51. Chapter 51
My phone buzzes right as I finish getting ready, and I’m not surprised when I see that Thor has called for Church at 8 am. Since it’s only a little past seven now, I should be able to get the kids fed and clothed before I have to head to the clubhouse. I know it’s about the fuckers that thought they could get their hands on Mary. We let those assholes sit overnight in the sticks to mess with their heads, making them wonder when we’ll be coming down to deal with them. Well, they won’t have to wait much longer.
Mary’s still asleep, which I’m not surprised by since I kept her up so late last night. My dick twitches at the memories and I adjust myself as my jeans grow tight. Sex with Mary had always been great before, but now it’s even better. I don’t know if it’s just time and that we’re older and more mature, or if it’s something else. But now that she’s fully let me in, I’m never going to let her go again. Her words from last night come back to me and fuck do I hope I was able to get her pregnant last night. Doing the math, I know somewhere in those first few weeks we started having sex when we were teenagers was when I think Asher was conceived.
Footsteps on the stairs has me turning to see three smiling faces beaming down at me. As soon as her feet hit the floor, Cassie runs to me and I grin as she hugs my good leg. I’m actually kind of surprised by how fast they’ve accepted me, but especially little Cassie. I don’t know if it’s because she’s the youngest and up until they arrived here, she hadn’t had a good male role model or what. Whatever the reason may be, she’s already got me wrapped around her little finger.
“Did you guys have a good night’s sleep?”
“Uh-huh,” Cassie says as she nods along with the others and I reach out, ruffling their hair in turn. They both grin up at me and they take turns giving me a hug.
“What do you guys want for breakfast? I have to go to Church at eight, but I have time to whip something up.”
“Can we have pancakes?” Isaiah asks and I nod, stepping over to the pantry when Cassie lets go of my leg.
“With bacon and eggs too?” Ash asks.
“Absolutely. You guys can watch some cartoons until breakfast is ready if you want.”
Both Isaiah and Cassie race into the living room and soon I can hear a certain mouse’s voice filling the air. I shake my head as my grin grows even though my chest tightens. They both love the show and it kills me that they were kept so sheltered when they were with Stephan. Cassie had innocently let it slip that they had only a handful of movies that they were allowed to watch, and most of the time, they could only watch them when he’d already left for work.
That was when Mary had told me she scavenged all the sale and clearance bins as well as thrift stores to get them the things they needed or wanted. Only clothes, shoes, and school supplies were things he allowed her to buy full price because it would have looked poorly on his reputation if his wife and kids went around dressed in rags or if they didn’t have all the school supplies they needed.
For birthdays and Christmas, she was only allowed to spend fifty dollars per kid. For any other holiday, since he didn’t think they needed anything, she went without to save money so the kids could have something for Easter or to take candy for their classmates when Valentine’s Day came around. For Halloween, they weren’t allowed to go out and trick-or-treat because he didn’t want them sneaking away. They were forced to stay home and hand out candy instead. Since she wasn’t allowed to buy them costumes, Mary had found some white sheets in the clearance bins that she cut up and made ghost costumes for them. Those were the only costumes they’d ever had.
Never again.
I’ll make sure they never want for anything again and I’ll personally be taking the kids trick-or-treating next year. As for Christmas, Mary doesn’t know it yet, but I’ve got stuff on order for all four of them. I won’t be going overboard every year, but I’ll be damn sure doing it this year. I hate that I missed so much of Ash’s life, and I plan to be there for all his, as well as Cassie and Isaiah’s, big moments in life. While I wish more than anything that Mary was with me these past nine years, I wouldn’t trade Cassie or Isaiah for anything. I’ve come to love both of them just as much as Ash and as soon as I can, I’m going to adopt both of them and give them my last name.
The refrigerator door opening pulls me from my thoughts, and I shake off the melancholy feeling of everything I’ve missed. Asher pulls out eggs and bacon from the fridge and I pull out the pancake mix and syrup from the pantry.
“Can I help make breakfast, Dad? I used to help Mom all the time, and sometimes I even made her breakfast.”
My heart clenches at the meaning behind his words and I have to take a deep breath to keep my anger from showing on my face. Exhaling slowly, I nod.
“Of course. Which parts do you want to do?”
“I’ve done bacon in the microwave before since Mom says she doesn’t want me doing the bacon on the griddle by myself just yet and I can also make scrambled eggs.”
“Alright, then you can do both of those, but holler if you need help with something.”
“Okay.”
We get to work side by side and as I pour some batter into the skillet, I watch him out of the corner of my eye as he expertly prepares the bacon before cracking enough eggs for scrambled eggs for everyone into a couple of bowls.
After taking the first batch of pancakes off the griddle, Ash pulls out a stepstool that Maria gave us and puts the bacon in the microwave. At first, I was curious as to why she gave it to us, but now knowing that Ash has helped Mary cook before, I’m glad she got it for us. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d done the same thing with Mary in the past now that I think about it.
About halfway through making breakfast, I hear the shower turn on, and even though I know she’ll yell if she needs help with something, I still worry that she’ll fall and injure herself further. However, whenever it’s time to wash her hair, I still insist on helping her since it’s easier if she stands differently under the water. Overall, though, her body’s been healing nicely.
Just as Ash and I finish putting the food on the table, Mary’s door opens and she carefully wheels herself out and into the hallway, her sling sitting on her lap. With how well Mary’s been doing, I figured she could wheel herself around the house in short bursts, but any longer could cause her to re-injure herself. I’m still a little nervous because of that asshole yanking on her arm, but there’s still a couple more days until her new chair will arrive. Hopefully, she doesn’t push herself too hard in the meantime.
“Breakfast is ready,” I call out before walking back into the kitchen and grabbing plates and utensils for everyone. Checking the clock, I grimace when I realize I only have about a half an hour before I have to be at the clubhouse.
“Did Thor call a meeting?” Mary asks me and I realize she must have been watching me just now.
I nod. “Yeah, I have to be over there at eight and I’m not sure how long we’ll be.”
She nods in return. “Okay. Do you want to dish out your plate first then?”
“Nah. I’ll get you all situated and then eat.” Turning toward the kids, I pick up the pancakes and place one on each of their plates before putting a dollop of butter on each one. They smear it around until it melts and then I start cutting up Cassie’s pancake, since she’s right next to me while Mary starts cutting up Isaiah’s. Once that’s done, I pour syrup on Cassie’s pancake and pass the syrup over to Mary before dishing out eggs and bacon for everyone.
Breakfast passes quickly as I listen to the kids’ chatter as I practically inhale my food. I just took some over-the-counter pain medicine and I hate doing it on an empty stomach.
After taking the last bite of my food, I stand and head to the sink, quickly rinsing off my plate before putting it in the dishwasher. Grabbing my phone off the counter, I pat my pockets, making sure I have everything I need.
“Wait,” Mary calls out as she wheels over to me and I’m surprised she has some plastic wrap and tape in her lap. “Let me help you wrap your arm, at least. I figure you’ll be wearing gloves, but I don’t want anything possibly infecting your arm,” she whispers as she tugs on my hand.
I automatically kneel on the ground in front of her, the pain forgotten in my shock. I hadn’t uttered a word about what we were going to be doing today, and yet she knew.
She looks up at me and her lips turn up slightly, even though she has a worried expression on her face. “I figured you were going to deal with our visitors today,” she whispers even quieter than before, so quiet that I have to strain to hear her. She pushes up my sleeve and starts wrapping the plastic wrap around my bicep.
“And are you okay with that?” My gut clenches, worry filling me that she’ll look at me differently after this. I mean, that fucker made her watch him torment and torture others, some were probably innocents too, before he killed them. I don’t want her to ever compare me to that fucker and I don’t ever want to give her a reason to do so.
She looks up at me briefly, determination filling her eyes, before going back to securing the plastic wrap. “More than okay. If I wasn’t crippled, I would love to get in a chance to make them hurt, but I can’t. I never wanted to leave you in the first place, and I sure as hell am not leaving you this time.
“I’m not sure if you’ll be allowed to share anything with me, but I would love to know if he was behind their orders to kidnap me or if it was someone else. They often talked about another group, but all they called them was ‘O’. I’m not sure if it’s the one group you guys already know about, or if it’ a different one,” she says and I’m glad she didn’t say Oasis’ name just now for the kids’ sake. “Well, I should say, Kristoff would often talk about them, especially with Diego. Much like him , as the years went on, the others started dropping their guard around me and talking more freely. I overheard a lot of conversations, but without always hearing both sides, I don’t really know what or who they were talking about.”
Relief fills me and hearing that she’d love to get in on the action has a sense of pride filling me that she’d be willing to do that. To stand up to her tormentors and be willing to inflict pain on them. Her declaration almost has me hoping that we don’t get our hands on Stephan until after Mary gets her cast off and she’s able to move around freely just so she can dole out some vengeance herself. That said, I’d prefer the fucker be caught yesterday so that Mary and the kids can stop looking over their shoulders in fear. Also, I want that fucker caught so I can officially claim them as mine and marry Mary once and for all.
She rips off one more piece of tape and then lowers my shirt. “Do you need me to do your thigh, too?”
I shake my head. “No, I’m going to mainly let Dragon, and most likely Levi, take the lead on this because of my injuries, but I’ll still get in on some of the action.” I probably shouldn’t be saying this out loud, but I decide to at least let her know my intentions. Thor, Dragon, and Timber have shared cliff note versions with their wives, well, before Levi became a member that is, so I know I’m not going to get in trouble with any of them over this.
She nods and bites her lip as her gaze drops to her hands in her lap. Gripping her chin, I make her look up at me.
“I’ll tell you what I can, but I won’t be able to tell you everything. Please know that when I say something like that, it’s meant to protect you. Not to isolate you or push you away or demean you in any way.”
She gives me a soft smile. “Club business.” At my nod, her smile softens even more, though it’s sort of reserved at the same time. “Levi, and especially Mae, told me more about that. I was surprised that they pushed so much to make sure I understood, but then Levi told me about how she almost left her guys because they cut her out of everything, even though it was her safety at risk.
“Levi said she didn’t want any other woman, or partner, guys brought here to feel like she had felt that day. When she phrased it like that, I was extremely grateful they took that extra step to help me settle in here.” She pauses and an almost guilty look crosses her face. “Their welcomeness makes me feel especially guilty when I first heard about Thor, Dragon, and Timber’s wives. I will admit, I had no idea what a biker’s woman, or Old Lady I should say, would be like when you all said Levi and Mae wanted to meet back when I was in the hospital. At first, I thought they would be catty or were the type to try and backstab you at any chance. But they’re not. I know Stephan’s words colored my thoughts a lot that first week and I’ve worked, am working, really hard to silence his voice whenever it creeps in.”
She licks her lips nervously and while my fingers itch to pull her into my arms and comfort her, I don’t move as I wait for her to continue.
“What I’m trying to say is, I love it here and those two women are a huge part of why I love it here. They made me feel at home and part of the club family almost instantly. Even when I was in the hospital. While I know I’m really not much help right now because of my damn leg and shoulder, I’ll do whatever I can to help you guys catch Diego, Stephan, and anyone else working with them. Once I’m better, I can help defend us, other women and the kids. I know how to shoot even though Stephan didn’t want me to learn. His chief in Addams, which was the first town we lived in after I was kidnapped, he pressured Stephan into having me learn since there were going to be guns in the house and he was getting assigned a K9 dog. Also, I’m still trying to wrack my brain to see if I can remember anything else that might be helpful to you guys, but a lot of the conversations I heard were one sided, which makes it harder. But if anything suddenly makes sense after hearing something from you guys, I’ll let you know.”
I nod in thanks but then freeze. A few things suddenly clicking into place in my mind. “That’s how you knew Bastion’s commands.”
She nods, her eyes misting slightly. “We didn’t have Daisy for too long, unfortunately. After my first brutal beating, Daisy got in between us to protect me. Without even thinking, I gave the command for her to attack, and she did.” She huffs as she wipes her eyes. “Of course, Stephan turned everything around saying that Daisy had snapped and attacked us. That he stepped in between us to save me and that’s how he got the scars from her teeth on his arm. That the only way to get her to stop was to shoot her. He was never assigned another K9, but for a long time, he was wary around me while we still lived in Addams. However, as soon as we moved to Elmdale after that, he went back to his normal self. That’s actually one other way that you can verify that it’s him if he changes his looks again.” She reaches forward and pulls my left arm toward her, her fingers softly tracing my skin. “This is around where it is. A few are just puncture scars, but most of the others are more elongated because she tore through his skin so much. Still, even with them elongated, you’re able to tell that he was bitten badly by a dog.”
I pull her into my arms but then grimace when I see the clock over her head. Shit.
“I hate to do this, Siren, but I need to leave. I’m already pushing it as it is.”
Mary sits up suddenly, twisting around to see the clock. “Oh, my gosh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you wait while I rambled on.”
Shaking my head, I grin as I press a kiss to her forehead before standing, doing my best to hide my wince at the pain that shoots through my leg.
“It’ll be okay, Siren. If you need anything, ask Mae or one of the Prospects. If it’s an emergency, reach out to Thor or Phoenix, but copy me in case they let me keep my phone.”
She nods and makes a shooing motion with her hands. “I promise, but you better hurry before I get you into even more trouble than you might already be in.”
Leaning down, I give her one more kiss. “I’ll be back as soon as I’m able to, but we might have to meet again afterward depending on what we learn.”
She nods and looks over her shoulder at the kids. “As soon as they are done and cleaned up, I’ll start them on their schoolwork. If you still aren’t home by the time they are done, we’ll probably go to Mae’s to help her get ready for tonight.”
That’s right. The ladies are having a spa night tonight and I said I’d help Timber watch the boys.
“Sounds good. Be safe. I love you.”
With a final kiss, I walk over to the table and kiss each of the kids’ foreheads before telling them I’ll see them later today and head outside. Checking my phone, I curse and send a quick text to Thor telling him I’m on my way. There’s still five minutes, but I know I won’t be able to walk as fast as I normally can. While I told Mary that it’ll be okay, I’ve always hated being late for anything.
As quick as I’m able to, I stalk to the clubhouse and straight into Church.
My cheeks heat as I walk to my chair. Even though I’m right on time, everyone else is already seated and the weight of their gazes is heavy on my shoulders.
“Everything alright?” Thor asks, and I can tell he’s annoyed that I came in at the last minute, but he doesn’t look pissed thankfully.
“Yeah, Mary wanted to wrap my arm before I left.”
His eyebrows go up at that and I shake my head. “I didn’t mention anything other than you had called Church, but she told me that she figured we were going to be dealing with those five and didn’t want my wounds getting infected.”
Levi smirks. “Knew she was a good egg.”
A few others chuckle at her words and Thor shakes his head before slamming his hammer on the table.
“Alright, let’s recap and then Smoke has some information for us. Then we’ll go down and give a Steel Archangel’s welcome to our guests.”