Forty-Three
My woman stomps through the clubhouse, stopping only when she reaches her brother, Blaze. She leans down and says something to him that has his head jerking up and eyes narrowing on her. With a nod, he pulls out his ever-present laptop and begins typing furiously. When my tornado's eyes connect with her sisters, they have a silent conversation. Sin isn’t thrilled about it. Her jaw clenches as she gives Bellamy a jerky nod. With a headshake, she gets up and heads to the back door of the clubhouse.
My tornado says a few more things to her brother, whose face is in his usual mask. She then turns and stalks off toward the officers. Curious, I watched her go. Then, as my mind often does, I take a pull of my beer and wonder when would be the best time to corner her ass. She’s been hiding from me. I know where she goes, but I respect that sometimes she needs her space, so I give her the illusion of it. I chuckle. She isn't slick; my little tornado never escapes me. Before my thoughts can continue down their path, Savvy’s angry voice rings out for the hall.
“WHAT THE FUCK YOU MEAN YOU LET HER GO. WHO THE FUCK TOLD YOU THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA, BELLAMY DIANNE CHURCH PETROV?”
Since her return, I’ve learned a lot about the woman who will become my mother-in-law. Svetlana Petrov can be pissed all the way the fuck off, but you will never know, at least if you weren’t one of her kids. She is also not one to raise her voice, so to hear her clear across the main room means she is beyond pissed. Knowing that, I don’t think I move. I should have known with how Bellamy acted that something was up. I’m not the only one who is up and heading to Prez’s office because for Savvy to raise her voice like that, something major has gone down. Before I reach the office, I hear my tornado respond in kind.
“WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU YELLING AT ME? IF I WASN’T FUCKING OUT THERE, AND I DIDN’T DO WHAT I DID, YOU AND DAD WOULDN’T EVEN KNOW,” Bellamy bellows.
Jesus, what the hell is going on? As I get to the office, the door is wide open, and Bellamy stands facing Prez’s desk. Savvy is standing in front of the couch with her hands on her hips, eyes full of fury, staring incredulously at her daughter. Prez is standing behind his desk, pacing. Shit.
“WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?”
Prez yells, eyes full of rage, hands clenched at his side. When he looks up to see me, Blaze, Bull, Chase, Vex, Pain Rocket, and the club officers walking into the room. I give him a look in warning to calm his ass down, talking to my woman. He’s too pissed to notice as he continues to glare at my woman.
The last man in Turbo gives us a nod and closes the door behind him. I walk over to my little tornado, pulling her to my side. She looks at me with wary eyes. Shaking her head and sighing, she turns back to her father. She pulls out her phone, does something on it, and presses a button. She rests the phone on Prez’s desk wordlessly and steps away. Her eyes stare intently at him, waiting for a response.
At first, we hear nothing, and then we hear Bellamy talking to someone we quickly realize is Princess. Bellamy lays out some harsh but honest truths about what will happen if Princess leaves to run to her mother. Princess counters by saying that Bellamy and Savvy orchestrated all of this to get back to Prez and the club, women scorned, and all that shit. There are a few scoffs when Princess talks about how amazing Marco is and all he will do to make her feel a part of the family and that he will save the club and us. Yeah, that’s the goal. For someone born and raised in this life, she is na?ve as fuck to what Marco and her mother are doing. And as far as proof they have, I call bullshit on that. The shit she says about me has my blood boiling. Fucking cunt. By the end, Prez is visibly shaking, staring at the phone like he wants to destroy it with his bare hands.
“I told you something would happen when we least expected it–they were too damn quiet. But none of you would fucking listen. I’m not an amateur. I’ve been doing this shit for a long damn time. Going with my gut has saved countless lives, and I’ll be damned if familial ties will make me go against that.” She sighed, shaking her head at the fact that she had to explain that. She lets out a long, deep breath. “When Princess got drunk the other day, I implanted a GPS tracker right underneath her shoulder blade. It was the best I could do.” She raises her hand, cutting Prez off. The rage in his eyes has me letting go of my woman and stepping closer to his desk, which has his attention coming to me.
“Prez,” I say in warning.
For a few seconds, he stares at me; I know he wants to knock me the fuck out for stepping toward him and acting the way I am, but he will not lose his shit on my woman for ultimately doing her damn job. His eyes trail from mine to Savvy, and they hold hers. Savvy is much calmer than she was when we came in. She nods, and he turns back to me, doing the same.
“I needed to ensure I was always aware of her location should she be taken or run. I knew shit was going to happen. I felt it in my bones. Beverly and Marco have been like little flies in her ear for some time now.” She looks at Blaze, and he gives her a grunt. He pulls out his laptop and starts typing.
“I knew they couldn’t get into the club, but I wanted to do everything to ensure we could find her if they somehow got her out. She has spent a shit ton of time walking the grounds–not once have any of you noticed. Princess does not do outside, and you all know it. That was a red flag, so I started watching her more. I noticed her phone differed from the one I’d seen her with before Mom called Beverly.” Bellamy’s lips go tight for a second before her mother tries to cut her off.
“You…” Savvy says.
“Like I said, no one seemed to want to listen to me.” She gives her mother a pointed look, only to receive a narrowed-eyed response. “This week, something changed. I saw it on her face, how she watched Mom and me, and how she didn’t sneer at me but started looking at me smugly, like she knew something I didn’t. Trust me when I say women don’t switch up like that if they don’t have a reason to. No one goes from sneering to smug for no reason. So I did what I had to do. Princess was out there figuring out how to get out. When I figured that out, I made it easy for her. I set it up to make it seem like there were holes in our defenses so she would have the confidence to do what I knew she would–make a run for it. There is a team that has been on standby along with Sin. They are following her. If you want to be pissed at me, Gunner, then so be it. She would have eventually figured out a way out of here. I just controlled the scenario and ensured her ass was covered.” Bellamy shrugs.
She crosses her arms and sits in the chair across from her pops, not smug but tired. My eyes narrow on her. I’m not upset by what she did. I'm just upset she took this all on her own. I wished she would have trusted me enough to come to me and tell me her plan, but I understand why she didn’t, even if I hate it. If I am honest, she did the right thing. The way Prez and Savvy were handling things, watching and waiting, was wearing everyone down. We all want this over so we can get back to our lives. None of the brothers want to sit and wait for the other shoe to drop or for someone to get hurt. That’s not our way–it never has been.
My hand goes from her shoulder to the back of her neck. I know we haven’t confirmed it yet, but I know. I massage her neck to release some of the tension, which works a little. Not enough, though. I lean down, bringing my head closer to her ear and breathing her in. “You need to breathe. The stress is not good for you right now.” Her hand comes up to the back of my head as her face turns to mine slightly. She pulls me down a little, rests her forehead on my cheek, and takes a few breaths. “Good girl,” I whisper to her and kiss her forehead.
“You two done? Or should we leave the room and let you finish snuggling while my daughter is out there and on her way to that psychopath,” Prez sneers.
Pulling away from my woman and standing to my full height. My eyes narrow on him. “First, Prez, you need to rein your shit in. My woman doesn’t need the fucking stress, or you giving her shit about what she did to ensure that Princess' dumb ass didn’t just fuck herself or the club over. Who knows what would have happened if it weren’t for Bellamy doing what she did? Bellamy isn’t wrong. We wouldn’t have known she left. Take a fucking breath.” I sneer right the fuck back at him.
“Well, Bellamy’s fucking stress levels aren’t my fucking concern or my fucking problem right now. If she is stressed, she needs to see a damn therapist. Don’t bitch about it to my VP while Princess's life is in danger. My concern is making sure that Princess doesn’t end up married to a psychopath or dead.” Prez sneers at me. It is taking everything in me not to leap across the desk and lay into his ass for his callous words.
Bellamy sucks in a breath, and I fucking know she is thinking about that first night and the shit he said to her then. Motherfucker. A noise comes from my right, and I look over to Savvy, whose brows are furrowed as she stares between me, Prez, and Bellamy. I’m guessing she doesn’t know what was said and how it came across. She watches and listens before she chimes in. I’ve learned that she does that a lot. I guess in her line of work, she needs to observe before deciding what action to take. My eyes return to Prez, who looks at Bellamy like he did that first night. His eyes narrowed, and look like he was about to get fucking froggy.
I glare at him. Motherfucker, don’t try me. I raise a brow. He doesn’t back down. This motherfucker here.
“Seriously, Gunner, we are going to play this card again. You want to fucking do this? Because this time, I promise you it won’t be your best friend and VP talking. It will be her man.” I say, glaring at him.
My anger is most fucking definitely about to get the better of me if he doesn’t lay the fuck off my woman. Prez or not, best friend or not, I will not put up with his bullshit. Everyone else may not see it, but I recognize the fucking pattern. He did this shit when Bellamy and Blaze both came here. Letting his mouth run away from his ass. If he doesn’t watch it, it will run right into my fucking fist. He needs to rein his shit in.
“That’s enough, you two. I’m fine. I get it, Gunner. Your priority is and will always be your precious fucking daughter. No surprise there.” she says the last part quietly. Bellamy stands up and walks out of the room.
Everyone watches her go. My eyes return to my Prez for a few minutes, seriously debating laying his ass out. He fucking never goddamned learns. I look over at Blaze, and he gives me a nod, surprisingly not fazed by his Pops outburst and attitude. The look he gives me says that. Yes, he will stick around and fill his Pops in on what he knows and what they have set up to protect Princess. And no, he won't lose his shit on his father, even though he understands why I’m pissed at his blatant show of favoritism between his daughters. Fucking good, because I need to find my woman and make sure she’s okay. Fucking Prez.
Heading out, I know my woman, and she is in one of two places, the kitchen or our bedroom. I check the kitchen, and no dice. Valeria confirmed as she stomped toward the stairs. I head to the stairs and take them two at a time. Walking into the suite, I head straight to our bedroom. My beautiful and amazing woman is sitting on our bed with her head in her hands. She hears me come in. When she looks up at me, she smiles, not a happy one but a sad, placating one, and I don’t fucking like it. Hitting my knees in front of her, I pull her to me. She rests her head on my shoulder and breathes me as I do her.
“I’ll take the test.” she says in a quiet voice. “I’ll take it. I…” She clears her throat and pushes to sit up to look at me. I see so much fucking sadness in her eyes, and I loathe it.
“I wanted to find out from a doctor like they do in the books and movies. Make an appointment, pee in a cup, and hold hands in the room, excitedly waiting for the results. I wanted that.” She clears her throat again. “My mother didn’t have that,” she whispers and lets out a sad sigh. I fucking hate this. “She was alone, and I never wanted to be alone. I wanted the experience with the man I loved and planned to spend the rest of my life with. But you… um, you may choose not to stay with me because of your president and the club, and my bad decision-making skills of letting your club Princess be in danger or believe that we are here to do all that shit she said we did or are planning to do.” She rambles.
Staring at her, wondering what the fuck she’s talking about. That shit never crossed my mind. And my brows furrow because I hope to fuck it doesn’t or hasn’t crossed Prez’s.
“You might want a different experience. So I’ll take the test, okay… Give me the test, and I’ll take it before we save everyone's beloved Princess.” she says so quietly the last part. I almost didn’t hear her. Her voice is raspy and too damn quiet. Her eyes shine with unshed tears when she turns toward me. I can see the fight in her not to let a tear fall. And I’m fighting not to stomp back to my Prez’s office and smack the shit out of his ass for making her feel like this. I know she has been a little more emotional lately. It's not a bad thing but a more present thing.
I never want her to doubt herself or her worth like this. This woman is everything to me. Bellamy is strong, intelligent, and a badass bitch. And if I need to tell her that every day, I damn well will. Prez can go fuck himself for making her feel like shit for doing what she felt was best for the club and Princess. We all know Princess wouldn’t listen to any of us once her mind’s made up. Letting her go was for the best, at least until she learned her damn lesson. Those people will show their true colors sooner than later. And she is in for a rude awakening when they do.
I sigh and stand, picking her up and putting her in my lap. Never in all the time, albeit not long, have I known my woman to be like this. “I would leave this club before leaving you and our little one.” Putting my hand on her stomach, I know it’s not confirmed, but I know. “You are the love of my life. I knew you would be it for me when I set eyes on you. I knew you were something special, someone special. Don’t you ever fucking doubt that shit. Fuck this club, and fuck your pops. They aren’t a part of my soul like you are. I couldn’t and wouldn’t survive in this world without you. Do you understand me, my little tornado? I want what you want. All of it,” I say and mean every word, looking into her eyes. She sucks in a breath and stares at me, seeking the truth. And I’m going to give it to her and more. I stand with her in my arms. I adjust her so I can do what I plan to do. She wraps her arms and legs around me and buries her face in my neck. I walk over to my dresser and open the top drawer.
“When I was young, my mother gave me something.” Pulling out what I was looking for, I walked back to my bed and sat with her still on my lap. “She told me that when I found the one, I should give this to her.” I struggle to get the damn thing out of the box with one hand. But I do it, and pulling her left hand from around my neck, I slide the ring on her finger. “You are my one, my one. You are the love of my life, my soulmate, my everything, and I know I will want you until I take my last breath. So Bellamy Dianne Church-Petrov, will you add another hyphen to your name and become my wife?” I lean back so that I can look at her beautiful face. I kiss her lips when she looks up at me with watery eyes. My lips are still on hers when I feel the wetness and saltiness of tears on my lips. I pull away from her to stare into her eyes, to say the one thing I have been dying to say, “I love you.” Repeating against her lips. I’m so damn in love with this infuriating woman.
“Damn it, is that fucking test in the bathroom? Because this shit is not normal. I do not cry. You broke me.” We both laugh for a minute before she smiles at me. Her eyes are glittering with so many emotions. “Yes,” she whispers. “What was that, my little tornado?” She buries her head into my chest, holding the hand with the ring between us. “I said yes, you fucker.” I pull her close to me and let out a bark of laughter.
“Good…”