snarky ass tone.

  “I wasn’t going to ask you to, and you can watch your attitude,” I snapped. Between the impending wake of yet another member murdered, one of the guys I hate most laying half dead in the next room, and trying to figure out how to keep it all moving in direction, my patience was starting to wear pretty thin.

  “Sorry.” Her muttered apology soothed me just enough to smile.

  “If I send someone to get that IV shit, can you get it? Maybe walk me through giving it?” I looked back over at Javier. If he didn’t do something, he’d be dead sooner than I’d like. Besides having some answers I needed, keeping him in charge of his little gang would be the safer bet. If he died, the next in command was his brother. And his brother was nastier than Javier. Javier kept their drugs contained to certain areas of the town, did longer runs for the cartel but managed his local business tight. His brother wouldn’t be so good about that. He was about expansion. He didn’t give a shit who he sold to. But telling him that would only piss him off and insult his brother, and I had enough fights on my hands at the moment.

  “No, you can’t just do it from being talked through, you have to get it in the right…did you send someone already?” The wind blew into the phone, making it harder to hear her.

  “No. Why?”

  “Nothing. He’s gone. He might have been one of yours, I didn’t see his patch. He’s inside now.”

  “Did he look at you?”

  She laughed. “Would looking at me warrant a beat down?”

  I sighed. “No, I just wanted to know if they saw you, looked at you longer than needed.”

  “No, didn’t even turn my way, just walked into the professional building next door.”

  “I’m sending JC over to pick you up. I need you to help me, babe.”

  There was a long pause on the phone. I could hear a car honk, and some people walking past her. “Fine. I just started my lunch. I have one hour, Rafe. One hour! If you make me late getting back…”

  “JC’s on his way. You can get what you need, or do you need his help?”

  “I think it would be easier for a nurse to swipe some antibiotics and antiseptic than a guy walking in with spiky hair and a motorcycle jacket.” That attitude, lower in intensity, but still thriving on her lips.

  “He’ll be there in a few minutes. Don’t give him any trouble, you got me?”

  “Yeah, I got you.” She clicked off the call and I shook my head. Bratty as hell, but I still wanted to kiss the hell out of her.

  When I got back to the room, Javier was sound asleep. Deciding to let him rest until Beth arrived, I made myself comfortable on the wooden chair next to his bed. His brother wasn’t around, which made things easier for me, but also made me wonder what he was up to.

  I heard voices out front and went to see what the ruckus was. Beth stood on the steps with her arms full of supplies and JC glaring at Javier’s men. “Hey, come in.” I opened the screen door and waved down the guys. “She’s going to help him.” I pointed at my girl, who gave me a narrowed glare that distinctly said fuck you as she passed me.

  “She give you any trouble?” I asked JC as he entered the house.

  He grinned and shook his head. “Not really, but wow she doesn’t keep much of her opinions to herself, does she?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “No, she’s a bit mouthy,” I said as we walked into the bedroom and she looked up at me. “But we’re working on that.” I gave her a wink then stood at the foot of the bed.

  Javier was awake again, and grimacing every time she pulled the bloody gauze from his wounds. I watched my woman work quietly. Her complete focus was on the man in the bed. It didn’t occur to her to not help him because of his race or his status in life. She may not have known his exact role in life, but she had to know he wasn’t good news.

  “Spike, can you hand me that package right there?” She pointed to a small package of clean pads that was on the bed where JC was standing.

  “Spike?” I asked with a raised brow.


  “Thanks.” She took what he handed her and went back to work cleaning and checking out the wounds. “Yeah, his hair. Spike.” She shrugged.

  That answer got a small laugh out of Javier, who promptly regretted such movements.

  She wiped his arm with an alcohol pad. “Rafe, can you get this thing rigged up somehow. I need it to hang.” She pointed the bag of fluids on the nightstand. I moved around the bed looking for a nail in the wall to hang it on. I ended up removing the picture he had of his Lord and Savior from over his bed and hanging the bag from the nail. Propping the picture up against the lamp on the nightstand, I got out of her way so she could finish what she was doing.

  “Thanks.” She had a little towel on the bed with her needs and such. “Okay, Javier. A little prick.” She stuck the needed into his arm as she said it.

  “I bet that’s what you tell Rafe at night.” He grinned. She only rolled her eyes, not being pulled into a sparring match.

  Once she taped down the IV and checked everything over, she stood over him with her hands on her hips. “I’ve done what I can about the wounds. They are already healing, so stitching won’t do much good at this point. But I’m not worried about that.” She waved me closer. “You see these dark lines spreading down his arms and over his chest?”

  “Yeah?” Me and Spike answered at the same time.

  “That’s blood poisoning. He needs a hospital and a real doctor right away.”

  “No.” Javier shook his head.

  “You will die; do you understand that? Die if you don’t go. I can’t fix this, the infection is too far gone, it’s in the blood stream and it will travel to your heart. The IV will help a little, but it’s not strong enough.” She looked to me with a plea for help.

  “Javier, you—”

  “I said no.” He sent a glare at me. “Look, I know you’re doing your thing, helping me, but I’m not going to a hospital. If this don’t work, then too bad for me.” His voice was strangled by the end and his face looked a bit paler.

  Beth sighed. “Fine.” She plucked off her gloves with a snap and began rolling up the used packages into a paper towel. Tossing it all in the trash can, she looked back over to JC. “Spike, can you drive me back? My lunch is almost over.”

  JC waited for me to give my nod before he walked around the bed toward her. “Sure, let’s get going.”

  “Keep the bandages clean. There’s more on the table here if you need.” She gave Javier the last instructions before she left. At the door she paused and looked back at him, as though she wanted to say something but thought better of it.

  I walked her and JC out of the house. She didn’t let me kiss her. Instead she kept a full arm’s length out of reach. “I haven’t even gotten her on my bike yet.” I looked over at JC’s bike. She was strapping on the helmet and waiting for him.

  “Too bad.” He laughed. “I think it was her first time, she held on to me so damn tight she almost Heimliched my lunch.”

  The image of her wrapping her arms around him made my stomach turn. “You make sure you keep her hands on your stomach, and you keep yours to your damn self.” His grin didn’t make me feel any better.

  “That girl’s only got eyes for you, man.” He shook his head and headed over to the bike. I looked at his hair then—it was spiked in every which way, and freshly bleached, too.

  I watched him get on the bike and her get settled behind him, wishing it was me brining her back to the hospital. I had to finish my conversation with Javier first, then I could focus on that sweet ass of mine. Watching her ride down the street behind him on that bike didn’t do much for my mood though.

  Completely ignoring the assholes sitting on the porch, I stormed back into Javier’s bedroom. Tossing my ass in the chair, I got settled and waited for him to look at me before I started firing more questions at him. The room smelled of ointments and medicine now that Beth had done her doctoring. It almost covered up the stench of rot that greeted me earlier. Almost.

  “What about Gray? You talk with him?” I started my questions up again.

  “That crazy ass guy? Yeah. Talked with him a few weeks ago.” He paused to cough, groaning at the pain the movement caused. “Wants to pick up the business you and Jason turned your backs on.”

  “You reach out to him?”

  “No. He came to me.” He pointed a finger at himself and closed his eyes again. He needed to get his ass to the hospital.

  “You make a deal to work with the club again?”

  He sputtered a few more times, wiping away a trickle of blood that he coughed up. “No.” He took a ragged breath. “After last time, I didn’t need no biker shit again. I work on my own, have a few crews that move my shit now.”

  “Javier. Your girl’s here.” The smaller of the three from the porch pushed past me and into the room.

  “Let her in, fucker.” Javier waved a hand.

  The scrawny kid nodded and ducked back out. I had my answers, I didn’t need to hang out.

  “I’ll let you to it.” I didn’t bother trying to shake his hand. He was back to coughing and groaning. He waved me away and I headed out the door.

  “Hey. Thanks for bringing your girl by. The pain’s a little less now.” He gave me a nod and rested his head back on the headboard.

  “No problem.”

  I passed who I assumed was his girl, a short, stocky-looking woman with dark brown hair pulled tight into a high bun. Black eyeliner penciled thick around her eyes and a deep red lipstick covered her lips. “He needs to get to a hospital.” I stopped her in the hall. “He’s going to die if he doesn’t.”

  “You think I haven’t told him that?” she demanded. “He won’t listen.”

  “Clean those wounds out best you can, get him some more antibiotics. One of his guys should be able to track some down or hit up a pharmacy. Maybe he’ll scrape by.”

  She looked me over, appraising me to see if she could trust me or not. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll try.” She walked away, going into the bedroom. I heard more coughing and shook my head. Stupid ass crazy man. Not working with him had been the best decision Jason ever made.

  Gray talked a big game about getting out of illegal runs, yet he made a meeting with Javier about his drugs? I wasn’t even surprised by his deceit. Javier turned him down, but there were other crews that may have taken him up on his offer.

  Leaving the stench filled house, I hopped on my bike and headed toward home. Beth’s shift would be ending in a few hours, and I needed to swing by and swap out my bike for the car.

  Chapter Fifteen

  BETH

  Rafe stood in the doorway of my bedroom as I slid the backing onto my earring. “What?” I looked down at my outfit. A simple black cotton dress. The only dress I owned. “Not good enough?”

  “Fuck, baby, better than good.”

  “Rafe, we are about to go to a funeral,” I reminded him. I’d seen that look in his eye enough times to know what it meant. He was hungry. And not for food.

  “That old lady picked up Madison already.” He took a step into the room.

  “Mrs. Olsen,” I corrected him, and moved further away from him. “We don’t have time.”

  “Are you telling me no?” His eyebrows shot up, and his lips thinned. “How do you think I respond to you trying to deny me that sweet ass of yours?”

  “You’re going to try and spank me because I said no?” I laughed, but he didn’t find it funny at all. Before I could maneuver around him, his hands were on my hips and he spun me around. His large hand pushed on my back until I was face down over my bed, my ass high in the air. He flipped the hem of my dress up and exposed my ass to him.

  Not sure I wanted to fight him or not, I tried to look over my shoulder at him. He was intently gazing at my backside, while his fingers ran under the elastic of my panties. “I don’t like these.” With both hands he pulled them until they were scrunched up between my cheeks and ripped them.

  “Rafe!” I gasped, and tried to get up but one hard swat
to my ass had me back in position.

  “I’ll buy you new ones that match the bra I’m going to buy.” I could hear the levity in his voice and no longer worried that he was going to spank me. So, when his hand landed harshly on the bottom curve of my ass, I yelped in surprise. “Fuck, your ass looks so hot when it’s pink.” He continued to reign down swats to my bare ass, spreading them out all around until my entire backside was warm.

  I wiggled beneath his hand but didn’t fight to get away. The burn melted into my body, spreading like a wildfire until every nerve ending was lit with a new energy. I slid my legs apart more, and arched my back to stick my ass out further toward him. I needed him. In the most carnal ways, I needed his cock to be buried inside of me, to release some of the pressure building there.