Rake's Redemption (Wind Dragons Motorcycle Club) (30 page)

Faye spits out her water at my comment. “Fuck.” She laughs, wiping her mouth. “Oh, come on, that was funny! Look, we’re all here so no one has to worry. Everyone is safe. We always come here when shit’s going down, just in case. We all like to keep each other safe. It’s a precaution; it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re dodging bullets.”

I exhale deeply and sink down in my chair. “I didn’t even know Wade had a brother.”

“Is Wade as ugly as Pill?” Faye asks, cringing.

I shake my head. “No. Why is Pill even having his back for this? Surely Pill has money if Wade is that desperate for some.”

Faye glances around, then leans closer to me, her auburn hair falling around her like a curtain. “I heard Sin saying that he heard rumors about Pill taking drugs. Ice. That shit isn’t cheap. Maybe Wade’s taking drugs with him, and the two of them need cash. Good thing is, if we can prove this, maybe Pill will lose his cut.”

I sit up straight and think that over. “Interesting.”

“See, us vaginas do find out some information,” she teases, nudging me playfully.

“Good to know.” I grin. “Even if we have to resort to eavesdropping.”

She shrugs, completely unashamed. “Girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. As the club lawyer I end up finding everything out anyway. But I have to keep most of that shit to myself, unfortunately. I can help with the legal side of things for you though: we can file for sole custody. The courts won’t give him Cara. If anything, they’ll make him back pay a shit load of child support.”

I smile and thank Faye for her legal help. I don’t want any money from him though. I don’t want anything from him.

Anna lifts her legs up on my lap. “We should put a pool in here. There’s plenty of room.”

I roll my eyes. “That’s what you’re thinking about right now?”

She just smiles. “The perks of being with a controlling alpha male. I have no doubt in my mind that everything will be taken care of. Rake isn’t going to let anything happen to you or Cara. He won’t let that man even breathe in her direction.”

Irish walks out at that moment and flashes us a smile. “Ladies.”

“Dude, where have you been?” Faye asks, standing up and pulling him in a hug. “Who is she? Where is she? Is she here?”

Irish lets go of her, but Faye still holds on to him, dangling there. “Bros over hos, man. We’ve missed you around here.”

“I haven’t been gone that much,” he replies gruffly, gently extracting Faye from his person. “I’ve had a few things I needed to take care of, darlin’.”

Faye finally lets him go and plops back down in her seat. Irish sits next to her and stretches his arms above his head, showing off his biceps.

“If you’re out here, why are they still in there?” she asks, looking back toward the door.

“They’re coming,” he says, just as Sin, Arrow, Tracker, Rake, Trace, Ronan, and Vinnie walk out one by one. Rake offers me his hand, and I take it. He then calls Cara, who runs over to us, and takes her hand in his other one.

“We leave tomorrow then?” Rake asks Sin, who nods his head once, his blue eyes homing in on me.

“Rake is going away for a few days; Irish and Vinnie are going to take turns staying with you until he’s back, all right?” Sin says.

I nod.

Rake’s hand tightens on mine.

We say our ’byes, and Rake takes us home.

Rake tells me he’s moving in permanently as soon as he returns. Faye was right; he’s heading to Channon to sort shit out and will be back in three days. The lack of information annoys the hell out of me, but feeling tired after a stressful day, I fall asleep wrapped in his arms.

And even after everything, I still feel safe there.

*   *   *

The next day, I’m watching Rhett and Cara ride their bicycles in the front yard, and sipping on some fresh orange juice, Anna, Lana, and Vinnie next to me. The sun is shining and we all decided to enjoy it. Vinnie and Anna put some gin in their OJ, while Lana and I are going alcohol-free and silently judging them for drinking at one in the afternoon.

“Did you hear about that guy, Dom someone from school? I think he was in your grade,” Anna says casually, her eyes covered by her big black sunglasses.

“Dom who?” I ask, my eyes darting between her and the kids.

I try to keep myself calm.

She didn’t know what happened.

Only Rake did.

And Christa.

And . . . him.

Dom Rogers.

“Dom Rogers, I think,” she says, taking a sip from her straw. “I saw in the paper that he died. A car crash, I think. They mentioned he went to our high school.”

“Yeah, I remember him,” I say in an empty voice.

I’ll never forget him.

I’ll see flashes of his face for the rest of my life.

But now he was dead.

And I felt . . . not happy, not sad.

I felt . . . peaceful.

It was years ago, I know. But time doesn’t always heal wounds. Not a wound like that.

Nothing would heal it.

I look down at my hands, my clean hands, and somehow I just know that Rake’s aren’t as clean.

No, they’re bloody.

They are dripping.

They were dirty before I was reunited with him, and they’re even bloodier now. Feeling a little numb, as if I’m looking at my life from the outside in, I think over everything that’s happened.

Dom is dead. I can’t explain the liberating feeling that comes with knowing that. It might make me evil or whatever, but I don’t feel any guilt that he’s dead. I don’t feel any remorse. I feel like it’s finally over.

And now Rake’s taking care of Wade, the man who gave me Cara but tried to take her back for his own selfish reasons. A man who doesn’t give one fuck about my daughter, only what he could get out of her.

It’s twisted, I know.

But I smile.

Because Rake is my guardian angel.

Or maybe my personal grim reaper.

S
O . . .”
I say, wringing my hands. “How’s things with you, Irish?”

He flashes me a sardonic smile. “No need to make small talk, Bails. Silence is perfectly fine.”

I roll my eyes at him. “I’d hate to make the night easy on you, then.”

He laughs and changes the channel on the TV. “Things are fine. Is this your way of prying? I hear the women have been speculating about me.”

I shrug my shoulder and risk a glance at him. His dark eyes are already on me. “We thought maybe you had someone special in your . . .”

“Bed?”

“I was going to say life, but bed works,” I say in a dry tone, crossing my legs on the couch. “You’re not going to tell me anything, are you?”

“Nope.”

“Fine,” I give in, staring at the screen. “Rake hasn’t called today.”

“Probably busy,” Irish says, looking at his phone distractedly. “Sorting shit out. Possibly trying to kill Pill.”

My head snaps to him. “They want to kill Pill?”

He looks up from his phone and starts laughing. “Kill Pill.”

“Irish.” I sigh, giving up on him and watching the movie.

“So how come Vinnie got his favorite meal made but I didn’t get shit?” he asks after a few moments.

“What’s your favorite meal?” I ask him.

“Well that’s the thing. I have two. Are you going to make me both?”

This guy.

“No. Choose one,” I tell him, my mouth twitching.

“I can’t. It’s too hard.”

“That’s what she said,” I mutter under my breath, but he hears it and starts laughing at me.

“Fuck. And you’re a teacher. Wish I had a teacher like you when I was in school,” he says, rubbing the scar on his neck absently.

“You’re being awfully chatty for someone who claims to like silence,” I point out.

He grins. “You’re cute.” He pauses. “And you cook well. And you make my brother happy. And you have a nice—”

“Fine, I’ll make you your two meals. Just stop,” I interrupt, holding up my hand. “You think I’m great, I get it.”

“Fuck if I knew all I had to do was compliment a woman to get fed, I’d have been doing it for a long time.” He looks down at his stomach. “I’m kind of hungry right now, you know.”

I scoff. “I’m not cooking now, it’s ten p.m. and I’ll need to do a grocery run anyway.”

My phone beeps with a message from Rake.

I miss you so fucking much.

I smile to myself and type back.

Already, huh?

He replies instantly.

Always.

I smile wider and send:

As much as the sky is blue?

Irish groans and shakes his head. “If you start fuckin’ giggling like a schoolgirl next, I’m out.”

Rake replies.

More.

I grin and type back.

It doesn’t get much bluer than the sky.

Next, he sends me a picture of his hard cock, with the caption

It doesn’t get much harder than my dick. For you.

ruining the romantic moment but making me giggle.

Irish throws the remote, stands up, and leaves.

Which only makes me giggle harder.

*   *   *

“I can’t stop thinking about Talon,” Tia blurts out as she walks into my living room.

I look around for Irish.

“Don’t worry about him, he’s sitting out front smoking,” she says, sitting down next to me. “I know it’s stupid, but what do I
do? Should I just fuck him out of my system? Yes, that’s exactly what I should do.”

“You know I kissed him, right?” I say, cringing. “I wouldn’t have, if I knew you’d end up liking him.”

She waves her hand in the air. “It was just a kiss, who cares. Not like you let him bend you over.”

I expel a deep sigh.

My friend.

“From what he says he’s not the settling-down type,” I tell her, thinking it over. “Are you going to think you’re the exception to the rule?”

She nods.

“Jesus, Tia. Think this over before you dive in,” I tell her. “I don’t know how this is going to go. If you just want sex, then it’s easy, but if you want any more . . . Yeah, I don’t know.”

“I don’t know either,” she admits, sinking back into my couch. “I should have gone with you to his birthday thing and tried to figure out why I’m so infatuated with the man. Knowing me, I’ll just want to sleep with him, then I’ll get over it.”

“Talon owes me a favor, you know,” I say, thinking back to the beer pong incident. “I could call it in for you.”

Tia smiles slowly and a little evilly. “You’d do that for me?”

“Of course,” I reply. “I don’t think Rake will be too happy knowing about it anyway, so I will happily use it for you.”

Tia taps her finger to her lips in thought.

Scheming.

Forever scheming.

“Okay, how about this?”

*   *   *

I wake to the sound of something smashing, followed by a sound I’ve never heard before in real life.

The sound of a gun being cocked. I try to remain still as the person holding the gun doesn’t make any further movements. I didn’t think they were going to shoot me, or they probably would have already. No, they obviously wanted to threaten me, or to use me against the club.

Who was in the house?

Wade?

Pill?

Fuck, when did I get so many enemies?

When my eyes focus, I’m truly surprised to see just who is pointing the gun to me.

What the actual fuck?

I hear noises in the other room. A slamming noise, like someone getting pushed up against the wall, and I hear Irish yell, his accent more pronounced than ever.
Cara.

My heart in my throat, my mind races. Is she okay? Did someone have a gun pointed at her too? They wouldn’t hurt her, would they? What am I going to do? What if they try to kidnap her?

Panicking isn’t going to help.

I need to keep calm and think.

Cara.

“Get up,” she demands quietly.

All I can think about is my daughter.

Is she safe?

Does Irish have her protected? Is he okay? How many men does he have up against him? What if he needs my help right now? Shit. Not that I can do much, but I can do something.

“What are you doing, Amethyst?” I ask, sliding out of my bed slowly, not wanting her to react to any sudden movements. I need to get to my daughter, and no crack whore is going to get in my way. “What do you want?”

It’s clear she’s doing Pill’s bidding. She must be a weak woman indeed for him to be able to put her up to this.

All this for money? Or was this for revenge?

Her fingers tremble, making the gun shake.

Yeah, she doesn’t know what she’s doing, and it makes me feel a little more confident.

I remind myself that she’s just a stupid girl. I can take her, gun or not.

All I need is the right moment.

I hear some glass shatter. We both look to the door as we hear a commotion, a scuffle of some kind, and I use the distraction to kick her once, right in the stomach.

Hard.

One of the moves Anna showed me just last week.

She bends at the waist, holding her stomach, and drops the gun. It falls to the ground, luckily not going off.

I pick it up, awkwardly, and point it at her.

My hands are even shakier than hers were.