ZODIAC
My day started shitty and kept spiraling from there.
I got woken up early to news that some fucker threw a beer bottle at Ojai’s head while he was riding back from breakfast. I rode to the scene to figure out if he’d been targeted for fucking someone’s girl, riding with my club, or jealousy over his long, blond hair.
“I chased down the guy,” Ojai said as the EMT dealt with his bleeding head. “He ran into an abandoned building. I was able to snap his ankle, but we can’t find him now.”
“You get cleaned up,” I told Ojai, knowing he’d rather keep hunting the guy. “We’ll play hound dogs and chase the asshole’s scent.”
That was my morning, searching condemned properties in a shitty neighborhood to locate a guy with a solid throwing arm and a limp. Just before lunch, we discovered the dipshit curled up in a closet.
The guy was nothing more than a piece of shit junkie who thought it would be funny to knock a biker off his motorcycle. He didn’t even know who Ojai was! Just a dumb fuck willing to die for a chuckle.
By the time I got the call from Exile, I was in a bad mood and on my way to lunch.
“Elle is fine,” Exile said as soon as I answered. His words sent ice through my veins as I waited for the “but.” “Your boy is also fine. But Elle shot a guy and got a little bruised up. She’s on her way to the hospital just in case.”
“What guy?”
“I don’t know, but it sounds like he was looking for his wife at one of the club’s safehouses. He pulled a gun. Elle put him down. His helper bitch got run over. Nova was there, but she’s safe. Everyone who matters is okay, but I knew you’d want to know.”
“I’m on my way.”
“There’s nothing to do here.”
“Fuck off,” I snarled and hung up. York waited to hear the plan. “I’ve got to ride to Little Memphis.”
“Alone?”
“I can’t wait for a posse to join me.”
“I can head up there with you. Just in case, there’s trouble.”
Exhaling hard, I hated how my club felt broken with Exile and me constantly out of town. Now, York wanted to watch my back. But who the fuck was watching Black Rainbow’s territory?
“No, stay here,” I told York. “I need someone solid in charge.”
York looked a little disappointed about staying here rather than following me to Little Memphis. I noticed how he often volunteered to travel to the town. I once again assumed he had his eye on a Crimson Guard fox.
Disappointed or not, York didn’t argue with me. I left him to keep our territory safe while I checked on Elle.
The ride to Little Memphis felt longer today. I had zero patience for the distance between Elle and me. I needed her nearby so I could see her whenever I wanted.
Fuck, I needed to stop denying how much I missed her. I wanted Elle. She was mine! I couldn’t pretend we were just fuck buddies or parents with benefits. She meant too much to me now.
I checked my phone while getting gas halfway to Little Memphis. Clint sent me security footage of Elle shooting a guy. I saw how she got knocked into a car by a bitch who was then run over.
I also had a message from Exile telling me that Elle was on her way home.
Finally, I looked at my messages from Elle. The first one said she killed a man, but no one important. The second one was a selfie at the hospital with her smiling and a bandage over her eyebrow. The third one was a picture of an ultrasound image with the words “Wilbur flashing his crack.”
I hated how Elle was clearly trying to chill me out over what happened. Her final message was a weird shot of flesh. I assumed she sent it by mistake.
“That’s a close-up shot of my boob,” she clarified in the next message. “You’re welcome."
Though I smiled at her gesture, exhaustion washed over me. I needed Elle to be a bigger part of my life. The status quo couldn’t work. Something had to give, and I wasn’t sure if she was willing to bend to my needs.
As I rode for the next few hours, I considered a lot of options on how to spend more time with Elle. The only one that made sense was for her to move to Baton Rouge. Of course, that option wouldn’t interest Elle.
I finally arrived at the Reed house around dinner time. Clint sat on the front porch with Ivy. He instantly moved to meet me before I could enter the house.
“She’s okay.”
“I want revenge.”
“There’s no one left to kill. Elle iced the guy, and they’re still mopping up the bitch from the intersection.”
“There’s got to be someone who can pay for what happened.”
“We can steal the guy’s body and let you chop it up,” Clint offered. “As long as I get to piss on it before you get started.”
“Deal,” I said, appreciating how he understood my rage.
“Don’t stress Elle by talking about revenge. She’s rattled but calm right now. The doctors checked her out. Everything looks good. But her getting stressed is bad for the baby.”
“I like when you dumb down shit for me, man.”
“I knew you’d appreciate my helpful nature,” Clint said and offered a tight smile. “But seriously, Elle was a very anxious teenager. I don’t want today’s crap to stir up old habits.”
“She’s fine,” Sabrina insisted while walking past us and onto the porch. “If she stops being fine, we’ll tie her down and make her watch ‘In the Mouth of Madness’ until she gets over her anxiety.”
With Sabrina headed wherever Elle was located, I ditched Clint and followed her. I felt him behind me, probably shooting daggers at my back.
Sabrina walked through the house and down the stairs. Shay sat on the couch with Sutter. They both stared at me like I was a monster entering their safe space.
Nodding at them, I kept close to Sabrina until we reached Elle’s room. Then, I jumped in front of Sabrina and took the lead.
“Fucker,” she hissed.
Ignoring her anger, I focused on Elle curled up on her side. When she saw me, she asked, “Did you see the picture of Wilbur?”
“How’s your goose egg?” Sabrina asked, zeroing in on the knot over Elle’s eyebrow.
“Throbbing,” Elle replied as her gaze held mine. “Your son flashed his crack at me during the ultrasound. He’s already a smartass.”
Approaching the bed, I leaned down and whispered, “You need to quit your job and stay home.”
"Stop trying to shove me in a box,” Elle snarled.
"It's for your own good."
"No fucking way."
Smiling, I kissed the lump on her forehead. "I think if I designed a comfy enough box, you'd climb inside and let me close the lid."
Elle shared my smile, but her eyes revealed zero interest in getting cozy inside any boxes I might create for her.
“You did well today,” Sabrina said as she stretched out next to Elle. “But maybe I should take over your job until you’ve squeezed out your bastard.”
Ignoring her cousin, Elle sighed and asked me, “Did you ride all day to see me over a little bump on my head?”
“Sabrina’s right. You shouldn’t be doing anything except taking care of Sutter and the baby.”
“I am right,” Sabrina said while cuddling her cousin. “I’m always right.”
“Fine. I’ll stop working until the baby is born, but not because of you two ding-fucks. I’ll do it for Sutter, who needs me to focus on him more.”
“No one cares about your reasoning,” Sabrina murmured. “We only care that we’re getting our way.”
“I want four things,” I announced, standing next to the bed. “You just agreed to the first one. The second is for Sabrina to get out of the room. And third is to name our son Trent. The final one is for you to move to Baton Rouge.”
“No to those last three!” Sabrina cried. “Dumbass man trying to tell me what to do.”
Ignoring Sabrina, I sat on the bed next to Elle and rested my hand on her belly.
“Can you feel him?” I asked, needing reassurance about my son.
“Not right now. He was kicking me earlier.”
“You shouldn’t have been there today.”
“The world is dangerous,” Elle said, holding my gaze. “I can’t hide at my house.”
“If you’re so daring, why not hide at my house?”
“You don’t have one.”
“I’ll buy one. We can set it up any way you want.”
“In Baton Rouge,” Elle said, looking ready to cry. “You’re not thinking straight.”
“Zodiac’s just rattled after what happened,” Sabrina said and wrapped her leg around Elle’s body. “Don’t listen to him. He doesn’t want you to live with him. He’s making promises neither of you will want to keep.”
“I can’t give up my club,” I told Elle. “Not like you can give up living here with your family. I’m asking you to move to Baton Rouge and give me a year to make things work for you.”
The words rushed out of my mouth as if they had a mind of their own. I couldn’t stop myself even if I wanted to. With her, I could only bare my heart and hope she didn’t make me regret it.
“Pick a house you like,” I continued when Elle only stared brokenhearted at me. “Have the baby. You and Sutter can try to build a life in Baton Rouge. If after a year, you two can’t make it work, I’ll give up my club and move here.”
Elle’s mouth popped open. She glanced at Sabrina, who closed her own gaping mouth and shook her head.
“You shouldn’t give up anything for him, and he shouldn’t give up anything for you.”
Elle frowned. “Because it would inconvenience you or because you’d never give up anything for Moe and Xandy?”
“Obviously the first one, dumbass,” Sabrina said and scowled at me. “You can’t expect them to move there.”
“Elle and I clicked. No one else will ever have a shot with us. We ought to try, right? Why are you such a weak bitch?”
“I would give up anything for my women,” Sabrina insisted. “But Elle needs her family.”
“We’ll buy a big house like Exile and Lula did. There’ll be space for her parents to hang out. It’ll be fine.”
“And Sutter?” Sabrina asked Elle. “He shouldn’t have his life upended so you can run this experiment.”
“You’re right,” Elle told her cousin while rubbing her belly. “But he might be open to it. And maybe we can live in both places like Lula and Exile do. I need to consider the idea.”
Sabrina hugged Elle and offered, “I could tell Zodiac no, if saying the word is too difficult for you.”
Elle locked her gaze on mine and smiled. “I love the son of a bitch. I can’t help feeding this need between us.”
While I smiled at her declaration, Sabrina continued to take shots at my plan. “You’ll have no one to hang out with in Baton Rouge.”
“I can make new friends.”
Sabrina rolled off the bed and threw up her hands dramatically. “I can’t talk to you when you’re this delusional. I’ll round up an intervention for you before Zodiac can fuck out your brains more than he already has.”
Elle waited until her cousin left the room before asking, “I love the name Trent, but I worry you’re asking us to move to Baton Rouge because you got scared about the shooting.”
“I can’t live my life in Baton Rouge without you there,” I admitted, no longer able to deny my weakness for this woman.
“My club is suffering. Maybe if I hadn’t given Exile the chance to spend so much time here, I could be selfish and ditch my people.
But I feel my enemies are beginning to notice my absence in Baton Rouge. ”
“I could visit you more.”
“It’s not safe for you to drive back and forth. Also, the more time you spend visiting me is more time you are away from Sutter.”
Elle smiled softly. “I worry you’re panicking and will change your mind when the fear fades.”
“If you don’t want to move, just say it,” I muttered, ready for her to shut everything down.
Elle glanced at the open door before whispering, “I checked out houses in Baton Rouge. I’ve already been wondering about moving closer to you, but I’m scared you’ll change your mind and feel trapped.”
Her words erased my bad mood. Knowing I was close to getting what I needed, I explained, “I hate admitting weakness, but I no longer feel right in my skin whenever you’re far away.”
Elle adjusted on the mattress, so she was resting on her knees. “I’ll ask Sutter. If he agrees to give it a shot, I’m willing to leave my home and routine to start over in a humid town with a man I’ve known for less than six months.”
“I liked how you worded it as romantically as possible.”
Smirking, Elle shrugged. “I watch too many of those foofy Hallmark movies. Oh, and I really do like the name Trent.”
Elle cupped my face and planted a kiss on my lips. That was when I realized how I was holding back. This sexy, mouthy woman owned a strange new part of me that I didn’t fully understand.
Wrapping Elle in my arms, I finally relaxed after hours of feeling like the world was closing in on me from all sides. I couldn’t lose her. No longer did my club mean more to me than anything else.
Elle Reed was mine, and living without her wasn’t an option.