Chapter 13 #3
“No!” Angel stood up. Lucky’s gaze upon her was nothing short of a glare, but Angel didn’t back down.
“Lucky, you’re about to collapse. You too,” she added to Bulldog.
“Both of you need to go home, shower , and take a fucking nap. There are enough of us who can go down to the station to be with Steel.” Bulldog started to protest, but Angel pointed a finger at him. “Do not make me call Abby.”
Bulldog snapped his mouth shut.
“Angel, I appreciate your concern—” Lucky started, but Angel cut him off.
“Harper is at work, but I highly doubt she would fault me if I took you home and tied you to your bed.”
Lucky let out a long sigh. “I have Stephanie.”
“And you don’t trust any of us to help take care of your baby?” Angel threw back at him. “The way you guys are breeding, there are plenty of knowledgeable babysitters.”
Bear barked out a laugh. “She’s got a point.
” He made grabby hands across the table.
“Give me my niece. Angel’s right. The two of you are useless to us and Steel, if you both collapse.
We’ll get two people over to the station to relieve Ghost too, though I’m sure Carlos is more than capable of watching out for Jenna. ”
Reluctantly, Lucky relented and passed his daughter off to his best friend. “If there’s nothing else, apparently I have a date with a shower and a bed.” He turned to Angel. “Don’t ever threaten to tie me to my bed again. You’re like my sister. It’s just creepy.”
Angel grinned widely as Cage bellowed a laugh.
The others descended the stairs a lot faster than Pumpkin.
In all honesty, his legs would have much preferred the mattress option, but since no one in this club could keep their mouths shut, he figured it was a bad idea because it would get back to Scotty eventually.
Then Lucky would probably murder him, and that would leave Dosia as a single mom.
Again. Wasn’t worth the risk, so he slowly maneuvered himself down the steps.
By the time he got down to the bottom, most of the brothers had cleared out, getting to their regular Monday jobs.
Pumpkin was going to have to figure out work soon.
Grumpy had already hired another CDL driver since Pumpkin had been the only one on the payroll.
He swore Pumpkin still had a job when he was ready to return.
With the settlement money, Pumpkin didn’t have to worry about returning as soon as he would have otherwise, but he also knew that he wouldn’t be satisfied just sitting on his ass all day.
It wasn’t that he didn’t like being a mechanic.
It had its perks, but it also wasn’t his dream job.
He’d fallen into the position when he’d arrived in Mount Grove and Grumpy was looking to expand his business to include towing.
Pumpkin already had his CDL, it was a paycheck, and he had no other jobs lined up.
Content to continue working with his club brothers, he’d stayed.
At the bottom of the stairs, Pumpkin had to lean against the rail to catch his breath. Fuck, he’d really overdone it the day before. Never thought he’d regret having a day of sex. He still didn’t, but damn, he really needed to start working on his stamina with his PT.
Yelizaveta, the club’s housekeeper, came out of the hallway just as Pumpkin was working up the energy to get himself over to the couch.
Maybe a nap would do him some good. She was around Pumpkin’s age, but treated all the club members like they were her grandchildren.
The fact that she supplied them with cookies only increased that illusion.
Having come to the country sixteen years ago as a Russian mail-order bride, she’d been kept secluded by her American husband.
Her English was broken at best, but thankfully, Pumpkin spoke Russian.
While his Ukrainian ancestry was from his father’s side, Pumpkin’s mom had taught him Ukrainian from a young age.
Just because his father was a selfish ass did not mean Pumpkin should ignore his roots.
In high school, Pumpkin had taken Russian, thinking the class would be an easy A since he was fluent in Ukrainian.
It was not , and when his mother had discovered his intentions, she’d boxed him upside the head and made him study twice as hard.
Prior to his accident, Pumpkin had been working with Yelizaveta to improve her English. In the past ten months since her husband’s death, Yelizaveta had really come out of her shell and Pumpkin loved watching her shine. It was like watching a rare flower bloom.
Pumpkin just wished the club could kill Billy Merrick again.
The man had planted a bomb outside the clubhouse last January.
If it hadn’t been for Bones forgetting his phone in his cage and spotting the device, who knows what might have happened.
And even though the bomb turned out to be a dud due to Merrick’s incompetence, it still shook Pumpkin knowing that the man’s intent had been to blow up the building where Pumpkin’s son slept.
All because the man was pissed off that Yelizaveta had dared to take a job of her own.
Some of the brothers thought there was a possibility Merrick had believed there was something sexual going on between Pumpkin and Yelizaveta.
Not only did he speak her language, but Pumpkin had offered her a ride home a few times and it had been his cage the bomb had been discovered by.
Whether that drove the man’s motives or not, it was a lie.
Pumpkin had never looked at Yelizaveta as anything more than a friend, and he knew she felt the same.
For her, their friendship had sparked due to finally finding someone who spoke her native language.
Despite that Merrick forbade her from speaking Russian at home, the fucking prick had never helped her improve her English.
Yelizaveta smiled widely at seeing Pumpkin.
He felt no guilt knowing the club had executed and faked her husband’s death whenever he saw that smile.
The man’s idiocy, and potential jealousy, had ultimately freed his wife from a loveless marriage.
Their son, Carter, seemed to be thriving too.
The few times Pumpkin had seen Carter, he’d seemed more relaxed.
Or as relaxed as a teenager with autism could be.
“You look like you’re on the verge of passing out,” she said in Russian. She had a laundry basket on her hip .
One of the perks of living in the clubhouse apartments was having a housekeeper.
When the Honeys were the club’s housekeeping and cooking staff, things were somewhat done.
Pumpkin could attest to the fact that the Honeys would time their appearances in the brothers’ apartments based on when they knew they’d be in… and then no work was getting done.
Not only had Yelizaveta been married at the time she’d been hired but Steel had threatened to cut the balls off any brother who touched her. That threat also extended to Frankie. Turns out, when you remove sex from the job description, one housekeeper could do the job six had been being paid for.
“I am not,” he snipped back without ire.
Yelizaveta shook her head, clearly not believing him. “Then you can help me fold the sheets.”
Pumpkin suppressed a groan. The couch and his nap seemed to be getting further away from him.
When he nodded, Yelizaveta snapped her fingers. “Sit!” she ordered. “You’re too big for me to help if you fall over.”
Chuckling, Pumpkin did as he was told. A year ago, she would have never spoken to him like that. Pride welled up inside him as his ass hit the second stair. His long legs were stretched out straight in front of him.
Yelizaveta handed him the end of one bedsheet. “I miss having you and SJ in the clubhouse.”
“You’re always welcome at my home,” he told her, not for the first time. Together they folded the sheet in half.
“I hear you’ve been seeing someone.” Finished with that sheet, Yelizaveta placed it on Pumpkin’s lap and got out another one.
Pumpkin raised an eyebrow. “Where did you hear that?”
“I listen.” She gave him a wicked smile that took ten years off her face. Having an asshole for a husband had a way of aging a woman. “Speech is difficult, but my ears are wide open around this place.”
Hm. Pumpkin wondered if the brothers spoke around Yelizaveta, thinking she couldn’t understand them when she could. “Those ears are going to get you into trouble. ”
“Are you saying you aren’t seeing someone?” she challenged.
“Not at all.” By this afternoon, the club would know about Dosia anyway. Plus, it wasn’t like Yelizaveta was going to post it on social media and ruin the surprise.
As they worked on the rest of the sheets, Pumpkin told her all about Dosia and JJ. Yelizaveta hadn’t known how Pumpkin had gotten his road name, so he also filled her in on that. She laughed so hard that tears streamed down her cheeks.
After they finished the laundry, Yelizaveta placed everything back in the basket and then sat on the stairs next to him. Though she was on the third step, she was still shorter than him.
“I wondered why your room was always so full of pumpkins. I thought you loved them.”
Pumpkin snorted. “Hardly. I just can’t seem to escape them.”
“I love autumn in the US. Back home, we were far enough north that we had a small summer season and then snow . But here,” she took in a deep breath. “It’s so beautiful.”
Born and raised in Cleveland, Pumpkin could understand the desire for four full seasons. “What’s your favorite part about autumn? As much as the pumpkin décor annoys me, I do love to watch the leaves change color this time of year.”
Yelizaveta nodded. “I do too, but my favorite is short sleeves!” She lifted her arms as if in demonstration. “I can finally wear them.”