“Where’s Addy?”
“Oh, that poor girl is laying down,” Carri answered. “Her feet are so swollen, she can’t stand to walk anymore.”
“She is so overdue,” Cathy piped in, “the Doctor scheduled her to be induced on Monday.”
Shit, Katie didn’t even know what day it was, she thought maybe Friday, but with everything going on, she wasn’t sure.
“How overdue?” Katie asked, her professional mind getting into gear.
“Two weeks?” Cathy said more as a question than an answer.
Katie was just about to get up and go check on her when the woman herself came into the room, white as a sheet. She hadn’t made it past the entrance way, and Katie was already getting up to go to her when Addy said,
“I think something is wrong.”
Chapter Seventeen
Tuck walked into Church. He had the room designed to fit twenty people, thirty if they were pushing it, but today, it was filled to the brim. Caine had brought in the Blacktop Renegades, at least ten of them, and Kit and his boys were already scattered around the room, talking with his boys. He walked past Shade and nodded, noting only two of them had come along; it was something. Tal and Kit pulled him aside and briefed him on all they had found while he was with Katie—none of it was good. Taking his seat at the front of the table, he looked around for a minute before taking the gavel and pounding it on the table. The room instantly quieted. He looked each of his brother in the eyes.
“None of you are going to like what I’m about to say, but first, you need to read these.” Nodding his head at Talon, he watched as he turned, grabbing stacks of files, and started handing them out. Not everyone in the room got one, but the people who did were not happy—some of them raged, others paled. Crank rested his hand on his forehead, shaking it back and forth. Tuck gave them all a few minutes to flip through the pages.
“Jamison Sinclair has been watching the RBMC and all of its associates for years, making notes and connecting the dots. From what we can figure out, he put that information out there for the highest bidder. Two people wanted it, one had just a little more to gain, so he won out. Before the buyer could make contact with Sinclair, he lost his life when Slim and Creed blew the tunnels on the Sinclair farm.
“The buyer was pissed, and the runner-up thought it was his chance to take the prize, so he contracted the Vultures. The Vultures decided to double-dip, taking money from both of them, guaranteeing the information. When I offered myself up to save my daughter, they thought they had it made. They could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, cut me down and get the information, but I didn’t have it and had no clue what they were talking about.
“The buyer must have got wind of something shady going on because he called a meeting, requiring all the Vultures’ crews to attend, or he wanted his money back. The Vultures didn’t have it, so they came up with a plan to get him the information but fucked up once again and went just a little too far with my interrogation, or so they thought,” Tuck smiled. “I’m kind of hard to kill.” Tuck got a few damn rights and hoots and hollers, but he had more to say.
“The Vultures only had two days to produce the information or pay up. They thought by letting me and Katie think we had escaped, we would lead them right to Jamison Sinclair and the information they needed.
“Fuck!” Creed said. “So, you led them right to our front door?”
“I sure as fuck did!” Tuck said, standing up placing his hands on the table, glaring at the room. “We are the RBMC, this is our territory, we know it and can defend it from those fuckers, and finally cut the snakes head off its body. This is their last hoorah boys, and I, for one, plan on making it hurt like hell. Throughout the last year, we have taken out several of their crews, wiped them from the planet, now, we take the rest!” Tuck demanded, the room erupted, and he banged the gavel down on the table again to restore order.
Shade was the first to speak when everything quieted down. He looked uncomfortable as hell, and Tuck had known it was a risk to bring his crew into this meeting, but it was a risk he had been willing to take.
“We can’t be a part of this, we shouldn’t even be hearing it,” Shade said, indicating his two men.
“I realize that, and you guys can go whenever you want, but the files the three of you are holding stay here. I wanted you to know what was going on so you could prepare, nothing more than that.”
“Noted and appreciate the gesture.” Shade put his file down on the table, the other two followed suit, they walked out the door.
Tuck knew Shade would have their backs, bringing in law enforcement from all over to cover Defiance while keeping them away from the Clubhouse—that was all he had wanted or expected of the man. He waited for the door to close and started again.
“The tunnels, the women, even the Vultures were a distraction, all meant to lead us in the wrong direction, and we fell for it, hook line and sinker. Perez has been pulling the strings, paying for information, trying to find a way to take us all down. For him, this was a long game,” Tuck said looking right at Caine.
“Why, we don’t mess with cartel’s?” Crash asked, slapping his folder down on the table.
“We don’t,” Tuck confirmed. “But Perez has been playing with us because we had something he wanted. Now that he has it back, he wants to make all of us pay.”
“Fuck, Cin!” Crank exclaimed.
“Got it in one, brother. We sheltered her, but we were just the only stationary target he could obtain; his real goal is the Renegades, specifically Caine.”
“Son of a Bitch!” Axel, Caine’s VP yelled. “You set us up!”
Caine put his hand on his man’s shoulder and shook his head. He knew Tuck hadn’t set any of them up but setting up house had put a bigger target on the Renegades backs, something Tuck hadn’t accounted for. Shit, had he known any of this stuff before, he would have encouraged them to keep roaming.
“I didn’t, but I can see where you would think that. That man standing beside you is my brother, and I would give my life for him. That means I would do the same for you. Caine has known for a long time that Perez would eventually take his revenge, it’s one of the reasons he kept Cin away, and she was here.”
His words were sinking in with the BRMC guys, and he could see the resignation on their faces; he also saw determination and fury, exactly what they were going to need to get through all this. The Perez cartel was too big to take down by themselves or even together. The government had been trying to for years without even getting a chance. Miguel Perez and his boys were smart and kept a tight lid on their family as well as their illegal activities.
“That isn’t our biggest problem right now. Perez will continue to work through pawns until he decides to take matters into his own hands. I don’t think that time has come yet. Our focus needs to be on Senator Jeffers and the Vultures.” Tuck nodded at Talon again, and the big screen TV above his head lit up with street views of Defiance.
“Twenty minutes ago, a contingency of thirty Vultures came into Defiance.” Tuck looked up at the screen. “They went to the airfield, but our boys made sure the back door was closed. They started making their way around to us and should be here within the hour. They split up into three teams; we are expecting them to attack from the front and both sides. I want us to be ready. If the prospects have done their job, all the women and children are already down in the saferoom. The walls are six inches thick with concrete and steel, nothing can get through that.” Tuck nodded his head again and brought up the battle plan, showing the men in the room where they needed to be.
“If you don’t have a weapon, get one. If you want out, Creed will guide you through the remaining tunnels and get you the fuck out, but if you leave, don’t come back. This is it, boys, we live or die by each other sides.”
Blade stomped his foot, and several others followed suit until the room was filled with a rhythmic thump, and they all pledged:
I will defend my Club
&n
bsp; I will protect the weak and the freedom we all seek.
I will sacrifice all, so the RBMC will survive.
I will fight to the death, so errors of our past don’t repeat themselves in the future.
Anyone who threatens this Club or its members is my enemy.
I will live by this code until my last breath.
Ruthless Bastards in life.
Ruthless Bastards in death.
Ruthless Bastards forever.
Tuck had just said the words, “Buckle up boys this is going to be a bumpy ride!” when Max, one of their prospects burst through the door. This kid was one of the good ones, and Tuck knew something bad had happened, or he would have never stepped foot inside the room—it wasn’t allowed until you were patched and Max followed the rules. When he said, "Doc, you need to come quick,” half the room stood up and followed Doc out of the room. Tuck pushed his way to the front, and his heart dropped to his stomach.
Addy was laying on the floor surrounded by blood with Katie between her legs. It took him one second to process what was going on, and it was a second too late. Whisk was already running toward them, yelling. Just as he was about to push Katie out of the way, Tuck grabbed his arm, pulling him back.
“Think, brother!” he demanded. “She’s a doctor. Addy and your boy need her right now!”
Katie started yelling stuff to Doc about placental previa and vitals. Doc took off running down the hall, only to come back a little while later, his arms filled with supplies.
The place was complete chaos, and Tuck knew he needed to get it under control.
“Go to your woman, she needs you now,” Tuck said, releasing Whisk. Turning, he noticed the other women huddled together, crying. Pointing his finger at Creed, he yelled, “Get them downstairs, now and lock them in!” He wanted to demand that Katie go with them, but he knew she would never leave Addy. This was what she did, and as much as she had to stand by his side, he had to stand by hers.
Turning to Link and Crank, he said, “Get everyone in position. NOW!” As everyone started to do as he ordered, he walked over to Doc and Katie and asked, “Can we move her?” Katie shook her head, and Doc said “No!”
A flurry of questions was going back and forth between Doc, Katie, and Addy. Just as they were encouraging Addy to push, the first shots rang out—the Vultures were there. Tuck directed Max to help him barricade the four people on the floor. He was pushing furniture and knocking over tables and chairs, trying his best to offer them some protection from what was going on outside. When he was done he started to say, “I have to,” but Katie already knew.
“Go, do what you need to do, we got this,” she said, her concentration never leaving Addy.
Tuck took off. The fight between the RBMC, BRMC, Kit-Kat’s crew, and the Vultures lasted only minutes. Each side took a few losses, but in the end, the RBMC prevailed and conquered like the well-oiled machine they were. Tuck walked up to Link who was holding Bender with his arms behind his back.
“You should have cut your losses when you had the chance, but you boys never learn, do you?” Tuck couldn’t resist landing a couple of blows to the asshole’s face. When he pulled back, the fucker smiled, spitting the blood pooling in his mouth.
“You’ll still get yours, Tuck, it’s only a matter of time. The Vultures never truly die.”
“I think you got your vermin wrong there, Bend,” Brass said from behind Tuck. “Cockroaches and rats are the only things that never die, and since you boys decided to play with the big boys, as far as you’re concerned, this the first wave of extinction. Perez will take care of the rest when your President can’t deliver.”
Tuck watched the man’s face and knew the moment Brass said the words, it was true, the Vultures wouldn’t be a problem anymore. Turning his head toward Crank, he said, “Do what you need to do,” and walked back toward the clubhouse. He hadn’t made it two steps in the door when he heard the sweet cries of a baby. Fuck. From hell to heaven, all in one day.
Chapter Eighteen
It had been a long day and an even longer night, but Katie was sitting on Tuck’s bed with a huge smile on her face. Storm Chaos Frost had made his first appearance into the world, and taken his first breath during a gunfight, and—like his middle name suggested—chaos. It had been touch-and-go there for a while, and both she and Doc had worked their asses off, not only to make sure he was okay but Addy as well. Then it was a whirlwind of tears, love, and laughter until the guys could get the grounds cleaned up enough to allow an ambulance to come in and get the happy little family.
Katie had just gotten off the phone with Doc and knew both patients were doing well. Now, she didn’t know what to do with herself. Originally, she had planned to go to the room she’d been staying in, but Tuck must have thought about that. The prospect—who had been behind the bar earlier and helped her and Doc with Addy and the baby—gave her the key to Tuck’s rooms.
“Tuck wants you to go on up to bed, said he would be awhile yet.”
It was weird though, she had never been in his room before and felt out of place, a little afraid to touch anything or move stuff around. But eventually, her curiosity got the better of her, and she started to explore. The room was much larger than the other ones she had been in, hell, it was bigger than the first apartment she had when she moved to Lexington. There was a sitting area with a nice leather couch and chair, both facing one of the biggest flat screen TVs she’d ever seen, and a nice rug under the coffee table in masculine greys and blacks with just a few pops of a steel blue. It fit Tuck. The bed was much the same—huge platform, heavy wood, clean lines with a steel blue comforter. There was an area with a desk, a computer sitting on top, all tidy and neat, nothing like his office downstairs. What really got her attention was the bookcase and the pictures placed on its shelves.
Katie started with one shelf—there was a picture of a much younger Tuck standing next to a beat-up motorcycle with Tessa sitting on it, smiling wide and proud. Next to that was a coffee mug that said, “Best Big Brother.” She picked up the next picture of Caine, Cin, and Tuck, sitting on the back of an old Truck, smiling and drinking beers, they had to be late teens, early twenties. Placing it back, she ran her finger across some old bottle caps, noticing the beer logo on them and smiled; she hadn’t known how sentimental Tuck was. Another one was of Tuck with a bunch of guys all dressed in fatigues, hamming it up for the camera. He had his dog tags draped over that one, Tucker Masterson imprinted in the metal. Katie took them down and placed them over her head, letting them fall to her chest. There were tons of them—pictures of him with the RBMC guys, along with trinkets to go with each photo; one with a teenage Tal and Tuck fishing, Link and him working on a car, Crank and Tuck fighting in a ring. She was awestruck but not as much as when she looked up at the next shelf, the one that would be eye level from every area of the room. They were all of her—a picture from when she was about sixteen, dangling her feet into the creek that ran by her house, her high school graduation, her college graduation, her laughing with the girls out behind the clubhouse during a barbeque. But there was one picture she had no idea where it was taken. She was sitting outside, her face turned to the side, her hair blowing in the wind, and she had this look of wonder on her face like whatever she was looking at was the best thing she had ever seen. It was beautiful.
She heard Tuck clear his throat. “I see you have found my stash.” He looked a little embarrassed but not that much as he came up and wrapped his arms around her, looking down at the picture she was holding. “That’s my favorite picture of you.”
Katie kept looking at the picture, but she still didn’t recognize where it had been taken. “Where was this?”
Tuck looked a little sheepish when he answered, “A couple years back, I came through Lexington on a run. It had been a while since I checked up on you, and I took the chance you would be at the hospital. When I pulled up, you were sitting on a bench, watching a family together with that look on your face. So, I took the pic
ture.”
Katie didn’t remember the day or the family. She had spent as much time outside as she could in her downtime at the hospital.
“Why?”
Tuck took the picture from her hand and placed it down next to a dried-up flower, moving them both until he had them where he wanted them.
“Because that look is the same one you always gave me when I showed up at your parent’s house or here at the Club, and I wanted to keep it just for myself.”
“Tuck.” There weren’t any other words to express what she was feeling right now. He had always loved her, he had said it, but now, she truly believed it.
“I told you, babe, you’re it for me, always have been, always will be.” He kissed her softly, and Katie hugged him tight until he winced in pain. Damn, with everything that had happened, she hadn’t checked on his wounds or even followed up with Doc to find out how he was doing. He was still the most gorgeous man she had ever laid eyes on, but he looked so tired, and she needed to take care of him.
“Come on,” Katie said, taking his hand, and leading him into the bathroom, carefully peeling off each of their clothes and removing Tuck’s bandages. The wounds looked good and well on their way to healing properly. Each time she touched him or brushed her hands on his body, her arousal grew, but this wasn’t a seduction. This was about loving, care, and comfort, treating her man like he deserved.
Without saying a word, she turned on the water in the shower. When it warmed up, she took his hand again, leading him inside with her, making sure to keep her body in front of the spray to keep the water away from his wounds. Taking a sponge off the shelf, she lathered it up, but when she was about to start washing him, Tuck took her hand, holding it to his chest.
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