Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
brONX
Stone swung the door open, and we all raised our guns.
But he quickly motioned for us to put them down.
From my vantage point with Notch, I had no idea who was standing there.
Texas’s eyes widened, though. He motioned for us quickly to holster our guns and then put his out of sight.
Stone tucked his behind his back into the waistband of his pants and then stepped off to the side and ushered our guests in.
My jaw dropped open at the sight of Asher standing in our doorway.
“Where’s our daughter?” the woman beside him asked.
“Mom?” Freya asked behind me.
“Mom,” Hayley whispered.
Freya shoved between Notch and me and took off. I stood there in shock, watching as Asher stared down Stone in the Celtic Riders leather cut. Freya tossed herself into her mother’s arms, hugging her as Asher took stock of the lodge around him.
“A bit small,” he murmured.
“We’re a small crew,” Stone said.
I peeked back at Hayley and saw her eyes widen. They were filled with tears, and not even I could begin to empathize what she was going through. Notch stepped off to the side, allowing her a clear pathway if she wanted to take it.
But she didn’t.
Stone peered over at us and sighed. I watched him age ten years right in front of my very eyes.
The hurt and the pain he had tried to protect his fiancé from had come knocking on our door.
And it was all because of a phone call we placed willingly.
I knew Stone wanted to protect Hayley. I knew he didn’t want her to understand so much pain and confusion.
But all we could do now was stand beside her as the reality of her life slowly unfolded.
“Hayley?” Freya asked.
“What did you just say?” her mother gasped.
“She’s here?” Asher asked.
“Yes. I am,” Hayley said softly.
She emerged from between Notch and me, her eyes locked on Rose.
Her mother. Freya’s mother. Stone stood there, still as a rock, while Texas came over and closed the door.
We all watched as Hayley slowly made her way over to Rose.
We all watched as tears rushed down Rose’s cheeks.
Asher and Freya stood off to the side hugging one another and watching as the two finally reunited.
“Mom?” Hayley asked.
“Hey there, bumblebee,” Rose said.
“Holy shit, Mom,” she said, sniffling.
Hayley threw her arms around the small woman, and Freya sniffled.
Her father held her tight, towering well over all of us as they stood in the kitchen.
The man practically had to duck to get through the damn door in the first place.
He was big and intimidating. But as he held his daughter and watched the reunion unfold, I could have sworn there was a glimmer of tears in his own eyes.
“You’re not dead,” Hayley breathed.
“No, honey. I’m not. I’m so sorry, but I’m not,” Rose said.
“Why did you leave? Why did you—leave Dad?” Hayley asked.
Rose sighed. “It’s so much more complicated than you could ever imagine. Your father and I—we—”
Rose held her daughter out and wiped away her tears.
“Your father isn’t perfect, bumblebee,” their mother said.
Hayley scoffed. “Yeah. I got that.”
“I’m serious. He’s a good man, but he’s got some serious issues he hasn’t ever addressed. PTSD from his job. Nightmares that kept both of us up. He threw himself into work to keep the demons at bay instead of getting the help he needed, and it tore us apart.”
“So, you left.”
“I wanted a divorce, yes. I wanted a custody agreement in place, and I wanted to stay in San Diego. And during the separation, I met Asher,” she said.
Rose turned and looked at the massive man in the corner who still cradled Freya close to him.
“I met Asher and fell in love, and he helped me through a lot. Your father resented me for falling in love so quickly and accused me of cheating. Of leaving him for Asher,” Rose said.
“But why didn’t you ever come back? I get leaving. That’s fine. But why leave me behind? Why not ever come back to see me? Or call me? Or send me a damn birthday card?” Hayley asked.
Rose sniffled. “He threatened us, bumblebee. Me, really. He told me if I didn’t leave Asher for your sake, he’d toss all of us in jail.
The crew. Asher. Me. He said he’d accuse me of withholding information from the authorities on the activities of the Celtic Riders, and he’d never let me see you again. ”
“And when he arrested and tossed my first V.P. into the tank after following us around for a while, we knew he wasn’t joking,” Asher said.
“Some M.O.,” Stone murmured.
“He flew off the handle, and I was scared. But I knew if I took you with me, he’d never stop chasing us.
He’d call in every favor he had to get his daughter back, and I didn’t want to make your life miserable.
I wanted you at my side. I wanted you in my life.
But I knew if I took you with me—with us—he’d never stop hunting us down.
He’d never stop dismantling our life because that’s how your father is.
He gets hold of a grudge and he squeezes it for every drop of life it has.
Leaving you was the hardest thing I ever did, but it also ensured a life for you I could never give you if I chose to take you with me.
If I chose to rip you from your father.”
Hayley threw her arms around her mother’s neck again, and the two of them cried together.
I looked over at Freya and watched her pull away from her father, making her way for me.
My eyes met Asher’s, and I saw he wasn’t happy.
But when Freya hugged me, I couldn’t deny her the warmth and the comfort she sought.
I wrapped my arms around her and held her close.
I listened as Hayley introduced her mother to Stone.
I watched as Texas introduced Asher to the crew.
I shook Rose’s hand and tried to shake Asher’s, but he wasn’t having any of it.
He simply glared at me, and I couldn’t blame him.
I was most of the reason his daughter had been targeted in the first place.
“Thank you. For all of this,” Freya whispered.
“Anything for you,” I murmured.
I released her and she went to go hug her half-sister.
The three of them stood around chatting away and trying to catch up on everything.
Holy fuck, the three of them really did look alike.
Even Asher joined them at one point, hugging Hayley and calling her his daughter almost immediately.
It made Hayley cry harder, and it was the first time I’d ever seen tears in Stone’s eyes.
I was sure if it ever came up, he’d deny it. But he’d never be able to deny the love he had for that woman. Because I fully believed that there were only two things that made a grown man cry. Two things in the life of a man that were guaranteed to make him shed tears.
The falling tears of his own woman and the birth of his first child.
“Well, I guess this could’ve been worse,” Notch said as he stood next to me.
“I’m honestly not so sure what we were—”
“Get down!” Texas exclaimed.
A bullet surged through the back window and sank itself into the front door. Cars squealed to a stop outside in the parking lot, and we heard the cocking of guns in the distance. Another bullet came whizzing through the kitchen window, causing me to grab Notch and take him to the floor.
The men immediately pulled their guns as Rose threw herself over her two daughters.
“Cover! Now!” Stone yelled.
“Back room. Get down the hallway. Ella and Keva are back there too,” Texas said.
I shot him a look. “And when the hell were you going to inform us they were here too?”
“I figured it was a given since Hayley was already here!” Texas exclaimed.
More bullets ripped past our heads as Asher shot out the kitchen window.
“No! No givens, asshole!” Notch exclaimed.
“It’s going to be easier on you if you all come out with your guns in the air!”
Harry Cheng yelled outside our damn porch as more singular bullets busted out the windows of the lodge.
I motioned for the girls to crawl to me, trying to make sure they got into that back room.
All of the girls were here, which meant we had to play this carefully.
Us and our guns were the only barricade standing between those asshole Chinese miniature juggernauts and the protection of the women we cared for and loved the most.
Love.
Was it possible for me to care so greatly for Freya so soon?
“Where am I going?” Freya asked.
Her voice ripped me from my trance as more discharged bullets sank themselves into the walls of the lodge.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Harry taunted.
“All the way back. There’s a door at the end of the hallway. Shotgun under the bed if Rose needs it. I’m sure she knows how to shoot,” I said.
“You’re damn right, I do,” she said.
“Go. We’ve got this. Stay down and don’t come out,” I said.
Then, I stood and aimed my gun through the window on the far side of the lodge. The one right in front of me. I aimed down the sights of my pistol and began shooting, standing strong and taking out the three men that aimed their guns right through the damn thing.
If they wanted to hurt our women, they’d have to go through me first.