Scarred: The Ruthless Rebels MC Series Book 3

by Michele, Ryan

  “Why can’t they just call you by your names?”

  “Well, we just have these names with our brothers. You can call me Whitton and him Austin, or Shamus and Skinny. We answer to either.”

  Shamus starts to back out of the parking spot. “Buckle up.”

  Leaning back in my seat and watching as Drea secures Marlayna in the booster car seat and shoulder belt, I buckle as well.

  Turning to Whitton, I whisper, “Why do they call you Skinny?

  He leans into my ear. “I like curvy women.”

  “And I’m thankful for this.”

  “At a party once, this woman kept hitting on me, but she was as skinny as a rail. I told her I’d break her like a twig. Guys caught wind of it and started calling me Skinny as a joke. It stuck.”

  “I’m not sure I like that.”

  Drea leans over the seat. “I don’t like how Shamus got his name either, but you’ll learn to roll with it.” She gives me a wink and turns to Marlayna, holding a book in her hand. She begins talking with the little girl like she’s the most important thing on the planet. Exactly what Marlayna needs. I love that she’s getting that from these two.

  “Do you all have names like this?”

  “Waylon is Triple Threat.”

  At this I gasp. “What? No, that’s not right.” Triple Threat means he’s dangerous. That just can’t be right.

  “Yeah, babe. He is. You don’t know him now, but you will.”

  My stomach churns. “I don’t think he likes me.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  I shift in my seat. “He doesn’t talk to me or anything.”

  Whitton leans in again. “Roe, he sees how happy you make me. He’s workin’ through his own shit, but I know for damn sure he doesn’t want to be the one to scare you off and away from me.”

  “No, I wouldn’t …”

  Whitton interrupts, “Like I said, workin’ through stuff. Just know he doesn’t hate you. Far from it.”

  “Okay.”

  “Ms. Roe?” Marlayna asks from the seat in front of us, pulling Whitton and I out of our conversation.

  “Yes, honey.”

  “Mrs. Easton said I was going to Ms. Marie’s house.”

  Even though I should have expected this, I didn’t. Not knowing what’s happened to Marie is riding me hard, but I’ve done my best to keep it in the back of my head. I know Whitton is right. I know she got me in a lot of trouble, and I need to scrape it off. It’s just hard for me, but I’m trying.

  “Ms. Marie ended up not being able to take you in, honey. It had nothing to do with you at all. Big people sometimes don’t make the best decisions, and that’s what happened here.”

  “Sometimes they don’t,” she says so softly I barely hear. I hate talking to her back, but it is what it is. Eye level would have been better.

  “Right,” I sigh as Drea reaches over and grabs little Marlayna’s hand.

  “That’s why we got the best present in the entire world, you.”

  Drea’s face beams, and I hope like hell that Marlayna is giving her something back.

  “Really?” her little voice says.

  “Really. Shamus and I are so happy to have you in our home. You’ll have your very own room. I even went to the store and got you a whole set of Barbie bedding to go with your blanket.”

  “Wow. Does it …” She trails off and doesn’t finish.

  “Does it what, sweetheart?” Drea asks.

  “Never mind.”

  I know exactly what she’s talking about, and the ache from my past hits hard and tears threaten to fall from my eyes. “Is there a lock?” I ask Drea, already knowing the answer because I helped put the room together, but Marlayna needs to bond with Drea. It’s so important that she begins to trust her and Shamus.

  A wide smile comes across Drea’s face. “Yes. It has a lock.”

  Damn, I wish I could see the little girl’s face. Drea turns to me, a small tear in her eye, and I know this is good. These two with Marlayna will work out perfect.

  Marlayna has a family, and I have Whitton. It’s everything I could have prayed for. Pastor Corbin would be proud. He saw through our pain. He gave me the motivation to get back to praying. Things may still be new, but we have something and that something is love.

  I pause, looking at Shamus checking on his wife and Marlayna in the rearview mirror, and I find myself looking to Whitton.

  We have family. It’s far more than I could have imagined.

  Chapter 22

  Closing in … they’re gonna get more than they bargained for!

  “Incoming,” Shamus calls to me in the back, and I turn to see men on bikes. Not our men and not the Ravage MC. Black Souls.

  I lift my phone to my ear. “We’ve got company. Plan B is needed.”

  “Copy,” Thumper says, disconnecting.

  “Plan B,” I call up to Shamus who nods.

  “It’s them. Where are we going?” Roe whispers in my ear, I’m pretty sure hoping to not freak out the little girl. Thing Roe needs to know is that little girl has been through hell and if something in her environment changes, she knows it. This is confirmed when Marlayna reaches over to Drea and holds her hand, yet says nothing.

  “Thought this would happen. Up the road a ways, we have some back up to get us all out of here.”

  “Fuck!” Shamus swerves the Tahoe, going off the side of the road and into the gravel. He narrowly misses a large street sign but is able to get over in time. Two men on bikes ride up getting closer and closer, trying to force our hand. Fuck that.

  “Do not stop, Shamus,” I order, mostly for my own sake because I know Shamus will do what needs to be done.

  Roe grabs my hand. I give her a squeeze, release her, and grab my guns.

  “Protect her,” I tell Roe, knowing she knows this, but giving her the information that this could turn really bad really quickly.

  We accelerate, hitting something hard. I feel the rumble beneath us, and I’d be surprised if the cage of the SUV isn’t damaged.

  “Just a little bump,” Shamus says as Drea holds Marlayna against her so she can’t see. I watch out the back window as the man and his bike are laying behind us as we go. Well, that was one way to keep us moving, Shamus, I think as I assess our situation. It doesn’t stop the Black Souls. They come at us again.

  “I’m dealin’ with this.” There are seven or so guys behind us and four to the side of us. “Get down and cover her ears,” I order Drea, who complies, quickly pulling the Marlayna out of the seat. Roe climbs over the seat and puts her body over Drea and Marlayna. We’re getting out of this shit.

  I aim at the back window, shattering it. The little girl screams. Drea and Roe try to calm her. I pluck off three guys quickly and they fall to their death, their bikes still moving, then crashing to the ground.

  The truck jolts, there’s a loud crash that propels me forward hard, almost knocking the gun from my hand.

  “Fuck!” Shamus yells, pulling out his gun. “Fucker is under the truck.” He climbs over the center console and out the passenger side door. Shots are heard under the car. Then shots begin from the Souls.

  I grab my two and push out of the side door, using the Tahoe as cover.

  “End this shit,” Shamus says, and I nod.

  Hope Roe knows I love her with all my heart and will do anything and everything to protect her and that little girl. She’s my life, my soul forever.

  With precise aim, I take out more men at the back, bullets hitting at my feet. Two bikes start to come to our side of the truck. A shot’s fired and burning pain sears through my shoulder. I aim right for the guy’s head and put him down. His bike drops when he releases the throttle, and he’s thrown as gravity takes over. Then move to the next, doing the same.

  One of the guy’s bikes takes off spinning, hitting the back of the Tahoe and bouncing over our heads and into the grass at the side of the road. We jump out of the way, but it makes us targets. There should be only a
few guys left.

  Bullets hit the truck, and fear slices through me. This isn’t happening. I’m not losing Roe, dammit. Changing the clip quickly, I provide cover while Shamus gets his changed, too.

  Shamus and I move to the hood of the truck then get up and start shooting as bullets come flying our way. Just then, bikes come from the right side of us, guns extended and aiming at the four remaining men. My brothers and the Ravage MC. Fuck yeah.

  Continuing to shoot, I watch as the assholes fall one by one, crashing to the ground. Once the threat is gone, I open the door to the truck.

  “You okay?”

  Marlayna is crying, but Roe’s head pops up, eyes going wide. “You’re shot!”

  “You—Roe, Drea, Marlayna. Are you okay?”

  Drea rises and Marlayna looks at me, water coming down her face.

  “We’re fine.”

  “Little one, all the bad people are gone now. Promise you I’ll protect you.”

  “You will?” The innocence in her eyes reminds me of when I didn’t understand what was going on around me as a child.

  “Swear it.”

  Chapter 23

  Protect what’s mine!

  I push my way out of the truck and focus on Whitton’s shoulder. I have no fear. I have no shock. Everything I thought I would feel, I don’t. All I think is Whitton is hurt, and I’m glad to see all these men dead because they were trying to take Marlayna and hurt my man. Blood oozes out of his wound showing no sign of stopping. I pull the cardigan from my body and press the fabric to Whitton.

  “You’re shot!” I repeat.

  “No shit, babe,” he retorts and if he didn’t have a bullet inside of him, I’d slap him. “Roe, it’s a clean shot, went all the way through. Just gotta stop the blood, and it’ll be fine.”

  “Fine,” I growl. “This is not fine, Whitton Thorne!”

  “Roe, are you breathin’?” he asks.

  “Yes!” I clip, pressing the cloth harder.

  “Drea’s breathin’, kid’s breathin’. Fuck, we’re all breathin’. We’re family. We knew this shit was a possibility. You knew it was a possibility. It happened, it’s done. We deal and move on.”

  “Is this normal here?”

  “I wouldn’t say normal, as in an everyday thing, but it happens.”

  “Man, you alright?” Thumper comes up to Whitton and me.

  “Yeah, bullet to the shoulder. Clean through, just need to stop the bleeding,” Whitton responds. “Roe’s doin’ a good job of that.” I’m not sure sure about that, but it’s a nice thing for him to say.

  “Only one man down, that’s impressive.” A huge man with caramel hair comes up to us. He’s dangerous—no other word to describe him. It oozes off of him. “Tahoe’s here. Need you, the woman, and kid out of here so we can clean up.”

  “Right,” Whitton answers.

  “Who are you?” I ask, seriously suspicious.

  “Your ol’ lady?” The man asks Whitton, not addressing my question.

  “Yeah.”

  He smiles. “Cruz, president of the Ravage MC. Need ya to get the kid and get out of here so we can take care of this mess.”

  “Take care of it?”

  “Roe,” Whitton says, but Cruz continues.

  “Yeah, don’t need the cops comin’ ‘round and seein’ this shit. We’ll get it cleaned up quick if you get the fuck out of here.”

  I look at Whitton, and he must see the uncertainty in my eyes. “This’ll all go away, Roe. It’ll just be a memory for you, Drea, and Marlayna.”

  Something hits me in the gut hard. This is Whitton’s life. Shooting people. Killing them. How do I do this?

  The ride back to the clubhouse is spent trying to make Marlayna smile. Drea and I break through when we’re pretty close to the clubhouse. But it’s something, and we’ll take it. Drea answered all of Marlayna’s questions so appropriately, I thought for sure she should have been a teacher like me. It just made that seal of Marlayna with them so much stronger in my eyes.

  Me, I try to keep my thoughts to the little girl beside me. Whitton took the front seat with Shamus driving, and I didn’t want to sit by myself.

  Unfortunately, it doesn’t work, but I did come to a conclusion. Whitton shot at those men because they wanted to hurt us. Wanted to hurt Marlayna. He killed because those men left him no choice. In my eyes, that doesn’t make him a bad man. It makes him one that I can depend on to keep all of us safe from the ugly in the world.

  It’s warped, but I understand it. And I love him all the more for it. His bleeding stopped, and he said the doctor would be at the clubhouse. He called him Bones, and I shivered. I mean … what doctor is named Bones?

  His name really doesn’t matter, though, as long as he fixes up my man. Yes, my man. I’m in this. I’m in this for the long haul, for now and forever.

  Chapter 24

  Adjusted … never been a word to describe me!

  “It’s perfect,” Roe says, staring at the ranch style home that won out in our battle of the houses. I can’t tell you how many she drug me through, but we finally found the one. It has four bedrooms, three baths, full basement and three bay garage.

  The great thing about me living at the club for so long is I had a lot of cash saved up. Enough pay for this house and be able to get Roe everything she ever wanted.

  We stayed with Shamus and Drea for the past three weeks, letting little Marlayna adjust, which she’s done well. It was also past time we got out of there and into a place of our own.

  Now we have it.

  “Yeah, it is.”

  Horns honk behind us and my brothers are in their trucks, hauling all the shit that Roe picked out. It’s time to move in and have a home. With my woman. My Roe.

  Everyone’s beat and they begin to leave, which is good because I need to christen my fucking house, but I need to take care of something first.

  “TT!” I call out and my brother comes in to the kitchen, lifting his chin. We’re alone, and I need that for a minute.

  “You good about this?”

  He gives me a smirk. “Best fuckin’ thing that could happen to you, brother. So fuckin’ happy you got your home.”

  “You can get it, too.”

  “Nah.”

  I shake my head. “Need to call Roe in here. She thinks you don’t like her.”

  His eyes narrow. “Why the fuck she think that?”

  “Because you’re so damn personable, TT,” I joke.

  “Shut the fuck up.” He jabs me in the arm, not hard, but I feel it. “Call her.”

  “Roe!”

  Moments later she steps in the room, her eyes darting between me and my brother. “What’s going on?”

  “TT, you hate Roe?”

  Roe’s eyes widen. “Whitton! Don’t ask him that,” she hisses, making me laugh.

  TT steps up to Roe, who gets really quiet. “Don’t hate you, Roe. So fuckin’ happy my brother got back what I cost him. Fuckin’ hate I’m the reason he left you in the first place. Gotta live with that. You’re the best damn thing that could’ve happened to him.”

  “Waylon.”

  “TT,” he corrects her.

  “TT,” she whispers.

  “I’m out.” He darts from the room so fast you’d swear the man was a magician.

  “I didn’t even get to tell him anything,” Roe says, coming up and wrapping her arms around me.

  “Nothin’ to say, Roe.” I kiss the top of her head. “We have a new bedroom we need to fuck in.”

  She shivers. The first week after the shooting, she was afraid to touch me. I’m so damn happy she broke out of that.

  I pick Roe up bridal style. She screams with excitement as we make our way to the bedroom.

  “Good thing we put the bedding on,” she says as she falls to the soft grays she picked out.

  “Yeah, good thing.”

  I waste no time and strip her of her clothes, then mine. Her pussy calls to me, and my mouth latches on. She squirms and trie
s to buck her hips, but my grip is tight, holding her lower half down.

  She explodes when I insert my finger the added pressure too much for her. I ride her out while bringing her back up.

  Kissing up her body, my lips attack hers and she moans, her hands touching me everywhere. My cock throbs with need.

  Instead of sliding home, I flip her over to her hands and knees. She wobbles a bit, getting her balance. Once she finds it, my cock finds its home pressing hard into her. She falls to her elbows, gasping and calling out my name. I love hearing those words off her lips.

  Reaching around, I massage her clit quickly as I feel my balls begin to draw up. My head lifts, and my breaths leave me. Our reflection stares back at me in the mirror to the side of the bed. Roe in the throes of passion, me pressing in and out of her. The look of pure ecstasy on my woman’s face.

  All those years ago, when I took her for the first time, I saw this and never thought in a million years I’d get it back. Now, I have it.

  “Roe, look up.” Our eyes connect in the mirror. “Best thing that ever happened to me, love you.”

  She makes a move to speak, but her orgasm takes over and mine follows.

  We fall to the bed tangled in each other, breathes uneven, and the smell of sex in the air. Fuckin’ heaven.

  I reach out and massage her ass. Yeah, love a woman with curves. “Pick a date, Roe.”

  She moans.

  Standing, I go to our bathroom and wet a washcloth with warm water to clean her up. I look in the mirror.

  Damn, I smile. This is what happiness is. I feel so full I could burst. Long gone are the days where the weight of the world churns in my stomach. No longer do I wake up with the need to regurgitate my contents because the stress, the evil, and all the wrongs that wreak havoc inside me. The acid is gone and in it’s place is love and real, genuine, happiness.

  I don’t see a scarred man in my reflection. I don’t see the evil I was born to be. I see a man with a woman who makes him better, who supports him through it all, and loves him as he is—