“That was crazy,” He blows out a breath of air while dropping down on the couch next to me. “Is Mom gonna be all right?”
I nod, not knowing what to say. Looking at my not so little boy, I see the man he’s becoming. The good man, Lynette has helped me raise. When I look at him, I see the future leader of the Snakes, a man to be feared, a man who will one day be more powerful than even I first realized. He’s already the size of a house, strong, smart. The girls love him, and don’t he love that?
It makes me smile to see him dressed like a biker, jeans, t-shirt, biker boots, his clean cut. Not the same one he used to wear, the one he fixed himself, one that my old man handed him a couple of months ago. Basically a prospects patch. Not that he’s a prospect, and he won’t be for two years yet, but dad wanted him to have it. He gave Tank one too. When Lynette asked Jett why he wore it, he told her, ‘Practicing. Won't be long before I'm a prospect, Mom.’ She just smiled and kissed his head.
“There’s something I need you to do for me,”
“Anything. What do you need, Dad?”
This isn’t going to be easy. Jett isn’t going to want to do what I’m about to ask of him. However, I need them all safe. Telling Jett what I need from him won’t go down well. He’s stubborn and thinks he can fight with the big guys. He might be a strong kid for his age, but he’s still my son. I won’t keep him with me, I won’t let Jett get hurt. Lynette wouldn’t cope with that at all.
So, I tell him, “Lynette doesn’t feel safe right now. Not after what happened. She has nothing to worry about,” Lies! “But she’s heavily pregnant, and all this stress isn’t helping her or the baby. Not to mention what her being upset is doing to Willow.”
“What do you need from me, Dad?”
“I need you to be a man, Tate. I need you to take care of your mom and sister at the safe house until this whole mess is sorted out.”
He narrows his eyes. He’s going to do that kid thing, the moaning and whining thing kids do when they don’t want to do something. A man, he might think he is, but inside, he’s still a fifteen-year-old boy. I turn in my seat and take his shoulder in my hand. “
I know this is a lot to ask, Jett,” He smiles slightly as my use of his road name. Who in the hell gives a fifteen-year-old a road name? My crazy father, that's who. After all, he gave me mine at that age. “I know you want to be there for Haiden, and I know he needs you, that’s why, after the funeral, he’ll be going with you. I need you both to take care of those girls up there,” I point toward the stairs. “They are my life, Jett, just as you are. If there’s anyone in this world I trust with them, it’s you.”
That gets me a smile. “How long will we have to be gone?”
“I don’t know, Son. Hopefully not long,”
“Will you be all right?”
“I’ll be fine. Just take care of your mom and sister, make sure Haiden doesn’t go off the rails, and I’ll be back before you know it.”
Jett nods and looks down at his big hands.
Where the hell did my little boy go?
What happened to the days when he needed his dad?
When he cried in the night and snuck into my bed for a cuddle?
Kids aren’t kids for long. In the blink of an eye, they’re grown up, and they don’t need you for the things they once did. That’s not to say I won’t always be there for him, to protect him. Even when he’s the big, bad biker outlaw that he’s destined to be, I’ll be there to protect him. The same goes for Willow, future teacher in the making that one.
But what about the baby inside my beautiful wife’s stomach? If I don’t get this shit sorted, and fast, I may not get to meet my child until his or her first birthday!
* * *
You sure this is a good idea?”
“She’s my wife, BlackJack. She’s not coping. I’m worried about her. Just look at her.” He can see her as well as I can, standing with Taylor, looking lost, in a world of her own. The funeral was hard for all of us, but having her breakdown in my arms at the graveside was heartbreaking.
Titus and Hillary got the send-off of all send off’s. A biker and his old lady’s send off. Every member of the MC from Tennessee to California were in attendance. Titus was a much-loved member of the Snakes Henchmen, a trusted member. One we’ll never forget. His name has been added to the mural of our fallen brother, the huge mural that is painted proudly on the wall in our church office.
Titus’s sons have held it together well. Well, as much as they could being at the funeral of both their parents. Hammer is doing nothing but keep his cool for the sake of his brother. I spoke to him last night, I thought the kid was gonna pull his gun and kill the whole town. I’ve seen that kind of anger before. He’s a hothead like his father.
I promised Hammer we’d avenge his parents. I promised him that he’d be in on the kill. The kid told me he’d kill whoever did it and their whole families. Hammer is going to be a force to be reckoned with in years to come.
“I know you’re doing what you think is right, but do you really think leaving her alone is what's best for her right now?”
“What’s best for her,” I hiss in BlackJack’s direction, “Is to be away from me! I love her too much to keep putting her through this.”
“Through what, Shepard?”
I roll my eyes while turning them back to Lynette. Everyone is around her, talking to her, but she’s looking into space. Taylor has her arms around Lynette, and I swear that's the only thing keeping her on her feet right now.
BlackJack grabs my arm and yanks me around to look at him. No other cunt in the world would get away with touching me like that. As it is, this man is the closest thing I have to a real brother.
“I agree that right now the women and kids should be at the safe house on lockdown as Apollo ordered. I don’t agree with you staying away from her for extended periods of time. What about when she gives birth? What if the stress of you leaving her on top of all this pushes her into premature labor?”
I don’t want to think about that shit. I’m doing what I have to do for my wife and her peace of mind. I’m not doing this for any other reason other than to keep my family safe. No one in this damn MC, not even my father, would question my reasoning. No-one but BlackJack.
“You’ll keep an eye on her for me, won’t you?” He sighs, yet nods his head. If there’s anyone in the world, I can count on it’s Jack. “Thanks, brother.”
“You’re just gonna sneak off to find these fuckers by yourself? You’re not even going to explain things to your wife?”
“Get off my damn back, BlackJack! This shit with Devils Raiders ends now! They’ve had their fucking day. They killed our brother!”
“I know this, Shepard. You’re not the only one who lost his brother!”
He’s telling me nothing I don’t already know. We all lost a good brother. We all buried him in our private graveyard. We all said goodbye. However, there are two young men now orphaned because of those scumbags thinking they can walk into our territory, kill two of our people, and drive the fuck off, bragging about what they’ve done.
And for what? Because they believe I pulled the trigger on their Prez? Fuckin’ cunts know nothing, I didn’t kill their Prez, and I have no fuckin’ clue who did. But if they believe I was the one who ended him, then it’s my family they’ll come for next, and BlackJack damn well knows it.
My father has agreed to let me sort these fuckers once and for all. I’m not going alone; I don’t have a death wish. Few of the other guys are coming with me, Animal, Red, CueBall, Dizzy, Lion, Steal, and young Hammer. My father will be a phone call away should we need him. If we do, he’ll have the whole damn club there to back us up in minutes. We’ve got more weapons than those fucking Devils Raiders could even imagine possible. Although they must be some stupid motherfuckers to attack a club our size. They don’t have a quarter of the men our charter has.
Death is coming for them. I just hope they’re ready
Chapter T
en
Lynette
How could Shepard do this to me? He walked away without even saying goodbye to me. I get it; Shepard wants to fix all this mess, he wants to keep our family safe, but he could have at least told me he was going, that he wouldn’t be around for a while.
God, I feel so fucking lost without my husband. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not wallowing or lying in my bed unable to function, I have three kids to look after. Haiden is here with me as well as Tate and Willow. Haiden doesn’t say much, he stays in his room most of the time, but at least he has Tate to talk to.
Willow sleeps in bed with me each night. Even though I put her to bed in her room, she soon taps my door each night. I know it’s Willow without even having to ask. When I open the door, she rushes into my arms. My little girl crawls into bed with me, and I hold her close. She knows she’s safe with me, and she knows her daddy is trying to make everything right so he can come home to us.
I think that’s a lot of what’s wrong with Willow; she misses Shepard. She asks me every day when he’ll be home. I tell her the same thing each time, ‘He’ll be home soon, sweetheart.’ not really knowing if he will be. I just pray that he does come back to me, and I mean alive and not in a pine box.
It’s not just my kids and me that are here, the other wives and girlfriends are here too. All of us stuck in this huge safe house. For our protection, so BlackJack told us, just until those who murdered Hillary and Titus are dealt with. Most of the men come by each night or early morning to check on their women and kids if they have them.
Mine? Not once.
Taylor and her baby boys are here with me. They keep my mind off what’s going on most of the time. Especially little Dominic, he’s such a funny little guy. He’s always got a smile for everyone, always cracking jokes and making us laugh.
This big old house on the hill, surrounded by electric fences, is like fort-knocks, no one can get in the grounds without the right key code for the massive iron gates that keep the world out. The place is impregnable, we’re all safe here. It puts my mind at ease to know my babies are safe.
However, I’m missing my husband so much I don’t know what to do with myself. I don’t show sadness to anyone, though, especially not my children. I don’t want them to know how much it hurts me not knowing where their father is, what he’s doing, whether he’s safe. They miss him just as much as I do, and seeing me upset will only upset them. So I keep myself busy and keep on smiling.
It’s what us women do. Put on the mask to hide from the world what we feel inside. I'm just not sure how long I can keep mine from slipping.
The only bad thing about being stuck in a safe house, even one the size of a stately home in England, is none of us women are allowed to leave. Groceries and supplies are brought in daily by one biker or another. If we need anything for the kids, they’ll get it for us.
The older kids are starting to get restless. They don’t want to be stuck all the time indoors. Even though they have the grounds to wander around, it’s not the same as being able to meet up with friends, to go to school. Homeschooling them to make sure they don’t fall behind is all well and good, but they need a social life.
The oldest kids here are CueBall’s daughter, Lorraine; she’s seventeen. His son Calum, who’s sixteen, Haiden, who’s also sixteen, and Tate, who’s fifteen. Then there’s my Willow, Dante, etc. They should all be in school with their friends. The younger kids aren’t so bothered; they have each other to play with. I imagine for the other’s this place kind of feels like a prison.
Regardless, we all know that we're here for the foreseeable and nothing any of us say or do will change Apollo’s mind about us being here. At least I have my mother-in-law here to help with things. I do love her; she's fantastic. Moreover, she’s been in this life longer than I've been alive, Myra knows how it goes and what to do when needed.
She told me once or twice not to look on the negative side of everything because the good times will always outweigh the bad. This situation is temporary, soon it will be over, and we’ll be as safe as we’ve ever been.
Myra also told me that if I love Vincent, really love him; then I’ll make myself stronger, harden my skin to the bad things because there are always bad things. No matter if your man is an outlaw biker, a lawyer, or even a hotdog vendor on the street corner, there is always bad just around the bend, always something that could come along and destroy what you have. You can never change that, so why sit and wait for bad things to happen when you can enjoy the good things while they last?
When I sat and thought about it, I realized she was right. Every single person who walks this earth could one day step outside of their house and find that day to be their last. No one knows what tomorrow will bring. Hell, you could walk out your door tomorrow and get hit by a truck. You wouldn’t’ve seen that coming, so why in the hell live in fear of what if?
Don’t get me wrong, I will never feel one hundred percent safe living in a world of outlaws, but I won’t live in fear either. For all the bad things, there is so much more good. My husband is a good man at heart. Yes, he’s a criminal, he’s a killer, a dangerous man not to be messed with. A man I have seen beat another literally to death for his club.
It scared me, of course. I wasn’t supposed to be there, but I’d walked into that bar looking for a friend of mine, a friend I’d been out for the night with. She’d left me an hour previous to go looking for her boyfriend. He frequented this particular bar, and I thought that's where she'd be.
I was wrong.
The bar was full of bikers, rival gangs, all fighting. I recognized the Snakes Henchmen instantly. It’s hard not to notice them; they’re huge, dangerous, each one commands a room when he walks into it. Each one will melt your damn panties with one look. They have that air about them.
Who the hell doesn't love a bad boy?
I should have left. I should have turned around and run like hell like I knew I was supposed to. However, I didn’t, I was paralyzed where I stood. My eyes were glued to the powerful man straddling another, fists pounding down on his face like a wild animal gone rabid. It seemed like a good name for him at that moment.
His eyes met mine, a smirk played on his lips, and I knew right then that I loved him. I wasn’t afraid. I wasn’t disgusted like I should have been. Maybe I was with the carnage around the room, but I wasn’t looking at anyone but Shepard, and I was turned on and in love with the man who killed to protect everyone he loved.
When it was over, he came over to me, took my face in his hands, kissed my head and told me to go home where it was safe. He’d come to talk to me about what I’d seen later, but I wasn’t to tell anyone what I’d seen. It didn’t take long for him to come to find me. He asked me not to speak to anyone outside of the MC about the events of the night. The little I knew of them, anyway. I promised on my daughter’s soul that I never would. Shepard smiled and kissed my head. He trusted me, and that meant everything.
Shepard told me that if I ever needed anything, then all I had to do was ask. The club would take care of me, and so would he. I wasn’t even part of the club in any way, but the brothers seemed to have adopted my little girl and me because of Celia and Shepard. The Snakes have been my family ever since, and I will always remain loyal to them, no matter what.
I miss Shepard so much right now. It’s been days since I saw or heard from him. Hearing that he’s okay from some of the other guys isn’t the same as hearing it from my husband. I miss his voice. I miss his smile. I miss his blue eyes and the way they sparkle with love for me. Never did I think he’d be mine. I dreamed about it all, the fact Shepard was mine, and he loved me, but I didn’t honestly believe that dream would ever come true. It did, and I couldn’t be happier.
However, this isn’t easy for me right now, we’re days away from the birth of our baby, and I’m scared that Shepard’s not going to be here to see it.
What if he’s not back for weeks or months to come? Would Shepard really miss the birth of our
baby and it’s first weeks of life? I know in my heart that he wouldn’t want that, but I also know that he’ll do anything if it means keeping us safe. If that means staying away until the threat is over with, then he’ll stay away.
From my seat beneath the massive window in my bedroom, I try calling him again. I know he won’t answer, he never does, but it somehow comforts me to hear the ringing tone on the other end of the line.
I was right; he doesn’t answer. I sigh audibly and set my cell on the dresser next to me. I lean back in the rocking chair and close my eyes, and I smile when my unborn baby kicks me. I rub my stomach, my eyes still closed with a smile on my face. It won’t be long before I’ll be meeting the little monster in my womb.
Actually, I’m a little more uncomfortable than I usually am. I know that’s not unusual being almost nine months pregnant, but this is different, stronger. I’ve had a baby before, but that was over twelve years ago, and I was sixteen. I remember everything about my labor with Willow, but I don’t remember the actual pain as such, or how much it hurt.
“Mommy, are you okay?” I open my eyes and smile at Willow. She seems so grown up these days, always wanting help around the house. Always asking me if there’s anything she can do for me, get for me. It won’t be long before she’s thirteen. The years seem to have flown by.
I take her hand in mine, and she smiles when I place her hand on my stomach, which tightens painfully. “I think your baby brother or sister is ready to come say hello.”
“Oh, my gosh!” Her eyes bug out, making me laugh. “Are you sure?”
I nod, still smiling, even though all I want to do is cry. I’m going into labor, and my husband isn’t here with me like he should be. However, I won’t cry in front of my daughter; I don’t want her to be scared, she’s been upset enough over the past few days with her dad not being here.
The President's Wife: Prequel (Snakes Henchmen MC) Page 7