Chapter 4 Abbey #2
“I’m confused…” Tahli’s voice reminds me that she’s here.
Jesus, Ringo has the power to make me feel like it’s just me and him in a room sometimes. It’s a dangerous thing.
“What are you confused about?” I ask my little sister as she glances between me and Ringo.
“Is your name Ringo or Cam?”
Ringo smirks, stepping closer and bending down to Tahli’s height, bracing his hands on his knees.
“My real name is Cameron Musgrove, but most people call me Ringo.”
“Why?”
“Well…” he sighs, his whisky eyes flicking to me briefly before returning to my little sister and giving her a one-shouldered shrug.
“I used to be in a band back in high school. I was the drummer, and I also wrote some songs and sang lead vocals sometimes. Just like Ringo Starr from the Beatles. So, my mates started calling me Ringo.”
“The Beatles?” Tahli screws up her face. “Aren’t they all dead? Are you that old?”
A laugh bubbles from my lips while Ringo’s sisters burst out laughing, along with his mum. Meanwhile, Ringo shoots me a glare, shaking his head.
“Actually, kid. A couple of them are still alive.” He shoots her a wink. “But I guess to you they are old. I’m not that old though.”
When Tahli’s eyes narrow, I know her sass is about to come out.
“Old enough. I bet you were a teenager when Abbey was a baby.”
I stiffen. “Tahli! Don’t be rude!”
“What? It’s true, isn’t it? I wasn’t trying to be rude.”
Ringo chuckles. “She’s not wrong.” He straightens and ruffles her hair. “When Abbey was born, I would have been around fifteen years old.”
I inwardly cringe.
That sounds so bad, right?
“Does that make you her sugar daddy?”
“Tahli!” I screech in mortification, slapping my hand over her mouth so she can’t say anything else as Ringo’s sisters laugh again, but the man himself just shrugs.
“If that’s the easiest way for you to wrap your head around me and your sister, then sure.” Ringo smirks, shooting me a wink this time. “I’m her sugar daddy.”
I gasp, and Tahli shoves my hand away from her face.
“Next time you see my mum, can you tell her that and then take a photo of her face for me? I wanna see how crazy that makes her.”
“Oh my God, Tahli.” I giggle, gripping my little sister’s shoulders and steering her to the couch. “What has gotten into you? And how do you even know what a sugar daddy is?”
“Sally’s big sister is eighteen, and she has this app where she has three sugar daddy boyfriends who send her money and gifts.
Sally was telling us at school that her sister only has to talk to them over video call for thirty minutes a week.
She doesn’t know what they talk about because her sister locks her bedroom door so Sally can’t go in, but a few weeks ago she listened at the door, and she thinks one of them must have sent her a lollipop because she heard a man tell her to suck it and—”
“Okay, that’s enough!” I slap my hand over her mouth again as the room fills with hysterical laughter.
Tahli shoves me off her again, glaring at me, and I sigh.
It’s good that she feels comfortable enough to say what she thinks here, but I think we need to have a chat about a few things when I get back…
Shit… When I get back… from searching for my daughter.
My heart sinks as dread fills me again.
Is it because maybe I don’t really believe she’s alive? Or I don’t want to get my hopes up just in case?
I ache to hold my little girl. I really do… so why am I so terrified?
It has to be my subconscious trying to protect me, telling me not to get my hopes up, because my heart… it won’t survive being crushed again. There’d be no coming back from that a second time.
Doreen slowly shuffles her way over to the couch before sitting next to Tahli and showing her a basket of knitting needles and balls of knitting yarn. I step away, and Doreen smiles warmly up at me, like she’s silently telling me it’s okay, she’ll look after Tahli for me while I’m gone.
These people… they are my saviours. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay them.
“Uhhh, Abs. Here’s that paracetamol you wanted for your headache.” Alana grins as she approaches me with a glass of water and something tucked in her palm.
Knowing exactly what she has, I move away from my little sister and Ringo’s mum and take the glass and the small pill from her.
“Thank you,” I mutter quietly before tossing the pill into my mouth and chugging back some water.
Ringo and I haven’t exactly been careful when we have sex, and the last thing I need is to fall pregnant again. Maybe when I see the doctor today, I can arrange for something more routine rather than taking the emergency contraceptive that Alana seems to have a stash of.
I’ve considered asking her why, but I’ve learned that with Alana, sometimes you’re best not knowing.
When I glance up, Ringo catches my eye, nodding his head towards the front door, so I follow him, stepping outside, where he weaves his fingers with mine.
It’s such a simple act, yet means so much, and I focus on the way his thumb strokes over the back of my hand as he leads me off the porch, walking us over to the group of men gathered.
“Abbey,” Smitty sings, holding his arms out. “So good to see you.”
My brows lift.
“What are you doing here?” I don’t mean for my words to sound so snappy, but unfortunately that’s how they come out.
“Ringo told me about Bobbi.” He grips my shoulders and leans in to press a kiss to my cheek. “I’m here to help.”
What’s happening?
“Oh…” I glance up at Ringo to see he doesn’t look fazed by Smitty’s weirdly friendly mood. “I didn’t think the President would put himself in danger.”
Smitty chuckles, releasing my shoulders. “If I’m not willing to die for my men, then why would they follow me?”
“So you’d die for Ringo?”
Shit… why does my tone sound so judgemental?
It’s this man. He rubs me the wrong way, and I know he cares about his men and the club, but his tactics leave a lot to be desired. One minute we can be getting along, and the next minute he’s doing something rash, shocking everyone around him.
I just feel so on edge around him.
“Yes, of course. Ringo has been a loyal member of the Southern Sadists for a long time, even if his more recent actions have been questionable.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Ringo grumbles as I get my hackles up and take a step closer to his President.
Too close.
Ringo’s arm slips between me and Smitty, and he tugs me back a few steps. “Angel. Smitty is here to help.”
I huff, shooting him a glare. “But this is about me. My baby.”
“Yes,” Smitty says way too loudly, clapping his hands together. “Both of you are Southern Sadists family now. We protect our family.”
My eyes narrow as I remember the dig he had at me the day we raided the Rebels’ compound, reminding me that this is all my fault… but then, we kind of came to a truce the day I thought he’d killed JD.
Nate is a different kind of man. Irrational at times, but he does always seem to have his club’s best interest at heart, even when I don’t like it.
“You’d really die for me? For Bobbi?” I ask, zero snark in my tone now as I study this man before me, the aging lines at his eyes getting deeper as he smiles.
“That’s right. I would. You are one of us now, so here I am.
” He holds his arms out again, doing a turn on the spot, making a spectacle of himself, as always.
And then he beams at me with a slightly unhinged grin as he faces me again.
“I’m fucking ready to burn this world to the ground so we can get your little girl back.
So let’s saddle the fuck up and start causing havoc. ”
Oh… tears burn my eyes as the other Sadists start cheering and thumping their chests, while Ringo presses a kiss to my temple.
Jesus… shit… these damn poetic monsters. I love them all.
My smile is wide, and Smitty steps forward, snatching me from Ringo as he sweeps me up in his arms and spins us around, forcing a laugh from my lips.
“Ahhh, put me down,” I protest, and when my feet finally hit the gravel again, I spot Millie, Alana and Tahli standing on the porch wearing grins.
Ringo barks orders to his men as Riggs gets one of his SUVs ready, giving four of his men demands.
He’s staying behind, just as I’d previously asked.
I want Riggs to protect Tahli at all times. We’re not safe yet, and I’m not risking her life, and in some ways, Riggs reminds me a lot of Ringo.
Fierce. Brutal. Loyal.
Exactly the kind of man I trust to keep her safe.
I give my little sister a wave as I walk over to Ringo’s motorbike, and she waves back, mouthing, love you, and shit, I fight the urge to cry for the hundredth time since waking up this morning.
“Let me help, Angel,” Ringo rasps, taking my helmet out of my hands when I pick it up, and I smile up at him as he slips it on my head and secures it. “That tight enough?”
“Yep.” I nod, smiling at him through the open visor, and he grips the mouth bar of my helmet, tugging me closer and leaning in awkwardly to press a kiss to the tip of my nose.
“Let’s go cause some chaos, Angel.”
“Hell yes.” I grin, that idea finally kick-starting my heart, and he chuckles, slapping my arse before tapping the leather of the seat.
We all mount the motorcycles, and the roar of the engines starting up sends a thrill through me.
Never in a million years did I think this would be my life, riding behind a biker man. A sexy, much older biker man, going in search of trouble.
It’s not only thrilling, but feels almost right. Like this is exactly where I’ve always belonged.
My fingers dig into Ringo’s cut at his sides as we follow JD up the driveway, and just before we turn onto the road, I slide up close to Ringo, snaking my hands around to his front, knowing our speed is about to pick up.
My smile is wide as the bike rumbles louder, the steel demon between my legs a powerful reminder of the man steering it.
My man.
It takes over an hour to get to the Fox Pines Hospital. We don’t bother with parking in the lot. We pull up right at the entrance, not hiding our presence.
We leave our helmets on as we dismount and head towards the doors, but as we approach, Ringo’s steps falter.
“What is it?” I ask right as Vender draws his gun.
“Pandemic security guards aren’t here,” Ringo mutters, and my wide eyes dart back to the doors as they automatically slide open.
And that’s when we see it.
All the blood.