by Sam Crescent
“What if something happens to you?” she whispered.
“I’ve been thinking about it. A lot. If something happens to me, I want you taken care of, Ally. I’m going to tell Locke to make sure you’re set up financially.”
She shook her head, pulling away, but he held her arms, keeping her in place. “It was just a hypothetical question, Lord. The way you’re talking is like you expect it to happen. You think they’ll kill you tonight, don’t you?”
“I’m just being smart. I’m not afraid of dying, but knowing you’d be left to fend for yourself is too much for me to bear.”
“No, no! I don’t want any money. I don’t want to be set up somewhere. What I want is you. Us. A family.”
She kept quiet after, realizing how loud she’d been. Realizing what she’d said.
It was all true though. As crazy as it sounded, she wanted a family with her MC prez. It wouldn’t be typical, but they’d make it perfect.
“Ally, please.”
“Can’t you send them and stay behind? You’re the boss. They have to listen to you.” Tears began to prick her eyes and a frog burned in her throat. “Please, Lord.”
“Oh, baby.” He pulled her close, even though she fought him. He kissed the top of her head. “Please don’t do this to me. You know I have to go.”
“You don’t!”
“We all ride after sunset. Nothing will happen to me. Everything will happen to the asshole we’re after. We’re well-armed, prepared, and trained for this. You can’t worry every time I have to clean up shit. If you’re going to be my old lady, you have to be able to handle your emotions, Ally.”
She swallowed hard. “You haven’t talked about that for a while.”
“Well, I think about it often,” he said. “When this is over and you’re back at the club, I’m going to make it official.”
Her heart felt as if it would burst. She knew the magnitude of what he was saying. It was what she most wanted.
“Promise?”
He smiled down at her. For such a hard ass, he had the most beautiful smile. There was a dimple there, too.
“I should go.” He stroked her hair. The adoration in his eyes was impossible to dismiss. He was being genuine. She wondered if he’d ever tell her he loved her and mean it. Ally would take what she could get, and being named his old lady said a lot.
“You only just got here.”
“You think I want Rancher knowing I was here? He’ll never let me forget it. I have a reputation to upkeep.” He winked at her.
“Lord, you better come back to us or I’ll kill you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He began walking backward. She admired his muscular frame, wanting to keep him in her bed for a week straight. Not wanting him to leave and risk his life.
She knew bits and pieces of his past, his childhood, and all the scars. He deserved a happily ever after, even if it was an unorthodox one. If he died in a club war, who would remember him? Maybe only her.
Not even their child would know who he was. Only what she told him. Or her.
Every cell in her body fired off to spill the truth, but she resisted the instinct to run after him. Ally was pregnant. She’d found out late last night. There were several unused pregnancy tests in the bathroom cupboard. With their love of kids, she wouldn’t be surprised if Betty and Rancher were actively trying for another one.
Ally couldn’t burden Lord with this revelation before he rode out. He needed a clear and level head in order to stay safe and come back to her. And she wouldn’t use the baby to blackmail him into staying behind tonight.
When she told him about the baby, it would be once they were together, their world not in chaos.
“I’ll be back soon,” he said before hopping over the fence. “Behave yourself.”
She nodded.
As soon as the bike engine fired to life, her emotions bubbled up. She put on a happy face, fighting away the tears. The sound meant he was leaving. She already knew the loneliness and dread she’d feel once he was too far for her to hear that roar.
No matter how great Rancher and Betty treated her, this was their home, their life. She felt like an outsider because she was. What she needed was the club, which was the last thing she’d expect to want in her life.
“Please come back to us,” she whispered to herself.
Ally held her stomach, not knowing if she could face a pregnancy alone. She didn’t want to be a single mother. If Lord died, she doubted his men would respect his wishes to look out for her. She’d be on her own.
He rode off alone and her tears began to flow.
Part of her knew it would be the last time she ever saw him again.
Chapter Eleven
The motel where the Skull Nation VP was hanging out was a pile of crap. Lord looked at the place and truly believed it was crawling with termites or some shit. He’d seen four rats as they scurried across the street, clearly not caring if they were seen or not. He hated vermin so much.
His boys stood at his back, ready to do whatever he asked.
They’d left their bikes a few miles down the road.
“Holy shit, I didn’t think I had standards,” Brick said.
“Me too, but I wouldn’t stay in this shit hole.”
“Anyone think the VP is getting desperate?” Reaper asked.
Tarmac let out a shudder. “Guys, we’ve got to go in that place.”
“You think there’s more than one of the assholes in there?” Brick asked.
“No, I guessing the VP is in there alone. They’ve spread out, trying to gain ground by splitting down their group.” It was a trick Lord had done a few times but he’d learned fast from his mistake. What the Skull Nation had done had split them down too far and too wide.
There was no sense in splitting up to only a singular person. All it did was make it a lot easier for enemies to take you out one by one.
He hadn’t lost men for the decision to split like that up, but it had been close. They’d been hurt badly and had taken months to recover. This was years ago. Now he knew there was safety in numbers. Like now.
“I don’t like this,” Brick said.
Rather than roll out the entire club, Lord had kept a selection of men back at the clubhouse, while he’d taken the other few to the motel. This way, if the Skull Nation MC planned to take over his clubhouse, they were in for a rude awakening. There were two prospects on the lookout while the others were loaded up, ready to take them on. No one would get through his walls.
His club was sticking together. They had their weapons at the ready and he was done waiting around, staring at a parking lot with a couple of cars spread out here or there.
He stepped forward, pulling his gun out of his back waistband. As he advanced toward the enemy, his thoughts returned to Ally. Brick had caught him returning. Neither of them had spoken, but his VP knew where he’d been.
Ally was the woman he didn’t want to give up.
He loved her. He couldn’t deny it.
She’d started out as a plaything, and he’d been addicted to her virginity, but it had soon advanced from there.
He wanted to keep her. There was no way he could be without her.
With his men at his back, he took the stairs leading him to the third floor. He slowed down so as not to alert the VP they were coming.
Once he stood in front of the door, Brick took the left, Reaper took the right. The rest of the men were tense and ready.
One.
Two.
Three.
He slammed his booted foot against the door and it flew open, crashing back as a woman screamed. Storming into the room, he caught sight of the naked woman scrambling to get off the man.
Her fake tits barely moved and the man himself was none other than the VP, who reached for his gun next to the pillow.
Lord fired and the man screamed as the bullet went straight through his hand.
The woman quickly wrapped a blanket around her. Her entire
body was shaking. He caught sight of her clothes, and he grabbed them, throwing them at her.
“Get out,” Lord said.
The woman rushed toward him, taking her stuff, and then glanced back, biting her lip.
Lord pressed his gun to her head. “Do you want me to kill you?”
“He hasn’t paid me. Please, I don’t want to die. I’ve got children to support.”
Lord saw the man’s wallet, went to it, took out all the cash, and handed it to her.
She scampered out of the way.
He heard the unmistakable sound of one of his men slapping her ass as she left, along with her answer to call her.
This was why he didn’t think he’d ever be able to love a woman. But Ally was nothing like them. She’d entered his world and completely obliterated his idea of what he thought a woman should be like.
The VP sat on the bed and laughed. “You found me.” Perspiration dotted his brow.
Lord stared at him, not impressed by what he saw.
All he could think about was killing him. It would be easy. A single bullet to the head. It was what he knew. Between the cold, clean kill and the way the Skull Nation had pissed him off, he was ready to take them out, one by fucking one. He’d be happy to allow the streets to run red with blood. Relished the idea in fact.
Causing death didn’t upset him. He reveled in it.
Counting in his mind, he stared at the heavily inked man. The Skull Nation was a fucking menace. A disease. Toxic. No one would miss them from this world.
“Prez?” Brick asked.
The man on the bed started to laugh. “Have cold feet, Lord?”
“Where’s your prez?” he asked.
“As if I’m going to tell you.”
Lord took aim and fired. This time, the bullet went through the man’s arm. He fell back on the bed and screamed, blood splattered all over the white duvet.
He waited.
“Where is he?” Lord asked.
The man spat on the floor, sitting back up. “You think I’ll tell you?”
Another shot fired, this time in the man’s foot.
More howls of pain.
Lord was bored with this. He wanted this over with the Skull Nation. He didn’t believe for a second it would be over completely. Wherever there was a Skull Nation, there would be trouble. Wiping out the men at the top would stop them from coming after him.
He wasn’t willing to risk wiping out the entire club. It was a known fact another would take its place. While the Skull nation rebuilt, he’d be watching. He’d rather have a piece-of-shit club he knew than one he didn’t that could take him on and kill him.
“You know I could do this all day,” Lord said. “You’re not going to get out of this alive.”
The VP groaned. “I’m not a rat.”
Another shot, this time, he went hardcore and for the abdomen.
The son of a bitch screamed even louder.
Lord waited.
He had all night.
There was no rush for him.
He watched the blood as it spread out on the bed. His men stayed perfectly still. Three of them had their guns trained on the VP in front of them. The rest were outside keeping an eye out.
No one would call the cops. In this neighborhood, the sound of a gunshot meant to stay indoors and not get involved.
In the back of his mind, he kept thinking about Ally.
Her sweetness and goodness.
She deserved better than him.
I’m not giving her up.
He couldn’t give her up even if he wanted to. Bringing himself back into focus, he stared at the man and suddenly felt an overwhelming anger.
Lord put the safety on his gun and shoved it into the back of his jeans as he moved toward the VP. Grabbing him by his hair, he began to pull him off the bed.
The longer this lasted with the VP and chasing after random members of the Skull Nation, the longer he was parted from the love of his life.
Earlier, being inside her, that was heaven.
The night before, being away from her, was hell.
He had to get this shit sorted so he could move on.
The man screamed, trying to hit out at him. Lord stopped, landing a blow to his face.
“Get off me,” the VP said.
“Lord?” Brick asked.
He ignored him. Lord used the man’s head and smashed it through the window. Picking up a shard of glass, he began to impale it piece by piece into the VP, being very careful not to get any major veins.
The man gasped as Lord went toward his dick.
“Stop. Stop.”
Lord stared at the man. “We could have done this the easy way.”
The man whimpered. “You call this the fucking easy way?”
Lord ran the edge of the piece of glass along the man’s dick.
“Fuck, no, fuck.” He began to cough. “You want to know where the prez is?” the man asked.
“That was my question. I wouldn’t still be here with you. Admittedly, you’d be dead, but it wouldn’t hurt quite this bad.” He pressed down on a piece of embedded glass, and the man screamed.
He let go, giving him a few seconds to gain his composure. “I’m waiting, and I’ve always wanted to sever a dick this way.” He had no intention of touching that infected thing. It looked disgusting.
The VP coughed and laughed. “I did my job.”
“Excuse me?” Lord asked as a shiver ran down his spine.
“Where do you think he is?” The VP laughed. “All he needed was some additional time.” The man spat at him. “I’m already dying, you fucking prick. I’ve got less than three months to live. I was just helping my prez out. She’s really a hot piece of ass, your girl. He simply wanted what you have. You should have known not to leave her alone.”
****
“I honestly don’t know how you do it,” Ally said, smiling at Betty as she came downstairs. She’d put her children to bed a while ago.
Rancher had been out in the fields mending some fences with some of his ranch hands earlier. Now he was checking on his animals before bed.
“What? Help run a ranch, feed my children and men, clean, attend a garden, and still have time to do a little reading?”
“You’re like … wow.” Ally laughed. “I’m exhausted watching you.”
“That happens in the first trimester.”
Ally stopped smiling. “You know?”
Betty took a seat beside her. “Rancher came into the bedroom last night and asked if we’d made another one. We’re trying. We love having kids and well, I love Rancher. I told him it wasn’t mine and seeing as the only other fertile woman on the ranch is you, we deduced it had to be.”
“I threw it in the trash,” Ally said. “I didn’t leave it lying around.”
Betty laughed and put a hand on her arm. “Please, don’t worry about it. My husband is a pain in the ass. I know him well, and he probably went into the trash to see what it was.”
“Have you been trying long?” Ally asked.
“A couple of months.” Betty shrugged. “I’m not worried. I’m of the mindset that what will be, will be. You know? I don’t see a reason to worry. If I’m supposed to have babies, I will. If I’m not, I won’t. Simple as that.”
“You’re very … philosophical.”
“Someone would say philosophical. Another would say I refuse to allow what’s not happening in my life to wear me down. Rancher and I, we’ll work it out.”
Ally put a hand on her own stomach.
Would she and Lord work it out?
“Does Lord know?” Betty asked.
She nibbled on her lip and shook her head. “No, I didn’t have time to tell him.”
“Even earlier?”
Ally quickly looked toward Betty who chuckled. “Yes, we saw you sneaking out of the house. Rancher thought you were meeting some guy. Maybe one of the enemies. He kept an eye on you and I told him Lord was coming.”
“Rancher thought
I’d betray Lord?”
“It’s not personal. He doesn’t know you. He’d protecting his friend. Lord and Rancher haven’t seen much of each other in recent years, but when they’re together, it doesn’t matter. That’s true friendship, and I never want to come between that.”
“I would never hurt Lord.”
Betty rubbed her arm. “I know that. When we saw Lord, Rancher felt bad. Don’t worry, I made Rancher feel good.”
Ally sighed. “I missed him.”
“I figured.”
“Do you really think he could love me, though? A man like Lord. You’ve seen me and I’ve seen the women hanging out at the club.”
Betty held her hand up and shook her head. “I’m going to stop you right there.”
“But—”
“No. You don’t get to talk like that. You think I don’t know what it’s like? To know your husband is hanging around with skanks.”
“I don’t imagine they’re all skanks.”
Betty laughed. “And you wonder why Lord wants you. You’re different. He’s used to women throwing themselves at every single guy with a dick. All of the women. They can’t seem to say no to a cock. If you’re been around the club long enough, you’ll see it. You’ll know it. They’re looking to make a name for themselves. Some of the women want long-term. They want an easy life that the men provide. Others want the reputation of screwing every man in the club. They’re patch whores. The more men they fuck, the more valued they think they are. I know it doesn’t make sense. Believe me, I don’t get it. But to them, it does.” Betty sighed. “You can’t let them get to you. They’re like vultures. If they spot any weakness at all in you, that’s it. It’s all over.”
Ally sighed. “I really need to tell him. Don’t I?”
“Yeah, you really do. Lord is a good man. He told me to take care of his boy and that’s all I’ve been doing.” Betty looked ahead. “I didn’t imagine for a second we’d be where we’re at today. I love him so much. I adore the life we’ve built, but we did it together. Talk to Lord. He wants you.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“He snuck onto our land to have his way with you. That guy is pussy whipped.”