Chapter Thirty-Nine
Morgan
Jude kissed me hard and fast, then closed the door before I could say anything. I sat there frozen until Sully spoke.
“So, what’s the deal with you two?” she asked, and Smokey snorted from the front seat. I saw my mother smack his arm, and he laughed.
I liked Sully. She was young, only sixteen, but she was smart. She reminded me a lot of the Jude I used to know. She appeared open and trusting, but her eyes were guarded.
“That’s a long story,” I said softly, looking out the window.
“We have a forty-minute drive,” Smokey reminded me.
“Smoke, stop.” I heard my mother chastise him, but he wouldn’t be deterred.
“Well?” he asked, looking at me in the rearview mirror.
I turned to Sully. “How much do you know about your brother?”
“Stephen told me everything he knew. He said Chasm was an enforcer in the club, but he’d died years before Stephen prospected. He didn’t know I had another brother in another club.” She grew quiet and looked forward. “He might have taken me there instead.”
I reached over and squeezed her hand.
“I met Jude when I was a senior in college. I went to the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. Things moved pretty quickly, and when I found out I was pregnant, he asked me to marry him.”
“Did you say yes?”
“I did. I loved him so much. We’d only known each other for a few months, but I knew he was the one.”
“What happened?”
“He died, and then I lost our baby.”
I placed my hand on my belly. “I had an ectopic pregnancy. The baby had attached inside the fallopian tube, instead of the uterus. There was nothing they could do.”
I was reminding myself as much as I was sharing with Sully.
“After the miscarriage, I went home to Virginia. I never got over losing him.”
“And now?” she asked, her eyes on the hand protecting my baby.
I took a deep breath and looked up at the mirror. Smokey’s eyes were on me, waiting to hear my answer.
“It’s complicated.”
“Bullshit,” Smokey cursed from the front.
My mother didn’t call him out this time, and I knew it was because she thought the same thing.
“Do you still love him?” Sully asked.
I nodded, unable to say the words out loud.
“And you’re having his baby?” Again, I nodded. “Maybe I’m just a kid, but what’s complicated about being in love with someone and having their baby?”
“Because love isn’t enough. You need trust, respect... understanding.”
“And you don’t have those things?”
I shook my head. “He walked away when he got hurt. He didn’t want me anymore once he found out the baby was gone. He didn’t even want me at his funeral.”
“What an asshole,” she hissed.
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“Do you think you’ll ever forgive him?”
That was the million-dollar question. Could I forgive him? Maybe if he’d shown any remorse. Maybe if he told me the truth about why he left. Maybe if the world ended tomorrow.
I saw Smokey looking in the mirror again, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was looking out the back window. I turned and saw at least a dozen bikes coming up fast.
“They aren’t ours, are they?” I asked, causing Sully to look behind us.
“No, they aren’t. Call Chasm, Morgan.”
Smokey hit the gas as I pulled my phone out. The roar of the bikes was getting louder as the bikers descended on us. I saw the cut on the back of someone who passed by, and I knew we were in trouble.
I recognized that cut.
Satan’s Angels had descended on Rosewood a few years back. They’d made a targeted strike on multiple clubs throughout the country.
The phone began to ring, and Sully grabbed my hand. I heard a shot ring out and watched as Brian’s bike spun off the road and he flew through the air.
The call connected as another shot was fired, and Pardon lost control of his bike. Smokey barely missed hitting him, as Sully screamed, “STEPHEN!”
“Morgan!” Jude shouted into the phone.
“Jude, it’s Satan’s Angels.”
“Baby, where are you?” he asked, his voice shaky. I knew he was running. I heard someone calling out orders on his end.
“We’re on 30 headed toward North Little Rock. Brian and Pardon are both down.”
“Were they hit?”
“I-I’m not sure. I think they shot Brian’s tire, but he went off the road. I don’t know if they shot him.”
“Pardon?”
“He lost control and Smokey just barely missed him.”
“Okay, baby, put me on speaker.” I hit the button, and he called out, “Smoke?”
“Yeah, Prez.”
“Do not stop that fucking car,” Jude growled. “Help is on the way.”
“They’ll figure out pretty quick that shooting the windows out won’t do shit. Then they’ll go for the tires. I can only go so far on rims, Prez.”
“If that happens, you don’t fucking open those doors. You have a gun?”
“What the fuck do you think?” Smokey said with a hint of anger in his voice.
“Morgan, there’s a gun in the glove box and a rifle under the back seat, baby. Don’t roll that window down any further than you have to.”
“Okay,” I said, taking off my seat belt. My mother opened the glove box as I reached under the seat.
“Sully?”
“Yeah?” Tears ran down her cheeks, but I didn’t have time to comfort her.
“Get on the floor, baby,” Jude told her. “As flat as you can. I’m on my way.”
“St-Stephen,” she stuttered.
“I know, baby. We’ll get him. Just get on the floor.”
The call disconnected, and Sully unfastened her seat belt and crawled onto the floor. She made herself as small as she could while she sobbed. I placed a hand on my baby and closed my eyes, saying a quick prayer.
“Smokey, does the back window open?”
“Yeah,” he said, drawing out the word.
“Roll it down two inches,” I ordered.
“No. The windows are bulletproof, Morgan. We’re safe in here.”
“Roll the fucking window down, Smokey,” I barked as I climbed over the seat. The vehicle was surrounded, but most of the men were behind us.
“Morgan—”
“Do it, Smokey,” I heard my mother tell him.
“Benny, no,” he argued, but she persisted.
“Trust me, Smokey. Open the window.”
The window slid down, and I heard two more bikes fall back from beside us. I rested the edge of the rifle on the window and tried to push back the sound of Sully’s cries.
I needed to focus.
I aimed for the man in the back. I inhaled as I lined up my shot, then pressed the trigger softly as I exhaled.
Exactly the way my father taught me. I didn’t aim for the bike or the tires.
I aimed at the man. Aimed for his chest. A second later he jerked back, and when he lost control of his bike, he took out the man next to him.
That gave me an idea.
I pulled back, aiming for the man to the left of the middle. I slowly exhaled as I depressed the trigger. His body jerked to the right, losing control of his bike.
The bike turned, taking out three men behind him who didn’t have time to steer clear of it. Then I aimed again, taking out the rider in front, who took four more men with him.
We had three men left. One rode up on Smokey’s side, and he yelled out, “Hold on to something,” as he jerked the wheel, crashing the SUV into the bike and pushing him off the road.
Another rode up beside my mother, who quickly rolled down the window and shot out the man’s tire, causing him to lose control. He jumped off the bike just before it slid under the back tire, jostling me as we rode over it.
And then there was one.
He aimed for the tire and must have hit his mark because the vehicle lurched to the side and went off the road. I dropped the rifle and pawed around for something to hold on to as the vehicle rocked side to side on the uneven ground.
The vehicle flipped onto its side, sliding through the grass before finally coming to a stop.
“Morgan? You okay?”
“I’m okay, Smoke. Mom?” I called out, trying to pull myself up.
“I’m okay. A little banged up, but I’m okay.”
“Sully?” There was no answer. “Sully?” I scrambled around the seat and found her lying on the door that was against the ground.
“Is she okay?” Mom asked.
“Sully? Honey?”
“OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!”
My head swung around to the front at the sound of the angry voice. I knew Smokey wouldn’t open the door, but I was sure the man would try to find a way in.
“Sully?” I reached down, feeling for a pulse, and my whole body slumped in relief when I felt it. She was unconscious, but she was alive.
The roar of motorcycles filled my ears, and when I looked out the back window, I expected relief. But it wasn’t Jude riding up. It was more Satan’s Angels.
My idea hadn’t panned out the way I wanted it to. Four of the men I took out hadn’t crashed the way I’d hoped. It only took a minute before they surrounded the SUV and began shooting at the windows, hoping enough pressure would weaken them.
Sully jerked in my arms, coming to, as the bullets pinged against the vehicle. “It’s okay,” I whispered. “Jude is on the way.”
“Why are we stopped?”
“They shot out a tire, but we’re safe in here.”
“What if they get in?”
I was about to tell her they couldn’t when the gunshots stopped and two of the men started kicking the back window.
“Morgan!” Sully cried and clung to me. I whispered what I hoped were soothing words as the men outside did everything they could to break through the vehicle.
“Give us the girl and we’ll leave the rest of you alone.”
“Fuck you!” Smokey yelled back.
Minutes felt like hours before the roar of bikes could be heard again. Gunshots rang out and the two men kicking at the back window dropped to the ground.
I held Sully’s face against my neck so she didn’t see anything, but I knew the cavalry had come. Jude was here. The air was quiet for three seconds before I heard him.
“MORGAN! SULLY!”
Banging on the window above me had me looking up into Jude’s eyes that were filled with a combination of fear and relief.
“Unlock the door, baby.”
I reached up and hit the button. Jude yanked the door open and dropped in, wrapping his arms around both of us. Smokey was already helping my mother climb out when we heard another shout.
“SULLY!”
Sully’s head snapped up. “Stephen?”
“He’s okay, baby,” Jude said, helping her stand.
Pardon filled the space above us, and he hissed, “Thank fuck.” He reached down as Jude lifted Sully out of the vehicle.
Jude’s eyes were filled with tears when they landed back on me.
“I thought I was gonna lose you, baby.”
“I knew you’d come,” I cried as I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him.
“I love you, Morgan.” He held my face in his hands and looked deep into my eyes, letting me see the truth I’d been ignoring. “I love you so fucking much. I never stopped.”
“I love you, too.”
He leaned down and kissed me. Not a hard, quick kiss like when I left the clubhouse. And not a slow, passionate kiss like the first time. This kiss was filled with every emotion we’d been feeling between us.
Fear.
Guilt.
Joy.
Love.
His lips moved over mine, reminding me of everything we felt for each other and everything we’d felt while we were apart.
“Think you can finish that shit when we get back to the clubhouse?” Venom said with a grin, as he looked down into the SUV. “Lift her up, Prez. I’ve got her.”
He put his hands on my waist, and a look of terror came over his face. “The baby,” he whispered.
I pulled his face down to mine. “The baby is okay. I’m not hurt. But Sully did lose consciousness, so she needs to be checked out.”
“You’re getting checked too. No arguments.”
The emotion in his voice was so raw I simply nodded, then he lifted me into Venom’s arms and followed me out. I hadn’t heard the sirens and as I looked around, I wondered just how much trouble we would be in.