Dec's Downfall: (A Brothers of Devil's Comfort Book 5) (Brothers of Devil's Comfort MC) (17 page)

Chapter 28

I didn’t know if to love or hate him. I loved the little shop and already I was making plans. After Dec left the shop earlier, I hadn’t gone to the garage. Instead, I’d returned to the apartment and began to sand down the old table, Mary had brought round for me. The rubbing of the paper against the scratched surface, was therapeutic. With each stroke I made, I forgot how angry I was with the biker. With a deep breath, I threw down the worn out sandpaper and reached for my cell with the intentions of inviting Ellie over for a coffee. By the time she arrived, I had the first layer of varnish removed.

“Damn it Ellie, why didn’t he discuss it with me first. Find out what I wanted.”

“Ivy, sometimes actions speak louder than words. I’ve known you for a few years and didn’t know you enjoyed restoring furniture.”

Ellie’s eyes were on the table I was kneeling over.

“Well, this time words would have been appreciated. Can you imagine what Fudge thinks of me?”

“He probably thinks you have Dec wrapped around your little finger.”

“You’re no help Ellie.”

“Come on Ivy. You’ve flitted from job to job and never took one that you were qualified to do.”

Only because I never planned to stay. The object was to gain enough money to move on, but I hadn’t. Comfort Springs was where I was meant to be.

“Okay then, what about the lie?”

“Men do stupid things Ivy. Especially when they are fighting their hearts.”

Was Ellie hinting that Dec loved me? She has to be wrong. Not once has Dec ever said the words. In disgust at myself, I placed the sander on the table and sat on the chair beside Ellie, sipping my coffee.

“What makes you think he loves me?”

“Ivy, the man follows you around like an excited puppy. How often does he call in at the garage or rings you.”

When I don’t answer immediately, Ellie throws me a puzzled look and for a moment, I continue stirring the black liquid in the mug.

“Damn it Ellie, sometimes he makes me feel hemmed in. There are times when I find it hard to breathe. Yet when he goes away on club business, I miss him. I miss his body lying next to mine. The caress of his breath as it strokes the flesh of my neck. The touch of his fingers, as he soothes me.”

“Do you love him Ivy?”

“I’ve never been in love Ellie. Yet how he makes me feel makes me believe I love him. But shit, just once I’d like to do something without him being there.”

When I had mentioned to Dec, I was going to my parents for the weekend I hadn’t meant it. I only wanted to watch his reaction. Yet now, as Ellie and I talked, I was drawn to the idea. Maybe we needed this break.

“What about a ladies night out?”

“Only if it’s away from the club and Tie me Down.”

“Done.”

Weakly I smiled at Ellie. How did life become complicated? The ringing of my cell brought me back to the present, and like an eager schoolgirl with her first crush, I made a dash for it. Dec hadn’t rung since leaving for the club earlier, and I was missing him. The caller id however, wasn’t Dec, and my heart deflated a little.

“Hi Mary.”

“Ivy, I’ve tried to ring Tabby and Dec and they're not answering their phones and neither is Rayven.”

The worry in Mary’s voice has me reaching out to her.”

“Can I help?”

“Oh Ivy, its William. He was having problems breathing and the doctor’s rushed him into hospital.”

“I’ll meet you there Mary and get hold of the boys.”

When I had finished the call, I explained to Ellie what has happened and she immediately pulled her cell from her purse and began to leave messages with everyone. It was while I was driving that Rayven returned my call and confirmed that as soon as she had Kavan dropped off at her mother’s she would meet me at the hospital.

Dread filled me as I pulled up at the small county hospital, the last time I had been here, had been to collect Quick –Draw after the attack. It didn’t take me long to locate Mary and Bridgett, who was there with her family.

“How is he?”

“We don’t know. We’ve been told to wait here.”

DCMC

The ride back to Comfort Springs was taking too long. After texting Tabby, I had checked my cell for any calls from Ivy, only to find several missed calls from Ma, Ivy, and Rayven. As I had finished listening to the voice mails, Tabby had joined me outside, his face pale. When he relayed the message about Pa, I had wanted to leave straight away.

By the time we arrive at the hospital, it's late evening and Pa is on a ventilator. Tests were being run and the doctors suspected Pneumonia. Ivy came over to me and for a while, we sat on the awkward stiff plastic chairs. Quietly I held on to Ivy’s hand as I watched the machine help Pa to breathe. For me, he was always a big, robust man. Firm with his discipline, but loving at the same time. He had taught us how to ride and fix things.

“I was fourteen when Pa approached me about sex. Hell, I’d already kissed my first girl and been to a few bases, that maybe I shouldn’t have at that age.”

“I remember that talk and the old copy of penthouse, he used.”

“Yeah, Miss November was hot that year.”

Tabby and I continue with our conversation, and occasionally Iain, would throw in a comment.

“I remember when I started dating Bridge. I was eighteen and William took me out back. Shit, I thought he was going to kill me, and Bridge and I hadn’t kissed at that stage.”

“Humph, I believe I kissed your boo boos that night.”

“Yeah, you did and that earned me two more beatings.”

“Well, you should have used a condom. Damn it Iain, Bridgett was only sixteen.”

“Shut up the three of you.”

As we remembered our childhood and talked about the man who was our father, the atmosphere in the room lightened up. Although he was still alive, we had lost the man we knew and love a few years ago. Ma sat by his bed and talked to him, stroking his hair as she silently wept.

When it was time to leave, no one wanted to go, and Tabby and I both used our status as Devil Comfort members to stay, closing the door and blocking it with a chair. Rayven and Ivy fussed over Ma, making sure she ate a little something or had a drink. For three days, we sat in the room and slowly watched Pa as he faded from us. When he finally went, Ivy took Ma home and sat with her, while I went for a spin on the Harley.

Time soon became lost as my grief broke. When I could no longer see where I was going, I pulled into a layby near the lake and spent the rest of the afternoon skimming stones across the water. As the evening dusk changed to night, I returned to Comfort Springs, and instead of heading either to Ma’s or Ivy’s I went to the club.

“Dec.”

“Linc.”

While Linc settled himself in the seat beside me, I poured us both a drink.

“Is he here?”

“In the basement.”

When I rose from the bar stool, Linc’s hand rested on my arm.

“Dec now’s not the time.”

With a final swallow of the burning liquid, I placed the empty glass back on the counter and shook off Linc’s hand and headed for the basement. The gun idly swinging in my hand as I made for the room where I knew the biker would be.

“Dec I said it’s not the right time.”

“Listen to him Dec.”

Fudge was leaning against the door to the room, which I wanted entrance to and Linc has sidled up beside him. Behind me stood Inferno.

“Fudge take him into the ring.”

Fighting Fudge was not on my agenda. Today I have lost a man I love dearly. One who stood by me as I chose the path I am walking. The man behind the closed doors, which my brothers are closely watching, needs to be taught a lesson. That he couldn’t hurt the woman I love.

“Give me the gun Dec.”

Linc and I clashed as we locked eyes and slowly I raised the gun and aimed it at the wooden door. Two shots went off before Linc managed to grapple the gun from my fingers. The loss of the weight of the gun was a wake up call. I wouldn’t have hesitated to the kill the biker, yet in the morning I would have regretted that I had dispensed with justice so quickly.

As I turn from the door Tabby is standing at the bottom of the stairs, I don’t know when he arrived and as I brush pass him, to return to the bar, I didn’t care. The music was loud and there was a group of whores on the new dance floor. About to walk past them, I change my mind and grab the one who called herself Kitty and began to dance with her.

“Declan Gallagher if you know what’s good for you. You’ll walk away from that bitch.”

The sweetest voice I know was standing behind me. In a room full of crazy harden bikers, and she was demanding that I put the bitch down. With an extravagant bow to Kitty, I turned to my witch, who silently tapped her toe, and for the first time that day, I smiled and it felt like a true smile. Happy to see my witch, I lunged forward and grabbed her by the waist and Ivy wrapped her arms around my waist as she guided me to my room. When I saw the pulley and chain, I turned to Ivy.

“Want to play?”

“You know the rules Dec. We don’t play when one of us has been drinking and you smell like a brewery.”

Patiently Ivy undressed me and placed my unsteady body under the covers. As soon as Ivy climbed in beside me, contentment floated over me and I closed my eyes, promising myself, that I’d tell Ivy that I love her.

When I woke, the next morning the bed is empty and the space where Ivy had laid was vacant. My head was also banging from the jackhammering that was going on.

“Fuck, who’s doing work at this time of the morning?”

“Afternoon Dec, and that must be your head you’re grumbling about.”

Fudge’s amused voice penetrated my sleep haze and I glanced over at him.

“When did Ivy leave?”

“She hasn’t, she’s downstairs with Baby Blu organizing your Pa’s wake.”

“Damn. How much of an idiot did I make of myself?”

“Well, now Dec that’s becoming a bit of habit with you.”

I hated losing control. And the lack of sleep and a bottle of JD had me losing it in a big way. As I slowly remembered the events from the night before I shuddered.

“I wouldn’t have gone through with it.

“Through with what?”

“Fucking that whore. Shit. Ivy has me by the balls.”

“That’s good to know.”

Fudge’s mirth erupted into the room as Ivy strolled towards the bed, causing me to scowl. In disgust with them, I threw the sheet over my head and groaned.

Chapter 29

Since Pa’s passing, Ivy has been there. She let me grieve, but not wallow. She stood by me when we cremated his body. That was three weeks ago. Now, as I sit outside her apartment and watch her window, I am hesitant about going in. With a hard twist of the throttle, I take another spin round Comfort Springs. The oppression of being suffocated doesn’t lift, not until I pull up outside Ivy’s once more.

“Are you going to sit outside all evening or are you coming in.”

The voice came from a doorway and out of the shadows stepped Ivy.

“Do you remember our first meeting Baby Girl?”

Ivy’s eyes follow mine as I glance down the street towards the library.

“I do Dec. You knocked me off my feet that day.”

Ivy is closer now; her body almost touching mine as I stay straddled on the bike. My fingers are itching to reach out, to touch her. But I don’t, I hold back.

“The sun was shining, Ivy. It was behind you and your hair was a halo of fire. Sweat was running down the front of your top and it was clinging to your body, crying out for me to lick it. To have you sweating for another reason, and when I raised my eyes to your face. You were frowning.”

For a moment, I remember that day, and smile to myself.

“Yeah, Ivy, you weren’t the only one to be knocked off their feet.”

Ivy has moved closer, and I link our fingers as she leans into me. With a deep breath, I smell her scent and the oppressing suffocation I was suffering, lifts. Although I’m not frightened, it terrifies me, that I need Ivy. I am a strong man and for a long time I’ve never needed anyone. I hadn’t needed Lydia when we were married. Ivy is my strength, and this doesn’t bode well within me.

“Let’s go to the club and Play Baby Girl.”

The hesitation in Ivy causes me to panic, yet I know if she says no, I have to respect her for her decision. Ivy searches my face long and hard before she answers.

DCMC

Damn, how long does it take to get ready? We had already wasted a couple of hour’s play, while Ivy had caught up with Ellie and Baby Blu, who had been at the club when we arrived. When I finally did manage to get her on my own, she disappears into the bathroom, to freshen up. Damn, I didn’t want her fresh; I wanted her hot, sweaty, and begging for my cock.