Chapter 12
Saint – 2011
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Grey asked as he sat down beside me.
I shook my head while sighing, “My ass was kicked out.”
His mouth dropped open, then he asked, “What the fuck?”
Xander rumbled, “Say what?”
Nuke’s face showed shock, “Come the fuck again?”
I shook my head, “Not like that. Ophelia and Soraya shooed my ass out of the house and told me to go have a guy’s day, whatever the fuck that’s called. Since I did most of the Christmas decorations while they were both down with the flu, they didn’t want me to help take the decorations down and clean the house.”
“Well then.” Nuke said as he inhaled one of his smokes.
Grey nodded, “Now that you put it that way.
Xander nodded, “Sounds about right.
It was Merlin who asked, “What the fuck is a guy’s day?
I shook my head, “Got no goddamned clue.”
That was when Nuke’s phone rang.
Leaning back in his chair, he pulled it out, then looked at all of us, “It’s Robert.”
We all lifted our chins.
Taking the call, we all waited while he listened.
Just then, the door to the clubhouse opened, and two men walked in.
One of them looked like a man from Hawaii. Tanned skin. Long hair. Tattoos.
But the man who stepped in after...
Never before have I ever seen a man like him.
He made Freddy Krueger look like a fluffy kitten.
That was when I heard Nuke, “I think they’re here. One of them looks like that fucker, Jason Momoa, in that new show called Game of Thrones?” I heard Nuke ask.
Then he said, “And the other...” he listened.
Then he nodded, “Yeah, a patchwork of scars.”
The big man’s face didn’t break, nothing in his body moved.
“Church.” At Nuke’s one word, we all stood, then headed into the room we used for church.
It was the Hawaiian-looking guy who asked, “Need us to hand over our phones?”
Grey shook his head, “Nah. We allow phones inside. A few brothers have people they want them to know no matter what they are doing, they’re not too busy for them.”
The Hawaiian guy nodded, “Like that.”
The big man at his side didn’t twitch, not even a muscle.
After we were all settled around the table, we went over what Robert had told Nuke.
Merlin accessed their files, and we all discussed it.
Once we all decided, Nuke said, “Alright. You’re both on probation for six months. Then we will meet and see if y’all are a good fit for the club.”
Kettle had his phone in his hand, and when he shook his head and then smirked, Jury jerked his chin, “The fuck are you doing?”
Kettle lifted his head, then looked at me, and spoke, even though he rarely did so unless it was to Soraya, he said, “You might not want to ask your woman and your daughter why there are paint flecks on your lamps.”
I lifted a brow, then pulled out my phone.
Went to my woman’s number, tapped it, brought it to my ear, and waited.
She answered on the third ring, “Kettle told you. Didn’t he?”
I smiled, “He told me I might not want to ask you and our daughter why there are paint flecks on our lamps. Care to explain that?”
I had to pull the phone away from my ear when suddenly laughter exploded in my ear drum.
Ophelia
“New guy walked into the clubhouse today,” Saint said as he stabbed a piece of pork chop and put it into his mouth.
I nodded, “Yeah?”
He nodded, “Yeah, thinking about stepping down from being the Icer, cause this man, Jesus Christ, baby. He’s one cold son of a bitch. Been through shit. You can see it in his eyes, you know.”
I nodded.
I knew that what he did was weighing down on him.
And he wanted to be here for all of Soraya’s first.
At times, it almost felt like he was always trying to make up for never being there in her first six years of life. Even though he’s not her biological father.
And knowing that with this man, I can say anything that comes to mind and won’t be judged for it. I won’t be looked down upon because of it.
Therefore, I said, “Honey, I don’t want you to step down because you're worried about not being here for all the rest of Soraya’s firsts.”
He shook his head, “Ain’t that. Well, it kind of is. Cause I want to be here when she goes on her first date. I want to sit on our front porch and threaten the little punk-ass to within an inch of his life if one hair on her pretty little head is out of place. I want to say no when some motherfucker asks for her hand and hope that he marries her anyway because he isn’t afraid of me. He’s only afraid of not being everything she needs him to be.”
I knew he had more to say, which was why I was quiet and patient.
He took a breath, then took a sip of his sweet tea, and said, “The kind of work I do, always a chance for shit to be found out. But it’s more than that. You were put on this earth to be clean. And every night when I lay beside you, I’m touching you with blood-stained hands.”
I shook my head, “I don’t see it like that, Saint.”
He shook his head while a slow smile formed on his face, “Only you. Okay, then, how do you see it?”
“I see it as being so damn proud of being the woman who has the honor of being in your bed at night. Of it being my body, your blood-stained hands touch. Because I sleep like a baby knowing you're next to me. It’s when you're not next to me that I can’t sleep.”
Placing my hand atop his, I thumbed his gunmetal grey wedding band, “You chase away all my demons. You’re the love of my life. If you want to continue doing what you’re doing, then okay. I’ll support you through whatever comes our way. And if you do want to step down, then okay. Just means we have more naked cuddle time.” I said as I winked.
He busted out laughing, all the while shaking his head.
Soraya
I knew it wasn’t smart to listen in on when my parent’s voices were lowered when they talked.
Over the years, I saw things.
Yes, they both tried to shield me from things. That was what my parents did.
Well, good parents.
And I had the best parents in the world.
Ever since I was six, when I closed my eyes at night, I thanked the man above for that fateful day in the store when we met my dad.
And tonight, when I closed my eyes, I knew that I would fall asleep while doing the very same thing.
But at this moment, I made a vow.
A vow to find a man just like my dad. Because he was the best.
The absolute best.
And I knew one other man just like him.
The very same man who just texted me a funny meme he had found.
Ophelia
We were out shopping for Soraya’s birthday present. Our baby was turning thirteen.
My lord, where had the time gone?
I used to look down on her, and now, I’m looking up at her.
Thankfully, she won’t ever be as tall as Saint, but still.
Saint’s arm was wrapped around my waist as we walked down Main Street, and yes, even after all these years, he never let me walk on the side where cars passed.
A woman who was pushing a stroller passed us by, and I felt Saint’s arm tighten.
Oh. No.
I stopped dead in my tracks, which caused him to do the same, looking down at me with a lifted brow, “What?”
“Stop that. Right now,” I demanded.
His brow lifted even higher, “Okay, last time you used that tone with me, you were on your period, and I forgot to put the turkey in the fridge so it could defrost in time for Thanksgiving last year.”
I narrowed my eyes up at him, “You know what I mean. Every time we pass by a woman with a baby or a man with a baby, your body tenses. How many times do we have to go over this, Saint?”
He sighed, then with his free hand, he ran it through his hair, “I know. But hell, baby.”
I lifted on my tiptoes, getting closer to his face, “But hell, nothing. Do you honestly think I would ever be okay with not having you in my life? Because if they hadn’t operated on you when they did, you wouldn’t be here right now. And that’s not fucking okay. I never want to go through something like that ever again.”
What had happened occurred two years ago.
He and the brothers were helping a mother of six escape a relationship where she had no control. Over anything.
And the deadbeat asshole?
Well, the doctors had told her that it wouldn’t be wise to have any more children, the man flew off the rails and had the audacity to blame her for it.
The man, however, had come home earlier than expected when the brothers went to rescue her and the children.
Whoever sold that man a gun needed to lose his license.
Because he opened fire on all of them.
Saint took two bullets in his pelvis when he dove in front of Nuke.
Grey took one to the left arm.
Kettle took three to his back when he moved to shield both Nuke and Saint.
Xander put a bullet in the man’s brain.
They headed to the hospital as fast as they could.
The ending result... Saint wouldn’t be able to father children.
When he had woken up after surgery, and the doctor told him the news, he had looked at me with a pained stricken look on his face, something I never wanted to see ever again.
Then he had the nerve to open his mouth and ask me not to leave him over this.
And let’s just say I laid into his ass verbally.
The brothers actually all backed out of the room and made sure no one entered it. Not even the staff.
I heard Nuke say, “Don’t think he wants an audience while his woman reems his ass for being fuckin’ stupid.”