Chapter Twenty-Two
Katie
WAVERLY, MELODY, AND I were in the living room of our condo, I had just opened a bottle of wine, and Melody was handing out glasses when a knock at the door came.
“I’ll get it,” Waverly said, heading that way. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Melody and I rushed to join her at the door just as our men pushed inside and I had no time to react before I was picked up and thrown over Rooster’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
“What the hell are you doing?” I squeaked, as he smacked my butt.
“Bedroom?” he growled in response.
“End of the hall.”
He headed that way and walked into the room, kicking the door shut behind us, before dropping me gently onto the bed.
“This isn’t the way to start a marriage, Katie,” he said, tugging my jeans down my hips.
“I know, I’m sorry,” I hiss-pered. “I had to back Maisie.” I pushed off his cut. “Didn’t you see my note?”
“No.” He frowned. “What note?”
“I left you a note in your saddlebag, telling you what we were doing. I mean, I didn’t tell you where we were going, or betray my first lady’s confidence, hos over bros and all, but I didn’t want you to worry, so I let you know that we’d be back on Monday and Gina had the details.”
He smiled slowly. “Okay, you’re off the hook.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I’d like to think I’m off the hook because I didn’t actually do anything wrong.”
Rooster raised an eyebrow. “Baby, you left your phone and your tracker behind. That’s the very definition of wrong.”
I bit my lip. “We have burners, and since we’re traveling as a mob, if anything bad actually happened, we have backup. Several of the women are carrying. Plus, we had the Saints on speed dial.”
This was the absolute wrong thing to say.
“The Burning Saints are not your fuckin’ club, Kate,” he growled, knifing off the bed. “Are you fuckin’ a Saint? Are you goddammed married to a Saint?”
I sighed, sitting up on my elbows, my pants still halfway down my thighs. “No.”
“No.” He huffed. “Goddamned right, you are not.”
“Rooster,” I said on a groan and flopped back onto the bed.
“What if something had happened to you and I couldn’t find you?” he ranted. “What if something happened to all of you?”
“Like a nuclear bomb?”
“This is no time to joke, Kate.”
I sat back up and scooted off the bed, then waddling over to him, and gripping his cut, I smiled up at him. “Kam. Love of my life, apple of my eye, sand in my vagina.”
“What?” he hissed.
“You can be a bit of an irritant sometimes,” I said as I kicked off my jeans and ran my hands up his chest.
“How can you possibly say that to me when all I want is for you to be safe?”
“We were safe. Are safe.” I looped my arms around his neck and wove my fingers through his hair. “And the Burning Saints are family.”
“No they’re not.”
I cocked my head. “Minus is literally Hatch’s brother-in-law and my best friend’s husband.” I frowned. “Are you still holding onto the thing with your uncle?”
“Los Psychos almost killed him and torched his business down to the ground and the fuckin’ Burning Saints let it happen.”
Back before Minus was exiled, the Burning Saints had been in the ‘protection’ racket, and Rooster’s uncle had been wrapped up in it. He didn’t pay for several months, apparently, and the Saints had given him a long time to come ‘current,’ which he didn’t, and he paid the consequences.
“That was a long time ago. Minus wasn’t even president back then.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you, I can’t change the fact that I get pissed off every time I see a Saints’ patch.”
“Then maybe you should talk to Minus about this.”
He scowled. “Why the fuck would I do that?”
“Maybe because your brothers don’t seem to have a problem with him. So, maybe you should find out for yourself what kind of man he is now and maybe find out what kind of club they are today.”
“Kate—”
“Do you want people judging you on the man you were in your twenties?”
He glared at me.
“I didn’t think so.”
“I’ll think about talkin’ to Minus,” he bit out.
“No skin off my nose, honey. I love Minus. It’s your well-being that will be affected one way or the other. Who knows? Maybe, if you sit down with him, things will all be resolved, and we’ll all ride off into the sunset together. And maybe if you do that, you’ll be less of an irritant to me.”
“Jesus.” He gave me a squeeze. “Fine. I’ll find a time to sit down with him.”
“Right answer,” I sassed. “Now, are you going to finish undressing me or am I supposed to stand here like Winnie the Pooh?”
“Go ahead and keep your shirt on.” He grinned. “Right now, I’m only interested in your honey pot.”
I chuckled as he pushed me gently onto the bed, burying his face between my legs. Getting to my honey pot was only the beginning, and I was here for it!
* * *
Rooster
One week later, I sat alone in the back booth of the newly opened Silver Spoon Diner in downtown Ridgefield, nursing a cup of black coffee and searching the web for a high-air intake flow system that would fit my ’68 Shovelhead on my phone as I waited for Katie.
She’d sent me a text earlier in the day telling me to meet her here for dinner.
Apparently, the blueberry pie in this place was ‘off the charts,’ and she had a craving, so here I was.
As the waitress refilled my cup, I glanced up to see Minus walking towards me.
Of all the diners, this asshole had to pick this one?
“Hey,” Minus said with a chin lift as he approached the booth. “What’s up?”
“Not much,” I replied, confused by both Minus’s tone and posture. “Just waiting for my old lady.”
“She said you wanted to talk to me about something,” Minus said.
“She, who?”
“Your old lady.”
“Katie?”
“Unless you’ve got more than one old lady.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
Minus held his phone up to my face. “Katie sent me a text saying that you had something important to talk to me about, and to meet you here for some blue—”
“Blueberry pie,” I interrupted. “The woman is pure evil, I swear it.”
“So, you do or don’t need to talk to me?” Minus asked.
I chuckled, shaking my head. “Sit down. Lemme buy you a slice.”
Minus took a seat and I ordered us a ‘round of pie.’
“What the fuck’s this all about?” he asked.
“This is about Katie lying to me in order to get us to talk,” I replied.
“Is that something she needed to do?” He frowned. “Do we have some sort of problem I’m unaware of?”
“Not between you and me, so much as your club?”
“I wasn’t aware of any history between you and the Saints,” Minus said. “You have some sort of beef with my club?”
I sighed. “You could say that.”
“Okay. You have beef with my club. Am I supposed to guess the rest, or what?”
“Do you remember a guy named Walter Swanson?” I asked.
Minus thought for a moment then shook his head. “Doesn’t ring a bell?”
“He had a coin shop on Milwaukie back in the late nineties. He also sold comic books and vintage toys. Collectable shit like that.”
“Oh, yeah. I remember that place,” Minus said.
“Walter Swanson, the guy who owned that place was my uncle. He was my mother’s older brother.”
“The Swan,” Minus said with a smile. “That’s what Cutter called him. I remember now,” he said his smile quickly fading.
“Yeah,” I bit out. “His place was torched and your club let it happen.”
Minus eyes locked onto mine. “Is that what you think happened?”
“I know it fuckin’ happened,” I shot back. “Your club was paid to protect him, and you left him twisting in the wind just because he was a couple months behind in payments.”
“Well, if you’ve got your mind made up already there’s no sense in me bothering you with the truth,” Minus said, standing to leave.
“Hold on,” I said, waving at him to sit back down. “What do you know that I don’t?”
“Probably a shitload, but we’ll focus on your uncle Swan for now.”
“He was Uncle Wally to me.”
“To the people who he owed two-hundred-thousand dollars to he was known as ‘Dead Man Walking.’ Those people were Los Psychos.”
“What two-hundred-thousand dollars? What are you talking about?”
“Your uncle borrowed quarter of a million dollars from Los Psychos in order to open that little coin shop of his. Seventy-five grand of which he immediately gambled away, along with any profit that store ever saw. The Burning Saints protected your uncle and his store for over a year without collecting a single dime, until Cutter found out that he’d gambled his daughter’s college fund away at Portland Meadows. ”
“Fuck, that’s what happened to Kaia’s money?” I breathed out.
My cousin had ended up moving to California the second she’d turned eighteen. We kept in touch, but the occasional text and email was a far cry from hanging out after school every day. Well, until I met Katie, of course.
Minus nodded. “Cutter confronted your uncle who told him to fuck off and mind his own business, so that’s what Cutter did. A few months later, the Swan’s shop was in flames and your uncle skipped town.”
“He died in a motel room in Prineville.”
“Cutter did everything he could to help your uncle. I’m not sure why.
I always assumed there was a deep backstory between them, but your uncle wouldn’t be helped.
He just kept making one bad decision after another until they caught up with him.
I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you, but my club only tried to help.
You could be pissed off at Los Psychos, but we already ran them fuckers outta town a while ago. ”
I let out a heavy sigh.
“That mean we’re good or are you gonna ask me to step outside?” Minus asked.
“Maybe after pie,” I said as the server arrived with two slices.
“This better be good fucking pie ’cuz you’re kind of an asshole.”
I smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m a total asshole once you get to know me.”
Minus chuckled and we dug in.
We finished eating just as my phone buzzed and I glanced down to see a text from Katie. “Remember, I love you, and I’ll make it up to you later, but I want a double date ASAP.”
“All good?” Minus asked.
I grinned. “Yeah, all good.”
“Cricket wants a double date STAT.”
“Yeah, I’ve been given the same edict. I’m good if you are.”
“Yeah, brother, let’s make it happen. Pink Priest?”
“I don’t know what that is,” I admitted.
“Then, you’re in for a twofer. Both a treat, and you’ll impress your woman.”
“I’m all for that.”
Minus chuckled as the server brought our bill. “I’ll have Cricket make reservations.”
I nodded. “Tell me when and where, and I’ll get Katie there.”
“You got it,” Minus said as I slid money into the folder, then we headed out.
Pulling into our garage, I threw my leg off my bike and set my helmet onto the seat just as Katie opened the door and peeked her head in. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
She wrinkled her nose. “How much do you want to kill me?”
I smiled. “The subterfuge was a little over the top, but I get it.”
“And did you get the answers you were seeking?”
I nodded, giving her the Reader’s Digest version.
“Holy shit, that’s bad.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, hanging up my leathers. “Makes a lot more sense, though.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry, honey.”
I shrugged, leaning down to kiss her. “It is what it is. I texted Kaia. Hoping she’ll give me a call later on so I can see where she’s at with all of it. I’m not sure what she knew, if anything.”
Katie wrapped her arms around me and slid her hands up my back. “Are you hungry?”
I grinned giving her ass a squeeze. “Not for food.”
“Okay, before we do that…”
“Do you need to eat?”
“No, I need to tell you something.”
I frowned. “Everything okay?”
“Um, well, there’s going to be a little chickie in the barnyard.”
“What? You want chickens? We don’t have a barn, babe.”
“No, Rooster.” She patted my chest. “You’re going to have a chickie. In your barnyard. I mean, I’m technically the barnyard I guess.”
“Not followin’.”
She smiled. “I’m pregnant, honey.”
“Holy shit, seriously?”
“Seriously.” She chuckled. “I took two tests. I’ll have Gina check me over next week when I’m back in the clinic, but, yes, all signs point to pregnant.”
“That’s why your tits are huge right now.”
She laughed. “Yes, that’s probably why my breasts are bigger.”
“Fuck, sorry, baby, that was totally insensitive,” I said, pulling her closer. “I’m so proud of you.”
She met my eyes. “You do understand you had a part in this too, right?”
“No, really?” I droned sarcastically.
“Just checking,” she sassed.
“Come and sit down, baby. You need to rest.”
“Less than five minutes ago, you were ready to take me, you know, sexually.”
“Well, you weren’t pregnant five minutes ago.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“You know what I mean,” I retorted.
“Look here, bub. I have certain expectations as your wife, and one of them is your dick, so, get that dick into the bedroom and take me, husband.”
“You know, there’s more to me than my genitalia.”
She cocked her head. “Is there?”
I laughed, giving her ass a smack, then leading her down the hallway and taking her as she demanded.