Charlie's Heart: MC Romance (Burning Bastards MC Book 3) (11 page)

“Goddamn, woman, you should have a tat on your ass that says “caution”, fuck me if you shouldn’t”. I’m glad your pussy let me go so we can get something to eat and I will pet her afterwards, I feel like staying in today, I hope you don’t have any plans besides making your man happy.”

She smiled and rolled over to see him standing next to the sofa with his clothes in his hands. He might be in his early sixties but the man was still built like a man should be. Small hips and waist up into wide shoulders and, damn, she could feel herself becoming interested again and had to look away from his muscled chest. She sat up and fell backwards onto the cushions, dizzy from the rapid movement. She held out her hand for him to pull her upright and she found herself in his arms with his clothing smashed between them as he joined her in a good morning kiss.

Over breakfast and into the early afternoon she related everything that had gone on with the sheriff and when the subject of Pressley came up, he turned the subject to her fast thinking. “I’m damn glad that you got Big Dog to be his guardian. He will make sure the boy gets all the help he needs from here on out.”

She wanted to tell him that she had made a decision, but he kept changing the subject for the entire day and into the evening. He didn’t want to talk about the two of them and it worried her. The last time he’d made love to her was too sweet and gentle for mere words, and she felt tears sliding down her cheeks. She knew what he was doing, and it broke her heart all over again.

“You’re leaving again, aren’t you? Will you be back or should I try to move on again? Tell me what I’ve done this time to make you want to leave me, to leave us. I begged you the last time, and it did no good, all it did was make me feel like a fool for begging you to love me enough to stay. Is that what you want from me again, to see me on my knees? I’ll do it, tell me what you need from me to make you stay, don’t do this please.”

Charlie rolled over and raised his hand to cradle her face. “Babydoll, I love you, ain’t nothing gonna change that. I need to get my head on straight. It’s not about what you can do or what I want from you. Hell, woman, I know I’m a stupid fucker for even thinking I need to do some soul searching, but every breath I take tells me I need to go for a while, I’ll be back when I get my shit together, I hope you’re still waiting for me, but I won’t expect you to wait around for me. I want to beg you to promise me that you understand, but even I don’t understand it myself, how can I expect you to?”

He rolled onto his back and pulled her over until her head rested on his chest. “I never met a woman who could hold me, never met one who I handed my heart to with both hands like I did you. I will be back, and if you still want me, we’ll make this life a permanent thing. I’ll be ready to give up the club, and do my damndest to settle into your life. It’s all I can promise, and I hope it’s enough for you. Now go to sleep and I’ll lay here knowing I am an old fool.”

She eventually fell asleep still making little whimpering sounds, but he took his pillow and slid it between her arms as he slipped out of the bed.

She knew he was gone before she opened her eyes. She felt like shit and once she looked in the bathroom mirror, she knew she looked as good as she felt. A hot shower improved the looks a little bit and the light coating of make-up disguised the blotchy red spots on her skin from her crying jag.

Heading into the kitchen seemed like a waste of energy, but she desperately needed coffee, and there was only one way to get it this morning. There was a very small jewelry box sitting on the kitchen table, and she reached a trembling hand to pick it up and opened it to reveal a beautifully set diamond ring. The ring was white gold and was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. Her eyes were swimming again and she picked up the single sheet of paper and tried to read it through her tears.

Babydoll, I know I’m no great catch, but I love you. I have the band that goes with this ring, and when I get back I hope you will consent to wear both of them. I don’t know fancy words, but whether you wear it or not, I’ll always be yours.

Charlie

Coffee was forgotten. She sat on the nearest chair and held the box for a long time. Eventually she took the ring from the box and slipped it on her finger. He was rough, and he was an ass, but she was going to be the best wife he would ever ask for. The ring didn’t make up for his absence, but it went a long way to restoring her faith in him. He would return to her.

It took her extra time to repair her make-up and find her shoes, but she made it to the courthouse in time to peruse the files for today. There was a junior attorney for the prosecution, but nothing that appeared to be too complicated was scheduled for today. She made a pot of coffee in her chambers and sat back to enjoy her first cup of the day. The ring flashed and she held up her hand to admire the beauty of the setting against her hand.

The cases were mostly slam dunk against the accused. One man had stabbed his girlfriend multiple times because she had taken the power cord for his game box and refused to return it until he got a job. He had no remorse and she had to have him removed from the courtroom because he would not shut up.

Another case involved a mother of three who refused to give up an abusive boyfriend and the man had begun hurting the children. The children’s natural father stared at the woman with hatred in his eyes and the boyfriend must have either been high or drunk. She had the bailiff remove the boyfriend and lock him up for public intoxication and contempt of court. Charges of child endangerment were serious, but the woman sat with her lawyer through the proceedings until Selma wanted to slap the smile from her face every time the ex-husband accused her of more misdeeds. Needless to say, the father won custody of the children and the mother was ordered to undergo psychological testing to determine if she had a mental problem, or should be tried for her crimes against her children. The natural father received sole custody pending the resolution of the mother’s case.

The last case on her docket made her frown as she read it. A young tough named Sam Lorne was accused of felony firearms possession. The further down she read the report, the more pissed off she became. It was a damned BB gun with no BBs and the kid was in the woods when the good sheriff arrested him for the firearm charge and for destruction of private property and vandalism.

The boy was small framed and almost feminine in appearance. She had heard rumors about the sheriff before and now she was certain she knew what had happened. The kid’s parents were sitting behind him, and the mother was dabbing at her eyes. The kid was staring at her defiantly and she noticed the homemade tats on his bony arms. He was slumped in his chair and sneered at his court appointed attorney.

The D.A.’s attorney stated the dry facts of the case and sat her happy little ass back down. The suspect’s attorney wasn’t any help to his client. More than likely the kid never saw him before an hour ago. This kind of thing made the court system look bad, and she almost hated her job at the moment. When she lifted her fingers to both attorneys indicating them to follow her into her chambers, the kid looked nervous. Good, let him stew for a while, she had things to talk to the lawyers about.

She took her time addressing the two people in front of her. What she said caused the lawyer from the D.A.’s office to set her jaw and narrow her eyes.

“What in the hell do you call this, Ms. Sullivan? No witness statements, no addresses of the alleged vandalism, nothing, you bring me a big nothing with the signature of a dead man who cannot be questioned now. I certainly hope that this is not an indication of your performance as a prosecutor. If you went to law school and learned anything, you might have learned the term ‘Lack of Evidence’.”

She turned her ire on the defense attorney next. “Give me one reason that I shouldn’t advise your client to sue you for failure to perform. I’ve had less than ten minutes to look over the file, and you’ve had how many weeks to punch holes in the cartoon case?

“I am going back into that courtroom and I am going to propose the young man enters into a mentor project that I am organizing. Do not misunderstand me, I refuse to sentence him on the current charges, those will be dismissed, and I will entertain the idea of him being a public menace.

“If the two of you ever decide to bring something like this to my courtroom again, I will make you very sorry. You bring evidence, or do not let me see you again. You,” she pointed her finger at the chastised defense attorney, “I defended innocent people as a younger attorney. I never went into the court without speaking to my client at least twice. I also never allowed a client to be railroaded like you have done with this young man.”

Now that she’d thought of the perfect way to deal with some of the juvenile and very young adult offenders, she figured that she had better hold up her end. She had to find mentors and apprenticeships for the young people to report to, or they would be back on the streets and getting into even more serious trouble with the police.

After court was over, she headed to the Bastard’s clubhouse. Several of the members owned and operated businesses and she hoped to get some volunteers for her pilot program. Hopefully there would be a few of them there this evening.

Tiny smiled at her when she walked in, but most of the men sitting around or playing pool glanced her way to see who had come in, and then ignored her. She knew that they didn’t trust her, but she wasn’t about to let that deter her. This was important and it would go a long way to bridging community relations.

“Hi, Tiny, I hoped to catch Big Dog if he has time to speak to me?”

Tiny handed her a longneck and nodded to the man at the end of the bar. “Sure thing, Selma, Blue will see if Big D has time to chat with the judge wontcha Blue?” The biker walked toward the back of the building where the office was.

“So what’s new? Have you heard from that old fucker lately? He came in here a day or two ago and had words with Demon and Knight, and he didn’t stop by me to talk. All he did was wave like a beauty queen when he walked by me.”

She laughed at the description of Charlie in a focused mood. “I haven’t seen or heard a word from him, but he’s only been gone for a couple of days. He promised to keep in touch, so I expect I’ll hear from him tomorrow sometime.”

Blue came back and waved at her to follow him to where Big D was. She waved at Tiny with the beauty queen gesture and made the big man laugh as she passed the length of the bar.

She noticed the hostility right away and wondered what happened to renew his case of mad at her. She had antagonized him at one time, and the man appeared to not be the forgiving type. As Charlie would say, fuck it, all he can do is say no. She decided to go for broke.

“Thank you for taking the time to talk to me, I have several things to discuss, but I want you to know that I received the paperwork for the dismissal of charges on Pressley, the charges are dropped and since the sheriff is no longer with us, there was no reason to continue with the charade.” Big Dog nodded but sat back in his seat with his hands folded across his ribs.

“Second, I have decided to try to get a mentoring program up and running for some of the “at risk” young people in the community. I know that several of the club’s members are business owners and might be persuaded to take on a kid that needs more help than their parents can provide. Would you ask the membership if they would be so kind as to take on a volunteer spot to teach these kids how to keep themselves out of trouble?”

The big man began to laugh, and once he pulled himself together, he looked right at her with disgust. “Lady, you and those like you always try to find a way to fuck with lowlifes like us. Suppose we took these dregs of society kids on and they still fuck up. We both know that the club and brothers would catch the shit from that too. You’d say we were teaching the little saints to turn to a life of crime, but then, what can you expect from biker scum.” He shook his head and sat up straight in his chair.

“My answer to you is fuck you and whoever else is backing your scheme. Get some of your high class fucks to give the little pukes a job. You’ve made it obvious in your feelings about the Bastards, and there isn’t a man here who would help you cross the road if it weren’t for the love and respect we all have for Charlie.”

She had heard enough. “How dare you talk to me that way. You don’t know me, your prejudice against the law is choking you and blinding you to the fact that laws are needed and people are needed to enforce those laws. My plan is to get some of these kids into apprenticeships to keep them off the street and give them a direction. Most of the men I’ve met here appear to be good men with stable work and thriving businesses.

“I am sick of seeing these kids turning to crime to keep them busy and occupied while parents are too busy or too downtrodden to care what their kids are up to. I had a young tough guy in my courtroom today that had nothing but contempt for his parents, his lawyer, and the court too. He has some impressive tattoos that you could tell he’d done himself. Do you know the first thing that popped into my mind? I thought about Freakshow and the beautiful tats that I have seen him do. That is what gave me the idea for mentors.

“By the way, what makes you think I consider you lowlifes? For God’s sake, Charlie is one of you and I sleep with him. I have never said a word against your organization since Charlie brought me into the fold and I am baffled by your accusations.”