Chapter 23
Stone
I blink, then rub my tired eyes, and Willie, a prospect with bright red hair, places a black coffee before me, and I give him a head nod in thanks.
I’m fucking tired.
We got back late last night deciding to drive through instead of staying at a motel after the Cartel met up with us earlier than normal. I’ve had roughly three hours of sleep before I had to write the report for Doc, ready for church tonight, before his night shift with my wife.
When he heard she was coming back for a week of nights before resuming her course, he instantly put his name down to work with her, and for that, I am fucking grateful and kind of jealous.
I want to spend all my time with her, to make her see that we’ll be alright, that my lying was a one-time stupid thing. Okay, two-time thing, I did also keep the fact I was a brother from her, along with the Elsie shit, but still…
“Fuck brother, have you even slept?” Dirty asks as he takes a seat beside me, nodding to Willie for a coffee, “You look like shit.”
“Thanks,” I say sarcastically before I sigh, “I don’t like sleeping without Rose next to me, it feels fucking horrible after four months without her.” I look at him, “How did she seem last night when you picked Caleb up?”
Dirty smirks before admitting, “Fine, and as soon as I got back with Caleb, all he did was brag about how his favorite nurse was now his auntie.”
I frown and remind him, “We agreed not to tell him about my marriage yet, not until Rose finally accepted it.”
“We did,” he confirms as Willie places his coffee before him, and he picks the mug up, takes a sip, then shocks the shit outta me as he confesses, “Rose told him after he noticed her wedding rings. He was upset thinking she married her ‘boyfriend’ and your wife decided to confirm his favorite uncle, Stone, was in fact her husband.”
My eyes widen before slowly, a big ass fucking grin stretches.
She told him…
“Yeah,” Dirty says with a nod, “that is exactly how Caleb looked last night before telling his Auntie Rose that he loved her and that he was lucky because now he has two amazing aunties in his life.”
My grin softens into a smile at the thought of Ashley who is dearly fucking missed around here just as Trigger sits next to us, and I murmur, “You’re up early.”
“I haven’t been to sleep,” he grunts as Willie brings yet another coffee. He takes a sip before admitting, “I’ve been sitting outside the shitty apartment my wife has moved into all night.”
“Still not willing to hear you out?” Dirty asks, and I wince because, well, what is there to hear out?
He had a full-blown, whole-year fucking affair and even moved the woman into the clubhouse and claimed her to be a clubwhore, lying to his old lady, his wife, the mother of his child. The fucker even fucked Virginia while Ashley was in the yard with their son.
He didn’t care about her.
“There’s nothing to hear out,” Trigger admits, confirming my thoughts, “I cheated, I lost my family, and right now, despite Ash not telling Cole, he’s heard through the grapevine what I did to his mama and wants nothing to do with me.
” Trigger chuckles darkly, “He’s even somehow managed to find out I never wanted him to begin with, that I wanted him mama to get rid of him. ”
“How in the fuck did he find that out?!” I ask with anger.
No fucking kid should hear that they were a mistake, that they weren’t fucking wanted. Now, I’m not making up excuses because Trigger is a dickhead, but he was a teenager, he wasn’t ready for a family back then, but as soon as Cole was born, he was devoted.
Trigger shrugs and says, “I don’t know, probably a clubwhore who heard me bitch before he was born.”
“So what the fuck are you going to do? Sit here and mope?” Dirty snaps.
Trigger shakes his head and murmurs, “Nope, I’ve put a tracker on Ashley’s car and wherever she is, I’ll find her, I’ll make sure she knows I’m not giving up, that I’m not going away,” he huffs, “I’m going to make sure she knows just how fucking sorry I am for the hurt and pain I’ve put her through.
Whether or not I get my family back, that remains to be seen but I need her to see I made a mistake, that she most likely did as well and we can both move on,” he sighs, “I just hope it’s together, if we can forget anyway and I’m going to prove to my son that he is my whole fucking world. ”
Again, he thinks she cheated, yet he has no fucking evidence, he hasn’t even asked her about it.
I open my mouth to snap at the idiot, to not make assumptions just because she stopped fucking him, but the door slams open, and Elsie, wearing low jeans and a crop top, stumbles in, hair a mess, makeup smeared, and a lovely long gash down her arm.
“Fuck’s sake,” I mutter as Trigger asks, “What fucking trouble is she about to bring to our doorstep?”
That is a good fucking question. She’s been banned from the club by my dad after hearing what she tried to make my sister do. Something I don’t believe her father is aware of just yet, and I’m not quite sure how dad is going to handle that shit.
We’re supposed to be talking later when he gets back about why he was such a prick over the years.
I notice a pissed off Alfie standing behind Elsie, his arms crossed over his chest, while his right cheek is red and raw.
“She did not hit our prospect?!” Dirty demands with anger and I stand up just as she screeches, “Stone baby, she-she attacked me, she-she’s crazy….”
“Only crazy one I see here is her,” Dirty mutters and I nod because yep, that she is and Trigger snorts into his coffee.
Elsie stumbles over towards us, tears running down her face, but something doesn’t seem right. I can fucking feel it, and my body tenses as she cries, “How could you do this? How could you choose that crazy woman over me, your high school sweetheart, the woman who lost your baby.”
Again with the lies.
“She hasn’t…” Trigger’s whispered words trail off, and I know, I just know this has something to do with my girl, my wife.
Elsie goes to grab me, but I quickly move before grabbing her injured arm, digging my fingers into the cut, making her gasp in shock, and I demand, “What the fuck are you talking about, Elsie?”
“S-Stone, you-you’re hurt-hurting me,” she cries, and I tighten my hold just as Doc walks in and demands, “What the fuck is going on?!”
I ignore him and get in a frightened Elsie’s face and shout, “Fucking speak!”
She jumps then stutters, “You-your-your mis-mistress, she-she attacked me out-outside the con-convenience store on Duckboard St-Street. S-She drag-dragged a knife down-down my arm...”
Fuck, no…
My heart stops, and fear shoots through me as I throw Elsie, who screams in terror, into Alfie and demand, “Lock the bitch up in the outhouse now!”
He nods and begins to drag Elsie through the thankfully empty common room, towards the back door, but she fights back and scratches him down the face, causing him to grunt, and just when I’m about to grab her by her hair, Mama comes out of nowhere and punches her, knocking her out, and her body flops in Alfie’s arms.
“I never liked that girl,” Mama mutters and I just shake my head and quickly run towards the door, shouting, “Doc I think she’s hurt Rose….” causing Doc to shout back, “I thought Rose went with Donna?” as he rushes out with me but I ignore him, my gut telling me my wife is hurt.
Ten minutes, ten long agonizing minutes, and I pull up outside Clarks convenience store and turn my ignition off as I look around the streets.
“I’m telling you, Stone, I heard Donna offer her a lift home,” Doc says as he switches his ignition off beside me, while Trigger and Dirty pull up beside him as well as Vincent and Carter in the club's van just in case.
“Something isn’t right,” I mutter as I climb off my bike and walk towards Clark’s, but I pause, eyeing the alleyway.
My gut is pulling me, my body tingling, and I don’t think. I sprint towards the mouth of the alleyway, causing the brothers to follow, but I halt at the scene before me.
My wife, my everything, unconscious on the concrete with a knife sticking out of her chest, blood everywhere and breathing becomes non-existent.
I roar out as Doc curses and we both rush over to a pale Rose with panic and fear, and skid near her before I gently cup her cheeks.
She doesn’t move or twitch, and gently I put my ear to her mouth, but I feel nothing.
“No, no, no, no, Rose,” I panic before I lay her down and Doc instantly begins CPR as he orders the shocked prospects, “Get the fucking van now, move it!” and they rush over to the van all while I cup my wife’s face and plead, “Don’t leave me, red, please,” as my eyes tear up and Dirty and Trigger stand behind us in shock.
I can’t lose her, I fucking can’t I-I…
Fuck.