Sealed in Strength: Ravage MC Rebellion Series Book Three (Crow & Rylynn Trilogy)

by Ryan Michele

  Crow wrapped his arm around me and pulled me tight to him, kissing my temple. “Havin’ fun?”

  “Yeah.” My eyes connected with his, and he didn’t hesitate to take my mouth. Conflicting feelings ran through me. First, immense joy that he was claiming me in front of everyone. Second, the reminder of the kiss he shared with Sophia in front of everyone. When would those thoughts stop coming to my brain?

  I pushed them out and focused on the good. Whistles were heard around us, and Crow didn’t stop until he was done. Damn, I loved this man.

  “You tell her how you got your name, Crow?” Wrong Way asked with a grin.

  He’d never told me that. I’d wondered, but with everything always up in the air, I never asked.

  Crow smiled over at me. “Two reasons these assholes gave me the name Crow.” I listened with avid fascination at this bit of information. “When I was younger, I thought I was the shit.” Both Wrong Way and Brewer laughed to this nodding their heads.

  “Talked a good game, but was still gettin’ my feet into the real club life. This kid came over…”

  Wrong Way burst out laughing, “And beat the fuckin’ shit out of him.”

  Brewer added in, “He had to ‘eat crow’.”

  I chuckled along with them. Road names didn’t come until they were patched members. “Okay, so how did he get it later in life.”

  Crow looked me straight in the eye. “No one wants to eat a crow. They’re scavengers and eat carcasses like candy. Putting the fear of those who challenged me, was how Crow came to light.” He pointed to Wrong Way and Brewer. “These two fuckers though never let me forget what happened as a kid.”

  “Did you lose a fight after that?”

  He wrapped his arm around me. “Fuck no.”

  “That’s my man.”

  Crow went into Lemon’s room while I helped clean up. The electric company got everything up and going again stating a transformer blew, and I welcomed the air conditioning.

  My mind wanted to know what Crow was doing in that room.

  Did he already know something? Was Lemon hiding something? It wasn’t my business, but I had to look out for my man, and my gut was jumping all over the damn place.

  Keeping up with the conversation while we washed the dishes, I couldn’t help but think of all the ways this could go really bad. Trust was a major component in this life. I didn’t trust Lemon. Not as far as I could throw him.

  Crow’s other brothers though, they appeared solid. Even the two prospects were as well. Especially Ethan. There was something about him. Almost as if he were born to be in a club.

  “You’re sure deep in thought,” Ash said, coming up beside me. Not startling me, but taking my attention away from what was going on down the hall.

  I shrugged. “I’m always thinkin’. Part of my job.”

  “Oh yeah, what’s that?” she asked as I turned to her. She leaned back on the bar, cocked her elbows, and rested on them.

  “I’m a PI.”

  Her eyes widened. “No shit?”

  A smile crept my lips. “No shit.”

  This caused her eyes to light up, and I was curious what was going to come out of her mouth next. No doubt a question. Not that I’d had to tell many people about my job considering I was around family my entire life, so this was new for me.

  But considering, I would have questions, she would too.

  “So is it like on television? You shoot up the bad guys?”

  A laugh escaped. “Actually, it’s pretty monotonous. Mostly cheating husbands or wives. Information on someone. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. It’s just not as glamorous as you’d think.”

  She leaned in. “So you watch guys fuckin’ other women?”

  “Pretty much. Pictures of him or her in the act. Give those pictures to the spouse, they take the other to the cleaners. Done.”

  Ash pointed to one of the tables, and I took her cue and sat down. “Is it always that cut and dry?”

  My head shook. “No. Nothing ever is. But it’s not my job to decide that. My job is to find the information and turn it over. Period. What they do with that information is up to them.”

  “Wow.”

  “Wow, what?” I asked, digging my nail in the dented wood of the table.

  She didn’t hesitate. “Is there really that many cheating people out there?”

  I nodded. “Yep. More than you want to know. But it’s not all I do. I do work on the computer finding the money trails. Sometimes for businesses, other times for personal use. It’s the same deal though. I hand it over, and they do what they want.”

  “Do you have special things on your computer for that?”

  She was cute. Around my age, but not so in tuned with the world around her. It could be because she’d been away for so long. Or maybe it was something else.

  “Yeah. I have data banks that I can tap into.”

  “So you could run a check on me and see everything I’ve done?” This didn’t come out as something she was afraid of happening. It was more of a curiosity thing. That I could work with.

  “Not everything. But pretty much. Your bank information is always the easiest. And that usually leads me down some path, then another until answers are found.”

  She leaned back in her chair. “Do you ever get something that you just can’t figure out?”

  This reminded me of Elizabeth. While I told the parents my living status, they weren’t too happy. But I did tell them I would continue on the case. It was something I couldn’t just give up.

  “One case I have right now. A missing person. Young girl. Keep hittin’ dead ends.”

  She perked up. “Can you tell me?”

  I shook my head. “Nope. A lot of things are kept confidential. Part of the game.”

  “Do you get paid a lot?”

  “Yep.”

  Ash stopped, looked around the room, and then her head fell back as she looked at the ceiling. It appeared to be a reflective pose, but I didn’t know her well enough to make that call yet.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked as her head popped up, her eyes meeting mine.

  She leaned in even though we were the only ones in hearing distance at the moment. “I got my degree.”

  When she stopped, I prompted, “That’s great. And…”

  “I don’t know what the hell I want to do with my life.”

  “That’s understandable. It doesn’t mean you have to decide right at this moment or anything.”

  Her arms crossed over her chest. “My dad paid for my college. I went. Got great grades and a degree in sociology. The thought was I’d be a therapist, but I’m not sure I can help adults.”

  “What about kids? They need it too. Probably even more than the adults.”

  Cali came by the table dropping off two cups of coffee. On a thank you, she left while I sipped.

  “True. I do love kids. I just don’t know.”

  Time for my problem-solving skills to kick in it appeared. “Why don’t you ask to shadow a school counselor or go to one of the YWCA’s and see if they have anyone on staff that you could shadow. This way you get different points of view with each place. I’m sure it’s different with every location and everyone, for that matter.”

  “I just need to get a job.” The stress was coming out over her face and yeah, I felt for her.

  “Understandable. First, figure out your living situation. Then go from there. Shadowing would be the best way for you to see how counseling works.”

  “You’re smart.”

  I chuckled then took a sip of my coffee. “Don’t tell, Crow. Need him to think I’m a dimwit who’s just a great lay in bed.”

  Ash burst out laughing. “You have a wicked sense of humor.”

  “I take that as a compliment.”

  A door flew open, crashing into the wall with a large thud. A few seconds later, Crow came storming into the bar a face masked with fury. He turned and headed down the stairs into the basement.

  “He’s probabl
y going to his office,” Ash said, touching my hand. “Better go make sure he’s not gonna blow the place up.”

  This was another thing for me to tread cautiously with. While he opened up to me the last time he was upset, this would be different and I knew it going in. Club business was just that. A man didn’t share if he didn’t want to, and I wouldn’t spit on that. I could though, be with him and see if he needed me.

  “Thanks.” Giving her a soft smile, I made my way down the stairs. The basement was just as huge as the first floor. A set of wide double doors with the Ravage MC skull emblem on them was off to the side. That had to be church.

  Near it was doors that were closed. Deciding on the middle one, I knocked softly.

  “What!” Crow barked out, but it didn’t make me jump or surprise me. He wasn’t a fake man. If he felt it, you saw it. He didn’t hide it or hold it back. It was something I admired about him. There was no time to be wishy-washy in life.

  “It’s me,” I answered with my hand on the door handle.

  There was a pause, then a, “Come in.”

  Entering, Crow was at his desk, sitting back in with his hands behind his head making his torso look very large and imposing.

  His desk was covered with papers, and a laptop sat there as well. He was only focused on me. I shut the door and stepped to the side of the desk, resting my hip on it.

  “You need me?” I asked, studying him.

  He reached out and tagged my hip, pulling me onto his lap, his arms going around me and face going into my neck.

  I wrapped my arms around him holding him tight. When he wanted to talk, he would. Until then, I’d give him my warmth.

  After a long while, he lifted his head, our eyes connecting in that way that made butterflies flit through my chest.

  “Always need you.” My smile appeared, loved hearing him say that. “Just club shit. Nothin’ for you to worry about.” Part of me was disappointed. Deeply. Only because I wanted to make it so whatever was in his head would leave him alone. But this came with the territory of being a club member’s woman. Didn’t mean I had to like it.

  “Okay. You need to work for a while?” Our foreheads touched, my hands going to the sides of his face. He lifted up and kissed me softly.

  “Nah, let’s get out of here and go home.”

  Damn, I loved the sound of that. Go home. I’d loved Sumner with everything inside of me. Still did, but there was something about him calling it home that really hit me. No matter what all this other shit was around us, we would go home together at the end of it. More of that hard block inside of me started to melt.

  “Sounds good.” He kissed me once again.

  Yeah, I was ready to go home.

  9

  Crow

  Black. The fucking screens were black when Lemon pulled them up. Scrolling back, they’d been black for quite some time, and he didn’t catch it. This could’ve led to a serious disaster with all the product down there, and he was lucky as hell nothing was missing.

  If they were black, how the hell did he ‘see’ someone there breaking in. When I asked him, he said that the live feed worked but the recording didn’t.

  This entire thing left a sour taste in my mouth. I’d needed to get out of the same airspace as him, or I was going to kill Lemon. He put everything we had in jeopardy. But I needed time to think and clear my head.

  Two hours later, Rylynn was laying with her head on my chest, and body off to the side on the couch. The back cushions engulfed her. Arm draped over me, her breathing was slow and deep, in and out.

  Van, laying on the other side of the couch, was passed out as well. It was just me and the end of Andi Mack. Fucking hated that show, but it was Van’s favorite. Grabbing the remote, I clicked through channels letting the day replay in my head.

  Simon was dead and didn’t give us anything to go on. He was loyal, I’d give him that. Having him connected to Purple Pride and myself by being Sophia’s ex-man couldn’t have been a coincidence. I just had no clue what that connection was. Did Simon seek out Sophia because she was my ex? Was he going to use her in some way to get to me? Hell, I had no clue if it had anything to do with the club or myself.

  Wished we could’ve kept him alive longer.

  Whatever was going on up there in Stagnet had loyal minions working for them. Pulling out my phone, I sent Brewer a text. ETA on Rodney.

  We needed him, since the fucking cat Hornet strapped a camera to wasn’t getting us shit from Purple Pride. I was also starting to think our informant, Tommy, was full of shit when it came to us being watched. ‘Eyes on us.’ If it weren’t for the two cameras found at the store, I would’ve dismissed the entire thing a long time ago.

  Once again, with those cameras, Lemon couldn’t find where they were linked up to. They were wireless and needed to have a hub. Another thing Lemon was falling down on the job with.

  Wrong Way needed to get on that now. He was getting overloaded with doing Lemon’s shit and his own. Something needed to be done.

  There were several things that needed my attention. It was bad when you felt the urge to make a damn list to keep track of everything. Tomorrow night we’d get rid of the hands to Wells and get paid. We needed to find Barry Alabaster and beat the living fuck out of him for hitting Stephanie.

  Ebony. That woman needed to get her ass home. She could straighten all of this out at Purple Pride. Not to mention the fucking house, the club’s house, Jenny and Stan put up as collateral. That needed to be sorted out.

  Then there was Greer. That boy was going to hear it from me. I was pissed at him. Couldn’t help it. He should’ve kept his mouth shut when it came to Rylynn. He had no right. That led to Sophia, and I hoped like hell she’d stop this shit.

  Those were just the highlights. Not to mention, my father hadn’t been in the ground very long and I’d been so focused on everything else not really allowing that to sink in. At least Cruz wasn’t barreling down my door trying to get in.

  A text came in from Brewer. Phoenix thinks he has a lead. Going to check.

  I wrote back, I want to know the moment you have it.

  Got it, Brewer fired back. We needed Rodney to find more about Purple Pride. The weak ones talked more.

  Comfortable on the couch, my head fell back and before long, I was asleep.

  The buzzing of the house alarm went off as I popped up from the couch, Rylynn doing the same. Greer stood at the control panel punching in numbers, but failing miserably.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Rylynn groaned as Greer turned, his hate-filled eyes landing on Rylynn. There was no doubt that Sophia had a black eye from the way Rylynn punched her. Greer was very protective of his mother, something I was proud of.

  In this situation though, it could end up in disaster.

  “You bitch!” Greer yelled, the alarm still going off as Van rolled off the couch waking up.

  “Daddy?”

  Shit. “It’s okay. Give me a sec.”

  Getting up, I moved in front of Greer and pushed him back with my bulk, going to the panel and punching in the code. Greer must’ve told his mother what it was. It would need to be changed.

  Greer’s eyes burned with anger. “Son. Seems we have a lot to talk about.”

  “Dad…” He started as Van ran over to him and wrapped her arms around his leg.

  “Greer! Are you coming to sleep over too?” she asked innocently.

  His arm went to her back, but his focus didn’t leave me. “No, peanut. Need to talk to Dad.”

  “What’s goin’ on?” she asked.

  Bending down, Van was eye level with me. “Go to your room and back to bed. I’ll come and tuck you in soon.”

  “But…”

  “No, Van.” This came out hard, needing her to understand this wasn’t the time to try to get one over on me.

  “Okay,” she said and ran off to her room.

  Nose to nose with my boy, I growled, “You do not call Rylynn a bitch. You do not call her anythin
g other than Rylynn. Do you understand me?”

  His eyes squinted. “No. I don’t. You let her hit my mother!”

  Taking a step back, I ran my hand over my face.

  “He didn’t let me. I did it all by myself. Thank you very much,” Rylynn said, coming up to stand next to us.

  Greer went to take a swing, but I gripped his arm hard pounding it into the wall. “Hitting a woman, Greer?”

  “She punched my mother. You’re not standing up for her, so I have to. That means teaching that bitch a lesson.”

  “Come on,” Rylynn started, my eyes cutting to her in warning. Just what I needed, her adding fuel to the fire. She didn’t say anything else for once.

  “You do not put your hands on a woman.”

  “When that woman hits my mother, yes I do.”

  Jesus fuck, this was going down and fast. “Sit your ass down right now.” It was a low growl I didn’t use much on my kids. Didn’t need to. But this, it was needed. Greer was going down a line I wouldn’t tolerate.

  Greer stared at me as seconds went by. He was deciding on whether to comply or not. I just stared at him and waited. I didn’t put my hands on my kids, and keeping a tight rein on that was necessary especially with my boy. He was like me in many ways. Others, not at all.

  He made the right decision by going to the kitchen table and sitting his ass down. Fuck, where did I even start with this kid?

  He started to talk, but I interrupted him. “Shut it. You’re gonna listen to me.” Surprisingly, he shut up as I sat at the table and nodded for Rylynn to do the same. She sat at the other end.

  “It’s good you protect your mom, Greer. It makes you a good kid.”

  His hand went up pointing to Rylynn, starting to speak. I once again cut him off. “But that does not give you the right to come in here and talk to Rylynn that way. She’s my woman, Greer. That you respect.”

  “I do not respect her. She’s my age, Dad!” he yelled once again.

  Calmly I answered him, “You will, and yes she is. Know you want me with your mom, Greer, but that ship sailed years ago. That was her choice, Greer, not mine. Just because she changes her mind doesn’t mean for a second I’ll roll over for her.”