Chapter 30 ABBEY #2
I have to give it to my grandfather. He does a damn good job at remaining poised. The only sign that Ringo’s words have affected him is the slight flare of his eyes.
“You’re an idiot for coming here,” I snap, gaining his attention, as well as the sneering glares of my mother and sister. “Trusting Smitty was a mistake that was always going to get you killed.”
“You little bitch!” my mum screeches. “How dare you speak to your minister like that!”
“Oi!” Jols gets up in my mother’s face. “Don’t speak to her like that. You forget you’re on our turf now. Back the fuck off!”
I bite back my grin as my mum flinches back, Maggie gripping her arm as her eyes go wide.
But Banes remains stoic.
“Do we have empty containers?” Ringo asks, and Vender answers.
“We have heaps. Want them separated?”
Ringo nods. “Throw Spud in one too, as well as this fucker.”
Ringo points to Blake Moore, and his club brothers move forward, taking each of our new prisoners away, my family in tow.
The moment they are out of the barn, I rush to Ringo, finally letting go of my hard facade that I needed to keep in place to get through that whole thing.
“We need to get him cleaned up and in bed,” I call to whoever will help, and even though his face is pale, drained of any colour, his eyes soften as they lock with mine.
“We can be in that fight later, right?”
I grin. “Yes, later. I want you strong for when I kick your arse.”
Rumbles of laughter sound around us, and I stand back watching on as JD and Lewy get Ringo situated on a chair and start to clean him up some more.
Ringo watches me as I watch him, his eyes never wavering, almost like I’m what’s helping him remain strong as the guys poke and prod the cuts covering his torso to get them clean.
“Ahhh, Ringo.” Celina clears her throat, almost sounding scared. “Me and the girls can start moving Smitty’s things out of the President’s cottage, and move your things in.”
Shaking his head, Ringo’s eyes dart to me. “I don’t want that place, do you?”
I shake my head too.
“But you’re the President now,” Darla jumps in. “You have to stay in the President’s cottage.”
“There is nothing in the bylaws that states the President gets his own damn cottage,” Ringo hisses as the pain from the wound cleaning gets to him.
“You Doxies can have it. There are two bedrooms and a fucking over dramatic bathroom with a spa. The men can start work tomorrow to expand it, so each woman eventually gets her own room.”
A series of feminine gasps fill the air, and I look around at the Doxies and the disbelief washed over their faces.
It’s like they’ve never been shown kindness.
“What about you and Abbey?” Casey asks. “Don’t you need a house?”
Ringo’s gaze flicks to me, and for a long moment, we just stare at each other.
I can’t tell what’s going through his head.
Does he think I’m going to leave? We haven’t had a chance to wrap our heads around any of this yet, but he made it clear in the car that he has to be here for the club, and even though I don’t know how that will work with Bobbi, I do know that we will figure it out.
“It can wait,” Ringo finally responds, but his eyes never leave mine. “Let’s get the women out of the barn and give them a real home to live in. We can worry about the other stuff after that.”
A smile tugs at my lips, and his follows.
Cameron Musgrove really is a good man. A selfless man.
He may not be able to leave this club behind because of Ewan Marx, but I get the feeling that things would have turned out this way, regardless.
This club is his family, and the men and women here are some of the most individual, crazy, yet big hearted people I have ever met.
They mean a lot to him, and for a moment there, I forgot how much they mean to me.
The vibration of my phone in my pocket breaks my gaze from Ringo’s, and I fish it out, seeing the screen flashing with a video call from the letter T.
I can’t hit accept fast enough, holding the screen up as it connects, and tears instantly blur my eyes as I see my sister Tahli, holding Bobbi in her arms.
“Oh my God!” I cry. “You got her!”
“Yes,” Tahli giggles. “Brody and Nessy brought her to me. She’s getting a little restless, so Nessy is just preparing a bottle for her now.”
“Angel, come here.” Ringo’s order has me moving blindly to him, too focused on the sight of Tahli and Bobbi together to take my eyes off the screen.
When I’m near, he pulls me backwards, and I fall into his lap as he looks at the screen too. “Hey there, kiddo.”
Tahli rolls her eyes. “I’m not a kid.”
“Yes, she is.” Devon’s head pops up behind my sister. “If the only thing you want for dinner is chicken nuggets, then you’re a damn kid.”
She rolls her eyes at him, and I smile at the fact my sister doesn’t seem the least bit scared of the normally terrifying, Devon Marx.
“Thank you, Devon,” I rush out, hoping I really can trust this man and his secret sanctuary to keep my sister and daughter safe. “Thank you for taking them both.”
“I will protect them.” He says it so matter of factly that I can feel how true his words are.
“Send word to your uncle.” Ringo angles the phone his way a little more so he can be seen on the screen too. “Smitty is dead. I am now the President of the Southern Sadists MC.”
Devon’s brows shoot up, and I’m worried he’ll say something that will give away that Ringo was forced to do it, but he doesn’t say anything incriminating. “Will do.”
Bobbi takes that moment to start crying, clearly hungry, and Devon’s hard expression softens as he looks over Tahli’s shoulder, down at my daughter.
“Hey, hey, little one. No need for the tears. Uncle Devon is here.”
Tahli scoffs. “Uncle Devon? You’re not her uncle.”
Devon’s dark glare flicks up to the screen. “Your sister is like a mini you, Abbey.”
I giggle, and Tahli rolls her eyes. “You say that like it’s a bad thing. My sister is as tough as nails, and I’m the same, so you’d better not hide the chicken nuggets from me.”
Ringo and I burst out laughing, and we spend another few minutes chatting and watching as Nessy helps Tahli get settled in an armchair, showing her how to feed her little niece a bottle.
I don’t want to end the call. I could honestly sit there all night and watch them, but I can’t.
Ringo needs to get cleaned up properly and go to bed, and I… I can rest well tonight knowing Devon is keeping my heart safe.
Unfortunately leaving the barn isn’t that easy, and Ringo is engulfed with questions, congratulations, warnings from those who aren’t sure he’s the right man for the job, as well as a discussion on what has to happen next.
I was waiting for them to discuss some sort of ceremony, but apparently, all that happens is Smitty’s President’s patch gets removed from his cut and given to Ringo to sew onto his. Which of course, I will do for him.
The Doxies know better than to ask if one of them should do it, like they normally would.
The men discuss the need for church in the morning, plus messages to be sent to the other chapters and their business associates to announce the change in leadership, and finally, JD and Jols help me get my husband back to the bungalow.
We do all the things we need to do to get cleaned up and into bed. Jols and JD settle into the bed next to ours, which feels less weird than it used to, and I snuggle carefully against Ringo’s side, mindful not to put too much weight on him and aggravate the nicks and cuts Smitty left behind.
Ringo passes out pretty quickly, and when I hear heavy breathing coming from Jols and JD, I stick my fingers in my ears, not wanting to hear them fornicate right next to us.
Eventually, they finish up and fall asleep too, but me? I just lie there, staring up at the ceiling for hours.
My mum, sister, and grandfather are here on this property. It’s unsettling, to say the least. Them showing up here and us locking them away just seems too easy, even though it really wasn’t.
Did they really come here willingly expecting to get what they want? I’m kinda waiting for the other shoe to drop. Is it a trick of some sort? I can’t make sense of why they would trust the motorcycle club where my husband belongs, to deliver on the deal they made.
I also can’t stop thinking about Smitty.
What happened in the barn runs like a reel in my head. The feeling of Smitty’s betrayal is really hitting me now, but also… his death.
He was such a lunatic of a man, and we clashed more than we got along, but a part of me is sad he’s dead. Sad this is what it has come to.
Yeah, he’s obviously played a big hand in everything that happened surrounding me, Bobbi, and Banes. All for some money, but I feel like it was more than that.
Like when he gifted Bobbi a tiny club leather jacket at her funeral. Was all of that a lie? Was he pleased that she was dead? Or pleased that she was alive knowing he could use her as leverage?
Ugh, the entire thing makes me feel sick.
Slipping out of the bed, Ringo doesn’t even stir, so I throw on a hoodie and jeans, along with my boots, and creep out of the bungalow.
It’s a little after four in the morning. The estate is practically silent this time of morning, and there’s a calming peace to it. So calm that I don’t even realise until I’m there, that my feet lead me to the row of shipping containers being used as cells to keep my family locked up.
A couple of club brothers I don’t know well are guarding them, plus Murf, who spots me straight away, standing from the hay bale he’s sitting on.
“Is everything okay?” he asks, and I nod, raking my gaze over the row of containers.
“Can you see inside?” I ask, and he nods.
“We have a peephole.”
I grin. “That sounds creepy.”
“It does.” He chuckles, waving me closer to the first container, and pointing to the door and the small hole.