Fractured & Formidable: The Sacred Hearts MC Book V

by Downey, A. J.

  I did what I was raised to do in these situations, I practiced what my father preached and silently prayed for guidance and for some kind of answer to the conundrum that was the whole situation.

  With any luck God would be listening.

  Chapter 11

  Revelator…

  I’d called Dray and asked if the thing with Red’s dad had been gotten to. He said he’d check and would hit me right back and he was dependable like that so I waited. My phone buzzed in my hand less than two minutes later.

  “Nope, not yet why?” he asked.

  “Hold off,” I’d told him and laid out what had just gone down in my Red’s kitchen. Dray was silent for a minute.

  “What’re you thinkin’?” he asked.

  I sighed and with the image of Red’s too-solemn face still burned into my brain I’d said, “I’m thinkin’ that it’s time to break the cycle for her, but that it’s also time to send a message to her daddy that he’ll never forget.”

  “Oh? And how do you propose we do that?” and so I sketched out the idea I had forming in my brain. I could almost hear my VP grin through the phone.

  “You know what brother? I think you’re on to something and I think that it might be good, not just for Mandy but for the club too. We been back sliding into some gnarly ass shit with The Suicide Cunts. This might just be a good reminder that there’s something out there other than blood and violence and blowing shit up that we could be doing. Let me run it by my pops.”

  “Good deal. I gotta go, man. I got Red to agree to stay at my place tonight.”

  “Good times. Talk to you later bro.”

  I ducked back into the shop and found Red with Irish at her side saying she was glad I’d been there when the shit went down. I tried to lighten the mood but failed miserably so I just tried to content myself with being near Mandy while she worked.

  “Why are you looking at me that way?” she asked around an hour in when she seated herself at the counter with me. She pulled a burrito out of the sack I’d brought in with me. She started to unwrap it but I stilled her hands.

  “You’re going to make a mess,” I laughed. “Let me show you how these are done,” I brought out the plastic knife and fork from the bag and cut into the thing with surgical precision, squishing the two ends together to open it up more. I handed her the fork for the neat little foil and flour tortilla bowl.

  “Seriously?” she asked.

  “What?”

  “This is not how you eat a burrito!” she laughed at me.

  “It is if you don’t want to wear it.” I shrugged and she dug in, humoring me.

  “This feels so wrong but it tastes so good!” she said a few bites in and I laughed, working on my own which was so not on my meal plan but I would work it off as soon as I got home. I was human and allowed to cheat every once in a while. Of course come weigh in, I’d probably be kicking my own ass for the burrito but you know, whatever… Nature of the beast.

  “Thank you for being here,” she said quietly a few minutes later, “I’m sure you could be doing any number of things right now.”

  “Yeah but I really want to be doing you,” I winked and she blushed and scoffed a laugh, giving me a gentle shove.

  “Pervert!” she declared.

  “You have no idea, but no worries Red, I’m gonna show you.” I winked at her and she got seven different kinds of flustered.

  “I um, worry about that you know?” she confessed.

  “About what?”

  “My inexperience, I mean I… um… and you, well…”

  I chuckled, “What the fact that before I met you I could be qualified as a top ranking member in the male slut hall of fame?” she really blushed at that and fixed her eyes on her burrito.

  “I wouldn’t put it like that,” she said weakly and I grinned.

  “I know, that’s why I did it for yah. And to answer your question, I’m not worried about it in the slightest but I can see you are and I’m telling you right now, you ain’t got no reason to worry.”

  She met my eyes reluctantly, “Okay,” she said quietly but I could tell she didn’t quite believe me, but that was okay. I had her to myself all night tonight.

  “What time are you out of here?” I asked.

  “Three more hours, we close at our regular time. I think it might be quieting down out there.”

  We finished our food quietly and she went back to moving wraithlike through her kitchen. I fucked around on my phone for some of it, when really what I wanted to do was take us both the hell out of there and back to my place.

  The clock ran down slower than a pregnant cow on methadone crossed the field but finally with a gusty sigh my girl undid her apron and hung it neatly on a hook set in the wall by the big freezer thing.

  “’bout ready?” I asked her nonchalantly. She gave me a wry smile.

  “Just about,” she said and with an arm around her waist we exited the kitchen. “Need a ride or is Dray coming?” she asked Everett.

  “Ride, Dray is at the club, I’m supposed to meet him. I was going to ask if you could drop me off there.”

  “Tell you girls what. Let’s head to your place so Mandy can get an overnight bag and drop off her car and I’ll give you a ride to the club since it’s on the way to my place.” The girls nodded.

  “Sounds great. It’ll let me throw some things together for tomorrow too,” Everett said. They went through the motions of final clean up and shutting down.

  “When did Zeb take off?” I asked.

  “When it was clear you weren’t going anywhere I told him to go, there wasn’t any point in having both of you here,” Everett stated flatly.

  “Surprised he went,” I said. Everett scowled and Mandy laughed at her.

  “He didn’t listen to her! I know that look anywhere.” Everett menaced Mandy with the cloth she was using to wipe off glass cleaner from the front of the display cases.

  “You’re right, damn you. I had to call Dray and he had to tell him to go.”

  “Yeeeeah,” I drawled, “The new guys may be fully patched but they still act like prospects sometimes.”

  “Except for Grinder, he probably would have just gone,” Mandy observed softly. Everett rolled her eyes at his name.

  “Problem with Grinder?” I asked.

  “He’s just a big damned flirt and doesn’t know when to turn it down a notch,” Everett declared, Red shifted.

  “He make you uncomfortable?” I asked her, eyeing her carefully.

  “Depends, are you going to do something stupid?” she asked, which was pretty much all the answer I really needed.

  “Stupid how?” I asked, grinning.

  “Like punch him or something?”

  I laughed, “Does he make you uncomfortable?” I repeated the question.

  Mandy paused in her sweeping and shook her head, “No.”

  “You suck at lying, Sugar.”

  She looked up alarmed as Everett started to howl with laughter, Red frowned at her best friend and stuck out her tongue. I laughed.

  I followed the girl’s home and waited while they threw some of their shit together. Mandy paused at her flowers I’d brought her the day before and smelled them, a slight smile curving her lips before she shouldered her small gym bag and turned to me, ready to go. Irish came out right behind her.

  “All set,” she declared and after locking up the house we trouped out to my Chevelle. Mandy got in back. I frowned.

  “What’re you doing Babe?” I asked.

  “Everett’s getting out first, I’ll switch then,” she smiled at me warmly and Everett sighed.

  “This isn’t high school anymore Mandy,” Everett chided.

  “I know,” Red smiled brightly at her friend and Everett got in. I filed the exchange away for later and drove us to the club. Letting Ev out in front, Mandy switched into the front seat after handing her BFF her bag and giving her a hug. Everett waved over her shoulder before disappearing inside. Red fastened her seatbelt and l
ooked up at me, running straight into the kiss I had waiting for her.

  I kissed her carefully, leaned way over the center console which didn’t exactly make things comfortable for an extended make out session. I pulled back and smiled at her and she smiled back, almost shyly in return. Good. She had an idea of what we were gonna be up to then.

  I shifted the car into first and pulled out, headed for home. The car ride was silent, Red looking out at the scenery but not really seeing it. When I pulled up in front of the house she looked at it without comment.

  “Not much to look at. Was my dad’s-dad’s place. He was a son of a bitch, so was my pops.” I let my gaze roam the dilapidated one story rambler. The yard was overgrown, choked with brown, dried up weeds. The tan and brown paint peeling off the sides of the house.

  “You don’t pull into the garage?” she asked softly.

  “It’s full of shit from the shop right now,” I told her and a cloud of some unnamed emotion passed over her face. “You okay Red?” I asked.

  She unhooked her seatbelt, “I’m fine, it’s just...” she trailed off, eyes staring sightless off in to space.

  “Just what, Sugar?” I kept my voice low, and soft.

  “It scared me. That level of violence,” her hazel eyes met mine and searched my face. “What if you’d been there? Or Disney had gone inside?” I trailed a fingertip down the silky skin of one of her cheeks.

  “I wasn’t, Sugar and he didn’t. Let’s go inside. I’ll build us a fire and we can take some time out to relax.”

  “I’d like that.”

  “Kind of figured you would.”

  We popped open our doors and I came around to her side, taking her bag out of her hands and slinging it over my shoulder. She put her free hand in mine, my keys lightly spiking into our palms as we walked to the front door. I keyed us in and hung them on the hook by the door.

  “Hey Disney! You here?” I called out.

  “Yeah!”

  “Got company!” I called, just in case he decided to wander out here in his Fruit of the Loom’s or some shit. He came around the corner fully dressed, slinging on his jacket and cut.

  “Hey Mandy!” he beamed at my girl and she smiled.

  “Thought you were out with Aaron tonight,” I grunted.

  “He’s on his way now,” I nodded and stepped past him.

  “Gonna put your bag in my room, Sugar. Make yourself at home,” She smiled at me and Disney started chatting with her as I made my way up the hall and towards the back. I set her bag on the foot of my bed and tried not to feel too self-conscious about the outdated, rundown nature of the house. I mean, shit, she was used to living in places that looked like something out of a magazine, if Dray’s place was anything to go by. I’m pretty sure her folks place was nice too judging by the outside of it.

  My house though? The thing had been built in the late sixties, early seventies and aside from a few coats of interior and exterior paint throughout the years, not much else had been updated about it. The carpet where there was carpet was old and shabby, the linoleum and cupboards and bathroom fixtures were all shit that had come with the house, hell even the range and fridge were older than I was.

  It wasn’t much to look at but it was mine and had the potential to be nice with some serious remodeling. I switched out of what I was wearing and into some gym clothes. I had to put in an evening work out, keep on an even training schedule. It’d only take me an hour, hour and a half tops with a shower. I’d get Mandy set up on the couch and a fire going in the grate, pound it out and we’d be good to go for the rest of the evening. A soft knock on my bedroom’s door frame had me wheeling around.

  “Dis leave?” I asked.

  “Mm-hm.”

  “I need to hit the gym, stick to my training. Let me get a fire started and get you comfortable first, though.”

  “Okay,” her voice was so soft and sweet, like her, and it made me smile. I walked back out into the living room with her. The house may be rundown and old but the furniture was decent in the living room. A black leather couch and love seat and a fifty inch flat screen TV took up most of the space. Red sank down onto the couch at my urging and I started working on starting a fire in the old ass grate.

  “You don’t have to do all that you know.”

  I smiled to myself, “I know, Sugar. I want to. You’re a treasure and I want you to be comfortable,” I shrugged haphazardly and shoved some newspaper under the logs.

  “Zander really, it’s just nice to be here with you.”

  I lit the paper and sat back on my heels. I looked over my shoulder at her and when I was sure that the presto log in with the rest of the regular ones was gonna catch, I slid across the open expanse of carpet between us. I placed my hands on her knees and looked up into her face. Her hands covered mine.

  “I want good things for you, Babe,” I murmured.

  “I know, thank you,” she was quiet for a moment, so was I, as we studied each other.

  “When will you be back?” she asked quietly.

  “Not going anywhere Baby, home gym in the back. It’ll take me an hour, hour and a half. You good?” she nodded silently. I reared up and kissed her forehead. I pulled the remote off the TV stand and handed it to her.

  “Make yourself at home, I mean it.” She nodded and I tore myself away, as much as I didn’t want to, and headed for the back room. I would have skipped it if I could have but I couldn’t so…

  Damn.

  Chapter 12

  Mandy…

  Music started up a few seconds later in the back of the house. Hard hitting and loud, the suddenness of it startling. I set the remote Zander had given me off to the side and instead pulled my Kindle from my purse. The fire was catching and starting to throw some warmth out, beating back the slightly damp chill that was pervasive in the house.

  I hadn’t any idea what to expect coming to Zander’s home but this… this wasn’t at all what I’d envisioned. I don’t know why, but I had always pictured him as an apartment dweller. A nice two bedroom with uniform white walls. I’d been surprised when he’d pulled into a neighborhood full of houses.

  I took in the shabby interior of the house. It was dusty, but relatively neat. Not even close to the sparkling perfection I’d been raised in, but then again, I’d had the impression from before, that Zander’s upbringing was nothing like mine, except maybe, in one aspect. I’d heard comments alluding to the fact that Zander’s father had a volatile temper. Something Zander had apparently inherited though I’d yet to see it. I rose to my feet and chewed my lip in indecision. He’d said to make myself at home but…

  I sat back down and tried to read, but after the fourth or fifth time of raking my eyes over the same line or paragraph I realized the effort was futile at best. I put the thing away and took off my shoes and padded down the hall in my thick wool socks thinking that maybe if I changed into something more comfortable than my jeans… I paused outside Zander’s bedroom door and looked into the lighted doorway across the hall from it.

  Home gym indeed! This was the nicest room of the house and by all appearances had been the master bedroom. The walls were a crisp white, and the far left hand wall, as you went through the doorway, was floor to ceiling mirrors. Windows took up the back wall, but white cloth shades were pulled from ceiling to floor over them. There was a darkened doorway to a small bathroom in the far right corner and the rest of the room was filled out with varying weight equipment, the hardwood floors gleaming beneath black rubber mats on which rested the shiny white and chrome equipment.

  Zander straddled a bench, his back to me and the doorway, gripping a bar that was attached to a cable at its middle, turned down at either end and capped in black rubber handles made for holding on to. His head bowed, he pulled the bar to the back of his neck across his powerful shoulders, the muscles coiling and bunching beneath his tattoos, the flames of his left arm dancing, the clouds of his right arm boiling as he pulled and eased off, pulled and eased off. I swallowed h
ard, struck by the fluid grace with which he moved until he reached the end of whatever count he’d been holding and with a metallic clack let the weights rest back in their place. I was frozen in my place, watching him and blushing furiously at how inappropriate it must be. The thought broke me out of my locked status and I ducked into his room and sat heavily on the edge of the mattress beside my packed bag.

  I didn’t regret having sex with Zander. At all. In fact I was pretty sure I was ready to again and I know he felt the same with the heated looks and constant nearness. Still, I felt incredibly guilty at certain times for going against my fathers and the church’s teachings on the subject. Which felt a little ridiculous now. My dad and my mom were nothing but big fat liars it seemed, and that hurt. That hurt incredibly so and I really didn’t want to think about it. I didn’t want to feel these things I simply wanted to be here, with Zander, where I felt safe and cherished and that was the heart of it really.

  Zander made me feel special. Every time he looked at me, every time he touched or kissed me, he made me feel like he’d been waiting for so long just for me to come along and that was the sweetest thing anyone had done for me, consciously or unconsciously on his part that it may be. I’d never been in love before but I was pretty sure that that was what this was. The feeling that stirred in my chest, just beneath my breastbone whenever I thought of him, or whenever he smiled at me. A feeling like I weighed nothing at all overtaking me until I felt as light and insubstantial as the air I breathed.

  I listened to the rhythmic click and clank of metal against metal, at odds with the music pounding from the speakers I hadn’t noticed in the room when I’d been surreptitiously watching him. The music cut after a few moments and I heard him sniff and cough. I ghosted to the door to his gym but he had disappeared, the darkened rectangle that I assumed was the bathroom was lit and the water in the shower cranked on.

  I had never been a brave or wanton girl. I had always done what was expected of me and stayed neatly within the boundaries, however restrictive, that my parents had laid down for me and after today I was sick and tired of being who my family wanted me to be. Especially after finding out that neither of them were who they presented. Perhaps it was wrong of me, I mean they were human and all humans were prone to mistakes, but I wanted this. I wanted to be close to Zander, to have him hold me, to have him kiss me and to replace all these ugly feelings with something beautiful for a time and so before I knew what I was doing, I found myself threading my way through his weight equipment and slipping into the bathroom doorway.