Chapter 13LovelyMarx
Lovely
I roll my lips between my teeth and bite down a little. I can’t laugh. If I laugh I know it’ll set off everyone else.
“What were you kids thinking?” Remy says, her voice steady but I can tell she’s a bundle of nerves.
So far Blanche hasn’t said anything, preferring to give Elio and Cove perhaps the angriest eyes I’ve ever seen. None of the kids seem to be worried. In fact, Cove has already argued their case. Twice.
“Sheriff Kelson is a bad man. If you saw him around the farm you needed to tell a grown up.”
“We did! We told Niko and he snitched.” Cove turns to glare at her big brother. “And we told Sage.”
All eyes dart to Sage who up to this point has remained quiet, seated next to Chef.
“You knew? ” Blanche growls at her older daughter.
“Yeah. We needed her help when we thought Elio accidentally killed him with his potion,” Cove blabs even more.
“Jesus. H. Christ.” Marx mumbles under his breath and I’m certain I hear a snort escape him.
“Wait, what kind of potion were you working with, kiddo?” Pops asks, squatting down in front of Elio, Chewy beside him.
Remy looks fit to burst, Wire doesn’t look any better. My sister is deathly quiet and Tav seems calm. A little too calm.
“Kids, I think it would be best for you all to go to the nursery. There will be no tablets, no TV, no movies, nothing. You are to go up there right now, no messing about or disturbing the babies or Kaia and the twins. You are going to think about your actions.”
“Aw, but Mama Deb -”
“No. Once you’ve given it some thought you are going to each write a letter explaining why it was dangerous for you to do what you did and why you need to tell an adult.”
“But we di-”
“Your brother and sister don’t count!” Blanche growls.
“Holy shit, she sounds like the exorcist,” Nitro mutters under his breath.
He got home just before the kids were discovered. He’s readying the small trailer for Fox’s homecoming tomorrow.
“Sage, we will be having a conversation young lady.” Sage drops her head and nods, Chef, placing his hand on her shoulder, giving it a supportive squeeze.
I like what those two have growing between them.
The mutual trust, little touches here and there.
My thoughts wander to Marx’s kiss. My blood still feels bubbly, as if carbonated by his lips on mine.
It took me by surprise, as did his words.
Is it too good to be true, that he wants me?
After all his running and pushing me away, am I a fool to think he’s changed?
Is it guilt that has him behaving this way?
I’m still unsure of his motives, but I know that I want to believe his words.
I want to live my life to the fullest and if it means that my gamble doesn’t pay off and my heart gets a little bruised then so be it.
I’ve survived far worse and I know I can survive again.
A snort has me glancing at Nitro, then at the three little kids lined up in the front of the large room we’ve started calling Church.
“I swear to all that’s holy if you roll your eyes at me one more time Cove Marie Landry I will remove one of them with a rusty spoon,” Blanche growls in an even lower voice. So scary that Tav takes a big step away from her.
I stare at Cove, looking for fear, instead a smile spreads across her chubby little face. “Yessss! I’ll get an eye patch!”
“Get upstairs! Right now and do as Mama Debs told you!” Blanche goes from a low man growl to a screech.
“Holy shit, I think they broke Blanche,” Savage whispers in awe.
The three kids run out of the room and once the sound of their footsteps on the stairs hits my ears I start to snort. Nitro catches my eye and he chuckles before the dam breaks and the whole of the club and the Landrys burst into laughter.
“Holy shit! I can’t believe those kids did what we couldn’t do,” Dex chuckles.
“And they almost fucking killed him!” Rider roars.
Marx sidles up next to me, bumping me with his incredibly large and delicious looking bicep. I never noticed biceps until I met Marx. Now they and his forearms are the things I stare at most when we’re in a room together.
“We better keep Bee away from that lot. I don’t want to have to lose my shit like Blanche did.” He smirks down at me and my stomach flips.
He’s talking like it’s forever. Or at the very least, long term. Holy moley. What is happening? Before I can spiral Marx bangs twice on the wall, calling everyone to attention.
“We have all six of the fuckers who attacked us. I say we go take care of business.” He turns to look at everyone, not just his men, but us women and the Landrys. “We’re a team. Landrys and the Girl Gang, if you want to join, you are more than welcome.”
“How kind of him, considering we were the ones who caught them in the first place,” Ana says under her breath, rolling her eyes.
“And he has to deal with the sheriff before the kids get to him again,” Pops mutters back before cackling.
Marx circles his finger in the air and it’s almost like a stampede, everyone rushing to get to Pops’ office. I’ve not had the pleasure of visiting yet, and I know it makes me sound like a crazy person, but I’m looking forward to seeing the set up.
“Lovely, would you do me the honor of riding in the ATV with me?” Marx asks, holding his elbow out to me.
I avert my gaze, this gentlemanly side of Marx making me feel all shy. I peek up at him and then nod, tentatively placing my hand in the crook of his elbow. The smile he gifts me transforms his face from grumpy to handsome in an instant.
Leading me outside I jolt slightly when I notice that there is a passenger in the back.
“Is that a minions pillowcase over his head?” I ask, squinting into the dim evening light to get a better look at the man hog tied into the back of the ATV.
“Yes, yes it is,” Marx answers.
A snort escapes me and Marx helps me into my seat.
It’s not something I couldn’t do myself, but Marx has been incredibly attentive.
I can see that he’s trying to make up for all of his past behaviours, and it’s endearing.
It doesn’t mean I’m going to forget the things he said, but I have forgiven him.
People may think that makes me weak, but I think life is too short to hold someone’s forgiveness in your hands and not grant it.
“Thank you,” he whispers, brushing a kiss to the top of my head and then moving to his side of the vehicle.
“For what? I haven’t done anything?”
“For giving me a chance, Lovely.”
“Everyone deserves a chance, Marx.” A muffled groan comes from behind me. “Well, most people deserve a chance.”
Marx gives me a crooked grin and we ride in comfortable silence, each of us in our thoughts.
We pull in next to all the DRMC SUVs and bikes and other forms of transport, all parked outside Pops’ office.
Office is an understatement. The place is a full sized barn.
Excitement fizzes up in my tummy and I rush to get out of the ATV.
“Slow down, I promise you won’t miss out on anything.” Marx shakes his head, a smile on his lips at my excitement.
He throws the sheriff over his shoulder, then with a hand on my lower back he guides me to the door of the office. I open it as Marx has his hands full and we step inside.
“Dammit Chewy! I thought I told you to stay away!”
Marx
I should have known she had been playing it too cool.
The last time I was in here was when I had to talk Sniper down from killing his brother there and then.
Instead, he gave him a hell of a beating and we agreed the only people in and out would be TumTum, Chef and Niko, to keep everyone fed and watered.
As per usual Chewy has done what Chewy likes to do.
“What? I was keeping them comfortable.”
That’s debatable. All five of the men are hanging from the ceiling, with just enough chain to have their toes touch the ground.
All of them seem to be trying to get themselves higher, and I understand why.
In front of each man, sitting on stools at crotch height are jars filled with Chewy’s favorite fish.
If that isn’t pants pissingly scary enough, the Landrys have their gator, Gretchen, with them.
“Aww, did she lose another toe?” Lovely asks, spinning to look at Vic, Chris and Dom.
“Yeah, poor old girl. She’s been having trouble healing, that’s why we brought her with us,” Vic answers.
“Well, that, and disposal.”
“I dunno guys, flash freezing and meat grinding them seems to be pretty efficient,” Chewy says, moving around the room with the ease of someone who grew up in this space.
“No reason we can’t do both,” Rhodie says, snagging his Ol Lady and dropping a kiss to her upturned lips. I can’t wait to be able to do that with Lovely. She’s given me a chance, and there’s no way I’m gonna fuck up again.
The sheriff on my shoulder squirms and I dump his ass on the ground. It’s a long way down for someone who can’t break his own fall, so he lands with a long groan, rolling in pain.
“Tsk tsk, should have been a good boy, huh Sheriff?” Chewy asks, whipping the cheery yellow pillowcase from his head.
Kelson’s eyes dart around the room, eyes growing wider and wider until it looks like it hurts.
I run my gaze around the room, taking it in just like Kelson.
The outside is rustic, the typical red barn you’d see on any patch of land in rural America.
But that’s where the rustic ends. The inside of Pops’ office is lined in stainless steel.
We are standing in the main room, but there are at least 5 other smaller rooms on one side of the barn.
There is also a bathroom and one of those shower things you see on pandemic films where they go in there to decontaminate.
Why Pops and Chewy would need this shit is beyond me, but after seeing what the kids had set up in their own clubhouse, I’m sure they’ll appreciate this space in the future.