12. Finleigh
Finleigh
“Girlies, have you met Finleigh yet?” The three women coming in from the back eye me up and down before Candy introduces us.
“Finleigh, this is Trista, Amber, and Macy. They provide the boys with some much-needed…relief.” Each one kind of giggles like I won’t understand.
I have amnesia, not a case of stupidity.
“And Brute is looking mighty stressed right now,” Trista comments, sizing him up like a piece of meat.
As I turn my head towards him, his eyes are on me from his office window as he speaks to his father, and I swear he knows what Trista just said. I can’t tell what he’s thinking, though.
Trista takes a step forward, and rather than let her pass, my arm extends from the sling to stop her with a hand on her chest. “No.” The simply stated word seems to shock her into backing off.
Candy snickers from beside me and pulls me out the back, where Axl is with a couple of guys. His eyes eat me up as we walk closer. Abandoning the bike he was tuning up, he collects me from Candy’s hold.
“How are you feeling?”
Resting my head on Axl’s chest, I absorb the comfort of his arms, enjoying not only the strength and warmth but the steady beat of his heart as well.
“Better. Stronger.” Pulling back, I gaze up at him to see the way he watches me. With heat in his eyes and desire written across his face, it’s only a matter of time before being naked between these two powerful men again.
“Good to know.” He leans down for a quick kiss before drawing back to pick me up and place me on a bike beside the one he was working on. “This is mine. I don’t want to see you on the back of anyone else’s ride unless it’s Brute’s. Got it?”
I nod at the seriousness in his tone. “What were you doing?” My gaze shifts to the other bike, and who I believe are Priest and the men from the hospital. Prospects, possibly, but I don’t remember their names.
“Priest is throwing a bitch fit that his pipe is rattling, so I was just tightening a few bolts for him. Maybe now he’ll stop crying about it.” Axl’s eyes narrow on the other man.
“Hey! Just cause your girl is here, doesn’t mean I won’t fuck you up.”
Viking wanders past as they argue, shaking his head, clearly amused as he goes inside.
Lights begin to turn on around the back of the warehouse, and the warmth of the evening feels so normal. Almost too much so. I’m surrounded by bikers and outlaws, men who society deems as bad, yet I don’t believe I’ve ever felt safer.
“Is that a fire pit?” I spot a giant oil drum surrounded by chairs and benches, and half hope it is.
“Sure is.” Brute’s firm tone makes me peer around Axl’s broad chest to see him aiming for me. “Prospects, get one going. Good night for a bonfire.” They nod and do as they’re told. “Viking was right, princess.” Swiping a thumb across his lower lip, his hooded eyes stare at me.
“About what?” My gaze darts between the two of them.
“You look fucking fine sitting on that bike.” My skin heats as a blush works its way up my chest, neck, and blossoms into my cheeks.
In the minutes since Brute arrived, we’ve been left alone, and he and Axl both take the time they need to admire the way I’m sitting. My only wish is that I were wearing something sexier because, despite my terrible appearance, the desire to look good for them is high.
Interrupting the moment, I have to ask, “Easy found my address, right?” Brute’s eyes lift to meet Axl’s before nodding. “Could we go there soon? So I can get things. Clothes. I really need clothes.” And my memories. The neurologist mentioned that being in familiar spaces could help bring them back.
“We can get you anything you need,” Brute responds as his tattooed hand lands on my thigh. “It’s a long trip for you.” And exhausting to be honest.
“It could help my memory, though.” That seems to make them more agreeable.
“We’ll send the prospects ahead, see if they can’t sniff out any trouble,” Brute finally relents. “Any danger, and we’ll be turning right around. That clear?”
“Deal.” For the first time since waking up in the hospital, a genuine smile crosses my face. Feeling brave, I grab Brute’s vest and pull him in close. “Thank you,” I say and lean up, Axl’s hands lifting me high enough to wrap one arm around Brute’s neck and plant a kiss on his lips.
He doesn’t hesitate to remove me from the bike, wrap my legs around his waist, and deepen the kiss until we’re breathless. Moaning into his mouth, I hold him tighter as Axl comes up from behind to bear some of my weight.
When I feel a solid kick in my belly, I pull away, gasping. My stunned stare meets Brute’s before he gazes down at my belly. “That’s got to be a boy,” he mutters, seemingly as amazed as I am, as his hand rests where we felt the movement.
“Strong?” Axl mutters, glancing down over my shoulder and placing his hand on my stomach too.
“Very.” Closing my eyes, the movement increases, and I realize that no matter how I felt before the attack, and no matter what happens in the future, I’m keeping this baby. I want him or her.
“God damn.” You can hear Axl’s grin in his voice as his fingers dance across my belly. “He’ll make a good addition to the club when he’s older.”
“President or enforcer,” Brute interjects.
Hearing the guys make plans for this baby isn’t what I anticipated when this moment occurred, but I couldn’t be happier. There’s so much yet to learn about their lives, about myself, but this feels right.
“Fire’s going!” someone yells.
Picked up and placed on my feet, my eyes open to find the two of them standing in front of me. “To be clear,” Brute states, “memory returning or not, this is where you belong.” I blink and flick my eyes between them, gauging their feelings.
“And if I don’t want to stay?” The need to know what I mean to them thumps viciously in my chest.
“I’m not afraid of kidnapping.” Brute lifts his chin in challenge as Axl stares at him.
“Could tie her to the bed, edge her until she promises to stay,” Axl suggests.
“Now wait a minute…” They ignore my protests and continue to plot ways to keep me here.
It’s kind of endearing and sweet, but I’d love it more and would be less argumentative if they simply said, we want you here . Nonetheless, they’re not the kind of emotionally aware men I’ve been used to in the past. Actions mean more than words, and I’ll have to adjust my expectations.
Wait…what?
Was that a memory? A pseudo one at least? Being used to emotionally available men… How do I know that if I don’t remember them?
Sitting between the two men who have turned my life topsy-turvy, I stare into the heated flames of the fire as more people join us. Warm palms on each of my thighs keep me grounded as I lose myself in the fire’s flickering colors.
It wasn’t a memory but more of a feeling. A powerful one that makes me wonder if someone is waiting for me at home. In that exact moment, I toss the thought away because if I did, they’d have come for me.
For nearly a week after being found, my face was on the news and in the papers across the entire state. Brute and Axl had no issue claiming me, and from all I’ve discovered, we hardly knew each other.
A one weekend stand.
By my own choice, according to them. I’m the one who walked away and left a thank-you note; yet, I meant enough to them that they’re the only ones who showed up for me.
“My family must suck,” I mutter, dropping back into my seat.
Everything aches, and my ribs are on fire, but none of it matters because I’m finally emerging from this fog and realizing how little I mattered to anyone in my previous life.
“Your father is a rich man,” Brute tells me. “All about appearances.” Turning my head, I study his face for more clues. “He’s an art broker, makes millions a year.”
“You’re an heiress.” Axl’s shocking words sit me straight up.
“A what?” I did hear him and understand, but…? “How is that possible when they never came to the hospital?” Surely, they’re wrong.
“The media broadcasts were suppressed, according to the detective on your case. Easy hacked his way into the phone records of the more popular stations and discovered a cover-up. One of the employees finally broke their silence today.” Brute’s clearly pissed.
“What did they say?” I have to know. I need to know.
“Your father's reasoning was that they didn’t want to interrupt the healing process after discovering you had amnesia,” Axl reluctantly fills me in.
“He knew? They knew! I was left to die.” My whispered horror silences everyone around us.
“They left me to die in a ditch. What if my attackers came after me in the hospital? They didn’t care?
Nobody cared?” Springing to my feet, I rush off into the dark, ignoring the voices calling my name until everything is shrouded from my view.
Is this how it was that night? Not being able to see anything? Losing my bearings in an escape from the men who wanted to kill me?
How could my parents just ignore me?
Dropping to my knees, I cup my arms around my belly and lean over protectively. “I’ll never be like them, I swear.” Making promises isn’t something I should do, but it can’t be helped. I’ll always claim my child, always protect them. Never abandon them.
Peacefulness encompasses the night as I sit alone, listening to nature’s sounds, when one in particular catches my ear. Frogs bellowing out a love song launches a memory, one that remains and grows with each call into the night.
“I can’t believe you brought him home!” My best friend Nora giggles as she gazes into the aquarium of my new pet frog, Flip.
“I couldn’t just leave him.”
I happened to find Flip all alone in a pet store window, and he appeared sad. The shopkeeper told me he’d been there since he was born. Since feeling lonely after meeting Brute and Axl, I decided on a roommate.
Nora stands and places the bottle of wine she brought on the counter before grabbing some glasses.
“I can’t have that,” I tell her quietly.
“Why not?” She ignores me and pours a glass for both of us.
Nora and I have been best friends since grade school, and right now, she’s my most trusted person, especially after the argument I got into with my parents about marrying Shawn Reynolds. The man is sleazy, and I can’t stand him.
“I’m pregnant,” I confess, scooping Flip out of his enclosure where he settles into the palm of my hand and closes his eyes. Like he knows he’s finally found his home.
“But…wait…what!” Nora screams, downs her glass of wine, and then comes to hug me before dropping to her knees and hugging my belly. “I’m going to be your favorite aunty,” she says, making me snort.
“My sisters might argue with you if they ever come home.”
Nora’s eyes twinkle up at me. “Exactly, so I’ll be the favorite!” Getting to her feet, she grips my shoulders and holds my stare. “It’s theirs, right?”
Nora is the only person who knows about my weekend with the bikers.
“Yes. They’re the only ones I’ve been with in like a year.” Rolling my eyes, I place Flip back on his rock and wash my hands in the kitchen.
“Are you telling them?” she asks as she opens the freezer to grab the ice cream so we can have banana splits instead of wine.
“I will. Eventually.” She gives me a pointed stare. “I’d like to make it through the first trimester first, I think.”
“Okay, fine.” She scoops out the ice cream; I slice up the bananas and get the crushed Oreo cookies for the toppings. “So you’re like what, five weeks?”
“Give or take. I saw the doctor today, and she’s given me a list of things I’ll need.”
Shaking the bottle of folic acid I picked up on my way home, I pop one out and take it with water.
“No more sushi then, huh?” Nora pouts before laughing and drenching our ice creams in chocolate fudge sauce. “What are their names again?”
“Brute and Axl.” And boy, can they make a woman’s body sing.