Devil May Care (Four Horsemen MC Book 4) (8 page)

Tonight, he wore a pair of jeans and a dark blue T-shirt. She was so used to seeing him in motor-oil stained coveralls, it came as a shock.  He managed Seventh Circle Motors in town and served as the club’s road captain, which meant he repaired the club’s motorcycles and was in charge whenever they went out on a run.

He kissed the top of her head and she had to smile. There’d been a time when he’d been knee high to a grasshopper and she’d smooched his forehead and then his chubby cheeks. Sometimes she wondered when exactly her pint-sized boys had grown into big men. God, it made her feel old. And short. She had to strain her neck to look up at him.

“I heard that. The Beauregards might be highfalutin, but they’re still dirty bastards. Good thing I’m here.” He nodded to the rucksack on his shoulder, and barely suppressed a yawn. Axel’s schedule was opposite hers. He got up at the crack of dawn and worked on bikes before customers started to arrive later in the day.

While she hated to deprive him of his sleep, part of her was grateful for the backup. Axel was a damn good shot. “Thanks for comin’ over, kid. You hungry? I could whip us up something quick.”

“Nah, I stopped by Hades earlier.” He grinned. “Did you tell Ryker?”

“I’ll tell him tomorrow at work.”

She didn’t want to bother her younger son, since Elizabeth had moved in with him. He had a family of his own to worry about. Now, if she could only get Axel to settle down with a good woman.

“He’s gonna be pissed I knew before he did.”

She pushed a hand through her hair. Both of her boys were overprotective. It was a byproduct of growing up without their father. They both felt responsible for her safety.

“Yeah, well, he’ll get over it.” She’d instinctively called Axel, because, as the oldest, he’d always been her right hand man. She’d delegated chores and tasks to him since he’d been a kid.   

“Works for me.” He headed for the stairs “Let’s get some shut eye, okay?”

She nodded, though she doubted she’d get much sleep tonight.

“And I’m going to swing by and see Captain tomorrow on my way to work,” he said, over his shoulder. “He needs to know about the offer Beauregard made you. And we’ll make sure you have a bodyguard stayin’ with you from now on.”

“Oh, tonight, sure, but I don’t need—”

He shook his head. “No arguments, mom. The Beauregards are capable of anything.”

Yeah, copy that, good buddy.

But she still chaffed at the idea of a bodyguard followin’ her around all the damn time. Been a long time since she’d had a babysitter. She carried a gun and knew exactly how to use it.

Besides, this thing would blow over, right? Or Beauregard would deal with the brothers, not her. At least she hoped.

 “Come on. Let’s get your bed made up,” she said, grabbing some sheets and blankets from the linen closet.

 She hadn’t changed the bedding since he’d stayed with her on Christmas Eve. It was still a tradition they kept. Both of them slept over and spent the day with her. They made cookies, drank hot spiced cider, and enjoy each other’s company.

Axel pulled the sheets and blankets off the bed and tossed them in the hamper, while she put the clean ones on.  She liked to wander into their old rooms from time to time, touch their things. Axel’s room had a lot of awards – certificates for spelling bees, science fairs, and trophies for his 4H service and Boy Scouts, too.

He’d always been a good student, straight A’s in fact. A regular golden boy, until he’d joined the Horsemen. She wished he’d gotten the opportunity to go to college, but it hadn’t been possible after Joker went to jail. Things had gotten really lean financially. She’d barely been able to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. 

And Axel took up the slack at home while she’d worked. He’d been the one who cooked, cleaned, grocery shopped, and watched his brother.  Eddie wasn’t sure what she would have done without him.

It was a constant source of guilt.

She’d robbed him of his childhood in some respects. He’d had to grow up fast and he inherited a lot of responsibility at a very young age. She wondered if that made him reluctant to settle down. Now, he rented a one-bedroom apartment near the garage, and hadn’t dated anyone in years.

“What are you all worried about?” he asked, cocking his head to one side. “You’re frownin’ and eyein’ me.”

“I’m thinkin’ about the paths our life took. You shoulda gone to Texas A & M. You always talked about it when you were a kid.”

After he graduated, he worked Perdition as a dishwasher, while he trained to be a mechanic in his spare time. He’d eventually saved up enough money and bought Seventh Circle, with some help from the club.

He ducked his head, and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. “It all worked out in the end, right?” he said with a shrug. “I like bein’ my own boss.”

“But are you happy?” she asked.

“Mostly.” He gave her a smile, but it faltered. “We don’t always get everything
we want.”

His expression punched her right in the heart. “You aren’t talkin’ about college, are you? You’re still thinkin’ about
her
.”

He glanced away. “No. Believe me. This ain’t about
her
.”

In high school, he’d fallen in love with a goody two shoes type of girl–a real brainiac. The two of them made plans to go to the same college, but when she found out he wouldn’t be leaving Hell, she’d broken up with him.

At the time, he’d been devastated. Laying on his bed, playin’ this God awful alternative rock music, moping around. Since then, he’d never gotten serious about anyone. Sure, he’d screwed a hellion or two over the years, but no dates and no girlfriends.

“She wasn’t good enough for you,” she said fiercely.

He laughed, but it came out with a glib, hard edge. “I think you got that backwards.”

Some of the townies looked down on them, while others were afraid. It made her sons’ life a lot harder in school, but they managed it.

 Eddie shook her head. “I’m sure I don’t.”

Axel sighed. “Well, it’s been a long night. We should both get some rest.” He stretched out on the twin bed, his big body using up the entire space. Then, he placed his pistol on the nightstand. “Sleep with your piece out, in case you need to make a quick grab.”

“I will,” she promised. “Night, kid. I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

She hit the light switch and was about to close the door, when he made a smart remark. “Speaking of love interests, I bet Captain will take the next shift. Who knows? It might even feel like a date.”

She flicked the switch back on. “Shut up.” She had no intention of telling Axel she’d already agreed to go out with Captain. It would be all over the club in record time.

“And here I thought you wanted to talk about relationships.”

“I want to talk about yours, not mine. I’m too old to have one.”

He laughed at that. “I don’t think so. Besides, yours is so much more entertaining.” His eyes were lit with mischief. “It makes for juicy club gossip and easy cash.”

Had she heard him right? “What was that last thing you said?”

“Never mind.”

She sighed. “You know, we should all spent a lot less time talkin’ about each other. But since you brought it up, I got a question for you. What do you think of Captain?” she asked. She knew Ryker despised the guy, but Axel hadn’t said a word about it.

“Yeah, I like him,” he said, after a moment.

“You do?”

He nodded. “He’s a decent guy. But more importantly,
you
deserve some happiness, too. And if he makes you happy? I’m good. In fact, I say go for it.”

For decades,  her life had been a mixture of family, friends, and work. Yes, she’d been happy…well, more like…
content
. She had a good life, but her romantic side, her sexual side was dead and buried. She’d been a mother, a business woman, a friend. Never a lover.  

“Goodnight, mom.”

“Night kid.” Eddie hit the lights, closed the door, and went down the hall to her bedroom and got dressed for bed, climbing in quickly. She placed her pistol on the nightstand and lay there, staring up at the ceiling.

 Tonight, for some reason, the bed felt larger than normal, lonely.  

And a bit cold.

***        

“What do you think?”

The next morning, Eddie stared doubtfully at the chocolate coated donut. It was shaped like a cock, and at the base were two large balls covered in shredded coconut. The entire thing had been glazed with chocolate. To complete the look, pastry cream splashed lewdly out the tip of it, like pre-cum.

Eddie raised a dubious brow.  “I think you’re crazier than a shit house rat.”

She and Sailor were sseated at a table in Perdition. She’d made a pot of coffee and had intended to get some paperwork done, but Sailor had other ideas.

Sailor, Goat’s old lady, served in the Navy back in the day, hence the road name.  She was in her sixties, owned her very own hog, stood a bit over five feet with short gray hair, and had a wild streak about a country mile wide.

“I think you’re failin’ to appreciate the artistry. I had Devilicious make up a prototype. Taste it, it’s delicious.”

Her stomach turned at the thought. “I’ll pass.”

Sailor rolled her eyes. “It’s for Elizabeth. I’m in charge of her bachelorette party, and these will be more fun than some boring old cake.”

“I thought she wasn’t having one of those,” Eddie said. “A party I mean,” She took a sip of coffee and tried not to stare at the gigantic lewd donut.  “Hold up. Your idea of fun is a dick donut?”

 “Yeah, now and then I like some dick. When’s the last time you’ve even seen one?”

 “Let’s put it this way,” Eddie said dryly. “Bill Clinton was president.”

 She’d had conjugal visits with Joker in jail once a month and it been awful and uncomfortable, but it was all they had left. They’d had hurried sex in a dingy little trailer beside the prison, with sharpshooters on a nearby roof, in case Joker made a break for it. 

The last few years of their marriage had been terrible. He made the occasional phone call and they wrote letters every week.  Eddie visited him every chance she got, but it wasn’t satisfying. They couldn’t touch each other, except for the conjugals and the brief hugs they exchanged during visiting hours. They sat at steel tables in an industrial meeting room filled with strangers, and grim-faced guards standing at the ready.

And the effect on the boys had been worse.

Joker had been removed from their daily lives and they were so young he became a stranger to them, some guy they visited now and then. She felt like they pretended to be a family for an hour every other Saturday.

She shook off her thoughts. No point in rehashing the past.

“Well, I say we get some strippers. Real ones this time. Not prospects. You need some dick,” Sailor said sagely.

 It’d been years since she’d last been intimate with a man –Joker’s last conjugal, in fact. Since then battery-operated devices had helped out, which didn’t really count. Although, she’d gone on a couple of dates a few years after Joker died.

 Both of them had been normal guys, with no affiliation to the club. She wanted some stability at the time, someone who wouldn’t be carted off to jail at any moment for breaking the law. Of course, she’d done it quietly, without the brothers being any the wiser. She worried they’d think she was back on the market, and her life would become a series of random blind dates as they tried to fix her up. 

But she’d been bored as hell with the townies. 

One was an orthodontist, the other the principal of the high school.  She’d a big nothing in common with them and the whole professional vibe turned her off. She was used to alpha men on bikes, not business types.

Eddie responded to Sailor’s question. “This isn’t about your or me. It’s about Elizabeth and what she wants.”

“Oh, please,” she said, eyes twinkling with humor. “She has her very own dick, she isn’t needy. Like you.”

Eddie nearly choked on her coffee. Elizabeth’s dick, after all, belonged to her son Yuck.. “I’m not
needy
.”

“Sure you are,” she said. Then, she peered around her shoulder to where Captain sat speaking with Ryker and Axel. “You know, you could try Captain’s prick out. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to—”

“Shut the hell up!” Her cheeks flamed, hoping he hadn’t overheard. She loved Sailor to death, but she wasn’t what you’d call subtle.

“I ain’t sayin’ you have to marry him, just ride him hard and maybe put him away wet.” Sailor laughed wickedly, pleased with her innuendo.

She thought back to the dance they’d shared, the way Captain had moved.   Then, stared down at the lascivious donut and couldn’t help but wonder how well-endowed he was.

 
Lord, help me.

She cleared her throat.  “We’re off topic, let’s talk about the bachelorette party.”

Sailor watched her with knowing eyes. “I think we got more pressing business.”

“Oh, shut up and eat your dick.”  Eddie shoved the napkin back at Sailor who cackled.

***   

That afternoon, Eddie went to the Bloody Hell Tea Room.

 After she’d finished visiting with Sailor, she’d spent the rest of the morning with Ryker talking about Byron Beauregard. He’d fussed at her for not telling him straight away, but eventually got over it.  He said either he or Axel would stay the night with her. Eddie texted Axel and asked him to stay, just because she didn’t want Elizabeth to be alone at home.

After the pow-wow he had with the brothers, Captain had lit out, probably on some club business. They had a lot of shit to get squared away before their federal company arrived.

In the meantime, she put Beauregard out of her head, so she could discuss the upcoming bridal and baby showers with the girls. Elizabeth was marrying Ryker. And Daisy was having Cowboy’s baby. Daisy had already picked out the baby girl’s name, Violet.  It was a standing tradition in their family, the flowery names.

Rose was in charge of Daisy’s shower, while Eddie was running point on Elizabeth’s since it was hard to maintain friendships with citizens once you started dating an outlaw. All of her townie friends had dropped her once she’d gotten serious with Ryker.