Текст книги "Redemption Road"

Автор книги: Katie Ashley

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Текущая страница: 17 (всего у книги 19 страниц)

“What’s wrong?” Kim demanded.

“I . . . I think my labor might be starting,” Alexandra replied in a hoarse whisper.

“But you’re not due for another three weeks,” Rev argued.

“Have you been having any back pain?” I asked.

Alexandra nodded. “A little. Not a whole lot more than usual.”

Kim’s eyes looked concerned as she asked, “Any blood?”

“Maybe a little in my underwear this morning.”

“Oh shit, you had your bloody show,” Kim replied.

“My what?” Alexandra questioned.

“It means you’re in labor. Hell, you’ve been in labor. God only knows how far you’re dilated.” Kim grabbed hold of Rev’s shoulder. “Go call Breakneck. Tell him to get his ass here ASAP.” She then turned to me. “Go find Deacon.”

When Alexandra cried out in pain again, I knew we were in trouble. Her contractions were coming pretty quickly. Although my scientific knowledge of birth was limited to animals, I knew from a few early anatomy courses that labor could take days or mere hours.

“Come on. Let’s get you to bed,” Kim instructed.

Once she recovered from the pain, Alexandra shook her head. “I need to get to the hospital.”

“Besides the fact you’re progressing way too fast, we’re on lockdown, sweetheart. You’re having this baby here.”

Alexandra’s dark eyes widened. “I want Deacon. Now.”

With a nod, I turned and fled the kitchen to find him. I had no idea where on the compound he might be. After glancing around the main room, I didn’t see him. At the back door, Archer was standing guard with Crazy Ace. “You guys seen Deacon?”

“Down at the warehouse.”

When I started past them out the door, Crazy Ace grabbed my arm. “Where the hell do you think you’re going? No women are allowed outside, least of all you.”

“I have to get Deacon,” I protested.

“We’ll get him. You wait here,” Crazy Ace replied.

“You better run like hell for him. Alexandra is in labor.”

Archer’s mouth gaped open. “Holy shit.” He glanced at Crazy Ace. “I’m faster. I’ll go get him.”

Crazy Ace nodded, and then Archer tore out the back door. The entire main room went silent as a tomb when Kim led a hysterical Alexandra out of the kitchen and down the hall to the bedrooms. Just when the conversation started up again, Deacon blew through the door.

He and I then raced across the main room and down the hall to his and Alexandra’s roadhouse bedroom. When he threw open the door, we found Alexandra stretched out on the bed, weeping uncontrollably, while Kim stood by, helplessly wringing her hands.

Deacon went to Alexandra’s side. “Babe, I’m here. It’s all right.” He took her hand in his and squeezed it.

Alexandra stared up at him. “I don’t want to do this here. We need to go to the hospital.”

Deacon’s expression grew grim. “We can’t. It’s not safe.”

“But it’s not safe to have this baby here. I need my doctor and nurses.”

“Breakneck will be here. He’s delivered lots of babies.”

“Please, Deacon. Don’t make me do this here.”

“Babe, I’m sorry, but we just can’t risk it. We’re already taking a huge risk getting Breakneck here,” Deacon argued.

Another contraction had Alexandra contorting her body in agony. When she recovered, tears streamed down her face, but she managed to shout, “I hate you!”

“Alex, please.”

She shook her head wildly back and forth. “You promised me that the club was going to go legit. You promised me that Willow and I and the baby would be safe. If anything happens to my son, I’ll never forgive you!”

Tears welled in Deacon’s eyes. “I’m sorry. Jesus, I’m so sorry.”

“Get out! Get out of my sight, you lying bastard!” When Deacon reached for her hand to try to calm her, she slung him away. “I said get out!” she screamed, then broke down into hysterical sobs, which were so hard they shook the bed.

With an expression of defeated agony, Deacon fled from the room, the door slamming behind him. Kim and I exchanged a look of horror, at a loss as to what we should do next. Although my experience was completely limited to animals, I knew it wasn’t good for Alexandra to be so emotional.

I went to her side and took her hand. “Alex, look at me.”

It took her a few moments to calm down enough to stare into my eyes. I held her gaze, stroking her forehead with my other hand. “It’s going to be all right. You’re going to be all right, and the baby is going to be all right.”

At my words and touch, her entire body seemed to relax. She sighed deeply and squeezed my hand. “Thank you, Annabel.”

Breakneck burst into the room, followed by Rev. The good doctor had his standard black medical bag, along with a rolling suitcase. I guessed he had raided the maternity ward at the hospital for all the necessary supplies.

He then went to work, assessing Alexandra and barking orders to Kim and me.

Breakneck handed me a basin. “Go fill this with boiling water. Tell the women to keep a pot constantly boiling.”

With a nod of my head, I hurried out of the room. When I got outside, I almost tripped over Deacon, who was sitting with his back against the wall.

He raised his haunted eyes to mine. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine. Breakneck is with her, and things are progressing as they should.”

Deacon nodded and then hung his head. I knelt down beside him and took his hand. “She isn’t going to stay mad at you, Deacon. Pain does things to you, makes you say and do things you don’t mean.”

“If something happens to her or the baby because of me, I’ll never be able to forgive myself.”

“Listen to me. Alexandra is young and strong. She’s had a perfectly healthy pregnancy. She will be fine.” I rose to my feet. “I have to go get the water.”

Without another word to him, I sprinted to the kitchen. Thankfully, Boone’s wife, Mary, had had the presence of mind to have a pot of water already heated up.

When I returned with the boiling water, Rev was seated beside Deacon, his arm slung over his brother’s shoulder. I gave him a fleeting smile and then hurried back into the room. Mama Beth had replaced Kim at the bedside. She sat on the edge of the bed, holding Alexandra’s hand and keeping her as calm as she could.

Everything seemed to start happening at a whirlwind pace. I tried to help Breakneck when he asked me, but I felt completely and totally clueless. Some moments felt like the hands on the clock were spinning out of control and others seemed to drag by.

“And there’s the head. You need to keep pushing now.” A beaming smile lit up Breakneck’s face. “He’s got a head full of gorgeous hair.”

“He does?” Alexandra asked.

“Yes, dark hair just like you and Deacon.”

At the mention of Deacon’s name, Alexandra’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Deacon,” she murmured, then turned to me. “Please get him for me! He didn’t get to be there when Willow was born, and I don’t want him to miss seeing his son come into the world.”

I spun on my feet and dashed to the door. As I flung it open, I prayed that Deacon was still just outside and hadn’t gone to do something stupid like get drunk. My heart leapt at the sight of him still sitting beside Rev with his head buried in his hands. “Deacon, come quick. Alexandra is asking for you.”

I had never seen anyone move so fast. He was on his feet in a flash and by my side. He didn’t wait for me. Instead, he barreled on inside and went to Alexandra’s side. “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” he murmured over and over again as he bestowed tender kisses all over her face.

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. I’ll give Rev my cut right now if you want me to leave the club.”

My head spun over to the doorway where Rev stood in open-mouthed disbelief at his brother’s suggestion. We then both looked back to the bed to await Alexandra’s response.

She gazed up at Deacon. “How could I ask you to do that? This club is your life.”

“You and our children mean more to me than anything in the world,” he replied.

“Let’s just leave things as they are for right now. How’s that?”

Deacon brought his mouth to Alexandra’s and kissed her passionately. “God, do I love you.”

“I love you, too. But I need to push now.”

He immediately stood upright. “Okay. What do I need to do?”

She laughed at his bewildered expression. “Just hold my hand and talk to me when the pain gets bad.”

“I can do that.”

Now that Deacon was taking care of Alexandra, I went over to Rev, who still stood in the doorway. I wasn’t sure if we should stay in or go, but when Alexandra met my gaze, she said, “Stay.”

“If you’re sure.”

“You’ve already seen the worst part. Might as well see the best. Besides, it makes sense for his godparents to be in the room.”

Together, Rev and I smiled at her. It was an honor to be a part of seeing life come into the world. It was a double honor to be named the baby’s godparents. So Rev closed the door behind him.

When things got dicey for Alexandra with the pain, Rev would squeeze my hand. I knew in some ways he could imagine me being in that much pain, which would kill him. Deacon certainly wasn’t faring well at seeing Alexandra hurting.

The mood in the air shifted, and with a hearty cry, Deacon and Alexandra’s son came into the world. After cleaning his lungs and cutting him free from Alexandra, Breakneck held the wailing baby out to me. I momentarily froze.

“Annabel, aftercare for infants isn’t terribly different from aftercare for animals. Prepare the baby for Alexandra to hold.” At his encouraging look, I grabbed a waiting blanket and took the baby into my arms.

“Shh, it’s okay, sweetheart,” I murmured to him as I wrapped him up.

As Breakneck dealt with the afterbirth and made sure Alexandra was okay, I took the baby over to the tub of warm water and began to gently clean him. At the contact with the water, his cries grew louder, and Deacon came to my side. With a smile, I glanced at him over my shoulder. “I promise I’m not hurting him.”

“That’s not what I thought at all,” Deacon replied, but I could tell his fatherly instincts to protect his son were kicking into overdrive.

Once the baby had been washed and dried, I took a fresh blanket and wrapped him snugly in it. When I turned around, Deacon was staring expectantly at me. “Ready to meet your son?”

“Hell yeah,” he replied with a smile.

I passed the baby over to his waiting arms. Then Deacon did something I would never have imagined. Cradling his son to his chest, he broke down into quiet sobs. When I glanced from Deacon to Rev, I saw the same expression of disbelief on Rev’s face that I was sure I had on my own.

Deacon quickly recovered and dragged his free arm across his wet eyes. “Look at you, little man,” he murmured.

“Does he have a name?” I asked.

After glancing at Alexandra, who nodded, Deacon smiled. “It’s Wyatt David Malloy.”

“Nice choice,” Rev replied.

Deacon went over to Rev. “He’s handsome, isn’t he?”

Rev grinned. “Very handsome. Although I think he’s going to favor his mother.”

With a slight frown, Deacon eyeballed his son. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

“Don’t sound so sad about it,” Alexandra joked.

“He should be honored to take after his mother, as good-looking as she is,” Deacon said, and then he winked at Alexandra.

“Well, everything looks good. I think it’s time this mother got to hold her baby,” Breakneck said.

As Deacon started to take Wyatt over to Alexandra, Rev leaned down to place a tiny kiss on the top of Wyatt’s head. The simple gesture was my undoing. All the emotions of the day converged in me at that moment. I knew I had to get out of that room.

Without a word to Rev or the others, I hurried to the door. I don’t know how he made it so fast, but he was at my side before I got it open. Taking me by the hand, Rev led me into our bedroom. Thankfully, it was empty. He went to the bed and lay down, pulling me down beside him. “I know that had to be hell for you, so cry all you want to.”

But the tears didn’t come. Instead, I looked at the amazing man before me in disbelief. “I’m such a selfish asshole.”

Apparently Rev hadn’t been prepared for my response because he burst out laughing. “No, you’re not,” he replied.

“Yes, I am. This is such a happy day for you, not to mention we’re in the middle of lockdown because of Mendoza.” I shook my head. “You’re too good to me. In fact, you shouldn’t marry me.”

“Just because you think you’re a selfish asshole?” he asked almost teasingly.

“No. It’s just . . . the way you kissed Wyatt’s head . . . the way you are with Willow.” I exhaled an agonized sigh. “I can’t give you the children you want . . . the children you deserve.”

“We don’t know what the future holds.”

I shook my head. “I can’t have a baby, and we can’t adopt. No judge would give us a child with your background.”

“Hmm, so I guess we’re both a little to blame?”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” I protested.

Rev wrapped his arms tighter around me. “Annabel, none of us know what tomorrow holds. But I do know that we’ll have a child one day.” When I started to argue, he said, “I’ve done a lot of reading on surrogacy, and I’ve talked to some of the girls in the club. When the time comes, we’ll have a baby. You have to believe that.”

I jerked my head off his chest to stare into his eyes. The conviction in them gave me hope. I shouldn’t have been surprised that he was already thinking ahead for us—that was just his way—but his confidence gave me hope.

Just like we would weather the Mendoza storm together, we would make it through building a future and a family together as well. Somehow, some way. I just had to have faith.

TWENTY-ONE

 

Mendoza was close. So very, very close. Roja would soon get what was coming to her. As his car crossed the state line into Georgia, the ever-present mix of rage and desperation surging through him reached a volatile new level. The one thing that had pushed him through the bullshit of the last few months was revenge. Revenge against the man who had taken Roja. Revenge against Roja for daring to leave him.

The months had melted into a blur of false leads and dead-end roads. He’d called in favors to gain information, and he’d had to end the lives of a few less-than-cooperative people as well. He had poured more money into this quest than what he had anticipated—some of the money he had owed to Rodriguez and the cartel. At the time he hadn’t given a fuck about the cost.

But in the last two days he had gotten wind of a plan that caused his desire for revenge to escalate further than he had ever imagined.

This Hells Raiders biker—this chingada madre—had not only dared to infiltrate his compound, but had cut him off at the knees by having him alienated from his cartel brothers. Who the fuck did he think he was to approach Rodriguez for protection for his club, for himself, and, most important, for Roja? And who the fuck did Rodriguez think he was to betray one of his lieutenants for gringo biker scum?

Oh yes, the cocksucker would pay. He would pay with his life and with Roja’s, but only after he had been tortured to where he would pray for death. And Roja would watch every blow until the time came for her to suffer her own dose of justice.

TWENTY-TWO

REV

Two days after Wyatt’s birth, I had Boone and Crazy Ace open up the main gates on the compound. Deacon, Bishop, and Mac, our club secretary, followed me as I zipped out onto the main road. I had received a call the night before from Hector Rodriguez himself. He was more than willing to take the guns off our hands, and he had set up a meeting with us at noon with some of the men in his operation. As vice president, Deacon would be there as my second-in-command, and we needed Mac to record what was agreed to verbally. Of course, Bishop, as sergeant at arms, was along as well for any needed muscle.

Although the January cold bore down hard on us, I couldn’t help enjoying the sunshine and the freedom of being outside of the compound. Our contact point was about two miles from the compound, which Rodriguez had chosen to put us Raiders at ease of not being far from home. We pulled into the parking lot of a rather run-down Mexican restaurant, which I’d previously had no idea was involved in any dirty dealings.

When we stepped inside the restaurant, I quickly scanned the room. A waitress hurried up to us. “Come with me,” she said.

“Guess she knows we’re not here for the food,” Bishop mused.

We were led to a back room that had once been used for private parties. Two men sat at one of the tables. They rose to their feet at the sight of us. “Please come in. You’re very welcome,” the older of the two said.

When I stood before him, he offered me his hand. “I’m Hector’s cousin, Juan. He flew me in to meet with you.”

After shaking his hand, I introduced him to Deacon and the others. As we sat down, beer and bottles of tequila appeared from several waitresses. I took a beer to ease some of the tension I couldn’t help feeling.

Since you never wanted a paper trail of your dealings, everything was done verbally. Your word was your bond, along with a handshake. “So I’m to understand that the Georgia chapter of the Raiders will no longer deal in guns to other sources. Instead, your shipments will come to us in Juárez via your brothers in the El Paso club,” Juan said.

“We’re going legitimate.”

Juan’s eyes widened. “Interesting. Too much bloodshed or too much heat from the authorities?”

“Too much blood.”

“Although I cannot totally understand your desire, I greatly appreciate it, since it will benefit our organization.”

I smiled. “I’m glad you see it that way.”

Juan glanced at the still-nameless man at his side before turning back to me. “I understand you ask for no money in return.”

“That is true.”

“Your generosity comes in the form of the elimination of one man. Manuel Mendoza.”

I shifted in my seat. “I never asked for his termination. Merely for protection.”

“He killed two of your El Paso brothers, did he not?”

“Yes. That is true.”

“And he is your fiancée’s rapist, true?”

Sucking in a harsh breath, I tried to still my emotions. Juan had hit a raw nerve by mentioning Annabel. “Yes. He is,” I spat out through gritted teeth.

“So tell me why this man deserves to live.”

Before I could respond, Deacon growled, “We came to make a deal, not to be fucked with!”

Juan’s lips quirked up in a smile. “My apologies.”

I cleared my throat. “Excuse my brother. He is very protective.”

“It is understandable. I was merely feeling you out on the subject.”

“You would take out one of your loyal lieutenants for a deal?”

“Members of our organization are expendable. They know that when they join.” Juan narrowed his eyes. “To say that Mendoza is loyal would be far too complimentary. He’s always had his own agenda. But that stays within these walls.”

“I understand,” I replied.

Juan extended his hand. “So do we have a deal?”

As I stared at his hand for a moment, I couldn’t help thinking of my old man and of Case. I hoped that what I was about to do would have made them proud. Even if we went legitimate, we would never disband the Raiders brotherhood.

I reached for Juan’s hand. “It’s a deal.”

He smiled. “I’m very glad to hear that. I will phone Hector and let him know everything is taken care of.”

“Including Mendoza?” Bishop asked.

Juan nodded. “He is no longer a threat to you.”

“My club, as well as my El Paso brothers, appreciate that.”

After Juan had shaken hands with the others, we headed out of the back room. When we got outside the restaurant, I exhaled the breath that I felt I had been holding since Mendoza had reared his head again.

“How does it feel to be just a regular old biker?” Bishop asked.

Deacon snorted. “Until we unload the gambling at the gym, we’re only half-legitimate.”

With a grin, Bishop asked, “So we’re basically a bastard?”

“You’re always a bastard,” I replied.

“Har fucking har,” he muttered, as he slid across the seat of his bike.

After putting on my helmet, I gunned my bike’s engine. We then rode out of the parking lot, me speeding ahead of my brothers. I couldn’t wait to get back to Annabel.

Just as we rounded the curve about a mile from home, the unmistakable sound of gunfire rang out. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Deacon and Bishop spin out, their bikes crashing onto the pavement. When Mac tried to miss their combined heap of metal, he overcorrected, sending him careening into the ditch. When they didn’t move, I didn’t know if it was from the bike wreck injuries or if they had been shot. I started to turn my bike around when a bullet hit my back tire, and it was my turn to slide along the asphalt.

After struggling until my bike came to a stop, I lay on my back trying to catch my breath and heard squealing tires. Turning my head, I watched as a car came speeding toward us. Furiously I started trying to pull myself out from under my bike. The car screeched to a stop, and a man jumped out just as I wiggled free. I had no time to reach around my back for my own gun before the muzzle of a pistol was pointed at my head.

Although I had never laid eyes on him, I knew who it was. Mendoza stared down at me with lifeless black eyes. Then with one kick of his steel-toed boot, the world around me went dark.