CHAPTER FIVE
-:- TwoCents -:-
Rushing out of the house, I make my way to the clubhouse because I need to speak to Specs, and I need to do it fast. Now we have a different name. It is more than apparent that Sienna, or Paisley, is hiding for some reason, and to keep her safe, we need to know why.
Walking through the common room, I quickly make my way to Specs’ office. Barging in without knocking and taking a seat next to him. “You need to find out everything you can about Paisley Anne Sanders.”
“Who is that? Why do I have to find out?” Specs asks, giving me a sharp look.
“Paisley is Sienna…” I wait, counting, one…two…three…
“On it. I’ll have what I can find in a couple of hours. Come back then.”
Before I even leave the room, Specs is hitting his keyboard hard and fast, and things are flashing across the monitor in front of him.
Walking through to the kitchen, Mia sees me and follows me before asking. “What are you doing here? Where is Sienna?”
“She’s at the house. She’ll be fine for a while.”
“Goddamit TwoCents, what if she gets dizzy and falls?” Mia snaps, and looks over her shoulder at the same time as I do when a voice states clearly.
“Good job she’s not your wife. You are an asshole.” Amelia storms to the back door and bellows, “BITTY, SYBIL, WE HAVE SOMEWHERE TO BE!”
Bitty and Sybil rush through from the common area, and out the back door behind Amelia. I look at Mia and she’s giving me that crooked smirk that means something is going to be happening soon.
I’m not even going to ask where those three are going. I have enough to sort out. Pouring a mug of coffee, I carry it through to Axel’s office, and stomp inside, taking him, Drag, Buzz, and Wings by surprise. I take a seat and a mouthful of the coffee, then look at Axel, but I look at him as my Pres and not just as a brother.
“Something is not right. Sienna blurted out that her name is Paisley Anne Sanders. I’m waiting for Specs to find out what he can, but I have a bad feeling that shit is going to hit.”
Axel leans forward, giving me his feral grin, then looks at Buzz and Drag, leaving Wings out of his non-verbal conversation.
“Okay. We find out, we do what we have to. Do you want to bring Sienna or Paisley or whatever you want to call her to the clubhouse, so we can keep our eye on her until we know fully what’s goin’ on?”
“Yeah, I can do that, Pres, but I’ll have to speak to her first and let her know I’m not really her husband. How the fuck I got myself into this mess, I don’t know. I just blurted it out, and now I’m gonna get my ass kicked. You can guarantee that.”
Buzz chuckles, and Drag has a smirk on his face. Wings, however, shrugs before speaking. “It is what it is, and if she doesn’t want to be out in the cold again, then she needs to accept you did that in good faith. If not, then let her be. She’ll do what she’s been doing up to this point and with a name change, that’s probably hiding.”
“Yeah, I think you are right, because it would be odd to change your name just for the hell of it,” Drag adds.
“Let’s see what Specs finds, but bring her to the clubhouse. Then we’ll have more than just one set of eyes on her.” Axel taps his knuckles on the desk before standing. “We have church in the morning anyway, with it being Sunday, so let’s get what information we can and discuss it more, unless Specs finds something urgent today.”
I take what’s left of my coffee and walk over to Specs’ office, this time far more calmly. “You find anything, Specs?”
“Yeah, I found a little, but I’ll find more. Seems your wife was married before, but she’s divorced. Her divorce settlement is sealed and I’m curious why, so leave it with me. I’ll find out.” Specs didn’t look at me once, just kept his eyes on the monitor as he tapped that damn keyboard.
“Do you think I should tell Forest that Sienna isn’t really Sienna, but Paisley?” I ask Specs, as I’m worried if it comes out that she is using an alias, it could put her life at risk.
“Yes, but on the quiet. We don’t want anyone to know she’s not Sienna until we are ready to flush anyone out. If we need to flush anyone out that is,” Specs chuckles and I’m not sure if he knows more than he’s telling me at this point.
Leaving Specs to his research, I make my way to my room, close the door behind me, and take out my phone. I find Forest’s contact and press to make the call.
“Yeah, what’s up TwoCents?” Forest quickly asks when he answers my call.
“I want to update you on some information that’s come to light regarding Sienna.”
“Oh, what’s that?” I hear a door close so I can assume Forest is now in his office.
“I was having a discussion with Sienna, and when I said her name, she blurted out, Paisley Anne Sanders. For some reason, she has had her name changed, or she is using an alias. Specs is digging into it, but I wanted you up to date just in case anything comes to light that we need to move on fast.” I rub my forehead where I can feel a headache starting.
“Okay. I’ll do a gentle search on our system, but not enough to put up any flags. If anything worrying is found, I’ll get back to you quickly. It may be best to get her to the clubhouse, rather than her being out on a limb in her place. Once you have her at the clubhouse I’ll come over and have a talk with her.”
“Yeah, Axel already said that and I’m going back to the house in a while. You can speak to her once I have her here. I’m going to have to come clean about the husband thing, and that could cause a shitshow.” Forest chuckles at my comment, but I’m not smiling.
“Okay, I’ll keep you informed, but we will bring it up in church, so make sure you are here with Dep, of course. Maybe you need to fill him in so he knows a little of what’s happening.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that, but I’ll tell him to keep it to us for now.” Forest cuts the call and I sit wondering how the fuck am I going to tell Sienna I’m not really her husband.
Walking into the house, I come to a sudden stop when in the kitchen laughing and talking are none other than the Three Stooges. Now how the fuck did they know where Sienna lives?
“Oh, hello TwoCents, Paisley is doing really well. We’ve talked to her about her shop and helped clean up the basement. Honestly, this poor girl has had so much to do, and all by herself, too. Bitty is going to work with Sentry on Monday, Sybil on Tuesday and I will help Wednesday. Paisley needs plenty of rest and to get her memory back. Now as her husband, you need to make sure everything is right…hmm!” Amelia informs me with her ‘do as you”re told, or else,’ voice.
Fuck me, that puts an end to telling her I’m not her husband at this moment in time. She’ll think everyone’s crazy if I tell her now…damn and blast it.
I look at Sienna. Damn, I need to call her Paisley because she’s not going to live behind that alias any longer, and she’s obviously told these three her real name. “You okay, Paisley?”
“Oh, yes, I’m fine. We’ve been having an enjoyable time getting to know each other. Sybil has made a casserole, and it’s in the oven for later.” Paisley gives me the brightest of smiles, and how can I wipe that off her face by telling her all the crap about the bank, and us not really being married.
The carryall I brought with me I take upstairs to the master bedroom and quickly place things around, so it looks more like I live here. Shit, I’m gonna have to cover my ass if I want to get away with this.
Back downstairs, I see the Three Stooges out the door and lock it behind them. Christ on a cracker, I’m gonna have to keep them away from Paisley, or they’ll have her up to no good and fast. It”s bad enough that Star is around the clubhouse even though the cabin was completed and they moved in. We all love Star, but boy, she can get up to mischief, which makes her perfect for Meat, of course.
Sitting in the living room with Paisley, I take her hand in mine and start to speak. “I need to see if some information may activate your memory. But if you get any sign of a headache or stressed out, tell me and we’ll stop.”
Paisley nods and swallows hard. I give her hand a gentle squeeze and continue. “Your shop and business are registered as Sienna Roseberry. But you said that your name is Paisley Anne Sanders. Can you explain why you are using an alias?”
Frowning, rubbing a finger across her forehead before answering. “I know my name, but I’m not sure where it came from because everyone was calling me Sienna, and I kept thinking, why are they calling me that? Then my name just popped out, as you know. But shouldn’t you have the answers?”
“I should, but we haven’t been together long, and I know you as Sienna, not Paisley. We had a whirlwind romance and married quickly, so we are still learning about each other.” Shit, I’m digging a freaking hole for myself here.
“Is that why you don’t have many clothes and things here?”
“Yes, they are still at the clubhouse, but I’ll bring them over. We are going to stay at the clubhouse for a while because I want everyone to meet you and you to meet them. But first, I want to tell you how you got that bang on the head.” I’m hanging onto her hand because she looks rather shocked, panicked, and something else I’m not sure of.
I launch into an altered version of the bank incident, but keep the fact she saved my life. I did, however, say we were together to make deposits for the shop and my work. I’m trying so hard to make this easy on us both that I’m making it harder than it needs to be.
“Okay, so we were making deposits at the bank and some asshole tried to rob it. He didn’t like you, went to shoot you and I pushed him, he hit me, and I fell banging my head?”
“Yes.” Thank fuck she has summed it up and I don’t have to say anything else. I lean forward and kiss her forehead, knowing I just dodged a bullet, although not a real one.
Not messing around and giving Paisley time to ask more questions, I get her packed and into the SUV before she knows what’s happening. Arriving at the clubhouse, everyone greets her and gives her hugs. Now, because of that, I don’t have to say anything.
I lead her to my room, and she seems happy that my clothes and other shit are here. She digs around the dresser, bathroom, and closet while I sit on the edge of the bed watching.
Making sure she gets into bed and is settled before I fetch her something to eat and drink, I can’t help but feel relieved that everything so far has gone well.
Sunday morning
Mia is sitting with Paisley in the common room while I go into church. I had to explain to Paisley that it isn’t church as in praying, but a club meeting. She kept frowning and asking why we called it church, and I honestly had gotten myself into a tongue-tied mess until Mia was able to change the subject.
I cannot resist and give her a quick peck on the lips, which has her eyes pop open, a blush rise on her cheeks and then she gives me the softest of smiles.
Taking my seat a short while later in church, I wait for Axel to arrive. Specs is here already, laptop open and tapping on the keyboard as always. I think he must do that in his sleep. I wonder if he’s worn his fingerprints off yet? Before I can blurt that question out to Specs, Axel walks in and takes his seat.
“Church in progress,” Axel states.
Now that’s not Axel’s usual way of opening church, but he looks pretty serious and his tone was too. Shit, I hope he’s not gonna throw bad news my way.
“Forest, Dep and Specs have uncovered some very interesting information regarding Paisley, aka Sienna. Paisley, I’ve been informed, was married to Senator Maurice Brooks for two years.”
I jump to my feet and growl, which would have put Meat’s growls and grunts to shame. Married to that crooked, piece of shit, Senator. No wonder she changed her fucking name.
“Sit down, TwoCents. You don’t know fuck all as yet.” Buzz gives me a serious look which tells me, I settle down or he’ll be making me.
Specs takes over the conversation when Axel gives him a nod.
“Paisley Anne Sanders, as Pres said, was married to Senator Brooks for two years. It was an arranged marriage by Paisley’s father, who was dying at the time. I believe he thought he was leaving his daughter safe, and he was because Brooks never physically or mentally hurt Paisley.
“The information I have found from old friends, social media and other sites, shows that he was ignoring her most of the time. He had bigger fish to fry, and other women to visit.
“Paisley was traveling with her photography, building her designing business, so was busy doing her own thing most of the time. But something happened, and she filed for divorce. Now the gossip was that he didn’t want a divorce, but she had something he didn’t want other people to know about so he signed the papers, gave her a hefty payout, and, as Star says, Toodle-loo.”
“So, what did she have on him?” Mav asks, leaning forward in his seat.
“No idea as yet. Even Forest has nothing on record for Paisley, so she’s clean. A few incidents with Brooks but nothing that would cause him embarrassment,” Specs continues, but I can see he’s not happy he has found nothing, as yet.
Axel turns and grins. Shit, it’s the one that says I’m really not gonna like what’s coming.
“Now, TwoCents, since we need to make sure that the Senator cannot cause Paisley any trouble, we did what needed to be done.” Again, the fucker grins. “We got you married, for real, and back-dated three months.”
I blink in shock, looking right back at Axel before my eyes flick to Specs, who slides an envelope over to me. Picking it up, I open it, slide out the contents and think, Holy Mother of God, I”m married!
A marriage certificate, just as he has said, dated three months ago, is staring right back at me. Paisley Anne Wilson…I’m going to have to show her this.
I don’t hear another word that is discussed and as I walk out of church dazed I get backslaps, comments of congratulations, and even suggestions on how to keep a wife happy!