Tex’s Angel (Savage Legion MC #11)

Chapter 16

Tex

R igs puts his plate down on the table and grins down at the boys. “You two sure you can eat all that food?”

I’m surprised he’s commented, as a father of a teenage boy he must know how much they can put away.

His old lady, Mattie rolls her eyes, “What are you talking about? You’ve got almost as much as they do, and you don’t have the excuse of being a growing teen.”

Rigs slaps his rock-hard abs with one hand. “That’s pure muscle, that is.”

Mattie grins, “If you say so, babe.”

He drops down into his seat and whispers something into her ear about how well she knows all his muscles and she whispers something back that I don’t catch because the boys have started talking. These two have been together for two years now and sometimes it’s like they’ve only just met. Mattie’s mom is looking after Rosie, their toddler, tonight and I’m guessing as Evan is staying at the clubhouse, they’re planning on making the most of their childfree night.

As the meal continues, I’m only half paying attention to the conversation, Clara and Mattie are talking about next month’s get together at the cabin. Once a month all the club brothers and their family meet there to hunt, fish, and practice shooting their weapons. There’s always a huge cookout. I personally love it because being part of the brotherhood feels like a close second to being with my extended family, better in some ways. My mind is too busy turning over the information that one of the assholes she reported for abusing their kids might be targeting her, to pay too much attention to the conversation going on around me. I slam back a couple of drinks during dinner. It’s enough to take the edge off without getting slobbering drunk. Even though we’re staying at the clubhouse, I can’t afford to make stupid mistakes when the danger might be real.

As a prospect, Evan has his own room at the clubhouse and he and Levi disappear there after the meal.

When the boys head out, Mattie and Clara take a bathroom break. Once it’s just my club brother and me at the table, Rigs asks, “Have you come up with a gameplan for dealing with your supervisors finding out about you being a member of the Savage Legion MC?”

I drink the last of my beer and shake my head. “No, I’m still working on that.”

“Can I make a suggestion?” he asks.

“Sure. I’ll take any advice I get right now,” I say as I slam the empty bottle down. Thinking about that shit is adding yet another layer of annoyance to my generally pissed mood.

“My advice is to take me and Siege with you to the meeting.”

Worry twists in my gut because I don’t think seeing a couple of old school bikers will assuage their fears about one of their trainers being a member of an MC. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea, Rigs.”

I don’t want to say anything that might come across as rude or disrespectful, so I take a minute to think about how I want to word my explanation.

Meanwhile, Rigs presses his point. “Siege and I clean up pretty good, and we know how to handle men concerned about ensuring their public image is free of any hint of impropriety. We’re both decorated and respected veterans. I’m technically an ordained minister. Trust me on this. Your best chance is if we show up and support you. A minister and a veteran, who better to vouch for your good name.”

“Alright,” I agree reluctantly. “I’ll give it a try. I like my job and if you think having back up at the meeting will increase my chances of not getting fired, then I’ll follow your advice.”

He reaches out to slap me on the shoulder. “You won’t regret this, Tex. I promise.”

We continue to brainstorm strategies for how to explain our MC to men with internal biases about motorcycle clubs, until Mattie and Clara return. When they sit down, suddenly Mattie is all business.

“I haven’t had a chance to read through the two CPS reports you made, Clara, so, I can’t say for sure how the cases turned out.”

I immediately ask, “Do you think it’s plausible that one of the fathers is retaliating against Clara?”

She shrugs, “I can’t tell you how upset parents get when you do things they see as negatively impacting their children.”

Rigs adds, “It’s always been strange to me that parents who are neglecting or abusing their kids truly believe that removing them is the greater evil.”

I make my best educated guess. “They probably think it’s better to stick with the devil you know.”

Mattie quickly unpicks that for us. “That’s part of it. Abusive parents often underestimate the level of abuse they’re dishing out. Or they don’t see it as abuse, because that’s how they were brought up. It’s a vicious circle.”

“Yeah,” I tell them. “I was a handful as a kid and got my ass whooped a lot.”

Rigs gave me the side-eye. “Yeah, but you learned how to discipline your son without resorting to violence.”

Before I can respond, Mattie starts talking again, “Neglectful parents are a different kettle of fish. Regardless of popular belief, they aren’t always bad people. Sometimes they’re doing their best but if they can’t keep their child fed, clothed, and a roof over their heads, we have to take the children and place them into a stable environment until they can get back on their feet. It’s really heartbreaking to have to remove the kids because you see how much they love each other.”

Clara begins to tear up. “The cases I reported were both abuse if I remember correctly.”

“In that case the department would have arranged treatment for the parents such as anger management classes, parenting classes, substance abuse treatment, and possibly individual therapy if more deep-seated issues were evident.”

Rigs adds, “The problem is when CPS takes your kids, and you have an anger management problem, it royally pisses a person off.”

Mattie nods. “That’s true. Once children are removed, a family reunification plan is put into place. It covers everything from addressing issues the parents might have, ensuring the home environment is safe, and things like supervised visitation. We don’t want to take the kids away—the whole point is to address the issues that caused that and get the families back together again.”

I’ve always had some vague idea of the lengths that CPS went through to keep kids safe, but I’m awed at hearing all the details that need addressed. “The whole process seems very involved. I’m glad CPS is on their toes. I hate those cases we hear about occasionally where kids fall through the cracks and bad things happen to them.”

Mattie and Rigs give each other a knowing look. “That’s happened in the past but not on my watch. I review every single case in our office and if there is any whiff of the social worker not following through on home visits, not speaking with the kid alone one-on-one, or giving the parents too many chances without seeing progress, I’m all over it.”

“I’m surprised my crazy stalker isn’t stalking you instead of me,” Clara quips.

Mattie lets out a sigh. “Trust me, I’ve had my fair share of bad guys gunning for me. Thank God, Rigs took it more seriously than I did, or I might not be here to tell the tale.”

Clara’s eyes go wide.

“I’ll tell you about it some other time,” Mattie says.

Rigs squeezes his old lady’s hand, then turns to me and Clara, “Which brings us to the possibility of her stalker being one of the fathers involved in the cases she reported.”

Mattie leans forward with her elbows on the table. “We’ll have to review the files and see if the kids involved were returned to their parents’ care. If they weren’t, it’s possible that one of the fathers is looking for some payback.”

I speak up again, “Aggravating the living shit out of the person you see as being the root of all your family’s CPS problems makes sense because we’re just dealing with regular family guys. If we were dealing with criminals, I’d expect a more direct and aggressive approach.”

“I should point out that in situations where kids are removed from the home, it could be someone other than the father who’s angry. It could be the grandfather or even mom’s new boyfriend who doesn’t like seeing the mom breaking down about losing her kids. It could also be her brother or some other extended family member or friend,” Mattie adds.

“People who really should keep their nose in their own business.” I tell them.

Clara clears her throat. “So, after what I’ve said, do you think my stalker is linked to those reports I made?” Glancing from me to Rigs, she adds, “I’ve already told Rigs and Tex that I don’t know why they would hold that against me, since I’m a mandated reporter and don’t really get a choice.” Stopping abruptly, she adds, “Not that I would ever refrain from making a report or anything like that. It just seems weird that they’d take me doing my job so personally.”

Mattie leans back in her chair and rubs one shoulder with her hand. “I’m not entirely sure most people realize there’s such thing as mandated reporting or who’s required by law to report abuse and neglect of children and elderly people.”

“Oh, I guess you’re probably right about that,” Clara responds.

I glance over and see Rigs giving Mattie a shoulder rub. A short silence spins out and then Rigs comes to his feet. “I really should get Mattie back home. She’s had a rough day and as you know she has to be up early in the morning.”

Yeah, right. As if I didn’t see the looks they’d been giving each other all night. Truth be told, I’m surprised my club brother didn’t ask for dinner to go and whisk his woman away the moment Evan and Levi disappeared to Evan’s room here.

***

Once we’re alone, I grab Clara’s hand and ask, “Y’all interested in a long starlit ride up the West Coast, or do y’all want to turn in early?”

A soft blush creeps up her neck to land on her cheeks. “It depends on whether or not you’re turning in early with me.”

My chest fills with a mixture of love and excitement because it sounds like this beautiful woman who I’m becoming obsessed with has some genuine desire for me. If I had to be honest, I’m loving the fact that we’re bunking up at the clubhouse because it’s giving us plenty of time to be together. Since the break-in at her place I’m back staying at the clubhouse. We’ve set up cameras at her house, and we have a prospect staying at night, so I don’t need to be eyes on. I lean over and give her a kiss on the temple and whisper, “I’d love to turn in early if y’all will have me.”

She turns her head slightly and give me a lingering kiss on the lips before answering, “I can’t imagine any woman in her right mind being able to resist you.”

I mirror Wade’s attitude from earlier, “Of course they can’t resist me, I’m a likable guy with good bedroom skills.”

She reaches up one hand to slide through my hair. Something about feeling her nails scraping against my scalp makes my cock jump. “You have more to offer a woman than your bedroom skills. You know that, right?”

This woman has captured my full attention along with my heart. “I’m not sure I do. Why don’t y’all tell me what I’m missing.”

Her hand slides down to my chest. “You’re a smart man with a good heart. You say what’s on your mind, so I never have to guess what you’re thinking. I really like that quality in a man.”

“I guess you would since your soon to be ex-husband was a cheater who probably just told y’all what y’all wanted to hear all the time.”

“You’re not wrong about that, handsome. But it’s a good illustration of how intelligent you are to have put the pieces together in real time. You’re not sitting around trying to figure out what’s going on with me, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah, having a guy who knows his way around a woman’s body and ain’t stupid is a pretty low bar.” I don’t know why I’m so reluctant to take the compliments Clara is intent on doling out tonight.

This is when she cups my face in her hands and makes me look her in the eyes. “Describing yourself as not stupid is an insult to my intelligence and yours too. Your son didn’t turn out to be the smartest kid in his school because his father met the very low bar of being not stupid.”

She’s right of course but I don’t want to seem like a braggart by agreeing with her. “It was more nature than nurture. He came out curious and I worked hard to appease his curiosity. He was reading, writing, and doing basic math when he started kindergarten.”

“You’re a good dad, Tex. And I’ll bet you were an amazing husband as well.”

Hearing that stung. I pulled back and glanced away. “I kept all the balls in the air, got her the treatment the doctors recommended, made sure she got her medications, and stayed focused on keeping her spirits up. None of it mattered in the end because I couldn’t save her life.”

Before I can get away, her arms are around my neck and she’s hugging the hell outta me. I’m not gonna lie, even to myself. It feels good to get that hug just when I need it most.

She whispers in my ear, “Don’t do that to yourself, babe. You’re not a doctor. Saving her life wasn’t your job. You did everything right and still lost the love of your life.”

“I should have noticed she was having problems before I did. Early intervention might have made a difference.”

“No, babe. You’ve got to let go of all that guilt. She wouldn’t have wanted you to keep all that pain locked inside you.”

I know what Clara is saying is true because my wife told me the same thing before she died. She begged me not to let her death spoil my life. She wanted me to grieve, move on, and find love again.

My arms come up to wrap around Clara and for the first time, I can really let go of the past. I was fortunate enough to find not only one good woman but two. Having a second chance at love from a woman who understands what I’m going through, makes me the luckiest man in the world. I’d be a fool to turn away from what might be my opportunity at finding something real again.

“Alright, sugar. Let’s head upstairs before I throw y’all over my shoulder like a caveman and take you there myself.”

When I say this, her eyes get big. I lean forward again and say, “I think the idea of me throwing y’all over my shoulder turns you on.”

She immediately starts doing that thing where pulls all her hair over one shoulder and starts running her hands down it. Something clicks into place in my mind that this is how she acts when she’s turned on. It’s adorable and makes me want to be naked with her badly. I want to kiss her, run my lips down the slim column of her neck and suck on her nipples. There is almost an instinctual urge to bury my face between her legs and lick her until she comes making sweet sounds that let me know how much she loves the orgasms I give her.

Without hesitation, I come to my feet, throw her face first over my broad shoulder and stomp off upstairs with her. I can hear several of my club brothers cheering in the background. Ridiculous, I know. But I don’t give a damn about their teasing because the only thing on my mind is getting Clara under me.