by K. J. Dahlen
“Are you?” Adriana asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Melora asked with a frown.
“Oh, I don’t know, probably because I stopped the wedding.”
Melora smiled. “I don’t think you’re to blame for that.” She lifted her son. “I think he might have had something to do with that as well.”
Adriana sat down in the chair next to the bed. “So now what’s going to happen to me? I mean I can’t stay here.”
“I think you should go home with your dad and get settled in,” Melora advised. Sam started to protest but she put her hand up. “The two of you need some time one on one. The baby and I will be just fine and you can come back tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?” Sam whispered as he leaned close to her and the baby.
“Yeah, I am,” Melora assured him. “I’m tired and she needs you tonight. She can’t help but be worried about the mess her mother is in. I know I would be. She needs you.”
“Sam can always just take me home, you know.” Ariana shrugged.
“No baby girl, I can’t,” Sam told her. “I promised your mom I’d keep you safe and I plan to do just that.”
“But who’s going to protect my mom?” she asked softly. “The Cajuns will kill her to find me.”
“Why would they do that?” Melora asked.
Adriana turned away and didn’t say anything for a moment or two. Then she turned to Melora with tears in her eyes. “I heard Benny and Radar making a deal. Radar has hated me since him and my mom got together four years ago. Radar told Benny he would sell me to the Cajuns when I turned fifteen for a price. Mom doesn’t know I heard it but I did. That’s why she called Sam tonight. My birthday is the day after tomorrow. Benny came by the club and Mom saw him. I have a feeling if Radar can’t produce me, Benny might start a war.”
Sam growled as her story unfolded. “What the fuck kind of man is this Radar piece of shit?”
Adriana shrugged. “I’m really worried about my mom. She tried to get away from him once and he beat the hell out of her. I don’t know what he’ll do when he finds out I’m gone.”
“Do you think he’ll come here looking for you?” Melora asked.
Adriana shook her head. “He has no idea who my father is. Mom refused to tell him. All she would ever say was that my father was no longer in the picture. She talked as if he were dead.”
“Why would your mom get involved with this loser anyway?” Sam asked. “I thought she had more sense than that.”
“It wasn’t her fault!” Adriana cried out. “She didn’t have a choice. Radar chose her and made it difficult for her to say no. He threatened my life.”
Sam sat down hard on the bed next to Melora. “Why didn’t Stacy ever say anything to me before? I would have come for you, hell I would have taken you both to safety.”
Adriana shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Melora looked over at Sam. “You need to take her somewhere safe. You can’t go home someone might be watching the house.”
Sam nodded. “I know. I’ll take her to the club. I can use one of the cabins for tonight at least until we can get some security set up tomorrow.” He paused, then added, “I hate to leave you and the baby alone though.”
“I can call my dad.” Melora assured him. “He’ll come back and watch over us. You just take care of your daughter tonight.”
“We can wait until Mountain gets here,” Sam suggested.
“Ok, you’d better call him then.”
Twenty minutes later, Mountain and Izzy returned and Sam took Adriana back to the compound.
CHAPTER THREE
A few hours later, Izzy sat on the floor beside Melora’s bed with the baby asleep in her arms. Melora was sleeping as well but she and Mountain were watching over them.
Mountain looked down at her with the baby in her arms. “So, I noticed you had a reaction when Melora said the baby’s name. What is up with that?”
Izzy glanced down at the baby and smiled. “I know she named him Talon after you but the Boone part of his name is for my brother.”
“Your brother? I didn’t know you had a brother.”
She nodded but wouldn’t look at him. “You know Melora and I met when we were both sixteen right?”
Mountain nodded.
“But you don’t know what happened just before we met.”
“What happened?” he asked.
Izzy sighed deeply. “My home life was shit. My dad liked to drink and he loved to gamble and there were times when we paid the price for both. By the time I was fifteen, my mother had enough. She walked out on us. They had a big drag out knock down fight and he told her she could go but Boone and I would have to stay.” She shrugged. “Mom left the next day. She didn’t even try to take us with her.”
“How old was Boone?”
“He was almost ten. After Mom left, things went downhill fast. There were nights Dad never bothered coming home and even when he did, he was too drunk or hung over to give a shit whether Boone and I had food or money for groceries. Then one night about a week before the night the shooting happened, he came home and he was drunk again but this time he was unusually happy about something. He came in and woke us up. It was so different than when he usually came home. Usually, he didn’t even care about checking on us. We were the last thing he worried about.”
“What was wrong?” Mountain asked.
“He won that night. I don’t know what but he laid there on the couch and was laughing. I tried to ignore him because I was mad at him. But something changed when he woke up the next morning. I’m not sure what but he went back to being the same old man he’d been for so long. For the next week, he tore the house apart it was almost as if he were looking for something. He never said what but at least he was there. Then things went from shit to worse.”
“What happened? Did he ever say?” Mountain asked.
“Yeah he said, all right.” She growled. “He lost a card game before he came home. I don’t know what he used for money because he’d already lost his paycheck a couple of days before. Then he dropped his bomb. He traded me for a hand of cards and he lost.”
“He did what?” Mountain demanded.
Izzy nodded. “He lost his fifteen year old daughter in a fucking card game. And he expected me to go to the man who won.”
“Are you kidding?”
“No.” Izzy shook her head.
“What happened then?”
“I told him I wouldn’t go. I told him I’d run away first.” She shrugged. “He told me not to be stupid. I was collateral and I didn’t have any choice. I told him I had every choice and I chose not to go. That’s when he hit me. He screamed at me that I didn’t have a choice, if he didn’t turn me over, the men would come after him and they would take me anyway. He told me it would only be for three days, like that would make a difference.”
“Did he say who the man was?”
Izzy hung her head and for a moment didn’t say anything.
Mountain pressed her by asking again, “Who was the guy Izzy?”
“What does it matter?” she whispered.
“It matters to you, so it matters to me.” His violet eyes blazed at her.
Izzy hugged the baby closer to her for a moment. She thought about telling him who the guy was but it wouldn’t really matter at this point. There was nothing anyone could do about it anyway. All this went down almost eight years ago. “I couldn’t stay there anymore. I told Boone to pack a few things and we would get the hell out of there. I couldn’t go without him. Anyway, we were almost free of him when he caught us. He began beating on me and Boone grabbed the gun in my dad’s drawer. He got off a shot but it hit my dad in the shoulder. It didn’t really hurt him too bad. He wrestled the gun away from Boone and in the struggle, the gun went off a second time. The bullet struck Boone and somehow lodged in his spine. When I saw the blood and heard his scream, I lost it. I grabbed Boone’s baseball bat sitting next to the door and hit my dad in the head. I prayed I’d
kill the bastard but when he dropped like a stone, I never even looked at him. I picked up Boone and got him the hell out of there.”
“Then what?”
“I got him out of the house and found a place to call an ambulance and by the time we got to the hospital, Boone was in bad shape. I called my uncle and he went to the house and saw to my dad. When he got to the hospital, we found out Boone was paralyzed. My uncle offered to take care of him but he wouldn’t take me. He blamed me for everything that happened. My dad was also in the hospital but he was under police custody.”
“How could your uncle turn you away?” Mountain asked.
Izzy shrugged. “He felt it was my fault that my dad was going to jail. I refused to lie for the bastard and say that the shooting was an accident.”
“That was your dad’s fault, not yours.”
“It didn’t matter as long as Boone was going to be ok. I didn’t care about me.”
“Did your uncle keep his promise?”
“Yeah, he did. Boone was taken care of. Uncle Mike took him in and got him what he needed. He contacted me after my dad went to jail. He promised me as long as I stayed away from Boone he would take care of him, but if I contacted him in any way, shape or form, he would throw him out in the street.”
“Why would he do that?”
“He told me it was my fault because I testified against my dad when he went to court.” Tears rolled down her face as she continued her story, “The first few weeks I lived on the streets really opened my eyes. I never knew how hard it would be. Then I met Melora. She’d been out there a lot longer than me and for some reason, she invited me to stay with her. Together, we did ok. She found us places to stay and food enough, so we didn’t starve and then she taught me what she knew. We got very close. When she heard about my brother, she urged me to visit him. He had the right to know what our uncle had said and done.” Izzy paused and swiped at her tears.
Mountain sat with hard eyes and his face looked red.
“At first Boone was mad. He wanted to leave our uncle’s house and come with us but she talked him out of it. Melora told him we were living on the streets and she didn’t think we could take care of him. She told him to take advantage of what my uncle had to offer and that someday, we would be together again. She promised both of us it would happen.”
“And did it? Did you and your brother finally get back together?”
“Not yet but Boone is going to turn eighteen in another couple of months. She said we had to wait until he was of legal age. That until then we both had to wait.” She looked up at him. “God, it’s been so hard. I miss him every single day we’ve been apart. I’ve seen him a handful of times but he hasn’t seen me. He never knew I was there watching him. I haven’t seen him now in a while and its killing me. It’s like I abandoned him.”
“Don’t you believe that for a minute,” Mountain told her as he leaned closer to her. “He knew you were there. He might not have seen you but he felt you in his heart. He knew you were close by. Just like he’s waiting for you now. He knows you’ll be back for him and I’ll bet he’s counting down the days until the two of you can be together again.”
“Do you think?” she whispered.
Mountain wrapped his arms around her and held her. “Yeah, I know so. I will just bet that he loves you and he’s been waiting all this time for you to come back for him.”
“I don’t know if I can do that. As much as I want him in my life I don’t know if I can share the nothing I have with him.”
“What do you mean? The nothing you have?”
“I have nothing right now. I don’t even have a job at the moment, let alone a place of my own. I have so much to get set up before I can ask him to join me here.”
“What would you say if I offered to buy Melora’s house? There’s enough room there for us and your brother. I could even offer him a job at the shop if he wanted. She’ll be moving in with Sam when they get married anyway.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I want you to stay with me. I want a life with you in it. I know I’m a lot older than you are but I don’t care. Melora isn’t the only Morgan who loves you, so do I.” Mountain rested his forehead on hers.
“Oh Talon, I love you too. Are you sure?” Izzy had to ask. “It’s an awful lot to ask you to take on, both me and Boone.”
Mountain smiled. “You and Boone are family now. I want to marry you if you’ll have me.”
“Isn’t that a little backwards?” She giggled.
“No it isn’t,” he insisted. “I’ll take you any how I can get you.”
“Ok Mr. Mountain man, you’ve got me. Warts and all, I’m all yours.”
“Hooray.” Mountain swooped down and crushed her lips with his. He leaned into her and then the baby began fussing at him being so close. Mountain laughed as he pulled away from her. “Oops, let’s not squish the baby.”
“Yeah, I’d rather not lose him just yet.” Melora commented from the bed. “If you guys are going to get frisky give me my son back, so he’s not caught in the middle. He’s a little young to get that kind of education.”
Izzy laughed and handed the baby to his mother. Then she reached for Mountain and slid down to the floor. She heard Melora groan and turn over, so she wasn’t facing them.
~* * * *~
The next morning, Raine sat in the clubhouse alone. Reva and Gator were again in the kitchen working to make breakfast and coffee. He couldn’t tell if Gator had told her about Bulldog yet, but he felt she had to know, so today he would tell her himself if he could get her away from Gator.
He turned as another body sat down at his table.
It was Bones. “So you wanna tell me why you’re watching Reva and riling Gator?” he asked offhand as he poured a cup of coffee.
Raine shrugged. “I’m not looking for trouble here.”
“I didn’t say you were but you’ve been watching her for a while now and its beginning to freak her out.”
Raine nodded. “Probably.” He paused for a long moment then asked, “Did you ever have a moment in your past that you wished you could relive and this time, prevent something bad from happening?”
Sam scoffed. “Yeah I’ve had a few of those.” He stared at Raine for a moment and asked, “What are you trying to tell me here?”
“Not a damn thing boss, not a damn thing.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Sam sat back in his chair. “So are you telling me you wish you could go back and change something, something like what happened to Reva all those years ago?”
Raine sighed deeply. “Yeah, something like that.”
“You can’t go back and neither can she.” Sam’s words were soft and low. “What happened, happened. Your brother got exactly what he deserved for what he did to her.”
Raine nodded. “Yeah, I know but none of us realized how bad it was getting. Both her and Bulldog hid what was happening from everyone. No one should have to live with the kind of fear she lived with day after day.”
“Yeah, your brother was a real sweetheart.” Sam growled.
“The family tried to see her after the police arrested Bulldog but she wouldn’t let us in.” Raine shook his head. “My mom cried.” He paused then admitted, “In all the years I lived with that woman, I never saw her cry, not once but when she found out what Bulldog did, she cried.”
“And now?” Sam asked.
“I got a letter from Bulldog a month ago and he told me she hasn’t spoken to him since he went to prison. Every letter he sent comes back stamped Return to Sender.” Raine shook his head. “Instead of taking the blame for his own actions, Bulldog is still blaming Reva and I’m afraid if he gets out in the next month, he’ll come here and kill both of them.”
“Your brother is just plain crazy.” Sam shook his head.
“I happen to agree with you.” Raine took a deep breath and when he exhaled he said, “I got a letter from my brother, Hound and the family wants to stand with R
eva if and when it comes to a showdown.”
Sam dropped his cup to the table. ”What?”
“Yeah, how is that for a kick in the head?”
“Wow, the Moore family standing against one of their own?” Sam whispered. “I never thought that day would come.”
“Yeah well, Bulldog fucked up big time,” Raine stated. “Only they want me to talk to Reva and Gator and find out what they want. And I don’t think either one of them will willingly talk to me. Reva hasn’t yet and Gator just warned me off, again last night.”
“What do you mean again?” Sam frowned.
“He doesn’t like the fact that I’m here, at all,” Raine admitted. “He watches me all the time and I think he’s waiting for me to go postal on her.” He shook his head. “I would never hurt her or any other woman and she won’t give me the time of day. Not that I blame her, I wouldn’t give me the time of day either if someone just stood there while I was beaten.”
“Maybe you should talk to Deke and have him act as mediator?”
Raine shook his head. “She wouldn’t want everyone to know what happened.”
“You don’t think Deke remembers that day?” Sam scoffed. “He damn well remembers. He might have been just a kid when it happened but he watched the whole incident go down just like everyone else who was there. He may have been young but some things you never forget.” Sam shifted in his chair. “Besides, when he left Maine they came with him and stayed with him all this time.”
Raine shook his head. “Maybe I’m wrong but this is something I have to do. On my own. All I need is a little of her time and an open mind. Gator can’t stand between us all the time.”
Sam snorted. “You may not remember him very well, if you think that. That man is stubborn like you ain’t never seen before. When he clamps his jaw onto something, he never lets go. Why do you think he’s called gator?”
They both turned in time to see Reva kiss her man and move toward the back door.