Chapter Two
Reckless
T ODAY IS CHURCH. We have church every week on Friday evenings before the parties and chaos kick the weekend off.
When we decided to have our weekly meeting on Friday, it was because I knew we’d have a week’s worth of information to go over and our work week would be over.
Well, for the most part. The strip club, bar, and towing don’t end on the weekends.
We also open our parts store for a few hours on Saturday morning.
Count, our Treasurer, could go over the numbers for the week and let us know what we need to work on and what’s been working for us so far.
The move to Glendale was a choice we all made to be closer to Caliana since she moved here after Darren’s death to get away from his parents and start over somewhere without a ton of memories.
Because we don’t know anyone here, we’ve had to prove ourselves to everyone in the small community in our new home.
It’s taken time, but we’re slowly winning everyone over by how protective we are of our community.
Our room for church is one of the largest rooms on the first floor.
The only rooms larger are the kitchen and common room.
This room is big enough for the huge table we’ve had custom-built and all the chairs surrounding it.
The table is solid oak and has been hand carved with our club colors in the center.
Each chair has been built to match the table and is padded with leather and a thick cushion to make them comfortable for a long meeting.
There are extra chairs around the table none of us sit in and against the wall in case we ever have guests here for any reason.
With our close ties to the Phantom Bastards and Wild Kings, there’s always a chance one of those clubs will show up for one reason or another.
Plus, we’re forming allies close to us so we have back-up if it’s ever needed.
The walls of our room are white and there’s nothing on them with the exception of the wall behind me.
Our club colors have been painted there by Rosa.
She’s a talented artist though she hides the fact she can draw at all.
We have a screen that comes down from the ceiling behind Master.
We use it for when we all need to see information on his laptop.
So far we’ve only had to use the screen a handful of times.
The reason we decided to keep the walls bare in this room is because it’s a place no one else will ever step foot in.
We don’t need to see the memories we’ve made over the years or the time we’ve spent together.
Those pictures are all hung around the clubhouse.
Especially the common room. Cali made sure that was the first thing we did.
She has a thing for displaying pictures all over the place.
She always wants the good memories displayed for all to see.
I think it's something she got from my mom if I’m being honest.
As usual lately, I’m distracted beyond belief and having to sit in church is the last thing I want to do.
Right now, I don’t give a fuck about the numbers of each of our businesses, what the guys have going on in their side gigs, or anything else.
A feeling deep in my gut is telling me things are changing and something isn’t right.
I’m not sure what it is, but something is about to happen.
Something horrible that will affect someone extremely close to me.
The only people I haven’t seen are Caliana and the kids.
It’s been my choice to stay away from them lately because the only thing I want to do is make Cali mine and she’s been outlawed when it comes to me.
We can never be together as I told Kreed so I stay away from her and only stop by once in a while when I know she’s not home.
Every single time I see the girl I’ve loved most of my life, it gets harder to remain distant and not claim her in all the ways I want to.
Cali is every single dream I’ve ever had and she makes me want to be the best version of myself.
I love Bryce and Rory as if they were my own children and not Darren’s.
The only woman I’d ever have kids with is Cali and that isn’t something that can happen.
To say my mom is disappointed she’s not already a grandma by me would be an understatement.
I hear about it constantly and tend to avoid her calls.
Anyway, knowing I can never make Caliana mine means I have to stay away from her.
I know this is the time of the year I should be at her side regardless of my feelings, but I’ve been lost in the bottom of a bottle every single day and I refuse to be around her when I’m like that.
I refuse to be near the kids when I’ve been drinking because it’s the last thing they need to see.
Rory is too little to remember this about me, but Bryce isn’t.
He saw that too much from Darren the last few years and I just found that out recently.
Walking into the house Caliana shares with Darren, I listen to the sounds filling the home she’s made with Darren and Bryce.
The TV is playing louder than normal and I know Darren’s spaced out on the couch as he usually is when we’re home on leave.
Bryce is playing somewhere nearby. I listen as he makes the noises of crashing as a smile fills my face because I know he’s playing with the cars and motorcycles we’ve all bought him since the day he was born.
He’s always racing them around and crashing them like he sees in the races on the TV.
Darren watches all sorts of things and on the weekends it’s racing.
I could never get into it, but he loves watching it and has been to a few races in person with his father.
“Unca Caleb!” Bryce calls out as I look up to find him standing from his spot on the floor by the kitchen with Cali standing behind him.
The light from the kitchen window is shining just right in the late afternoon.
It highlights Caliana in a way that makes her look like an angel with a golden glow surrounding her.
The blonde of her hair shines brighter than normal while the blue of her eyes is almost navy today.
That tells me she’s upset about something and I have a feeling it has to do with Darren.
He’s changed and is trying to act as if everything is the same.
Kreed and I are the only ones who see through him and understand we need to tread carefully when we talk to Cali.
She won’t ever say anything to put Darren down or make us upset with him.
She’ll hide the pain she’s feeling to avoid a fight between the three of us.
It’s what she’s always done. Cali’s skin glows a radiant tan instead of her normal paleness and my eyes can’t help but travel slowly down her body to take in every uncovered inch of her skin. She’s a damn goddess!
“Hey, Little Man. You bein’ a good boy for Mom and Dad today?” I ask him as he jumps up in my arms like normal.
“Uh huh. Playing with my bikes, Unca,” he informs me as if I couldn’t tell that’s what he’s been doing. He’s so damn cute I can’t help but laugh as he wiggles to get down.
“Hey, Cali. You need help with anythin’?” I ask her as Bryce leads me to his spot on the floor to play with him.
“Well, could you possibly run to the store for me? I need potatoes and asparagus. I forgot to get some earlier when I was there. Pregnancy brain, I swear it gets me worse every single day,” she says, forced laughter filling her voice as she quickly glances toward Darren on the couch who’s still ignoring us.
“Yeah. I’ll head there now. Anythin’ else you two need?” I ask as Bryce jumps up once again and turns to his mom.
“I go with Unca?” he asks her, hope filling his voice as he looks up at Cali. I know he’ll get his way because she can’t ever deny him anything he wants. Bryce has his mama wrapped around his little finger and he typically gets what he wants from her.
Don’t get me wrong, Cali isn’t a pushover.
But something so simple like heading to the store with me is small and she won’t deny him.
Darren shakes his head on the couch and I know he’s biting his tongue because I’m here right now.
If it were just the three of them, I’m sure he’d have something to say about Cali giving into him.
“You can go. Did you ride your bike, Caleb?” Cali asks me, her soft voice filling me with longing because I wish I could hear her say my name a million times a day. I’d never get tired of it.
“I did. I’ll have to take your SUV to the store,” I answer her as she turns and grabs the keys from the counter behind her.
Cali hands the keys over and I take Bryce out to the SUV where Cali last parked it in front of the garage.
She’s not allowed to park inside because Darren has his bikes and truck inside.
He’s never allowed her to park inside to avoid the elements when she’s trying to carry Bryce or anything else inside.
He’s selfish in that way and I can’t stand it.
I’d never let Cali park outside. I’d build a bigger garage or buy one of those car ports to park my own vehicle under.
After getting Bryce in his car seat, I climb in the driver’s seat.
Yes, I adjusted it before trying to climb in.
I learned a long time ago to never get in the driver’s seat after Cali without adjusting it back first. I’ve busted my knees more times than I can count.
Cali’s over a foot shorter than I am and she always sits so damn close to the steering wheel.
It’s the only way she can reach the pedals to drive.
Kreed and I used to laugh our asses off at her because she can hardly see over the dash and looks so funny behind the wheel.