Vengeance MC Box Set - Volume 2: Gage ~ Cash ~ Knight (Vengeance MC series Book 8)

by Natasha Thomas

  Oh. Well, when he puts it like that.

  “What I was trying to say until you so rudely interrupted me, is that although you are annoying and overbearing, with deplorable housekeeping skills, you’re my annoying, overbearing, messy biker. I don’t need hearts and flowers as long as I have you. I love you, Marshall. And don’t you forget it.”

  After kissing me hard enough to drench my panties and leave me dizzy, something I’m learning Cash is very, very good at, he smiles wolfishly.

  “So you told me you love me, and you didn’t spontaneously combust. How’s that feel, gorgeous?”

  Wrinkling my nose, I amend my previous statement.

  “I forgot to add you’re an ass to my list.”

  “Yeah, but I’m your ass, you just said so, baby,” he grins unrepentantly. Then, in the blink of an eye, Mr. Mercurial is back as his smile fades into an expression of concentration. “We’ve gotta finish this talk, gorgeous. As much as I’d enjoy stripping you naked and feasting on your tight, hot cunt until you’re begging me to let you come, that’s going to have to wait.”

  An involuntary shiver travels the length of my body from the tips of my toes to the top of my head.

  “Ah, okay,” I manage to stammer. Just. Because seriously, the man can’t expect to say things like that and not illicit a reaction.

  Sitting down on the porch swing, arranging me on his lap, Cash tilts his head back and closes his eyes.

  “Not that I’m complaining how it turned out, but why’d you ask me then if I love you or not.”

  “Well, you were going on about losing me and not being able to protect me, so I thought if I got you to admit it first, I could say it back which would prove to you I’m not going anywhere,” I reply without the slightest hesitation.

  “It’s not that simple, gorgeous,” he says dejectedly. “People say they love each other all the time, then shit happens and the words are forgotten in the time they take to say them.” Cash must feel my body turn to stone and curses softly under his breath. “I’m not saying that will happen to us, baby. I’m just pointing out the facts. My buddy, Knight, is going through exactly that now. He’s been in love with his wife since their junior year of high school, and they got married a couple of weeks before he left for basic training, not long after graduation. All up they’ve been together nearly twenty years. Twenty fucking years, gorgeous, and she hands him divorce papers.”

  Frowning, I mulled over what he said and decided there has to be more to it than that. No woman leaves her husband after being together that long without a damn good reason. Maybe Cash is only hearing one side of the story because his friend is too busy hurting to acknowledge his part in it all.

  “Don’t look at me like that, gorgeous. I can practically hear your thoughts, they’re so fucking loud,” he groans.

  “Hush up,” I snicker, swatting him playfully. “I was just thinking that there are three sides to every story; his, hers, and the truth.”

  “I get where you’re coming from, and we’ll talk about that later, but we’re getting off topic again,” Cash points out, shaking his head. “If I thought it would help get rid of this sinking feeling I’ve got in my gut, I’d jump a flight to Vegas with you and marry your sexy ass tonight.”

  My face goes slack, and a shocked whimper escapes my mouth at his confession, but he doesn’t let that deter him.

  “We will be making that trip, even if I have to knock you out and kidnap you, just not today. In a couple of weeks, a month tops,” he mutters decisively. “But first, you’re going to have to hear me out, gorgeous. It took me a while to get my head around it, so I’m willing to give you all the time you need as long as you don’t shut me out while you’re doing it.”

  Expecting me to form a coherent response, Cash waits patiently for me to answer him. I push the thoughts of plane rides and marriage to the back of my head for now, and nod solemnly.

  “Since I don’t know what you’re going to say, the best I can offer is that I’ll try.”

  Cash kisses the tip of my nose and inclines his head in acceptance.

  “The start of the note was transparent bullshit, asking how we were doing, hoping we were okay. If he gave the first fuck about us, he would have been around to see for himself. Take a deep breath, gorgeous because this is going to be hard to hear,” he instructs soothingly.

  Doing as I’m told, I manage to count to ten before Cash goes on to tear my world apart.

  “The next bit is what threw me. He said he was going to see his son, and there wasn’t a damn thing any of us could do about it. I thought he meant, Jump since the letter was addressed to me. Made sense too, considering he never came back to see him when he was born. He didn’t mean, Jump, though. He meant Talon.”

  My vision fades in and out, and I’m unable to focus on anything. The world spins, and I feel my body tilt, but before I can utter a word, everything goes dark.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  ~ Cash ~

  “Friends are like potatoes. When you eat them, they die.”

  – A fact of life

  I should have been prepared for this. There’s no way Kennedy could foresee this coming. Shit, the knowledge that my father is also the father to her son hit me with the force of a wrecking ball.

  Settling her in the passenger seat and fastening her seat belt, I shut the door as quietly as I can and double check the cabin’s locked up tight. We won’t be back for a while, but I vow to bring her and Talon up here as soon as the first snow falls.

  Firing up the truck, I make it about twenty miles down the road before my phone lights up with an incoming call.

  “Yeah,” I answer, not bothering to check the caller ID.

  “I hope that’s the sound of you driving your ass home, brother because if you’re not on your way, you need to be,” Boss snaps.

  “On the road. I’ll be home in less than two hours.”

  “Fuck that. New plan. Get your ass to the clubhouse, and bring your woman with you because there’s some suit wearing motherfucker standing in my forecourt demanding to see his kid,” he grates out. “Sly filled me in so don’t worry about that, all I want to know is what you expect me to do with him.”

  My first instinct is to tell Boss to kill him. All he provided was his DNA; he was never a father. In the end, rational thought prevails. I want to talk to the sick fuck who raped my woman, but most of all, I want to know why he’s hell bent on seeing Talon.

  “Hold him until I can get there. Are any of the women with you?” I resign myself to saying.

  “Emily and Avery. I’ll tell them to hang around. They’ll take Kennedy home with them if you decide you want to have a private chat with the asshole. Say, in the meat shack.” He suggests.

  “Where’s Jump?”

  “Out with Sarge picking up L & M’s lumber order that just came in. I told Sarge to keep him busy since I knew you’d want to be the one to tell him.”

  “Appreciate it, brother,” I say, and mean it.

  “Right. I’ve got shit to do and a motherfucker to lock down. You don’t mind if he’s not in the same condition he showed up in when you get here, do you?” He asks. I can practically hear the evil grin in his tone.

  Barking out a laugh, I reply,

  “As long as the asshole’s still got a tongue, I don’t give the first fuck what you do to him.”

  With my message communicated loud and clear, Boss disconnects the call leaving me to think about how the hell I’m going to tell Jump that the father he’s never met is in town. Moreover, I’ve got to consider what his appearance mean for Kennedy and Talon.

  Without a shadow of a doubt, Kennedy’s past is about to become common knowledge. She’s worked hard to keep the circumstances of Talon’s parentage under wraps. My brothers, their women, Jump, none of them will look at her or Talon any differently, but word will eventually get out. Not everyone will be of the same mindset – small town and all – but there’s no getting around that. It is what it is, and we’ll deal
with it when it happens.

  Then it hits me like a ton of bricks. Talon isn’t only my father’s son; he’s my brother. The thought fills me with warmth and pride. I would have accepted Talon as a friend, a step-son – because, yeah, that’s where I see this going with his mom – or a brother. The fact that he’s the latter doesn’t change a goddamn thing. I love that kid.

  *****

  Kennedy sleeps nearly the entire drive. If it weren’t for the steady rise and fall of her chest, I would have been concerned. The light filters in through the window her head is resting on, and not for the first time, I consider what a lucky sonofabitch I am.

  Her chestnut hair is glossy and thick, falling around her shoulder in riotous waves. I can’t see her eyes, but I’ve spent hours looking into them while I was buried inside her that I know they’d be dancing with mischief if she knew I was watching her sleep.

  My cock hardens at the memory of our mid-week getaway. Kennedy had been so open and trusting with her body, and in the end, her heart too. I wasn’t necessarily waiting for her to say the words first, but I’ll admit, I didn’t want to risk scaring her off by getting too serious too quickly.

  With any other woman, I would have run in the other direction if she’d whispered those three little words to me. But Kennedy saying them had the opposite effect. I wanted to hear them a hundred times a day, every day for the rest of our lives.

  I didn’t lie when I said we’d be taking a trip to Vegas soon. It’ll just have to be when my asshole father, Jump’s sobriety, Jess’ arraignment, and word on where the three fuckwits, Briggs, Dog, and Ruger are taken care of. Fuck, that’s a long list. At this rate, I won’t be making Kennedy my wife this side of fucking ever.

  My text tone sounds disrupting my depressing train of thought and seeing as we’ve just pulled onto Main Street and the traffic’s light, I pick up my phone and read it.

  *Knight* - Got your message. I’ll be in @ 6 am tomorrow. Bring the kid.

  Short and to the point, I wouldn’t expect anything less from the ex-military, ex-boxing champ powerhouse.

  Knight’s always been a lot like Gage in that respect; able to convey his message with very few words. And I admire him for it. Too often people waste time filling perfectly good silence with bullshit that is irrelevant. Life’s too short in my opinion, you should only fill it with things that matter like the woman beside me.

  Texting him back, it looks like another item got scratched on my to-do list for tomorrow.

  *Cash* - We’ll be there.

  Not sure how Talon’s going to feel about getting up at the ass crack of dawn on a Saturday, but he’s got no choice if he wants to play amateur sleuth with me. I told the kid the truth when he asked why I wanted him to start working out with me. Lying didn’t even cross my mind. Talon’s got a good head on his shoulders, so I know he’ll keep his mouth shut.

  Shooting a quick text his way too, I pull into the forecourt and shut down my truck.

  *Cash* - Knight’s @ 6am tomorrow. Be up and ready by 5.

  Kennedy stirs, but she doesn’t wake up. Leaning over the center console, I unbuckle her seat belt and place a line of kisses up her exposed throat. Honestly, I’d rather be anywhere but here. At home in bed with a naked, wet, willing Kennedy would be a million times better than facing this. But for what it’s worth, once this asshole is taken care of, Kennedy will never have to worry about him trying to track her down again.

  A soft moan bordering on a sigh escapes Kennedy’s lips as I run my hand up her inner thigh. I know exactly what will wake her up, and I’m not averse to fingering her right here in front of the clubhouse if she doesn’t open her pretty gray eyes for me. The sooner this is over and done with, the sooner I can take her home and fuck the hell out of her. And goddamn if that isn’t motivation enough to have me shifting uncomfortably in my seat.

  “We’re here,” she moans, blinking rapidly to clear the sleep from her eyes.

  I love this look on her. The one that’s still hazy from sleep with thoroughly fucked hair, and a small knowing smile tilting her perfect pink lips.

  “Yeah, gorgeous. We’re here. How do you want to play this?”

  “Huh?” She frowns as if I wasn’t going to give her a choice. This is her show as far as I’m concerned. Our father might have abandoned us, but what he did to Kennedy was much worse.

  People are going to have questions when the whole story comes out, no doubt one of them being, why I didn’t recognize the man I beat the shit out of that night was indeed my father. I thought about it long and hard on the drive back, and the only answer I can come up with is the truth; I genuinely didn’t know it was him.

  It had been years, fifteen of them since I’d seen him last. I was two years old when he fucked off leaving us with nothing. Even if my mom had kept pictures of him, which she didn’t, I don’t think I would have recognized him after that long.

  After all, the man I saw in the alley was shorter than my six-foot-two, at least, thirty pounds’ overweight, with dark hair, and was wearing a suit. He looked nothing like me or Jump. But I suppose it was dark, and I wasn’t paying attention. My focus was on kicking the shit out of an old guy who was assaulting a helpless female.

  Tilting her face to the side so that Kennedy’s looking straight into my eyes, I tell her,

  “It’s up to you what happens next, gorgeous. But just so you know, Talon’s not here. He’s with Jonas at Skin Fusion.”

  “Oh, thank God,” she mutters on an exhale.

  “You’ve got choices here, baby. I can take care of him and you never even have to lay eyes on the slimy bastard. Or you can go in there and give him hell, say what you need to, and then I’ll make him disappear. Any which way you slice it, Kennedy, that fucker isn’t walking out of there alive,” I warn her.

  And it’s true. Father or not, this mother fucker dies today.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  ~ Kennedy ~

  “And you sir are extremely attractive. Therefore, I will stare at you until there are two of you.”

  – Kennedy to Sly

  I pick the lesser of two evils because as much as I despise him, I want answers to my questions. Why does he want to see my son? And, why would he think I’d ever approve such a request?

  The man raped me. He stole my innocence, and would have left me for dead if it weren’t for Cash intervening. Alone, pregnant, scared, and homeless, I looked over my shoulder every day for years because he couldn’t do the one decent thing and leave me in peace.

  My thoughts are jumbled when Cash and I walk into the clubhouse hand in hand. They are a mixture of memories, old fears that transformed into nightmares, and vivid snippets of what happened to me that night. No matter how many therapists I see or how much I talk about it, I don’t think I’ll ever completely get over it. I accept that, though. And for the most part, I’m okay with it.

  “What the fuck is going on? Why is that scum sucker here?” Jump bellows as soon as he catches sight of Cash. Lowering his voice as he approaches, Jump engulfs me in a bear hug, kissing the top of my head. “Hey, Buttercup. I missed your sponge baths,” he says with a wink.

  This is an entirely different man than the one we left a few days ago. Jump’s eyes are no longer bloodshot; the permanent luggage he’s been carrying around them is gone too. His ashen complexion is back to its original healthy tan, and his hair isn’t dull and slicked to his head with sweat.

  He could do with putting a few pounds back on, but besides his weight which I can easily fix with a few home cooked meals, he looks amazing. I won’t go as far as to say, he’s back to his old self, but he’s getting there.

  Hugging him back, I get straight to the point.

  “You know?”

  “I know, buttercup. And I’m so goddamned sorry. Not about the fact I’ve got a new little brother because that’s cool as shit, but I am sorry for everything else,” he murmurs, stroking my hair in a soothing gesture. I’m just not quite sure who it’s meant to soothe.


  Cash gives Jump what he considers enough time touching me before snatching me out of his brother’s arms and pulling me into his.

  “Get your own.”

  “Whatever, man,” Jump grins. “Now, are you going to answer my fucking questions or not?”

  Boss ambles up, smacking Jump upside the back of his head.

  “Not here he’s not. In my office. I don’t see any reason why this shouldn’t remain need to know only.”

  If I hadn’t liked Boss before, which for the record, I did – I freaking love him now. Throwing my arms around his waist in gratitude, my voice cracks as I whisper,

  “Thank you.”

  Boss is in his early forties with a wife and twins at home, laugh lines around his eyes, and more intimidating than any man I’ve ever met. There’s no denying he’s handsome in a rugged, sexy kind of way, but it’s his deep love of his brothers and his club that makes him even more attractive. His smile doesn’t hurt either. Not that I’m looking; much.