Chapter Seventeen
Knuckles
T HE LAST FEW days have been absolutely insane.
We finally had church and went over everything going on with Janessa.
She was in our meeting with us and added her own details to what Brick had dug up on her ex and his parents.
The three of them are truly vile pieces of shit who deserve to be rotting in prison for the rest of their pathetic lives.
They’ve bullied and beaten my girl every day of her life since she met Roger.
She’s landed in the hospital multiple times for the beatings she suffered at Roger’s hands and has been humiliated in public more times than she can remember by his parents.
They feel as if they’re part of the elevated social circles in their hometown and belittle her to prove their status.
Like that makes them better people to be around.
The rage I felt when I heard the details of Janessa’s past with her ex truly made me want to find them all and put them in the ground with my bare hands.
No weapons or anything else. I wanted to choke the life out of them and watch it drain from their eyes as they begged and pleaded for mercy.
Something Janessa has done repeatedly when it comes to them.
Brick also found trails from them embezzling money, blackmailing people in high positions of power, and several other crimes over the last two decades.
It’s more than enough to put Barb and David in prison for the rest of their lives.
Roger has several crimes he’ll end up in prison for.
Including assault, breaking and entering, stalking, sexual assault, and several other crimes related to his job and the theft of money and other resources.
I believe he also sold confidential information to competitors at one point and there’s a pending case against him for that.
These people truly have no morals and the only thing they care about is money and getting their hands on as much of it as possible.
Janessa broke down in our church and I held her in my arms as long as she’d let me.
The second our meeting was over, Rooster motioned for me to take her to the cabin and stay with her.
Explaining her life in detail completely exhausted my girl and she fell into a deep sleep the second I laid down in her bed with my arms wrapped tightly around her.
Marie and Rooster kept Kaden for a few hours to give me the time to be there for Janessa without any distractions.
When they brought him home, he was sleeping and had just eaten so it was one less thing I had to focus on right then.
Instead, I talked with Rooster and Marie for a few minutes before climbing back in bed with my girl.
She didn’t wake up until the next morning.
Thankfully, she’s been pumping more and had enough milk to get me through the night with Kaden on my own.
She’s been coming to the gym since that day and has been working with me on her self-defense moves.
Janessa’s a quick learner and has really enjoyed using her brothers as practice.
They’re staying for the next two weeks with us so we can try to find out what’s going on with Roger’s sentencing and where his parents are hiding out.
Like the MC, they’re completely invisible and more than likely hiding right under our noses.
I’m truly impressed with Janessa and how quickly she’s been picking everything up at the gym.
She’s even started a workout routine while Marie watches Kaden for us.
It’s the only free time Janessa has when she’s not working and she doesn’t waste a single second of her time.
Today is my first free day from the gym and I have a visit with Mallory.
It’s been a while since we last saw one another and are meeting for lunch since her kids are in school and her husband is working.
Jared is a great guy and knows we meet up.
He also knows our past and respects everything I did to protect his wife.
That’s the only reason he doesn’t bitch about us meeting up when we can.
And why he doesn’t mind if he can’t come with us.
I’ve met him on several occasions over the years and always enjoy talking with him over a shared beer and dinner.
Janessa also knows I’m going to meet up with Mallory today.
Eventually she’d like to meet her, but isn’t up for anything right now.
Not with Roger’s parents still lurking in the shadows and those bikers coming out every now and then in order to fuck with her.
She doesn’t want to put Mallory in danger and I can’t say I blame her at all.
Janessa’s using her head and not doing whatever she wants because she doesn’t trust me or feel some kind of way about me meeting up with Mallory all on my own.
Riding to the restaurant about halfway between our two towns, I push all thoughts of Janessa and her situation out of my head.
Every single time I let myself think of the hell she’s been through over the years, an uncontrollable rage fills me and I need to work it out in the gym.
This type of rage has kept me out of the ring because I will seriously hurt someone if I were to spar with anyone.
So, I take out my aggression and rage on the punching bag.
I’ve ruined more than a few of them over the last few days because of this entire situation.
Pulling up to a small diner with outside seating, I park behind Mallory’s SUV and get off my bike along the side of the road.
Immediately I spot my foster sister sitting at a table under the umbrella with a drink in her hand already.
She smiles when she spots me walking her way, adjusting my hat so the sun isn’t shining directly in my eyes.
“Brother!” she greets me, as I step up and place a kiss on the top of her head before sitting down.
“Mal, it’s been a while. You’re lookin’ as good as always. How are my nephews doin’?” I ask her, taking the seat across from her and nodding at the waiter, that it’s okay for him to come over to take our order.
This is our usual spot and I already have a soda in front of my plate.
It’s not often I allow myself a soda, but when I’m with Mallory I do.
It’s something we rarely got to share when we were kids and why we drink what we do now during our meet-ups.
Mallory and I order lunch and I sit back in my chair and wait for the interrogation I know my foster sister is about to launch at me.
“So, what have you been up to, Micah? Any new changes in your life?” she questions me, her voice syrupy sweet as if she already knows what I’m about to tell her. “Have you figured out any more of the situation with that girl who said she was carrying your baby?”
“I have a son, Mal. His name is Kaden and he’s the most amazin’ little person I’ve ever met in my life.
He’s such a good baby and Janessa is the best mom to him.
We still have things to work out between the two of us, but I think we’re on the right track.
I’m essentially livin’ with them and helpin’ her raise our son together,” I answer her honestly as my sister starts laughing her ass off.
“The man who never wanted to have children of his own is now owning up to being a dad? You’re actually changing diapers, feeding him, and doing everything else a dad does?” Mallory asks, laughter in her voice as she leans forward in her seat.
“I am. Janessa’s been goin’ through some heavy shit and a few days ago I took care of Kaden all on my own while she slept.
She was exhausted beyond anythin’ I’ve ever witnessed before and it truly scared me.
Mal, I’m fallin’ in love with her. I already knew there was somethin’ between the two of us when I spent however many months not bein’ able to fuck anyone else.
My Little Fighter is slowly makin’ me want to have her as my ol’ lady and I’m realizin’ what love is for the first time in my life.
She’s not even tryin’ to do it either,” I state, knowing deep in my soul this is the truth of how I feel about Janessa and what’s going on between the two of us.
“I’m happy for you, Micah. You deserve to be loved by a good woman who isn’t gonna break your heart or fuck you over.
Someone who will be there when you get lost in your head and can’t find a way out and won’t run off when things get real or too hard between you.
Does she know about your past?” Mal asks me, her words tapering off because she hates bringing up the past with me after the hell we lived through together.
“She knows most of it. Maybe not all the finer details, but she knows enough to fill in the blanks of what I was put through as a kid. She knows about Rose and about her tryin’ to set me on fire.
Of how I lived on the streets for years until Rooster found me.
Janessa is the only one besides Tease who knows the truth of my life.
Well at least in more detail than most of the others in the club.
Only the guys truly know what I’ve been through while the women and Prospects are kept in the dark.
Marie is the only female to know anythin’ about me.
That’s only because she was there in the beginnin’ when Rooster brought me into the club,” I tell Mallory as she wipes away a few tears that escaped as she thinks of our past.
“Good, Micah. If Janessa knows about your past, it means you truly care about her. You’re not the most open person and don’t share anything of yourself for any reason.
I’m glad you’ve chosen to open up to this girl.
It tells me all I need to know about her.
So, when am I gonna get a chance to meet her and my nephew?
” Mallory questions me, the smile back on her face as she sits back while the waiter delivers our food and we quit our conversation for a minute.