Unwounded: An Unacceptables MC Standalone

by Mazzola, Kristen Hope

  “Thank you, Raven. I really do appreciate it.” She forced a kind smile.

  “Is Seth going to make it?”

  She shook her head. “He left a little bit ago for a conference in Boston. He’ll be gone all week.”

  Thank God!

  “All right. Well, we’ll see you in the morning.” I waved as nicely as I could before hightailing it out of there.

  Chapter 3

  Jett

  “We have another goddamn situation,” Maccon muttered in between Reese and me at the bar.

  I twisted around to read his face, knowing immediately that privacy was needed for the conversation we were about to embark on. Without another word, the three of us went into the back office and locked the door.

  Reese folded his arms, leaning against the far wall and staring at our president.

  “Well?” I asked as the dead air started to make me uneasy. Maccon wasn’t one for overreacting, and if he said there was something wrong, it was really wrong.

  “Luke’s causing problems with the female employees at the garage again.” Maccon’s voice was low and gravely. Luke wasn’t the best man to ever wear one of our cuts, and to say he was on thin ice was the biggest understatement of the year. It wasn’t a surprise that he was going to have to be dealt with again; we had just hoped Luke wasn’t as big of an idiot as he was proving to be.

  “The new girl?” Reese questioned sharply.

  A swift nod was all Maccon offered in response.

  “She’s only been there for a few days. What in the ever-loving hell is wrong with that son of a bitch?” I sank into my desk chair, ready to wring Luke’s neck once again.

  “We need to bring this to the table. I can’t let it slide any longer.” Maccon rubbed the back of his neck as his face turned red. “Disrespecting employees, especially a sister of one of our own, is out of the damn question.”

  My skin crawled at the thought of someone treating Katherine like that. With blood boiling, I palmed the desk. “Let me just handle him. It would be a pleasure.”

  “You know that can’t happen, Jett.” Maccon held his hand up to me, knowing exactly where my thoughts were heading. Without Maccon and Reese’s voices of reason, I would fly off the handles without warning.

  Reese nodded over in my direction. “I’m with Jett on this one, brother.”

  “Rules are rules. He wears the same skull and bones that we do. We can’t forget that.” Maccon’s jaw churned. “I’ll call a meeting. Be in the war room in an hour.”

  “What’s Wyatt got to say about all of this?” I asked quickly, knowing how little Wyatt liked to ruffle feathers. He was our newest patched member and tried to keep his head down and his nose clean. When his sister had moved in with him, down on her luck, it’d taken a lot for Wyatt to even ask if she could get a job at the garage.

  “Haven’t spoken to him yet. Luke was a dumbass and tried to play it off like she couldn’t handle the job. After looking at the security cameras, I was able to read between his ill-written lines. The black eye she gave him didn’t help his agreement either.”

  “Good for her,” Reese chuckled.

  “See you in an hour, brother.” I slapped Maccon on the shoulder. “We’ll make this right, once and for all.”

  “I fucking hate this part of the job,” he growled at his VP.

  Reese cleared his throat. “I say we strip him of his job and put him on probation.”

  My spine stiffened. That wasn’t enough in my mind, but rules were rules. I needed to remember that.

  Maccon eyed me. “Say it.”

  “He needs to be gone,” I said firmly.

  “Some could say that about you, Jett.” Reese glared at me. He was my brother-in-law, and I knew Katherine had probably told him about my lack of restraint as of late.

  “I didn’t fucking do anything to anyone who didn’t consent to it and you fucking know it,” I roared, jumping up right into Reese’s face.

  His hands flew into the air. “Just calling the kettle as black as it is, man.”

  “Fuck both of you,” Maccon howled, slamming him fist into the wall. “This is not about Jett’s inability to keep his dick out of sluts’ mouths. This is about a brother groping someone who is completely off limits, a woman who in no way wanted his grimy hands on her ass in the middle of the garage we own.”

  I dragged in a long breath. “You’re right, and I am sorry for my actions recently. I’ll do better.”

  Maccon narrowed his eyes at me. “You know what you need to do. We all do. Let’s deal with one problem at a fucking time, for Christ’s sake.”

  Reese took a step back, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Sorry,” he muttered to me.

  “I’d be pissed too if Katherine told me the same stories you’ve been hearing about me. I get it.” Reese and I shook hands and let the bullshit lie. It wasn’t worth it, and both of us knew it.

  * * *

  Walking into the war room, I was met by Wyatt, Reese, Maccon, and Hawk. I was grateful that we didn’t have a full table right away and that Maccon had the sense to bring his old man in on the situation. Even in his old age, he commanded a level of respect that was unparalleled in our organization.

  I took my seat at Maccon’s right, glancing over at Wyatt as he crushed out a cigarette.

  “I’m sorry my sister is causing problems,” he murmured like a damn pussy.

  Grow a damn spine.

  Maccon shook his head. “It’s not her. It’s Luke and you fucking know it.”

  Hawk cleared his throat. “How do you want to handle this, son?”

  Reese and I sat silent as Maccon answered. “We need to call a vote and see if Luke is someone who can stay in this club, let the guys decide what his fate should be.”

  Wyatt looked over at our president. “Why am I here?”

  Fair question. He wasn’t high enough up in the club to be able to vote on someone’s membership status.

  Hawk’s gruff voice boomed in the large room. “When it comes to family, we need you to understand that we take care of our own. You live with Raven, so you must have known something was going on. Next time, you bring these things to us right away. Even though Luke is one of us, that does not make this accepted by anyone. Do we make ourselves clear?”

  Wyatt nodded.

  “I couldn’t have said it better myself.” Maccon nodded across the table to his father with admiration.

  “What do you want us to do with Luke in the meantime?” I asked.

  “Reese will proxy your vote for you. We all know what it is going to be in regards to Luke. I want you to guard him in the garage. You’re not to lay a hand on him, but if you feel the need to scare him a bit, you have my blessing.” Maccon’s words were music to my ears. I felt like I was a dog with a new squeaky chew toy just waiting to be ripped apart.

  “I’ll make the call and get everyone here.” Reese shoved away from the table, pulling out his burner.

  “Let’s get this taken care of quickly.” Maccon stayed put. “Will you send Kinsley in here?”

  I slapped him on the shoulder. “On it.”

  Making my way into the club house, I was grateful to see Katherine sitting on the worn couch with Kinsley.

  “Ladies.” I nodded to both of them. “Your husband has requested you, my dear.” I smiled down at the bubbly woman as she jumped to her feet immediately.

  “Duty calls,” Kinsley muttered before ambling over to the war room and shutting the door.

  “What’s going on, Jett?” my sister asked, patting the cushion next to her.

  I dropped down beside her with a thump. “I have to go take care of a few things. Do me a favor?”

  Katherine cocked her head to the side. “Maybe.”

  “Talk to Wyatt, see if his sister wants a job at the bar.”

  “Going to keep your promise?” she teased with a tight-lipped smile.

  Holding three fingers high in the air, I responded, “Scout’s honor.”

  Chapte
r 4

  Jett

  “Back room, now!” I growled at Luke right as I walked into the open bay of the garage.

  He chuckled. The douchebag actually had the nerve to laugh at me.

  “I am not kidding, fucker. Get your ass in the back room,” I howled. Every stomp of his boots made me want to rip his throat out. It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, but I had my damn orders.

  “What’s this about, Jett?” Luke’s hands flew into the air when I got within a foot of him.

  “You know.”

  Grabbing him by the collar of his cut, I shoved him into the back room right behind us.

  “I didn’t do nothing to that b-broad that she wasn’t a-asking for,” he stammered, shaking in his boots.

  “That’s not the word on the street, brother.” I let the word poison the air around us, settling into my veins like venom.

  Brother—the most respect we could give to one another, letting each of us know we weren’t just members of the same club—we were family. He didn’t deserve the title. Not anymore.

  “Jett, come on. After everything we have been through together, you know I wouldn’t be dumb enough to…” He trailed off like the piece of shit that he was. He knew there wasn’t a point to his groveling, his pleading, his sorry excuse of an explanation. I was the wrong motherfucker to play that game with. I had fought too hard and for too long to let someone try to pull the wool over my eyes.

  I forced him down onto a rickety barstool in the corner facing the wall then forcefully ripped off his cut. After hanging it on the hook on the back of the door, I glared at his back.

  “Is this really necessary?” he stuttered.

  “Yes.”

  “Why’d they send you?”

  “You know why.”

  “Are you going to kill me?”

  “Not yet.”

  Maccon had said I was allowed to scare him. Hopefully, it was working.

  “Come on, man. You don’t have to do this.”

  “Why don’t you make this easier on the both of us and just shut the fuck up.”

  I pulled the knife out of its sheath in my boot, letting the cold metal rest against the back of his neck.

  “Come on, man. There’s no need for all that,” he whimpered, trying to flinch away from my blade.

  “The more you move, the more likely it is that the edge will filet you open right here.”

  * * *

  We sat in silence for at least an hour. Finally, the door flew open and Maccon burst in.

  “You stay there,” Maccon growled at Luke.

  When he pulled me into the garage, I was met with all of the other high-up guys from the club along with Wyatt.

  “Well?” I asked.

  “The vote was unanimous. He’s being stripped of his patch.” A sinister simper spread on Maccon’s gruff face as his words sang a beautiful song.

  “Can I do the honors?” I asked hopefully, but Maccon shot me down straightaway.

  “This is Wyatt’s and you know it.”

  I spun on my heels to see Wyatt’s chest puffed out.

  “With pleasure,” he said with a snicker.

  It was nice to see a spine starting to grow. I’d known all along he had it in him, and it was about damn time he manned up.

  Grabbing the soldering iron from the back wall, Wyatt sparked it up.

  “Bring him to me.”

  Chapter 5

  Raven

  “Are you ready, sweetheart?” I asked, helping Emma put her very first backpack on.

  She bit her lip as tears started to fall down her plump cheeks. “I don’t want to go to school. I’m scared.”

  “Aw, come on, now, pipsqueak. School is awesome,” Wyatt sang out, lifting his niece into his muscular arms.

  “Don’t make me go!” she cried, burying her tiny face in the nape of his neck.

  “Baby, I promise you’re going to love it and make so many new friends.” I tried my best to comfort my daughter, getting up on my tiptoes to be eye to eye with her as my brother carried her to my beat-up sedan.

  Wyatt buckled her in before turning to me. “I cannot believe she is growing up so fast.”

  I peeked over at my hysterical daughter in the back seat. “Too fast, dude. Too fucking fast.”

  “You sure you don’t want me to go with you guys?” Wyatt put his hand on my cheek, seeing my heart breaking.

  I let out a sigh. “You have work. I got this.”

  “Call if you need anything,” he hollered over his shoulder as he made his way over to his bike.

  “Will do.” I waved goodbye to my brother while sliding into the driver’s seat.

  “Mommy?” Emma blubbered from behind me.

  “Yes, baby?” I looked back at her red eyes in the rearview mirror.

  “Is Daddy going to be there too?”

  If my heart hadn’t already been breaking, it sure as shit was right then.

  “He had to go away for a few days for work, but we can call him on the way if that would make you feel better.”

  “Yes, please.” She sniffed pitifully.

  I put the phone on speaker and listened to it ring and ring, eventually getting his voicemail. I slapped the screen of my phone harder than necessary.

  “Sorry, baby. We’ll talk to him later.”

  Piece of shit.

  “Okay, Mommy.”

  As we drove, I kept glancing back to watch my daughter stare out the window. Where had the years gone? How was I about to drop off my little girl for her first day of kindergarten when it was only yesterday that I was screaming in pain in the delivery room?

  Once we made it to the school’s parking lot, I was relieved and horrified to see Brigette’s BMW waiting for us.

  “Ms. Brigette!” Emma was elated, pointing to her stepmother standing outside of her car.

  “Thought it would be nice to have another friendly face here for you today, baby girl.”

  We parked next to the white two-door coupe, and within seconds, Emma was unbuckled and jumping into her stepmother’s arms.

  “Coffee?” Brigette asked, nodding to the two paper cups on the roof of her car.

  “Thanks,” I muttered, staring at my smiling daughter clutched in her grasp.

  “Ready, Emma?” Brigette set the little girl down, readjusting her backpack for her.

  “No.” At least my kid was honest.

  Getting down on her knee, Brigette beamed at my daughter. “You know you’re a brave little girl and this is going to be a grand adventure, just like in the fairytales we read every night.”

  “Really?” Emma tucked her chin in, mulling over her stepmother’s words.

  “Yep! Now take your mother’s hand and let’s get this show on the road.”

  “Finnneeee.”

  I pursed my lips as Emma’s tiny fingers laced with mine.

  “Thank you,” I mouthed over to Brigette.

  She waved me off with a kind smile, grabbing the disposable coffee cups and following us into the building.

  “Wait,” Brigette called. “This is too good of a photo op to not take advantage.”

  Emma and I turned around, smiling as Brigette got out her cell and snapped a few photos.

  “Perfect!” she happily declared. “I’ll text them to you.”

  “Want a few too?” I couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of my mouth.

  “That would be lovely.”

  I look the small device from the woman I hated most in the world and watched as she posed with my precious little girl. The smile on Emma’s face was worth all the discomfort. Brigette was right—it was good for my kid to see the two of us playing nice for once.

  “Raven Foster?” An unfamiliar voice called over to me while I was looking at the classroom numbers, trying to find the right one.

  “Yes?” I turned to see a young, gorgeous teacher smiling over at us.

  “I’m Kinsley Allred. Your brother knows my husband,” she explained as she go
t closer. “He told me your little one was starting here today, and I wanted to tell you if you or your daughter need anything, just let me know.”

  “Are you my new teacher?” Emma asked, scooting closer to our new friend.

  Kinsley shook her head. “I teach fifth grade, but Mrs. Evans is going to take such good care of you. She even has a dragon in her classroom.”

  “Wow! A dragon! Really?” Emma’s eyes grew wide as she whipped her head around looking for the mythical creature.

  “It’s right over there. His name is Puff.” Kinsley pointed us in the direction of room twelve. “Have an amazing first day.”

  Kinsley waved as Emma sprinted toward her new adventure.

  Looking over my shoulder, I thanked Kinsley as I trotted after my five-year-old.

  “That was super sweet,” Brigette remarked before we crossed over the threshold to Emma’s classroom.

  We chatted with her new teacher for a bit, found her cubby, and met some of her classmates, then all too quickly it was the time I had been dreading the most. I didn’t want to leave Emma. I wanted to plant myself outside her classroom and wait for her all day, but I bent down, gave her a long hug, and said my goodbyes.

  All I got in response was a quick wave before Emma took her seat next to a short boy with golden curls.

  “I’m not ready.” I sniffled, standing in the corner of the room.

  “It’s part of the reason I wanted to come today. You shouldn’t have to do this on your own,” Brigette whispered, putting a reassuring hand on my forearm.

  Following her out of the classroom as slowly as I could, I grabbed her shoulder. “Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?”

  The question had been gnawing at me. I had to spit it out.

  “We’re a family—an unconventional one, I’ll admit, but a family nevertheless.”

  * * *

  “Wyatt?” I called over the counter at the garage.

  “Yeah?” he hollered back before making his way out to me from the office.