“Call the police, and make sure Jason is involved on this. Having two dead bodies on the club’s worksite is going to call a lot of attention. Call Ford, too, get him to pull the security footage. Hopefully, it will show who was in the office before it blew,” Booth said to Darth, who was already on his phone. He knew the drill.
“Where is Ve-Ve? She didn’t run down the hill with us, Aunty Rainn,” Shiloh asked from her perch in Deck’s arms.
Darth pulled the phone from his ear and stared at Shiloh. A feeling of absolute horror washed over me.
“What about Vegas, Shiloh? She is here? Where?” Darth looked around us, his eyes searching for his woman. He cupped his hands around his mouth and roared her name.
“Julie was in the office. She didn’t get out,” Rainn whispered into my chest. The words were soft, but every one of us heard them. “She was killed in the explosion.”
———
The pool cue clicked against the ball. One after the other, the balls rolled into the pockets. When I cleared the table, I took them out and started the process all over again. Two hours ago, we got back from the hospital where Rainn got the all clear from any concussion or injury. The babies got checked out, too, with ultrasound and were deemed safe and sound. No harm had come to them or their mother—at least, not physically.
I brought her back to the compound and put her straight to bed. I knew Booth wanted to question her to find out what the fuck had happened. Hell, I wanted to know why she was at the worksite, but she was in no shape mentally to answer anything. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she had fallen into an exhausted sleep. I sat and watched her chest rise and fall for an hour, my hand resting over our girls. Rainn’s soft snores and the constant bumps and kicks reassured me that my reasons for living were safe.
“Mannix, can I talk to you for a minute.”
I looked up to see my brother standing by the pool table. His usually happy face was void of any emotion. I put down the cue and nodded.
“What’s up, mate?”
“How much has Rainn told you? About why she was out there with Vegas and Shiloh.”
“Nothing yet. She was in no shape to speak about it. All we know is what Shiloh told Deck. That Vegas was in the office and told her and Rainn to get out. Deck didn’t want to question Shiloh too much, and once we got back, Deck took her back to their rooms. I don’t think he and Teach will let her out of their sight ever again.”
I still couldn’t fathom that Vegas was gone, and my heart ached for Darth, who was still out at the worksite with Creed. He wouldn’t leave her there, so Creed stayed with him, my road captain knowing better than anyone what Darth was going through.
“Brother, we have a very serious problem. Booth is going to lose his shit when he finds out why Rainn was out at the worksite today.”
“Why am I going to lose my shit, VP?” Booth walked into the main room from the hallway leading to his and Stella’s suite. Like me, he’d disappeared into his room and sat with Stella. His pregnant wife was dealing with a difficult first trimester, and his worry over her was starting to show.
“You know why Rainn was out there?” Booth asked.
“Yeah, brother,” Steel said grimly. His jaw was clenched tight. I knew this was going to be bad news.
“Well? Wanna fill me in?”
“I was there because I remembered something important.”
I whirled around at the sound of Rainn’s voice. She was still dressed in the same clothes, her hair a mess with dust and gravel scattered through it. I quickly made my way over to her because she looked like she was ready to keel over.
“Lady, you should be sleeping. Come on. Let’s get you back to bed.”
“No, Mannix, please. I have to tell you all something,” she pleaded with me, her eyes never leaving Booth.
“Rainn, what is it? Mannix is right. The questions can wait if you need more time,” Booth reasoned, though I could see by the tick of his jaw and the way he plucked at the rubber band on his wrist that the last thing he wanted was to give her more time.
“Rogue. I realised that I know who he is.”
I stood frozen to the spot. What was she talking about?
“You mean when you told us that he was familiar to you after you saw him at the Bar and Grill that night,” I asked her.
She slowly nodded, and as she looked at me, the pity in her eyes had me worried about what she was going to say next.
“Yes,” she whispered. She looked at Steel and got a chin lift.
Steel knew? She told him?
“Rogue is your father,” she said, her head down, not looking at anyone.
“Whose?” Booth asked in a voice I had never heard him use before.
Rainn lifted her head and looked my president dead in the eye.
“Yours.” She sobbed.
No fucking way!
Chapter 32
RAINN
To say that I was tired was beyond an understatement out there.
I wanted to go to bed and stay there forever, hide under the blankets and pretend the events of the day were just a bad nightmare. A nightmare where my best friend confided to me she had terminal cancer and then died in an explosion, saving the lives of the people she loved.
Sleep would have to wait, though. I owed it to Julie to do what I could to help the men find the man responsible for all the danger the club was facing. And for her death.
“Lady, you don’t have to do this tonight,” Mannix said in my ear.
I was in his lap, his arms wrapped tightly around our daughters and me. Other than the two hours I slept when we arrived back from the hospital, he had not left my side, and that was okay with me because I didn’t want to be anywhere else. When the bomb exploded, and Shiloh and I were wedged under Mannix’s car, there had been a moment when I feared I would never see Mannix again. It was petrifying and was a feeling I never wanted to have again.
I snuggled deeper against his warm chest, put my nose in his neck, and inhaled deeply. “I’m fine, baby, I promise. The club needs me to answer their questions, just … just don’t let me go, okay,” I said as I pressed my lips against his, the kiss turning hot like it always did with us. His tongue speared through my lips and danced with mine, a dance we did well together. The kiss was hot, wet, and full of need, the best kind of kiss.
“Lady, this is not exactly the place.” Mannix growled against my mouth. “And just so you know, there is no fucking way I am ever going to let you go, Rainn. I love you more than my own fucking life. You’re mine and always will be.”
“And you’re mine, Beast,” I replied, our foreheads resting together. The love I had for my man could never dim or fade away. He was always going to be my beast, and I would be forever his lady.
“Rainn, are you all right to do this?”
I reluctantly pulled away from Mannix, our beautiful moment over. Time for the ugly. With a sigh, I turned to face Booth. He had run off to his room earlier after I had dropped my bomb about his dad. He needed to find Stella. She was his centre, his calm in his storm. It didn’t surprise me that he turned to her so much now. It was good Vincent Booth had that with Stells because I feared what I had to tell him might do something to shatter that peace and calm.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Before he could say any more, the front door to the compound opened, and Darth and Creed stormed in, and I did mean stormed in. Darth made a beeline straight for me and didn’t stop until he was right in front of me where he dropped to his knees and put his hands on my belly.
“Are you okay? The babies?” His voice was thick with so much emotion.
Tears stung my eyes. He just lost the love of his life, and he was worried about me. He should be furious at me—yell, rant, and rave at me. If I hadn’t insisted she come with me to the worksite, she would still be alive.
“Don’t go there, Rainn. I can see the wheels turning in your pretty head. Don’t blame yourself.”
I choked out a l
augh at his choice of words, the same ones Julie had used earlier on.
“I can’t help it. If I hadn’t—”
“Then you and Shiloh would be gone. Vegas would not have liked that one bit,” he said, a haunted look in his eyes. Shiloh dying was not something any of us wanted to think about.
“Darth, you good, mate? You want to take this?” offered Booth, his hand on his brother’s shoulder in quiet support.
“Nah, Pres. Let’s get this over with.” Darth stood slowly and stepped back in line with Creed and his brothers. Mannix was the only one sitting.
“From the start, what made you think Rogue is Booth’s father?” Steel asked. The club’s VP hunkered down in front of me, his good leg taking most of his weight.
“Um, I was in Stella and Booth’s room. Shiloh commented on how bad Stella smelled after vomiting—”
I felt a warning squeeze on my hips, and Mannix let out a low chuckle.
“Babe, just skip those parts,” Steel suggested, his lips pulling to stop a laugh.
“Sorry. Anyway, I was looking at the photos on the dressers and came across one where Creed was smiling. Holy shit, he was beautiful… Right. Skip that part, too.”
Another squeeze at my hip was accompanied by a growl in my ear.
“Lady.” Mannix scraped his teeth over the sensitive part of my neck, and I tried really hard to suppress the groan that escaped, I really did, but boy, I liked it when he did that.
“What about the photo?” Creed asked and stepped forward. The sexy road captain really should smile again. He had the most blinding, happy smile.
“The guy beside you in that photo sparked that memory from the night at the Bar and Grill, you know, the one of the guy I saw in the car across the street. When he lit the cigarette, I got a glimpse of his face but couldn’t place it.”
“And now you have?” Booth asked.
“Stella said it was your brother Carson. That’s why he looked familiar to me because of the tribute on your bike, Booth. The guy in the car looked just like the painting and the photo. The guy in the car was just an older version.”
“Booth, she may be right. The client we have been working with we have never met in person, only dealt with him on the phone. I told Mannix his voice sounded familiar, and it has been bugging the shit out of me,” Deck said. “It’s been years since I have spoken with Jerry, but I think it’s his voice.”
“I remember you saying you had the same bad vibe talking with him as you do talking with Rogue,” Mannix added.
“How so?”
“He spent most of our calls taunting me, questioning my abilities to get the job done like he hated me even though we have never met.”
Booth paced back and forth, the rubber band on his wrist getting a workout as he went into his head.
“Jerry disappeared after Carson’s funeral. He didn’t contest the divorce when Mum had him served. Fuck, I don’t know. I suppose it’s possible.”
“After you belted the fuck out him, he took off, and that was the last any of us saw of him,” Steel muttered. He looked up at Creed. “If it is Jerry, that means…”
“That means he is the one who killed Lila Rose and scarred me for life,” Creed finished for him.
I shuddered at the venom in Creed’s tone. I pushed myself deeper against Mannix’s chest, and his hands left my hips and wrapped comfortingly around my middle.
“So that’s why you went out to the worksite, to warn us,” Mannix prompted me to continue.
I dragged my eyes from Creed’s face, scared of the fury written all over it.
“Um, yeah. Julie and I took Shiloh—I’m sorry, Deck, for taking her, honestly, I am, but Stella was in no shape to run after her and, quite frankly, neither was Vegas. We got to the site… ah, let’s see… Julie went into the office first. I took longer to get up the incline with Squirt and my belly. When we got in there, we saw Stella’s stepfather, dead.” I looked at Deck. “I promise, Shiloh didn’t see him. I made sure she kept her eyes on me the whole time,” I hurried to explain, but Deck held up his hand to stop me.
“Sweetie, I know you had Shiloh’s safety first and foremost in your mind. I’m not mad, and neither is Charlie. You did what any of us would have done. I know how much you love her,” Deck said kindly, his eyes moving in the direction of the room where Shiloh was right now with her mum, a prospect outside the door.
I nodded gratefully. I stood by my decision to take Shiloh with me, but I had worried Deck would not trust me with her ever again.
“That’s right when Julie told me about the pressure trigger. She’d stepped on it when she entered the office. I guess the sight of Gary dead and the way he was killed caught her attention, so she didn’t notice what was on the floor just inside the door.” I stopped and took a deep breath. “She knew that waiting for help could mean more death, and she also knew she couldn’t wait that long. She was getting weak holding her position.”
“What do you mean weak?” Darth asked me, his brows pulling together in a look of confusion.
I reached into the pocket of the sweatpants I swiped from Mannix. Earlier, I’d ducked into Vegas’s room and found the letter she asked me to give to her man.
“Before she… um, she told me where to find this, and she wanted you to have it.” With a shaky hand, I held out the purple envelope with Darth’s name written on it in Vegas’s girly script and a love heart drawn around his name.
The big man stared at the envelope before taking it from me, his face suddenly shutting down.
“Thanks, I’m going to go sit with Shiloh. Charlotte sent me a message that Squirt has been asking for me.”
I watched him go, the letter tucked into his back pocket. I knew in that letter was the sad news of her cancer and the reason why she was going to leave him. Darth deserved to hear all of that from Julie, not me and not in front of his brothers.
“Oh, Booth, here.” I grabbed my phone from my bra and handed it to him. “There is a photo of Gary on there. He died pretty gruesomely,” I said quietly, afraid for what was coming the club’s way by the hands of Rogue.
———
“I want more kids after the twins are born,” I blurted out later that night in bed.
Mannix had me wrapped tightly in his arms, snuggling against one another after some perfect lovemaking—not sex, not fucking but beautiful lovemaking. Every inch of my body received the attention of his mouth, tongue, lips, and his oh-so-clever hands. After the events of the day, Mannix did his best to take some of the hurt away. I smiled into his hard chest. I appreciated his efforts, and it helped.
“If that’s what you want, then I’m up for the job.” Mannix growled as he flipped himself to his back, leaving me to sit astride him, my pussy in the perfect place over his semi-hard cock.
“Nice move, Beast, but it ain’t happening, baby. Your monster has worn my hoo-ha out, and I need sleep.”
Mannix’s body shook under me with laughter.
“My monster, hey? I like that, and I like your idea of more kids.” He smiled up at me, and his cocky grin melted more of my hurt away.
I leaned down as far our daughters would allow and kissed him softly. His hands speared through my long hair and held me there as he worked his mouth over mine.
“When I saw my Ford at the site, my mind went to the worst possible place. A place without you, Lady, ain’t anywhere I want to be. I love you, Rainn. I’m not as romantic as Deck and Booth, not a stud like Steel, maybe not as good looking as Creed—certainly not as broody as the bastard—but I love you with everything I am, and I’m going to for the rest of my life.”
I looked into the eye of the brash, cocky, annoying-as-shit man I was currently lying on and saw nothing but truth and love. We might not have started out like a traditional couple like Charlotte and Deck, and that was okay with me. I loved what we were and what we had just the way it was. We had two children already and two more due in just a few months. Even with the danger surrounding us, and the pain of los
ing Julie, as long as Mannix was by my side, loving me, protecting me, then I was happy. More than happy.
“I don’t need romance, baby, just you. I think little Rainn is getting her feelings back.” I ground my pussy against his cock and felt the inevitable twitch. “What do you say, Beast? Feel up to it?”
I giggled as he growled, moving his hands between us, and positioning his cock at my wet entrance.
“Bring it on, Lady. No fucking way will I ever get tired of this… of you.”
In one thrust, he pushed up at the same time his lips captured mine.
Hours later, I believed Mannix would never get tired of me. Thank God.
Chapter 33
MANNIX
“Darth, I understand if you need some time away. After the funeral, please take as much time as you need,” Booth said to our brother.
The poor bastard had been through the ringer in the last twelve hours. He never went into detail about what was in the letter Rainn handed to him, but he did tell us about her cancer. Poor Vegas. How unfair was it that she had been through it not just once but twice in her young life? To lose her the way he did, I was worried Darth would go off half-cocked and do something really fucking stupid.
“If it is all the same to you, I want to stay and help catch Rogue. What he has done already to the women of the club, to Shiloh… kill… killing Vegas, I need to be here. Plus, Squirt threatened to give me timeout if I left. She overheard Deck asking me the same thing before.” His hollow laugh was not at all like the big prick we knew and depended on.
“Fair enough. Next question. Does anyone here want me to stand down as president of the Wounded Souls?” Booth’s question was like a punch to the gut.
What the fuck was he talking about? The men around the table all jumped up, every one of us outraged at such a thought. Booth was the soul of our club, and there was no one else I wanted to lead us.
“What the fuck are you talking about, Pres? That is the most fucked up thing I have ever heard.” Deck seconded my objection.
His Lady: The Wounded Souls Page 18