Revenge (14 page)

“I stopped being afraid of the dentist a long time
ago.”

“How’s the pregnancy going?” Eva asked, taking hold of
a wiggling Simon. The moment she held him, he calmed down. Tiny and her father
said she always had a knack when it came to kids. She loved being around them
and was hoping she’d be having another child soon. Eva didn’t care how old she
was or how old Tiny was. She wanted more kids and was going to have them.

“It’s going a little rough. Morning sickness is the
worst. Murphy’s amazing. He’s rubbing my back and being the perfect husband to
me. I’ve got nothing to complain about.”

“What are you not telling me, honey?” Eva asked. She’d
known Tate long enough to know when the other woman was lying.

Tate looked down at the floor. “It’s nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

She listened to the younger woman sigh. “Fine, I’m
scared. Everyone is always tense when Gonzalez is mentioned. All of the other
enemies the club has faced the guys, they’ve made jokes. I know there has been
a certain amount of teasing, but this is different. It scares me.”

Drawing Tate against her side, Eva kissed her head as
she often had while Tate was growing up. “Everything will work out in the end.
You’ve got to stop fearing what’s going to happen.”

“You can’t deny this is different from all the other
times before.”

Eva remained silent.

“Please, Eva, for once tell me the truth of what’s
going on.”

“There’s nothing you need to know. Your father knows
what he’s doing. You need to relax and learn to trust him.” Eva released Tate
to hold onto Simon tighter as the young toddler started to wriggle.

“Fine, I’ll leave you to it. I’ll pick him up later.”

“I look forward to seeing you. Have fun,” Eva said.
She closed the door behind her stepdaughter and started walking back upstairs.

Tabitha and Miles hadn’t stopped playing.

“Here you go, Simon, have some fun.”

Simon padded off toward the other two. Letting out a
sigh, she took the time to simply watch them. She loved being around children.
They were so adorable, charming, and made her love them all the more. Blowing
out a breath she stepped toward the bedroom and started going through the
washing she’d been doing all day.

Folding the washing also helped to calm her nerves.
She didn’t know why as washing always seemed to be a curse for a lot of women.

Whistling to herself, she checked on the kids several
times. Halfway through the washing the doorbell rang. After another quick check
on the kids, she walked downstairs to the answer the door.

She didn’t have to be constantly there to watch the
kids as she’d child-proofed the entire room. There was nothing there to cause
them any harm or pain.

Looking through the key hole she saw Angel standing on
her doorstep.

“Hey,” Eva said, opening the door.

“Hey. I heard you were the one on babysitting duty,
and I wanted to come and offer my services to help you.” Angel’s blonde hair
blew freely in the wind. Her son Anthony giggled as he tried to catch the
length.

“You don’t have to if you want to do something else for
today.”

She closed the door behind Angel, loving how natural
the other woman was with her kids. Eva had seen many women lose their temper
when kids pulled their hair. Angel didn’t respond. Being with Lash, she
imagined Angel would be used to a little hair pulling.

Been around the men far too long.
Too much information to know about
one brother.

“I’ve got nothing to do. Lash is back at the club
dealing with business. I’ve packed away from our vacation.”

“I thought Lash told you to make a decision of where
you want to go next. You’re not going to be home forever.” Eva took the bag
from Angel’s shoulder, and together they made their way up toward the other
kids.

“Lash can pick where we go. I’ve looked at too many
brochures. All the resorts and hotels are starting to look the same. I don’t
care where we go, so long as Lash is happy. Anthony is always happy.” Angel
bent down to place her son on the floor.

Eva laughed as he charged away. Out of all the kids Anthony
was the quietest, taking after his father. Lash was quiet for the most part,
but if someone threatened him then he was one of the deadliest men Eva had ever
known. She heard about what happened with how Lash snapped Angel’s father’s
neck without straining. From what she heard, the bastard deserved it as he’d
tried to sell Angel to whoever would have her.

Angel stepped away. “He’s growing up so fast.”

She glanced at the other woman. She wore a long pastel
pink skirt with a matching top.

“Lash still refusing to have another kid?”

“Yeah, he doesn’t like how bad the pregnancy was with
Anthony. The moment I held him, all the pain dissipated. I want another kid,
but I don’t want to upset Lash. He means the world to me.”

The biggest problem with Angel was that she was too
trusting and too submissive for Lash. She was sweet, but she wouldn’t fight for
anything.

“Maybe it’s time for you to speak up for what you
want.”

“Nah, it’s okay. We’ll have another child when we’re
ready. Right now isn’t the right time. Gash is back out of prison, poor man.
Lash told me what happened. Could you imagine? Being put away for crimes you
didn’t commit. I feel sorry for Gash,” Angel said.

Eva snorted. “Don’t. If I know Gash, then he’ll be
seeking revenge before you know it.”

“He’s a nice man. I like him.” Angel moved around Eva
to fill the kettle. Grabbing milk from the fridge, Eva took over making them a
drink. She placed the baby monitor on the counter for them to watch their kids.
Tiny had installed a small CCTV camera in the room, and with a little rewiring,
Whizz made it even more baby proof. Eva could see the kids anywhere in the
house.

“Be careful around Gash. You’ve not known him long,
and he’s just gotten out of prison.”

“What do you mean? Gash wouldn’t do anything. I’m
Lash’s woman.” Angel took a seat, her gaze on the camera of the babies.

“Before you turned up at The Skulls, Gash was a
massive player. Prison changes everyone, and no one knows if it has affected
him yet. Give him time, and don’t be around him until you know.”

Angel smiled. “You sound as protective as Lash does.
He always worries about me. I don’t know how to convince him not to.”

Stirring the tea, she placed one in front of Angel.

“You’ve been hurt a lot because of the club. I know
all the men feel awful over what happened to you.”

The shirt she wore revealed one of the scars near
Angel’s chest from the bullets she had taken, which had been intended for Zero.
Another was near her spine and another close to it. For several days it had
been touch and go. The whole club had to wait for her to come out of coma to
see what the extent of the damage was. The doctors at the time had warned Angel
might not be able to walk or if the damage was too severe, she wouldn’t come
out of a coma. Yeah, it had been one of the worst times for the club.

“I’m not the only woman who’s been injured because of
the club.”

“You were the first one who died on the operating
table. We were all there. You jumped in front of Zero to protect him. He was
nothing to you, yet you jumped in front of him. Did you even know they were
shooting?”

Angel stared at the monitor for several seconds. Eva
had never brought this up before. She tried not to relive old, painful
memories. Angel was too damn sweet and didn’t need reminding all the time.

“I saw the gun, and it was aimed at Zero. I don’t know
what came over me. Lash was talking, telling me what he wanted to do to me when
we got home. I saw the gun and knew I couldn’t let Zero die. He does mean
something to me as he’s part of the club. Lash told me the club came first and
he’d do anything to protect the club. I had to play my part, and letting a man
die is not who I am.”

Eva reached out to take Angel’s hand. “You’re Lash’s
first priority. The club no longer comes first to Lash. You do.”

“I don’t care. I thought I did, but I don’t. I love
Lash and the club. You’re all my
family,
and I have to
say, I see Tiny as the father figure and you as the mother. I know, it’s
strange but it’s true. When I see you both, I know everything is going to be
okay.” Angel withdrew her hand. “I’m not going to stop helping the club, even
if it means jumping in front of bullets.”

“It’s dangerous.”

“The guys don’t want us in danger, yet all of their
enemies know where to hit The Skulls. Everyone knows that the club loves their
women. We’re always the target. They need to learn to help to defend us rather
than leaving us blind.”

For a short time the guys had taken them to the
warehouse where Nash had gotten over his addiction, and the women had started
training. That soon ended as life changed, they had to take out another enemy,
and before she knew what was happening they hadn’t restarted their training. Lash
took Angel off to Italy, and nothing had happened since they got back.

“We can start up the training once again if you voice
your concerns,” Eva said.

“I asked Lash. He doesn’t want me to do it.” Angel
sighed.

“Why not?”

“He doesn’t think it’s necessary.” Angel looked sad as
she looked at the monitor once again.

Eva took a sip of her hot tea wondering what to say to
her.

“I don’t mind. Let’s not talk about training and
everything else.” The doorbell went interrupting Angel talking.

“Give me a moment, and I’ll see who that is.” Eva
moved toward the door. She found Rose waiting for her with a bottle of wine in
hand.

“Hey,” Eva said, shocked to see the red haired woman.

“I know. I’ve been out of it for some time. I thought
we could have a bit of bubbly, some girly chat, and catch up.”

“Angel is here, and I’ve got the kids.”

Rose stepped inside. “That’s great. We can have some
bubbly, watch the kids, and chat. I love Angel. I don’t have a problem with her
unless she doesn’t want me to ruin your day.”

Shaking her head, Eva let her in. “There’s nothing to
ruin. It’s just us girls and hopefully some fun.”

She followed Rose into the kitchen. Angel embraced
Rose before they took a seat.

“I’m not drinking tea,” Rose said. “I want to drink
wine and not deal with men or anything else.”

“What’s up?” Eva asked, grabbing a wine glass for
Rose.

“Nothing is up. Hardy is busy with the club, and I
don’t want to be around that many cocks.” Rose poured herself a healthy glass
of wine. “Besides, it’s an anniversary of sorts.”

Just then Eva’s cell phone went.

“Here we go, Hardy’s checking up on me.”

In all the years Eva had known Rose and Hardy, she’d
never seen the couple like this.

“Hello,” she said, answering the call.

“Is Rose there?” Hardy asked.

“Yeah.
She’s drinking wine and talking about an anniversary. What’s going on?”

“Don’t ask him that. He doesn’t like that, do you,
Hardy?” Rose sounded like she’d been drinking already this morning.

“Fuck, please, keep her there. I’ll be by later to
pick her up.”

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing.
It’ll be fine. I promise. Just, don’t let her leave.” Hardy hung up the
phone, leaving Eva with so many questions.

“Let me guess, you’re not allowed to let me leave and
I’m pretty much to stay here until he comes and picks me up?” Rose asked.

“Yeah.”

“Typical male.
He’s bossing us around.” Rose looked toward Angel. “You should know all
about that. I have to say, your man is a keeper.”

Frowning, Eva looked at Angel at the same time as she
looked at her.

“The secrets, they all suck. Do any of you want a
drink? I’m going to consume this whole bottle, and I can promise you, it won’t
be my last today.”

“What secrets?” Angel asked.

“Oh, honey, I can tell you so many secrets about
Hardy.”

“You and Hardy are perfect for each other. You’re a
wonderful couple.”

Rose started laughing, and once she started, the other
woman couldn’t stop.

Eva thought about the time she spent with Rose. Not
once could she recall ever seeing her like this. However, Hardy always made
sure that Rose took some time away from the club.

“Honey, we’re not the perfect couple. In fact we’ve
had problems just like everyone else.” Rose took a large gulp of her wine,
raising a finger toward them. “In fact, it has been ten years exactly today
when our marriage was the fucking worst. Usually, Hardy keeps me locked up in
our house for me to have my sob and cry. Shame he’s busy and he can’t keep me
in one place.”