Shepard nods his head with a smile.
Grinder looks at me again. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Roman. Roman the crucifier.” He laughs. I do not. I’ve been called that more times than I care to remember. “I take it you gave them a good send-off?”
“He definitely gave them that.” Hammer laughs, and everyone follows. I don’t find any of this funny. Weird to know they’ve heard of me in Texas though.
“Good. Saves me a job. We had no idea Marley was married with children. I mean, how could we? We merely thought this club had taken her in, and maybe she was seeing somebody here.”
“Marley is my world, as is my daughter, and the child inside of my wife. Ain’t no one gonna take her from me, and there is not a person on this earth who will live should they hurt her.”
“Then I know she’s in good hands. All Lacey and I want is to be in Marley’s life. You have a daughter, Roman. You have to understand where I’m coming from?”
I have two daughters. One just eight years younger than Marley. If I sit back and think about what Grinder is saying, I have to admit I’d be saying the same thing. Hell, there is nothing I wouldn’t do right now to find my eldest daughter. I’d do anything to bring her here to live with me, so I could keep her safe. I’d do anything to be in both of my daughter’s lives. I did do anything to be in Romany’s life, and I almost got her mother killed because of it.
“My wife has dreamed of this day since the moment she heard Marley was missing. Marley is more than a daughter to Lacey; she’s her best friend. I had no time to get to know Marley as my daughter. No time at all to sit her down and explain the truth of where she came from. I’m asking you, man to man, father to father not to stand in my way. Stand back for a moment and imagine yourself in my position, and tell me what you’d do.”
If I were in his position, and we were talking about my eldest daughter, I’d do whatever it took to be in her life. That’s why I won’t stand in Grinder’s way. I know better than anyone, the desperate feeling inside to know my child. I also know what it feels like to have no hope of ever knowing her. If Marley wants to get to know Grinder as her father, then who the fuck am I to stop her?
“I’d do exactly what you’re doing right now. Just don’t hurt her, Grinder.”
“I don’t intend to.” I nod and shake his outstretched hand.
“Uncle Shepard?” Comes a tiny voice from behind me as the door clicks shut. It should have been locked!
God dammit, we need to get her a cage and lock her up while we’re in this room. Alternatively, a bell for her neck so we can hear her coming. Little Dana does this a lot, even when we’re calling church. She cares not that we repeatedly tell her not to come in the room. The only way to keep Dana out is if we lock the door, Jett clearly forgot this time. We usually know when Dana is trying to get in because the handle rattles like crazy before she yells how we’re mean and leaves.
“What is it, Dana? You know you shouldn’t be in here right now.”
I watch my three-year-old cousin slam her hands on her hips, a scowl on her face, and I’m trying not to laugh. She is so much like Taylor with her sassy attitude. However, she looks just like Jack. Dana has the same light brown hair as Jack, minus the gray, obviously. Her eyes are a mix of her mother’s brown, and her father’s blue, and she has a smile like Taylor’s.
Dana is very much a little princess. Everything has to be pink or light purple. Unicorns are real in her mind, and I pity anyone who tries to tell her otherwise. Dana’s wearing a little pink and white skirt, with a white t-shirt that has a big sparkly pink heart in the middle. She has little pink shoes on her feet, with little white socks, and her straight hair is tied in a ponytail.
“Excuse you?” Yeah, I may have forgotten to mention that she’s got enough sass to go around the whole MC twice. “Oh, hey, Mister.” Dana makes her way around the table to Grinder. She’s afraid of no one. Dana knows if someone is in this clubhouse, then they’re allies, not enemies. Usually. If they were enemies, no children would be in the clubhouse full stop, no exceptions. “My name is Dana. What’s yours?”
Grinder smirks down at Dana. “My name is Grinder.”
“No,” She shakes her head. “Not your road name. What’s your real name?”
Grinder narrows his eyes, then looks at Shepard, who tells him, “BlackJack’s youngest.”
“Makes sense, she reminds me of her mother.” He laughs.
“Yeah. My mommy’s name is Taylor. My daddy is called BlackJack because his real name is Jack, and he loves my mommy. She has a black daddy. Is your name a secret only your wife can know?”
Grinder leans down to Dana’s level and whispers in her ear. She nods her head and smiles. He lifts away from her and winks. “Our secret.”
“I won’t tell anyone. Cross my heart.” Dana crosses her heart with her finger. She giggles, and walks away from Grinder and over to where Wrench, Hawk, and Stryker are sitting in a line. “These are my big brother’s. This is Stryker,” She hugs his arm, making him smile. “That’s not his real name, but I can’t tell you what it is. It’s a secret like yours. He is married and has three children.”
I can’t take my eyes off the little cutie, and I know everyone else is staring at her. We’re all she knows; we’re her family. This being the only reason she’s not afraid to be herself around us.
“This is Hawk. He has a wife and two sons.” She grabs his hand and kisses his knuckles, and Hawk laughs loudly. “And this is my Wrench. He is married and has a son, and soon another baby.” Wrench lifts Dana in his arms and holds her for a moment. He loves that little girl so much. They have a special bond.
Dana then decides now is a good time to point to every person in the room, telling Grinder who each person is until she finally gets to me. “This is Roman, and he is my cousin. His mommy and my mommy are sisters. He is thirty-six years older than me, but I don’t care because I love him so very much.” I wink at her, and she giggles that sweet giggle of hers. “This is Shepard. He is the President, and he is a meany grump who won’t let me join.”
I’m surprised Shepard had allowed her to stay in the room this long with what we’re trying to get through right now. I suppose it’s not life or death.
“You want to join the MC?” Grinder asks in amusement.
Dana nods her head. “I want to be with my Daddy all the time.” She runs around the table and throws herself at Jack. She kisses his cheek over and over. “This is my special daddy, BlackJack.”
“I thought you’d forgotten about me, baby girl.”
“No,” Dana giggles. “I saved the best till last.” That gets a laugh. BlackJack hugs his pride and joy to him for a moment before sitting her on the edge of the table. “Dana, Daddy needs you to do something for him. It’s very important. Can you do that?”
“What is it, Daddy?”
“I need you not to come into this room when we’re having a meeting. This is no place for a little girl. Your mother is going to wonder where you are.”
“But my brothers.” She points to them sadly. “Why can’t I be here with you? I’m a Snake too, aren’t I?”
There’s no stopping the smile on Jack’s face. Dana is smart. Too smart for a three-year-old. A much loved little girl with two of the best parents out there. “You are a Snake,” Jack tells her. “Do you remember the job Shepard gave you?” Dana nods her head. “What job did he give you?”
“To take care of Mommy and Percy,” Their dog. “And anyone smaller than me. I can’t be in here till I got my patch when I’m eighteen.”
“That’s right. We all love you very much, and I know you want to be with Daddy and your brothers, and cousin, but not when we’re in this room. Do you understand?”
She nods sadly. “Yes, Daddy. I’m sorry, I won’t do it again.” BlackJack wraps his little girl up in his arms, just as the door knocks, then swings open.
“Taylor. Everything okay?”
“Shepard, I’m sorry to barge in like this,” She’s b
een crying. Tears have stained her cheeks. “And I wouldn’t for any other reason, but I can’t find Dana. We were in the garden, and I turned my back for a second, and...”
Jack jumps out of his seat with Dana in his arms. I watch my aunt burst into tears, and grab her daughter from Jack, hugging her tightly. Dana giggles her head off as kids do, not knowing she’s done anything wrong. “Don’t ever run off like that. You scared the hell out of me!”
“I’m sorry, Mommy.”
“Take Dana outside, and I’ll be out in a few.” Taylor nods and kisses Jack before leaving the room.
“Now, can I see my daughter?” I nod at Grinder. He’s waited long enough.
Marley is sitting with her mother by the unlit open fire. Romany is in Lacey’s arms, and she and Marley are talking about her young siblings. Marley is amazed by it all, I can tell by the smile on her face. “When can I meet them?
“As soon as you like. They’re at the hotel with a friend of mine. They know all about you, and they can’t wait to meet you.”
“Chase, Gage, and Lea.” I smile despite myself. Marley looks so happy right now, and it’s so nice to see.
“Everything okay?” Marley jumps out of her seat and straight into my arms. I laugh while holding her close to me.
“I love you.” She tells me.
I stroke her face with the back of my hand and smile. “I love you. It’s nice to see you smiling like this, Marley.”
“My mom explained everything to me. I have two brothers and a baby sister! I get to meet them soon, and I am so excited!”
I love seeing Marley like this. Her enthusiasm amazes me. Maybe now she’ll be able to move on from all that happened. I still want her to see her therapist, PTSD isn’t something that’s just going to disappear because her mother is back from the dead. However, having her mother back, finding out about her siblings, and now that Tom wasn’t her father, Grinder is, seems to have settled something inside her heart. Marley has a family. More than just Romany and me. Marley is not alone anymore; she’s free.
“Grinder would like to speak with you.” Marley swallows hard. “If you don’t want to see him today, then you don’t have to. I would never make you do anything you didn’t want to do, Marley.”
“I know.” She smiles.
I cup her cheek in my big hand, and she’s looking at me like I’m God himself to her. I know Marley is a Goddess to me. “I will never let anyone hurt you again as long as we live. Grinder loves you, Marley, he just wants to get to know you, be your Dad if you’ll let him.” I stroke my thumb under her eye. “You’re not alone any longer, baby.”
“I haven’t been alone since the day I met you, Roman. You saved me. You loved me, and you gave me a family of my own.” She touches my face and pulls my lips to hers. I smile against her mouth before kissing her softly. “I will speak with him because I owe it to myself to know the truth.”
“I’ll wait for you over at the bar. I’m not leaving the building, but you need to do this without me, baby.” I can tell from the look on her face that she’s worried about being alone. I’ll never leave her alone again one more day in her life. “I’ll be right over there should you need me.”
“I want you to meet my mom before that happens. I’ve told her all about you, and everything you’ve done for me. I told her how you saved me and how much I love you. I told her how you surprised me on our wedding day.” She giggles.
Talking of wedding day – “Marley, you signed the name Marley on our marriage certificate, but your name is Marlea, is our marriage even legal?”
Marley smiles, and tells me, “Yes, it’s legal, Tallon. I legally changed my name when I was twenty-one. My mom knows that, but she always found it hard to stick to calling me Marley when I’ve always been her Marlea.”
“Thank fuck for that!” I laugh and kiss her. “Now, go get to know your Dad, and I’ll meet your mother afterward. I’ll take Romany with me. Come find me when you’re done. I love you, baby girl.”
“I love you, too.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Marley
I watch my parents – still can’t get my head around having those again – holding each other, and the love flowing from them penetrates me. I feel it in my veins, and I’m feeling emotional. Thirty years they’ve loved each other. Even when they were torn apart, they never stopped loving each other.
My mom explained that Tom always knew that he wasn’t my father. He knew how in love with Grinder she was, and how Tom promised to take care of her after Grinder went to prison. He took care of her, all right. He forced her to marry him, forced her to name him as my father. All the time gloating that he killed the man Grinder was accused of killing, and how he planted the damming evidence that finally put him away. Tom did that to his own little brother so that he could take his girl and child. He forced my mom to keep the secret of my parentage from Grinder, or he’d kill me.
I can’t imagine the pain my mom was in back then. She was seventeen years old, she was in love, but lost the love of her life thanks to the monster who did nothing but abuse us. Tom warned Mom never to talk about my birth father in front of him or me, and never to tell Grinder the truth. Grinder didn’t even know about me until he was released from prison, and even then it was months before he came around because he didn’t live anywhere near us.
I remember that day clearly. Grinder knocked on the door, and I answered it to this huge man with the mean looking scowl. I asked him who he was, and he told me that he was my uncle. I smiled, and he looked at me curiously. ‘How old are you?’ He asked.
‘I’m nine,’ I told him. His eyes widened, and he turned and walked away. My mom shot passed me and chased after him. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the conversation was heated. There was lots of shaking heads, and arms waving. Then he pointed at me, and my mom nodded. She was crying, and I was frightened. This huge, scary biker man was yelling at my mommy, and I wanted it to stop. I’d seen Tom yell and hurt her so many times in my life, and I didn’t want someone else to hurt her too.
I ran from the house and got in between them. I pushed the biker as hard as I could to get him away from my mom. Not that I could move him at all. ‘Get away from her! Don’t hurt her, please!’
I remember how my mom dropped to her knees, grabbed me, swung me around, and wrapped me up in her arms. ‘It’s okay, baby. Henry isn’t going to hurt me. He would never hurt me.’
‘But he yelled at you.’ I cried.
A hand stroked my back. I turned my head to look at the man; I thought was my uncle. ‘I would never hurt your mom, Marlea. I would never hurt you either. I love you both.’
‘You still love me after everything?’ My mom asked him.
‘I will always love you, Lacey.’
I wipe a tear from my cheek, wiping away that memory. I was too young to understand back then what they were saying, but I understand now.
I asked my mom why Grinder never took us away from Tom, why he was allowed to walk free if he set his brother up for a murder, he didn’t commit, and stole his family. Mom told me how Tom repeatedly threatened my life, and if she told Grinder the truth, he’d make her watch as he killed me. There would have been no way for her to get word to Grinder in Texas, and even if she did, I’d be dead before Grinder got there.
Mom said that she told Tom that she’d take me and run. Tom told her to do it, but she could run to the ends of the earth, and he’d still find her before Grinder found him. His brother may have run a motorcycle club, but Tom believed himself to be smarter.
That didn’t answer my question as to why Grinder never tried to be my father, to take back what Tom stole. My mother told me that she was so afraid of Tom, and the fact he’d manipulated her mind to believe everything he told her, that there was no way out. Mom was so scared that Tom would not only kill me but Grinder as well, that she lied to Grinder and told him that she’d been cheating on him with Tom since before he went to prison. Grinder didn’t believe her at first, but s
he made it so convincing that he believed that I wasn’t his child.
My mother hurt Grinder to save our lives, destroying herself in the process. However, it took Grinder only a short while to come back to Tennessee and tell my mother that he didn’t believe her. He hadn’t a clue why she said what she said, but he believed it was to do with not wanting to disrupt my life. Mom cried as she explained how Tom buried me alive the day she told him that she wanted to leave and take me to my real father. Tom beat her so badly that she was knocked out for a while. When she came around, Tom was sitting at the dining table covered in dirt and drinking a beer. Mom said that she couldn’t find me anywhere. That’s when Tom told Mom that he’d killed me and buried me out back. He then dragged my mother out to the backyard by her hair and threw her next to my grave.
I can’t imagine the pain and fear she was feeling at that moment in time. Mom said that she begged Tom to say it wasn’t true and if he did that she’d do anything to make he wanted. Tom made her promise to talk Grinder into leaving us alone, that it wouldn’t be in my best interests to tell me the truth. He made her promise never to see Grinder again, and never to tell me who my birth father was.
In her frightened mind, my mother agreed to his demands. He made her beg on her damn knees before he dug me up. Mom said she sobbed and grabbed me the second the lid to that coffin was opened. I was spluttering and gasping for air. Mom was too afraid to tell Grinder what had happened for fear of what Tom would do to me next. So, she broke things off with the man she loves, and Henry stayed away from us.
Grinder became angrier, meaner, and he grew the Wild Wolves into something huge, and for three years, he stayed away. He tried to get in touch when I was fifteen, but Mom said she never returned his call because Tom never stopped hurting me. Every Sunday, Tom would bury me alive as a warning to my mother, and a lesson to me to behave.
Crucify Thy Demons: Snakes Henchmen MC Page 28