Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
KRUGER
Something is going on with my woman. Her store has been thriving since it opened five weeks ago, so at first I put it down to the stress.
She had a seizure a week after opening. As much as I wanted to put my foot down and lock her up in our bedroom, I couldn’t.
This was our new normal, and I had to find a way to muddle through, even though it went against my instincts.
I kept an eye on her as much as I could without suffocating her.
If I pushed too hard, I’d be the one suffocating, likely with a pillow over my face.
Today I was heading down to the Raven’s Raceway, Midas’s new venture.
It had opened a week before Delphi’s place but catered to a much different crowd, bringing in a lot of outsiders for racing nights or weekends.
So much so, the club was looking into buying up some properties to turn into short-term rentals.
I had enough on my plate without dealing with any of that, so I wasn’t privy to the finer details.
But that didn’t mean I wasn’t happy to support my brothers.
I park my bike and head inside, making my way up to the family box where Midas said he’d meet me. When I push the door open, I’m surprised to find Legs there and Hero fast asleep with a tiny pair of ear defenders on.
“Hey Legs, I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
She turns at the sound of my voice and starts to get up. I wave her off, walking over and scooping up the sleeping kid and tucking him under my arm, so she can have five minutes to herself.
I rub my hand on his back as he settles and look down at Legs, who looks happy but tired. “You doing okay?”
“I’m good, promise. He’s just been a little colicky lately, so neither of us is getting much sleep.”
“You know, if you ever need a break, me and Delphi will be more than happy to take him.”
“I know. I do. I’m just not ready to be away from him yet. I know it’s stupid—”
“It’s not stupid, Legs, and there is no pressure. It’s just an offer of support. You need us, we’re there. You don’t? Well, we’ll still be there. Okay?”
She grins. “Okay”
“Good. Now, where is your lesser half?”
She snorts before getting to her feet and walking over to the large wraparound window, pointing down to one of the driver’s garages. “Dealing with Carlton.”
“Carlton? Oh, the rookie driver? What’s his deal, anyway?”
“Midas decided it wasn’t enough to have all this. He wanted his own team too.”
“Of course he did,” I mutter, making her chuckle.
“He has two drivers. Ned, a former F1 driver and a Le Mans winner, who is perhaps five years away from retirement. And Carlton, the rookie and self-proclaimed wonder kid who thinks he’s the next Max Verstappen.”
“I have no idea who that is.”
“He’s the current F1 world champion.”
“Ah. And is he? This Carlton dude…is he the next Max, whatever his name is?”
“Well, that’s the point. We don’t know because the kid’s got a chip on his shoulder and an ego he hasn’t earned yet.”
I look down at the garage, not able to see much, other than a few mechanics milling around.
“Well, he’ll learn the hard way then. Midas doesn’t deal with fools lightly. And maybe the kid is the best thing since sliced bread. But if he can’t leave his bullshit at the door, Midas will find the second best and work on him until he’s number one. Even if it’s just to prove a point.”
“See, you know that, and I know that. But Carlton? Not so much. Anyway, enough about him. How are things with you and Delphi? Everything good with the shop?”
I sigh and move away from the window, taking one of the seats carefully so I don’t jostle Hero. “Everything’s fine.”
“Say it once more with conviction, Kruger.”
I blow out a frustrated breath. “That’s just it, Legs.
Everything is fine. I’ve gone over everything.
The Book Nook is good. So is ELM. With the exception of finding Lil, we have everything covered.
Theo is doing well at school, though I will note he’s been quiet lately, too.
I don’t know if he’s just picking up on Delphi’s mood—”
“Delphi’s mood?”
“There’s nothing wrong. And yet, something isn’t right, Legs. I’ve asked her and she says she’s fine. I’ve watched her and haven’t noticed anything unusual. She’s either at the shop with her team, at home with me, or at the clubhouse with the guys, so I can’t see anyone messing with her.”
“She’d tell you if that were the case.”
“Would she? She’s so used to doing things alone, she forgets we’re a team now.”
“Nothing changes overnight. You have to give her time. The last time she handed control over to someone, they violated her in the worst possible way.”
Legs cried so fucking hard she made herself sick when she found out what happened to Delphi. Hell, Midas said she even felt guilty about going into labor and not being there when she needed her most.
She holds her hands up before I can say anything. “I’m not saying she’s worried you’ll do the same to her that Snake did. Not at all. She’s just protecting herself the only way she knows how. I don’t…” She blows out a harsh breath, twisting her hands together.
“I don’t know how she carries on, knowing what happened to her, without raging at the world.
Maybe she isn’t sleeping properly, maybe she’s getting flashbacks.
Truth is, a lot has happened to Delphi. Any single one of those things would be enough to push most people over the edge.
But for Delphi, she takes blow after blow and gets right back up.
She knows how to take a hit. She’s been living with the consequences of other people’s actions her whole life.
It’s this that’s confusing her. The whole being happy and getting everything she ever wanted thing. ”
And just like that, a light bulb goes off. “You think she’s waiting for the rug to be pulled out from underneath her?”
She nods. “Can you blame her? Every time she’s happy, her life implodes. She must feel like she’s fucking cursed.”
I think back to the day of The Book Nook’s opening, the happiness and the fear behind her eyes. Goddamn it, I should have figured it out before.
“What do I do?”
“What you’re already doing. Keep being there for her.
Be the calm presence she needs at her back.
Maybe everything will work out this time.
Maybe she just needs time to realize the universe doesn’t have it out for her.
Or maybe it does, and everything will fall apart.
But this time, Kruger, she knows you’re right there to catch her.
I’m here, Midas is here too. She has Theo and Circus, Capone and Con—”
“I get it. My woman is the pied piper of bikers, apparently.”
She cracks up laughing at that, which is when the door opens and a frustrated Midas walks through. The second his gaze lands on a laughing Legs, his body relaxes. His eyes find mine before dropping to Hero, snuggled up on my shoulder. His expression turns warm.
“Everything good?” Legs asks him as she gets to her feet and sashays over to him.
“It is now.” As soon as she’s in reach, he grabs hold of her, tips her back, and kisses the shit out of her.
When he grabs her ass, I cover Hero’s face with my hand just in case he wakes up. “Let’s not scar the child,” I mutter.
Midas huffs as he pulls back. “You’re a pain in my ass.”
“Just keeping you humble. Don’t want you to think that just because you have a beautiful woman on your arm and a cute kid that you’re special or anything.”
“Touche motherfucker. Now give me my son.”
I gently ease him into his daddy’s arms and lean back, enjoying the look of wonder as he gazes down at Hero as if he still can’t believe he’s real.
“So you want a tour of the place?”
“If you’re offering, fuck yes.”
“You want to join us, Legs?”
She shakes her head. “I’m going to curl up on the sofa in your office and catch twenty minutes of sleep. Come find me when he wants feeding.”
“You’ve got it.”
She kisses his cheek before waving at me and heading out.
I let Midas lead the way and follow him around as he shows me the ins and outs of this new “baby.” Seeing him look so animated about it only goes to show how much he was just going through the motions at Au.
“So what do you think?”
“It’s the shit, Midas. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to get down here before.”
“You’ve had your hands full, Kruger.”
“It’s not like you haven’t.”
“It’s not the same, and it’s not a competition.
” He looks down at Hero before his expression turns to me.
“Delphi stood in that hospital room, holding Hero like he was the most precious thing in the world. And I had no fucking clue that moments before, she’d found out that she wasn’t just losing her babies, they were being murdered while they were still inside her.
That her fucking husband, my former friend, was responsible, and that he was pimping out her unconscious body to men I considered brothers.
I can barely look at her, Kruger, because of the fucking guilt.
I feel like I should have known somehow, should have done something. ”
“Nobody knows how that feels better than me, trust me, but she’d fucking hate knowing you feel this way. Nobody knew. And if we did, we’d have killed them all. She knows that, and it gives her comfort that their actions would never have been condoned.”
He sighs but nods. “Having a kid puts everything into perspective, you know? Thinking about Hero or a future daughter going through something like that kills me.”
“I know. It’s one of the reasons Delphi hasn’t told her dad.”
He winces. “I’d hate it, Kruger, but I’d still want to know if that was my little girl.”
I shake my head. “She knows it would hurt him. Why tell him when there is nobody left to pay for what happened? Blade saw to that. If Ike needed someone to blame or rage at, he’s left with two options—the club or Delphi.”
“The club I get, but why the fuck would he blame Delphi?”
I shrug. “For getting involved with bikers in the first place, I guess. Either way, he’s unlikely to accept the club back in her life, any more than her brother is. If they knew the rest, they’d call her a fool and disown her.”
“So she’s stuck between a rock and a hard place, because at some point, they’re gonna know. Not about what Snake did, but about you and her.”
“I know. And then she loses her last safety net, which is why I haven’t pushed.”
“You honestly think they’ll just walk away from her?” he asks incredulously, looking down at his baby, knowing it would be impossible for him to do the same to his own child.
“She nearly killed herself the last time she got tangled up with us. Part of me can’t blame them for that.
It’s like standing back and watching someone you love play Russian roulette with their lives because there is always a risk involved with dating a biker.
The other part of me thinks they’d use it as a convenient excuse to just move on with their lives and leave her behind. ”
He blinks at me, frowning.
“You know how many times they’ve visited since she’s been in this hospital? Or even called? I mean, I get they don’t know about the grenade. She told them she was in a car accident. But still…not once have they called or come by. Hell, I don’t even know if they have the address.”
“Jesus, that’s fucked-up.”
“She’s just taking it in stride, pretending that it doesn’t matter. But it does, and we both know it.”
I stop talking when my phone rings. I pull it out when I see it’s Delphi and hold my finger up to Midas to give me a sec.
“Hey chestnut, how’s your day going?”
She coughs to clear her throat. Her voice when she speaks sounds tortured. “I need you to come home now, Kruger.”
“Baby? What’s wrong?”
“Greer is here. She’s come to take Theo back to his mom.”
“What the fuck? No, she can’t—”
“She can and she is. Diane went to rehab for a month. A judge has decided that she deserves another chance.”
“What about what the fuck Theo deserves?” I roar.
“She’s his mom, Kruger,” she whispers, tears clear in her voice, making me feel like a prick.
“We can still love him. He can still be family. But for now, at least, he has to go home to his mom.”
“I can fix this, Delphi. I’ll make her dis—”
“No. That’s not the way, Kruger. Not this time. Just come back. Come say goodbye before it’s too late.”
“I’m on my way.”
I hang up and grab my hair before cursing.
“What the fuck is going on?”
“Theo’s mom did a stint in rehab. Apparently, she’s a model fucking citizen now, and Theo is her prize. The judge has ordered him to return home to her.”
“Fucking hell, you can’t be serious.”
“Fuck, I wish it were a joke. Guess this is the rug being pulled out. She was right to be worried, after all.”
“Huh?”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ve gotta go. Let Legs know what’s going on. She’s gonna need her.”
“You’ve got it, Kruger. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry, man.”
“Yeah, you and me both.”