The line goes quiet for a moment and when she next speaks, I don’t know if she’s joking or being serious.
“You haven’t hurt him, have you?”
I pause briefly before replying, “Not yet.”
Kyla
Pacing the living room, from the door to check the street for any bikes riding up the road, and pacing back to the door. Over and over again. Nothing. They’ve been gone for hours. Hundreds of scenarios run through my imagination of what is happening now. Why did Kristen have to say anything? I told her I was fine, that should have been enough to please her to keep her mouth shut. Now I have not only my dad doing God knows what but Ricky is with him too. This isn’t what I wanted, embarrassment fills me again. Once again my previous decisions have come to bite me in the ass and around here my voice goes unheard when I tell them to let me deal with it.
A deep rumble crackles the air and I run back to the window. One bike rides alone and swings into my drive and parks up behind my truck.
It’s Ricky and from what I can see under the barely lit night sky, he looks to be in one piece. My heart thrums erratically as he rips his gloves off and cuts across the lawn to the porch. All the questions I’ve been asking myself regarding my choices previous to my time here, the one that keeps resurfacing time and time again is, what the hell does this man see in me when he first met me as something lower than a rabid animal?
Unlocking the door he comes straight in and locks back up behind him. I jump straight in and barrel him with questions.
“What happened? Where’s my dad? Oh God, is he hurt?”
He doesn’t say anything, he stands there waiting for me to shut the hell up. Pushing my palms on his chest, I shove him although he goes nowhere.
“Damn it, Ricky, will you just tell me,” I demand.
“I told you not to worry, what have you done since we left? Pace holes in the carpet?” he snorts.
His exact assumption hits me hard, he can’t know me that well.
“Babe,” he relents, pushing me out of the hall and into the living room, “I don’t know how many times I’ve got to tell you not to worry about your dad. To get your little heart beating a little slower, we went to Dean’s place, had a little chat, he accidently fell on our fists a few times and he landed on my boot a couple more.”
Shrugging out of his cut, his neck becomes visible and I gasp at the purple bruising circling his throat.
“Did Dean do this to you?” I shriek, moving closer to him to get a better look.
He grabs my wrists before I can touch him and pulls me into him.
“Dean didn’t lay on a finger on me, your dad and I had that chat.”
“My dad did this to you,” I whisper, unable to comprehend such a thing.
Once again, I’m left dumbfounded by the actions of the men in this club.
“Don’t look like that, it could’ve been much worse. I told him I loved you and we ended it shaking hands. This won’t happen again, unless I hurt you and as I don’t plan on doing that we’re all good.”
His promise doesn’t make me feel any better.
“Will this ever become normal?” I ask, falling down on the couch.
“Depends on you, it’s normal to me. I can imagine wanting to rip off any guy’s head who wants to date my daughter when the time comes, it’s only natural,” he says, falling down beside me.
Ricky mentioning a future daughter takes me by surprise. We haven’t spoke of the future, choosing to take each day as it comes.
“Ricky, I need to know what happened,” I urge, knowing it’s the truth. I will drive myself crazy imagining a shit load of possibilities otherwise.
“Your dad, Sparky and I went to his apartment and made sure he understood you are off limits to him from now on. We landed a few punches on him and I got a few good kicks in to his gut and head. We left him breathing and capable of getting himself a band aid.”
“I’ve been thinking all sorts all afternoon, I was so worried about you and my dad. It’s normal for you but to me, this is all new and unbelievable sometimes. I thought if something happened I’d be stuck here on my own.”
“You don’t need to worry about me, you’ll always be kept in the know. You’ve got two brothers who will do anything for you and then you’ve got the whole club behind you too when we’re not around. Do you understand how much you’re not alone anymore?”
I look him in the eye and see he is deadly serious, “I’m beginning to understand.”
My eyes fall to his neck again and I feel sick knowing my father caused this just because Ricky loves me.
Softly, I sweep my fingers over his neck and imagine how much it must have hurt him, yet he’s sitting here acting like it was nothing.
“I can’t believe my dad tried to choke you for wanting to be with me,” I whisper, still not managing to wrap my head around the idea.
“It was more of an incentive to tell him the truth, he promised worse if I hurt you, but he knows about us and has given us his blessing. There is nothing stopping you from being my old lady now,” he grins.
“I don’t suppose there is,” I smile too.
“So, what do you say? Are you my old lady?”
“I can’t believe you have to ask.”
I lean in and kiss him, keeping his mouth busy with mine instead of using it to ask silly questions he already knows the answers to.
He pulls me onto his lap and he feels so good between my legs as I straddle him and deepen our kiss.
One of the many great, great advantages of getting clean is the return of my sex drive. My mouth burns for his when he pulls back and I feel already naked when his eyes bore into mine and pin me in place, daring me to look away.
“I meant what I said earlier, I’m falling in love with you and I’m not trying to fight it at all. Being together is going to be different for the both of us but I’m liking different at the moment.”
“Thank God for difference,” I mumble, my mood sinking. Is difference good?
“You’re not listening,” he says, shaking his head, “What I’m saying is, you are not what I expected to find at this point in my life but now I have found you I don’t want to ever lose you. Everyone at the club knows I love you and if I had my way, the whole world would know it too. You have shit you are dealing with and shit goes down at the club sometimes, but together we’ll get through it.”
“I love you too.”
I go to kiss him but he pushes me back and flips me onto my back and looms over me.
“Really? I pour my heart out to you and all I get back is, I love you?”
“Don’t you want to hear I love you?”
“Of course I do but it wouldn’t hurt to hear it in more detail.”
I burst out laughing, it wasn’t the climax I was hoping the night would lead to.
“Aw, does my man need to remember he is a man who rides a motorcycle and is part of a biker club and shouldn’t need hear sentiments like a woman does?”
“I should take you outside and fuck you on my bike,” he growls, teasing my mouth with his.
“While that sounds like something we’re definitely going to do, how about I tell you everything in my heart as you take me upstairs?”
His strong arms circle around me and before I know it, he’s lifting me off the couch and throwing me over his shoulder.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Pope
Knocking on the door I have been paying the mortgage on for the last thirteen years, I wait nervously but adamantly I am finally doing the right thing.
Kyla is spending every minute she isn’t working with Ricky. The kid can hold his own and I trust he will look after her while I am away.
The door opens and Sally’s joy at seeing me on her porch soon fades to worry.
“What’s happened?” she asks, searching past me and onto the street.
“Nothing, but I’ve got something to say and I’m not leaving until I’ve said it.”
“Okay, you better co
me in,” she says, her worry turning to intrigue.
The house is immaculately decorated and clean and there isn’t a stick of furniture out of place. Following her through to the kitchen, it feels too stuffy and small, I carry on out to the back yard and wait for her to follow.
I take a seat at the garden table and nudge another chair for her to sit.
“Thomas, what’s going on with you?” she laughs, nervously, taking a seat.
I take her hand in mine and press my lips to her warm skin.
“What happened with Kyla is on me, I should have been around for her more. I am one of the most feared brothers in my club, yet I have been the one living in fear for the last few months. I really did believe if I stayed away from the two of you I could spare you from myself. I see now I was wrong and if I was here then Kyla would never have gotten so low. My good intentions caused devastation anyway. Our daughter is healthy again and happy. She’s at home where she belongs, all that’s missing is you.”
Her hand squeezes mine when the tremors become too much for me to stop alone and I carry on.
“I have loved you from the second you looked at me with your beautiful hazel eyes with no judgment in them. You’ve given me loyalty, patience and faithfulness, in return, I should’ve put a ring on your finger when you gave birth to our daughter. I should’ve done everything different. I can’t change the past but I want it to stop now. You deserve everything in the world and I want to be the guy who gives you it.”
I catch my breath while she clicks on to what I’m trying to say.
“Are you asking me to marry you?”
“I’m asking if I can marry you. There would be no greater honour than knowing you are the only one on this earth who wants to spend their life next to me. I promise I will give you all of me and I will love and protect you till the end of days. Be my wife, Sally, make me the man I’ve always wanted to be while I’m with you.”
Her free hand flies to her mouth and tears fall from her eyes.
“Of course I will,” she half laughs and half cries, “I knew your eyes would open one day. I had hoped it wouldn’t take this long but you’re worth the wait. I love you, Thomas Flynn.”
She straddles herself on my lap and wraps her arms around my neck.
“I love you too, Sal, more than you know.”
Her mouth finds mine and I relish in her warmth. Those lips are mine, her body is mine…she is mine.
“How are we going to do this?” she asks, pulling her lips away from mine.
I have it planned to a tee, it’s all down to her how it goes.
“I’m not living without you for another second, you’ve agreed to be my wife so I want you by my side from now on. We’ll pack up your things here and have them shipped to my place, no one knows I’ve brought it yet so it’s our little secret. I need you in Willows Peak, Sal and I don’t want to leave here without you.”
“Oh, Thomas,” she smiles.
“We’ve lived apart thinking that’s the only way we could work but it’s not working for me anymore. Having Kyla with me has made me see I need you both with me all the time. What do you say, will you leave this behind and come with me?” I ask.
“I would go anywhere with you, I’ve just been waiting for you to ask.”
Edging off the chair with her still on my lap, she tightens her legs around my waist as I carry her into the house and away from prying neighbours. I liked that about this house when Sally said she wanted to move here. Everyone in the neighbourhood knows each other, it is safe while I was gone.
Her soft lips creep around my neck as I head for her bedroom, slowly capturing my mouth as I lay her down on the bed.
“Hold on,” I gasp, trying to keep our lips connected while I dig the ring out of my pocket. It’s no good, my jeans are too tight and I have to stand to retrieve it.
“I saw this and knew it would look perfect on your finger.”
Kneeling beside the bed, I grab her legs and pull her towards me, her legs trapping me to her.
Taking her left hand, I slide the ring in place and kiss her fourth finger above the diamond set ring.
When I look up at her she has tears in her eyes.
“This is our time now, darlin’…”
This is our time. Saying the words awaken the last part of my heart that I have kept closed off till now.
We can’t be here anymore. This isn’t our home. Keeping her hand in mine, I stand and pull her up too.
“Come on, we have no place being here, we’re going home,” I smile and hope I never lose it.
The last few months have changed me in ways I never expected. I can have it all, a wife, my daughter and the club.
Ricky
One thing you can guarantee in life is that at many different times you will experience highs and lows. You never know when a low is going to hit you and the same for a high. The lows in my life have been caused by other people, being dragged into other people messes, but I found they have all given me the experience to enjoy the highs when they do come around. My worst low is what connects me to Kyla and her low. Together we can be each other’s high and embrace what life has to offer. Being with her is natural, for me it has been even when she didn’t know it at her worst. Being around her, talking with her, touching her, even in the silence between us, it is like we are meant to be. Her weakness is her strength and I’ll be right beside her when she eventually learns it.
Back when I was in prison there were three things I counted down the days for, first – my freedom, to come and go as I like without being watched like I was the scum of the earth.
Secondly, I couldn’t wait for the day when I didn’t have to hear the worry in my mother’s voice for my safety. Each time I spoke with her on the phone, she had watched some show about prison life or a movie and it would send her into a frenzy I didn’t have enough time to calm. When I was first sentenced she refused to visit or accept my calls. She couldn’t understand why I would deal in the drug that killed my sister and brought a never ending stream of grief to our family. It took four months before she finally came to visit and I could tell her the truth, which turned out to be harder work because she demanded I told the truth and got myself out of the situation.
After that, I had her love but I also had her pity. It was like she stored it all in and it came pouring out during our visits or phone calls.
I don’t know how she will react when I tell her about Kyla. She’ll be happy when she sees how happy I am, it’s Kyla’s past that worries me. There’s no point in keeping it from her, I don’t want Kyla feeling like she can’t be herself around my family and no matter the outcome. I know I will live keeping the two women separate if I have to, I just hope it doesn’t come to that.
The third thing I looked forward to was the women I know I could stick my dick in when I got back to the clubhouse. Never once did I think I’d fall in love and plan for a future with only one woman, a woman who put herself in the same downward spiral that caused devastation to people I love. Kyla is nothing like my sister, maybe if Cathleen had a father like Pope she would still be alive today.
Take away the fact that the past is what brought Kyla and I together, it’s the future I’m buzzing for. Always clock watching to the next time I can see her, always wondering what she’s doing at given time when we’re not together. Every night we are together, if I’m not staying at her place, she is staying with me at the clubhouse. I can’t get enough of her.
Today’s run has become a sketchy blur. My thoughts always retuning to Kyla, half of the journey has disappeared. I don’t know how I haven’t crashed my bike.
Approaching the drop off point everyone slows down and the closer we get, something doesn’t feel right.
Riding around the final corner, in between two run down warehouses and find out what felt wrong.
Scattered around the ground are Linc and his men, shot dead and blood everywhere. It looks like a scene from an old western movie, only instead of horses, there are Harl
ey’s kicked over on their sides.
Cas and Sparky are the first ones to approach them and are careful where they tread.
“Check them all for a pulse,” Cas yells, digging his cell from his jean pocket.
One by one they are all checked but not surprisingly they are all dead. Whoever done this didn’t want anyone alive to talk.
“Why?” Sparky grunts, bending down on his knees and closing Linc’s eyes.
Cas overlooks the scene, holding his hands on his hips. It’s days like this I prefer not to have a position in the club other than being a brother.
Slowly, we all look over the horizon searching for any threat but the silence that hangs in the air tells us they’re long gone.
“I don’t know why, but I plan on finding out,” Cas grates out, “Slade, note down who’s here and how many times they’ve been shot.”
Slade sets about doing as told and Sparky mentions the obvious, “Their VP ain’t here. He’s always here.”
“Half their club isn’t here,” Cas adds.
“What are we going to do?” It may be a stupid question but I still ask.
“Oak, get their VP on the phone and tell them to come and get their men before someone finds them. We’ll ride back and I’ll call around and see if anyone knows anything.”
It doesn’t feel right leaving them here, but then again, I don’t want us to be suspect number one if anyone shows up and sees us standing over their lifeless bodies.
One by one we climb our bikes and back track to Willows Peak, sombrely.
Cas is pissed and vents openly once we are in the safety in the clubhouse. He isn’t happy about still holding the cargo and on our turf. It should be over a hundred miles away by now and with everything else going on, this isn’t good.
He and Sparky disappear into his office and the rest of us hang back. Throwing myself onto one of the couches I dial Kyla’s number and roll my neck as I wait for her to answer. When it goes to her voicemail, I hang up and dial again. It rings out again and I try dialling a third time. Again it rings out and I exhale heavily. I hate not knowing where she is. She would have finished her day at the dental office an hour ago. I knew I should’ve steered off and went straight to her place.