by E. C. Land
“Yea, ma raison d’être, it fits you, always did,” he states and returns to the matter at hand. “I brought her out here with me so I can make sure she eats. Soon as she’s done, she’ll be back in bed.”
“Glad you brought her out here.” My heart clenches at the sight of Ela walking our way with a bowl of something in hand and Carson at her side. “My grandson and I have been bonding in the kitchen while we made you your favorite.”
“Ela.” Tears burn my eyes as I keep them from falling. I’m not about to cry in front of all these people.
“Hey Mom,” Carson says making his way to where Peirce was still holding me in his arms. “Is Dad going to just hold you like that all day or are you going to sit and eat with me?”
And there you have it like father like son. All demanding he-man.
“I don’t know, it’s up to big guy here if he’s going to put me down or not. I told him I could walk,” I shrug.
“If everyone would let me get to a table I will, but I’m not setting you down until then. You’ve been through too much shit and need to keep up your strength,” Peirce grumbles, pushing his way forward and finally plants my rear in a chair as Ela places the bowl in front of me.
“Shoo, Pit, let me talk with my daughter while you go do what you need to. Carson why don’t you go get your gramps and show him what you were telling me about. I know nothing about skateboarding,” Ela states waving them away.
“Okay, Grams,” Carson says already turning on his heel heading to Peirce’s dad who was grinning at my son.
God, I feel like the worst mother in the world for denying my son, as well as his father and grandparents, this opportunity for so long.
“Tiny, Nora, Brielle, why don’t you join us?” Ela suggests then turns to look at me. “I’d ask Faith, but she wasn’t feeling well, and Axel took her home.
Um, okay? “Is she okay?” I ask.
“Oh yes, just nearing time for her to have the baby,” Ela says smiling. “I swear it’s been so long since we had kids here and now they’re multiplying. Pitch Black, shoo now,” she says using her mom voice. I remember her using it when she needed to be stern with Peirce or his sister.
Tilting my head back, I meet Peirce’s eyes as he turns his focus from glaring at his mom to meet my gaze. “Eat,” he commands and turns on his heel and heads to his brothers as the girls take seats at the table.
“Now that I’ve gotten my overbearing son away for a few minutes. Eat while we chat,” Ela commands using the same tone with me.
Gingerly, I lean forward and take the first bite of heaven. God, I have not had sancocho soup in what feels like forever or rather since the last time Ela made it for me. Closing my eyes, I savor the taste.
“When was the last time you ate?” Tiny asks. “You look so much thinner than the last time I saw you.
Bowing my head, I try not to let the embarrassment take over. I knew I’d lost a lot of weight, but to have it pointed out hurts.
“Tiny,” Nora says with a slight warning.
“Sorry, it’s just that I know what it’s like to not eat and what it does to your body. I just want to make sure you’re okay,” Tiny murmurs softly.
Lifting my head, I notice the sincerity in her eyes.
“I don’t eat but a slice of bread most of the time,” I admit mutedly.
“Angelina, child, you cannot do that to yourself. My son has been hurting for far too long and to see the colors surrounding him not diminished, makes my heart soar,” Ela states, reaching out to hold my hand.
The four of them remain silent for a few moments after Ela’s words. While I finish eating the soup, she’d made for me, I let her words about Peirce sink in. The four of them converse between each other allowing me to have this time. Glancing over my shoulder I look to see Peirce standing there talking with Chains, Breaker, and Tyres. He must sense me staring at him. Lifting his head, he gives me a jerk of his chin in acknowledgment.
“Oh lord, the strays are coming out of their corner,” Brielle mutters, drawing my attention back to the women sitting with me.
“Ugh they better behave themselves. My kids are asleep and I’m trying to have a nice time since I’m not exhausted for a change,” Tiny grumbles, her eyes narrowing.
“Don’t worry about those women. Those women are nothing but woody-stuffers.” My eyes widen in surprise at Ela’s blatant words. Glancing from her to the other women, we all burst into a fit of giggles.
“Woody-stuffers? That’s a good one,” Nora giggles.
“I’m going to have to use that one. Like ooo baby you want to stuff your woody inside.” Brielle laughs, shaking her head.
“No, wait here you go. Woody needs the stuffing so open up and let him in,” Tiny says in a fit of giggles.
“Oh my God, that is too hilarious.” I laugh, then wince at the pain in my rib cage. “Woody-stuffers or better yet poker-holes. I mean you get a bad hand in poker you’re going down the hole.” At this all four of the women sitting with me burst into laughter all over again.
“Now that’s also a good one,” Tiny says wiping her eyes as tears fill them.
“What’s going on over here?” Chains asks, brushing his fingers through his ol’ lady’s hair.
We’d been laughing so hard none of us saw the men approach our table.
“Oh nothing, we’re just joking about poker-holes and woody-stuffers.” Tiny giggles setting us all off again.
“What the fuck is a woody-stuffer and poker-hole?” Peirce asks then holds up a hand. “Wait, I do not want to know. I think I’ve got it.”
“You want me to be your woody-stuffer?” Nora jokes looking up at her ol’ man, Breaker.
“Fuckin’ hell, woman. You all are going to ruin stuffing for me by saying shit like that. Then again, I am famished,” Breaker says, leaning forward he lifts Nora out of her seat and throws her over his shoulder. “Time for you and me to go play hide down the rabbit hole.” As Breaker says this, he sets off another round of laughter along with chuckles from the men.
“Okay, on a real note. Angelina would you like me to take Carson to our house for the night so you can rest?” Ela asks, sobering me up.
“Um, I suppose. As long as Carson’s up for it. He’s never stayed away from me unless it was a night I had to work,” I say, clasping my hands in my lap.
“It’s understandable he’s never done that before. You didn’t have the support you have now, and you could use a night of sleep not having to worry about if your son is going to be taken from you,” Ela murmurs.
“What’s this about Carson being taken from you?” Peirce demands, taking a seat in the chair next to me.
“You read the letter I wrote right?” Peirce gives me a nod in response. “The orders are for them to take me to the Callaghan’s place and kill Carson. Ballard didn’t agree with the part about taking me to him though, according to Ballard, he claims Bryce gave me to him to do with as he will. But I heard him talking to someone when I came to in the trunk of his car. He told them I’d slipped through his fingers.”
Peirce’s eyes darken at the mention of Carson being killed. Anger nearly pours off of him as he listens to me.
“Mamma, could you stay here with him instead of your house? I know you have Pops there with you but knowing this, I’m not risking my kid being away from me.” Yeah, Peirce is protective, and I knew he would be. It’s why I always told Carson, if something happens to me, he’s to run straight to his dad. He would always keep him safe from those who want him dead; however, I didn’t always say it in that manner.
“Of course, mon beau, I’ll set up a cot in your pops and my room for him to sleep on and we’ll have movie night,” Ela says nodding in agreement.
“Hope you like Iron Man and the other Marvel characters. If you’re a DC fan be warned he’ll go into a spew about all the reasons why Marvel is way better than anything to do with Batman and Superman,” I grumble, having heard the lecture on several occasions.
“That’s
because Marvel is better. I mean Batman is okay, but Tony Stark not only is rich he’s a genius that designed and created Iron Man. Batman doesn’t have anything on him.” I’m astonished by Peirce’s own argument.
Lordy.
Carson is just like his father.
“Now, how about I get you back to the room so you can rest,” Peirce suggests but it comes more as a command.
“Sounds good to me, I honestly don’t need to see any of the woody-stuffers at work,” I mutter.
Chuckling, Peirce shakes his head at me. “I don’t know who came up with that but it’s hilarious as fuck.”
“That would be me,” Ela says taking the credit she deserves. Peirce looks at his mom for a moment then scoops me up in his arms.
“I don’t even want to think about why you would come up with shit like that,” Peirce grumbles and walks away with Ela yelling out to him, he wasn’t brought into this world by miraculously appearing but rather her and Fury having fun in the sack.
Soon as we get to Peirce’s room, he lays me gently on the bed. “You want to take off your leggings?”
“Uh, yeah, but I can do it,” I say reaching down to do just that. Peirce not allowing this, pushes my hands out of the way, slides his own up my hips, and grips the material in his hands. Gently he pulls them off me without removing the socks from my feet.
I instantly feel myself starting to drift to sleep once Peirce covers me with the comforter and for the first time in twelve years, I know it’s safe for me to sleep through the night.
Chapter Eleven
Pitch Black
Pulling myself from Angelina is harder than I thought it would be as I leave her tucked into my bed.
I’m still confused by this whole scenario. Fuse has been looking into the Callaghans, as well as my woman’s father, I’m hoping he’ll have an answer for me.
It’s why I was leaving her asleep in my bed. Plus, she needs the rest.
Shit.
I still can’t believe I have claimed her after all this time, I’d sworn to never allow her in my life again. Only I wasn’t the only one to suffer and if I’m honest she’s suffered way more than I fuckin’ have. The fact that she’s skin and bones is testament to this. Her strength is admirable in how she never gave up and protected our son the best she could and taught him that if the time came, he needed to come to me.
To her, she didn’t mind if I hated her or not, she knew I would protect Carson. I didn’t need a DNA test to prove he is mine, he has my mark on him, this was her way of proving it.
Leaving my room, I head back into the main room of the club. Spotting my VP, I make my way over to where he’s sitting with a bottle of Maker’s Mark. “What are you doing over here, VP?” I ask throwing myself in a chair across from him.
“Trying to drink myself into a stupor, I suppose,” he shrugs.
What the fuck?
“Wanna explain?” I push.
Shaking his head, Tyres, lifts the bottle to his mouth and takes a heavy swig of the stuff. As he puts the bottle back on the table, Tyres braces his arms on the table in front of him. “I fucked up, Pit,” he mutters, lowering his head in defeat.
“I don’t get it, VP. You fucked up, how?”
“You remember that trip we took up to the Devil’s Riot MC and all that shit went down with Raven’s shit?” How could I forget something like that shit?
Speaking of Raven, I need to make sure to call her and tell her about Carson. She’ll wanna come down to meet him. That or demand I bring him up there.
Instead of giving him a verbal answer, I nod my head in response.
“Yeah, well I got call today from a detective up there, by the name of Warrenton. He’s requesting I come back up there for a DNA test to find out whether I have a kid or not.”
“Come again,” I say, straightening myself in my chair.
“You heard me,” he grumbles, lifting the bottle to his mouth and takes another hefty swallow.
“So how did you fuck up and why is a detective calling you about this?” I mutter, confused by it all.
“Cause the kid’s mom died in a car accident and my name is on the birth certificate. How that’s possible I don’t fuckin’ know. Shit I don’t even know the woman he’s talking about.”
“When are you leaving to go up there to do this shit?”
“I’m not going just yet,” he shrugs. “I called Vi and asked if she’d do a test. If it comes back that she’s related to the kid, I’ll go up, but I’m not wasting my time for nothing.” It’s a good idea for him to have Victoria do a DNA test first. I’m sure she’ll look into the situation beforehand to make sure it’s not some sort of setup.
“If the kid’s yours, what are you going to do?” I ask.
“I have no fuckin’ clue. I never wanted any of my own and now I possibly have a kid, who I don’t even remember the name of its mom. Shit. How the hell am I supposed to raise a little girl? Kids are cool and shit but I never wanted to have someone carrying on the tainted bloodline of my mother and sperm donor,” Tyres sneers, shaking his head.
No wonder he thinks he fucked up. Tyres thinks that by him having a kid, he could end up being a parent like his own.
“VP, you know if this girl ends up being yours, you’ll have support here,” I say hoping to help get him out of his head. “You won’t be like the bitch who gave birth to you. She didn’t raise you to be who you are. That was all on Ryder, brother. You can do this and we’ll all stand behind you.”
Tyres regards me for a full minute before nodding his head. “Thanks, Pit, appreciate it. How you taken all the shit that’s happened?”
Sighing, I slump back in my chair and brush a hand over my face. “I’ve hated Angelina for years and when I found out she moved back here I was fuckin’ furious. I didn’t want to see her; however, for some reason I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Like she was engrained in my head, I couldn’t get her out. Then Carson shows up here and everything has escalated at warp speed.”
“You sure about claiming her?” he asks, quirking a brow.
“Wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t mean it. Shit, she’s always been mine. Still has my mark on her,” I murmur, closing my eyes. “She suffered, brother, a hell of a lot more than me.”
“How so?”
“Saw these scars on her back and asked her when she received them.” Fuck I can see them in my head. “The day of the fire when I got burned, she was gifted with those markings.
“What kind of scars?” confusion fills my VP’s voice.
“Thin lines that look as if a knife sliced through her like butter. Several of them are simple lines crisscrossing her back; however, the word bréagán is carved out between and amongst the rest of the thinner scars.”
“Fuck, Pit, if we’d known this shit back then, the club could have helped,” Tyres says, grimacing at the image I’m sure he now has.
“Yeah, well I was a fuckhead who couldn’t see through the anger. I’m still fuckin’ pissed about it, only now I know in which direction to focus it on,” I snarl, thinking of what I need to do to get the fuckers that caused all of this shit to happen.
Caused my woman and me to lose twelve years of our lives together.
I’m going to kill them all.
Tyres and I sit together, bullshitting around when Carson comes up to tell me he was heading to my mamma and pop’s room to watch movies with them.
Nodding, I told him good night.
Soon as he leaves the room, I feel arms wrap around my neck as tits press into my back. “Finally, I thought you’d never be alone,” Vix purrs in my ear.
“Who do you think you are?” I snarl, removing her arms from around my neck and shoving her away.
“Come on, Pitch Black, let’s go to another room and I’ll help you release that tension you’re building. I mean seriously that bitch came here trying to strap you down. Well, that’s not you. The girls have told me how you like variety, she can’t give you what we can. What I can,” th
e bitch pouts, running her fingers along my jaw.
“I suggest you back off,” I snap, shoving her fingers from touching me and standing to make my point. “I don’t need nor want your snatch. Not when I’ve got the cunt I envision all the fuckin’ time in my motherfuckin’ bed as we speak, so don’t come near me again, bitch.”
Vix’s eyes widen, nearly popping out of their sockets as she takes a step back, turns on her heels and rushes away from me.
“Dude that was funny.” Swinging my head around, I find my son standing there looking at me in amazement. “But I don’t need the image you just put in my head. That part’s gross,” Carson grumbles.
“Thought you went to watch movies,” I state, turning to face him fully.
“Yeah, but I wanted to ask you something really quick,” he says, tilting his head to the side.
“What’s that Carson?”
“Do you love my mom?” his question blows my mind.
“Never stopped.” I nod admitting the complete truth to myself. “In this life there are those we love and then there are those who fill our souls and become a part of us. You can love someone all day long, but to feel the true connection with that one means to meddle your souls together. That’s what Mamma always told your aunt and me growing up.”
“Cool, then I can leave it in your hands to make my mom happy,” Carson mumbles with a nod of his own astonishing me by his words. “Night, Dad.” With that my kid turns on his heels and rushes back down the hall to my parents’ room.
Staring after him, I’m stunned by his words. A slow grin slides into place as I make a vow to myself.
I’ll do more than make Angelina happy, I’ll give her the motherfuckin’ world, starting with taking out the fuckers who tried to destroy us both.
Chapter Twelve
Angelina
Waking up in warmth and not having to fear what’s to come that day is one feeling I’ll never get used to. Not after so many years living with it.
For the past three weeks, I’ve barely done anything, not for the lack of trying. No one would let me. Now that I’m feeling somewhat better, I’m determined to do something besides sit around and waste away the day twiddling my thumbs.