Czar 8.
Marlena is sweet, easy to talk to, intuitive, compassionate…the complete fucking opposite of her brother. How are they related? Mars is one of the most… intimidatingly terrifying motherfuckers I’ve ever met, Army or not, and I just can’t comprehend that these two share DNA.
And now his DNA is in her belly…I shake myself internally as she pulls up the long drive for the clubhouse. A guard shack is just ahead, a tall, sturdy perimeter fence extending from either side until it fades in the distance. A man in a club kutte waves cheerily at us as we pass through the now open gate.
I look at her once more, my eyes dropping to her still flat stomach. She’s pregnant. Growing a human being inside her. And it’s not mine. That’s weird. And if it had been a one-night stand or an ex that caused her pregnancy…I can’t fucking lie to myself, I’d still pursue her, I’d probably just fuck up the guy responsible a little to assuage my frustration it isn’t mine like it should be.
But it’s Mars’. And Etta’s. Shit, Etta. She deserves all the good things in this world, including a child of her own, since she is unable to conceive. My fist clenches like it always does when I think of Etta’s harrowing life before the GGMC. Dammit. Etta deserves happiness and security; Mars gives her that in spades. I can accept Marlena has rented out her womb for the next 9 months for a good cause. Not that my opinion counts for anything in the matter, but the fact that Marlena has undergone months of fertility testing and treatment, insemination, and now months of unending bodily changes, not to mention the great personal risk of her own health and potential future pregnancies, just makes me respect her all the more.
Well, shit. Mars may not be able to grow a human being, but he has sacrificed his own personal health and safety to ensure that of others, be they brothers-in-arms or complete strangers. Now I see the family resemblance.
“Uh…Elazar?” My eyes snap up from where I was staring at her stomach and find her quirking her right brow at me, much like her brother does. That’s creepy.
I wave a finger at the offending eyebrow, “Don’t do that.”
She smiles, but it’s a knowing smile and I don’t like it either. “Don’t do what?” she asks innocently.
“Mars does that, and I won’t have my woman looking at me the same way.”
“He is my brother.” I sigh in defeat, which has her smile stretching obnoxiously. Then she places both hands on her belly and rubs it affectionately. “And the father of this baby.”
“Fuckin’ hell!” I throw open the door and leap from the vehicle as she cackles like a madwoman. Slamming the door shut, I storm around the front end, open her door and crowd her against her seat. She stops immediately, her eyes widening, her breathing choppy. “You wanna play?” She bites her bottom lip, thinks on it for a second, then shakes her head no. “I think you do.” She shakes it harder, her hair tossing side to side. “I think what you’re doing for them is amazing, it shows me just how pure your soul is, sweetheart. But it’s got me wondering.”
“Wondering…about what?” she whispers, her nose brushing against mine.
“When we make a baby of our own,” she inhales sharply, “which position is the best? Will gravity work against us if you’re bouncing on my cock? Will that thick backside be too much temptation from behind and I can’t help cumming in your ass instead of your pretty pink pussy? Can I get deep enough with your long legs wrapped around my waist, my teeth nibbling on your nipples, your fingers clawing at my back?”
“W-what…what was the question?”
I smirk, stand up straight outside the vehicle and point to the back end. “Should we bring any of this in or just let the savages fend for themselves?” She splutters as I stick my hands in my front pockets and saunter toward the clubhouse. I hear her door slam shut and her mumbling behind me on the steps. I open the front door and wave her in ahead of me.
“You’re mean,” she snarls at me, then holds her head high and walks past me. I’m still laughing as I’m pushed to the side by Maneater, P-Daisy, and Vesta.
“I’m the first fucking lady! Get away from my food!”
“You’re the first fucking pain in my ass, Bitchsilla !” Vesta replies, pulling Sibyl along.
Shaking my head, I take a few more steps into the clubroom and stop behind Marlena. My eyes follow her line of sight, and I grunt unhappily finding Neptune trying to eat some dude’s face off and playing with their nipples as another man bobs between the dude’s legs, his hand jacking Neptune. I cover Marlena’s eyes with one hand and use the other to guide her toward the bar. She giggles but I don’t find it funny. She don’t need to see that shit.
“It’s 11a.m. for God’s sake!” I yell at the trio.
Neptune detaches his mouth from the other man, flips me off and informs me, “It’s Roman’s naptime and Cassie is at the shelter with Etta, so fuck off!”
“Nice to see you too, Neptune!”
“Uh-oh.” Marlena whispers, and I find Mars stomping into the clubroom. I open my mouth to greet him, but he reaches a long arm out, grabs me by the throat, lifts me inches off the ground and then slams me hard to the ground. It takes me a second to realize what’s happened and get some oxygen back into my lungs. Marlena is screaming at him to stop. That motherfucker. He kneels next to me, and I guess his time away from Uncle Sam has softened him, because he should know better than to leave himself open like that. I roll my lower half away from him, lift my right leg in a wide arc and connect the back of my knee to his neck, then bend and cinch him tight in a chokehold. Using the momentum, I roll us over until my bent knee touches the ground and his face is directly under my ass.
“Elazar!”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Please release my brother.”
Mars is on his stomach and unable to move in the position I have us, but we can make eye contact if I twist my torso the right way. I smile down at him when we do, and note the lovely shade of purple he’s turning, yet he continues to glare at me, unwilling to tap out or admit defeat. He’d rather pass out.
“Mars? Do you want me to release you?” His eyes narrow more, violence promised in their depths.
“Elazar! He can’t breathe!”
“I know. He knows too. All he has to do is tap out.” I didn’t know someone on the verge of complete oxygen deprivation could growl. Learn something new every day.
“Mars!” A new voice draws my attention. A tall guy, wiry build, blond hair and a smirk stands above us with his arms crossed over his chest. “I didn’t save your life only for you to lose it a few months later because of stupidity.”
I look down at Mars, he’s seconds from unconsciousness. He rolls his eyes and taps my leg. I immediately release him, and he gasps. Standing up, I offer him a hand, but he bats it away, still sucking in oxygen.
I shrug, and extend a hand to the new guy who I now realize isn’t so new, “Kevlar?” He nods with a smile, takes my hand and then pulls me into a hug. “Shit, Sacha. I barely recognized you.”
He chuckles, drawing back and rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. “Yeah, had a growth spurt or two since we last saw each other.”
“Fuck, kid. I’m so sorry about Demetri.” I pull him back into a hug and thump him on the back a couple times before stepping back.
“Thanks, brother.” We both laugh at the new connection between us. “My girl is taking a nap, but I know Gretchen is excited to meet you. You’ll be around for club dinner?”
I nod, “Yup. I’ll be here for almost a week.”
“Awesome, we’ll catch up later.” He nods behind me. I glance over my shoulder and find Marlena glaring at me with her hands on her generous hips and her right foot tapping rapidly on the floor.
“Sweetheart—”
“No! Don’t sweetheart me! You choked my brother!”
“After he body slammed me!”
“I know!”
“OK! Why are we yelling?”
“Because I’m mad!”
“Marlena—” Mars’ voice is a little raspy but at least he’s upright. He approaches his sister with his hands up like she’s a dangerous animal and the way her nostrils are flaring I don’t disagree with his assessment.
Marlena reaches out, places her hand on Mars’ forehead and pushes him back. “The chance to speak like an adult was before you channeled Hulk Hogan and then lost like an amateur! I don’t know what upsets me more, that you came after a brother, a brother I happen to…uh…like, or that you got your butt handed to you so spectacularly!”
“It wasn’t that impressive. He was lucky.” Mars responds like a petulant child. I puff up a little with pride until Marlena scowls at me. To save face, Mars points angrily at me, “He upset you and you passed out!”
“He didn’t upset me and he’s not why I passed out.” Marlena corrects, her tone what one would use when dealing with a child.
“Pris said—”
“Pris should mind her own business and stop incorrectly spreading mine!”
“Preach, sister!” Addy chimes in from somewhere on the other side of the clubroom. We wave at one another, then she points from Marlena to me and gives me a thumbs up.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I had a rather large soda on the drive and I have to use the facilities. And then you and I can discuss the events in Squirrel Hill like rational adults after you carry the entire pod on the top of the cage to my suite.”
“The entire pod?” Mars questions and to avoid Marlena’s anger, I keep my chuckles to myself.
Marlena raises that damn eyebrow, but at least it’s not aimed at me, “Did I stutter, bubba?” She walks past me, giving me a wink as she goes. Thank God, she ain’t mad at me. Mars pulls open the front door with a little more force than necessary but goes out to do her bidding.
“It’s mine!”
“It is not! The floor is yours! The backseat is ours!”
“It’s all mine! Learn how to make your own!”
The door shuts behind him and cuts off the argument outside. Never get between a pregnant woman and her food, let alone three of them at the same time. Squirrel Hill should have sent three separate vehicles filled with food, one for each of them.
For the next little while, I make my way around the room, hugging my OG family, get a lot of back slaps from my Army family, and meet Pluto, Heimdall, and Dungarees for the first time. Johnny comes up from the guard shack for a quick introduction.
“Well, if it isn’t little Elazar Freidman.” I pat Johnny on the shoulder as he leaves and greet Biscuit.
“Where’d you get all that muscle, Larkin? You spend some time in prison I don’t know about?”
“Yeah, marriage,” he jokes, then quickly catches himself on the wall of the hallway he’s walking down when the woman next to him taps his leg with the tip of her boot. “Woman.” He glares at her, sobers quickly, plasters on a smile and looks at me again. “If by prison, you mean the sacred and beautiful bond of holy matrimony in which my heart has been imprisoned by the fairest warden maiden—”
“Oh, stuff it, ye feckin’ eejit.”
With a laugh, I hold my hand out to the woman, “Runs, it’s a pleasure.” She has a firm and hearty handshake. Must be from all that spanking. I keep that thought to myself because I’m respectful, and Biscuit is packing a lot more muscle than I remember.
“Czar, it’s wonderful to finally meet you in person.”
“Sorry I couldn’t make the wedding.”
Biscuit squeezes my shoulder before wrapping an arm around Runs’ waist. “No worries, you just saved yourself from needing copious amounts of bleach and a memory wipe.”
“The dicks and the boobs?”
“Of course.”
A large figure emerges from further down the hall and instinctively I snap to attention. I ignore the laughter behind me. Jupiter looks me up and down, nods to himself, and motions for me to follow him.
“We’ll talk more later, Czar!” I wave over my shoulder at Biscuit and Runs.
I pass several doors, fighting the urge to check each one out to see just how the Morgantown clubhouse is set up, there’ll be time enough for that later. In Jupiter’s office, I find him leaning against his desk, ankles crossed, hands gripping the edge. It’s a big office, I think it’s bigger than Judah’s back home.
“What?” Jupiter asks, his expression relaxed like I’ve never seen it before. Club life looks good on Tops.
“What, what?”
“You were thinking something, and it made you laugh.”
“I didn’t make a fucking sound, Jupe.” He continues to stare at me, and I sigh, much to his amusement.
“Your office is bigger than Judah’s.”
“Yes.” I’m a bit surprised at his easy answer. “Drusilla helped design the clubhouse.” That makes more sense. I throw my head back and laugh out loud, for several minutes. Jupiter lets me, just grinning at me like a proud papa.
“Tops.” He grabs me by the shoulders and pulls me into a hug. Three people in this world who can soothe me with just an embrace. My dad. My mom. And Jupiter.
Well, I guess now there’s four. Marlena.
“Glad to see you, Czar.”
“You too, Tops. It’s good…It’s good to be seen.”
There’s a knock on his door, so I pull back, rub my hands down my face to clear it, and take a seat as he opens it. Dungarees holds up my duffle. “Thought you might need this.”
“Thank you.” He dips his chin to me, then looks at Jupiter, “Anything else, sir?”
“No, thanks.” Jupiter closes the door, throws my duffle to me, and takes his seat behind his desk. We stare at one another for a good thirty seconds, then he leans on his forearms and nods to me, “SitRep.”
“God, I missed you, Tops,” I say with a humorless chuckle. “We’ve all missed you, actually. The last three years…” I trail off unsure how much to explain to him, he’s had his hands full here and I don’t want him to feel guilty for those of us left behind. Not everyone had it bad, but I’ll admit, I seem to draw Gundy’s ire more than anyone.
“Meeting Drusilla…It was like reuniting with a missing piece of myself.” I smile, happy that they found each other. I couldn’t have imagined a better match for either of them. “But she doesn’t complete me.” My smile drops. “I left parts of myself in the Army, many of my brothers and sisters in the Romans. And until everyone is out of the Army alive and well and I can bring you all here safely, I don’t imagine I’ll find peace.”
“You’re married to Dru, you ain’t ever gonna find peace.” We share a look of understanding. I grew up with her, she has a heart the size of Russia, unfortunately her mouth is just as big. “But I understand what you’re saying. Gundy—”
“I fucking hate that guy.”
“Uh…it’s mutual.” I dig in the outer pocket of my duffle and pull-out Gundy’s “gift”. I place the blue bike horn on the table. “This is for you, from Gundy.” Jupiter picks it up, spins it around, examines it from all angles, then finally squeezes the rubber ball at one end. A pitiful “honk” escapes. Jupiter just shrugs, sets it down on the corner of his desk and refocuses on me. “I put in all my paperwork for discharge, waiting on my final debriefing and TAPs dates. But before I left, Gundy came into the barracks, specifically seeking me out with that gift.” I nod toward the offending horn. “Then told me that he looked forward to my return, we had much to discuss.”
Jupiter sits back in his chair, his hands steepled in front of him, as he rocks gently, his eyes toward the ceiling. “Vulcan?”
“Looking into it for me. If he finds anything, he’ll let me know.”
Jupe leans forward again, pinning me in place with a stern stare. He’s in military mode and it’s a joy to see again, though I wish it wasn’t because of me and fucking Gundy. “You got a digital and physical paper trail of your career?”
“Yes, sir. You told all of us that at the beginning.”
“Good. Reach out to Vulc and have him gather written statements from those present the day you left, detailing Gundy’s actions, words, etc. Then he needs to get those willing to list in detail any grievances against Gundy or his lackeys, including any complaints filed previously and ignored, hazing, excessive punishments, that kind of thing. I’m going to reach out to a couple of people and find a good military lawyer.”
“Jupiter? You think I’m gonna need that?”
“I think it’s better to have one ready and not need them.”
“I’ll message Vulcan immediately.” Exhaling slowly, I lean back and rub my hands up and down my face. “Is he gonna fuck up my discharge?”
Jupiter sighs, long and weary, “I think he’s gonna try.”