His Lady: The Wounded Souls

by Leah Sharelle

  Moving closer, Rainn pressed her lips to mine. “Yeah, Beast, we are fucking awesome.”

  ———

  “Pres, Jason is on the phone,” Ford said, rushing into the war room, his phone held up.

  “Speaker,” Booth ordered. His body dropped into his chair at the head of the large table, and he took on the face of the Wounded Souls’ president.

  “Booth?”

  “Yeah, Jason. Everyone is here, so tell us what you got.”

  “Stella’s stepbrothers have been arrested. They got picked up early this morning over in another town, three hours from here,” Jason told us, and I could feel the relief around the table. Those two arseholes got off easy by being suspended, and now with them arrested, well, Stella could breathe a little better.

  “Thank fuck for that. And their father?” Booth asked.

  The tell-tale tick of his jaw had me reaching over and taking the new GPS and the iPad out of his reach—lessons learnt, and all that.

  “Gone underground as far as I can tell, but we have the brothers on security footage hitting Stella. One of the buildings that faced the car park still had working cameras. The owners got tired of all the vandalism, so they kept it going for insurance purposes. It is compelling, and there is no doubt they did it. The footage also shows Gary beating on her, too. There is an APB out for his arrest. We will get him, Booth.” Jason laid out all the information, and we should have been rejoicing, but Gary was still out there, and so was Rogue.

  “What about Rogue? Was he on the footage?” I asked.

  “Yeah, Mannix. There is another person, but the prick is good. He kept his back to the camera the whole time. It was like he knew where it was positioned.”

  “He did. The man does nothing without recon. The fucker is always one step ahead,” Steel muttered.

  I felt my twin’s frustration. I wanted this to be over just as much as the other men around this table. Our women were paying the price for whatever grudge Rogue held against us. There was too much to lose if that fucker’s games really played out the way he intended.

  “We have to assume Gary and Rogue are now working together with the informant Rogue says he has. Jason, you stay in touch. I want to know the minute Gary is sighted,” Booth told Deck’s brother. “We will keep the search going from our end. The informant needs to be found ASAP. If we can stop the leaking of information about the women, maybe that will flush Rogue out. He is getting desperate and is showing his hand more than ever. I have a feeling he is becoming more and more desperate. It’s only a matter of time before he makes a mistake, and when he does, I’m going to be there.” The ominous threat from my president was clear. Rogue was running out of time. My pres was running out of patience.

  Chapter 22

  RAINN

  “Aunty Rainn, your belly is really big,” Shiloh said as she licked the last of the chocolate cake batter from the mixing bowl.

  “Thank you, Miss Johnston. As if I needed a reminder of that,” I replied to the four-year-old.

  “No worries,” Shiloh said matter-of-factly, which made me chuckle.

  Seriously, I swear this child came out of the womb already thirty years old.

  “Shiloh, why don’t you go find Winnie. I saw the dogs chasing her around the pool table, so maybe you should go save her,” Charlotte suggested as she took the bowl and spoon away from her daughter and helped her down from the chair.

  “Damn cat, always getting my dogs in trouble,” Shiloh muttered, doing as her mother asked.

  “Shiloh,” Charlotte warned the little girl once again on her swearing.

  I had to admit, her words were getting less and less shocking. The new swear jar idea Deck and Charlotte came up with might have had a hand in that. They started giving her five dollars of pocket money every week, but if she swore, she had to put a dollar in every time. It hadn’t started out great, according to Deck.

  One day, she had to hand over the whole five dollars. That was funny in itself, but what I found funnier was the fact Shiloh had relegated a swear jar to Darth also, and the poor guy had accumulated more than two hundred dollars in fines so far.

  “That ain’t swearing. I’s heard youse saying it dis mornin’ when youse couldn’t get ya pants to fit, Sweetness,” Shiloh quipped as she pinched a Tim Tam biscuit from the plate on the table and then stumbled out of the kitchen.

  Honestly, that kid tripped over her own feet more times a day than I could count.

  Charlotte muffled a groan. “Oh, that child. She would try the patience of a saint.”

  “She certainly keeps things interesting around here,” Mia agreed, who was in the process of buttering slices of bread for the BBQ later on here at the compound.

  Booth had insisted on throwing a get-together for the club. With all the danger lately, the president of the Wounded Souls wanted some fun, so when his beautiful wife suggested the BBQ, there was no way he could say no to her.

  “Rainn, I hear Mannix has his kids coming today,” Stella said from her perch on the high stool. She was in charge of the show but from a seated position at Booth’s insistence again. It was definitely going to be entertaining to watch the sexy pres see Stella through her pregnancy if he was making her sit in the first trimester.

  “Yep. Mannix should be back with Ebony and James soon. He texted me about an hour ago, telling me he was on his way back with them. They are staying for the weekend.”

  “Really? How did that happen? I can’t see Alannah going along with that,” Vegas piped up.

  She was right. It had taken Mannix three days of telephone calls before his ex finally relented and agreed to a weekend.

  Two weeks ago, when Mannix and I worked our issues out and became an ‘us,’ I talked to him about his older children.

  “I think you should approach Alannah about some visitation with Eb and James. With the twins coming and all, I think the kids should be involved in the pregnancy before the girls are born,” I announced one morning to Mannix while we were in the bathroom getting ready for the day. He had just taken me up against the shower wall. Sex positions were definitely getting harder to come up with.

  Mannix stared at me with wonder.

  “Really? You mean that?”

  “Mannix, no matter what that horrible piece of paper says, they are your kids, which means they are mine. And these two are their sisters,” I said firmly, laying his hand on my burgeoning stomach. “If she gives you a hard time about it, and you need me to kick Alannah’s arse, you just say the word.”

  As Mannix pulled me into his arms, his face went into my neck and inhaled deeply.

  “I love you so much, Lady. Everything you just said means the world to me. And you are right, they are mine, ours, but, Lady, your days of kicking arse are over. I might fuck your arse later, though,” he said with a hard kiss to my lips before leaving the bathroom, whistling and leaving me wet all over again.

  Since that conversation, there had been calmness in Mannix. Even the phone calls hadn’t bothered him like they would have in the past. He listened without interrupting and only let off a half-dozen or so F-bombs. Amazing progress, in my book.

  “It took a little convincing on his part, but once he mentioned his solicitor wanted Mannix to sue Alannah for paternity fraud, she changed her tune pretty quickly.” I giggled.

  It had been wonderful to see the look on Mannix’s face when he pulled that gem out. The smile that had graced his face warmed my heart. My beast was healing, slowly but it was happening.

  “All jokes aside, he has every right to do that. She took him for a ride for a lot of years. He would get quite a settlement if he decided to go through with it,” Charlotte said.

  I nodded my head. “Agreed, but Mannix wouldn’t do that to the kids. Anyway, with everything that is going on here with Rogue, suing his ex-wife doesn’t seem all that important.”

  I looked over at Mia and saw her tense up. We had all suffered at the hands of the man, everyone except Vegas. Mia, Stella, and Char
lotte had suffered the most, and they needed this day more than any of us.

  “I wish I could remember his face, but every time I try, the dim vision I have in my mind blurs even more,” Mia said, exasperated.

  I knew what she meant. I saw him sitting in a car that night at the Bar and Grill. His face, however, just wouldn’t come to me, but there was something familiar about him—of that, I was sure.

  “I’m having the same problem. Mannix says I’m trying too hard.”

  “Steel says the same. You know, he actually banned me from thinking about it the other day. The man’s idiocy has no limit,” Mia grumbled, but the faraway, dreamy look in her eyes said something else.

  “Oh, my God. That is priceless.” Stella giggled. “Well, ladies, I think we have everything done. There is enough food here to feed an army. Let me just text handsome to come help get this all out to the picnic tables,” she said as she took out her phone from the cup of her bra and indeed texted her man to come help.

  “You’re really texting him? Isn’t he just out in the main room?” I asked, shocked.

  Stella blushed. “Yes, he is but…he banned me from getting down off the stool by myself and carrying anything heavier than a cotton ball,” she admitted sheepishly.

  The deep blush on her face wasn’t from embarrassment but because of the deep love and affection that her husband had for her, which was beautiful. The man was as over-protective as you could get after everything she had suffered for the club, and there was nothing he wouldn’t do to make her feel like a queen. Cherished.

  I had exactly the same feeling now. Mannix’s complete turnabout made me dubious at first. How did a man go from not believing to trusting a woman’s word and worshipping the ground she walked on? Which was what happened. He wanted the family we were creating, and he wanted me as his partner, not just his lover or hook-up. He wanted me as his woman, his lady, and there was nothing else I wanted more.

  Over the past few weeks, we have grown as a couple, and our talks are always great. Now they had an extra element to them, a deeper connection.

  For years, I believed I could do without the complication of a relationship, but Mannix changed my mind. I was never going to be alone ever again. The babies, yeah, there was the fact that being a mother meant I would always have someone to love and be loved. Being with Mannix would give me that and so much more. I found my soulmate, my best friend, and the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life to love, annoy and argue with.

  Mannix Steel was out of luck if he thought he would ever get rid of me. He was all mine, and I wasn’t giving him up—even for a perfect set of boobs.

  Chapter 23

  MANNIX

  I pulled the Mustang into my reserved parking spot outside of the compound. The two-hour trip with the kids gave me plenty of time to talk with them about any concerns they might have with Rainn and I expecting the twins.

  To tell you the truth, I had been expecting tantrums and tears, at least from Ebony, who would be going from being the only girl to being the eldest of three girls, but all she wanted to know was if she was going to be able to babysit. Huh, she went from giving her mother shit and acting out to holding her hand up for babysitting duty. I assured her that she was definitely going to be called upon when the babies were old enough for Rainn and me to have some time away from them.

  James, on the other hand, brought up some deeper issues.

  “Dad, are you sure the same thing isn’t going to happen to these babies that happened to Eb and me?” James asked from his position in the front seat next to me.

  I took my eye off the road and stared at my young son.

  “What do you mean, J?” I knew what he meant, and it broke my fucking heart. My own son, at the age of eleven, was asking me if Rainn was doing to me the same thing his mother did.

  “They are yours, right, Dad?”

  I pulled the car over to the shoulder of the road. We were on the outskirts of town and were only half an hour from the compound. I was anxious to get back to Rainn, but this needed my full attention. My son needed his dad to be up-front and honest with him.

  “James, I know without a shadow of a doubt that those babies are mine. Rainn is nothing like your mother. She told me not long ago that she considered you and your sister hers as well as the babies. Rainn is a generous woman and has a lot of love in her for all my kids.” I believed the words with every fibre of my being. The remorse for being a dickhead when I first found out about Rainn’s pregnancy would be with me always, and there was nothing I could do to take that hurt away from my lady for doing that to her. But I could make it up to her every day for the rest of our lives. I had a second chance, and no fucking way in hell was I going to stuff that up.

  “But we aren’t yours, Dad,” Ebony said sadly.

  I turned in my seat so I could see my baby girl. Tears filled her pretty eyes, and again, my heart shattered. I reached over the console and grabbed her hand, and then I did the same with James. I held our hands together and looked at both of my kids.

  “You are mine. I watched you come into this world, I rocked you to sleep, I saw you take your first steps, and I fixed your scraped knees. I walked you through the gate on your first day of school. I am your dad. You will always be Ebony and James Steel, my kids. No piece of paper will ever change that. Okay?” My voice broke as I told my kids what was in my heart. Even though it was sad, it was the moment when I felt my world shift completely. I had everything I ever wanted right there in that car, and half an hour away, waiting for me at the Wounded Souls compound, I had my family.

  “Which one is Deck’s new bike, Dad?” James asked, bringing me back to the moment.

  “The red one, son. Creed did a bloody good job on the paint, don’t you think?”

  “He sure did. Can I go get a better look?” He jumped up and down in his seat.

  “Yep, go for it, bud, but remember the rule.”

  “Don’t touch another man’s bike without his permission.” He recited the golden rule of the biker.

  That’s my boy. I smiled as my son opened the car door and got out, and when he closed the door without slamming it, I smiled even bigger. Yep, that is definitely my boy.

  “Mum says he has too much of you in him,” Ebony said as she shook her head and watched her brother walk around Deck’s bike with a wistful grin on his face.

  “She’s right, baby girl. There ain’t nothing wrong with that. Come on, Rainn can’t wait to see you,” I said, and it was the truth. I was proud of how great Rainn was with the kids. I knew she had reservations about doing the mum thing once the twins were born, but in my opinion, she had nothing to worry about. A fierce protective streak ran through my lady. My woman was fierce and loyal, and I loved the hell out of her for it.

  ———

  “Rainn, can you teach me how to dance one day?” I heard Ebony ask Rainn later that day.

  All of the food the ladies of the flock had prepared had been consumed, and everyone was lying back in the main room, chilling and watching as Shiloh and her animals entertained them.

  “I knew this would come one day, brother,” Steel joked. Mia was on his lap, and it seemed the poor woman wasn’t allowed to use her legs anymore.

  “Two strippers in the family, hey, Mannix? Wouldn’t want to be you in a few years,” Darth added.

  The big prick was seriously looking for another shot at the title. The last time he and I went at it, he sported a black eye and a busted nose.

  “Rainn won’t be dancing ever again unless it’s for me and in private. That body is off the menu for good,” I declared. A feeling of panic slid up my spine. Rainn and I had yet to discuss that issue, but surely, she wasn’t going to take her place back on the stage in the future.

  “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Mannix, no wonder she kicks your butt on a regular basis,” my beautiful sister-in-law said with a giggle. “Maybe you should discuss this with Rainn before you go making all the decisions.”

  “Good advice, Mia
. Wonder if he will take it?”

  I jumped in my seat at the sound of Rainn’s unimpressed voice. I turned to find my redhead lady pissed off.

  Oh, fuck me. I didn’t need this. We didn’t need this. The last few weeks had been a fucking dream. Rainn and I together, exclusively like it was meant to be, and today, here with my kids, the last thing I wanted was a fire-breathing Rainn Storm on the warpath.

  “Now, Lady, don’t get your thong in a twist. I just meant that—”

  “Oh, I know what you meant, Beast. I just don’t think you understand one important thing.”

  “And what might that be, sweetheart?” Don’t poke the bear, Mannix, you idiot. I was never any good at listening to my inner voice of reason.

  “If I want to dance after the babies are born, then I bloody well will. If I want to stand on my head, I bloody well will. If I want to knee you in the balls for being a complete idiot, I bloody well will.” She got closer and poked her finger into my chest—hard. “I may be yours, Mannix Steel, but I am also still Rainn Storm. You will not be controlling me, Mannix. Learn to deal with that.”

  Yep, she waved that red flag right in my face. Shit was about to get real.

  I stood up and faced her head-on. “I have never had any control over you, Rainn. Never wanted it, either. I’m not your father. I’m your man, the father of your children. And if you think for one second that I’m going to sit back and watch you dance on the laps of those fucktards at Body and Souls, then, sweet cheeks, you really are fucking delusional,” I shouted, loud enough to call attention from the rest of the club members and my kids.

  Fuck.

  Rainn chose that exact moment to walk away from me.

  “Rainn, we aren’t finished talking about this.” Damn, this woman had me turned inside out. I never had a problem with her dancing before. I fucking loved to watch her dance. She was the best there was. Her being mine now for real had shifted my thinking, and I did not want anyone else seeing what belonged to me. Just the thought of it made my gut twist.