“That’s your niece and nephew, Skylar!” Riley angrily states.
“Never said I didn’t adore them, they just make me want to get a hysterectomy.”
“I’m telling your brother,” Riley pouts.
“Go ahead, he told Ryder the other day that they make his balls shrivel up and run away when he thinks of reproducing again. He gets it.”
Riley’s eyes drop down to her hands which are nervously twisting with one another. “I’m pregnant,” she whispers, “he’s not going to want this baby, is he?”
Sadie lovingly pats her sister’s hand, “Of course he is. Skylar’s just a bitch.”
“I am,” Skylar admits, eyes wide and she’s bobbing her head up and down emphatically. “Don’t listen to me, I’m just messing with you.” She turns her head in my direction and widens her eyes at me. She’s the one who stepped in this pile of shit all on her own, how the hell am I supposed to help get her out of this? I widen my eyes back at her and nod in Riley’s direction.
“Fuck,” she sighs under her breath. “Riley look, I just find it irresistible to yank your chain. Your kids are adorably sweet and so respectful. It makes me want to have a litter of my own.”
Riley bursts out into uncontrollable laughter, “Now I know you’re lying,” she chokes out.
“And, here goes the hormonal roller coaster. All aboard,” Sadie teases her sister.
“The crazy train is about to depart,” Skylar plays along. We all end up rolling in giggles and unquestionably are eligible for the so-called crazy train Skylar mentioned.
We finish up our nails and go to lunch. Needless to say, I have an unforgettable time with these women. I’m getting to know a part of me that I had no idea existed. I’m ready to explore those pieces of myself that have been dormant all of my life.
Justice
I’ve been sitting at this damn airport for what feels like eternity. Both Riptide and Dust’s flights were delayed. They were the whole reason I was up here as early as I was. There are storms where they’re flying out of and I’m bored out of my ever-fucking mind. I’ve researched the Ozzie’s until my eyes were ready to cross. Now I’m sitting here inhaling my fourth cup of coffee and my hands are shaky and my body is jittery with unrepressed energy. I have no way of expelling it so I try to keep my hands and feet as still as possible.
I don’t have the intention of looking like some washed-up junkie that everyone can sit and stare at. I know I look peculiar sitting here for as long as I have, but honestly other people can kiss my inbred white ass. My dad did consider me a bastard so being inbred isn’t too far off from that spectrum. I pull out my phone to give myself something to do when I feel someone come up behind me.
“Don’t move motherfucker.” My shoulders go slack when I realize it’s one of my men.
“You son-of-a-bitch, Julius, you’re lucky as fuck I didn’t turn around and snap your damn neck,” I playfully snap at him.
“I’d like to see you try,” he snickers. I am not shitting you, he just snickered liked a god damned teenage girl.
“What the fuck ever, you know I could take you just like that,” I tease, snapping my fingers together. The snap is loud, even to my own ears.
“Ooh, I’m shakin’ in my snakeskin boots,” he guffaws.
“Shut the fuck up, Romero, you motherfuckin’ redneck asshole.”
“Aww, now brother you may need to watch your words before you hurt my itty-bitty feelings here. I may need to shoot your ass if you keep it up.”
“See, now you got me shakin’ in my biker boots.”
“I see you’re still an asshole of epic proportions,” he interjects.
“I’ve never claimed to be anything but,” I reiterate.
“True ‘nuff. I think we all are.”
“That’s one of the most honest things I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth,” I inform him.
“Fucker, I never spout bullshit.”
“You keep tellin’ yourself whatever you need to so you’re able to sleep at night,” I tell him while packing up my stuff, so we have room at the table for both of us to be able to sit down.
We shoot the shit for the next hour and catch up. Finally, we’re joined by Dust and Riptide. I know we won’t be setting eyes on Fortoney, so we gather up luggage and head out to where I parked my bike. It’s in an underground parking area and I’m happy to see the tow truck and our prospect, damn I’ve gotta learn their names, is already there with the extra bikes parked next to mine.
“Thanks, Probee,” I say outta respect.
He nods his head showing respect back then states, “I’ll be taking luggage back to the clubhouse so you gentlemen can enjoy your ride.”
“Preciate it,” Riptide says, slapping him on his back. I watch as the Probee is pushed forward and he takes a minute to get his feet to stand still. Once he’s firmly on his feet, he has eyes wide open staring in my direction.
“You’ll get used to him. He’s a strong fucker who doesn’t recognize his own strength.”
He nods his head, then goes up to the men and gathers their luggage. “You’re a good man,” Walker says. Leave it to him to always try and smooth any waves that Riptide has caused. He’s done it since our days in the service and since then every time we get together.
I wait as the guys debate over which bike is theirs. I roll my eyes in frustration because Riptide is a picky asshole when it comes to his ride. “Just grab a damn bike and let’s roll!” I finally bellow out since my patience with their bickering has run out. I’m ready to ride and see my woman.
“Walker, stop being a dick and let me have that bike! The others are too small, and my knees will be up to my ears,” Riptide states as he continues to ignore my statement.
“Might knock some damn sense into you if they bang you in the head enough.” He goes for joking but Riptide looks like he’s ready to fight. “Fine! You idiotic, stubborn tit bag, you can take the bigger bike. Whatever will shut you the hell up!” Riptide grunts at him causing a smile to spread across my face. Riptide isn’t known to talk a lot unless it’s something important to him.
“Now that you two have kissed and made up, can we get the hell outta here?”
The both nod at me so I fire my girl up. Once they’ve secured their helmets and started theirs, I lead them from the parking garage and head the long way home. After that encounter, I’m in much need of some road therapy.
Forty-five minutes later, we’re getting ready to head into our territory when I hear some shots ring out. I look behind us in my side mirrors and see some low-riding Coupe Deville coming up behind Riptide. I call into our headsets, “You have guns in your left saddlebag, grab ‘em and fire back!” I watch as they duck and weave while grabbing their pieces, I have a compartment that is in my seat where I hide my gun. I pull up the flap and pull out my trusty Ruger 9mm. She fits perfectly in my hidey hole, and I for one am ready to put some lead into these stupid kids playing at being grown-ups that have the balls to be firing at myself, and my friends.
These Ozzie fuckers need to go down, the sooner the better. I throttle my bike picking up speed so I can rush ahead of everyone. Once I’m far enough up the road, I turn around and head back going the wrong direction on the two-lane highway. I aim ahead of me as I travel towards my newly found enemy. Riptide and Walker spread out as Romero, Dust and I charge ahead. We are each firing our weapons. Ignoring the danger that I’m heading towards, my only thought is kill, maim and destroy.
A bullet whizzes past my head and now I’m livid. These fuckers are trying to split my head wide open like a god damned watermelon. I begin rapidly firing as my anger takes over. The five of us together are a force to be reckoned with. We can read each other’s body language and know what the other is fixing to do before they do it.
Dust flies up ahead on the right side as Romero does the same on the left. This leaves me going dead center. Traveling at a high rate of speed, I lock onto the driver and aim towards him. I let my bullets fly making
contact with my intended victim. I watch as his head slumps and the car veers to the right side, causing Dust to swerve. He manages to miss the car and turns around coming up from behind them. The car crashes into the guard rail and we surround it with guns pointed at all exit points.
Riptide puts down his kick stand and gets off his bike heading to the passenger front door. He whips it open and pulls the asshole out. He throws the kid on the ground and puts his boot over his throat. “That was a very stupid thing to do,” he enlightens him.
“Fuck you,” the kid wheezes out. “You’ll all die!”
“Is that right?” I ask getting off of my bike and heading that way. “I think you’ve got your facts wrong,” I advise him.
Walker walks around checking out the inside of the vehicle and whistles. “Looks like they’re getting ready for the apocalypse.”
Dust and Romero walk around and look in the back seat. They both whistle and look up at me. “You got ‘em?” I ask Riptide.
“Yep, this little shit ain’t going nowhere,” he answers me. I’m satisfied that he’s got this and walk over to look and see what it is they’re seeing that has them all up in arms over. I look over at them to say something and see Dust is bleeding from his shoulder blade.
“That hurt?” I curiously ask since he hasn’t said a damn word.
“I’ve had worse,” he states, shrugging his shoulders.
“We’ll have the town doc check it out when we get back.” I walk over to my bike and get out my first aid kit. I pull out the gauze and the self-adhering bandage wrap I have. I walk over and bandage his wound. Once I’m satisfied that it will hold until it gets looked at, I walk back over to the driver’s side and pop the trunk. We open the trunk door and look inside.
“Holy fucking shit!” I murmur out. “I need to get Kid and Ryder here to see this shit. If this is what we’re up against, we’re in trouble.” I pick up my phone and text Ryder giving him our location and asking him to come meet us to look at their supplies. “Kid and Ryder will be here in fifteen,” I inform the guys.
“Need some cable ties to detain this fucker,” Riptide hollers out. “I feel like the red-headed step child here being left out of all the fun.” I roll my eyes and walk over to grab some rope and ties to secure him.
“Here, Rip, keep your gun trained on him while I bind him.”
“My pleasure,” he states.
Twelve
Justice
We are busy admiring all of the weapons in the back seat and trunk as I hear multiple bikes pulling up around us. I recognize Kid’s Harley right away and don’t stress on who our visitors are. I hear Malibu mumble a ‘fuck me’ as he walks up to the side of the car. “What the fuck, were they planning to take out the entire town?”
“Not sure, man, but they are ready for some serious fighting,” I reply. I introduce the men to each other, when they’re done saying their ‘nice to meet ya’s’, I then walk Kid over to the trunk. When he peers inside I see his shoulders stiffen.
“Need to get a van down here and pick these up,” he says, pulling out his phone and sending out a message. “We’re going to confiscate these things and use their own weapons against them.”
“Sounds like a solid plan,” Ryder replies looking into the back seat. “They were out for blood today. No doubt about that.”
“It’s time to hit them where it hurts,” Kid announces.
“Agreed,” I answer back.
“Hell, to the yes,” Riptide joins in on the conversation.
“That’s what we’re here for,” Walker states, rubbing his hands together in glee.
“My sentiments exactly,” Dust inputs.
“Then it’s time to plan,” Kid states. We stick around while the Probee that met us at the airport pulls up in the club’s van. We all grab a handful of guns, launchers…etc. and load them up. It doesn’t take long with us all helping out.
Ryder walks over to our tied-up compadre and kicks him in the ribs with a smile plastered on his face. “You, my friend, have a special place ready and waiting for your short stay with us.” He walks away as the kid on the ground mutters all types of curses at us. We all laugh and continue on with our duties. When everything is put inside of the van, Ryder gets some duct tape and puts it across the asshole’s mouth. “There, that’ll shut you the fuck up.” Riptide, Walker and Malibu pick up the jackass and toss him into the back of the van. I hear him grunt when he impacts and am happy that he had a little bit of pain inflicted upon him.
On the way back to the club, we dropped the newly acquired weapons at our warehouse downtown. It’s monitored and secured by the local PD. Kid has made nice with the law enforcement and they appreciate that we’ve moved into town. Their crime rate has lowered substantially and it’s because we’ve let it be known that there’s a new sheriff in town—us, and we won’t put up with, or deal with their bullshit. We run a clean town and will be judge, jury and executioner if they are caught by one of our brothers.
We pay a hefty fee to the police chief to make sure he has an incentive to stay on our good side. Chief Townsend has been a good asset to the club. He’s stationed two of his top men on the property and is confident that they cannot be bought by the Ozzie’s. They turned the other way when they saw our secured package in the back and even helped us offload the gun supply.
Rolling through the gates and pulling up to my parking spot, I notice the SUV the women took is still not here. As much as I wanna see Lizzie, this throws relief on me because I don’t want her to witness us moving our hostage down to the basement. I know she’s used to the sketchier side of life, but I don’t want her to witness it from me this early on in our relationship…marriage.
I doubt that she’d bat an eyelash, but I’d like to ease her into some of our dealings. There’s only so much as an Ol’ lady she can be aware of, but there’s no way you can hide an entire person. He’s hauled down the stairs and secured in one of the cells we had installed. It’s three o’clock in the afternoon and already feels as if I’ve worked twenty-four hours today.
I think back to the shootout, and am grateful that a shoulder wound was the worst of the injuries that was sustained. It could’ve been so much worse, it seems like someone was watching out for us. When things of this magnitude happen, I always feel like it’s King watching out for his brothers from up above. He’s always been protective of us and I’m ecstatic to realize that hasn’t changed with his passing.
Kid reminds me a lot of his pops. He’s a damn good President and learned so much from his dad. Ryder is like Sniper, his dad, was in the old days. Loyal to a fault and always thinking of the end game, it’s what makes him the perfect VP to stand at Kid’s side. Sniper had a mental break when he lost his best friend and President. I can’t fault him for that, but I hate that he abandoned his club and brothers—not to mention his children.
Ryder, Kaci and Kassi pulled together and formed an unbreakable sibling bond. It reminds me of the one that Lizzie talks about when she refers to her sisters. I’m glad that they’ve maintained that throughout all of these years and the shit they had to deal with when it came to their father.
I go to my room and shower then change my clothes. I head out to the main room to see that my friends are getting along well with my brothers. I get a beer and sit down at the table and join them. I receive a notification and realize it’s from Andre.
Andre: While you were dealing with the pussies, I went and kept an eye on your woman and her friends. They’re safe and headed your way now. I will continue to follow them until they are safely on the club grounds. You’re welcome by the way.
This throws relief on me, I did receive a message from her earlier that stated she was having fun with the girls and knew that she had a prospect on her so wasn’t worried. But knowing that he had their backs, means that they have the best man on them that I could ask for.
Me: Appreciate it. And I owe you one.
Andre: You owe me many. This is a statement that I can’
t argue with, so I let it go and don’t reply since I have nothing to add to the conversation.
Lizzie
I’ve had a blast with the women today. They taught me about being an Ol’ lady and explained what was expected of me. Knowing that I can go to them with any questions makes me relax more with my new extended family. I was able to relax and be myself, something that I’ve never been able to express to anyone before now. When I told them that I am confused because I’m already in love with Justice and we haven’t been together long, they all explained that it was the same way with them and their men. Insta-love isn’t something I thought was possible, but apparently, I was wrong in my prior assessments.
As a matter of fact, I thought that it was a load of shit when I read about it in books. Who falls in love within a matter of days or weeks? It’s a fairytale-fantasy that I find myself living in. I’m not saying that everything is perfect between Justice and myself, but it’s as close to it as can be given the amount of time we’ve known each other.
I’m sure we’ll go through some rough patches here and there, but I vowed to stand by his side through thick and thin and I won’t go back on the promise that I made that day. I will prove myself to everyone that I’m trustworthy, and my loyalty is unbreakable. There was one woman, who I later found out was the President Wasp’s Ol’ lady, Ashton. She kept giving me odd looks during our wedding, reception and when we came back early from our honeymoon. I’m not sure what her problem is, but I’m used to people judging me before they get to know me as a person outside of my father and his organization.
I brush thoughts away of the scowling woman, and place my thoughts on my husband and new friends. I’ve felt judged by the men, but the women have accepted me with open arms. I need to build and concentrate on those relationships and hope the others will fall into place at a later time. Knowing that Sadie and Riley are this Ashton woman’s daughters, I’m hoping that they’ll convince their mother that I’m not a bad person.
Faithfully Devoted: Rage Ryders Templeton Page 10