CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
-:- Paisley -:-
“Where did you go last night?” I ask TwoCents as he walks into the bedroom from the bathroom.
“Oh, I didn’t mean to wake you. Nell rang, and she had a bit of an issue with Vincenzo Vitale. She honored the date night of going out for a meal in a fancy restaurant, I’ll tell you. But at the end of the night, he was going to take her back to his place.
“Nell went into a bit of a panic mode and rang me to get her. She didn’t get her ‘boys’, as she calls them, to get her because it would have caused a war. Those three would have stormed in, grabbed her, and stormed right out again.” TwoCents is grinning the whole time that he is relaying this to me.
“Was she okay?” I ask.
“She was fine. We hightailed it back to her house. I dropped her off and left. No way was I getting involved with that shit. But now I don’t owe her any favors in the future. That’s a good thing.” Bending down and kissing my nose, before giving me a serious look, “Do a good job in the bathrooms, Wifey.”
Muttering under my breath as I watch him walk out of the bedroom, about him being a total asshole for enjoying the fact I’m on punishment duty.
An hour later I’ve had a mug of coffee, a slice of toast which Meat insisted I eat, and now I’m in the first bathroom which is in Drag’s room.
What a freaking mess. He has shaving foam on the sink side, aftershave and deodorants scattered around the bathroom. I would never have guessed he was such a messy person. Mind you, sometimes he has a beard and sometimes he doesn’t.
Jumping out of my skin when I hear someone walk into the bathroom behind me, I turn to see Jo standing in the doorway, looking rather sheepish.
“I’ve come to help you, Pais. I can’t write, do any kind of notes, and even Knuckles refused research last night.”
Looking crestfallen now that she’s admitted what is really worrying her, I can’t help the twitch of my lip, which turns to a grin, smile and eventually laughter. “Honestly, Jo, you have to stop writing and all you can think about is the research, which both of us know is sex.”
“Knuckles said we can’t do any research until I’m allowed to write again.”
“It’s only a week, Jo. Honestly, I’ve gone years, so I’m not about to feel sorry for you. If you don’t get any with Knuckles for a week it is hardly life altering, now is it?”
“It is for me,” Jo whines.
“Go to the storage room and grab two baskets, Jo, please. We can put all this shit of Drag’s in one place instead of spread around.”
“Okay, I’ll be back in a minute.” Jo turns and rushes out of the bathroom, and I get started on placing everything in one place so I can make an actual start on the cleaning.
Jo returns and we clean the bathroom, place things away as they should be and I can’t help but wonder how Heather, Dee and Lina keep on top of rooms like this one.
Stepping out of the bathroom, carrying all the cleaning equipment, I give Heather a huge smile. “I didn’t know you were here.”
Heather returns my smile as she strips the sheets from the bed. “I’m only here until lunch, then I’m going home. I told Forest if he didn’t come home for the afternoon, he was in deep shit. That damn sheriff’s office is taking up a huge amount of his time. He has plenty of help with deputies and Zack in the reception area, plus Bren does the cleaning now, so he has time, I’m sure.”
“Men,” both myself and Jo say at the same time, which sets all three of us laughing. Jo and I stay and help Heather make the bed and tidy the room of clothing strewn around. Laundry basket full, Heather takes off in one direction and we head into Buzz’s room.
The morning flies past and when Jo tells me it’s time to stop for a drink and some lunch, I’m more than surprised it’s that time already.
In the kitchen I grab two of the plates Meat has laid out with a sandwich, chips and a cookie. “Thank you, Meat.” I say as I walk over to a table. Throwing myself down, I place one plate in front of me and one for Jo across from me.
“Here you go, Pais, coffee.” Jo sits and picks up her sandwich, giving it small bites. You could say she nibbles at it. She’s so dainty when she eats it’s rather fascinating. I pick mine up and give it a healthy bite, much to Jo’s amusement.
My phone vibrates and seeing it’s the realtor, I take the call.
“Hello, Paisley Wilson speaking.” I give it my best business tone, which I can see has Jo smirking.
“Good day, Mrs. Wilson. Tony Markham from Markham Realtors speaking. We got the For Sale sign up on your house first thing this morning. We have, however, had a young couple contact us within an hour asking to view the property. I just wanted to keep you informed in case you went to the house and saw people viewing. I will be with them, so don’t worry about that.”
“No problem. The faster it sells, the better. It went through all its checks without a hitch, so I would expect it to sell quickly. I’ve kept the price reasonable, so if it’s a young couple starting out I hope they can afford it as it’s a great starter house.”
I have no sad feelings selling the house as it was never a home, as in a family. It was only me, so the place always felt like a business sleepover thing.
“I will keep you informed, Mrs. Wilson.”
“Thank you.” I close out the call because I don’t want to dwell on selling the place. It is what it is, get it sold, move on. I have a beautiful cabin being built on the compound and can’t wait until TwoCents and I move in.
Jo and I finish the bathrooms in record time with it being the two of us working together, and I head out to the barn where I plug in my camera to the PC, which Specs has set up for me.
I check the photographs that I’d taken of the twins, and they are such beautiful boys that apart from two, each photograph is stunning. The photographs are beyond good and I select the ones I want printed, and place them in a folder. I choose the single one I want enlarged and framed as a gift for Mia and Axel. Then I attach the zipped file to the email I’m sending to my friend Mace, who runs his own business. He’ll make sure I get exactly what I want. All I have to do now is wait for them to be delivered.
Walking back to the clubhouse, my phone vibrates in my front jeans pocket. Taking it out, I frown as it’s Tony Markham. I hope nothing was wrong at the house.
“Hello, was something wrong at the house, Mr. Markham?” I quickly ask.
“No, far from it. The couple has put an offer forward. The offer is five thousand short of the asking price. They cannot quite go to the full amount, but it’s up to you?”
“Let them have it. It’s nothing in the scheme of things. Tell them if they find anything wrong with the place to let me know and I’ll look into it. I’m not promising to fix a parcel of issues that anyone missed, but I’m more than happy to be fair. The place shouldn’t have any problems as I had none while I lived there.
“Also, tell them once they move in, I’ll stop by and show them how to set the safe with a new code.”
“Okay, I will do that. You are being very fair with this sale and I’m sure the couple will appreciate it. They are lovely and are expecting their first child. I’ll try to move this through quickly so you can forget it and they can get moved in, and do the nursery they were gushing about having,” Mr. Markham chuckles.
“Great. Thank you.” I hang up and make my way to the kitchen, only to be stopped in my tracks by the sight of Meat, Star, and the Three Stooges glaring at each other, poised for a fight.
I’m frozen on the spot because I really do not want to be dragged into any bullshit just now, and it’s three against two at this point, so I can easily imagine Star pulling me in to even up the odds.
Taking a sigh of relief as Axel, Buzz and Drag walk into the kitchen. I’m not hanging around. I bustle past the three of them, giving a weak smile as I do.
Giving TwoCents a smile as I walk into his office, he returns it while patting his lap for me to sit. I quickly settle on his lap and give him a gentle kiss before filling him in on the gift for Mia and Axel, and the sale of the house.
“That’s fucking fast, Pais. It only went up for sale this morning.”
“Yeah, I know. But they are expecting their first child, so maybe they have been watching every morning for new listings. Seeing mine, they jumped on seeing it. I agreed to a five thousand drop in the sale price, but it was their upper financial limit to offer.”
BS rushes into the office, taking both myself and TwoCents by surprise. I’m placed on my feet and pushed behind TwoCents before I have time to ask what’s happening.
“Oh, boy, you are in for it, Pais. There’s a fuckin’ woman shouting in the front compound, right outside the front door. I don’t know how she got through the fuckin’ gate, but I want to see Axel shut this shit down.” BS laughs, then runs out of the office, leaving me thinking, ‘What…The…Hell is going on?’
Holding my hand, TwoCents walks us out of his office, through the common room and out the front door. That’s when I see Davinia. Oh, my…
Axel, followed by Buzz, Drag and Wings, storms out of the clubhouse, passes both myself and TwoCents, and stops right in front of Davinia. He is giving her his best ‘Drop dead bitch’ look. Well, I think that’s what it means and if he was giving me that look, I’m sure I’d die of a heart attack through sheer fear.
“What the fuck do you want here?” Axel snarls.
“I need to speak to Paisley,” Davinia says, but you can hear the quiver in her voice.
“Paisley has nothing for you. She is NOT giving you cash, filling your bank account or assisting you in any way, shape or form.” Axel is leaning closer and closer until his nose is nearly touching hers, until she takes some fast steps back.
“Paisley, I need help. Soloman threw me out of the mansion…” Before Davinia can say more, Buzz gets hold of one of her arms and Wings takes the other and they carry her out of the compound while she is screaming and shouting. I place my hand over my mouth at the sight, because that is the funniest thing ever.
TwoCents chuckles at the sight too, wraps an arm around my shoulders and tucks me into his side. “Woman’s fuckin’ nuts.”
Nodding in agreement, I giggle when Buzz slams the gate closed and punches in his code to lock it. Axel turns and gives me a wink. “She’ll be back, or she’ll catch you at the service tomorrow.”
“Yeah, she probably will. I don’t have Soloman’s number so I will have to get that tomorrow.”
TwoCents kisses me on the forehead reassuringly. “Yeah, we’ll get it because you wanted to stay in contact, so it would have been wise to get it at the lawyers. Never mind, you’ll see him tomorrow.”
I look over my shoulder just before we walk into the clubhouse and see Davinia screaming and shouting on the other side of the gate. I can’t stop the small smile that ticks from the corner of my mouth at the sight. She deserves all she gets, and maybe she’ll have to get a job or find herself another man to drain dry financially.
Later in the afternoon, I paint the crib and smile at the beautiful bird”s egg blue color I used. It’s stunning and the transfer I purchased will look great. I can’t wait to get it finished so I can present it to Eden and Silver.
The rest of the day I rest, read my Kindle and talk to Tilly for quite a while about her pregnancy and how things are. I was relieved she was having an easy time of it and Hammer was not hovering over her anymore. She told me a few things Hammer had gotten up to, and carrying her around was the main one. But he was more than fast when she had any kind of craving. Including McDonald”s fries and a milkshake. But when she said she dips the fries in the shake, I’ve got to admit it had my stomach roll a little.
Thursday Morning
I’m more than a little surprised that Axel has closed all the club’s businesses for the day and all the brothers are on their hogs, ready to follow the two club SUVs that are carrying most of the Ol’ Ladies to the Memorial Service.
I had not expected the club to turn out like this, and sitting next to me is Mia, who keeps squeezing my hand, which is fisted in my lap.
“It’ll be okay, Pais. We are all here for you, and if that stupid bitch starts anything, we’ll all be on her. It’s a good thing we left Eden at home with Silver and Harrison. She’d have enjoyed pushing Davinia if she’d been here,” Mia giggles quietly.
Heather, who is in the SUV with us, rubs her hands together. “Let her start something and we’ll be ready. Do you think Soloman cares about her?”
“Not a jot,” I reply. I know that she’d hate the fact she was a grandmother, and that she didn’t inherit Maurice’s wealth.
Arriving at the Church, we all exit the SUV and take our place next to our man. I give TwoCents a small smile and we lead the couples and the single brothers into the Church, quietly taking our places in the pews.
The Church is packed, every pew filled and I am not surprised because Maurice was a good man. He had helped many people and this should not have been his ending. If things were fair, he should have lived to a ripe old age with a wife and grandchildren running around his feet.
Davinia is sitting in the front pew, next to a seriously angry Soloman. I don’t know what has happened, but he is fairly shaking with temper.
TwoCents leans down and whispers, “Pais, go sit next to Soloman. I’m not sure what has happened, but I think he could use your support. I’ll watch from here and if bitch-face tries anything, I’ll be over to you in seconds.”
Nodding, and giving TwoCents a peck on the cheek, I walk over to Soloman, take a seat next to him and give his hand a squeeze. Leaning toward Soloman, I whisper, “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. I just have a leech that won’t go away.”
“Oh, okay.” I give his hand another squeeze, then turn to listen as the service starts.
It’s a nice service, not too long, and covers Maurice’s life, and it’s mentioned he was taken from this earth far too early. I give Davinia a nasty look as she sniffles into a white handkerchief. All that is for show. She has had no true feelings for anyone but herself for years.
Service over and we walk out of the Church. I stay beside Soloman so Davinia cannot grab him to try once again to get into the mansion where the ashes will be scattered later in the rose garden.
“Give me your telephone number, Soloman,” I ask, and exchange numbers so we can stay in contact with each other.
“I’ll let you know when the ashes have been scattered, Paisley. I’ll also keep you informed about Davinia, in case I have to have harassment charges pressed against her,” Soloman chuckles.
“No need for that.” We both hear and turn to see Axel standing, looking damn proud of himself. I’ve no idea what he’s done, but as I look at all the club brothers, there is not one of them without a smirk on their face. My eyes flick around, but there is no sign of Davinia anywhere, which I’m more than a little surprised about.
“She’ll not bother either of you again, not after our little talk,” Axel states, holding his hand out to Soloman, who shakes the hand, without really understanding what has happened. I, however, have an idea that Davinia has been threatened, but I don’t give a shit, I have to admit. As long as she has gone, it’s a good thing for everyone concerned.
Saying goodbye, but arranging to stay in touch, I give Soloman a hug and we set off for home. While we are traveling back Mia fills me in on Axel threatening to dismember Davinia and feed her to the pigs if she ever showed her face again. Heather had placed glitter in Davinia’s purse while she was not looking. Winter has slapped her hand on Davinia’s back and left a white handprint on the black designer suit. Star, of course, had been sitting behind Davinia during the service and had been snipping pieces of her hair until there was a nice chunk of short hair behind Davinia’s neck. She’ll probably not realize until she brushes her hair because of the longer sides still hanging over her shoulders. Oh, I would love to be a fly on the wall when she realizes what has happened.
Maurice would have been highly amused at the antics of the women if he was attending his own service, and seeing his mother slinking away with her tail tucked.