“Who are all of these people?” Ashlyn asked as she stepped closer to me.
“No idea, they never mentioned more people coming in. I never thought they would have these types of parties.” I placed my hand on her back and steered her towards the bar. She sat on a stool next to Wes, one of the clubs prospects and I stood by her side. “What do you want to drink, darlin’?” I asked her.
“Vodka and lemonade please.” She smiled at the young barmaid.
“I’ll have a beer. Thanks,” I added. “Wes, who are all of these people?”
“The women are from the local strip club. The Prez hires them out when we have a party and he invites some of the guys from the local businesses in town. All harmless.” Ashlyn sighed in relief, I didn’t know why she was worried because she knew I’d always protect her. “I hear you’re leaving tomorrow?”
“Yeah, time to move on.” I grabbed the bottle of beer and tipped it up to my mouth.
“That’s a shame, it was nice having eye candy around here.” I choked on my mouthful of beer and swallowed it before I showered it over him and Ashlyn.
“What the fuck did you just say?” I squared my shoulders and only relaxed once Ashlyn’s hand landed on my chest.
“Dray,” she said in a warning tone.
“No, he will not speak about you that way,” I gritted out.
“Come and dance with me.” She slid off the stool and pressed her body up close to mine whilst trailing her hands up my chest until they were clasped around my neck.
“You better stay away from us,” I warned Wes before I led Ashlyn to the dancefloor.
Mason
“MASON!” Cammie called out my name as she tried to shake me awake. I groaned and tried to open my eyes. She had been waking me up constantly every night for the last month around two in the morning as she had a craving for peanut butter on toast.
“Yeah, I’m getting up to get you peanut butter.” I yawned, throwing the duvet back and swinging my legs out of the bed.
“No, Mase. Aaahhh.” My head spun around so quickly at the sound of her crying that I’m surprised it didn’t snap off.
“What the fuck? What’s going on?” Cammie was sitting up in bed with her hands spread over her large bump and tears were rolling down her face. I flew up the bed towards her and wiped her tears away. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s time,” she whispered, lowering her eyes to her lap. I followed her line of vision to see a large wet patch on the bed.
“What the fuck is that?” I panicked.
“My water broke. Your son is on the way.”
“Shit, I gotta wake everyone up.” I jumped off the bed, grabbed my jeans and shoved my legs into them, doing them up as I flew out of the room before banging on the next three doors shouting that Cammie was in labour. By the time I got back to our room Cammie was out of bed, dressed and texting on her phone.
“Who the hell are you texting?” I asked as I grabbed her hand and started leading her from the bedroom.
“Heather and Ashlyn.”
“Ashlyn’s phone was destroyed. Drake broke it when he found out she was getting messages. I’ll contact Drake once we get to the hospital, although she won’t be able to come back, you do know that, right?” She nodded and sighed. She was close with both Heather and Ashlyn and under normal circumstances she would want them both there at the hospital with us. “Come on.” I tugged on her hand and we headed out of the room and towards the front door. We had already stashed her bag and the baby car seat in her car several weeks ago when she freaked out that we weren’t prepared. As we turned the corner we came face to face with Prez, Carla, Toes, Tat, Solar and Hitch.
“Honey, how are you doing?” Carla asked as she rushed towards us.
“I’m ok. I haven’t had any more contractions yet, but the midwife said I had to get to the hospital as soon as the contractions started so they could monitor me after what happened with Noah.” Carla squeezed her hand and nodded her head. When Cammie was younger she had given birth to a stillborn baby; Noah. She was terrified of the same thing happening again.
“Let’s go,” I said and motioned for everyone to get moving.
“Wait, where is everyone going?” Cammie asked.
“We’re taking you to the hospital,” I told her.
“All of you?” I nodded.
“No, we’re on lockdown. You can’t all come,” Cammie said.
“Prez and the prospects are staying here.”
“I don’t need five of you with me!” she exclaimed coming to a halt.
“Cam,” I said in a warning tone.
“No, the other women and kids need protecting too. If something happened to any of them while you were all with me, I’d never forgive myself. Please?” she pleaded to me. I looked over my shoulder at the Prez.
“It’s your call,” he said.
“Fine. Solar and Tat you’re with us.” They jerked their heads in acknowledgment and headed towards their bikes as I pulled Cammie towards her car. Once she was securely in, I ran around to the driver’s side, jumped in and sped out of the gates and to the hospital.
IT WAS pure torture seeing Cammie in so much pain. We had now been at the hospital for over six hours and our son still hadn’t arrived. Heather and Blade had arrived at six in the morning, which was two hours ago and Cammie was exhausted. Heather and I both tried to convince her to have an epidural so that she could get some sleep but she refused one. I knew it was because she wanted to feel everything to make sure that he was still ok. She was hooked up to several machines, one of which was showing us our son’s heartbeat, as long as she could see that she was calmer; knowing that he was ok.
“Ok, time to check you over again, Cammie,” the doctor said as she waltzed in the room.
“I’ll wait outside,” Blade said and he swiftly left the room. Cammie had already asked Heather to stay with us.
“You’re at eight centimetres, not long to go now,” the doctor said as she unsnapped her latex gloves and threw them in the bin.
“Can she still have an epidural?”
“Yes…”
“I don’t want one!” Cammie shouted, cutting off the doctor’s sentence.
“Babe, you’re in so much pain,” I explained to her as I swiped her hair off her forehead.
“And you’re going to need all your energy to push him out,” Heather added.
“No, I don’t want it!” she snapped. A beeping sound filled the room and we all automatically looked at the machine that showed our son’s heartbeat.
“Cammie’s heart rate is speeding up, she needs to stay calm and relax as much as possible. If it carries on increasing I’ll have to ask you to leave,” the doctor said looking at me.
“I’m not fucking leaving her!” I roared.
“Mason!” Cammie scolded me.
“I’m sorry, I’m just worried about her,” I apologised to the doctor.
“I understand, but she has said she doesn’t want the epidural. If she changes her mind, she’ll let us know. Won’t you Cammie?” She nodded as another contraction hit, she screwed her face up and her fists grabbed hold of the sheet beneath her. I placed my hands on the side of her face and her eyes popped open.
“Don’t hold back the pain. Let me help you.” I offered my hand for her to hold and she gripped it.
“I’m sorry.” She cried out.
“Hey, what are you saying sorry for?”
“I know you don’t like seeing me in pain but I need to feel it, to know that he’s ok. I’m scared,” she whispered the last bit. I looked over my shoulder as Heather squeezed my shoulder as she passed; giving us a moment alone together.
“I know you’re scared but it’ll all be ok, I promise.”
“Did you call Ashlyn?”
“Yeah, she wanted to come back but I promised that you’d call her as soon as you could.”
“I hate that this is happening to her. I just want her to be safe, happy and in love…” Her words were cut off w
hen another contraction hit.
“They are definitely a lot closer together now.” She nodded in agreement as she tried to breathe through the pain. “It’ll all be worth it when we hold him in our arms.” I kissed her on the lips and she relaxed.
“WHY ISN’T HE CRYING?” Cammie cried as she fell back onto the bed after pushing our son out. I was about to tell her I didn’t know why when he let out a wail. The relief on Cammie’s face was instant and she relaxed as the doctor cleaned her up.
“Here we go, dad,” the nurse said as she placed him in my arms, he was swaddled in a blue blanket and he was tiny. I quickly strode over to Cammie and placed him on her chest. The tears flowed down her face when her eyes landed on our son.
“He looks just like you,” she whispered. “He’s gorgeous.”
“There we go Cammie, you’re all cleaned up. Are you in pain?” the doctor asked. She shook her head, not taking her eyes off of our new born son. “I’ll leave you three alone. You did an excellent job, both of you.” She squeezed Cammie’s leg and patted me on the shoulder.
“I love you,” I told Cammie and as her head came up to look at me I claimed her lips. Little Harley let out a cry and I laughed. “He’s cock blocking me already.”
“Don’t be so ridiculous and go and get our friends. Your mum is probably dying to get in here.”
“Yeah and Emily.” I laughed. I kissed her once more and headed towards the door to tell our family that he was here safe and sound.
Ashlyn
WE LEFT the Cheshire Crusaders a couple of hours ago and we were currently walking around the town where the Lancashire Crusaders was. It took me nearly thirty minutes to convince Drake to have some time together outside of an MC. All I wanted to do was grab some lunch and look around a few shops. We hadn’t heard anything from Switch for weeks and although I didn’t want to get my hopes up that he had moved on from me, I just wanted to feel normal and in love for a little while. I screeched with Joy when Drake passed me his phone and staring from the screen was a picture of a gorgeous little boy, with a button nose and dark hair.
“What a great name; Harley. It suits him so much. Look how cute he is.” I beamed at Drake. He rolled his eyes at me.
“Yeah, cute,” he agreed. “Are we done with this shopping shit now?”
“No, we have to find him an outfit for when we go back.” I smiled.
“Darlin’, we still don’t know how long we are going to have to stay away for yet. You might buy something and then it may not fit.”
“Oh. Yeah, of course. Let’s go then.” I handed his phone back and I wandered over to the little duck pond that was on the edge of the shopping centre.
“Ash?” he mumbled as he slipped his arms around my waist and kissed the top of my head.
“I’m ok,” I reassured him, placing my hands on his. My head snapped to the side as I heard a scream. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, a guy had slapped a woman across the face and he she fell to the floor and he was trying to get her to stand up by yanking her hair. I couldn’t believe how many people had seen it and carried on walking by. He raised his hand up in the air again and Drake shot off towards him, me hot on his heels. Drake pushed him away from her and I wrapped my arm around her.
“Hey, are you ok?” I led her away from the guy and sat on a bench with her.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Honestly.” She began patting her shoulder length black hair down and winced at the same time.
“Who is he?”
“My boyfriend.” Her eyes dropped to her lap as she fiddled with her fingers.
“Does he do that a lot?”
“Only when he gets angry. He wasn’t happy when I told him about my new job. I got fired from my waitressing job, too many sick days. I just found this great job at a pub not far from where I live.”
“That’s good though.”
“No, he said all the men would be leering at me, wanting me and I was only his. I am only his, I don’t want anyone else.”
“Even when he hits you?”
“I love him.” Shit, I knew you couldn’t help who you loved but surely she could see that this guy wasn’t right for her. “I gotta go.” I looked over my shoulder to see that Drake was heatedly talking to her boyfriend.
“You sure you’re ok? By the way I’m Ashlyn.”
“I’m Vanessa. I’ll be fine. If you want, you can pop to the bar tonight and check for yourself. It’s the Fizz and Bubbles.” She pulled out a flyer from her bag and handed it to me. I looked it over and when I looked back up she was gone.
“You ok, darlin’?” Drake pressed his hand against my back as he sat next to me.
“Yeah, what happened with the guy?” I glanced around looking for him.
“The shopping centre security came and took him away. What about the girl?”
“She gave me this, she’s working there tonight. That’s why he hit her, he doesn’t like it. Can we go and check on her tonight, to make sure she’s ok?” I gazed around at our surroundings, all of a sudden I got this feeling like I was being watched. There was no one around, it was strangely quiet. The only noise coming from the duck pond behind us.
“It may not be safe for us to go there, I’ll check in with the Prez at the club. Speaking of, we better head that way.”
“Ok. Drake, I really want to go and check that she’s ok. I won’t be able to relax until I know.”
“I know darlin’.” We stood up and he pulled me close to him. I buried my face in his neck and took a couple of deep breaths. I hated that this was happening to me, being on the run, but I was so happy that I got to spend it all with Drake. “Come on.” He tugged on my hand and we strolled back to the car, hand in hand. Spending this time with Drake and being in love with him made me think of my family back in Devon, I missed them so much. Could I go back? Would I be welcome? Could I get over the fact that I’m no longer good enough for them?
“Hey, what you thinking?” I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up at Drake, he was standing by the car with my door open, waiting for me to climb inside.
“Oh, sorry. Just daydreaming.” I placed a chaste kiss on his lips before stepping into the car.
Drake
WE HAD BEEN WELCOMED by the Lancashire Crusaders, this was a big club and I struggled to remember all of their names. Ashlyn was sitting at the bar sipping on a strawberry cider while she talked to a couple of the Old Ladies, Tara, Lianne and Terri. I took this opportunity to go and have a word with the Prez. I headed down the short corridor, I remembered the Prez saying his office was the last door on the left before you reached the stairs.
Knock. Knock.
“Enter!” the Prez’s voice boomed. I pushed the door open and stepped inside. “Drake, what can I do for you?” He pointed to the chair across from his desk and I took a seat.
“I don’t mean to interrupt…”
“I’m just sorting out the strippers for the party this weekend.” I glanced at his desk and it was covered in photos. “Any catch your eye?” I shook my head. “This one, Jade. Mmm, sweetest pussy you’ll ever taste.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” I chuckled.
“What’s wrong, got an Old Lady?” Before I had a chance to answer, he shook his head. “Of course you don’t, you’re a prospect. Got a girl at home waiting for you?” I wanted to tell him that Ashlyn was mine but something was niggling at me, something was telling me not to let on that me and Ashlyn were together.
“Yeah, my girl is waiting for me at home.” At least that would keep him off my back about the strippers.
“Well, what she don’t know, won’t hurt her.” He laughed. Well, that plan didn’t work.
“Nope, I’m a one woman man.”
“Whatever floats your boat. So what did you want to talk to me about?” I sat there and explained to him about the couple at the shopping centre and what Ashlyn was feeling, I asked for permission to take a couple guys and at least go and check out this bar. I didn’t bother asking if Ashlyn co
uld go, I knew the answer already and if I was being completely honest I didn’t want her going either, at least not where she could potentially be put in more danger.
“Yeah, take Spud, Toad and Tabs with you.”
“Thanks Prez, I appreciate it.” I stood up ready to leave when he stopped me.
“I’m not finished, sit down.” I sat back in my seat and was curious what else he wanted. “So this guy that wants Ashlyn? Why does he want her?”
“He kidnapped her a few months ago, got the wrong girl but he kept her anyway. Tortured her, he claims that she is his and he wants her back to only do god knows what to her.” I tried to keep calm, if I blew up then the Prez would know there was more than me protecting her going on and for some reason I just felt uneasy around him. Once I had checked this place out and could put Ashlyn’s mind at ease we were getting the hell out of here.
“Hmmm, I see.” He paused, he was deep in thought as I sat there quietly. “Well, I hope it all goes well for you tonight.” His attention was back on the strippers and I used that as my cue to leave.
Drake
WE ARRIVED at the bar Fizz and Bubbles just after eleven, it was dark outside and a constant flow of people walked in and out of the bar. I felt on edge, I didn’t ask the Prez if I could bring Ashlyn with me but I didn’t feel comfortable leaving her at that club without me.
“Why are we just sitting here?” she asked impatiently.
“I’m just checking the area, making sure I know all of my escape routes in case something goes wrong.”
“Oh.” She was quiet for a little while and when I glanced over to her she was biting her finger nail and her eyes were zoned in on the club door. She yelped in surprise when a knock came at my car window. I rolled it down so I could hear what Spud had to say.
“It’s very busy in there. There is a young chick behind the bar, sexy as fuck, blue eyes and black hair.”
South Coast Brothers Part 1 Page 55