Chapter Twenty-Six
Ryder
I walked into the clubhouse, finding it empty except for the prospect at the bar.
“They’re all in church. King said to tell you to go ahead in when you got here.”
I nodded at the prospect and walked to the double doors. I could have walked right in but instead, decided to knock. When the door opened, Blade stood on the other side.
“Come on in.”
I followed him as he pulled out a chair next to him for me. Sitting down, I looked around the table. The officers were all there, solemn looks on their faces, and I wondered what they had learned.
“Ryder, what has Ellie told you?” King asked.
I watched Jingles, who sat across the table from me. His hands were fisted on the table, his eyes never looking up. I wanted to know what he was thinking. Why he had ignored his little sister for so long.
“Ryder.”
I turned away from Jingles and looked at King. I sat back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest.
“I know what you know.”
“She didn’t explain anything last night?” Jack asked.
“No, she cried in my arms until she fell asleep. She had just woken up when King called,” I said, glaring at Jingles again.
“I didn’t know she was here,” Jingles added quietly.
“Because you didn’t care where she was or what she was doing!”
“I fucking care!” he yelled, standing from his chair.
“Then, where the fuck have you been for the last thirteen years?” I yelled back, standing from my chair and slamming my hands on the table in front of me.
“You don’t know shit about me. Or her, for that matter.”
“You don’t know what I know about her. I know her very fucking intimately,” I hissed.
I knew I was playing with fire but I didn’t care. What I cared about was Ellie. Fuck him, if he thought he had more right to her than I did.
“You son of a bitch,” he snarled as he stalked around the table.
I was ready for him, but before he could get to me, Gunner and Ghost stepped between us.
“Jingles, calm the fuck down,” King barked. “Ryder, shut the fuck up.”
Blade grabbed my arm and yanked me back into my seat.
“What the hell are you doing? You have a fucking death wish?”
“I’m not afraid of him,” I shot back.
“Well, you should be. I got my own kid coming. I don’t need to be raising yours, too.”
I looked at my best friend and huffed.
“Like I would let you raise my girls. Beck maybe.”
“Asshole.”
“Jingles, sit your ass down and tell us what you know. I let it go last night, but now I want information,” King said.
“He doesn’t need to be here,” Jingles said, glaring at me.
“He does need to be here because your little sister is his fucking old lady,” King argued.
Jingles glared at King.
“Do I need to get my old lady to calm your ass down?” Jack asked with a smirk.
“Fuck you, Jackass.”
“ENOUGH!” King hollered, slamming his fist on the table. “I am tired of this shit. Jingles, tell us about your fucking parents.”
Jingles finally sat back in his chair as we all waited while he fumed a minute more before he finally spoke.
“My grandfather on my mother’s side was a stockbroker, and he was damn good at what he did. When my mother married my father, my grandfather tried to teach him how to do what he did, but my father didn’t have the knack for it like my grandfather did. He did, however, have a knack for finance, and became an investment advisor. He rubs elbows with the people that have the kind of money he wants. He moves their money around, helping them hide it so they can skimp on the taxes they pay. He is a patsy for the rich, nothing more.
“When I was eighteen, I was introduced to Bianca Stevenson. Her parents had money, and my father worked for hers. Their plan was for me to marry her and have access to her money. After a year, my parents thought we were getting engaged. That was never gonna happen, especially once I caught her fucking my brother.”
“Bianca is now married to your brother. Has been for over ten years. However, her father was indicted on charges of bank fraud six years ago and is currently in federal prison for the next twenty years. The Stevensons are broke. With you nowhere to be found, Ellie was next in line,” Nav added.
“What do we know about the man they want Ellie to marry?” King asked.
“Well, despite not having a last name, I was still able to track down Jeremy St. Matthews. He is thirty-four years old, and a fucking asshole. He comes from old money and with that comes the rich kid entitlement. This guy has it in fucking spades. He’s been engaged three times, before all three women disappeared.”
That had me sitting up in my chair. “What do you mean, disappeared?” I asked.
“Just how it sounds. They disappeared without a trace. Don’t know if they are in hiding, or…”
Nav didn’t finish his sentence. He left it hanging for us all to assume the worst, and that is exactly what I did.
“What the fuck? Who is this guy?” I asked.
“An asshole who thinks his shit doesn’t stink. He will disappear before my sister does,” Jingles promised.
“You are still on lockdown,” King said, pointing at Jingles. “Don’t even think about going anywhere.”
“St. Matthews has had numerous charges against him for domestic assault. DAs, judges, or the police commissioner himself have squashed the evidence.”
I sat there, listening to everything being said. Ellie was mine. I would protect her any way I had to. But I knew I couldn’t do it alone. I needed men I could trust to stand at my back.
Jack’s words came back to me.
‘There will come a day when you need him and the club to stand at your back. Wouldn’t it be better for us to already be there?’
“Where’s my fucking cut?” I asked.
King smiled widely at my question.
The look in his eyes told me he knew this would happen.
“Jack,” he said.
Jack stood up and left the room. Moments later, he returned with the same white box he had brought to my hospital room. He laid it on the table in front of Blade.
“The honor is yours,” Jack said and moved back to his chair.
“Get your ass up,” Blade said with a grin, and I stood.
He lifted the cut with my name stitched on the front and turned to me. Helping me put it on, he declared, “Looks fucking good, brother.”
“It’s about damn time,” Gunner said.
Everyone congratulated me, except one.
Jingles.
He continued to glare at me.
“She is my baby sister.”
“She is now the mother of my girls. They claimed her before I did. You want to tell those girls they can’t have their mom?” I challenged.
I knew I was playing dirty, but it was the truth. My mother told me yesterday, when they came to the store during the book signing, that Chrissy and Tabby had decided the first day they met her, that Ellie was their new mom.
“Jesus Christ, can one of you produce some fucking boys?” Jingles said, walking over to stand in front of me.
I didn’t know if he planned to hug me or slug me. But a moment later, he pulled me in for a hug and muttered, “If you hurt her, I will fucking kill you, and then, I will raise those girls myself.”
I don’t know if it was nerves or the complete ludicrousness of the statement, but I barked out a laugh and slapped him on the back.
“Not one of you assholes will be raising my girls. They will grow up with manners and class,” I told them all.
“Fuck.”
We all turned to Nav, who was staring at his laptop.
“What?” Cash asked.
He hit a few buttons and the screen at the front of the room lit up. The scene before us was from yesterday. A video of Ellie confronting Jingles with a headline that said, ‘Livingston Heirs Found’ .
“I have alerts set up for Ellie and her pen name. So if either name makes the news, I know immediately. This video is only one that is now circulating around.”
“It didn’t take them long to find out who she was,” Colt observed.
“Shit. It won’t take them long to show up. Thank God they don’t have their own plane. Nav, when is the next flight out of New York? Check JFK and LaGuardia,” Jingles commanded.
“It looks like the next flight from JFK to Denver is tomorrow morning at ten a.m.”
“What about Cheyenne?” Blade asked.
“LaGuardia to Cheyenne leaves at eleven a.m.,” Nav confirmed.
“Ok, we have some time. Ellie has to leave town,” Jingles began.
“Like hell she will,” I shouted.
“Jingles is right, at least for a little while, until we can send them on their way. Or figure out how to keep them from forcing her to marry,” King said.
“This is 2024. You can’t force someone to get married,” I reminded them.
“No, but you can kidnap someone and hold them until they do what you want,” Ghost added.
“He won’t get fucking near her, and besides, you can’t force someone to get married when they already are,” I growled.
“Already are what?” Jack asked.
“Married,” I said with a smile.
“No,” Jingles hissed.
“Yes,” I countered.
Before either of us could say anymore, the church doors opened, and the sheriff walked in.
“Dec, what the fuck?” King shouted.
“What did I tell you yesterday?” he said, glaring at King.
“There is nothing—”
“Then explain why I got a call about a missing girl.” He looked at the paper in his hand. “An Ellery Simone Livingston, twenty-four years old and mentally unstable. Missing for two years, considered possibly dangerous to herself and others.”
“What the fuck!” I yelled.
“Cash, call Patch and get him here, now. Ryder, what is your plan for getting married before her parents get here?”
“Nebraska doesn’t have a waiting period. We can go to the clerk’s office first thing, get a license, and be married before ten o’clock.”
“Go get her and bring her here. We need Patch to do an assessment, proving she is of sound mind and not a danger to anyone. Then, you can get married in the morning.”
“King.”
“Jingles, get on fucking board. This is happening,” King said.
“What the fuck is going on?” the sheriff asked, throwing the printout on the table.
“Short answer is, Ellie has been hiding out from her parents for two years, someone posted a video from the book signing, and now her parents know where she is,” King explained.
“What the hell is that, then?” the sheriff asked, pointing at the report he brought in with him.
“That is my parents’ ploy to keep her from moving on before they show up.”
“Ryder, go get her and bring her here. I want you both to stay here tonight. You will have an escort to the clerk’s office in the morning.”
I opened my mouth to argue, and King was quick to remind me he was in charge now.
“The cut on your back means you do as you’re told,” he said with a smirk.
“Asshole,” I mumbled.
“What was that?” King asked, the smirk still on his face.
He knew exactly what I said, but he was letting me get away with it this time.
“Nothing, Prez .”
“That’s what I thought. Go get your old lady and bring her here.”
I walked out of church and stalked to the front door.
“I’m coming with you,” Jingles said.
I stopped and turned around. “No.”
“Yes, that’s my sister,” he insisted.
“And that’s my old lady. I need time to talk to her. I will not let you ambush her in our home.”
“She’s living with you. Already?”
“Since Friday night. Yes.” Technically, she had been staying with me since Friday night, though Ellie hadn’t actually moved in with me. “And you will not come into our home and cause her pain. I am going to go get her and bring her here. We will stay the night because King fucking ordered me too, but you will let her come to you.”
I turned and stomped out of the clubhouse. I needed to get to Ellie and explain what had happened.
And convince her to marry me.
Tomorrow.