Chapter Thirty-Three
Ryder
I jumped up from the couch and stalked toward the man trying to claim my old lady. It was interesting to me that I had immediately seen her as that once I put my cut on. That was something I could analyze later. Right now, I needed to protect her.
I knew when I got up, Jingles would take my place. I didn’t need to worry about her safety here in the club. Despite the douche canoe standing before me and what he was possibly capable of.
I stood before St. Matthews. I towered over the man, and despite knowing he was only thirty-four years old, I would have sworn he was older than the sheriff.
The man stood at maybe five foot nine, which in this clubhouse he may as well have been part of the lollipop guild. The expensive suit he wore did nothing to hide the way his stomach hung over his belt, and the receding hairline was so far back, you would think it was trying to hide in the shadows.
“My wife belongs to me. She isn’t your any-fucking-thing.”
I heard Ellie’s mother gasp.
“Your wife?” her father asked, while St. Matthews stood there quietly.
I saw something flash in his eyes, but he tamped it down before I could decipher what it was. If I had to guess, it would be rage.
“Yes, my wife.”
“My daughter isn’t married. She wouldn’t get married without her mother,” Mrs. Livingston said rather confidently. Clearly, she didn’t know her daughter at all.
“That’s exactly what she did this morning.”
“Ellery, how could you do that? What about Jeremy?”
“I told you, Mother, I was not marrying Jeremy, ever. You chose not to listen,” Ellie said so quietly I almost didn’t hear her.
That was when I noticed no one had said a word. My brothers all stood around the room, feet spread apart, arms crossed over their chests.
Ghost had moved to stand by Jingles, protecting my wife and daughters. Chrissy had crawled onto the couch and was curled up by Ellie’s side.
Jack and Mimic stood by Sam and Charlie.
Blade and Winchester stood by Beck.
Cash and Gunner stood by Rachel.
Ace and Big Ben stood by Lily.
Colt and Nav stood by Jessie.
Banshee and Tank flanked the front doors.
Romeo and Shotgun stood in front of the church doors.
Hash, Patch, Matlock, and Stocks spread out between the brothers, while Zero and the prospects surrounded the club girls.
Johnny the prospect stood by Grace, with King in front of her.
King had deferred to his brother, the sheriff, despite this being his club. One of the many things that made him a good president was knowing when to attack and when to wait.
I turned back to St. Matthews to see his reaction. He knew he was beaten, but he wasn’t ready to give up yet.
“My fiancée is very troubled, Sheriff,” he said, never taking his eyes off me. My hands balled at my sides as my anger took root.
“Ryder! Stand down.”
I turned to look at King. Was he out of his mind? Did he honestly think that was an order I would follow? King glared at me as if he knew I questioned him in my head.
“Stand down,” he repeated.
The sheriff walked forward, placing his hand on my shoulder.
“What do you mean by troubled?” he asked the asshole in front of me.
“I am sure Mr. Livingston sent you the report about her mental health status. If she did, in fact, marry this man, it will be quickly annulled due to her not being able to make decisions for herself.”
“Go sit with your wife.”
I looked at the sheriff. “What?”
He turned and stepped between me and St. Matthews, his hand still on my shoulder.
“I said, go sit with your wife.” Lowering his voice, he added, “I’ve got this.”
I looked over at King. When he nodded, I turned and walked to the couch. Lifting Chrissy, I set her on my lap and wrapped my arm around Ellie. Ghost and Jingles closed ranks in front of us, blocking anyone from even looking at us, let alone trying to get to Ellie.
“Ellery Simone—”
“Shut the fuck up!” Jingles barked.
“Sebastian—”
“Did you hear what I fucking said?” Jingles hissed, stepping toward his mother.
Ghost grabbed his arm.
“Brother,” he warned.
“Meredith, come here,” Ellie’s father commanded.
“You are not my son,” her mother hissed.
“You don’t deserve him!” Sam shouted.
I looked over and watched her hand Charlie to Jack. She stood up before anyone could move and walked to stand in between Jingles and his mother.
“Who are you? One of his whores?”
“Meredith!” Mr. Livingston shouted.
Jack all but tossed Charlie to Mimic and stomped forward. Ghost halted his path. “Let her go,” he whispered to Jack.
“What kind of mother ignores their child so much they become a ghost in their own home? What kind of mother tries to sell off their children to the highest bidder? Because make no mistake, that is exactly what you were doing trying to first marry off Jingles, and then Ellie. You don’t deserve the title of mother. You are the epitome of a birthing person. You aren’t a mother. A mother protects their children. A mother loves them unconditionally. No matter what mistakes they make, no matter how bad the things they do are, a real mother never stops loving their child because they are a part of you. They are a piece of your heart walking around outside of your chest. How dare you talk to your child the way you just did? You are right, he isn’t your son. He’s mine!”
“You are talking nonsense.”
“I may be younger than almost every man in this room, but make no mistake, I am the mother they never had. I love each and every one of them the way I love my daughter. There is nothing any of them could do that would make me love them less. Sure, they can be assholes, and nine times out of ten, they are exactly that. But it is women like you who have made them that way. Women incapable of loving themselves so they are unable, or worse, unwilling to love the child they gave life to.”
Jingles wrapped his arms around Sam.
“Ok, mama, you had your say. She isn’t worth the stress to your little one. Go back to your old man and relax.”
“I see you, Jingles.”
“I know you do, and I love you for it.”
Jingles kissed the top of Sam’s head and handed her off to Jack.
“You’re done here,” he told the woman.
“Not without my daughter,” she said.
“I’m afraid your daughter doesn’t want to go with you,” the sheriff stated.
“Well, it doesn’t matter what she wants. We have paperwork stating she is not of sound mind and needs to be handed over to us, her parents. It is all legal and binding.”
“Actually, it isn’t,” Nav spoke up.
“Young man, you don’t know what you are talking about. This was signed off by her doctor.”
“And we have another doctor who has signed off saying she is of sound mind and fully capable of making her own decisions. She is not a danger to herself or anyone else,” King stated.
“Well, we will just see what a judge thinks,” Mr. Livingston said.
“See, I don’t think you want this going before a judge,” Nav argued. “I have been going through the paperwork you sent to the sheriff and I’m afraid the dates don’t match up.”
I looked at Nav. He was good at what he did, and hadn’t stopped looking for anything he could find to help Ellie.
“You see the date on this paperwork that claims Ellie was at a facility in New York?” He showed the sheriff the report he had brought to us. Pointing to multiple places on different pages.
“Well, on those dates, Ellie was at book signings in different areas of the country. I have been watching her every movement for the past six years. So, when I noticed the dates matched up, I contacted each of those stores. Here’s the thing about small towns. They take care of their own. I talked to the owner of each store and told them what was going on.”
Nav turned to look at Ellie. “Sorry, babe, but I figured since the cat was out of the bag anyway.” He shrugged.
“No problem.”
“Anyway,” Nav continued. “They all have video footage of Ellie in their store on those dates. And then I spoke to the doctor who signed off on that report. A Dr. August Lansing. He confirmed that he had never seen Ellie as a patient. So, I am afraid that report your holding sheriff is fake.”
“You fucked up now.” Jingles threw his head back and laughed. “You have any idea who August Lansing is connected to?”
“Mr. and Mrs. Livingston, you will need to come with me. I am placing you under arrest for forged documents and attempted kidnapping,” the sheriff said.
“What? You can’t do this!” Mr. Livingston cried.
“I can and I will.”
The sheriff read the Livingstons their rights. He didn’t cuff them as he only had one set, but Zero and Romeo led them out to his patrol car, ensuring they would safely make it to the station.
“Nav, I need everything you have,” the sheriff said before he left.
“I’ll send it all over,” he replied.
“That just leaves you, St. Matthews,” Jingles sneered.
At the sound of his voice, we all turned to look at the last man left standing in the clubhouse.
“I had nothing to do with what your parents concocted.”
“Bullshit.”
“Listen, I was told Ellie wanted to get married, but she was just a little gun-shy,” he explained, holding his hands in the air, palms out like he was surrendering.
“What happened to your other three fiancées?” Nav asked.
St. Matthews’ face paled, and he stuttered over his words. “I…I don’t know. Th-they just left. I swear I-I had nothing to do with their disappearances.”
The way he wilted under the scrutiny of the club once the sheriff was no longer there had me believing he might be telling the truth.
When he turned to leave, he bumped into Tank. One look at the big motherfucker and St. Matthews squealed.
The look on Tank’s face, and the step back he took away from the man, told us what we needed to know.
“Fucking hell,” King cursed. “Any man that pisses himself like that can’t be too dangerous. Take him downstairs. We need to have a little chat before he goes anywhere.”
“Dec knows he’s here,” Cash reminded him.
“He’ll go home, eventually. First, he’s going to tell Nav everything he knows about those girls. Who they are, how they met. He knows something, even though I doubt he is behind it all.”
Tank grabbed the back of St. Matthews’ neck and shoved him forward down the hallway until they disappeared.
“Let him stew in his fear for a bit before you go down there, Nav.”
Nav nodded and went back to his office.
I knew if anyone could find those girls, he would.
“Alright, it’s been a long day,” King said. “Ryder, are you staying here tonight?”
“Fuck no. It’s my wedding night.” I grinned at Jingles, and he groaned.
“Fuck off,” he said and walked over to Ellie who was still sitting on the couch with my girls.
They weren’t just mine anymore.
They belonged to us both now.
“You okay, Bellie?” Jingles asked his sister.
“It’s over, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Yea, it’s over. They won’t be able to weasel their way out of those charges, not with the evidence Nav has on them. And that’s if the doctor they forged on the paperwork doesn’t get to them first.”
Ellie looked up at me and smiled. “No more hiding.”
“No more hiding,” I agreed.
“No more book signings,” she said.
“No?” I asked. “Are you still going to write?”
“Hell yes, she is,” Sam, Beck, Grace and Rachel all yelled at once.
Ellie laughed.
“Yes, I’ll still write. I have more stories to tell. But I have more important things to do then traipse around the country.” She squeezed each of our girls to her, smiling at them both.
“And just think of the traffic to the town and the bookstore when people find out I’ve settled here.” She grinned.
“Maybe we could keep that under wraps for a while longer?” King asked. “We could use some downtime before more women flock to this town causing trouble.”
“Asshole,” Grace coughed, and we all laughed while King glared at Grace.
I took my girls, all three of them, home, and we spent some much-needed time together. Tabby hadn’t said anything else, but I was ok with that.
Baby steps.