Chapter 24 Kaylynn
KAYLYNN
“You doing okay?” Brynn asked.
Her voice ripped me from my trance as I gazed out the window. I’d been there since the guys left. Since they all took off on their bikes, ready to enact a plan none of the girls had been filled in on.
“How do you do it?” I asked.
“Do what?”
“Raise a family in such secrecy? Such danger?”
“It isn’t always this way. But when it is, the guys always have our backs.”
Piper spoke up. “Yeah. And when they put their mind to something, it always gets accomplished. Even if they have to take the long way around.”
I turned away from the window. “How long has this been going on? This… feud with the mafia? How did you guys get caught up in all this?”
Brynn put her hands on my shoulders. “For that conversation? We need wine, snacks, and seats.”
“Apple juice for me, though,” Monroe said.
“I’ll get the snacks!” Piper said.
“I’ll go check on all the kids,” Makenna said.
“And you, come sit by me. Come on. Get away from the window. You’re going to worry yourself sick,” Brynn said.
I let her guide me to the couch as the girls rushed off into various areas of the clubhouse.
I heard televisions going with movies and kids kindly asking for sippies and juice boxes.
I looked over at Monroe and saw her mindlessly stroking her stomach.
The softly-protruding belly that housed yet another life she’d bring into this world. Into this lifestyle.
How did they do it?
“They’re going to be okay,” Brynn said.
A glass of wine was placed in my hand as the girls came and sat back down. They stared at me, and I wondered how long they’d been there. How long they’d been watching me stare mindlessly at Monroe.
“It’s okay. You can ask whatever you want,” she said.
I sighed. “I don’t get it. If things can get this dangerous, why have kids? Why subject them to that?”
Monroe nodded. “Like Brynn said, it’s not always like this. This is a rare occurrence. And when it happens, there are protocols in place that keep our families safe.”
“So, they’re all coming back? You have faith in that?”
Piper nodded. “Yes, they’re coming back. Ryker, too. All of them are. I promise.”
“We promise,” Monroe said.
“Sip your wine. It’ll help relax you,” Brynn said.
“Oh, I can’t wait to have wine again,” Monroe groaned.
I took a sip of my drink. “So, how did you guys get tangled up in all this… shit?”
Makenna giggled. “That story starts with Diesel not knowing he had a brother out there.”
“That’s your husband, Brynn. Right?” I asked.
“Yep. He’s the president of this crazy club. You know Cage, right?” she asked.
I paused. “I’m not sure.”
“The one with the dark, brooding girlfriend at his side?” Monroe asked.
“Oh! Oh, oh, oh. Yes. That one. Okay. Wait, him and Diesel are—”
“Uh huh. Half-brothers. Same father, different mother. When Cage and Sutton stumbled up to our doorstep, Cage had literally been shot at. Sutton was hungry. Dirty. Dehydrated. They were really beat up. The guy who heads up this group that’s coming after us?
He wiped out Cage’s father’s crew,” Brynn said.
“You’re going too quickly for her. Look at the poor girl’s face,” Piper said.
“I think I’ve got it. So, Diesel and Cage have the same dad. Cage was in a crew with their father that got wiped out by the mafia?” I asked.
“You’ve got it. He came to find us after his father’s dying words were to find Diesel. And we’ve been entrenched ever since,” Makenna said.
I shook my head. “But—but why?”
“I mean, other than Cage being the only surviving member and a witness to what this man did to his father’s crew? That girl? The dark one?” Piper asked.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Sutton is Lars’ daughter,” Brynn said.
“Oh, shit,” I said.
“Yep. He wants his daughter back. So, he’s coming at us hard. But he isn’t getting her back. Not by a longshot,” Monroe said.
“Forgive me for playing this side of the fence, but why not? It’s putting all of your children at risk. It’s putting you guys at risk. Why not just hand them both over and be done with it?” I asked.
Brynn shrugged. “Because we’re family.”
“And family doesn’t sell one another out,” Monroe said.
Suddenly, it all made sense. How the crew had gotten involved in all this.
Why my brother’s boss was coming at them so hard.
Why they refused to back down. They saw themselves as one gigantic family.
With respect and trust running abound between all of them.
The idea robbed me of my breath. In all my life, I’d never once trusted my mother.
Or my father, for that matter. So, trusting people that weren’t related to me by blood?
It was unthinkable. And yet, here they were.
Doing it as if it seemed natural to them.
It brought tears to my eyes.
“You okay?” Brynn asked.
I nodded, taking a long pull of my wine. “Yeah, yeah. I’m good.”
“Now, why don’t I believe that?” Piper asked.
Because I feel empty inside. “Just need a bit to process things.”
“Take your time,” Brynn said.
“So, you guys have just been fighting to keep family alive,” I said.
“Hit the nail on the head,” Makenna said.
“And we wouldn't have it any other way,” Brynn said.
I saw them all in a new light now. Not a selfish light, but a giving light.
A loving light. I fell in love with this place.
With these people. With their hearts and their minds and their souls.
Which only exacerbated the loneliness I felt on the inside.
Because I’d never experience something like that.
And I never would.
“You’re closer than you think, you know,” Monroe said.
Her voice pulled my eyes toward her. “What was that?”
“I know that look. I had that look on my face several times in the mornings before I met my husband. You’re closer than you think to all this.”
She rubbed my back with her hand softly as her free hand fell against her stomach. I processed her words. Digested them as best as I could. What did she mean by that? Closer than I thought to… what? Being family? Being one of them? Being loved? Being accepted?
I had so many questions. So many other things I wanted to ask them. About Ryker. About this crew. About their time in this place. About their children and their lives and how they came to meet their significant others.
But before I could, rumbling filled our ears. Brynn shot off the couch, and I followed quickly in suit. I reached down and pulled Monroe to her feet, listening as her groans were swallowed whole by the sounds of bikes.
Motorcycles.
Revving just outside the clubhouse.
“They’re back,” Brynn said breathlessly.
I watched her stride for the front door, a voice raising above the ruckus.
I stood there, figuring I couldn't have possibly heard what I thought I was hearing.
The voice sounded familiar. Recognizable.
Like a ghost from a different past. The voice was desperate.
Concerned. Searching, as it grew louder and louder.
A voice I thought I’d never hear again, given our last conversation.
“Kaylynn! Are you here!?”
“Who’s that?” Piper asked.
Tears dripped down my cheeks. “That’s my brother.”
Holy shit, my brother was at the clubhouse. Alive. Breathing.
And calling out for me as the sounds of the bikes died down.