Emerald

by Rebekah Thompson

  Nodding, I take my seat. Reece snuggles back into my side and Rosaleigh glances around at all of us. A tap on my leg makes me look down. Reece, when he has my attention, asks, “What’s lockdown?”

  Curious as ever. “It means that Mommy gets to stay here with you and Rosaleigh,” I tell him, and his eyes brighten. I love that they want to be around me. I’ve seen kids who, even at young ages like mine, don’t like their parents and won’t spend time with them.

  Reece jumps at me and wraps his arms around my neck, “Really?” I nod and smile at his excitement. He beams a big smile at me and crawls off my lap, walking over to his sister. They settle on the floor, picking up some of their previously discarded toys.

  As I watch them play, inviting Drax and Sniper to join, a thought comes to mind. I don’t know why I didn’t think about it. “Did they find the two Hell Riders that escaped? Are they the ones who tried to hurt Lacy?”

  Sniper moves to the couch, Drax still on the floor with the kids, and sits next to me. “We’ve looked but we can’t find them. They’ve probably gone back to their own territory, which we can’t cross to,” he tells me, leaning back. “But, yes, they probably have something to do with the crash.”

  I nod. Of course they do. I don’t know much about this club yet, so I don’t know the enemies they might have. It’s most likely the Hell Riders.

  “Where’s the third guy? The one that didn’t get away,” I clarify. Sniper smirks. It’s the smirk of a man who knows things. Things that are worth something.

  “He’s in the barn,” Sniper answers. Rosaleigh giggles, climbs into Sniper’s lap, and curls up against him, staring at his face. She’s not normally like this. Maybe it’s because there’s not usually a man around, but she’s done this to Wolf, then Dominic, and now Sniper.

  “I want to talk to him.”

  Sniper immediately shakes his head. “Prez would never allow it, Emerald. This guy already hurt you once, and there’s no way he’d let you get anywhere near the guy,” he argues. I turn to him, pulling one leg under me.

  “No,” he states.

  “You’re not even going to ask?” I question, and he shakes his head. Fine. Saying nothing else, I stand and go to my room, grabbing my phone. Dominic told me he put his number in my phone, so I scroll through my contacts, finding the contact ‘My Man.’

  Smiling at the name, I sit. One ring later, he answers, spouting off questions. “Emerald? Are you okay? Is there a problem? Did someone-”

  “Dominic, everything’s fine. Drax and Sniper told me you have one of the guy’s that I fought at a barn,” I tell him, and he growls. I guess that was supposed to be privileged information.

  Silence settles between us until Dominic breaks it by saying, “Yeah, he’s here.”

  “I want to talk to him,” I tell him, “And before you say no, I want to remind you I’m the one who had to fight him to defend myself and my friend.” Again, there’s silence on the other end until he sighs.

  “I’ll be there soon,” he says and hangs up. Smirking, I head back to the living room. Both men look up as I enter and Drax’s face falls.

  “Please tell me you didn’t call him,” Drax says. He already knows the answer to that statement because he groans, rubs his hand down his face, and narrows his eyes at me. “What did you do?”

  I sit in my previous seat, beside Sniper. “I told him I wanted to talk to the Hell Rider member. He’s on his way,” I answer, and Drax’s eyes widen. Obviously, he doesn’t like what I’ve done, but he can get over it. They both can. I have a right to speak with him.

  Twenty minutes later, Dominic walks into the apartment. We make our way outside, and I go to my bike. I pick up my helmet and straddle my bike. “What are you doing?” Dominic asks, walking up to me.

  “Uh, I’m following you to the barn?” I say, but it comes out as a question.

  Dominic shakes his head and puts his hand on my waist, lifting me. Instinctively, I wrap my legs around his waist and hold on to his shoulders. I hold tightly to him as he walks us towards his bike and unwraps my legs from his waist. My eyes widen as he sits me on his bike. Bikers don’t let anyone, except their Old Ladies, sit on the back of their bikes.

  The bike roars to life under us, and I lay my hands flat on Dominic’s chest and stomach; and let me just say, oh my, jeez. He has delicious feeling abs.

  “If you keep feeling me up, we might crash,” Dominic yells over the roar of the engine. My cheeks heat up. I didn’t even realize I was moving my hands, but I stop because I really don’t want us to crash.

  After a bit of driving, Dominic pulls up to a large building, after going through the gate. He parks the bike and climbs off. Before I can climb off the bike, he lifts me up and sets my feet on the ground. This doesn’t look like a barn, so I assume it’s the clubhouse. There’s a fence around the building with a guard station we passed on our way in.

  I pull my helmet off and set it on the seat of the bike. “He’s here?” I ask, and Dominic nods. Time to go talk to the man who tried to hurt me and my friend.

  Chapter 9

  Dominic leads me through the clubhouse to the backyard. A barn stands there, faded red but otherwise in good structure. I walk confidently, with my head held high, so the club members don’t see weakness. I admit there’s fear in the unknown, but from what I’ve seen from Dominic, Wolf, and the men in the bar, these men are family- like the family I grew up with.

  Eyes follow me and Dominic as we make our way into the barn. He shows me to a door in the floor. Dominic pulls it up, after pushing away straw, and lets me go first before following me down the rickety stairs.

  I descend, the surrounding area darkening more as I go down. When we reach the bottom of the stairs, Dominic takes the lead. The room has a few lights hanging from the ceiling, giving off a somewhat creepy vibe. The top half of the room is lit up. The farther down, the darker it gets. By the time you look at the floor, you can hardly see your feet.

  The Hell Rider struggles against his bindings. He looks up as we enter, away from Reaper who stands beside him, and up at me and Dominic. “You brought the bit-”

  Dominic’s fist flies, slamming into the man’s jaw. His head snaps back with an echoing crack, and I cringe at the sound. My gut tightens as I grab Dominic’s hand. “I’m fine. His opinion of me doesn’t matter,” I say.

  “You sure?” My protector asks. Kissing his cheek, I wink and turn to the man tied up.

  “What’s your name?” I demand and he lifts his head, his eyes narrowing on me as blood seeps out of his crooked nose. When I cross my arms over my chest, his eyes follow the movement, no doubt staring at my… lets call them assets. His eyes rake over my entire body, making me feel like I need to take a shower.

  “You can call me whatever you want, babe,” he smirks and winks. I don’t look at Dominic before I punch the guy right in the face. His head snaps back, and he groans from the added pain.

  Pig.

  As the man groans, I grab the back of his neck, crushing his windpipe, and force him to meet my eyes. He gasps, trying to pull air in despite the tight grip on his throat.

  “Why does your President want my friend?” He gapes, his mouth opening and closing while small gasp-like breaths puff out. I release his throat, and he coughs. The man’s fingers twitch. He either wants to touch his neck or hit me. Either way, he won’t get what he wants.

  However, he says nothing.

  “What does he want?” I sneer, but the man laughs mockingly. Frustration bubbles in my veins and I grab the man by the collar, “Tell me or tell them.” I point at Dominic and Reaper. Reaper is standing beside the man, cracking his knuckles, and Dominic is spinning a knife through his fingers.

  “I’m not telling you anything, baby,” the Rider responds, spitting. A brush of cold runs through my body, making me shiver. Sighing, I stand back up and wipe his disgusting blood off my face.

  “If you won’t talk, then I guess we have to let you go,” I sigh. A barely audible sound
of protest comes from Dominic, so I turn to look at him, mouthing ‘trust me’. He nods. It feels good to have his trust, honestly.

  “Why would you do that?” The man asks, wiggling in his chair a little. His eyebrows pull together, showing his confusion.

  I look back to him and smirk, “I’ll let you go and then, I can let the word leak that you snitched. We won’t have to worry about killing you, because your own MC will hunt you themselves.” People who snitch, especially in one percenter clubs, don’t live long once they’re found out. From what I’ve heard, their deaths are slow and painful.

  The man’s eyes widen, staring at me like I’m crazy, as he jerks forward to try to grab or kick me. “You witch!” He screams, but I just turn to Dominic and smirk. This man doesn’t want the death his President would inflict. “You can’t do this!” He yells, his chair scraping and groaning underneath him as he jerks.

  “So, what will it be?” I question, turning back to him. Dominic stands close, his body heat touching my back and letting me know I have his support, while I stare the man down. The Rider glares at me before he sighs, defeat falling over him.

  “He wants you- the Black Hawks- weak,” the man says, directing his answer to Dominic. “We were told to take Wolf’s sister. Our Prez has a beef with Wolf and that means with you too, so we were gonna use Wolf’s sister to get to you two. Now they know you have another weakness.” He chuckles, smirking at Dominic.

  “Well, I’m done here,” I announce, hearing what I wanted to hear. I turn to Dominic and give him a nod, “I’ll be outside,” I tell him. He nods, and I leave the room. So they want to take me and Lacy to weaken the President and VP. It makes sense. Take someone important to them and cripple them. Take a biker’s Old Lady, and it makes their entire world crumble.

  As I walk up the stairs, I hear the man in the chair yelling in pain and cringe. I know that he won’t live, but I was hoping not to hear his death. Growing up in a club, even if they weren’t one percenter, prepared me for this. It doesn’t mean that I particularly like it.

  I walk out of the barn and into the club building. Several of the club members greet me, but they all continue playing pool, drinking, or working. Looking around, I find a familiar mop of blonde hair and smile. Wolf is standing near the bar with his back to me, so I weave through the men and jump on his back.

  His hands immediately go to the backs of my thighs while he stumbles forward. “Angel? God, dinnae do that. You could’ve hurt yourself, lass,” he says, his Scottish accent thickening as he looks back at me. I’ve noticed that the more emotional he gets, the thicker his accent gets.

  I offer a slight smile, and he sets me down. “Nah, I know you won’t let me fall,” I tell him. He smiles.

  “Aye, I willnae let my little sister get hurt on my watch,” he answers, and I throw my arms around his neck. I don’t think I will ever get over the fact that he seems like family, and I love it. My family is dead, but I’m slowly building another one.

  I pull away from Wolf and smile. “Thanks,” I utter. He sets me down, and I wrap my arms around his waist.

  Someone behind me clears their throat and I turn around to see Dominic standing there. “Emerald, are you ready to leave?” He asks. I nod and smile one last time at Wolf, before walking over to Dominic.

  ~*~

  “Weeeeeeee,” Rosaleigh squeals as Sniper twirls her in the air. I smile, and Emerald chuckles.

  “Sniper. Drax.” I announce our presence, and everyone turns their heads to look at me and Emerald. Rosaleigh wiggles in Sniper’s arms, and he puts her on the ground softly. As soon as her feet touch the floor, she runs over to Emerald. Reece is already at her feet. She scoops them both up.

  “My little man,” she greets, kissing his cheek and squeezing him. She does the same to Rosaleigh, kissing her forehead, “Hi, Princess.”

  “Hi, Mommy,” they say. Rosaleigh turns to me, a wide grin on her face, and reaches her arms out, squealing, “Domimic!” I hadn’t thought of having kids in a while because I hadn’t thought of having an Old Lady. But once they came into my life, I couldn’t think of anyone else filling those positions. I don’t want anyone else.

  When she reaches for me, I pull her into my arms to hug her. I notice Reece burying his face in his mom’s neck as we make our way into the living room. He hasn’t warmed up to me like Rosaleigh has, but I figured he’s a mama’s boy like I was. It might take him a bit.

  “Did he talk?” Drax asks, standing from the place he was sitting.

  “Sort of. He just told us what we already knew,” I answer, jumping up onto the kitchen counter. They groan, and someone pounds on the front door. Everyone tenses, me included, and I look to Emerald.

  “Expecting someone?” I ask. She shakes her head. The person bangs on the door again, and I pass Rosaleigh back to her mom. “Go to your room,” I instruct her. She glances at the door before hurrying away.

  Nodding to Sniper and Drax, who already have their guns out, I pull the door open. Nothing. I look back at Sniper just as something thumps in direction of Emerald’s room. My eyes dart to the hallway.

  Before they can say anything, I’m running to Emerald’s room. When I enter, the kids are nowhere in sight and Emerald has a pistol trailed on Jayden. Anger bubbles up, spreading through my body like a bad case of poison ivy.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I growl, looking from Jayden to Kayden who is still on the fire escape, “You could’ve been shot pulling a stunt like this!” Both of their heads drop forward. At least they have the decency to look embarrassed and ashamed.

  Emerald comes back over with the kids, and I feel something smack into my leg, wrapping around it. Emerald says something to the kids, but I keep my eyes on the boys. They know this apartment is on watch. They should’ve known better than to sneak in.

  “What’s the big deal?” Jayden asks. I sigh and rake my hand through my hair.

  “The big deal is this-” Something smacks my thigh, but I continue to- “it’s my responsibility to keep you two safe and it’s not safe to sneak into a house that’s under lockdown,” I growl. I begin to say something else, but Emerald’s hand brushes my bicep, stealing my attention.

  “I’ll handle them,” she says. “Will you go to Rosaleigh?” I glance around the room. She’s not in here.

  Emerald touches my arm, reading my mind when she says, “She ran out crying because you didn’t acknowledge her.” Crap. I’m already messing this up. With a nod, I leave the room in search of the girl. I search the living room, the kitchen, then head to her room.

  When I reach the room, I hear muffled noises on the other side of the door. I knock, but she doesn’t answer, so I open the door. She’s lying face down on her bed, her little body shaking as she cries. Reece glares at me from beside his sister, and I bite back a smile. He’ll be a good protector when he gets older.

  “Rosaleigh,” I murmur, moving over to her small bed. She has a twin bed that dwarfs her small body. I reach her bed and carefully sit on the edge, making her look up. Reece says nothing, just gives me his best glare.

  “What?” She sniffles, scrunching her face into an angry pout. Again, I rake a hand through my hair, then I gently lift her delicate chin.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper just for her. She wipes at her cheeks, her big green eyes staring up at me.

  “You dinent pick me up,” she sniffles. Sighing, I look down and she speaks up again, sobbing, “You hate me.”

  My heart breaks, her little cries tearing at the unknowingly sensitive organ. “No, Princess, I could never hate you,” I tell her, and she looks up again. Her beautiful green eyes have little pools of tears in them.

  “Why you not want to play with me?” She asks, tears spilling over and rolling down her cheeks. I lift her off the bed and settle her into my lap. She tries not to curl into me, but eventually, she lays her head on my chest.

  “No, no. I like you, I just had to… uh, put the boys in time out,” I tell her, using words that she will
better understand. Her eyes widen, looking up at me as she giggles.

  “They got in trouble?” I nod, and she giggles again. A smile graces her lips as she falls into a fit of giggles, her tears clearing up. Good. I don’t think I could handle any more tears. That painful, gripping feeling that settles in your heart when you see someone you love gets hurt took over as she cried. I’d do anything to keep her from getting hurt. Her, her brother, and her mother.

  I glance at Reece to see he’s not glaring at me anymore and I breathe a little easier. I can’t ruin this. I don’t want to hurt these kids… I can’t. I’ve claimed their mom, meaning I claim them too. I don’t want to disappoint them. I don’t want to disappoint Emerald.

  After her giggles die down, Rosaleigh yawns and blinks slowly a few times. Her small hand comes up to her face, and I watch as she rubs her eyes. Reece looks sleepy too, rubbing at his eyes, so I pull them to my body. Rosaleigh curls up in my lap and Reece leans into my side. Their eyes slowly close.

  Carefully, I move my body to lean my back against the small headboard. The tiny girl in my arms snuggles closer to me and buries her face in my neck.

  My mind wanders to the conversation I had with my father before he died. “When you get married and have a child of your own, you’ll know what it feels like,” he told me.

  “What, what feels like?” I’d asked curiously. He’d smiled down at me and picked me up, “What it feels like to want to protect them, to love them, to give everything to them,” he answered. His answer didn’t make sense to the younger me, so I had just smiled and laughed.

  Sitting here, though, I protectively hold these kids to me.

  Gently, I brush some hair off Rosaleigh’s face and brush my lips across her forehead, placing a fleeting kiss there. They may not be mine, but Emerald is, therefore, Reece and Rosaleigh are mine. I know now what my father meant.

  With this thought, my mind wanders to the rest of the conversation my father and I had.