Chapter 29
Riptide
“How are they settling in?” I asked Static. He, Lockout, and I were watching the women bring the boxes of clothes we’d brought over inside.
The three men and more of our brothers were carrying the furniture into the different apartments.
In preparation for this very day I’d tasked Static with finding and purchasing an apartment complex in the hopes that we’d be able to save enough people to fill it up.
I’d cut him a check before I’d gone into the cult and he hadn’t let me down.
The money was nothing to me. Not when we needed somewhere safe to keep the families and this would do perfectly.
It was a large building, but there were still only thirty apartments so many families had to double up.
They didn’t seem to mind. There were smiling faces everywhere.
“Good,” Static replied. “They’re in much better spirits than I would have expected.”
“You didn’t see where they came from,” I told him with a grim look. “Anywhere other than under Ethan’s thumb is a good place. Where’d you guys get all the furniture?”
“Friend of mine owns a donation center. She gave us everything she had,” Static said. “We’ll get the rest from a Goodwill or something.”
“Give me a few more days,” Lockout told him, “and we’ll have the money we need to get them everything they could ever want.”
I grinned over at my president. Rat was helping us with that.
By the end of the week the money Ethan had been waiting on would be freshly laundered and would then be given to the survivors of The Order.
Rat had agreed to continue working with the money on their behalf.
There was enough for this group of people to live comfortably on for as long as they needed to.
We would help them to get a proper education and find jobs.
“Rat is taking care of all of their legal documents.”
“They didn’t have any?” Static asked me with a frown.
“They did. Surprisingly, Ethan obtained birth certificates, marriage licenses, the works, for each of them. But I wasn’t able to get them out of his office before it burned. They’ll need copies of everything if they’re going to get driver’s licenses and other documents,” I told them.
We fell silent, watching the bustle of everyone working.
I smiled when I saw Sloane flitting back and forth, a baby in her arms, as she checked in with everyone.
She’d begged to come along and I’d told her that she could come see them anytime she wanted.
They all needed each other right now, but she was their rock.
I had mulled over the idea of letting her stay here with them.
I probably should have, for their sake. But there was no way I was letting her out of my sight.
It may be selfish, but I wanted her nearby.
It was as much for myself as to keep her safe.
As soon as she’d stepped out of the car women had crowded around, hugging her.
Kids had gone from quiet and unsure to smiling and laughing.
They’d watched her for years, fighting back against Ethan’s systematic oppression of everyone around them.
She was the sole person who had stood up against him.
She’d fought for most of the people in this group, at one point or another.
She bore the marks as proof. She found them ugly, but I saw them as badges of her courage, strength, and the depth of her kind heart.
“Well, I better get back to the office,” Static said. His lips twisted in a wry grin. “As always, it was fun.”
Lockout chuckled and we shook his hand. “We appreciate all your help out there, Brother. Don’t be a stranger.”
Static lifted his hand in a wave of acknowledgment of Lock’s words as he walked away.
“Think he’ll reconsider joining?” I asked.
“Oh yeah. Last night just whet his appetite. He’s bored to death playing the law-abiding citizen,” Lock said with a grin. “He’ll be back.”
“Speaking of getting back… How’s Hell doing?”
“Good,” Hush said, walking up from behind us and answering the question himself. “Cranky as fuck, but he’s all stitched up. Pissed off that the doc told him he had to stay in bed for the next week.”
“Can you make sure he does that?” Lockout asked him.
Hush nodded and stuck his hands in his jeans. “Where’s the kid?”
I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. It’d only taken about twenty minutes to explain to Lock and the others what had happened with Ricochet last night. I was fucking worried about him.
“He’s visiting his sister,” Lockout said, his face grim.
“We need to have a talk with him. Things have gotten too far out of control. I know he wanted to handle shit on his own, but we’re past that now.
We’ll deal with it soon, but for now I thought it might be best for him to be around some family.
I reached out to her and asked if she could spend a few days with him.
Once we’re done getting the women settled, we’ll talk with him. ”
“Think that’s for the best,” Hush said with a nod. “By the way…”
We looked over at him as he hesitated. His face had turned a dull red. “What’s up, Old Man?” I asked.
He glared at me. “Well, I was going to ask you to be my Groomsman, but not now, asshole.”
My mouth dropped open. “What the fuck? Seriously? Hell yeah, I’ll stand up there with you.”
“Nope. You fucked it up.”
“Oh come on, Hush,” I said as he walked off. He flipped me the bird and both Lockout and I laughed. “Can’t believe he didn’t ask you,” I said.
“Who says he didn’t? I get to be the best man.” Lockout gave me a smug grin.
“Aw, what the fuck? You?” I complained. “I’d look so much better standing there next to him. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t want me as his best man. Has to have a less attractive man at his side when he marries his old lady.”
“Fuck you,” Lockout said with a chuckle.
“When’s the wedding?” We walked forward to start helping with the rest of the unloading.
“Four months. Seek wanted to get married before she has the baby, but insisted she needed time to plan.”
“I’m happy for the bastard. She’s good for him.”
“Speaking of women who are good for men…”
I followed Lock’s gaze as it landed on Sloane. “Don’t start.”
“Gonna assume the reason you and Hush were beating on each other this morning had something to do with that?”
Sighing, I shook my head. “Just trying to wrap my head around what the best move is.”
“I’d say it’s whatever makes you both happy.” He paused and gave me a piercing look. “Don’t let a sense of obligation or guilt make you lose the best thing that’s ever happened to you. You’re too fucking smart for that, Rip.” With that he walked away, leaving me to stew with his words.
I stepped over and lifted the other end of a couch and helped Toxic haul it up the stairs to a second floor apartment.
Before long, I was sweating and followed my brothers’ lead, setting my cut and t-shirt inside one of the cages while I went back to hauling shit.
“What in the actual fuck, Riptide?” I paused and looked over at Toxic. He hadn’t picked up the other half of the mattress we’d been preparing to move. He was glaring at me.
“What?” I asked, frowning as more of my brothers came to circle around me.
“What the fuck happened to your back, Rip?” Toxic spat.
I’d forgotten about that. My eyes strayed over and I found Sloane, frozen as she watched us. She gave me a sad smile then turned to speak with another one of the women. She knew it wasn’t her place to interfere in this.
“Sorry, forgot all about it,” I admitted. “This,” I looked at Hush, “is why Sloane lost it this morning. Remember how I told you Ethan whipped people during initiation?”
“You told us,” Priest said, “I guess I didn’t think about it happening to you.”
Butcher shook his head. “Fuck, he did a number on you. No wonder you were so gung ho to kill him.”
“That’s only a part of it. You were right, Butcher. The shit he and his men did in there was beyond fucked up. Worse, there were times I worried I might be starting to think like them.”
Something in his eyes softened. “I get that. Really do. Best thing to remember is you’re not like them.”
“Despite the shit we do,” Toxic told me, “those fuckwads are evil pieces of shit. I wouldn’t piss on ‘em if they were on fire.”
I chuckled and clapped my hand on his shoulder. “Couldn’t have said it better myself. Now, can we finish moving the rest of this furniture or do you need to stand around and talk about your feelings, Toxic?”
He snorted and flipped me off, heading back over to his side of the mattress.
I grabbed my end and found ocean blue eyes watching me again.
The smile on Sloane’s face was a punch in the gut.
Lockout’s words rang in my head and suddenly I knew he was right.
I was too much of an asshole to be altruistic.
Sloane already had my entire goddamned heart.
The last thing I wanted to do was let her go.
I’d just have to figure out a way to make her want to stay, if that was where her head was at.
It took another couple hours before we had all the furniture where it belonged and the trucks returned. Everyone was sweaty and tired, but the happy smiles on the women’s faces were worth it. They’d been through enough that we were all eager to make things as easy on them as we could.
We’d all put our shirts and cuts back on and most of the guys had already headed back to the clubhouse. I was waiting for my wife. She’d done one last round to make sure everyone had what they’d needed. She, Seek, and Jenny had taken a few of the other women and gone grocery shopping for everyone.
I was happy to see the women getting along. It would shock me if someone didn’t end up liking her. The only people who hadn’t had been Ethan and his minions, for obvious reasons.
Sloane walked toward me, her hips swaying. She didn’t even realize how incredibly beautiful she was.
“Hey there, Angel.” I pulled her into my arms and dropped a kiss on her soft lips. Her cheeks pinkened and it made me wonder if she’d ever stop blushing when I kissed her in public. I secretly hoped not. There wasn’t a single thing I didn’t love about her. “Have you ever ridden a motorcycle?”
She shook her head and gave my bike a wary look. “It looks dangerous.”
I laughed and hugged her close. “You spent your life standing up against a madman. Helped your people flee through the desert in the middle of the night. Went to save four young girls from that same madman…and you’re worried about a motorcycle?”
Her smile spread over her face. “Well, when you say it like that it sounds a bit silly.”
I kissed her forehead. “Come on.” Leading her over, I pulled an extra helmet from beneath my seat. I put it on her, taking my time while adjusting the chin strap, enjoying the way her breathing hitched when the backs of my fingers brushed the delicate skin on her throat.
Her eyes followed me as I climbed on, then I turned and patted the back seat. “This spot belongs to you,” I told her. She didn’t realize the significance of that at this point, but that seat would always be hers.
She climbed on, tucking her skirts around her legs, then wrapping her arms around me. Her tits were plastered against my back and I couldn’t help the grin that broke out when she squealed as I accelerated away from the curb.
“This is amazing!” she yelled into my ear as the wind whipped past us.
I’d had a feeling she’d love it. She’d been deprived of so many things and there wasn’t anything as freeing as racing down the highway on the back of a motorcycle.
By the time I pulled into the clubhouse parking lot Sloane had relaxed and had a huge smile on her face.
“Come on, Angel,” I told her. It was time for us to prioritize ourselves and have that talk. She’d had a lot thrown at her in the last couple days, but I wanted to set her mind at ease about us. I also wanted to ensure that my angel wanted to stay with me as well.