by Addison Jane
“Just tinkering with an old bike Ham and I found at the scrap yard.” He shrugged. “Keeping busy.”
“Bored out of your mind, huh?” I smirked.
He chuckled. “It’s been a change of pace the last few months but it’s all good.” He put on a smile but I could tell that he was itching to do something more. He wasn’t allowed to be involved in runs or security yet, which was a shame because the kid really did know how to handle himself and he did well in high-pressure situations.
Suddenly an idea occurred to me and my eyes brightened. “I may need your help with something.”
His face lit up. “Bro, give me anything.”
I laughed. “Come on, we need to speak to Optimus.”
“You wanna do what?” Op frowned at me across his desk.
I snorted. “You heard me, asshole.”
His eyes moved to Skins who had sat silently throughout the explanation with no resistance or objection to what I had in mind.
“And what do you think about this?” Op asked.
Skins shrugged. “Man, if I can help keep Jay here… I’ll do it.”
Op sat silently for a few moments, his eyes moving between us like he was considering the scenario. This was Skins’ chance to prove to the club that he was in, that he had our backs. And with Amy Shaw obviously looking into the club and our history and records, I had no doubt that she knew who each and every one of us were.
But Skins wasn’t a member of the club.
Not yet.
“We’re going to need to run this past the boys,” Op answered finally, sending a wave of excitement and anticipation coursing through my veins. This could be exactly what we needed in order to find something on Jayla’s grandparents or Edward Dean. Something that we could use to stop this whole crazy fucking mess. “Put Ham on her. See if he can find out something. See where she’s going to be and if there’s a chance we can get this to work. Then call in the boys for a meeting, tell them to get here now.”
I smirked. “Already texted them. They should be here any minute.”
Optimus rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry, I thought I ran this club and made decisions.”
Pushing my chair back and standing to my feet, I grinned at my best friend. “I also know how much you care about Jay. I knew you’d be in if there was even a slim chance that we could get this shit to work.”
“She’s family,” he said seriously. “Family first.”
I nodded. “Family first.”
“Now let’s get this shit show on the road.”
“Wow, look at you, perfecting the waddle,” I jested as Chelsea walked toward me, she deepened her brow and glared at me from beneath it.
Chelsea was a hot pregnant lady. She was all belly and it was like the rest of her body hadn’t caught up. But unlike a lot of pregnant women, she was already almost to the size of a normal full term pregnancy and she still had two full months of growing to do. I could tell she was struggling. Not just with the weight of two babies bearing down on her cervix, but with the weight of motherhood in general.
“Don’t make me slap you,” she muttered out of the corner of her mouth before she looked down at Jayla, a smile springing into place. “Hey there beautiful. Macy and Harlyn are up in our room watching a movie with Skylar if you want to go join them.”
Jayla instantly leaped to her feet, looking to me for permission with a beaming smile. I nodded, and she disappeared, scampering up the staircase in search of her friends.
Chelsea moved around the table, pulling out a chair and slowly sliding into it before sighing in relief. “Seriously, I don’t know how much more of this I can handle,” she confessed softly, looking down at her protruding belly.
Offering her an encouraging smile, I reached over and placed my hand on hers. “You can do this. It’s only a couple more months, and then you’ll have two beautiful babies screaming and crying and pooping constantly.”
She glared at me across the table. “Way to cheer me up.”
I giggled. “Sorry. You just need to remember that you have Optimus, and me, and the rest of the club. You know you’re not doing this alone.”
A smile tugged at her lips and she nodded. “I know. Everyone has been great. Even the guys, offering to drive me places or help me stand up when I sit down on one of those asshole sofas that are too close to the ground.”
“Where are all the guys by the way? I saw Blizzard’s bike outside but the club is empty,” I asked her, looking around for some kind of signs of life.
“They were called in for a last-minute Church. Not sure what it’s about, though. Optimus didn’t stop long enough for me to ask.”
It wasn’t a moment later that the doors to the meeting room opened and all the men began to file out. I sat a little straighter when I saw a new face emerge from Church. “Since when was Skins allowed inside Church without a patch?”
Chelsea’s eyes flicked over, widening like mine in surprise. “I have no idea. Maybe they were talking about patching him in?”
Blizzard walked out right behind Skins, grabbing his shoulder. They stopped for a moment, talking in hushed voices. Skins nodded, patting Blizzard on the back in what seemed like a show of reassurance. As they parted, my man’s eyes met mine and he made a beeline for our table.
“What’s going on?” I asked curiously.
Blizzard smirked, stepping around behind me and dropping a soft kiss to my bare shoulder. “Nothing for you to worry about.”
I rolled my eyes but I didn’t comment. I knew to take what I could get with these men. Some things they shared, some they didn’t. The life of an Old Lady was complicated at the best of times, but we had to learn to trust our men. If there was something we needed to know, then they would tell us. Otherwise, club business was club business.
I got it. I did.
It was for our safety and to keep our conscience clean.
The club kept most of their business above board, but there were times they had to do things that weren’t within legal or moral parameters, and it was better if we were kept out of the loop.
“You ready?” I looked up, hearing Optimus’ deep baritone.
Chelsea sighed and Op took her arm, pulling her to her feet.
“Where are you off to?” Blizzard asked with a raised eyebrow.
“We have our gender scan in about thirty minutes, we’ll be back for dinner,” Chelsea answered with a nervous smile.
“What!” I pushed to my feet. “You didn’t tell me that!”
Chelsea laughed and Optimus smirked. “You lot are going to have to wait a while longer to find out what it is. We’re not telling,” Op said smugly as he led Chelsea away.
I turned to Blizzard with my mouth hanging open. “How dare she keep something so important from me,” I protested.
He laughed, wrapping his arm around my waist and directing me toward the bar. “Two beers,” he ordered from Phil as he dropped onto a barstool.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “How come Skins was in Church today?”
Ham placed two beers in front of us and Blizzard picked his up, throwing back half of it before he answered. I knew then that he wasn’t going to tell me, but it was something important, something that had his mind working overtime. “He’s helping me out.”
“Blizzard…”
He shook his head, grabbing my hand and pulling my body between his spread legs. “Don’t overthink this shit.”
“This is about Jay, isn’t it?”
He stared directly into my eyes, but neither confirmed nor denied my question. I wanted to protest, to tell him to stay safe and not do anything stupid, but I couldn’t bring the words to my mouth. I wanted Jayla in our lives. I couldn’t imagine things without her.
“She’s not going anywhere,” he said simply, watching my eyes for my reaction.
I swallowed past the lump in my throat and nodded slowly. “Okay.”
He raised a brow as he brought his drink to his lips. “Okay?”
“We promi
sed we would trust each other if this was going to work,” I answered quietly. Blizzard’s hand tightened on my waist.
We’d been through a lot of shit. I’d done some shitty things, put the club in a bad place and hurt them. Hell, I’d almost gotten Chelsea killed because of my lies. I was lucky to be here with them now, I was grateful to have their trust and their love back after how much I’d screwed up.
It’d taken a long time for both Blizzard and me to realize that we needed to work through shit together. I’d hurt them, but I’d also risked my own life in order to make it right. Blizzard’s grudge he’d held against me for hurting the people he cared about was put to the side when he saw the real me—the me that my father had done everything possible to squash and eradicate.
There was no denying the fact that there was something between us, there always had been. I’d always felt like Blizzard saw the real me from the start, that when I was with him, I never needed to pretend. We’d learned quickly that we needed to put everything else aside and start new, start from a place where there was trust and honesty, and forget the past that kept taunting us and stopping us from moving forward.
I’d made mistakes, but so had he. Neither of us were perfect, and the fact that we’d been able to overcome so many hurdles and still come together and be happy, was a testament to our strength. We were stronger together.
“That we did,” he agreed, his eyes boring into mine. “I hate seeing you so upset about this shit. I hate seeing that look of pain in your eyes when you think about someone taking Jay away from us. But it also feels good to see how you truly feel.”
I brushed my fingers through his short hair. “What do you mean?”
He huffed. “You have this tendency to throw up a strong face.”
A shiver went through my body. He was right. I was practiced at hiding a lot of my emotions. It was something I’d done for so long in order to protect myself from my father and to hide who I really was when I was doing his dirty work. When I’d finally escaped him, I continued to do it, but this time it was because I felt like it made me stronger. If I looked stronger on the outside, maybe I would feel stronger too.
I’d gotten good at pretending to be something I wasn’t, but the strange thing was, that with Blizzard, I didn’t feel like I had to do that anymore. Because he was strong for the both of us. He allowed me time to heal, time to realize that I didn’t need to pretend when I was hurt, or when I was scared. Because I knew he was there to catch me. I wasn’t on my own any longer.
“I’ve got this, Rose,” Blizzard whispered as he brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “I’ve got this. Trust me.”
“I do.” My response was instant. I did trust him. I trusted him to do what was right, to protect us, to do what it took to keep our family together.
“I fucking love you,” he growled, pulling my lips to his. His kiss was soft, reassuring and sensitive, making my body melt against his.
I was lucky. I knew I was. I’d found a family within these walls. Walls that I’d once set out to destroy. They could have turned their backs, looked the other way and watched me tear myself to shreds over what I had done. But instead, they took me in, they built me back up and they showed me more love than I could have ever known existed. That’s what love was.
“I love you, too.”
I checked my cell again, it was four in the morning and I still hadn’t heard back from Skins.
Nerves were beginning to set in.
We’d sent him on a mission, a mission that would not only hopefully give me something I could use in our case against Jayla’s grandparents, but also on a mission that could be the kid’s passport into the club. He proved his worth on this one, he had my vote for sure, and hopefully the rest of the boys as well.
It wasn’t exactly dangerous. He wasn’t putting himself in the line of fire or anything dramatic, but this came with risks of its own.
Ham had found exactly the right information on Amy Shaw. We’d had to wait a couple days, but this was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up. She was out for a night with a few friends, hitting the town and a few clubs, and hopefully looking for a man to pick up and take home.
Not just any man, but our man.
Skins was the only one who, as of yet, hadn’t been officially connected with the club. He had a clean background and had worked undercover for the FBI for years. He was practiced in the art of deception, and I was hoping that would play to our advantage tonight. I needed her to want him, to take him home, to get him in a position where he could get me some information. It was a risk, though. If he was caught going through classified files, he could find himself in deep shit.
My cell buzzed on the nightstand and I threw myself out of bed, hitting the answer button. “Yeah,” I said as I pulled on my jeans.
“I’ve got it,” Skins’ voice said breathlessly.
“Meet me at the club in twenty minutes,” I told him, hanging up and reaching for the shirt I’d tossed on my dresser last night.
“Everything okay?” Rose’s sleepy voice asked as she switched on the lamp beside our bed.
I pulled my shirt over my head and grabbed my club cut off the back of the door. “Yeah, everything’s fine. I just need to go and see what he’s got.” I brushed my lips across her cheek and she smiled, her eyes hooded in a sleepy daze that would usually have my cock springing to life. But right now, I had other concerns.
“Be safe.”
“Always,” I replied as I hurried out the bedroom door. I stalled in the hallway, spotting Jayla standing in the doorway to her bedroom looking at me in confusion. I smiled and walked toward her, gathering her tiny body in my arms and cradling her to my chest. “Squirt, you need to sleep,” I told her as I carried her back into her room.
“You leaving.” She yawned as I placed her down and pulled her covers up, tucking them in around her.
“Not for long, I’ll see you and Rose for breakfast,” I whispered, brushing her hair back from her face. She gave another yawn and her eyes began to flutter closed. “Love you, squirt.”
“Love you, daddy,” she murmured, making my heart stop for a second.
The only noise I could hear in the room was my breathing as I attempted to compute the words that had just come out of her mouth. I’d never considered that one day things might change, and Jayla would stop seeing me as Blizzard and start looking at me like her dad. It had never really mattered before because as far as I was concerned she was already mine.
But now, now I was only more determined to make it real. To set this shit in stone.
Jay’s words played over and over in my head on my ride to the club. It was fucking freezing outside but all I felt was warmth around me. Op was waiting at the bar when I arrived. Skins sitting beside him, his legs bouncing nervously as they chatted in the quiet room.
“What’s happening?” I asked as I approached, drawing their attention.
Op looked up. “Looks like something you might be able to use.” The tone of his voice was relieved but I could tell that he was tense, agitated even.
I pulled up a stool and Skins handed me his cell. “I took a picture. Figured if she looked and found something missing it might alert them, and they would have a chance to backtrack and create a defense.”
“Good idea,” I muttered as I focused in on the words in the photo. It took a few moments to realize exactly what I was reading. “Was this written by Hayley?”
“Looks like it,” Op said, scrubbing at his tired eyes.
“Jesus Christ,” I seethed, anger building in my stomach and burning through my veins. “Do you think he raped her?”
I looked to the both of them, wondering if for some reason I had this wrong and the little girl that I’d just tucked into bed wasn’t the product of just a vile and heinous act.
“Either that or she knew that she could have him up on charges either way. She was only fifteen when he got her pregnant. Any judge would throw the book at him given that he was over thirty years olde
r,” Skins explained, but I could see the tightness in his throat. “Given that he signed this bullshit, means he knew that he was facing jail time if she ever decided to go against him.”
I looked down at the picture again. It was a handwritten contract, I’m assuming written by Hayley that stated that as long as he forwent his rights and promised to leave her and Jayla alone, that she would never prosecute or press charges against him for having sex with a minor.
“It also shows just how naïve she was at fifteen thinking that because she chose not to press charges that the court wouldn’t hold him accountable anyway,” Optimus added. “If the police had found out about this, then they would have had him done for it anyway.”
“How’d her parents find this?” I asked my mind swirling.
Skins blew out a long breath. “Looks like it was left with her will. I guessed she hoped that if anything happened to her that Jayla would never be sent to live with her father and that he would never lay a claim to her. It was her way of trying to protect Jay.”
“He should have known this letter would never protect him,” Op said shaking his head.
I placed my palms on the bar and hung my head. “Maybe he did, but he thought that because she believed it, that it wouldn’t be an issue. He had no intention of ever claiming the child as his own, knowing that if he did that it would end him, so this was a good way of getting her to disappear. She was young and scared and felt like she needed to hide from him.”
I wished Edward was alive. I wanted to rip him limb from limb and tear him to shreds. Whether him and Hayley had had consensual sex or not wasn’t the issue. It was the fact that she had been fifteen, just a young girl who had no idea what she was doing or the repercussions. He’d taken advantage of her and for that, I hoped he was burning in hell.
“So what’s our next step?” Op asked, looking to me for direction. This was on me, this was my game and I needed to figure out what our next play was. The court case was less than four days away and we needed to be prepared. Prepared to throw everything we had at them in order to win this case.