Forever Lo (Devil's Knights Book 9)

by Winter Travers

   The doctor finished his exam of Red and gave him the thumbs up that he was going to be okay. “Maybe feed him half a cup of food four times a day. He needs to gain a little weight, but other than that, he is absolutely perfect.”

   After the doctor gave the puppy a treat and Jonas a lollipop we were out of the vet’s and headed back home.

   “Mama Meg,” Jonas called from the back seat.

   “Yeah, buddy.”

   “Can we stop and get ice cream?”

   I glanced in the rearview mirror. “Were you good in school today?”

   Jonas shrugged. “I think so. Teacher didn’t have to tell me to stop talking today.”

   Jonas couldn’t say his teacher’s name so he had just resorted to calling her teacher. Lo and I were picking up on it too. “Well, has Teacher told you that before?”

   Jonas nodded his head. “Yes, but only when I talk a lot.”

   Oh, the logic of a four-year-old. “Then I guess we can stop and get an ice cream cone.”

   “Yay! Can we get one for Papa Lo?”

   I laughed and nodded my head. “I guess if you think he’s been good too.”

   “I do,” Jonas exclaimed. “Red had been a good boy too! We should get him ice cream.”

   I turned into the parking lot of the ice cream place and pulled into the drive thru. “Maybe next time Red can get one, okay?”

   Jonas stroked Red’s head. “Sorry, Red, I tried.”

   Jonas and Red were quite the pair. They had only been together for a day, but they were already becoming the best of buds.

   I handed Jonas’s ice cream cone back to him, set Lo’s dish of ice cream in the cupholder and held mine as I pulled back onto the road.

   Not even a minute later Jonas was giggling in the backseat as Red jumped up on him and tried to steal his cone. Jonas held it out to him so he could lick it, then he took a lick for himself. It was so stinking cute that I didn’t have the heart to tell him to stop.

   Red was probably going to have the runs the next day or two, but it was worth it to see Jonas so happy and giggly.

  *

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Lo

   “I gotta go, babe.”

   Meg lifted her head and looked at me confused. “Go where? It’s almost eight o’clock.”

   “Got some club business to take care of.”

   She eyes me carefully. “Is this the same club business you talked about the first day of school?”

   I nodded my head and shrugged on my cut. “Yeah.”

   “I don’t like this club business, Lo. You should let someone else handle it.”

   I grabbed the keys to my motorcycle and shook my head. “Nah, that’s not going to happen, babe.”

   She pursed her lips and glanced at Jonas who was sitting on the floor playing with his cars and trucks. “You have two more reasons to come home now, Lo. Are you sure this is worth possibly losing that?” She nodded to Jonas and Red.

   “This is nothing, Meg. If it was dangerous, you know I wouldn’t even think about going.”

   She rose from the couch and walked straight into my arms. “This is one of the reasons why I love you, Lo. You doing things like this to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.” She tipped her head back. “You’re not going to like, uh,” she drug her finger across her neck, “eek?”

   I laughed and grabbed her finger. I pressed a finger to the pad and smiled. “Just letting him know the proper way to treat a human being, babe.”

   She sighed and dropped her chin to her chest. She leaned into me and her head hit my shoulder. “Such a good man,” she mumbled. “I guess I’ll tell you the same thing I always do when you take off on club business.” She wrapped her arms right around me and sighed. “Be careful and come home to me.”

   I pressed a kiss to the top of her head and squeezed her tight. “I always will, babe.”

   I ruffled Jonas’s hair as I walked past and Red raised his head for a scratch. “Be good for Mama Meg, bud.”

   “Okay,” he sang out.

   Meg insisted on one more kiss and then she finally let me out of the house.

   I threw my leg over my bike and cranked it up. The engine vibrated underneath me, and I kicked the kickstand up.

   Today Demon and Gambler had given me all the info they had gotten the past few days on the principal and they both felt tonight was the night to make our move.

   Once we took care of this asshole, things were going to go back to normal. Well, the new normal that included Jonas and Red.

   The new normal that I wouldn’t give up for anything.

   I pulled up to the principal's house and saw the rest of the guys were already there.

   “You’re late,” Rigid snickered.

   I flipped him off and slid off the bike. “Doing the family thing, brother. Hard to pull me away from that.”

   Rigid nodded his head. “I hear that. We take care of this asshole and then we can all get back home.”

   Now that sounded like a damn good plan.

   Demon, Rigid, and Slider followed me up the driveway to the front door and stood behind me when I knocked. “I’m assuming the rest of the guys are around back?” I asked before the door opened.

   “That and somewhere else,” Demon snickered.

   The door opened before I could ask him what he meant by that.

   Troy opened the door and swept his arm out. “Welcome, boys. So nice of you to join is.”

   I glanced back at Rigid. “I didn’t know he was part of the plan.”

   Rigid shrugged. “He’s got kids at the school, brother. Figured he had as must interest in this as we did.”

   He had a point but it would have been nice to have been clued in on him being here. I walked past Troy and into the large living room.

   “Mr. Seth is awaiting you in the dining room,” Troy called with a British accent.

   “Never a dull moment when we’re all together,” Slider laughed.

   We walked into the dining room and I couldn’t help but laugh. George, the principal was sitting at the head of the long, rectangular table, his arms and legs tied, while Gambler and Gravel sat on each side of him while shoveling pot pie into their faces.

   “Did I miss dinner?” I asked.

   “We almost did, too,” Gambler laughed. “Good ol’ George here as kind enough to share with us.”

   “What do you want from me?” George shouted. “I said I was sorry about before.”

   I shook my head and pulled out the chair in front of me. “Sometimes saying sorry just isn’t enough, Georgie.”

   Rigid, Demon, and Slider each found a chair and sat down around the table.

   I pulled an envelope out of my pocket and laid it on the table.

   “I really don’t understand what you are doing here. My wife is going to be home any minute with my kids. You’re going to scare them.”

   I laughed flatly. “Pretty sure you are the one who scares your wife, George, not me.”

   George’s eyes darted around the room. “You don’t know about my wife. You don’t know anything about me.”

   I opened the envelope and laid out six pictures, face down. “You know when you grabbed my ass at school, George?”

   His jaw dropped, and he looked embarrassed. “I don’t know what you are talking about?”

   “Oh, come on, Georgie, don’t be embarrassed. We all know you enjoy some sausage now and then. There isn’t anything wrong with that as long as the sausage you’re wanting wants the same thing.” I flipped open the first picture. “You really do have a pretty wife, George. If you’re not going to treat her well, you should let her go so she could make someone else happy.”

   “How did you get that picture of her?” George demanded.

   I nodded to Demon and Slider. “Oh, you didn’t realize for the past few days you’ve had some
company?”

   Demon shook his head. “I couldn’t have been more obvious, but you are so self fucking involved that you didn’t even notice me.”

   I tsked and laid the picture of George’s wife down on the table. I picked up the next picture and held it up.

   “You better not have touched my children you sick assholes!” George roared.

   I shook my head. “That’s not my thing, George.” I looked at the picture of the pretty girl who looked to be about thirteen. “That would be pretty awful of me to force myself onto someone like her though, wouldn’t it?”

   “No,” George screamed. “Don’t touch my children.”

   I set down the photo and picked up the next. “What is his name?” I asked as I held it up.

   “You guys are sick fucking assholes! Let me go! You’re not going to touch my children.” George was in a rage over something that wasn’t going to happen, but did it hurt to make him think that it might? After all, he constantly prayed on people who didn’t want him touching them, but he still did it.

   “Oh, now this one looks to be about my boys age.” I held up the next photo. “Maybe just a little older than him.”

   George growled and tried to rip his arms out of the restraints. “Stop. Just stop,” he insisted.

   “It’s pretty unsettling to sit here and think that someone could be forcing themselves on your wife and children, right, George?” I nodded to Rigid who stood up. He pulled a knife from his pocket and moved toward George.

   “No, no,” George pleaded. “Please don’t do this. I promise I’ll never touch anyone again.” He shook his head fiercely back and forth. “Just leave my family alone.”

   Rigid pressed the knife to George’s throat and sneered at him. “Make one wrong move and it’s over for you, Georgie.”

   “I know it might seem crazy, but we’re really not here to hurt you, George.” I looked around the room. “We’re more so here to help you see the light.”

   “Like angels,” Gravel laughed.

   “Angels of mercy,” Demon elaborated.

   “This is what is going to happen, George.” I gathered all of the photos and tossed them at George. “You’re gonna stop being a fucking douche canoe, and we’re going to let you live.”

   “Thank you, thank yo-,” George shouted

   I held my hand up and cut him off. “There’s a catch, Georgie. We’re gonna be watching you, making sure that you walk a straight line. You so much as look at anyone who isn’t your wife, and we’ll cut your dick off and mail it to your mother.” I pulled a small piece of paper out of my pocket. “1749 West Moreland Ave. Is that her address?”

   “Yes, yes,” George shouted. “Just please don’t touch my mother. Please don’t.”

   I rolled my eyes. “You really don’t understand just what the Devil’s Knights are about, do you, George?” I pointed to the pictures scattered around. “I’m not interested in hurting your family. They haven’t done anything to deserve that. Hurting innocent people is not the type of business the Devil’s Knights are in.”

   “But that seems to be what you’re into though.” Rigid moved the knife from George’s throat and place the tip right over George’s heart. “If you do it, why can’t someone do it to your family?”

   “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” George yelled. “I… I… I never thought about it like that. I didn’t think!”

   “No fucking shit,” Gravel growled. “All you thought about was getting your dick wet. Didn’t matter who or where it was.”

   “This is your last chance, George.” I stood up and grabbed a picture off the table. “You take one step out of line, and I’ll make sure you and your family never see the light of day again.” I tucked the picture back into my pocket. “I’ll be keeping this one for safekeeping.” I walked out of the dining room and headed straight to my bike. I didn’t want to be around that piece of shit anymore.

   The Devil’s Knights would never hurt his family, but he wasn’t going to ever know that. As long as George walked the line, his life would be peachy.

   If one toe went out of line though, you could bet your ass George would never see the light of day again.

  *

  Meg

   “Lo?”

   The bed shifted next to me, and a warm arm draped over my waist. “Just me, babe.”

   I rolled into him and laid my head on his shoulder. “You came home to me,” I whispered. I never really thought he wouldn’t if he had a choice, but I also knew tomorrow was never promised.

   “Nothing can keep me away from you.”

   I hummed blissfully and relaxed into him.

   “Where’s Red?” he asked softly.

   Red had slept in bed with us since we had gotten him, but Jonas had asked to let him sleep in his room tonight. I had given in, fully expecting to have to scoop both of them up and put them in bed with Lo and I. “He’s sleeping with Jonas.”

   “So that means I get you and my bed all to myself?”

   “For the time being,” I whispered.

  “Hell yeah,” he growled.

   I tipped my head back and looked Lo in the eye. “Is everything okay?”

   He brushed his fingers down my cheek. “You asking about club business, babe?”

   I rolled my eyes. “We’ve been married for ten years, Lo. You should know by now that whether you tell me or one of the girls does, that I always find out about club business.” So foolish for him to think that he could keep it from me and that I wouldn’t ask questions.

   “We took care of him, Meg.”

   “What do you mean you took care of it?” I know Lo had said that they didn’t plan to hurt Mr. Seth, but living around the club had taught me one thing, it was I knew sometimes things didn’t always go to plan.

   “I mean Mr. Seth is very much alive, but he has a completely new view on how to treat other human beings.”

   “And his family?”

   Lo sighed. “His family wasn’t anywhere around, Meg. Demon had a connection at the radio station. The wife and kids were at the movies after winning passes and concessions for six. They aren’t going to know anything happened tonight.”

   I tried my fingers down his chest. “You really are a good man, Lo.”

   “Papa Lo?”

   Lo closed his eyes and I could tell he was counting.

   “Uh, hey, bud.” I raised up on my elbow and saw Jonas and Red were at the end of the bed. “What are you two doing up?”

  Jonas’s voice sounded tired, and he rubbed the sleep from his eye with the back of his hand. “I think Red has to go to the bathroom and so do I.”

  Lo tossed the covers back. “I’ll get Red, you get Jonas back in bed.”

  “Just remember you love this life,” I called to Lo.

   “Living the dream, babe,” he hollered back.

   I helped Jonas to the bathroom and listened to Lo tell Red he was a good boy while he hooked the harness on him.

   It may be after midnight and Lo and I might not be able to spend the rest of the night the way we wanted, but I couldn’t help but feel that we really were living the dream.

  *

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Lo

   “I gotta run to the store, but Jonas doesn’t want to come.” Meg stood in the doorway of my office at the clubhouse with her purse hitched over her shoulder. “Can he stay here with you?”

  I nodded my head. “You know he can always come here, babe.”

  “I know, I know,” she muttered. “You’re just supposed to be working and I don’t want to have him get in the way.”

  “Pretty sure you’re the one who said you know what my work schedule is because you take all of the orders.” I nodded toward the body shop. “Guys are busy, but I’ve got nothing going on today.”

  “Great. I didn’t want to have to tell Jonas he had to come shopping with me.”

  I stoo
d up and Meg moved to me. I wrapped my arms around her waist and she tipped her head back to look up at me. “You’re looking good today, babe.”

  She rolled her eyes. “What are you buttering me up for?” she laughed.

  I shook my head. “I can’t appreciate how good my wife looks?”

   “You can, but not when we’re in your office and Jonas is six feet away.”

   My hand squeezed her ass, and I pulled her close. “Then I guess tonight I’m continuing my appreciation after the boy goes to sleep.”

   She tapped a finger to my lips. “Good thinking, honey.”

   “You bring Red with you?”

   She nodded her head. “You know Red and Jonas are attached to each other. We’ve only had Red for three weeks, but they’re bound to be buddies for life.”

   “Just like you wanted.”

   Meg pouted out her bottom lip. “I actually wanted him to be my buddy for life, but you know, I need to be the adult and not demand Red be my dog.”

   I pressed a kiss to her lips. “Then maybe you need to get another dog?”

   Her eyes lit up and her jaw dropped. “Don’t say that to me, Logan Birch. You know how I am with puppies.”

   “Wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.”

   She snaked her arms around my neck and laid a hell of a kiss on me. “You just fully slipped me into the Lo Daze.”

   I shrugged. “What can I say? I’ve got the touch.”

   “And puppies,” she laughed.

   Meg breezed out of the office with a spring in her step and a new puppy on her mind.

   I went in search of Jonas and found him sitting on his dad’s bike in the shop. Rigid was with him, pointing out all the upgrades on it.

   After the accident the shop had been to pick up Turtle’s bike, and we had been working on rebuilding it since. There were still a few things that needed to be done with it, but she was mostly complete.