If the threat of Michael being here extended past Kennedy’s history with him, possibly putting the club under scrutiny or our families in danger, then I would be forced to bring her situation to the table. But as it is, I’m happy with the solution she came up with, and more than happy to help Cash teach this motherfucker a lesson he’ll never forget.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
~ Kennedy ~
“This relationship is made up of two people, but obviously, that bitch can’t count.”
– Kennedy’s thoughts about Callie
We’re all sitting at a table in the diner enjoying lunch when Zara exclaims,
“Could you be any more obtuse?”
Today was supposed to make up for all the times one of us has had to bail on the rest of the group over the last few weeks, but I have a feeling this isn’t going to be the relaxing get together I thought it would.
“Huh?” I mutter, confused by her outburst.
Aislinn grins at her, nodding her head.
“I think she probably could, but in this case, I honestly believe she’s choosing to block it out.”
“I’ll second that,” Avery beams at me.
Mia simply tilts her head, studying me with her intense blue eyes, not saying a word but at the same time speaking volumes. Mia has come out of her shell a lot lately, and that’s all thanks to, Zara. Which isn’t surprising, seeing as Zara could convince a nun to run around naked on Mardi Gras.
Staying with Zara while Cash and I were at the cabin turned out to be the perfect choice for Mia. She met Zara’s brothers, went to work with her, both to hang out and to join up with the self-defense classes Knight’s gym offers. She even agreed to have dinner with Nate, Knight’s brother on one of the nights Zara had to work late.
I’m not sure Jump will appreciate the latter, but too bad. He’s been more than his usual brand of asshole lately so he can go suck a bag of dicks as far as I’m concerned. Coincidentally, Mia is of the same opinion.
The biggest change with Mia is when she approached me last week asking if I would be upset if she moved out. My first reaction was shock, but after that had worn off, I felt like a proud momma bear, letting her cub out into the wild for the first time. I know it sounds ridiculous but look at it from my point of view.
Mia has stayed with me, Cash, Talon, and I suppose, Jump since she arrived in Furnace. In the beginning, I took her under my wing because all I saw was a fragile woman who shied away from men and confrontation. In hindsight, living in a house full of men with the exception of me probably wasn’t smart, but it’s worked out great.
After getting to know Mia, I saw past her delicate exterior right down to her reinforced steel core. Everything I assumed about her was wrong. Mia wasn’t a flower bending and swaying in the breeze; she is a strong, capable, amazing woman who just needed the right motivation to shine. Mia found that in Zara. So you don’t need two guesses as to where Mia’s moving to. It’s relatively obvious I would think.
Zara’s brother, Locke, who incidentally is Knight’s best friend, recently bought a three-bedroom condo in Lower Falls and offered his sister a room. Apparently, Locke says it’s out of the goodness of his heart, but Zara seems to believe it’s so he can keep an eye on her. After meeting Locke once, I tend to agree with her.
On a side note, I thought the Vengeance men were hot, which no doubt they are, but they have nothing on Zara’s brothers. Except Cash, of course. But even I can admit, I may be a tad biased.
Zara and her brothers, Slade, Rhodes, and Paxton all share the same unique, yet intense coal colored eyes. Locke, however, is the exception to the rule since he doesn’t share the same father as his siblings. Instead, Locke has aquamarine eyes that are as unfathomably beautiful as they are haunted.
The men in their family are all built like sexier versions of the mountain men you see on TV. Tall, rugged, with dark hair, broad shoulders, and muscles on top of muscles. Apart they turn heads, but together they are something else altogether. A walking orgasm comes to mind when I think of how to describe them adequately.
Needless to say, Zara wasn’t particularly impressed when her new girlfriends – meaning me, Mia, Aislinn, and Avery – decided to spend hours over pizza and beer discussing our favorite parts of her brother’s bodies. That night ended with an extremely irritated, Knight showing up to drive an incredibly friendly, affectionate Zara home.
I watched Knight carefully as he scooped Zara into his arms to carry her down to the car. And I didn’t miss the barely restrained hunger etched into the lines of his face when she burrowed into his chest and kissed his neck. Knight was hanging on by a thread, that much was clear. It looked like he wanted to devour her, completely and thoroughly.
If I had to make an educated guess, I give it a month, maybe two, before something happens between them. You can’t have that much sexual tension and chemistry and not have fireworks. The question is will they fizzle out or not.
With a sideways glance at Mia, I notice she’s still studying me. Her mouth is tipped up in a secretive smile, but other than that, she’s not giving much away. The cryptic back and forth could go on for hours considering the company I keep, so to move this along, I tell Zara,
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, but see my delicate flower, I think you do,” she says cheerfully. “In fact, I’d be willing to bet my favorite vibrator on it, and that’s saying something. Because without Hank the Tank to take care of business, I’m one cranky bitch, which winds up with me getting myself fired more than the once a day limit I set for Knight.”
Seriously, this woman is insane I tell you. As in, straight up certifiable, but that’s one of the things I love most about her.
Since meeting Zara, I’ve heard about many of the arguments she’s had with Knight over the course of the three months she’s been working for him at the gym he owns. And truth be told, after every time she shares the details it leaves me two very specific questions.
One, why is Zara still working for him if he fires her on a daily basis, and I do mean daily? And two, how does she put up with the infuriating man who refuses to acknowledge that his anger toward her isn’t anger at all, but because he’s halfway in love with her?
But those are questions for a later date because Aislinn voices an even better one that I want the answer to as well.
“Did you seriously name your vibrator, Hank the Tank?”
“Yessum, I surely did,” Zara mumbled around a mouthful of food.
Shaking her head in disgust, Avery asks,
“And you couldn’t have come up with a better name like, say, Peter the Pussy Pounder, or Dick the Dong. I mean, Hank the Tank, what were you thinking?”
Dropping her half eaten burger onto her plate, Zara wipes her mouth with a napkin.
“Well, since you asked,” she smiles.
Oh, now this doesn’t sound good at all. I know that tone of voice, and it usually means Zara’s about to say something that would mortify ninety percent of the population. Lucky I’m in the ten percent that doesn’t suffer mortification easily.
“It’s common knowledge that tanks are hard, rigid, and impervious to destruction, no matter how large the explosion is. Not to mention, they are all-terrain vehicles that operate well under extreme conditions, which bodes well for me seeing as my fantasies end up with my mattress requesting a raincoat,” she shrugs.
Mia gasps, her face bright red with embarrassment, but I can’t offer her any words because along with Aislinn and Avery, I’m doubled over laughing.
Banging her hand on the table, Avery exclaims,
“If I ever write a book, you have to promise me you’re going to let me use that.”
Zara gestures wildly with her hand, and tell her,
“Have at it. I’ve got plenty more where that came from.” With a brief pause to take a sip of her soda, she rallies, addressing me again. “So, are you deliberately hiding your recent acquisition, or are you really that clueless.
”
I said it before, and I’ll say it again; I have no earthly clue what she’s talking about.
“Since I’m no closer to working out what the hell you’re going on about, maybe you’d care to enlighten me,” I offer.
“Anyone have any objections to me sharing her good news,” Zara asks, her gaze flitting around the table until it comes to a stop on me. With no words of complaint from the other girls, Zara doesn’t hesitate in asking, “Okay, so which do you want first; the good news or the bad news?”
“Good,” I choose. “Always the good news first.”
“Have it your way,” she sighs. “Congratulations my delicate flower, your baby chamber is locked and loaded.”
Um, excuse me? I hope she didn’t say what I think she just said. And if she did, there’s no way that’s possible. I mean, yes, in the very technical sense it is possible, but I can’t be pregnant. I have the implant in my arm for God’s sake.
“Sorry, Zara, but you’re way off the mark on this one. Tell me the bad news anyway,” I suggest.
Pointing at Aislinn, Zara scoffs.
“See, I told you she wouldn’t believe me. You own me twenty, bitch.”
“Dammit,” Aislinn mumbles, pulling a twenty-dollar note out of her purse.
“Okay,” Zara states, narrowing her eyes and slapping her palms on the table. “I’m going to say this slowly so you’ve got time to absorb it. You’re nauseous all day, can’t stand the smell of certain foods, you pee like a goddamn race horse, and your fun bags have grown, at least, a cup size in the last few weeks. Now, if that’s not enough proof you’re in a motherly way, then I don’t know what is. However, the bad news isn’t really bad news at all, it’s more like a fact,” Zara informs me.
“She’s right, you know,” Avery chimes in. “The bad news is, you can’t get any more pregnant than you are right now, so live it up. Eat whatever you want, gain a bunch of weight that your man can’t say a damn word about, and take advantage of the seriously increased sex drive you’re going to experience soon.”
Holy crap. Oh, no. No. No. No. No. No. This cannot be happening right now. Cash and I only eloped in Vegas two weeks ago. I can’t be pregnant already; I just can’t. I don’t even know how he feels about having a baby so soon after getting married. Neither of us has spoken to Talon to see how he’ll react to talk of a sibling. And Jump still lives with us for Christ’s sake. Him alone is all the child I can handle most days.
Getting married wasn’t something I dreamed about when I was a little girl. I didn’t want to turn out like my mother, who for all intents and purposes is a glorified slave, only put on Earth to serve my father. The last thing I wanted for myself was to be at a man’s beck and call, losing my independence and ability to make choices about even the most basic of things.
When Cash first mentioned marriage at the cabin, I was shocked by my initial reaction. The fact that I didn’t want to go running for the hills screaming was a sign that maybe it was time to consider that it’s not the institution of marriage that I was so dead against, but the kinds of men my parents were adamant I marry that were the problem.
Although Vegas was Cash’s suggestion, it was me who pushed the point. Not the when, that was all him. My new husband didn’t want to wait months for me to plan a wedding that neither of us wanted. As soon as things settled down enough for him to talk to Boss about taking more time off, Cash booked him, me, Talon, Jump, and Mia on the first flight to Las Vegas.
It was a whirlwind trip. We didn’t sightsee, play the tables, or take in a show. We were there for one reason only, and Cash didn’t waste any time making sure that the deed was done so that he could finally call me his wife. His words, not mine. And a little over the top if you ask me. It’s not as if he had been waiting years or anything.
In a small chapel just off the strip, I said “I Do” to Cash with the most important people in our lives standing beside us to witness it. While Cash would have loved it if his MC brothers could have been there with us too, but they couldn’t get away at such short notice. Jump took dozens of photos to memorialize the day, though, so in a way, they will get to experience it with us, just after the fact.
I didn’t want a big, white, elaborate wedding dress, a bouquet the size of my head, or for Cash to wear a suit. My only desire was for my son to give me away, and he did.
Dressed in a pale pink, knee-length, satin dress, Talon gave Cash my hand, both of them wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and Cash his Vengeance cut. Mia didn’t dress up either, opting to wear a light blue sundress that matched her stunning pale blue eyes.
Everything was perfect. The short ceremony, followed by dinner back at our hotel, and eventually our wedding night which Cash spent making love to me slowly and thoroughly. I have never felt so cherished or beautiful as he made me feel that night. Cash proved over and over again why marrying him was and always will be one of the best decisions I will ever make.
Which leads us to now, and why I can’t help thinking maybe they’re right. Mentally calculating the dates, I go back to when I arrived in Furnace three and a half months ago. I had just finished my period when I was discharged from the hospital, which would make it, oh, fuck me.
My breath begins to come in short, harsh pants and the faces looking on with concern start to blur. I can see Zara reach into her purse for something, but I can’t make it out.
“Red alert alpha leader,” I hear Zara say faintly. “Your woman needs a pick up at Jangles, stat. Oh, don’t take that tone of voice with me, it’s not my big, bad, biker dick that sent her into a tizzy.”
Zara pauses for a few seconds, or at least I think it’s seconds. It could be minutes for all I know right now.
“Yep, you heard me. Your dick is one hundred percent responsible for her current state of hyperventilation. What?” She screeches. “No, you bonehead. You knocked her sexy ass up, that’s what. Now that’s a plan I can get behind. Yes, sir. See you soon.”
Although I could only hear her part of the conversation, I can only assume she was talking to Cash, and he wasn’t particularly impressed with my new best friend’s sense of humor at a time like this.
“On a lighter note; you are so getting yourself a little somethin’-somethin’ tonight,” Zara tells me cheerfully.
If it wasn’t for the blood rushing in my ears at the rate of a million miles an hour, I’m sure I would have picked up what I can only guess is the satisfied tone in her voice.
Mia rushes back to the table after going who knows where, placing a cold washcloth on my forehead and sitting down next to me to hold my hand. Time elapses in what feels like slow motion after that. Sounds are dull and drawn out. Colors are watered down and washed out.
It isn’t until I smell the familiar scent of Cash’s woodsy cologne and feel his heat on my back that I can take a deep breath again. Almost instantaneously, I fall into his open arms and start sobbing. I don’t know why, because deep down, I’m actually happy about this. I’m ecstatic we’re going to have a baby together, even though it’s happened sooner than we planned.
Crouching down in front of me, Cash tilts my head back until I’m looking directly into his eyes.
“Those happy or sad tears, gorgeous?” He asks, a small smirk tipping the corners of his mouth.
I take a hiccupping breath and dry my eyes before stammering,
“Ha-ha-happy, I think.”
Cash wraps his arms more firmly around me, holding me close to his chest.
“Good, because I’m over the fucking moon, gorgeous.” Running his calloused hand over my abdomen, he smiles. “You got any idea how far along you are?”
“A-about t-ten weeks,” I stutter, helplessly falling into the deep abyss of his midnight blue eyes.
“Fucking A. A Christmas baby then,” Cash announces proudly. “Thank fuck I got my ring on your finger, gorgeous because no kid of mine is getting away with not having my name. We already lodged the paperwork to change Talon’s last name, at least, we won’t have to
go through that shit fight for this one.”
Beginning to feel the tension ease from my muscles, I melt into him a little more, and reply,
“No, I don’t suppose we will.”
Cash turns to face Zara and gives her a curt nod.
“I don’t know how Knight puts up with your crazy ass, but thanks, sweetheart.”
With a disgruntled snort, Zara wiggles her eyebrows at him salaciously.
“I happen to have it on very good authority that Knight loves my ass. Crazy or not.”
Chuckling at her, Cash agrees.
“That just might be.”
Cash abandons his banter with Zara to direct his full and undivided attention to me.
“I love you, gorgeous. More than you’ll ever know.”
“Not as much as I love you,” I sigh into his neck.
Vengeance MC Box Set - Volume 2: Gage ~ Cash ~ Knight (Vengeance MC series Book 8) Page 50