Chapter 24
24
Anchor
“Fuck, Anchor, that looks awesome,” Pete says as he checks out the new ink on his chest in the long mirror against the far back wall.
The large lion's head, which took me three sessions to complete, stands out well among the other tattoos. The light blue flame for his hair looks awesome.
“You remember the drill,” I say while dismantling and cleaning my gun.
“Yeah, man, I remember; you tell me every fucking time,” he complains while admiring my work.
“Well, it’s my job to ensure you know everything. Besides, fucking Art had someone try and sue him last month, claiming he didn’t tell them the care information, and it got infected. Luckily, he had his camera recording the whole fucking time,” I reply and stand, removing my gloves.
“People are fucking ridiculous,” Pete says, rolling his caramel eyes, and I grin.
“The idiot fucked her on his chair, then ghosted her. She did it out of revenge.”
Pete laughs and confirms, “Patch chaser?” I nod and wipe down my chair while he puts his top back on. “Speaking of patch chasers,” he says casually, and I shake my head.
“Fucker, do not call my wife a patch chaser,” I huff and throw the wipes in the trash.
He shrugs and admits, “I didn’t know how else to bring her up, to be honest,” making me chuckle. “I cannot believe you married Heaven.” he shakes his head. “For a year, no one knew she was with you in high school, but now it makes sense why she turned guys down, why she ignored Harley’s fucking digs about you and her.” I tense at his words. “Did you know, Anchor, that Harley actually stole all of Heaven's clothes after gym while she was in the shower, then proceeded to pour boiling hot water on her?”
I look at him sharply and demand, “When was this?”
He winces before thinking back. “Homecoming, I believe. Heaven was last to come out of the showers, but when she did, she was in a towel, and blisters were forming on her arms.”
I curse, “Fuck’s sake. She told me her mom was taking her away for a few weeks; I had no fucking idea.”
He winces again and admits, “That wasn’t the only time, Anchor. Harley made her life hell once you left, and even with the rumor that you two split up, Harley made it her mission to help Heaven hate life. Honestly, I also believed the rumor, especially when I didn’t see you at graduation.”
I flinch. “My dad said it wouldn’t have been a good idea for me to attend, just like Heaven didn’t attend my college one, something she wasn’t even aware was happening until I got home from the celebration party with the club.”
Just as I say the words, I fucking hate myself; I mean, yeah, we got married on her graduation, but I wasn’t in the crowd cheering her on like she was for me during my high school one. When I told her my college graduation had already passed, she looked fucking heartbroken, but I chose to ignore it….
Pete sighs. “You’ve got a good one in Heaven, Anchor, don’t ruin it.”
I nod, unwilling to tell him I already have, and fist bump him before he heads to the reception desk to settle his bill, which will be half the price it should cost because of the friends and family discount.
I shake my head and continue to tidy my room, happy my last client canceled. I need to get home to my family. Yeah, Heaven said she loved me last night, but her eyes were still clouded with disappointment at my actions.
Fuck’s sake, I tried to force her to spend an hour with, not only brothers that hadn’t met her as my wife, but also with Ginger.
I was a sucky fucking boyfriend, and a shitty husband and father.
No wonder she wanted a divorce.
I sigh when my phone goes off. I grab it, and check the screen.
Dad: SOS
“Fuck!” I curse and quickly rush out of my room, only to bump into a still-salty Art and Bulldozer. I don’t say anything, instead I rush out of the tattoo parlor, hearing Art demanding our receptionist to cancel the last clients and close up shop.
I quickly jump on my bike and pull out of my spot, the other two close behind.
It doesn’t take us long before we’re racing into the compound; the prospect on the gate already has it open for us. As soon as I park, I rush inside without waiting for the other two, but I pause in the doorway with a frown, seeing my dad pacing, his phone to his ear, his face red, my sister sitting, looking down like a naughty child, and my prez scowling at her. Instantly, I know this has something to do with my wife.
“What has happened?” I demand firmly as I descend the few stairs near the front door, everyone looking my way.
“Your sister here helped your wife leave club property,” my dad sneers as he drops his phone from his ear, and I freeze. He continues, “The prospect, John, went with her; the cameras determined that, but your little sister here swiped his phone without him knowing, so I can’t get a hold of him.”
My breathing becomes heavier, and I growl, “So let me get this right…my wife, the woman who is barely holding on to our marriage, is gone, with a prospect who she fucking kissed a week ago?!”
My little sister flinches and replies, “She’s with our moms.”
I scoff. “Yeah, right. One woman spoke to her like shit for not giving her son a second chance all because she did with her cheating husband, and the other was in her ear for years about how shitty men were.” I boot the chair next to me, the wood smacking Ginger in the leg, making her scream, and my sister smirk, which just pisses me off because Heaven has one foot out of the fucking door.
I point at her and shout, “This isn’t fucking funny, she’s going to fucking leave me!”
“Well, you can’t really blame me if I did now, could you?” a voice says from behind and I sigh, my body deflating with relief. I turn toward her to see she is, in fact, with my mother and hers. Both women are glaring at Ginger, but my eyes go to the prospect behind.
I scowl, and his eyes widen as he takes a step back. Fucking pussy.
“For God's sake, Travis, he sat at the counter the whole time I was at the diner and drove in the truck behind me.” I look at my wife, and she glares at me and snaps, “Grow the fuck up—so what I kissed him, be grateful I didn’t fuck him!”
I raise a brow at my wife, but she crosses her arms over her chest in defiance, and Trig shouts, “Hey, that’s the girl we’ve been wanting to hire!”
I growl at the reminder that half of my fucking brothers have seen her in her underwear, but my wife ignores me and looks around me, and smiles, “Hey Trig, did you sort out your problem with your missus?”
I blink and look between them as Trig sighs. “Yeah, sweet girl, I did…until I caught her in bed with my cousin, the rat bastard.”
My wife winces. “I’m sorry to hear that, but I know a certain redhead who would be very pleased to hear that.”
I look at Steal and blink, and he just blinks back before we look at Trig, and the long-haired fucker looks like a cat who just got his cream, but he soon whoops as my wife holds out a piece of paper and he rushes over to her.
I growl when he kisses her cheek and grabs the paper, before running out of the club, and we all look at Heaven with confusion.
She grins. “Little Red, the main girl at Jimmy’s, has a thing for him, but he always seems to have a girl on his arm. You should have called him Player instead of Trig….”
“I think I like you, girl,” Bulldozer says, and Heaven’s cheeks redden.
“I knew the brothers would love her,” my dad says as he steps beside me.
I nod and then ask, “Can you pick up Micha for me and stay at my house with him? My wife and I need to get things straightened out because, clearly, we didn’t last night like I thought.”
He chuckles and nods but soon tenses alongside me as we watch Ginger sneer at my wife.
Heaven raises her brow and asks, “Are you alright, Harley? I mean, Ginger? You look like you’ve sat on something sharp….” Ginger doesn’t reply, already knowing her place, much to my dismay because I want the fucking bitch out now instead of waiting for a club vote, but my wife doesn’t stop, nope she adds the nail in the coffin and says, “No, maybe it was just my husband’s dick you sat on then huh?”
The brothers all tense, already knowing the fuck up I made as my father snorts but coughs to cover it at my woman’s snark.
“Fuck, she went there,” Art mutters from beside me, and I wince because, fuck yeah, she did.
Ginger looks around the room, then back at my wife, and admits, “I had no idea he was married. It's not my fault he strayed. Maybe you should have kept him happy at home.”
“Son of a….” my dad growls.
Heaven just smirks and replies with a sigh, “Yeah, I mean, I had just given birth to our son two months prior, my breasts hurt like mad, and I didn’t come here to watch men in an orgy on our first wedding anniversary, so clearly he wasn’t happy at home and decided to sleep with trash.” She leans forward. “But tell me something, Harley, can you explain why he kept coming back to me despite my filing for divorce and not going to your bed like you claimed every single time you saw me?”
Ginger’s face reddens as the brothers all grin, proud, but me, my heart fucking pounds because, right now, even from here, I can see she’s remembering the words I said; she’s seeing the pleasure on my face when I fucked Ginger.
“Fuck, son, you need to get her outta here before she bolts,” my dad whispers, also seeing what I’m seeing, and so does Ginger, because a small smile appears on her face.
Heaven curls her lip at her and turns to her mom to say something, but I don’t give her a chance to get any words out, knowing she’ll beg for her to get outta here. I rush over to her, causing her to look my way in shock before I bend at the waist and throw her over my shoulder, making her gasp in shock.
I give my mother and mother-in-law a head nod, and say, "Next time, answer your phones; Dad's ready to blow a gasket.”
Mom shrugs. “Your dad's a lying, cheating bastard. and should be grateful I’m still with him.”
I raise a brow and look at Dad, whose eyes are narrowed on my mom.
“Welp, looks like time with me did her good,” my wife mumbles before she smacks my ass and demands, “Put me down, Travis. You’re giving me a head rush!”
I ignore her and look at Ginger and the other clubwhores and state, “If you haven’t realized, Heaven is my wife in the eyes of the law and the club. Just because she doesn’t wear my cut doesn’t mean she’s not mine, because she is, has been since high school, so keep in your fucking lane.”
“Didn’t stop you from fucking me though, Anchor,” Ginger reminds me, and my wife stills in my arms.
I narrow my eyes at the bitch and storm down the stairs and head to my room, knowing I need to do damage control. It’s only when we leave the common room that my wife starts to kick and punch me, and I know Ginger’s words have just set us back.
Great.