by K. J. Dahlen
Paige tightened her grip on Cassie’s hand. “I can help you too. Cassie, please come back, I missed out on having a sister most of my life. I want that chance again, with you. And maybe I can be a sister with Peaches too, if she’ll allow me in.”
Peaches nodded. “I know its bad right now and it would be so easy to just let go, but you’ve never been one to take the easy way out. If Deke’s dad were here right now, I’d kick his stupid ass up down the hall for what he did to you. Will Rufus step aside and let you come back to us?”
Cassie closed her eyes briefly. She turned her head and stared at Peaches. “He told me you better keep your promise to me or he’s coming after you.”
Peaches grinned and kissed her cheek. “I promise. We can do this baby thing together. Together, we can still kick some serious ass.”
Cassie smiled and turned to Deke. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” He leaned over her and kissed her forehead. The poor man looked like he’d just gone through hell as he placed his hands on her belly and felt his babies move for the first time since he’d gotten here. He grinned though his eyes were full of tears.
~* * * *~
Raine stood in the back of the room and watched the scene unfold. When he heard Peaches talk about what they had gone through, he’d been horrified by her words. He looked at Cassie with more than just respect. She had been a strong girl to survive that and grow to become a hell of a woman.
When he’d seen her in the warehouse he wasn’t sure she would survive. He’d seen it before when soldiers lost the will to live. He’d seen that same look in her eyes a few short hours ago. He knew better than to get too close to her at the moment, so he stayed back, watching.
Wordlessly, he started going toward the door, when three men stood in his way.
They surrounded him and led the way out to the hall as they escorted him to the front door. One of them turned to glare at the other man. “You tell your fucking boss not to come around again.”
Raine stared at them for a moment. “You can’t tell Bones anything. If I told him that he’d come bursting in here and get right in your face.”
One of the other men spoke, “Amos, maybe just let Deke handle—?”
Amos shook his head at the man. “No, Frankie, we gotta protect Spitfire and you know it!” Then he glared at Raine again. “Then you make him understand something. If he comes close to her again, he’s a dead man. I don’t care if he is Deke’s father or not, he’ll be a dead man.” Amos snorted. “I’m not sure Deke will let him get close to her again anyway. If he were here right now, I think Deke would beat the shit out of him. Your boss made a bad mistake today, actually he made a couple of them. He stopped the wedding and he took Deke’s woman. That’s two strikes against him. I don’t think Deke will let him have another one.” Amos paused then he warned Raine, “Tell your boss, we ain’t an MC, and we ain’t held to your rules.”
Raine looked at each of the three men who had escorted him out of the hospital. Then he could sense someone moving in the shadows beyond the parking lot.
Suddenly, where here were three men there stood seven men, then there were ten men. Each held a look that didn’t bode well.
Raine could feel the menace from these men and it was all around him. He might only be looking at ten men but he knew there were more. He shuffled his feet for a moment, then he stared straight at Amos. “You could be right about that old man.” He paused and tried to explain in his defense, “We had no idea she was that damaged or we never would have taken her.”
“She ain’t damaged.” Frankie growled. “Don’t you ever call her that again, you bastard! She’s had to learn how to survive in an unforgiving world but she’s not damaged.”
Amos laid a hand on his friend’s arm as he stared at Raine. “You just tell Bones he ain’t welcome here. He won’t ever be welcome. Cassie ain’t alone anymore, she’s got friends and those friends will watch her back.”
“Who are you guys?” Raine asked softly.
Amos and the others glared back. “We belong to Redemption House, you tell him that.”
Raine nodded as he turned and walked away. He noted Sabbath had disappeared with the truck and his bike was there waiting for him. When he got to his bike, he swung his leg over the saddle and looked back at the double glass doors. All ten men stood there creating barrier he knew he wouldn’t get through again. They stood there with their hands clenched into fists and snarls on their hard faces.
He started his bike and listened to the roar of the engine for a moment. Then he let the clutch loose and rode away.
CHAPTER FOUR
When Raine got back to the warehouse, Sam met him outside. The others joined them and when Sam asked about Cassie, Raine shook his head. “She damn near didn’t make it. She went so far into her head, she almost didn’t come back.”
“What the fuck is wrong with her?” Sabbath asked.
“She’s got a severe case of PTSD. One of the worst I’ve ever seen outside of wartime,” Raine explained.
“Where the fuck did she get PTSD?” Sam asked.
“From what I overheard at the hospital, she escaped a hell house and lived on the streets of Boston since she was fucking ten years old.” Raine shook his head.
“What set her off?” Sabbath wanted to know.
“When she woke up she had her hands tied and she was in a small cement block room. The bitch that raised her used to tie her up and throw her in the basement for days. No food, no water the whole time she was down there. Cassie was beaten and abused by that bitch badly.” Raine fisted his hands. “When she woke up here with her hands tied, she flipped back in time. She thought she had to protect her babies from us.”
“We weren’t gonna hurt her or the babies.” Sam growled. “Those are my grandkids for Christ’s sake!”
“Yeah, well you aren’t gonna get close to her again, unless it’s through Deke,” Raine informed him. “And I don’t think he’s in a forgiving mood right now.”
“He’ll have to get over that,” Sam argued.
Raine shook his head. “She’s got more than him watching over her now.”
“What does that mean?” Sam frowned.
“Those men we saw at the clubhouse today, I got fair warning they would have her back as well. There were many of them too.”
“So? Who the fuck were they?” Thor asked.
“They said they were from Redemption House, whatever the hell that is.” Raine shrugged.
Sam looked around but he could see no one knew what Redemption House stood for.
“So what are you gonna do now?” Raine had to ask.
“I think I’m gonna stick around a while,” Sam told the group.
“Jr. ain’t gonna like that,” Thor told his boss.
“I know,” Sam acknowledged. “But that’s too fucking bad. It isn’t every day I find out I’m gonna be a grandpa either. Besides that, somebody out there threatened our safety. I won’t stand for that. They don’t know who their messing with. I want to know more about this Redemption House.”
“They didn’t threaten you per say,” Raine reminded him. “They only threatened you if you went near Cassie again, and then they claimed they would protect her.”
Sam scoffed. “I only saw a handful of old guys at the clubhouse. How much damage could a handful of them do?”
Raine shook his head. “I had three escort me out of the hospital, those three turned into ten before they were done, but I had a feeling there were a whole lot more waiting in the shadows. They also made it clear they didn’t belong to MC and they didn’t follow anybody else’s rules.”
Sam frowned at him then shrugged. “They looked like harmless old men. They don’t really pose a threat.”
“I don’t think I’d dismiss them that easily,” Raine warned him. “They may be older than us but they had a look in their eyes that didn’t bode well.” He paused for a moment then added. “I think they might have been military at some point.”
<
br /> “And that worries you?” Sam scoffed. “Ex-GI Joes? Hell, you’re an ex GI Joe.”
“I know.” Raine nodded. “But the military taught me skills, mostly medical, but skills none the less. I just wouldn’t count these guys out, that’s all I’m saying.”
“Fine…you worry about them.” Sam grinned. “I’m gonna worry about that bottle calling my name. I have a lot to celebrate tonight. I’m gonna be a grandpa of twins!”
Raine shook his head and watched as everyone went inside. When the door shut behind them, the silence grew around him. He was about to go inside himself when he felt something shift in the shadows. He didn’t hear anyone, no footsteps echoing in the distance. Turning slowly, he found another man standing behind him. Neither of them said a word, but the man standing there just stared at him.
He was dressed in a dirty old pea coat and he had an old hat on his head. The brim shadowed his face but Raine could feel his stare. He didn’t move and his arms hung down at his sides loosely but Raine could feel him. He was ready for any threat, he knew it, and so did Raine.
Raine was surprised when the other man simply turned and walked back into the shadows as silently as he’d come. One minute he was there visible and the next, he was just gone. Again, Raine didn’t even hear him move. Footsteps usually echoed when a person walked away but his didn’t. He knew how to move softly.
Raine turned and joined the rest of the men inside. He didn’t want to drink, so he went over to the corner and slid down the wall and sat there quietly. If Sam wasn’t careful, he could start a war they wouldn’t win. They had not only the local MC but another one hot after them and then there were the men from Redemption House. Raine didn’t like those odds at all.
~* * * *~
Cassie opened her eyes and for a moment, she didn’t know where she was. She heard a steady beeping noise coming from behind her but everything else was strange to her. She started to sit up but gasped when she felt a pain in her side.
Then Deke was there beside her. “Easy baby, you’re gonna be okay,” he whispered as he wrapped his arm around her. He helped her sit up and placed a hand on her belly. “You and the babies are gonna be fine.”
Her hand covered his and she turned her head to look at him. “Are you sure? The babies are okay?”
“Sam and Jemmia are fine.” Deke chuckled a bit. “You gave me a scare today.” He kissed her temple. “I couldn’t get through to you and that scared me.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I did try. I could hear everything you said but I was too scared. I thought I couldn’t protect the babies—that I had let them down when they needed me the most.”
Deke hugged her close. “I know you were, but you should know something. As long as I live, I will protect you and our children. I would kill for you and I would die for you. Believe in that. Trust in that because there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to keep you all safe.”
Cassie’s eyes filled with tears. No one had ever said that to her before. She buried her face deep in his neck and sobbed. She felt safe in his arms. “I should have trusted in you.”
“Yes, you should have.” Deke’s voice rumbled in her ear. “You aren’t alone anymore.” He chuckled. “You really, really aren’t alone anymore. The hospital had to kick quite a few people out earlier. Not only was every member of the MC here but all your friends from Redemption House were here too. There must have been close to a hundred people here, waiting to hear about you and the babies.”
Cassie leaned back and gaped at him in astonishment. “A hundred people here? For me? Why?”
“Because they were worried about you.” He scolded her. “I told you, you aren’t alone anymore.”
“Is Peaches all right?”
Deke grinned. “I think Peaches will be just fine.” He chuckled again. “You should have seen the look on Iceman’s face when she told you she was having a baby. The poor guy looked like he’d been hit by lightning.”
“I can imagine,” Cassie told him dryly. “I’ll bet you had the same look on your face when you found out about the baby.”
“I don’t think you can imagine it. It’s different for a guy when his woman tells him there’s a baby on the way. You think you got scared? Not as scared as I was. I only ever had myself to worry about and take care of, now suddenly I have three other people to watch over.”
Cassie frowned. “I never thought about that.”
“I suddenly have feelings I’ve never had before,” he explained quietly. “I love you like I’ve never loved a woman. Like I never knew I could love a woman ever. Women were never important to me before I met you. I loved them but I could live without them too.” He shrugged. “That didn’t work so well after I met you. The longer we were together the deeper you went in my heart. I didn’t just want you in my bed…I wanted you in my life. I couldn’t breathe unless you were there beside me. When I had my arms around you at night, I felt my world was complete. Then you told me I was gonna be a dad?” Deke laughed. “Boy, you blew me away that day. I never even thought about a kid before. I vowed I would never have kids before I met you. I remembered what my childhood was like and I didn’t want that for anybody, let alone a small innocent human being. Then suddenly, there you were and you told me you were gonna have my kid. I was stunned but then I was extremely happy too. My brain was filled with pictures of my kid and everything I wanted for him or her. I imagined you growing fat with the baby. Then him or her being born. I could picture its little fingers and toes, I could also see me standing right there beside you watching the baby take its first steps, or riding its first bike or going to school for the first time. And you know something?”
“What?” Cassie asked, as she felt astonished at this rare display of Deke sharing his thoughts.
“Unexpectedly, my world changed. I wasn’t alone anymore either. I had you and the promise of something better in my future. Maybe that’s what being a dad really means. The promise of a future.” He shrugged. “All I know is I want more for this child than I ever had. Sam was a deadbeat as far as being a dad went, he sucked. Maybe he didn’t know what being a dad meant either but I’m going to do better for my kids. My kid is gonna know he or she has value.”
Cassie felt tears roll down her checks and for a moment, she couldn’t speak. Then she told him, “I had to learn to survive and no child should ever have to do that but I grew up, I survived for a reason. When things got really bad I could always hear my mother’s voice in my head. I didn’t realize who it was at first but I know who it was now. Her words of wisdom gave me hope. When I met you that first day, I knew in my heart that you were the one I’d been waiting for all my life.”
“I wasn’t very nice to you that day.” Deke frowned. “I think I even hit you.”
Cassie smiled. “You did smack me but I didn’t tear you apart. In fact I think I even smacked you first. If it had been anyone else, I would have taken you down, but I didn’t. I went home with you instead.”
Deke grinned at her. “You gave me a gift a few nights later, a gift I’ve never had before.” His voice was soft with remembering.
“You were the only man I’d met that I felt deserved that part of me. Sex scared the living daylights out of me. I didn’t want meaningless sex, I wanted something better. Something I got with you. You see a lot of meaningless sex on the streets. Sex of all kinds and mostly, it wasn’t nice either. Women allowing men to use their bodies as a type of barter and that just felt dirty to me. I wasn’t going to be one of those women. I tried to tell Peaches that but she was always more sexual than I was. She did promise me though she would never use sex as a form of barter.”
“I was surprised and very happy you waited for me,” he whispered in her ear.
“When can we go home?”
“A few more hours. The doctor wants to make sure you’re good to go.”
“Can’t we just leave?”
Deke shook his head. “Not this time. I took you out of here once before and it was against
medical advice. I’m not taking any chances this time.”
Cassie groaned. “I want to sleep in my own bed with you beside me.”
“Be careful what you wish for, young lady,” Doctor Peters said as he stood in the doorway.
“Why is that? It sounds heavenly to me right now.”
“I can send you home today if you like, but only of you promise me that you’ll take it easy. In fact, I want you on complete bed rest until your next appointment.”
“That’s two weeks away!” Cassie protested.
“I know,” Doctor Peters said, as he got closer. “But you went through something bad yesterday, between the disappointment of the missed wedding and the kidnapping, your body suffered a trauma. I just want to make sure you completely recover.” He motioned toward her big belly. “I want to give them a fighting chance. If they’re born too early, they might not survive.”
Cassie gasped and her hands went to her belly. “That’s just plain mean doc.”
“It may be but I’m very serious young lady,” he stated firmly. “Right now, they’re probably big enough to make it but they aren’t fully developed yet. Their lungs aren’t ready to breathe fresh air yet. Their little minds have to finish developing. And I think for your own sanity, you need this break. Let this big guy take care of you. Let your friends take care of you for a change.”
Cassie glanced at Deke and nodded. “Okay, I want my children to live.”
“Then follow my orders and we’ll see them born in about eight weeks.” Doctor Peters nodded and then when he got to the door, he looked back at them, “Do you still want to go home?”
Cassie nodded.
“I’ll get your paperwork done and you can leave in a few hours, but I mean it. Complete bed rest for two weeks.”
Deke stared back at the man. “She’ll behave doc, if I have to sit on her, she’ll behave.”
Doctor Peters nodded. “See that she does.”
Cassie sighed and wrapped her arms around Deke’s waist. “Well, that sucks.”