by D. D. Prince
“Not an ace. A fuckin’ joker. She’s dead to all of us. Dead, Sunshine. She’s not even all there. Half the shit she said didn’t make sense. She didn’t recognize Jenna. She told Brice a bunch of shit because she saw him as her nephew, not a cop. It’s only ‘cuz she gave birth to the four of us that my father hasn’t had her taken out. She’ll be in jail, out of the way, but that’s only to keep her alive.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“You coulda got shot. Jenna. Brady and Scoot, too. It could’ve been very fucking bad.”
“Might be bad for Alison, judging by what you said.”
“Thank God Nico’s on side. Dunno if he was supposed to shoot everyone or what the fuck that was. We have a meet with him and Fork later. We only know that you and Jenna and the boys’re alive because it was Nico with that weapon. Alison had nothing but bad will for you, baby, so I do not feel bad for that bitch.”
“This is so hideous. All of it.”
“Yep. Tomorrow before I open the showroom, if you want we can swing by Phil’s and get more of your stuff.”
“Oh. Um, I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. Should I cancel that?”
“No, I can get you there. Why you seein’ the doctor? Something wrong?”
I shook my head. “No. I just wanted to get that STD test, so we can… you know… ditch the condoms. Did you forget to book one for you?”
He let out a sigh and covered his eyes with one hand, rubbing his forehead.
My heart sank. It took a long time for him to answer. Too long.
“Haven’t had a chance. What time you gotta be there?”
“Nine o’clock. What is it?” I asked.
“What’s what?” He took his hand away, but his eyes were wrong.
“What’s the weirdness?”
He shook his head. “No weirdness, just lots on my mind. Not that I should have to explain this to you since you just got fuckin’ shot at.”
That last part was said with a bit of venom. He headed toward the door, not looking at me.
“Go on out and eat. I got some paperwork shit I forgot to do in the showroom. I’ll be back in a bit.”
I blinked at his back.
He reached back and grabbed his phone and keys from the dresser and left.
I stared at the back of the door for a long time, knowing something was way wrong. Of course there was lots wrong, but this whole condom business? He needed to talk to me.
***
He didn’t come back until after one o’clock in the morning. I was awake and cursing him for it. I was in his bed, watching television. I sat up when the door softly opened.
“Oh, hey. You’re awake,” he greeted.
“Of course I’m awake.”
His head jerked in surprise. “Of course you’re awake? You have trouble keepin’ your eyes open past nine.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t expect me to sleep with everything going on, especially you taking off after that conversation about the doctor’s appointment.” I flicked the TV off. “Now come to bed and talk to me.”
“Pip, I’m beat. Fucked up day.”
“I don’t give a shit. This is another thing that trumps sleep. It trumps sex. Trumps everything.”
I heard him sigh and then I heard Chakotay sigh from the bottom of the bed with the sounds of Spencer undressing.
“Down, Chakotay,” Spencer said. “I don’t like the dog in the bed Pippa. He has a bed over fuckin’ there.”
I blinked in the dark.
“If he gets up, tell him to get down. Fuck.”
I said nothing. I just waited for him to get under the covers.
“Talk to me, Spencer. Don’t hide from me to avoid talking because you figure I’ll be sleeping and you can avoid shit.”
“Told you, I’m beat. Rough fuckin’ day.”
“Are you taking me to the doctor in the morning?”
“Sure.”
“Are you gonna make an appointment for an STD test?”
“Yeah.”
“Tomorrow?”
“When I get a chance. In case you hadn’t noticed, we’ve got a lotta shit going on.”
“Spencer, what is this?”
He let out a sigh.
I rolled close and put my hand to his face. “Talk to me. This is freaking me out. You’re acting weird and you won’t talk to me, and---”
“Six years ago, I got a girl pregnant.”
I blinked. Holy crap.
“She was sixteen, older sister of one of Jojo’s best friends. They all hung out. Lied to me, told me she was eighteen.”
He let out a big breath. “Her parents fucking freaked. Her dad wanted to kill me. Hunted me down and found out who my family was… didn’t try to kill me. Was scared shitless instead after he met Dad. I asked her to marry me after Dad sat me down and told me it was the right thing to do. She didn’t know what she wanted to do about it, but then she said yes. We got excited. Started makin’ plans for a future. Went from being scared outta my mind to being stoked about havin’ a kid. Dad had a sit down with her parents and they were on the same page. Make sure she finished school, get help from them so we could get our education. I was out of high school, working at a restaurant, prospectin’ for the club, but I wanted to go back. Do better. Was even willing to be a grease monkey if I had to, to buy her a little house. To put money away so the baby would have a college fund. Her dad and my dad and the brothers were gonna build us a basement apartment at Sher’s parents’. It was all settled. She was shopping for wedding dresses. Wanted to make sure she wasn’t showing in our wedding pictures, so we were gonna do it fast.”
I put my hand on his chest. “What happened?”
He put his hand on mine and squeezed it for a second, not saying anything for a few minutes. I was about to encourage him to keep talking when he started again on his own.
“Sher suddenly stopped returning my calls. Two days went by and she wouldn’t call me back, so I showed at her house and her mother told me she had a miscarriage. Shelly was around, barely, just eatin’ and sleepin’ at home, goin’ through the motions like she usually did, but then she got wind of it and I found out she went over there and started hasslin’ them. They meet my fuckin’ mother and suddenly my girl has a miscarriage? I knew it was bullshit. Wouldn’t let me see her. Wouldn’t let me in the fuckin’ door, so I broke in at two in the morning and got to her room and she admitted her parents took her to have an abortion. Bullied her into it. She said it was for the best. For the best that she killed the baby we were already picking names for? That’s what happens when you meet Shelly Valentine. You’ll go to any lengths to avoid bein’ tied to her forever.”
“Oh my God, Spencer.”
“Was fuckin’ scared when she found out she was pregnant, but a few weeks in and we were actually excited. Both of us. Because of her, they killed it.”
“Oh my God.”
“Told nobody. Only Dad. Didn’t want anyone to know. My brothers, my sister? They all think Sher miscarried.”
“Oh babe. I’m so sorry.”
“So, fuck, since then, no way would I fuck a chick without a condom. Didn’t want anyone to have the power to fuck me over with a kid, by tyin’ me to them the way Shelly tied Dad to her when she got knocked up with Deacon. Not ever givin’ a chick the power to dangle something like a baby in front of me, either to trap me, to use me, or to take it from me. Vowed never again, even if it meant I didn’t get to have kids. Another reason I hate my fuckin’ birthday. Sherry’s due date woulda been a week ahead of it. She was due April first. First week of April is always dark for me, baby.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. But this year it wasn’t dark. Wasn’t dark for the first time in a long time. ‘Cuz I had you.”
“Spencer… A), I’m on the pill. I’m not ready for babies.”
“Sunshine…”
“Wait. Let me finish.”
He stopped talking.
“I’m not ready for babies, Spencer, but I wa
nt them some day. Ideally, I get pregnant the day after my thirtieth birthday and then I have three right in a row. Bang, bang, bang. I turn thirty and we start trying. Uh… you know… if there’s still a you and me.”
“Fuckin’ right there will be a you ‘n me,” he said, and his voice sounded choked.
It made my chest tremble with emotion.
I took a big breath. “If something happened by accident before then, it would be a beautiful serendipity and we would embrace it as such. B) I would never, ever fucking ever, use a baby to hurt you or control you. Never, Spencer. That’s a baby. A person. I wouldn’t.”
“I know. It’s my issue. It’s just deep. Like shrapnel.”
I hugged him. “Go get a test. I’m on the pill.”
“She was on the pill, too.”
“Yeah, but at sixteen, she probably forgot it half the time. It’s almost 100% effective if you actually take it every day, which I do. I won’t come off until we’re ready. If something happens, it’ll be beautiful. But, it probably won’t happen until we want it to.”
He let out a big breath.
“Okay?” I asked.
He put his lips to mine and kissed me. Deep. With emotion. Fingers in my hair. I felt something wet on his cheeks. I didn’t draw attention to it. I just held on tight.
“I love you,” I told him.
“Love you, Sunshine. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
17
Friday was uneventful. Thank God. He took me to the doctor’s, then to the lab for my blood test. I went to my brother’s and grabbed more clothes. And then I went back to the clubhouse and did mine and Spencer’s laundry and dusted and vacuumed his bedroom and changed the sheets. Other than that, I hung out with the girls. Even Ella was upstairs. Spencer was handling the bike dealership and covering for Ella so she could hang out with us.
Things were not looking good for Alison, apparently. She probably wouldn’t walk again. This was not a nice thing. I didn’t like her. She meant me harm. She was a junkie. But, it was horrible and made me feel sick.
Friday night, Spencer was out with the MC somewhere. We didn’t even see one another other than when he popped in briefly after closing the dealership to kiss me and tell me not to wait up. The vast majority of the Dom brothers, minus a few who were here to guard us, roared off together to do something, I didn’t know what, but Spencer told me it was big and important.
I also noticed extra motorcycles in the parking lot. Friday nights were busy at Deke’s Roadhouse, but there were a lot of bikes. Lots of Black Reapers, particularly. I knew that lots were here to show support on Saturday for the charity event, and had a feeling they were also helping keep an eye on the Valentine block.
***
Saturday, I got up early and me, Ella, Jenna, Jojo, Deanna, and Laura made breakfast for the very full house. And then it was go, go, go as we got geared up for the charity event.
Spencer slept late and then kissed me briefly before heading out the door to go down and help get set up.
“Everything okay last night?” I asked in his arms.
“Yep.” He said and hugged me. “Lots to tell you, but all good news. Gotta run quick and do something before the charity thing. Later, babe.” And then he put his Dom cut on and left.
***
The charity car wash was crawling with bikers, kids, and women. Cops, too. Two cop cars were there, but the cops were participating in the events, interacting with people, looking friendly.
There was a news crew and a local radio station. It was an amazing turnout and we were raking in the donations for Biker Big Bros.
Jojo was showing off her purple Harley, which had been taken out of storage and put on display with all the other bikes of the club. Photos were being snapped like crazy by a local news crew and a popular motorcycle enthusiast blog.
Every bike from the showroom was outside, along with all the bikes belonging to club members, plus three bikes that were custom Valentines by Spencer and Rider. Ella had stayed up almost all night to quickly throw together a website for Rider and Spencer’s custom bikes, because the newspaper guy and the biker blog guy said they’d add the website URL for their custom bikes to the articles.
Jojo had grumbled about having to quit her job and fly back, but I figured the event was a good thing, keeping her occupied.
***
Every biker in the Aberdeen charter was either lined up or heading in the direction of the group for a group photo in front of the bike dealership. And that’s when it happened, the jaw dropper.
Christian Forker stalked past us, wearing leather from head to toe, his hair in a low man bun. Beside him was Nico as well as another biker that I had never seen.
Jojo grabbed my arm and I felt her grip right through the material of my jean jacket.
“Lord, have mercy,” she breathed, her eyes on Fork. His eyes traveled the length of Jojo as they walked past us, heading toward the brothers who were standing there, posing for their picture with the photographer from The Weekly News.
I thought there was going to be some sort of commotion. I knew they said Nico was on side, but it was unnerving to see him two days after he’d shot out the salon.
I saw their backs. All three of them weren’t wearing Wyld Jackals patches on the backs of their leather. Nope. Those were Dominion Brotherhood jackets with the Aberdeen rocker patch across the bottom.
Wow. Way to make a statement.
“Holy shit. No one told me about this. Why did no one tell me about this?” That was Jojo and she still gripped my arm.
“I didn’t know about this either,” Jenna breathed.
“I did,” Ella whispered. “I stayed up all night working on the website so heard it from Deacon when he came to bed. Big day yesterday.”
The photos were snapped of the growing Aberdeen Dominion Brotherhood charter.
President: Deke Valentine. Vice President: Sean “Blow” O’Grady, Secretary and Treasurer: Deacon Valentine. I didn’t know all the other member positions, but there also stood Rider, Spencer, Edge, Brady, Jesse, Pudge, Skip, Speedy (another guy who’d recently moved to Aberdeen from another charter), and the two prospects, Scott and Bronto. Nico, Christian Forker, and the other new guy were also there.
Ella’s dad was there, too, also wearing a Dominion Brotherhood jacket. Whoa.
“Wow. Statements certainly being made,” I observed.
“Mm hm,” Ella agreed, eyes on the group of brotherhood members. She smiled at her dad and he winked.
A giant check was brought over by Laura made out to Biker Big Bros for seventeen thousand dollars and twenty-three cents. More pictures were taken holding that check. And the fundraising had only just gotten started. I was excited to see how much more money would be raised today.
After the photo was taken, the crowd dispersed a little bit and I saw that Bronto and Scott both had on regular jackets, not prospect ones. Hm. Fully patched. I guess Bronto didn’t have to do extra prospect duty because of beating up my ex after all.
I then watched Jesse walk over to a beautiful girl with plum-colored hair in a long bob that just grazed her shoulders. She was dressed in leather pants, open toe leather booties, and a black tank top under a leather jacket. His arms circled her waist and planted a kiss on her mouth.
“Whoa. That’s Gianna!” Jojo stage whispered.
“Whaaaaat?” Ella breathed.
Gianna had cut off her long blonde hair and her and Jesse had kissed in front of everyone.
“That tank top she’s wearing? Not a hundred per cent sure, but pretty sure it says ‘Property of Jesse.’ Well…” Jojo said, “Looks like another statement’s bein’ made. Someone upgraded their status from bunny to old lady. Bet there’s a good story there.”
In front of the whole club and all the girls, too.
“Mm hm,” Jenna agreed. “You girls gonna be able to refrain from gouging her eyes out for having notches on her bedpost with all your men’s names?”
“
Uh…” Ella grumbled. “I guess we’ll have to try to refrain.”
Spencer and Rider came to us. Ella went to Deacon who was standing talking to her cousin and her dad.
“Well,” I said, nodding slowly.
Spencer took me into his arms and smiled. “Well.”
“Big day yesterday an understatement?”
“Yep.”
“Where are things at?”
“Gordino? To the cops, he’s missing. The truth? He’s in the cargo hold on a cruise ship, thinkin’ he’s headed toward the Caribbean where he can go live in hiding. Truth is, he’s on his way to somewhere else, affiliated with some of the organized crime bosses Jackals have pissed off. We wanted his ass, but at least he’s gonna answer for some of his crimes. His top guys, bunch of ‘em got arrested and they’ll be in there a long, long time. Unless they all get shanked, which is a possibility.”
“What about the Sioux Falls guy? Mantis?”
“Mantis? Gone.”
My eyes bulged.
“Don’t ask, Sunshine. But, Edge might sleep a little easier tonight. Nothing’ll settle his soul since he lost her forever, but now he might be able to rest a little bit easier.”
“Yikes.”
“Buddy? The shithead that fleeced you for cash?”
“And who grabbed my ass,” I added.
Spencer’s eyebrow shot upwards. “You didn’t tell me that.”
“Didn’t matter.”
“Well, he got nabbed with those four motorcycles that went missing off that truck, so he’ll be going down for that as well as all the drugs in his possession, plus breach of his probation. He’ll rot for a good while there. Six other Jackals dead, too. Yesterday, at the hands of the cartel they’d pissed off. Two mid-level Ipswich Jackals, missing. Likely runnin’ scared. Almost all of ‘em in Sioux Falls, including Mantis’s father, the retired Prez, all arrested. Some of our contacts in the mafia lent a hand.”
“Whoa.”
“There are a few hiding up in Canada, including Fork’s father Wild Will. Though I imagine the news of today will reach him.”
“Holy moly.”
“Yep. Our hands are clean. Mostly.”