Linc thinks it over and nods his head.
“Why don’t you go and get yourself a drink Linc, I’ll join you in a minute.”
As Linc strolls over to the bar, I join Cas and Sparky at their table. Anyone who knows Cas well, knows that he’s losing his patience with this situation without him having to say a word.
“Do you need me to do anything before I leave?” Sparky asks, standing up ready to go.
Cas’s phone ringing stops him from answering, within seconds anger falls across his face and his knuckles turn white from clenching his hands into fists. Sparky sees this too and sits back down.
He snaps his phone shut and takes a deep breath.
“That was Lana, my house is being raided,” he informs us.
“Nothing came over the scanner, did it?” I ask confused, something like this we would have heard about it before it was happening.
We all look to the bar where the prospect is standing next to the scanner and he shakes his head.
“C’mon, you two are with me. I want to know what the fuck is goin’ on now.”
“Doesn’t it feel like the days when one thing after another just kept fuckin’ us around?” I moan, as I follow Cas and Sparky out of the bar.
“Don’t worry Slade, you’ll be home soon enough,” Sparky points out.
I had hoped to be home by now so I could talk to Kristen, all this pandering around each other is driving me crazy.
“Let’s go, the sooner we get there, the sooner I find out what the fuck is goin’ on.”
Although many of our brothers are here at the club today, only Sparky and I are going with Cas, Linc continued to drink at the bar with Oak and Pope. I don’t think he had any intentions of joining us.
Cas and Alannah’s home is usually only a fifteen minute ride from the club but today we made it there in eight minutes. With the law busy raiding Cas’s place there was no one around to cite us for speeding.
Riding up to the house was unusually quiet for a supposed raid. All three of us looked to each other in confusion as we stopped and parked our bikes.
Alannah threw open the door and looked extremely pissed.
“What’s goin’ on babe? There’s no one here.” Cas asked her, making his way up the porch steps.
“That’s because they didn’t find anything and when they heard me on the phone to you, they left without so much as a goodbye,” she huffed.
Sparky and I followed them into the house to find the place had been turned upside down. Drawers emptied on the floor, kitchen cupboards open and in disarray, everything was out of place.
“It’s going to take hours to put everything back in its place, I’ve only just got the place how I like it,” she moans, looking around.
“Don’t worry about that now, tell me what the fuck happened,” Cas growled.
“It was Jake and the whole of the local sheriff’s office. They showed up with a warrant after they had a tip off that you were concealing weapons here,” she explained, “Obviously they didn’t find anything and left, I don’t think they wanted a showdown with you guys.”
Cas growled in anger and frustration and threw the framed photograph he held in his hand across the room.
“Hey! I don’t need you making anymore mess,” Alannah snapped.
“Sorry babe.”
He braces his arms on the doorframe and closes his eyes, trying to reign in his temper.
“Okay…Whoever this fucker is, he isn’t invincible. It has to be someone who knows how we work. I hate to admit it but maybe we should be looking closer to home.”
I hated to agree but there was little choice left. Sparky lifted one of the chairs and set it down straight, when he is seated he speaks for the first time since we arrived.
“If it someone close to us, they know what will happen when we catch them. Can you think of any of our brothers who could have it in for us?” he asks.
“I can’t think of anyone in our club who would go against us, maybe we should be looking at Linc and his guys. Apart from them there isn’t anyone who knows our business,” I Offer. I wouldn’t have put it past one of the newer members to go against us if they were approached for the right amount of cash.
“Linc has been patching in members left right and centre these days, it’s not like we know them that well.”
Cas agrees, “Okay, Slade, look into every member of the Devils Bastards, check to see if any debts have been paid off recently, you know what to look for. Do it from home, if we’re wrong I don’t want anyone seeing what you’re doing at the club.”
“Okay, I’ll let you know what I find.”
After making my way out of the house, the fresh air is a welcome force to try and clear my head.
It isn’t exactly what I wanted to be doing in the same house as Kristen but at least I’ll be with her.
All the way home, I run through as many names as I could recall from the Devils Bastards and the ones I’m not sure of I will have to find out from Cas.
Parking my bike in the drive by my house, I notice Kristen’s car isn’t parked in its usual spot. I remember her saying she was spending the afternoon with Bonnie.
After brewing a pot of coffee, I make myself comfortable at the kitchen table and power my laptop up.
Kristen
Weeks have passed and Zachery and I are still staying at Slade’s. I sense he is waiting on me to take the next step. God knows what the next step is between us is, two months ago I didn’t know he existed and now I don’t think I can leave town and be without him. Every day we stay with him is a day Zachery bonds with him that little bit more and myself included. So, I have to ask myself…am I thinking with my head or my heart? Obviously I am thinking with my heart because if I was thinking with my head, I would be telling myself that this is all happening too fast and with a man who is a part of a motorcycle club. Is that what I want for my son?
“Hello, are you in there?”
I snap out of my thoughts to find Bonnie waving her hand in my face.
“Sorry, I was a million miles away,” I smile.
“I gathered that,” she laughs, “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
Between Alannah and Bonnie, they have become good friends to me and it has been a long time since I have been able to enjoy time with friends and have people to talk to. Hopefully she can help me understand everything.
“Slade,” I sigh.
“Oh, I thought everything was good between you two?” she asks.
“It is.”
“But?” she urges.
“The way I feel about him, I haven’t known him that long and I don’t want to sound judgmental but he is a part of motorcycle club,” I cringe.
I really don’t mean to cause her offence or anyone.
“Has he been anything but kind to you?” she asks.
“No.”
“Then what does him being a Lost Soul have to do with it? And as far as not knowing him that long, I’m sure you didn’t know Billy long before you slept with him and I bet you don’t regret that?” she says, nodding her head in Zachery’s direction.
“Look, I’ve known Slade a while now and I can honestly tell you that he’s one of the good guys. The way he is with you isn’t an act, he adores you and Zachery. I’m not saying the Lost Souls are perfect, they aren’t, but they fight for themselves and for the people they love and care about,” she adds.
“That’s what bothers me, the fighting, how am I meant to keep Zachery safe if I put him bang in the middle of a club just so I can be happy with a man I met two months ago. It isn’t why I came here,” I try to explain.
“You deserve happiness too Kristen and Zachery will always be safe because he would have men who never met him but would fight for him if anything were to happen, that’s what the Lost Souls are about. Loyalty is everything to them and if one is in danger or needs help they are the first ones there for you, especially Slade.”
I think back to the night Slade brought me dinner
to the motel. He explained what it would be like to be an old lady. I sat there opposite him wondering what it be like for me and here I am, doubting every word he said.
“You’re right, I do deserve happiness,” I smile.
“Believe me when I tell you that these men aren’t who you think they are. I’ve known and lived with men who are what you think they are and you couldn’t be more wrong. If there is ever going to be anyone you can trust to tell you that, it’s me.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, intrigued.
“I grew up in a motorcycle club, the Lost Souls rivals to be exact. My father was the president and was a very malicious man. He had no morals, no regard for anyone, especially not for his kids. All he wanted was power and money and he did anything to gain it.
I was violently abused by him and my brother for years. When the war between the clubs escalated, my father was killed and my brother become their leader. I thought I would be free because my dad was no longer around but I was wrong. I was being forced to marry a man who didn’t love me or even like me,” she stops abruptly and pulls her tee up to hover above her bra.
I can feel my eyes widen at the sight of her naked torso covered in thin white scars. As she slowly turns around, the scars run round onto her back as well.
“Bonnie, what happened to you?” I ask in shock.
“Tommy, the man I was supposed to marry. The night before our wedding I ran from the club and because I had overheard my brother talking about revenge for my father’s murder so I came to Willows Peak to warn the Lost Souls. Long story short, that’s when I met Sparky properly. It took me months to trust him and the club. The only person I trusted was Alannah, I first met her in college. Over time I saw the Lost Souls weren’t anything like my father or brother, so when I say trust me, please, trust me.”
Well, this definitely changes everything. If bonnie can see good in them after everything she has been through, I certainly can. I have always wanted too but now I can shut the little voice in the back of head up.
“Thank you for sharing your past with me.”
“It isn’t something I normally like to talk about but I like you and thought you should understand the club properly. They don’t always live by the law and yeah, sometimes shit does happen they can’t control, but when it comes to one of their own they’ll fight to the death.”
“I’m kinda understanding that. I suppose I judged pretty hard, not that I’ve ever met a club before,” I laugh.
“Put it this way, if you ever need proof they’re not monsters, you should stick around and see Sparky and Cas try and tell Alannah and I what to do. They soon turn to putty in our hands,” she giggles.
I couldn’t imagine the likes of Sparky and Cas being putty in anyone’s hands but Bonnie wouldn’t lie to me, she has no need to.
I am glad I visited Bonnie today, I know now what I want to do. There is no denying I want Slade. He’s good with Zachery…and Zachery is good around him. I want to see where we go from here but the first thing I need to do is find us our own place to live.
“You look like you’re forming a plan,” Bonnie smiles across the garden table.
“It’s already formed. Thank you for today, everything you’ve said has made everything clear for me.”
“You’re welcome, what are friends for.”
For the rest of the afternoon, we play with Zachery and JJ down by the stream and it isn’t until Sparky arrives home that we notice the time slipping away from us.
After giving his wife a tender kiss he picks his son up and the scene before me makes me jealous. This is what I wanted for Zachery when I first came in search for Billy.
“Do you and Zachery want to stay for dinner?” Bonnie asks, rounding up our glasses from the table.
“That’s very sweet of you but I should get back,” I say, packing Zachery’s bricks into my bag much to his annoyance.
“Who would I have to find around here to find me a house?” I ask.
Sparky laughs as he sits at one of the chairs at the table we’re trying to clear.
“What’s so funny?” I ask.
“Normally, Slade is the go-to guy to find things. He’s the one who found us this place,” Sparky replies, “I doubt he would help you though,” he adds, amused.
“Why wouldn’t he help me?”
“Because he’s got you right where he wants you, in his home.”
Bonnie’s quick slap to the back of his head soon shut him up and now I know what she means about putty in her hands.
“Don’t listen to him Kristen. If you want your own place, Slade will help you.”
It’s not long before we say our goodbyes and arrange another playdate for the boys later in the week and we are in the car driving back to Slade’s house.
As usual Zachery is as good as gold in his seat all the way back and before long I am pulling up outside Slade’s house. His bike is in the drive so he must be home.
I know the way I feel about him is not a quick crush but is that how he feels? Only one way to find out. I climb out and unclip Zachery from his seat and head up to the front door. Slade gave me his spare key a few weeks ago.
I let myself in and was about to put Zachery down when I noticed he had fallen asleep in my arms.
Hearing the usual tapping of the laptop keys coming from the kitchen I head in that direction. When I get to the door, I see his busy and has his headphones in. Instead of disturbing him, I lay with Zachery on the couch.
My earlier conversation with Bonnie has given me a lot to think about. My decision to stay balances on the chance that Slade feels the same about me. I close my eyes while I think and decide to speak to him when he isn’t so busy.
Slade
The sun has not long risen and I’m only just finishing my search on the Devils Bastards. I spent hours tracking each and every member’s movements and found nothing. I only realised the time when it began getting dark out. I found Kristen and Zachery asleep on the couch. I should’ve woken her up and sent her to bed to be more comfortable but she looked so peaceful.
Staying awake all night was a big mistake, Kristen and Zachery will be waking up soon and I’ll be asleep. It doesn’t matter that she’s staying with me, whenever I’m not around her I fucking miss her.
Between having no clue who is out to get us and not knowing where I stand with Kristen, my mood is starting to crash again.
First, I’ll get some sleep then I’ll speak with her. As I put my laptop back in its case and my coffee cup in the sink I hear her moving in the other room.
Knowing she is awake I don’t feel tired anymore. My body is on high alert and the feeling of knowing I’ll be seeing her any second fuels me.
I refill the coffee machine and grab the cup she has been using since she came here off the counter.
I’m welcomed by Zachery not Kristen.
“Hey buddy, where’s momma?” I ask, pulling him up into my arms.
His little finger points towards to the living room. This is the first time I have seen him reply in anyway. I try my luck and carry on.
“Do you want some breakfast?” I ask.
He nods his head and his blonde mop of hair falls over his eyes. Since they have been staying here, my cupboards have been fully stocked with various groceries.
“Come on then, show Slade what you want.”
I open the cupboards and wait for him to show me. After a few moments, he points to the cereal he has every morning and I feel a sense of pride in watching first hand him beginning to communicate.
Holding Zach on my hip and pouring a bowl of cereal is how Kristen finds us when she stumbles into the kitchen. Her sleepy smile gets me every time I see it.
“I can’t believe how comfortable he is with you,” she yawns.
“Watch this,” I tell her, “Zach, where’s momma?”
He looks from watching me prepare his breakfast to look around for Kristen, when he spots her he points his finger in her direction.
I see he
r chest deflate in shock and she smiles.
“He chose his own breakfast too,” I add, filling her in on what she missed.
“Go on,” I put him down on his feet, “Go to your momma.”
Kristen started setting his place at the table while I poured us two cups of coffee.
“You look tired, did you get any sleep last night?” she asks.
“No, I’ll grab a few hours soon.”
“Can we talk later?”
When I look at her I see her nervously playing with her hands.
“No, we can talk now,” I tell her.
There is no way I want to wait till later to hear what she has to say, good or bad.
“Okay, I don’t know how to say this so I’m just going to come out with it and hope I make sense,” she rambles on, “The last few weeks have been amazing and normally I wouldn’t ask this early but I have Zachery to think about and…”
I couldn’t help but cut in.
“Are you about to ask me what this is between us?” I say, saving her the trouble of rambling around her point.
“I suppose I am,” she says, looking away from me.
“What do you want to happen here?” I ask, hesitantly.
“I…You…I don’t know,” she frowns.
“Are you unsure because we haven’t known each other that long?” I ask.
“Mainly yeah, I think we should move into our own place, give us space to get to know one another. I like what’s happening between us and I don’t want to ruin it because we do everything too quickly.”
“That’s not going to work for me darlin’.”
Her frown was quickly replaced with determination. As she went to stand I reached across the table and took hold of her wrist.
“Sit down please, I’m not finished.”
Zachery, completely unaware of what is occurring before him, continues to eat his breakfast.
“I don’t see why it wouldn’t work for you, everybody else manages to live apart and still date,” she says.
“I’m not everybody else.”
“I know.”
I have to smile at her tone.
“Is that what you want, to date?”