Chapter 29—Bass
“W hat’s in this room?” Milly pulls my attention away from saying something to Ollie. I see her by what I always let everyone assume is a second guest room. Even her, refusing her entry—till now.
Walking over, I lean up and pull the key off the doorjamb, inserting it and unlocking it. She smirks at my key hidey-hole and pushes the door open as soon as she can.
“Wow, you really are a freak. Trains. You have freaking trains.” And she ain’t talking stuffed trains or just little toy trains. We’re talking about a full-on miniature train town build. There’s barely enough room to walk around the whole thing with the model in the middle taking up most of it. “The town is so intricate, it’s almost real, if not creepy that a biker would have model trains.” She eyes me with a look that probably questions if I’m secretly a psycho. I have half a mind to tell her that I’m no more a psycho than the rest of the people she knows.
“Yeah, but you’re dealing with me, so I guess it’s your problem.”
“Wow, you own all this? Did you play with these when you were my age?” Ollie pushes past both of us, as we’re still standing at the door. He moves around the room, looking at it all.
I feel her eyes on me as I rub the back of my neck, no doubt noticing that I’m turning a shade of red that I’ll deny to my grave. “ They were my granddad’s. He and I used to spend hours building the small engines and putting the town together. When he passed, I didn’t know what to do with it, so I just put it in here.”
“Can I play with them?” Ollie’s entire being is focused on looking at everything, so he isn’t paying attention to us.
I look at Milly, and she shrugs. “Your house, your rules.”
I move my hand to rub my chest instead, liking her words. “Yeah, I guess. Never really knew what to do with them. Have at it.”
He nods. “Cool.”
Goober barks, and Ollie rushes out after him.
“I leave for a week, and you get a damn dog,” I groan with a headshake as we follow Ollie before shutting the door behind us. I’m not locking it this time, just keeping it away from a dog that we somehow now own.
Milly told me they had a “trial period” that lasted all of an hour before she knew she couldn’t give the damn dog back. Ollie demanded, and so it was. Or that’s what she says. Bet you the kid just looked at her, and she gave in. Girl might scream Brooklyn and be all badass, but that boy makes her softer than melted ice cream on a warm day.
“You were gone longer than a week, and I didn’t know what I was saying yes to.” She goes out the front door and watches from the porch as Ollie plays with Goober. I still can’t believe they’re keeping that name. Apparently, Ollie likes it and agreed based on some weird logic from the vet’s sister who gave it to him.
“He’s good with him.” I slide in behind her, putting one arm around her middle and letting her rest back on me .
“Yeah.”
And so are you . I keep that in my head, but we all know it. No need to say it out loud.
“Come on, we need to get going.” I smack her fine ass as I head back inside.
“Where?” she asks from her spot outside.
“Family barbecue.” I shut the door, set the alarm, and grab her hand as I pass, pulling her with me as I interlock our fingers.
Not sure if she’s smiling at the hand-holding or where we’re going. “You guys sure have a lot of those. This one going to be another surprise party?”
I glare at her sass, but we both know I love it. She blows me a kiss as I whistle for the dog.
“Ollie, Goober, let’s go.” I pop the tailgate. “Yeah, but not in the way you think. Brother got patched in last night.”
“Oh yeah, which one?” Not surprised that she knows we have a few. Woman’s been around long enough to know a shit ton about the club.
Ollie comes running over, and Goober hops into the bed of the truck easily. “Can I sit in the back with Goober?” Ollie asks.
“No,” I say at the same time as I shut the tailgate. “Safety first, kid. Now get in the truck.”
Ollie huffs for a second but then runs to the passenger seat and gets in. I make a note that we’re going to need to get Milly a new ride. I don’t mind the chauffeur part as much anymore, but I doubt she wants it to last forever. I also wouldn’t mind if I got to ride my bike with my woman at my back one of these days .
“Walker.”
“Huh?”
I grab her by the belt loops and pull her close. “The prospect we took with us to Russia. He’s the one who got patched in.”
“And the story behind him being called Walker?”
I shrug as if it’s obvious. “’Cause the guy looked like one of those damn zombie thingies from that show. He went with Kooper and Micky but got separated. When they found him, he was covered in blood and just rolled with it. Killed everything he saw and just kept going. He used a damn machete almost every time, and I’ve got no clue where he found it. I suited him up with two Desert Eagles and an AR-15 when we went in, but he only had the long-ass knife left when we walked out. He didn’t even shake off the blood till everyone else was sewn up. Fucker didn’t have a single wound on him, was just covered in blood as if he did.”
“Right. Makes sense, because Zombie Killer and Machete are already taken.”
“Exactly.” I give her a quick kiss, then smack her delectable ass hard. “Now get in the truck before you make us any later.”
“We’re late? When the hell did this thing start? And how can I make us late if I didn’t even know it was happening?” she asks over her shoulder but does as I say. She crawls in from the driver’s side to sit in the middle, wiggling that fine piece of meat of hers in my face.
“Women are always the reason a man’s late.” Ollie’s words have her mouth dropping open as he looks at me like it’s something he learned from me .
I laugh. “See, he gets it.”
She crosses her arms and glares out the window as we take off, dog barking in the back the whole way. “You’re going to get it,” she mutters, but as the deep chuckle leaves my lips, and I slide my hand between her thighs and pull her closer to me, I don’t miss the smile that spreads across her face.
“Looking forward to it, baby.”
“Your roommate going to make it out?” Milly asks Ruby as she and Abigail sit on one side of the outdoor tables the club set up. I’m sitting beside them but pretending not to listen.
“Nah, think you guys scared her,” she says as she drinks her beer.
“Why you looking at me?” Milly points to her chest and speaks to Abigail, who gives her a pointed look.
She shrugs as she looks away. “She was fine before you came around, Brooklyn ,” she says with extra emphasis on a nickname Milly somehow got from this place.
“Just get used to it. You cause people to be uneasy,” Ruby adds as if it’s fine.
Milly scoffs. “How many times do I have to tell people that I’m not going to put a hit out on someone just because my brother is the head of our mafia family?”
Ruby looks to Abigail, then to me, before addressing Milly. “Ah, I was talking about the little show you put on for the boys. You know, where you kicked your man’s ass. ”
I snort at her as she gestures to me. I didn’t get my ass kicked. Just got smacked around a bit.
“Oh, that.” At least my girl has the decency to look a bit appalled by her actions. Very little, that is.
“Yeah, that .” Ruby leans back, kicking her heels up onto the table.
“He’s not my man.”
“Sure.” Abigail grins, and Ruby giggles.
Milly glares, and I just smirk—hiding it behind my beer, of course. Don’t want her wrath on me just yet. I might get a hard-on, but I also want to spend some time with my brothers too.
“Shut it, princess,” Milly snaps.
“As you wish, Brooklyn. ”
“Hey, lasses.” Mickey limps over slowly, and I give him a chin lift.
“Hey, Mickey. Hiding from General?” Ruby asks with a sparkle in her eye. You wouldn’t know how devastated she is by her dad’s passing unless you look closely. She’s putting on a front, and if you weren’t close to her, you wouldn’t know. But I do. And I know everyone else does too. But no one is talking about it. We’re all going by the way she is, which is pretending it didn’t happen.
“Guy’s a fucking wanker for sure.” He pulls out one of the empty chairs and sits down between Milly and Ruby. “He’s worse than my ma, always bitching at me to sit down and put my leg up. If I want to be mothered, I’ve got enough fucking family to call for that shit.”
“Careful there. You’re sitting next to a mama who’ll probably start in on you if you aren’t too careful,” Abigail teases, to which Milly rolls her eyes before looking at me with a shake of her head.
“Oh, I know who I’m sitting by.” His tone has me quick to look at him, noticing him leaning over his chair rail to look at my girl. “Lassie, you got a mean hook.” She tosses him a laugh, and he takes it as bait. “It’s hot.”
I almost spit my beer out at his words. “Dude.” I shake my head. “Not her.” The guy can pull that Irish swagger with any other woman here, just not the one next to me.
“Why not?” Ruby asks with a smirk, pointing her beer at Milly. “How did you put it, Brooklyn? ‘No ring means it doesn’t mean a thing.’”
I glare at her, but she just grins widely as Abigail smirks and Milly nods, egging her on.
“Damn, you named her?” Mickey asks me, knowing the rule: you name it, you keep it.
“Not me. Club did. Or I guess she did, with all her correcting.” I lean forward, putting my beer on the table as I pull off my pinkie ring. I grab her hand and jam it on. “There, now it means something.” I sit back in my chair, grabbing my beer as I go. “Happy now?”
She looks it over, and I notice a certain woman keeping her mouth shut. Actually, Ruby’s jaw is wide open in shock. Doubt she expected me to ever get an old lady, or even put a ring on it. I know I wasn’t expecting it, but I’ll be damned if anyone else is going to claim my woman.
“It’s a bit big.” She shakes her hand, and it slides around her finger.
“Deal with it,” I grunt .
“Don’t I always, baby ?” she sasses me with a twinkle in her eye, and I adjust myself. Girl knows how to make me hard from a damn look. If that ain’t a reason to lock her down as my old lady, I don’t know what is.
I raise my beer, smiling as I shake my head and take a swig. “You’re going to be the death of me, woman.”
“Yeah, but what a way to go,” Mickey mutters, and I can’t help but agree.
“Brooklyn,” Chains hollers at her. “You got visitors.”
I should have known it wouldn’t be long before I was inundated with the mafia. Just figured it wouldn’t be seconds after claiming my old lady.
Milly stands quickly, throwing her arms around her brother Tommy, fussing over him while ushering him to our table. As they get close, I stand and hold out my hand for the guy, which he takes. Don’t know the rest, but this one earns my respect. If he hadn’t jumped in front of me, I’d be dead. Instead, he’s the one with a bandage on his neck where the bullet got him.
Domino was the one to quickly assess and patch him up, then get him the fuck out of there while I went and hunted the man who’d caused all this pain. Fucker was a coward in the end. Locked himself in his office, thinking he was unreachable. But a few selective explosives blew the door. I didn’t give the bastard time to talk, something I already knew he loved to do. I just shot him between the eyes as soon as he came into view. No doubt the fucker had a grand speech to give to reason with me, but his death was sanctioned by the Reaper himself. I was just there to collect.
“Stop pestering, woman. I’m fine. You really think our big bro would let me out of the house—hell, my bed—if I wasn’t well enough to drink a beer without someone fussing over me?”
“Yes,” Milly says easily, and her brothers chuckle at it. All but Tommy, who rolls his eyes.
“Whatever,” he grumbles as he looks about, then all but dead stops when he sees Ruby. “Well, hello again, beautiful,” he singsongs, drawing out his words before whistling. Now it’s the brothers rolling their eyes.
Ruby doesn’t shy away from the look, giving him her own once-over. “Hello again to you too. Always was a sucker for a guy with an accent.”
“Oi, what the fuck about me?” Mickey protests.
She waves him off. “You had your chance. You went for the sister.” She nods toward my girl. “Should have taken your shot a bit earlier. Especially after you saw her full-on ownership of Bass when he came home.”
Girl’s not wrong. Even if I didn’t just put a ring on it, Milly and I claimed each other the second our lips touched in front of God and country yesterday.
Mickey shrugs it off as he leans back in his chair, propping his leg up. General would be so proud. “Eh, it could have gone either way. Nothing is final, not even in death.”
He holds Ruby’s stare for a second before he gets up and moves on. She follows him with her eyes for half a beat. “What the hell do you think that was about?”
“Who the fuck knows? Guy’s Irish. They’re all nuts in the head over there,” Tommy cuts in, quick to pull her attention back to him.
“Says the mafia boy.” She smirks at him, knowing full well who he is and how much trouble this would have caused if things hadn’t gone differently. Mafia and bikers don’t mix as a general rule. Mostly because we’re fighting for territory and business. But it looks like the Leone family and the Hounds might just be starting a new budding friendship. Or as budding as one can get when the littlest Leone is now involved in the club, and to protect her, you must protect the club.
“Oh yeah, I’m nuts too.” He waggles his eyebrows to emphasize the point, pulling a bubble of laughter from both Ruby and Abigail. He leans across the table, as close as he can get to Ruby with a table between them. “But I’ll admit it to your face.”
Ruby looks him over, glances at Milly, who just shrugs, then looks back to him, sighing in resignation as she makes a show of rising from her seat. “All right, mafia boy, buy me a beer.”
“Aren’t they free?” another of the brothers speaks up, the one with glasses. I think he’s the second oldest, if I remember from the dossier we did on them once we found out who Milly really was. Bobby, the one dubbed the brains of the Leone family.
“Not for you.” She looks at the group, finally settling on Tommy as he stands. “But if you play your cards right, I’ll buy.”
“After you, my lady.” Tommy gestures with one hand while the other goes to her back.
“Oh, and he has manners too.” She giggles as she turns back to speak to us, only to run into someone. “Oh, sorry—” Once she sees who it is, her polite apology turns sour. “Kooper, what do you want? ”
He looks her over for half a second, then ignores her completely. Instead, he holds out his hand to the person behind her. “Tommy.”
“’Sup, man.” He takes it easily and smiles big. We might not call Tommy a club brother, but the six of us got really close to one another. It’s inevitable when you go on a mission you don’t expect to come back from.
“How’s the neck?” Kooper turns to look, and Tommy gives him the angle to see the bandage as he tilts his own head and pulls his shirt collar down a bit.
“Still hanging. Let me catch up with you later. Got a girl to talk to about a drink.” He barely lets Kooper nod before he’s ushering Ruby away, who didn’t stop glaring at Kooper the entire time.
While the couple goes about their way, the rest of us notice things. In particular, how pissed off Kooper is before he storms off. We all know Law wouldn’t approve of this. Even after the connection we now have, Ruby is always hands off. She isn’t meant to be involved with anyone—not a brother, not a politician, and definitely not the mafia. Girl’s meant to be single all her life, if her dad had a say.
But things change.
“Your brother’s aiming for a beatdown.” I chuckle. Just because things have changed, doesn’t mean the club can’t step up and make things known.
“Anyone who touches him won’t be walking tomorrow,” Danny, the third oldest, says as he watches his brother and Ruby go into the clubhouse and out of sight.
“Oh, are you the fun one?” Abigail says with a wide grin, and I just groan. These women are going to kill me. Think we’re going to need to have Casper issue some sort of declaration that mafia guys are off the market for anyone with connections to the club. Unless they want out. Then that’s on them.
Danny doesn’t laugh at her words, though. None of the remaining brothers do, actually.
“Yeesh, tough crowd. Think I’ll see who’s willing to get me a beer.” Abigail leaves, and the table stays silent till the oldest Leone speaks.
“You moving back home?”
“Nope,” Milly’s quick to answer, and a part of me warms at my center. Not a single doubt from her, and if that doesn’t say she loves me, I don’t want to know what does.
“Figured. I’ll keep the house. Take it as a wedding gift when you’re ready, and we can put it in your name.”
I damn near spill my beer at his words. I had no fucking clue they were here or saw that whole ring-passing thing. Sure, it’s obvious that the skull-and-bones ring on her left hand is masculine, but it’s not that fucking obvious. Or it isn’t to me.
But my girl doesn’t even bluster at his words, just uses her normal sass to snap back, “Gee, thanks. Nothing like being traded to a man for literal property.”
“What can I say? I’m romantic like that,” Vinny says as he looks about.
“Wait, was that a joke? Bobby, write down the date. Vinny made a joke.”
As the youngest Leone continues to give shit to her brother, I pull her in close and let her rest against me as I look out at my family. I never expected to be here, but I’m damn glad I came back when I did. A day late and I would have missed the woman who’s not only captured my heart but has given me hers as well.
As luck would have it, her brothers already blessed the marriage. I just need to convince the sassy Brooklyn that it’s going to happen.
As I look at her, and she smiles back at me, I know it’s a fight worth having.
Just like she is.