“That’s what love is, baby, a big old carnival ride, full of twists, turns, ups and downs. I want to experience the ride with you.”
“You do?” I shyly ask.
“Yeah, buttercup, I do. Now, when can we pack your shit and move you here...with me?”
“You want to live with me? I thought we’d talk about me moving here, getting a job and a place to stay. Take things slowly and I don’t know, date maybe?”
“Baby, we dated and we fucked while I was in Montana, remember? And with you being pregnant, slow went out the window already.” Well, he has a point there, I guess. ”Now it’s time to make things permanent, I’m not living somewhere where my woman and kid aren’t.”
“Okay, well there’s a lot to be discussed first, I paid an extra month on my lease so it would give me time. Also, I’d like to meet your family.”
“Who’s this?” I hear asked, and turn around to see a very beautiful woman standing there. Fuck! Does this woman have some kind of claim on him? Shit! What the hell?
“DJ! I want you to meet my woman, Cassarah. Cassarah, this is DJ, Hatch’s woman. I told you about her, remember.”
“Ooohhh, another woman to add to the sisterhood. Welcome, Cassarah,” she says, and now that I know who it is I return the smile.
“Is that...Is that a gun?” I ask, looking at her hip.
“Sure is,” she says proudly. “A woman has to be able to take care of herself these days.” Huh, wonder if I’ll have to start carrying one to be Elijah’s woman?
“No, you won’t,” Elijah says, seeing the look on my face. “DJ is...well, she’s kinda special in that regard.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” DJ states with her hand on her hip. I’m kinda afraid she may pull that out and use it against my man for his statement.
“Chill out, gorgeous. He didn’t mean anything by it,” this behemoth of a man says, coming and wrapping his arms around her.
“This would be Hatch,” Elijah tells me. “Hatch, this is my woman, Cassarah...she’s having my baby!”
“Eeek, don’t spin me again!” I holler out.
“I wasn’t gonna, buttercup.”
“Awe, buttercup, isn’t that sweet,” DJ says. I smile at her, because it really is. I love my nickname.
“C’mon, you’re on the back of my bike, wanna show you my house,” he says. “We’ll catch y’all later.”
We pull up to this beautiful home. It’s an older Victorian style house with two stories and a wraparound porch. It’s as if he’s picked my dream home out of my head and is saying ‘here ya go, live here forever with me’. He’s giving me my dream and doesn’t even know it.
“Before we go in, I need to tell you something,” he says, as he helps me off the bike.
“What is it? Is something wrong?”
“Well, remember the case I told you about, the main reason I needed to get away for a while?”
“I do, it was so sad about that little girl.”
“Yes, it was and is. I had to come back early because of her. You see, she was in the hospital, she’d just lost everything and was severely beaten by her father.”
“Oh no, the poor baby. What happened to the father and mother?”
He looks down and I can see sadness in his eyes, “The dad killed the mom, beat her to death. He’s on the run, we’re looking for him now, but I ended up with temporary guardianship over her while we look for any surviving family members.” My heart just broke, because all I can think about is my sister and niece, and pray that they’re alright.
“What’s that look about?”
“I was just thinking of someone I know who’s in a similar situation.”
“I’m sorry, buttercup, maybe you can tell me about it sometime and we can help your friend out.” I don’t tell him it’s my sister instead of a friend, that time will come...later.
Taking my hand, he leads me up the porch and I notice the rocking chairs sitting there. Already I can envision sitting on the porch with him, rocking away, while we talk about our day.
“You remember me telling you about Nan?” I nod my head, “she’s here with the little girl. I hope you are okay with her being here, because she needs me right now.”
“Who? Nan or the little girl?”
“The little girl,” he says.
“Of course I am, Elijah, she’s just a baby. If anything, it cements the knowledge of the man I know you are. It makes me love you more for taking her in and giving her a home and love.”
He opens the door and we walk in and immediately, I can tell he’s worked hard to make this a comfortable, inviting home. I feel...accepted...and that’s the only thing I can come up with which sounds strange seeing as I’m talking about a house.
“Auntie Cassie!” I hear screamed. I look over and am almost brought to my knees at the sight of my niece.
“Emmy?” I ask. “What...why is my niece here? Where’s my sister? No!” I scream, as I hit the floor once realization sets in, it’s my sister that’s been killed.
Chapter Seven
Law
The fuck? My Cassarah is Cassie?
“Baby,” I say, catching her, barely, as she hits the floor. “You’re Cecilia’s sister?”
“Yes,” she says through sobs.
“Nan, could you bring Emma here please,” I say, looking up.
Nan has tears in her eyes, but says, “Absolutely,” and she brings her over to us. Cassarah opens her arms wide and Emma all but throws herself out of Nan’s arms and into Cassarah’s. I watch as she reunites with her aunt, my heart beating so hard it feels like it’s gonna come out of my chest. They are sobbing in each other’s arms, and I’m at a loss of what to do right now.
“Mommy hurt, Aunt Cassie. Mommy hurt,” Emma says, over and over.
“I know, peanut. I’m here now, I’ve got you.” Fuck, they’re breaking my heart with their tears and Nan isn’t faring too much better.
“We tried to find you, but your files have been sealed. I couldn’t find a judge to open them so I could get your real name to locate you.” I feel the need to explain. I don’t want her thinking that we didn’t do everything in our power to locate her when her sister was killed.
“That’s a long story,” she tells me.
“We’ll get to it later. Right now, we just need to settle in and let you two love on each other for a while.”
“I want to know everything,” she says, looking up at me with tears falling down her face.
“And I’ll tell you, just not now or here,” I say, nodding my head towards Emma.
“Oh! Oh my goodness, Elijah, I need to get my car! I’ve...I’ve got something from her.”
“From who?”
“My sister,” I whisper. I’m looking at Emma and cataloging all her injuries and I know they were likely a lot worse in the beginning. “Is...is she going to be okay?” I ask, motioning toward Emma.
“With time, love, and therapy, yes,” he replies. “Let me get a prospect to swing by and grab your keys so they can bring your car here, okay? I don’t wanna leave you right now.”
“Okay,” is all she says, before burying her head in Emma’s neck. I know I need to make some phone calls, but that will have to wait. My first priority is these two girls of mine. Once they’ve settled down some, my first call will be to Axe.
“Law?” Nan asks. “Want me to call Braxton?” I nod my head, grateful that she realizes I’ve got my hands full. She steps away from us and makes the call. I know it won’t be long until my house is swarming with my brothers, their old ladies and most likely some of the kids. That’s how we are, there for each other at all costs, no matter the circumstances.
“He’s on the way, putting her car on a tow truck so there’s no back and forth,” she tells me.
“We don’t have a tow truck!” I tell her.
“No, but Chet works for a tow company and he’s handling it for you,” she says. “Now, how about we go into the kitchen and I get your girls fed.” So
unds like a plan.
“C’mon, buttercup, let me help you up,” I say, standing and holding out my hands.
“I’m not really hungry,” she tells me.
“That’s not working for me, buttercup. We need to feed our baby,” I reply.
“You’re having a baby?” Nan asks.
“Yes, ma’am,” I tell her.
“That’s fantastic news, two new babies in the family in the same year,” she says, clapping her hands in glee.
“Two?” Cassarah asks me.
“Trinity’s pregnant as well,” I say.
“Oh, that’s great,” she says, trying to be enthusiastic, but failing miserably. I can literally feel her heart breaking from here and it puts my protective instincts into overdrive. Only, how do I fix this? All I can do is try to pick up the pieces and attempt to put it back together again. One broken piece at a time.
“I’ll try to eat something,” she says. I grab Emma from her arms, who protests, but not by much.
“We’re just going into the kitchen, love bug,” I tell her. She calms, but doesn't take her eyes from her aunt as we walk out of the room. Cassarah stays at our side the whole time, most likely wanting her niece in her arms, but that’s out of the question right now.
I sit Emma down and Cassarah sits down next to her, Nan motions for me to join them at the table. As soon as we’re settled, I hear the front door open and hear Axe call out for us.
“In the kitchen,” I yell out to him.
“The girls and brothers are on their way.”
“Figured that would be the case,” I reply. Not long after, the house fills and I introduce everyone to my girl. The women take to her instantly, just as I knew they would. They’re all being mother hens to her and her eyes are wide at the sudden invasion of people in our home. That’s right, our home. She just doesn’t know it yet, but our baby has given me the reason I need to get her here. Once that happens, she’s gonna be mine in every way I can tie her to me.
“I’ll have two prospects go up and pack up Cassarah’s house and move her stuff here,” Axe says.
“What? But I have a job...and hair clients,” she replies. “I need to go back and get that all sorted out.”
“Not with that senator on the loose,” Hatch tells her.
“Then we’ll go together, buttercup. Me, you and Emma.”
“And we’ll come as well,” Axe states. “Me, Hatch, Chief, and maybe a prospect or two to help with the packing.”
“I don’t want people going through my unmentionables,” she says in my ear.
“Nah, buttercup, the only one who gets to see those in any way, shape or form is me,” I reply.
“Road trip!” DJ calls out. “Nan, can you stay with the kids so we can go and help Cassarah?”
“Cara has the twins,” Axe replies. “Might be hard to travel with two nursing babies.”
“Wait a minute! My house isn’t big enough for everyone,” Cassarah says, looking at all of us as if we’ve lost our ever-loving minds.
“I wanna go, Braxton!” Cara says.
“Enough!” I bark out. This is quickly getting out of hand. “The guys can go because of the senator issue. The prospects to do the grunt work. And, if Nan is willing to keep the kids, then the women can go. Y’all can stay out at my cabin.”
“Emma comes though, right?” she asks me, and I nod my head.
“Road trip!” DJ states again. “This will give me some new material, lover,” she says to Hatch. Jeez, this woman can find book inspiration everywhere!
“What material?” Cassarah asks DJ.
“For my books.”
“You’re an author?”
“Yep.”
“What kind of books do you write?”
“Here, let me show you,” she grabs her phone and scrolls through a publishing site.
“Oh my God, I’ve read your books!” Cassarah states. “Fangirl down. This is not a drill.”
The room bursts into laughter which is what I think my girl was trying to do. It had gotten a bit too solemn for a few minutes.
“Cassarah, where are your car keys, honey?” Axe asks. “Chet just got here with your car.”
“Oh! Um, hanging off my purse on one of those keyring thingies.”
“Buttercup, what was it that you needed me to see?” I ask.
“There’s a sealed envelope in the trunk from Cissy,” she replies.
“I’ll go grab it, y’all stay here,” Axe commands. He isn’t gone long before he comes in with a large envelope that looks to be filled to max capacity.
“What did she send you?”
“She didn’t say what it would contain, all she said was I’d know when to use it.”
I nod and watch as the women fuss around Cassarah and have to grin when I see Shelby reach for Emma’s hand. “Do you wanna play with Shelby, love bug?” I ask Emma. She nods so I scoop her up and motion for Shelby to follow me back into the front room. “Buttercup?” She looks at me and I continue, asking, “Do you want me to open up the envelope?”
I see her take a deep breath before she nods. “I’m afraid to see what it has in it, Elijah.”
“I’ve got you, baby.”
Once back in the living room, I deposit Emma on the blanket and she and Shelby start playing with the toys that Nan brought out earlier.
“Let me see that,” I say, holding out my hand for the envelope. Carefully opening it, I find a journal, then a bunch of pictures of what looks like documents, a letter addressed to Cassarah from her sister, and...fuck...pictures. Pictures of injuries that Cecilia apparently sustained. I look closer at the photos of the documents and what I see has me fuming. Botched deals, payoffs to local law enforcement officers and other government officials. I hand those over to Chief and hear a string of curses. Some of these are his men for crying out loud. He’s going to clean house and when he does, these men are going to go down in flames.
“Why would he be paying off your guys? They didn’t even live in this town.”
“Yeah, but they’re only a few towns over, and it looks as if they didn’t get on his payroll until you took on Emma’s case.”
“Fuck! Any judges on there?” I ask, because I didn’t look that close.
“Wasn’t Calhoun your judge?” Chief asks, looking at the papers again.
“Yeah.”
“Well...seems the senator made him an offer he didn’t refuse.”
“Fuck. This goes further up the chain than we realized. No wonder we couldn’t get her removed the first time.”
“We’ll get it squared away, brother,” Axe states. “Thinking we need church to discuss this without the women.”
“It only took him killing her mother and nearly her for them to back off.” I regret those words as soon as they leave my mouth, because I hear my woman gasp, and see her holding her hand over her mouth as she begins to sob. Fuck. “C’mere, buttercup,” I say to her. She comes to me and I pull her into my lap. “I’m sorry you heard that, baby. Not my intention to hurt you but he’s a bad man.”
“I...I know, Elijah. He’s why I ran. He...he threatened their lives, and mine, when I caught him hurting Cissy. And when I wouldn’t back down, he threatened mine. So I ran. I wasn’t brave enough.”
“Honey,” Cara says, entering the conversation, “You do what you have to do to survive in life. We each make choices and decisions to better ourselves and save the ones we love. You made the only choice you had at the time. You can’t beat yourself up over choosing to survive.”
“Because, buttercup? If he had ended you, we wouldn’t have this little one,” I respond, placing my hand over her stomach. There’s a tiny bump there now and I can’t wait to see my woman and the changes this pregnancy has wrought on her body. “And you wouldn’t be here for Emma.”
She sighs before replying, “You’re right. All of you are, if I’m being truthful. It’s a lot to process and I’m feeling overwhelmed.”
“Okay, let’s get all the guys and have
church. Mom? We got stuff at the clubhouse for a cookout?” Axe hollers out toward the kitchen.
“We always have food, Braxton. I’ve made sure of that,” Nan replies, coming into the room. “Let’s get the women over there so you boys can meet. Who’s gonna get the other kids?”
“Chet, Maxum, Jaxson,” Axe says, “y’all go get the rest of the kids and bring them to the clubhouse. It’s Friday so it shouldn’t be a big deal for them to get checked out early.” That was something we decided months ago. Every brother and his woman is on the check-out list, even our prospects. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and now I’m thankful we went through with it.
Cassarah
I’m back at the clubhouse for the second time today. I’m feeling exhausted and overwhelmed, but I have Emma in my arms, and even though I wish it was my sister’s arms she was buried in, I know that she needs me, so I’m not willingly giving her up anytime soon. The men went into a room with the envelope and I’m sitting in the kitchen. Every time I ask if I can help, I’m gently told that they’ve got it. Trinity, who is apparently Chief’s wife, sits down and says, “It’s a bit overwhelming, isn’t it?”
“Oh hell yeah! It is and I can’t even have a beer,” I reply. DJ overhears me and starts laughing.
“Honey, just wait until you can drink. Hannah will teach you about tequila tongue.”
Hannah, who is apparently with the twins, Smokey and Bandit, grins and says, “As long as it’s not morphine mouth, we’re good.” Obviously, there’s a story there because the rest of the women laugh hysterically. I settle in and let myself get lost in stories of their adventures together, I can’t wait to see them in action first-hand. Emma is fast asleep on my chest and I close my eyes for just a minute. I must end up falling asleep, because the last thing I hear is something about DJ and pliers.
Law
Sitting in here with all my brothers, I know instinctively that what Cassarah’s sister sent is likely the tip of the iceberg. “Bandit, can you check on this shit?” Axe asks.
“Got it, brother. Law, don’t worry, we’re gonna make sure you and your girls are safe,” he tells me. And the look in his eyes tells me he’s ready to play hardball. He’s in IT mode, and I know that the information is in the best hands they could possibly be in.
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