Burnt (21 page)

Lou flat out belly laughs, Dec grabs my hips gently lifting me down flexing his hands slightly to get my attention. He kisses my temple, and whispers for only me to hear,

“Watch it woman, or my musk flavoured, manly cock will be asking for an encore performance in a minute.”

Squeezing past him, I throw what I hope looks like a flirty wink back at him and say,

“Only if you’re a good boy.”

If that little fucker, Glock looks at my woman’s ass, or tits one more time and I’m going to kick fucking head in. Piece of shit prospect. I fucking swear, prospects are getting more, and more disrespectful these days. I would never have looked at a members’ ol lady the way he is mine, that’s like signing your own death warrant. Kendall’s bending down to tie Lexi’s shoes, and that fuckers eyes are following her, practically devouring her sweet body every time she moves. I can’t blame him completely, Kendall is a fucking sexy woman. The thing is; she’s my woman, so he can keep his eyes to himself.

The last four hours have been hell on Earth for me. Exaggeration, maybe, but fuck, I just want to get my woman and daughter home and into bed. After making her way through the crowd, hugging every motherfucker that stopped her, chatting to the Ol ladies, having a something to eat, and taking the time to steal Anna and Lexi from Sheila’s clutches; Kendall’s finally starting to get the chance to relax and slow down.

Most of the kids have made their way inside the dorms, and are watching cartoons or some shit. Ol ladies and girlfriends have taken up spots on their men’s laps, and the fire in the fire pit is in full flame. The single brothers are starting to settle in to the chairs around the pit with beers and their choice of woman for the night, and the older members, like dad, Priest, and Reaper are talking and laughing off to one side. This is the first time in months, things feel like they’re almost back to normal, and it feels good.

I’ve been standing against the Oak tree for the last half hour watching my woman. Watching her move between her friends and family like she’d never been gone in the first place. While everything might feel like it’s getting back to normal, I know Kendall has a way to go yet. She’s mostly coping with everything, but she has nightmares occasionally, and I wonder if there’s more going on in her head that she’s not sharing.

The first nightmare Kendall had, that I was present for, scared the shit out of me. She started shaking and crying out, little whimpers escaped her throat, and it broke my heart that she had to go through this. When I woke her up, she came to with tears in her gorgeous green eyes, but tried to convince me she was fine, I didn’t believe her at first. After seeing her settle back into sleep in less than five minutes it was clear my girl is tougher than most people give her credit for.

Priest and Brenna were freaking the fuck out about whether Kendall will be able handle this shit in the long term. The shrink Kendall saw, at their request, gave them and me assurances that she’s doing perfectly for someone having suffered what she did. That doesn’t mean they, or I, fuck, any of the guys in the club aren’t on high alert, watching over her to make sure she STAYS okay.

More than any of the others, Arrow is being even more observant when it comes to Kendall. However, knowing what I do about Arrow, the fact he came from an abusive home when he was a kid, I’m not surprised. I don’t think he will be willing to do the whole sharing is caring shit, telling Kendall about what he’d been through, the guy is locked up tighter than a nuns’ asshole about his previous life, but I do think he’ll be one of the first ones’ to know if there are signs she’s struggling with it all. From the little he’s told a few of us brothers, his dad was a nasty fucking drunk, who lost his job, and his ma is a weak bitch that let Arrow’s old man take his frustrations out on him with his fists, and anything he could get his hands on. His ma might not have hit him, but she sure as fuck didn’t do anything to stop it either, in my book; that’s even worse.

Thinking about brothers reminds me of Church, and the few times we’ve convened over the last couple of weeks. It was intense, with every brother out for blood, and fully committed to any plan Priest has to bring Satan’s Sons down, permanently. Priest is in full retaliation mode, the man is like a general commanding his troops. The thing about this war is; every motherfucker taking part in it, from our side at least, the bastards we are gunning for have no idea what’s in store for them; are completely dedicated to following this through until the last one of THEM falls.

Dad and Priest have even gone as far as to reach out to Vengeance MC for assistance, and the possibility of backup if we need it, something we’ve never done in the past. This time is different though, Kendall is one of our own, the fucking Princess of Devil’s Spawn MC, and the need for fast, violent retribution is fierce.

Located in Furnace, Colorado, about two and a half hours away on the opposite side of Denver to us; Vengeance MC is the reigning MC of the six states to their south. They aren’t a small chapter either; having sixteen position holding members, thirty-five patched brothers, and six or seven prospects active at any one time in their chapter make them one of the biggest on this side of the country. They are THE force to be reckoned with, and I’m fucking glad we’d formed an alliance with them years ago. After their old President died suddenly, and his son took over as president, we were able to become allies, something that’s necessary when you dip into the trades MC’s do.

Devil’s Spawn MC isn’t some weekend warrior outfit having chats over coffee on our days off. Fuck no, we take this shit seriously, we LIVE it. Devil’s Spawn is nearly as big as Vengeance in numbers, but what they have over us is an armoury of weapons on hand at any given time, and the ability to transport them through a carefully constructed pipeline that’s taken almost two decades to establish.

Jackson ‘Boss’ Carr is a fucking legend in the MC world, as is his VP, Diesel. He’s huge, ruthless, an epic consumer of all thing pussy, and one of the first presidents to push their MC to go into fully legitimate business dealings only. They aren’t quite there yet, but from what we’ve been told they are only a matter of a couple of months away from their end goal. It’s not that we aren’t almost completely on the up-and-up, because we are. The thing is; the cash that the less than legal side of our business brings in is just too good. It’s been sent to a vote before, more than one, but it never passes, brothers like the income it generates.

When they heard what happened to Kendall, Boss, Diesel, and Vengeance’s Enforcer, Fury paid us a visit. Priest gave them all the information we have about what we’re dealing with during an informal sit down it took less than half an hour for the Vengeance brothers to commit themselves to helping us every way they can. Guns, ammo, info, man-power, whatever it takes Boss assured us he’ll have it for us in spades. Diesel and I had a word before they left; telling me that it’s a sore spot for Boss, any woman being hurt. Let alone the horrific shit Kendall went through. Boss isn’t one to shy away from violence when the situation demands it, but never, NEVER when it came to a woman, or child.

Pulling a smoke out of my pack, I light it as I see dad making his way over.

“What are you doing over here, boy? I thought you’d be glued to Kenny’s ass for sure.”

Shaking my head, I exhale and a long stream of almost blue smoke, and watch as it makes its way up into the dark, night sky.

“I’m giving her a minute old man. I nearly got trampled by those women trying to get to her, I don’t need to lose essential body parts today, so I thought I’d back off a bit.”

Grunting at me, he snags a smoke from my pack and lights up.

“They’ll calm down. Give them a few weeks of her being back and they’ll cool their shit.”

Inclining my head, I fucking hope they do, because if they think they’re going to monopolise my woman’s time now that I finally have her back with me, they’re in for a rude fucking shock.

“Yeah, hope so.”

Standing quietly beside him, I see dad looking intently at Kendall. It doesn’t take long for him to break his self-imposed silence.

“I can’t imagine what that girls’ been through, and being fucking proud of the strong woman she’s turned into. I’ve always known she’d be prime ol lady material, her being her dad’s daughter and all, I’m just glad I’m still around to see it. I’m fucking glad you pulled your head out of your ass, and she ended up yours too.” I agree, wholeheartedly, but it’s not like she would have had a choice. Kendall was always meant to be mine, and it didn’t take long for me to work out she was made for me, literally. Honestly, I believe Kendall Jacob’s was put on this Earth for me to find, and I’m just lucky I didn’t have to spend long, or go far in my search for her. “The only advice I can give you now son is; to keep that one close, because you’re not going to find another woman like that in this lifetime, or the next. And you better tie her down fast. There isn’t one of brother that will hesitate in making her their ol lady if you don’t put a ring on it, and plant some babies in her.”

Scoffing at him, I crush my smoke out with the heel of my boot.

“They’re not getting that chance old man. As soon as I can I’m marrying her, and I intend to make you a grandpa a few times over.”

Dad straightens up and gives me a grin.

“Had no doubt you would, son. Make sure you go to Priest about it first though. That’s his only daughter you’re talking about, so give the man the respect of asking for her hand and shit. I might not have had to do that myself before, but I know he’ll sure as shit expect it, and if I’d ever had a daughter, I would too.”

Nodding to him I give him my reassurances,

“Already done. I asked him the day after we found her at the hospital. He also might have threatened to make it so I can’t have any more kids if I hurt his baby, but he gave us his blessing nonetheless.”

Takin a long pull of the beer in his hand, dad inclines his head,

“You always were a fucking quick one Boy, good for you. When are you going to make that shit official?”

I’d given this question a good deal of thought over the last two weeks. I didn’t want to rush her, but there’s no way I can sit around forever either, I’ve waited long enough already I think. I do want to give my woman some time to settle in and get her life back on track. I want her to relax into being home, and get back to work if that’s what she wants to do. That was never really a question, I know that’s what she’ll want, but Kendall won’t have to work another day in her life if she doesn’t want to. I make fucking excellent money workin at Chasers, especially since I own a third of it now, I pull large chunks of cash when I go on runs, and I’ll have a fucking whack of change when I sell my house. Not to mention, Kendall has a big ass fucking trust fund coming to her when she turns twenty-five as well. She doesn’t know it yet, but when Priest bought the cottage a while back, he started depositing Kendall’s rent into a high yield savings account, to be released to her when she turns twenty-five. He said she wouldn’t let him pay for shit when she moved out, so this is his way of setting her up with the best start in life he can.

None of the brothers, especially the position holding ones, are hurting for cash. So, my financial status shouldn’t come as a surprise to Kendall. Each patched member gets a cut of the profits we make from selling and distributing guns and ammo. Devil’s Spawn doesn’t deal in drugs, never have and never will, that shit just gets fucking messy, and no one needs that drama. Guns? They are a different story. We make good money transporting them from as far south as Vegas, and as far north as the Canadian border. We don’t store them, and we sure as fuck don’t buy them for personal use. We simply pick up and transport them where they need to go. Devil’s Spawn learnt early on it was too much of a risk to store, or bring shipments into the compound. The less handling the better, less stops and unloads meant less chance of detection, and the police are nosey fuckers. The less opportunities we give them to get up in our business, the better. Most of the transport runs go smoothly with Tank planning the logistics, seeing as he’s ex-military, me setting up the communications aspect. That’s another thing I had yet to tell Kendall about.

About three months ago, during a Church meeting, the seven position holding members, (Prez, VP, SAA, Enforcer, First Rider, Treasurer, Secretary), and the patched brothers, voted me in as Communications Officer. It is a fancy way of saying; I’m the one to communicate with our contacts, organise smooth delivery of whatever the fuck we’re supposed to be delivering, set up the burner phones, background check every motherfucker, potential club member, or anyone possibly becoming attached to a brother, (girlfriends and all), and all our contacts. The most important part of my job is to make sure the club has as much information as possible on whatever is being taken to the table to be voted on, and new deals for the club to investigate. This new position isn’t as time consuming as the SAA or First Rider positions, but it still means I had to cut back my hours at Chasers, and I end up taking work home sometimes so I can still be with Lexi instead of practically camping at the clubhouse when I have a deadline to meet.

Lexi loves being at the clubhouse, and that makes me happy but, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t prefer her to have a normal home, with a home cooked meal, and warm bed at the end of the day instead. Lexi might be used to staying with different people all the time, and honestly, she loves it, but I know she would love it if she had a more stable routine. But, while Kendall was in the hospital, even before that, back when I kicked Isabella out, I hated having to go home. The memories that came attached to that house I bought with her, and then spending the last two weeks at the hospital non-stop makes that house feel more like a prison than a place I want to go home too. I put my two-story, four-bed, three-bath house on the market last week, Kendall doesn’t know that yet but Lexi does, so I have no doubt it won’t long before she spills her guts. I have to find a way to approach it first because Kendall won’t be fucking happy to have it sprung on her by my five-year-old.