Cadence Reflection (Wheels & Hogs Book 2) (19 page)

She grasps onto my hands and looks into my eyes with a smile as big as the sun, “I would be honored to be your wife and mother of your children. I love you, Cadence Power.  Thank you for loving me back.”

I take our hands apart and remove the ring from its box, place it on her finger and kiss it, giving her a promise, “I will never let you down. I love you, baby. I always will.” 

Pulling her close, I kiss her with all the emotions I’m feeling and she just gives it right back to me. This is what perfection must feel like.

I
t’s the week before the Charity Ride and Wheels & Hogs is frenzied with activity. We all have our normal work, but we also have another job, and that job is to make sure that the ride is a success. On top of that, the property behind the garage is now filling up with people for the final phase of the ride, setting up their tents or campers.  Des had Dee order port-o-potties that still haven’t arrived and as I walk through the front doors, I can hear the frustration in Dee’s voice as she speaks to someone on the phone. These are not your cheap shitters. They are the types that have running water, and some even include shower stalls because Des wants to make people as comfortable as possible. I cannot believe the amount of people that are now here, or on their way. Wolf also has a section of his ranch available for camping. It’s on the other side of his property, away from his charity work.  He told me that he didn’t want any issues for the folks he was trying to help.  Even those people have stepped up and are involved with trying to assist with the ride as much as they can. 

As I head down to Des’ office, I think about the last two weeks with Trinity.  I’ve never been so fucking happy in my life as I am with her and our baby, who will be joining us soon. Wolf and I decided it would be best for her to stay at his place for safety purposes.

I have two surprises for her and I can’t wait to share them with her.  The first is that I’ve turned the closest guest bedroom closest to the master into a nursery. I even painted it a muted shade of yellow, green and white, which Dee and Willow both helped me pick out, along with a crib and all the other things that the baby will need. Since we don’t know the sex of the baby, we picked out clothes that could go either way so we had something to start with. Archie, Jagger, and Daisy helped me put the shit together and arrange it.  A colorful area rug covers the hardwood floors and pretty curtains cover the windows, courtesy of Fern.

Thinking of Fern, the next surprise actually shocked me. Fern and Gabriel are throwing a surprise baby shower for Trinity and the baby.  With all they have going on, they still want to do this, so tomorrow night at the shop, after it closes, is where the shower will be held. Fern was adamant that it be held before the Charity Ride. I don’t like the path her thoughts are taking her in, but I’ll do anything Fern asks. 

Knocking on Des’ door, I wait to hear the gruff, “
Enter,
” and walk in. Immediately I know that something is up because I see Bear, Stash, Wolf, and some of the MC guys in the office with intense looks on their faces. I look at Des and ask, “What’s going on, Des?” 

He looks around the room and stops at Wolf, who nods, and then he looks back to me, “Glad you’re here, kid. Take a seat ‘cause we’ve gotta discuss something with you.” 

As everyone finds somewhere to plop their asses down, I wait for Des to speak, but it’s Wolf who starts, “Bro, you know we always have your back, right?” 

Something in the back of my mind tells me that I’m not going to like what comes next, “Yeah, I know that, Wolf, but what the fuck? Spill it already, will ya.” 

Des clears his throat and then reaches across his desk, picks up a picture and tosses it my way, “Cadence, do you know the man standing next to Trinity’s old man, Roman?” 

Reaching over the desk, I grab the photo and immediately my stomach clenches.  I stand up so abruptly that I knock my chair backwards as I yell, “Fuck! It’s that motherfucking cocksucker.” Losing the little control I have, I start pacing and swearing with a wavering voice.  I feel light-headed, overheated, and I’m starting to sweat profusely. I’m having a goddamn panic attack.

In a flash, Wolf is at my side, grabbing my shoulders and telling me to calm down.  I see out of the corner of my eye as Des reaches into his bottom draw as Bear brings a glass toward him.

Des pours some liquid into the glass and Bear passes it to Wolf, “Have him drink this. It will help to calm his nerves.” 

I grab the glass and gulp down the contents, “What the fuck is that. Oh my God, it tastes horrible and burns like fire.” 

Stash and Bear laugh as they reply at the same time, “Homemade whiskey, kid. We brought it with us. “ 

After gaining some semblance of control back, I give Wolf a look and he sits down next to me, then I ask Des, “Why do you want to know if I know that guy, Des?” 

I wait as Des looks at his watch, then looks back at me, “That man has been asking around town about you, and more specifically, about Trinity and the baby. Knowing what I know from you, I have to ask you Cadence. Is that Duke?”

Feeling like I can’t breathe, my heart feels like it’s going to explode, “Little brother, remember you are not alone and I won’t allow that asshole to ever hurt you again. Answer Des so we can figure out what we need to do.” 

Ashamed that my past is coming back to fuck with everyone in my life has me breaking down, “Yeah, Des. That’s Duke. How the fuck does he know Roman Vinkers?”  As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I have a flashback and instantly remember how they know each other.

I feel the contraction in my stomach and before I can do anything, I lunge forward as Wolf howls to Des, “Garbage can, he’s going to puke.”

Des throws it just as the vomit comes out of my mouth, hitting the rim and rolling down.  My shoulders shake uncontrollably as I begin to dry heave while everyone watches in shock.  When I’m finally done, Des reaches over with some tissues as Jagger comes in the room with a glass of ice water, “Drink this, Cadence. It might help.”

I nod and gulp it down, then tell Jagger, “Thanks, little man. Hey buddy, do you mind giving us a few minutes?” 

Jagger nods and leaves. I wait until the door is closed before I tell Des, “I didn’t even remember him until seeing that picture of them together. Roman was one of Duke’s “friends” that joined in on raping me in the cabin.”

One of the bikers from the Intruders MC asks me with a look of death in his eyes, “Give me what you got on these people, kid. I’ll make sure they’re dead before the end of the week, I promise you that.  I will make them suffer for everything they’ve done. My kid sister was abused and I can’t stand to think of what you’ve been through. One thing I can’t stand is assholes who abuse children.” 

“Sit down, Enforcer,” I watch as Enforcer tries hard to reign in his rage. His hands are clenching as both legs are bouncing in the chair he sits on. He’s primed and ready to shoot out of the chair at any minute, but what frightens me the most is the look in his emerald green eyes. He’s thinking of his kid sister and wants to hurt anyone who does sick shit like this.

“After they all had their fun with me, Duke dropped me in that back field, probably thinking I was gonna die, which was what I laid out there praying for.  I was in really bad shape and it took months for my body to heal. Doc even had me see a shrink to get my mind out of my ass, and speaking of my ass, I had to have surgery just to fix all the damage there. Anyway, that guy in the picture is Duke, my stepdad, and that man to his right is Roman Vinkers, my girl’s Dad who physically and sexually abused her from the time she was thirteen. He not only sexually abused her, but also pimped her out to his friends, and I don’t think I need to go into detail for you. She only shared that part with me recently. So, long story short, that is Duke, my stepfather who raped me and my brothers, and that there is Roman, Trinity’s Dad and one of my attackers, also.

As the men seem to be getting more agitated, we all hear a woman gasp right before she screams out, “Oh God, no! Cadence, please tell me it isn’t true. My father... he didn’t... oh God, no...” Trinity can’t finish as she slides to the floor, crying violently. I rush to her side but she pushes me away, screaming, “Don’t touch me! Please don’t touch me.” 

Doc comes out from behind Trinity and shoves me out of the way, “What’s the matter with her, Doc? Why doesn’t she want me to touch her?”

Doc shakes his head, “C, she’s going into shock. Don’t take it personally, but we just walked in and heard what you said, so she’s just discovered that her abuser not only hurt her, but that he participated in abusing and torturing you. Knowing her, she’s feeling some guilt and doesn’t know what to do. Her mind is shutting down to protect her, that’s all. Go get Dee or Willow for me, please.” 

I hurry out of the room, looking for either of the woman and can’t seem to find them. I do see Archie in the garage working on a car so I rush over to her, “Archie, I need your help. Trinity is in a bad way and she needs someone that’s not me... a woman.” 

As she turns, I notice how her body tightens up, “What’s going on?”

I begin pulling her arm, almost dragging her, “Please, Archie.” 

As we go down the hall, the sounds coming from Des’ office are tearing my heart out.  The sounds coming out of the room from Trinity sound like she’s completely losing her shit, and that’s not good for her or the baby. I’m being pulled back as Archie is trying to pull away from me, appearing not to want to go any further.

I turn and scream at her, “What the fuck, Archie? It’s Trinity. Come on.”  She comes with me and we enter the room to see Trinity in Des’ office chair with all the men surrounding her. Her eyes are unfocused and she doesn’t even look at me when we enter.  Immediately Archie goes to her, shoving men left and right. She sits in front of Trinity, pulling her to her, running her hands down her long, blonde hair, “It’s okay, sweetie. Let it out and don’t hold back.  I’m here and I won’t let you go. That’s it, baby girl, you just let it all go and for as long as you need to.”  Suddenly Trinity’s arms go around Archie’s waist and she starts to cry a cry that I have never heard out of another human being. It sounds like the worst pain coming from your soul, tearing you apart from the inside.

I remember what the doctor said about stress to the mother being stress to the baby, so I begin to make my way to her. Trinity tries to watch me but her emotions have the best of her right now, so I get down in front of her on my knees. Archie moves and I take her place, but I start to kiss and rub on her belly, feeling the baby moving around inside of her. The room is quiet, and then I feel hands on my head, holding me close to her belly. Trinity starts running her fingers through my hair and down my neck as I continue to kiss her belly. I start to feel both her and the baby calm physically, but when I look up into her eyes, she tries to look away.

“Trinity, baby. Look at me.  Please don’t shut me out. I’m the same man you made love to this morning and the same man who loves you more than life itself.  Do not let something like this change anything between us, honey. All of that shit is in our past and it can’t hurt us anymore because we have too many amazing things happening for us, and they will only get better,” Tears run down her face but I continue, “We can’t change the past so we have to let it go. Since I found you, I have no reason to go back there. We made it, baby, and we will continue to make things better, I promise you.”  I wipe the tears from her face and she stands up, pulling me with her to my feet and reaches around to hug me the best she can with her belly between us. 

“I am so sorry for what he did to you... what they both did to you.” 

I reach down and lift her chin, “You have nothing to be sorry for.
They
hurt us, and we won’t allow them to continue. Now, let’s sit down and hear what Des has to say about this new development.  We need to protect ourselves and our little tiny peanut.”

Once everyone has found a place to sit, Des looks up and then back down at some papers on his desk, “I think we have a situation that is going to need addressing.  Both Roman and Duke have been asking questions about the two of you,” he looks at Trinity and I, “I have a feeling they are planning something, and from the type of men they are, we need to be prepared for anything. Kid, can I speak freely?”  I look over Trinity’s head and nod, “When I found Cadence, he was in such bad shape that I thought he would die on me, but between Doc and Fern, they managed to pull him through.  Physically, they had done a number on him, but emotionally and mentally, they had destroyed him.” Taking a minute for that to sink in, Des continues, “ I don’t think for a minute that Duke is done with Cadence.”

My head shoots up to Des, “What the fuck are you talking about?” 

Des glances at Wolf who gets up and walks out the door. “Cadence, in about a minute or so, you are going to get very angry at me, but please try to remember that everything I do is for your well-being.” 

I’m completely confused now as I glance around the room, and it’s apparent that everyone but Trinity, Archie and me are in on whatever is about to go down. Wolf opens the door and as I look behind him, I see my brothers and mother walking in, heads hung low, “Holy shit, what are you all doing here?  What the fuck is going on?”

Everyone watches in slow motion as my younger brother pushes past Wolf and rushes to me. He grabs me and holds me tightly, outright crying, “Cadence, I missed you so much.” 

I put my hands around my brother Griffin’s shoulders, “Hey, little dude. How have you been doing?”  I then look at my other brother, Ryker, and my mom.  Giving both of them a nod, I look to Des, “Care to explain this boss?  Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy as hell to see my family but you brought them here for a reason, and it wasn’t to just see me, am I right?” I hang tight to Griffin until Jagger comes in with a couple more chairs and bottles of water.  I have him sit next to me as everyone gets settled as Des and Wolf stand by the desk.

“We have a situation that’s serious as fuck and we need to make sure all are safe. With the Charity Ride this weekend and all of the stuff that has come to the surface, we need to enlighten all involved.  What is said in this room stays in this room, got me?”  Des turns to Wolf, “Floors yours, brother.”