Honey Whiskey (A Bastards MC Novel) (44 page)

“
So, are you going to tell
me?”

I didn’t need clarification. He wanted to know
why I was happy. “Because I have you.”

He stopped walking, pulling me back when I
tried to keep going. “You’ve always had me.”

I nodded, standing up on tiptoes to kiss him
quickly. “Yeah, but now I’m ready to set a date and make it
official.”

“Yeah?” His arms circled around
me, pulling me in and holding me tight. “I fucking love you,
Joes.”

I pushed away, smiling mischievously. “Good.
Then you’ll let me win.” I took off running.

“Not a chance!” he countered,
keeping my pace. “Hey, I have ‘Float On’ on my iPod if we want
running music,” he laughed out. “I say winner tonight picks
tomorrow’s soundtrack.”

I growled at him and swore,
damning his horrid taste in music. As we laughed and raced back to
our apartment, I forgot all about the bullshit of the last few
weeks. I forgot everything except how much I missed these moments
with him. The ones where we could be carefree and ourselves. This
was who we were, and it was time we get back to us.

Chapter 39

Matty

Another nightmare pulled me from
sleep. They were so vivid it always took me a few minutes remember
they weren’t real. I kicked at the covers in a panic, sitting up
and sliding back until I was leaning against the smooth wood of the
headboard. My heart was pounding and my naked chest covered in
sweat.

I ran my hands through my hair and
absently scratched at my scalp, trying to force the images away.
Once the haze started to clear, I moved one hand to the miracle
sleeping next to me, placing it softly on her back, just to make
sure she was real and that she was really here with me. Her steady
breathing moved my arm up and down, and I knew for a minute I could
rest easy.

Jo was here. Jo was safe. Jo was
mine.

The dreams, terrors, really,
started the night she’d been discharged from the hospital. We’d
spent the night with the kids in the home she’d once shared with
Billy, and I initially thought the dreams were caused by the noises
of a strange house. The second night there, I’d had another, but
blamed that one on Billy.

I hated sharing a house with him.
I might not hate him anymore, because the jackass did get shot
while helping save the woman I love. He’d volunteered to drive a
vehicle full of Bastards, all packing serious heat, up to the camp,
and he did risk his life walking into that same camp to try to get
Jo out. For that, I would spend the rest of my life being civil.
But, I didn’t want to be around him for more than five
minutes.

That was almost two months ago,
though, and every night, without fail, I’d woken up terrified.
Every single one was the same. I’d hear Jo screaming for me,
begging me to help her, but all I could do was watch them hurt her.
I never got to her and stood helplessly as they sucked the life
from the woman I loved. It was enough to bring any man to his knees
and beg for mercy. Rob had them, too, but thought that once my mind
could comprehend that she was really safe, they’d go
away.

I wished now that we’d drawn out
that fucker’s death, made him pay the way our girls had. But, when
I’d seen my injured fiancé in Tank’s arms, covered in welts and
blisters and bleeding from more than one spot, I’d lost it. I’d
stayed patient as my brother carried her out of the house, waited
just long enough for him to answer Rob’s questions, then I’d pulled
my gun and shot the miserable son of a bitch right between the
eyes. And again in his chest for good measure. When I emptied the
rest of my clip into his body, it was purely out of
hatred.

The sleaze had Ellie and Bear
attacked and taken, raped and murdered Tink, and hurt our girls all
as some fucked up plan to avenge his narcissistic demonic brother.
A brother that didn’t even die at our hands. And that was a fucking
pity.

I sighed, remembering how bad Jo’s
face looked the day we rescued her. She still wouldn’t tell me what
happened. Fuck, she wouldn’t tell anyone for that matter. We all
knew, of course. The emergency room Dr. told us quietly that he had
found possible internal injuries from blunt force trauma as well as
two fractured ribs, a dislocated toe, a broken finger, dozens of
burns, over a hundred puncture marks caused by numerous objects,
countless bruises, sections of scalp where her hair had been ripped
out, and she was severely dehydrated. She’d been through hell and
back in the two and a half days they had her. Those fuckers had
beaten her within an inch of her life.

The other women were opening up
little by little, recalling their time in the warehouse. The
stories Jessie had were enough to make any human being sick and vow
revenge. Taylor’s didn’t focus on what happened to her as much as
on how she kept focused and didn’t break down. Jo wouldn’t say a
peep, though. I’d catch her staring out into space sometimes and
wondered if she was reliving her time.

Jo hadn’t been with them the
longest, and she apparently had avoided some of their more vicious
treatment, but she had put herself on the line, risking everything
to save the others. She refused to acknowledge it, because she was
stubborn like that. Instead, she insisted that Jessie and Taylor
were the ones that needed our love and support. I knew she’d open
up one day when she was ready, and until that day, I’d be here
waiting.

I did feel like I was smothering
her a little. I’d barely let her go to the bathroom alone those
first few days. I still wasn’t at the point where I could let her
leave the house without me, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever get there. I
might not have been able to keep her from getting taken last time,
but it was never going to happen again. Jo didn’t seem to mind my
constant presence.

I wasn’t the only one being over
bearing. Rob was with Jessie every waking moment and only left her
with Tank when it was time for bed. Tank, still struggling with the
fact that he hadn’t saved Tink, visited Jo almost every day,
sometimes just sitting with her on the deck. Then he guarded his
sister every night. And Bear was worse than any of us. He’d moved
Taylor into the clubhouse, and the woman barely got to leave the
compound. The time would come when we would relax a little, let the
women we loved have some freedom. But, probably not for a
while.

I had too much on my mind to
sleep, so I just watched Joes. Even in slumber she was beautiful.
It always took me a few minutes to remember that I was the lucky
son of a bitch that would get to have this view for the rest of his
life. If someone had told me two years ago that I’d be here now, I
would have told them that Jo would never be with a man like
me.

When she rolled over a few hours
later, she found me staring at her. She stared at me for a second,
then gave me that beautiful smile of hers, filled with nothing but
love. “Morning.”

The bruises were gone now, and
most of the wounds had healed. Some of them had scarred, which
killed me, but she ignored them. She would laugh and say that men
thought scars were sexy, so I’d better watch out because I was
going to have some serious competition. In reality, though, she’d
chosen tattoos to cover the noticeable marks and had gotten her
first one a few days ago.

I thought it was a great idea. Not
only because I didn’t want to see the spots forever on her skin,
but because I was a man that thought ink on a woman was sexy as
hell. The more the better. In fact, we’d agreed to get our wedding
rings tattooed on after the ceremony. That way, there was no chance
either of our rings was ever coming off.

“Good morning, beautiful!” I
leaned in for a kiss.

“God, I didn’t wake you up, did
I?” She covered her mouth as if her breath would offend me. “Is the
snoring getting worse?”

I shook my head, smiling as I
scooted down into the bed next to her. “No. You’re fine.” I pulled
her upper body onto my chest. “What do we want to do today?” My
hand slid down her hip. “I was thinking that maybe we could spend
the day in here, order takeout, and you could show me that new tat
again.”

Before she could answer, the door
flew open and three kids rushed inside, all talking at once. Note
to self: Lock the goddamn door!

“I told them that you were still
in bed!” Lily stomped her little foot. “Why don’t you two ever
listen to me? Ugh!” she hollered, putting her tiny fists on her
waist. “Mommy, Datty, tell them I’m right!”

Suddenly there were three voices
yelling at each other, and I couldn’t help but smile at the word
Datty. The kids had been excited at the news of our engagement.
Lily wanted to help us start planning the wedding right away, and
she had a list of demands, like the fact that she would wear a
princess dress with a tiara. Not long after that conversation,
she’d asked what she should call me. Sam called me Daddy, Ben
called me Matt, so Lily decided Datty would work for her. I fucking
loved it.

I eased Jo off me, jumped out of
bed, and shooed them out of the room, still hollering at each
other. Apparently, the honeymoon was over and they were back to
being real siblings—ones that argued over what to watch on TV and
disagreed about when to wake up their parents. Turning the lock, I
leaned against the door and smiled at the love of my
life.

“So, Lily… we’re
really sure she’s not mine?”

Jo sat up, laughing as she pushed
the hair out of her eyes. “That demanding little monster out there
with the bad attitude and the smirk?” She pointed at the door where
we could hear our little princess still barking orders. “Oh, she’s
all yours. She might not have your DNA, but she apparently doesn’t
know that.”

I laughed, thumping my head back,
sighing. “When do they go home? I want you to myself
again.”

She giggled, sliding over in the
bed and opening her arms to me. “Come here, babe.” I didn’t think
twice, just climbed into bed and pulled her into my arms. She
sighed. “They are home, Matty. You’re stuck with us. This is what
the rest of our life is going to be like. I hope you’re
prepared.”

I smiled down at the woman who was
still by my side, even though she knew the darkest truths about me
and had almost paid the ultimate price for my choices. I still
didn’t deserve her, but I would never stop trying to be the man she
saw in me. She was right—my family was home. The Bastards would
heal and continue to fight for those that couldn’t. Jo would marry
me in a few months and we would raise our crazy threesome as best
as we could. And, I would wake up next to my Joes every day for the
rest of my life. I’d never know how I’d gotten so fucking lucky,
but I was going to enjoy every second of it.

Thank you for reading Honey
Whiskey! I hope that you loved the Bastards as much as I do! I’d
love to hear your thoughts – please send me an email or, if you
enjoyed HW, please take a few minutes and leave a review with your
favorite retailer. Or, come friend me on Facebook:
http://goo.gl/ypSCs4

Thank you,

~Carina

Don’t miss Rocker’s
story.

The next Bastards MC
novel

Coming Winter 2015

~ Acknowledgements ~

This book would not have been possible without
my awesome husband. I know it’s been a rough few months, and that
you had to tell me to “Nike it!” more than once, but I appreciate
everything you do. You are amazing and I love you! Thank you for
supporting my dream, even when it was difficult. In sunshine and
shadow Bambino.

I’m lucky enough to have two very patient and
understanding children. When you are old enough boys, I hope you’ll
understand why I spent all my free time behind a laptop. This is a
learning curve for all of us, but if you remember any of this, I
hope you recall that if you said, “Mommy, come play,” that mommy
shut the laptop and played. I love you both all the way around the
world, and back again.

Thank you again for the perfect title, Louise!
Proof that random thoughts are sometimes the greatest
ideas.

Nichole Hart, over the last few months you
have become a dear friend and a constant support and I can’t
imagine writing another book without you. Your insightful feedback
and spectacular response to each chapter helped keep me focused.
Honey Whiskey is better because of you. Thank you for loving Matty
and Jo as much as I do!

My wonderful beta readers - Jenn B., Nikki
& Nichole. Two of you have never met me and agreed to beta when
I asked out of the blue, and I am so grateful that you did. I know
I bombarded your inboxes with constant rewrites and changes, and I
talked to some of you more than others, but I appreciate your help
more than you know! Thank you for taking this journey with
me.

Mel, at Melchelle Designs, you gave me another
perfect cover. And your kind words and understanding will not be
forgotten. Thank you!

Amber, at Editing by Amber, I’m not sure how I
got lucky enough to have such an understanding and supportive
editor, but I am so thankful I did. You took my rough draft and
made it beautiful. However, I am the semi-colon queen, and I was
still playing with words at the last minute, so if there are any
mistakes, they are all mine.