THE BABY OATH

by Sophia Gray

  The little hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Beth wasn’t as seasoned as Stephanie. She was smart, but she wouldn’t see what Gray was trying to pull. She was only thinking of Maddie, her little girl. And fuck if I’d fault her for it. Up until she hooked up with me, Maddie had been the most complicated thing her life.

  “Did you at least try to talk her out of it?” The sun crept up behind her, the blinding rays starting to get into my eyes. It was going to be a hot day. Did that prick at least have Maddie in an air conditioned place? I had to push the idea of her huddled in a dark, humid room away from my mind or I wouldn’t be able to think straight enough to find her.

  “Of course I did. And of course I failed. You had to find the stubbornest woman in town to hook up with, didn’t you?” Her lips turned a little at the edge, and if I hadn’t just been on the receiving end of her temper the night before I would have thought she was starting to come around.

  “Nope. Jason did that when he married you.” I pointed a finger at her, hoping to keep the situation light. I would need her help.

  She looked away from me for a moment, taking a shaking breath. “Yeah, well. That may be true, but she’s still a hard head. She won’t listen to reason, took off this morning already. She said she had a few things to do before she went to meet him. Whatever the fuck that meant.”

  My alerts began sounding. “Where’d she go, did she say?”

  “No, that’s why I’m here.”

  “She wouldn’t have gone into work,” I said, not for Stephanie’s benefit but just to start thinking. “She didn’t come here, although maybe she did and saw my bike and took off again. The woman’s a little pissed at me right now.”

  “Yeah. I got that.” Stephanie bit her lower lip. “That’s probably my fault. I shouldn’t have said all those things last night. I mean, what happened to Jason, it wasn’t your fault.”

  I didn’t say anything for a minute, I let her stew in her own juices—the way Jason used to when she tried weaseling him into forgiving her for some temper tantrum. It didn’t have the same effect when I did it though, she just shook her head and laughed. “I’ll find who’s responsible, Steph. He’ll pay for it. I promise that.” My words weren’t empty.

  “You don’t think it’s Gray?” She sounded surprised.

  “I’m damn sure it’s him, and when I can prove it, he’s dead.”

  “But without proof you won’t touch him.” Her shoulders slouched a little, her eyes swept away from mine.

  “He kidnapped my little girl, he’s already dead, but I’ll need proof about Jason if I’m going to get the club to back me on that account. I can’t just take out the president without finding myself on the chopping block if I don’t have a damn good reason.”

  “Your little girl?” Two dark eyebrows shot up and she smiled—small and soft, but it was a smile all the same.

  “Those two belonged to me the moment I met Beth.”

  “She’s not too into that idea right now.”

  “She’ll learn. Once I get my girls home, things will be right themselves,” I vowed, and knew it was more a vow to myself than to her. No matter what happened I needed to get my girls home, safe and sound, and away from Gray.

  “Fuck, Rafe. I’d say you love the girl.” Stephanie pushed off the car and her lips slid into a wide grin.

  Loved her? Of course I fucking loved her. The very idea of never seeing her again, never touching her skin, or feeling her lips beneath mine was enough to make my heart stop. And Maddie only made everything better. That little girl crawled right into my heart. She hadn’t seen any of my defenses, she just barreled right through them like her mama.

  “I love both my girls.”

  “Then go get them, you asshole.” She kicked the loose pavement of the driveway and gave me a wink before rounding her car to get back in. “Where do you want me?”

  “Want you?”

  “Yeah. Do you want me to meet you at that warehouse or you want me at the club? Where do you want me?”

  “I want you to keep your ass safe at home,” I growled. Not a single woman in my life had the sense the good heavens gave them.

  She sighed. “Yeah, I bet you do, but that’s not gonna happen.”

  “You know, I could just as easily take you over my knee—” I stopped my threat mid-sentence because she was laughing too damn loud to even hear me finish it.

  “That’ll be the day. Only one man ever put his hand to my bare ass, and the next one ain’t gonna be you!” She jerked the car door open, the hinges crying for oil when she did so.

  She knew I was full of shit; I’d never lay a hand on her, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t protect her with as much fierceness as I would my girls. “Steph, I want you to stay out of this.”

  “I’m sure you do.” She nodded. A breeze picked up and blew through her hair. “Fine. I won’t go to the warehouse, but I am going down to the diner. Brittany’s sister is a waitress there, Beth said. I’m going to see what she knows. Maybe she can help us get Brittany to help get the kid away from Gray. We might need the club’s help with all this. You think you can get them to go against their president?”

  “A few of them will. Not many were all that happy with him taking the chair and even more are suspicious since he’s done nothing to find the shooter.”

  She braced her arms on the top of the car. “If he shot Jason, I want to kill him. Tell me you’ll give me that.”

  No way she was going near Gray. “I’m not promising anything.” It was the best I could give her. Her eyes narrowed and her middle finger slipped up at me in response. “I don’t want you near him, Steph. I don’t want Beth near him. Just, for once, please do what I’m saying and stay away.”

  “You don’t think I have the right?”

  “I think that more than any of us you have the right. But I know what it’s like taking a man’s life, you don’t. You think it will make you feel better; you think you’ll feel like you’ve avenged Jason—except that’s all bullshit. You do it, you kill Gray, and you start to become the thing you hate about the club. You start down a road you can’t get off of. Once that bullet snuffs him out, you can’t undo it, Steph.”

  Her bottom lip trembled when she took a deep breath, her eyes turned away from me. Jason wouldn’t want her involved, wouldn’t want Gray’s blood on her hands. Not even when avenging his own death. He wanted more for Steph, that was why when she turned her back after her brother was killed he didn’t force her back. He let her pull away, start her own business outside the clubhouse. If I let her be involved, let her pull that trigger, I’d be going against everything he wanted for her.

  “So I’m supposed to sit home like some good girl and let the men handle this?” The sneer made its way back into her voice and at least I knew she’d be okay. Better angry at not getting to do what she wanted than spending the rest of her life trying to forget what she did.

  “Go to the diner.” I nodded, it wasn’t a bad idea having her keep close tabs on Brittany’s sister. “See if you can find Chrissy, that’s Brittany’s sister. If you can find her, stick close to her, but I don’t want you near the warehouse and I don’t want you going near Brittany if she shows up.”

  “What if she has the kid with her?”

  “If Maddie is with her, you call me. Stick close but don’t do anything. I don’t want her getting spooked and running off with her.” I suddenly wished I had spent more time talking with the twins, getting to know them. I already knew Brittany was a bit wilder than her sister, but that wasn’t enough.

  She shook her head but agreed anyway. “Fine. You call me when it’s done. The second it’s done, you got me, biker boy?” She stabbed her finger in the air at me.

  I grinned. “I got it. Stay out of trouble so I can get my girls back, okay?”

  After a long moment she gave me a curt nod and slid into the driver’s seat. Her engine echoed as she peeled out of the driveway and headed down the road.

  Looking at my phone, I not
ed it was barely six in the morning. I had a few hours before I knew where Beth would be.

  I sent a text out to several members, summoning them to Beth’s house. I doubted she would come home, but if she did, all the better. I couldn’t trust going to my place, and the clubhouse wouldn’t be a safer choice either. Not for the meeting I was planning.

  If it all went to shit, I’d lose my fucking balls; if it failed completely, I could be setting myself up to get killed.

  There were risks in going against your president, and involving other members to over throw him, and taking his ass down would be immediate death. If it didn’t work.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  BETH

  When Madison was first born, Jeremy had brought me home flowers. A large bouquet of roses and carnations with a lot more baby’s breath than needed. He had said it was for the baby, seemed good luck to have a lot of it in the house.

  For the first few weeks, he seemed like the perfect father. He got up for most of the middle of the night feedings and even changed diapers. He snuggled Maddie and when he thought I wasn’t looking, he would sing to her in her room.

  Sometime around her turning six months old, things changed. The novelty of being a dad must have worn off. Her crying bothered him. When she woke in the middle of the night for something he would roll over and nudge me with his foot to “get the kid.” Suddenly he forgot what a diaper was. But I put up with it, because I loved him.

  At least I thought I loved him. He said all the right things, made all the right moves, but when it came down to it, he didn’t understand what being a man really meant. There was more to it than saying sweet things and bringing your woman to orgasm every now and then. I needed more from him. I needed a partner. Someone who would look out for me and Maddie, someone who didn’t shy away from trouble at the first sight of it.

  I needed someone who made my stomach flutter just by hearing his footsteps on the front porch, and who called me on my bullshit, and protected us with his life. I needed someone like Rafe.

  Jeremy walking out on Maddie and me was the best thing he could do for us. Having Maddie grow up with a man who could barely stand us, or resented us for the extra shift at work he needed to take on to make the rent, would have only messed her up. But having someone like Rafe in her life, would that be better?

  He was a killer. When I asked him, he didn’t even try to deny it. Just said that what he did wasn’t murder. What the fuck did that mean? Was he some sort of biker vigilante?

  I had to stop thinking about him. Had stop comparing him to Jeremy and I had to stop wondering what it would be like to have him be in my life forever. I needed to focus on Maddie.

  When I pulled into the parking lot of the warehouse my stomach lurched. What if everything went to hell?

  With shaking hands, I pulled out my phone. Rafe sent two more texts, each telling me to call him, and both I deleted. If Gray was after Rafe, having him with me would only make things worse. If I could get Gray to understand that I wasn’t with Rafe anymore, then maybe I could convince him to let me and Maddie go. If we couldn’t be used to get to Rafe, we weren’t of any use at all.

  I stepped out onto the graveled parking lot, my foot making the stones beneath me crunch. Closing my door as silently as I could, I looked around the outside of the building. The sun was already high, making the heat of the day escalate. A droplet of sweat ran down my chest, between my breasts, and I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand.

  The one door I found unlocked creaked when I opened it. I looked behind me and went still, trying to hear the rumblings of a bike or a car. Nothing.

  I stepped inside the cool warehouse, somewhat surprised it wasn’t stuffy and hot. When the metal door clanked shut behind me I jumped. Great, now your scaring yourself!

  I could smell remnants of oil and gasoline mingled together with dust. The large room was littered with empty pallets and packing straw thrown about the room. A dozen or so windows allowed light into the abandoned space from above the area. Neon of them were open, yet a gentle breeze blew around my ankles.

  The floor of the warehouse was relatively cleaned aside from the packing materials. No piles of dirt, or balls of dust roaming the ground. Toward the back of the building I heard a clicking sound, then a low rumbling. The little breeze I had felt grew stronger, the air chillier.

  “Maddie!” I yelled with some hope that she might be in the back of the building in one of the offices. I ran around the pallets that made a sort of obstacle course throughout the room. “Maddie!” I called again when I reached the hallway.

  The offices weren’t empty. Two of them were fully furnished with desks, filing cabinets, and even computers. At first glance they looked clean and well maintained. Maddie wasn’t in either of them.

  A clock hung on the wall of one of the offices. I had ten more minutes before I could expect Gray. From the empty rooms, I gathered he probably had Maddie with him, so I wondered around the rest of the warehouse, getting a feel for the place.

  When I opened the door the last office, the only one that didn’t have a glass wall that everyone could see into, I gasped. There was Brittany on her knees in front of Gray, his cock stuffed in other mouth. Her hands were bound behind her with duct tape. Gray saw me right away, but didn’t stop his movements. His eyes locked with me, and his hands dug deeper into Brittany’s hair. He began to fuck her mouth savagely. She choked, sputtered and tried to breath, but Gray just kept cramming his thick cock down her throat.

  “Fuck, take it all, bitch.” He growled and held her face close to his crotch. I could see her throat working, trying to swallow but he was coming too fast for her and some of his semen slipped out of her lips. Frozen by what I was witnessing, I watched as he pulled out of her mouth and slapped her face. “Next time you swallow all of it.”

  “Yes, Gray.” She whimpered and tried to wipe the come off her cheek with her shoulder. That was when she saw me standing in the doorway. “Beth!” She started to scramble to her feet, but a sharp look from Gray kept her where she was. Her eyes, once brilliantly blue, were faded, worn down with fear and shame. Her usual too small, too tight tank top had a rip on the neckline, as though she’d been pulled by it to where she now kneeled before him. Her hair was mussed and her bottom lip was swollen, and not from the act she was just performing.

  “Where’s my daughter?” I demanded as Gray zipped up his jeans.

  “She’s fine,” he said, then looked down at Brittany, who had started softly crying. Her shoulders shook from her sobs, but she kept her mouth tightly shut to keep the sound from reaching his ears. “Knock it off before I give you something to cry about.” He gripped her hair and pulled her up to her feet, and she cried out from the pain. I watched this happening to my friend, both angry on her behalf and relieved that his anger was aimed at my daughter’s kidnapper.

  “You said she’d be here.” I took a step into the room, ignoring Brittany as best I could. I hurt to see her being handled in such a way, knowing that whatever she did was to save her own ass. But she took my daughter, stole her from me and put in the hands of that crazy ass man.

  “I said you’d get her back, and you will.” He adjusted his cock through his jeans and let go of Brittany with a shove. She shuffled to the corner of the room and backed into it, trying to make herself appear small and therefore unseen.

  “I want her now.” I stepped toward him. With a fluid motion I hadn’t seen coming he whipped out a gun from his back pocket. My body froze. “Tell me where she is; let me see she’s safe.” I couldn’t help the whimper I heard in my voice, but I hated for him to see my vulnerability. Maddie was my world, but he already knew that or he wouldn’t have taken her from me. “Tell me she’s okay. Brittany, is Maddie okay?”

  “Tell her,” Gray bit out, still training his gun on me.

  Brittany sniffled a few times then nodded. I could see her mascara running down her face, and the tears building in her eyes but I forced myself to ignore it. “She’s
okay, Beth. She’s not here—”

  “Shut the fuck up,” Gray yelled over his shoulder at her, and her mouth snapped shut.

  “She’s not here?” I glared at Gray, almost ready to ignore the gun and lunge at him.

  “You’re coming with me. You’ll see her and you two can stick together while we wait for Rafe. Unless he’s here? Did he come with you?”

  “I’m not with him anymore. I kicked him out. I don’t want anything to do with him or your club. I’m out.” Even as I said the words my heart hurt for Rafe. I should have called him. I should have told him what was going on with Gray.

  “That’s too bad.” He shrugged, moving closer to me. I could smell his awful breath as he his heavy breath filled the space between us. “Guess you better hope he listens to you when you call him begging for help, then.” He gripped m upper arm, hurling me toward the door. “Let’s go. Brittany, get your whore ass over here,” he barked at her.