by Erin Osborne
Whoever did this to Sam is going to pay with their motherfucking life. I don’t care who the hell it is or how many men I have to take out. They’ll die for harming my woman and unborn babies.
My dad and a bunch of other guys come in the room and I know it’s time for Sam to tell us what happened to her. I’m surprised my dad waited to hear the news, but it makes sense that he’s not the only one to hear it and have to relay the news to us. More than one of us will hear the tale and be able to tell the rest of the guys who aren’t in here.
While I listen to all the details of Sam’s story, I can feel my rage simmering just below boiling point. I’m about to explode and I know it. I give her a kiss on the top of her head and stand up so fast the chair I was sitting in goes flying backward. It barely misses both my dad and Tank. I storm from the room and slam the door shut behind me. Tank and Stryker silently follow me out of the room.
I head to the bar and tap the counter with my fist. The Prospect slides me a shot and a beer. It’s the last thing I need right now because there’s no doubt in my mind we’re going to have church. But, I need something to take the edge off and have the red haze I’m seeing disappear. I need to be able to focus on what’s being said in church and make a rational decision.
Heading into the room we hold church in, I slam the door open and set my bottle down on the table. Tank is the only one to follow me in. He just stands back and lets me get my anger out.
Picking up the first chair I come to, I throw it against the wall to my left. It shatters into multiple pieces and collapses at my feet. After the first chair, I make my way around the table and destroy every single one of the chairs. The pictures hanging on the walls are smashed to the floor and there’s now a brand-new hole in the wall close to the door.
As I pick up an ashtray off the table, my dad and the guys file in the room. Killer is the last to enter and I know it’s because he took Sam home to rest.
“What the fuck happened in here?” my dad bellows out.
“Playboy lost his shit and rightfully so. He didn’t do it in front of the women or anyone else. Everythin’ in here can be replaced and no one got scared,” Tank responds as I bend over and try to catch my breath.
“Okay. Well, I’d tell everyone to sit, but that’s about impossible right now. So, get to your spot around the table and stand there. I’ll have a Prospect clean this shit up when we’re done,” my dad says.
As soon as he’s in his spot at the table, my dad picks up the gavel and bangs it against the table.
“Now, if you haven’t heard by now, Sam was attacked when she went to the store a little while ago. She’s okay, but banged up. Apparently, a new club is in town and they want our territory. If we don’t comply, they’re goin’ to take it by force and start with the women,” he tells the room.
You can feel the rage and tension from every man in the room. We don’t tolerate anyone going after women. Especially not our women. They’ll die slow, painful deaths for even insinuating they’re going to take our land and go after our women.
“Playboy, because of your outburst, you’re sittin’ this one out,” my dad says as I turn to look at him.
“What? I deserve to go out and find these fuckers!” I explode.
“No, you don’t. Not this time, son,” he responds. “You’re goin’ to stay at home with your woman and make sure nothin’ happens to those babies. Take her to the doctor like Doc told you and make sure your woman stays right. Hold her, comfort her, and make sure she knows this could’ve happened to anyone.”
“I deserve to be out there, makin’ sure justice is dealt to these fuckers,” I tell him, forcing myself to be calm.
“What club is this?” Fox asks, opening his laptop.
“Devils Rule,” Killer answers. “No bottom rockers.”
“The fuck?” Valor says.
“They’re already to put Benton Falls as their bottom rocker it seems. We’re not gonna let them have it. Now, I want you all out in shifts to find these fuckers. If you find one of them, call it in and follow them so we can figure out where they’re goin’,” my dad tells the room. “Playboy, see if Sam saw anythin’ else on the cut that will help us out.”
I nod my head, ready to get home and be with Sam and the rest of my family. If I can’t be out helping the rest of the guys, I’m going to be home where I’m needed. And I need to make sure she made a doctor’s appointment to double-check the babies.
“Killer and Stryker, hand out shifts. I’ll take one now with Boy Scout and Valor,” the men nod and remain in their seats.
My dad slams the gavel down on the table, dismissing us. We all leave the room and I make my way out of the clubhouse without talking to anyone. The only goal I have is getting home to see how Sam’s doing. But, I need to take the long way around the clubhouse and to our house because I have to calm down a little before I face her.
Sam doesn’t need to see me pissed off and wanting to kill someone with everything she’s been through in the last little while. She needs me to be calm and help her get through this.
I walk in the house and Caleb comes running up to me. He wraps his arms around my legs and begins to cry. I pull him up into my arms and he buries his head in my neck. His tears hit my neck and slide down to my shirt collar and cut. I don’t give a shit, though.
“Mama hurt,” he tells me, sobs still choking him up.
“I know, buddy. She’s gonna be okay, though. We just have to help her out for a few days until she can feel better,” I tell him, rubbing my hand up and down his back.
“I help,” he informs me, trying to stop crying.
“She’d like that, buddy. Why don’t we go check on her,” I say, heading to the stairs.
I get to our door and hear her talking to someone. I’m not sure if she’s on the phone or if Maddie or Shy are in with her. Not that it matters to me. Caleb and I both need to see her.
Opening the door, I see Maddie and Sam sitting in the bed. They’re talking and I know Maddie is trying to keep her mind off things. Hopefully, it’s working.
“Hey,” Sam says gently as she looks up at us. “You okay?”
“He’s okay,” I assure her. “Just worried about you. So, I think we’re gonna have lunch in here with you and watch some movies.”
“That sounds perfect,” Sam responds with a smile on her face.
Maddie gets up and leaves the room. She hugs me and presses a kiss to Caleb’s head as she passes us by. I place Caleb on the bed and head down to make us something to eat. Shy’s already ahead of me, though, as she hands me three plates loaded down with food. I thank her and then head back up with my family.
Caleb is snuggled up next to Sam with his hand resting on her belly. I pull out my phone and take a picture of the two of them because I can’t help myself. Getting close to the bed, I hand Sam her plate and wait for Caleb to sit up so he can eat. I don’t care if we have to change the bed because of any messes.
Shy comes in to bring us drinks and then leaves the rest of us alone. We pick out a movie and eat our lunch. I keep my eyes on Sam instead of the movie because I need to reassure myself she’s truly okay and here with us. This is where I’m going to be until the physical evidence of her attack is gone. My main concern is her mental health at this point. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, though.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sam
IT’S BEEN TWO days since I was attacked in the grocery store parking lot. I haven’t left the house other than to go to the doctor’s office the day after it happened. Playboy called and wanted to get me in as soon as possible to ensure nothing was wrong with the babies.
Doctor Sanchez told me there’s nothing wrong with the babies. The cut did absolutely nothing to harm them or anything else internally. She went over the antibiotics Doc put me on and assured us they wouldn’t do anything to harm the kids either. So, now it’s just a matter of healing and going on with life until the babies are born.
Playboy, Tank, M
addie, and the kids have been outside and down to the clubhouse to hang out with everyone. I’ve remained home because I don’t want to leave the safety of the house. While I know rationally no one can get in the compound, I still don’t trust it that this club will do something to breach the boundaries and find me again.
Rancor threatened to kill me slowly and I know he means it. I don’t want to die and leave my children without a mom. Especially Caleb. While he has gotten to know and love the men and women of the club, he’s not close to them like he is with me. I worry about what will happen to him. So, the only way to make sure nothing happens to me is to stay inside and not go anywhere.
Kim came over to see me yesterday. We got talking about her designing book covers and how Kiera was one of her clients. She pulled out her laptop and showed me some of the work she’s done and I fell in love with it. Then, she showed me how easy they are to make and let me try making one with her guidance. So, I’m going to be working with her to make book covers and other graphics for the authors she’s been working with for some time.
The next thing I have to do is start a social media platform under her business page and try to add new clients. I’ll be posting some pre-made covers I’ve done myself and things like that. It’s definitely going to keep me busy and help me keep my mind off things instead of worrying about Rancor and the rest of his club being out there still.
Sitting on the couch, I open the laptop Kim brought me. She has an extra one I can use until I can get my own. So even though I can’t work outside the house, I can work from home until the twins are born and then look for work. Or finish school and find a nursing job. Book cover designing can still happen when I’m not working or doing something with my family. At least that’s my hope.
I open the first email Kim sent me. It contains everything I’ll need to work on this cover for Keira. She’s entrusting me to do this and I’m going to do the best job I can. I worry I’m going to mess it up, but I’m still learning, so I don’t expect to be perfect the first time I do a cover alone.
Before I start working, I turn on the TV and put Uneasy by One Less Reason on. Now that I have background noise on, I pull up the program I need to design the cover and put in the picture of the model Kim sent in the files.
I read through it again and find pictures from Kim’s account on a royalty-free website and find the perfect image to put in the background. Once I’ve inserted all the images and made sure they blend together, I save the file in a folder for Keira. Time to get started on the next one.
Before I can get to work, there’s a brief knock on the door before I hear it open. My entire body tightens up and a cold sweat breaks out on my body. I freeze as my heart beats so fast and hard in my chest, I feel as if it’s going to break free and fall to the floor in front of me. Even as Maddie comes into view, I can’t stop my body’s reaction.
“Sam, are you okay?” she asks, her voice laced with worry and fear. “Is it the babies?”
“I-I-I’m okay,” I finally manage to stutter out. “I got scared when you came in the door is all.”
“Why?” she asks.
“Because I thought you were the man who attacked me coming back for another round,” I answer her.
“Oh, honey. He’s not going to come back. The guys will find him before he can come here and get you. That’s why you’re not leaving the house, isn’t it?” she asks me.
“I don’t feel safe when I leave the house,” I tell her truthfully. “I can be surrounded by everyone here, but I see glimpses of the man who attacked me out of the corner of my eye and in every shadow.”
“Have you told Playboy this?” she questions me. “Or anyone else?”
I shake my head in response. Looking down at my hands wringing in my lap, I realize things could’ve changed in the blink of an eye and I may not be sitting here right now. I could be in the hospital or worse all because some man, some club, wants what the Phantom Bastards have worked their asses off for. They don’t sit around and come in to take things from other people; they realize they want something and they work hard to obtain it.
The anger at this man’s audacity has my rage building. How dare he come at a woman who’s pregnant because he doesn’t have balls enough to take a meeting with the club itself. If Rancor is the Sargent at Arms, that speaks about every man in the Devils Rule; they’re cowards who would rather take their chance going after a woman instead of standing toe-to-toe with a man of equal size and strength.
“There you go,” Maddie says, never once taking her eyes off me. “I can see the anger and fire in your eyes again. That’s what you need to get through this and come out the other side.”
“I’m still scared, Maddie. I don’t think I ever want to leave the compound alone until I know every single man is taken care of and not left alive,” I say honestly.
“It’s completely natural and understandable. You know almost every single one of us have been through some shit and our men have had to rescue us and take care of the problem. What you need to think about is taking some self-defense classes once you have my nephews,” she says.
“I think I might. I’ll talk to Playboy about it,” I respond.
“Now, what are you doing here?” she asks, coming over to look at the computer.
“I’m helping Kim out. She designs book covers and things so I’m taking some of the load from her since I can’t work right now,” I say.
“You’re doing Keira’s next book?” she asks, excitement filling her voice and closing her eyes. “We all get sneak peeks of the covers back home when she gets them back from Kim. I don’t want to see it before she shows us.”
“You can look. I’ve closed out of it,” I say with a laugh. “I’m getting ready to do a premade cover if you want to watch me do that.”
“Yes, please,” she answers. “I’ve never watched one be made, so this is exciting.”
For the next hour or so, I find images and put them together to design a book cover fit for a motorcycle club book. That’s not all we’re going to cater to, though, so I do one more with a shifter theme to it. Maddie silently watches me work and gives me praise as I show her the finished product.
“You’re really good. Are you going to do this full time?” she asks when I save the file to send off to Kim later on.
“No. When I deliver the babies, I’m going back to school to finish my degree in nursing. I’m almost done if they’ll take the credits I already earned. If I remember correctly, I have one semester left and I’ll be done,” I answer.
“Wow! That’s amazing. I know Playboy will support your decision to go back and finish it.”
“He already does. When he was locked up, he wanted me to go back and finish. I’ve been talking about it more and more recently. So, he wanted me to use the money he gave me and go back. Before I could do that, I gave his card back to Shy and moved from Benton Falls,” I say.
“I heard you left from Dad, but he didn’t say why,” she says.
“Well, I found out I was pregnant and your brother refused to see or talk to me. He wouldn’t even read any letters I sent him; just sent the first one back unopened. So, if I couldn’t tell him I was pregnant, I didn’t want one of the men or ol’ ladies to inform him. Playboy had the right to hear the news first and hear it from me,” I inform her genuinely.
“I love my brother but he can be a fucking idiot sometimes. Did he at least talk to you about it after he got out and found you?” Maddie asks.
“Yeah. And I get why he did what he did, just like I told him there was no way in hell I’d go through it again. If he goes inside again, I’ll be right there to see him and talk to him whether he likes it or not,” I answer.
“Good. You give him hell, Sam. Playboy has to get used to being part of a couple and not just making decisions for himself whenever he wants to. It’s something they all have to learn,” she says, giving me advice I need to remember.
I work on putting one more cover together for a premade before
sending everything to Kim to look over and send me back notes on. As soon as I’m done, I close out of everything and put the laptop away. Maddie is in the kitchen preparing dinner for a small impromptu cookout at our house today.
Tank and Maddie are heading back to Clifton Falls soon and we want to spend as much time with them as we can. It’s not often we get to see them and with having kids, I want to get together with them more often. It’s important to have family surrounding you and I want to watch our kids grow up. Together.
Caleb has been glued to the sides of Brax, Shawn, and Chance since they got here. I don’t want to deprive him of their presence in his life so I have to figure out a way to get together with them on a more regular basis.
I walk out to the kitchen and sit on one of the stools so I can help Maddie prepare the salads and everything else for dinner. As long as I’m sitting down, Playboy can’t bitch at me for doing too much. I get busy chopping up tomatoes and cheese for the pasta salad while Maddie prepares a potato salad. We’re also going to have cheeseburgers, salt potatoes, and a few desserts Maddie has been hiding from Skylar.
Skylar sent up some fudge, brownies, and a few pies. We had the pies at the cookout with the club the other day, but Maddie knows how to be stingy and has hid the rest for just us. I can’t wait to dive into those desserts because Skylar is amazing when it comes to baking and cooking. I’m surprised she hasn’t opened her own shop up yet. She would make a killing there and sell out on a daily basis.
As we’re preparing the meal, Playboy, Tank, Slim, Shy, Killer, Gwen, Fox, Kim, and the kids all show up. The music is turned on before Playboy and the guys make their way outside with a tub full of ice and beer so they can cook the burgers on the grill out back.
Today is what the club is all about. Family, friends, and being there for one another. We have one another’s back and I know we don’t have to worry about the outside threat as much as I made it out in my mind. Yes, I was the one attacked, but that doesn’t mean that any single one of the men in this club won’t have my back. So, I need to worry more about days like today than days where something bad happens.