by Dani Wyatt
I squint my eyes closed, I don’t want to ruin what we have right now and living in the moment is the choice I make. As irresponsible as that may be.
Maybe Hammer, Rob…would come with me. I haven’t shared my dream with him and that’s not totally fair. Maybe, just maybe, he would be open to a change. It’s hard to imagine. These people here in Seneca are his family, but miracles happen and maybe not tonight, but soon, I’ll need to have a talk with him and see if there is any way our worlds could merge in a way that fits us both.
My body is still humming from the pleasure he brings me, and hearing him say I love you for the first time. The sounds of the bar are getting louder as the afternoon turns to evening, and I lean over and kiss his shoulder.
“Mmmm.” He turns, eyes still closed, and kisses the top of my head. “Sorry, Angel, you wore me out.”
“It’s okay.”
His lips stay planted on my head and it feels so perfect. Protective and possessive at the same time.
I’m nestled in the crook of his arm, my cheek on his chest, when he runs a hand down under the blanket and over my hip, then resting it on my belly and the simple touch sends a shiver through me. My thoughts of how we do and don’t fit together are one thing, the fact that I could be pregnant with his baby right now is completely different, and I wonder how I could have been so irrational.
It’s time. Waiting to have an important conversation is stupid. I’ve already let this go too far and it’s not fair to either of us, and possibly the life we’ve already created, to stall at the practicalities any longer.
“Rob?” I ease up onto my elbow.
“Yeah, babe?”
I take a second to choose the words. I want this to be productive, but when I think I have my head wrapped around the perfect approach we are both jolted from the moment.
The sound of a gun shot, screams from the women in the bar and the sound of something hard hitting the door end the conversation before it can start.
Rob is up and in his jeans before I can get my next breath. He leans down, pulling on one boot while hopping on the other foot, then he switches, shooting a look my way.
“Stay in here,” he barks. “You understand me?”
“I…”
“Stay here!” He repeats as he pulls on his t-shirt, then his vest, and stomps to the door. “Do not come out until I come for you, or one of ours. Lock the door behind me.”
He opens the door, the sound of men and women yelling and things being knocked over, glasses breaking and mayhem filling the small room.
“Okay,” I finally answer, slipping out of the bed to find my way to my clothes.
“I love you,” he says as he slips out the door and slams it behind him.
Hammer
By the time I emerge from the hallway into the bar, there’s hardly a table or chair not overturned. There are bloody knuckles, broken noses, and the floor is slick with beer and broken glass.
I’m in it in a second, I don’t ask questions. This is our house and you defend it without hesitation, and figure out what the fuck is going on later.
I dive forward, coming behind a black leather jacket that has Bulldog in a choke hold. He can hold his own, but he’s closest and I’m ready to crush whoever thinks that can come in here and disrespect our place.
As I maneuver behind the attacker, his colors come into view and ice floods my veins.
Satan’s Seminoles.
Fuck. How’d they find me?
I don’t dwell, it’s time to fight and fight I will.
I grab just about the only intact beer bottle from the floor and swing it over my head, bringing it down in a crack on the back of the skull of the asshole that is locked in battle with Bulldog.
He’s fucking tough, he doesn’t go down, but blood streams from the cut on the back of his head and he releases Bulldog, spinning around and I recognize Fury from my time with the Seminoles.
“Fuck, yeah!” He nods, with hate in his eyes. “Here you are. Long time.”
“Fuck off.” I’m not here to reminisce, so I bring a fist into his chin from below, then another one into his gut, and Bulldog is right there with a double shot to the center of his back, dropping him into the glass and mess on the floor.
“What the fuck?” I say as we both turn to head to the next battle.
“They’re looking for you, man. What the fuck is right!”
We don’t keep talking. Bulldog takes on one guy who’s got Jackal in the corner. He’s holding his own, but Bulldog double teams him and a second later, there’s another heap of Seminole ass on the floor.
Troy’s got another by the throat and drops him in a bleeding heap under the dartboard.
He turns to me shakes his head and we both grab two more and the battle continues.
The place is trashed, only two of theirs are standing when they put their hands up in surrender.
“Okay,” one says, blood streaming down his face. “We have a legit beef with one of our own. You.” He points my way and I recognize him as Skate. He was up and coming when I left, but dirty as fuck and would do anything Lukas told him to do.
“Well, your beef doesn’t belong here. He’s a Heartlands member now. So take your shit on down the road.”
Skate shakes his head. “We need to settle up. It’s only fair.”
Jackal and Wrath are next to me, eyes on mine. “Dude, what’s the fucking story here?”
“I wouldn’t do their shady shit. Took off. Just left.”
“Yeah, he left. Defied a direct order from the President.”
“Then the beef is between them. Any one of these jokers the president?” Troy looks around at the moaning, shifting bodies on the floor.
“Can’t. He’s dead. But we got wind where that motherfucker was and were here to settle the debt. Saw that little video of him taking the guys down in the grocery store. Social media’s a wonderful thing sometimes.”
“Fuck.” I grunt. “What do you want to settle up? You gonna kill me? Because I don’t see that happening.”
“Nah. Just face us. You in the center, you take all you can take, you fight your way out of the circle, we’re settled, otherwise, you take your beating until we feel things are level again.”
A few of the guys from the floor are on their feet again, moving to stand behind Skate and his partner.
“Nope.” Troy steps up. “Things don’t go that way here. You take us all, or none. And, from the looks of things, we already gave you a taste of how this will turn out.”
“There’s a lot more of us back east. We can end this today, or you can start a war. One you ain’t gonna win, I guarantee you.”
One thing I know that Troy and my brothers don’t, is the Seminoles are not just dirty, they’re a big fucking group. Ten men to every one of ours, and if they want a war, it will be all out and it’s guaranteed there will be Heartlands blood spilled.
And I can’t have that. Not on my account.
“I’ll do it.” I step forward and Troy shakes his head, but I push ahead. “This is my beef. I need to settle it or this won’t end. Let’s go.”
I nod toward the door and there’s a few voices from the Heartlands telling me it ain’t gonna happen, but I wave them off.
“Let’s go then.” Skate pushes the door open.
“In the back. We don’t need anyone calling the cops.” Troy acquiesces and we file out the front door, around the corner and into the sandy area next to the parking lot, and six of their guys stand around me in a circle.
“He gets no help.” Skate barks to the rest of the Heartlands crew and they shake their heads, grumbling, but stand firm.
“Who’s first?” I ask, starting to grin. This is going to be painful, but not just for me.
One of them launches himself at me without checking with his buddies. Big mistake. I catch him with a right hook, grab him around the head and slam him down into my waiting knee. There’s a crunch of bone and a spurt of blood, and no amount of Luann’s detergent
is going to get that stain out of these jeans.
Unfortunately for me, the rest aren’t quite as stupid as their buddy, and I feel the dead weight slam into my upper back before he crumples to the floor, knocking the wind out of me as Skate throws a punch into my face. Taken by surprise, I don’t manage to get my guard up in time and he catches me with a glancing blow that has me seeing stars.
“Fuck,” I grunt as I start to wobble, and I see Troy’s expression drop. He’s allowing this, because I said I could handle it, but it’s clear he’s not happy. I shake my head, because I can see he’s thinking about stopping the fight, but it’s good to know he has my back if I need it.
Regaining my composure, I drop into a crouch and sweep Skate’s legs out from under him, turning and coming up with a punch to the gut of the guy behind me. He goes down and I turn to face the next, but it’s then that we all hear the shot.
“What the fuck, Skate?” I growl when I see what’s happening.
The gun was just to get our attention, but it fucking worked. Coming around the corner of the bar, I barely recognize Grit, Lukas’ son. And gripped in his arms, with the clear threat of a bullet if she doesn’t behave, is Robin.
“Lukas, put that woman down. We’ve come to an arrangement, man.” Skate turns to me. “This wasn’t part of the plan, you have my word.”
I didn’t recognize Grit inside the bar, but then I wouldn’t. He was barely more than a kid when I left the Seminoles. He must have been one of the unconscious bodies on the floor, but they all looked pretty much the same in the heat of the moment.
Robin looks terrified, but that brave streak is shining through because she’s stomping her feet and trying everything to wriggle out of his grip.
Grit shakes his head. “I’m Lukas’ son, Skate. I should be the new president of our chapter, and this right here is how we get payback. Don’t you recognize this chick? She’s the girl from the video. The one that motherfucker beat down those guys for. She’s his woman. We take her, we use her however we fucking want, and then everything is settled.”
There are mutters of discontent from the other Seminoles. They might be assholes, but they’re not fucking monsters. Kidnapping an innocent girl seems like a step too far, even for them. Skate takes a step towards Grit, but comes to a stop with his hands up when the gun is pointed at him.
“That motherfucker defied my dad, Skate. You don’t get to take payback away from me. She’s coming with us, and if you guys know what’s good for you you’ll get on your bikes right now and ride with me.”
“Okay, dude, whatever you say.” Skate shoots a look my way, like don’t hate me, man, I’ve got no choice, but I growl in response because he does have a choice.
As they all start to move toward their bikes, with Grit grinning wide in triumph, I prepare to move forward. I won’t do anything to put Robin’s life in danger, but if they think I’m going to let them take her away from me they’re wrong.
I’ll hunt down every last one of them if I have to.
But as I meet Robin’s eyes, she shakes her head, does that lip pull, nose crinkle thing and her dimple comes out, and it’s clear that she’s about to do something. I grit my teeth, ready to launch forward.
But I don’t have any time to step.
Before anyone can react, Robin takes the opportunity with Grit’s guard down and shoves her elbow into his gut. It’s not hard, but it’s enough to take him by surprise and make him lower the gun, and that’s when she really moves into action.
That girl must have been taking fucking ninja lessons or something, because I can barely believe my eyes at how fast she moves. She stomps on the top of his left foot. She ducks out of his grasp, spins on the spot and lands a jab right into his throat, his eyes going wide as she crushes his windpipe. A second later, she grabs the gun out of his hand and sweeps it over the guys standing around before turning it on Grit.
“Guys, I’m an attorney. You all know what that means. This ends right this fudging moment.”
The Seminoles raise their hands, a few of them chuckling at Grit, who’s still struggling to breathe. He’ll be fine, but I don’t think his pride will ever recover.
“You’ve had your moment, I’d say everything is settled, wouldn’t you?” She casts her eyes over the gathered crowd, settling on Skate. “Wouldn’t you?”
He grumbles under his breath. “He still hasn’t paid for what he…”
“Excuse me?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He turns his eyes down.
“Good, because I don’t think you want a whole courtroom to hear how your pussy asses were taken down by a girl, right?”
Troy starts to chuckle, along with the other members of the Heartlands. My little firecracker.
“Looks like it’s time you were on your way, guys,” Troy says, crossing his arms over his chest. “I ever see any of your faces around here again, I’ll set the lawyer on you.”
There are a few grumbles, but I hear the words fair is fair among them as Skate grabs Grit by the scruff of his neck and they head for their bikes.
And then Robin runs my way, throwing her arms around me, and I know that all is right with the world.
As soon as we’re back inside, Robin grabs my hand and pulls me towards the back. The other guys start to laugh knowingly, but I shoot them a look and they fall silent. I know they want to celebrate the win with us, but we were in the middle of something before the Seminoles interrupted, after all.
“We’ll save you a beer,” Troy says with a chuckle as he heads behind the bar.
“Tequila,” me and Robin say at the same time, and I meet her eyes.
“There’s something I need to talk about with you. In private,” she says.
I nod. “Me too.”
When we’re safely behind the closed door in the back room, she turns to me, still breathing heavy. “That was quite invigorating.”
I laugh. “You’re telling me. Where did you learn to move like that?”
Robin shrugs. “I meet people in my line of business.”
“Well, let’s get one thing straight. I don’t ever want you risking yourself like that again. Got it? In future, you let me handle things. I don’t want any risk of you getting hurt. I’m there to protect you, okay?”
She nods. “That’s kind of what I need to talk to you about. I do love you, Rob, but I have to come clean. My career is important too. I know you’ll never leave your family here, and I get that, but there are things I have to do with my life. I have to help people, I have to protect people. I’m doing that here, but it’s not enough, I want my life to mean something. As soon as I can, I want to head out east.”
I draw a deep breath, nodding. “And I’ll follow you.”
“What? No, I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not asking, I’m telling you. This isn’t even a discussion. My Mom and Dad are back east anyway, and with the Satan’s Seminoles dealt with, there’s nothing to stop us.”
“You’re from out east?”
I nod. “Sure am. The Burg. There are things I haven’t told you, and I will, but know this, baby: you’re stuck with me. From now until the end of time.”
She grins. “Are you sure? I mean, won’t you miss the Heartlands MC?”
“I will, but just because we’re not living here doesn’t mean we can’t visit. They’re family, and they always will be, but you’re my family first. Or, whatever, you know, maybe you could start something closer by. The club is always looking for good investments. Either way, we’ll work it out.” I pull open the drawer beside the bed and reach inside. “Baby, you’re my family, I mean that. Wherever you go, I’ll follow. I want us to always be together.”
Grabbing the little box inside the drawer, I turn to her with a grin, and drop down onto one knee.
“Hamm—Rob, what are you doing?”
“I love you, Robin.”
“I love you, too. What are you? Is that…? Oh my god…”
I slip the ring onto her finger.
“Marry me. Please. I know I don’t deserve you, but your mine anyway.”
There are tears as she nods. “Yes. Oh, god, yes please. I want to be yours.”
“You already are, baby,” I say as I rise, taking her into my arms. “We’re a team, and we’re going to have a wonderful life. Let’s live this ride together. Wherever it takes us.”
Chapter 13
Hammer
Six Months Later
“A little to the left.” My wife is directing me as I do my best to hang her diplomas in a perfect row on the back wall of her new office.
“That good?” I ask. “Or, maybe a tenth of a tenth of an eighth of an inch more?”
She squints at me and pokes her tongue out.
“I’m just saying.” I shrug. “I want it perfect too.”
“It’s fine. It is perfect, I just can’t believe this is really happening.”
I work my way around her desk where she’s standing there in one of my white t-shirts and a pair of her jeans with paint smudges all over them both. She’s still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, even running on almost no sleep and paint splattered across her cheek.
Especially, because her tummy is starting to turn round. She’s three months pregnant and every day she fucking glows more and more.
“It’s happening.” I lean down and kiss her and that jolt of desire shoots directly to my cock. It’s like the first time every time, and I wonder sometimes if it’s all a dream.
“Okay. So, we have an hour before we should head back to the house.”
“Well, hanging your diplomas was the last thing on your list.” I rest my forearms on her shoulders and intertwine my fingers behind her head. “You should probably take a nap before we head out.”
“I’m not tired,” she grouches, but her tone tells me otherwise.
She’s had a rough first trimester. Barfing, and tired, but the last week it’s been easing up, thank God. I’ve done what I can. Ice cream was about the only thing she was craving and could keep down, so every day I’d bring home new flavors and even bought a separate freezer just so she could have a selection at her fingertips anytime she needed it.