Chapter 30
Anchor – Six Weeks Later
I shake my head as I take a sip of my beer, watching as Cole runs after Caleb, who giggles, holding Cole’s chocolate bar up in the air while the brothers laugh at their antics, and my eyes catch my left hand, and a soft smile forms at how right that black band feels on my finger.
Did I marry my girl as soon as she put that ring on her finger? No, I didn’t, I at least waited two days before I got Judge Jones to marry us, with my parents present, before the brothers gave us a wedding reception, so I wasn’t that much of an asshole.
She was hesitant, still adamant I’d leave her, that she’d be too much work, but the woman should know by now she is mine, she has always been mine, and I won’t lose her. I fucking refuse which is why I only gave her two days to get used to the idea that we weren’t having a long engagement.
Are things smelling like roses? No, they aren’t, but Summer has been through a lot, a hell of a lot, and every day can be a struggle for her.
She still can’t go near men, though she’s getting better with the brothers, and while sometimes she’ll freak out after we’ve slept together and will need me to calm her down, most times, she stays with me, focusing only on me.
She’s fucking brave and I am so godman proud of her.
She’s going back to college, adamant about becoming a social worker, and she’s letting me in, trusting me.
Her nightmares are still there, her screams still echo, and she still has flashbacks, but she’s fighting her demons with me by her side because I refuse to let her go and it helps that she’s still seeing Dr. Philips on a daily basis, holding my hand as she speaks about her traumatic experience that I have to try and bite my tongue through.
The woman consumes me and I’ll walk to the end of the earth for her.
“Fucking women,” Stone mumbles as he takes a seat on the stool next to me at the bar, and I raise a brow.
“Who’s pissed you off now? We’ve only been outta church for twenty minutes,” I chuckle, seeing the frustration on his face.
We have another run coming up, and yes, Summer is coming with me. I refuse to let her stay here alone after what happened, after she tried to...
I blink, trying to get the image of her dangling, her mouth blue, from my head.
“Mitzy and Glitzy,” Stone states, and I look at him in shock, not expecting those two names to come outta his mouth.
What the fuck have they done now?
I’ve had no fucking problems with those two since they found out what happened with Summer from some of our clubwhores. They’ve been on their best behavior, so what the fuck could they have done when the club isn’t even open today?
Stone shakes his head as he admits, “Bruce called, our new prospect, he found Mitzy fucking some idiot after hours while Glitzy was recording them.”
Ah, for fuck’s sake.
“Our customers know we keep them safe…” I grunt and he nods and states, “But now they don’t think we do because apparently, according to the man Bruce confronted coming in when closed, the ladies do this often, but the men never knew they were being recorded until they wanted them to know and thought the club was okay with it and to make it worse, they brought Barbie in on it despite knowing she was banned from the premises,” he huffs, “They’ve been blackmailing some of the people they recorded for money. ”
Double fuck.
I groan and drop my head as I mutter, “We’re going to have to fire them.”
“Yep,” he replies with just as much frustration.
They are our two best employees, but they have taken advantage one too many times, and this one could have gotten us shut down.
“I’ve gotten Bruce to hand them their pink slips just so we don’t have to deal with them, and he’s changing the locks.
They’re pissed and threatened to sue us, but soon shut up when he mentioned that they were trespassing and basically selling themselves and blackmailing was a crime, so they could do time,” he mutters, and I huff.
“So much for them turning a new leaf,” I grunt, and he reminds me, “They technically had, they stopped fighting and interrupting each other’s shifts, they were just still too money hungry.”
I nod as I put my empty beer bottle on the bar, ready to get home, knowing Summer is now back.
Willie texted ten minutes ago, and even though I wanted nothing more than to follow her, I promised her I’d give her some time to get in and that I’d have a beer with the brothers.
She’s basically asking me to trust that she won’t hurt herself and I’m trying but that image of her dangling will forever haunt me.
“Ten minutes is long enough, right?” I confirm, and Stone chuckles, “Yeah, brother, go get your wife.”
Wife…
“Fuck, that has a good ring to it,” I state with a cheesy grin, and he laughs just as a shout echoes, “What the fuck are you talking about?” and we both look to the back of the common room and watch as Tank storms in, his mama with tears trailing her cheeks, following, and I frown.
“What the fuck?” I whisper in shock as I watch him shove her away when she tries to grab his arm.
“Logan, sweetheart please, it was for the best,” Sara, his mama chokes as his dad, Rocky, stands and demands, “What the fuck is going on?” but Tank ignores him as he points at his sobbing mother and snaps, “You’re fucking dead to me!
” and storms towards the door, everyone looking at him in complete shock as Sara falls to the floor crying her heart out and his dad freezes as his son, his calm, easy son, storms out.
Shit.
“I’ve got him,” I say before anyone can go after him, and I quickly stand and rush after the fucker.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s never got along with his mama, and none of us know why, fuck, I don’t even think Rocky knows why, but this is the first time we’ve seen his disdain for her.
I run out of the clubhouse and see Tank climbing onto his bike, and I rush over to him.
He’s always been there for me, so too damn right I’m going to be there for him.
He roars out in pain as he sits astride his bike and digs his fingers into his shaved head, shaking it and worry hits me.
“Brother?” I question as I stop beside him, and he chuckles darkly as he glares at the clubhouse.
“My mother, my fucking blood, who has tried to control every little bit of my life, is the biggest snake inside that clubhouse,” he snaps, and my eyes widen in shock.
“What did she do, Logan?” I demand, and he looks at me, his dark gray eyes full of fury that even I wince at.
Fuck, he’s ready for murder.
“She ruined my fucking life,” he says coldly before starting his bike and mutters, “Fuck this place, fuck her and fuck the club,” before he pulls his cut off and chucks it on the floor, then speed towards the gate, which thankfully was already open and he roars off down the road rendering me speechless.
Shit, did he just quit the club?
“Anchor?” Rocky says, and he rushes out of the club, and I blink as I look at his cut on the floor.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, he’s just quit the club…
Bending, I pick it up as Doc walks over, ready to head for his nightshift, and frown, looking at the leather in my hands.
“Please tell me your wife didn’t leave you already,” he jokes, and I don’t even take the bait, too shocked.
“Tank just left the club,” I mutter, and Rocky frowns and confirms, “To the hospital for a shift?”
Doc adds, “He’s not on shift until the weekend, brother…”
I state, “I mean, he said, fuck this place, fuck his mama, and fuck the club before throwing his cut on the ground and driving away,” I turn and face Rocky, and I demand, “What the fuck did Sara do for him to leave the club?”
Rocky’s eyes widen in pure shock as Doc snaps in denial, “He did not fucking leave the club!”
I throw the cut at him, and he looks at it in shock as he catches it, and I repeat, “What the fuck did she do?”
Rocky shakes his head, looking at his son's cut with pure pain and chokes, “I don’t fucking know, she wouldn’t tell us, she kept screaming for Tank to come back.”
“Well, she’s done fucking something,” Doc growls as he gets his phone out, presses a few buttons, then puts the device to his ear as he breathes heavily.
“Stone, call emergency church right fucking now, I just need to cancel my shift,” he snaps, and I grit my teeth as Willie pulls up next to us in the club truck, his window down and mouth open probably to tell me something about my girl but I cut off whatever he’s about to say.
“Get back to Summer, Willie, emergency church is about to be in session,” I demand, and he curses as he quickly reverses.
None of us likes her alone for too fucking long, especially him becoming her protector.
“Inside, brothers, we need the whole brotherhood for this, a brother, an officer one at that, throwing his cut away is serious business,” Doc demands, and I storm past them fucking pissed, Sara’s wailing hitting my ears as soon as I walk into the common room pissing me off because I know we won’t get fuck all out of her.
“All none brothers out right fucking now emergency church!” Stone shouts, and the women instantly move without hesitation while Sara continues to sob, and I demand, “Out, Sara, now!”
She flinches at my harsh tone, and all the brothers look at me in shock as Rocky and Doc walk in from outside, and she listens seeing Doc’s scowl, going out the back door with her shoulders shaking.
“What the fuck is going on?” Trigger demands as he passes Sara and walks inside, shutting the back door so she can’t listen in, and I growl, “Tank has just chucked his cut on the floor and left!”
Everyone in the room goes deathly silent, and I roar out and kick a chair in anger as Doc demands, “Dirty, see if you can hear anything on the cameras from his conversation with his mama because we all know we won’t get fuck all out of her mouth!
” and Dirty quickly grabs his laptop as I say, “They came out from where the officer bedrooms are,” and I take a seat on the steps, hanging my head, concern shooting through me for my friend.
What the fuck has Sara done?
***
I sigh as I wave to Willie and walk into the house, my head fucking pounding.
Two hours and Dirty couldn’t find any audio, and Tank disconnected his number, so none of us could get a hold of him.
So now we have to wait and see if he shows up at the garage tomorrow to confront him and basically lock him in the clubhouse because none of us has access to his farmhouse.
The gates are electric and only he can open them so bombarding him at his home won’t work and it has frustrated me to no end because as I called it, Sara won’t tell anyone anything, not even her husband, just states he’s taken something more to heart than he should have.
Tank isn’t the type of person to throw his cut on the ground over fucking nothing.
Rolling out my shoulders, I walk into the living area, trying my hardest to look upbeat, not wanting to worry Summer, but I freeze seeing her sitting on the floor in front of the fire that I’m guessing Willie started for her, sobbing.
Fuck.
“Sunshine?” I say with concern as I rush over to her and kneel before her, cupping her cheek to force her to look at me.
Her dark blue eyes are full of sadness and confusion, and fuck me, I hate that look.
“What’s happened, baby?” I ask in a whisper, noticing her hand touching her growing baby bump.
She’s twenty weeks pregnant and doesn’t know what gender the baby is, refusing to find out because she’s scared she’ll want to keep it.
Every day, I have seen her look confused, but I’ve kept my mouth shut because, at the end of the day, the baby was conceived in the most horrifically way. It isn’t biologically mine, and she’s still struggling with the trauma.
What she does has to be her decision, and I’ll stand by her even if I think she should keep it.
“I felt it kicking today, all day, and I tried to ignore it, but when I got home and sat on the couch, I could see it move, and I-I…” Her sobbing cuts her off, and I quickly pull her into my arms and let her cry on me, to use my strength.
“You’re falling in love with it,” I confirm her thoughts, and she nods as sobs tear from her, and I quickly run my fingers through her hair and grip it tightly.
“I-I can’t, though, I can’t bring it up, I just can’t,” she sobs, and I press my lips against her forehead.
“I think you underestimate how strong you are, Summer, because you are strong, and brave, and you have such a good heart,” I rasp, “I think if you let yourself, you can be an amazing mama to this baby and give it all the love in the world.”
She sniffles as she pulls back and chokes, “I don’t think I can, Eric.” and I cup her cheek and I whisper, “Whatever you decide, I will stand by you, baby.”
She nods as she looks down at her stomach, and I follow her eyes and see a little movement, breaking my heart.
I know the baby isn’t mine, but it’s a part of my wife, and I love her, so why wouldn’t I love the baby?
Swallowing hard, I gently place my hand on her bump, and I smile as the baby kicks it, and Summer lets out another sob.
Pulling her onto my lap, I hold her close to me as I press my lips against her head and feel the baby move beneath my touch as she sobs and I let her, knowing she needs to get these emotions out, and even though I’m worried about Tank, that I’m petrified that Summer will try to kill herself again, I close my eyes and enjoy holding my wife in my arms while we feel the baby move.
She’s been through so much and I really fucking messed up by not doing something that day but I know as long as I’m giving her my strength then this woman will rise every day. Deep down, I hope she keeps the baby, that we’ll become a family filling this house with love.
Chasing after Summer was the greatest move I have ever made, and one I will never regret, because the woman is my forever.