Beautiful Outlaw (32 page)

I look down at the diamond, blinking back tears of happiness.  It’s nothing like the one Marcus forced on my finger years ago.  This one is smaller, not much bigger than a diamond chip.  The band is a tarnished gold, not the expensive platinum Marcus insisted I wear.  The ring that I threw in the river cost more than my parents’ home, and this one was probably only worth a few hundred dollars.   Still, it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.  Lifting my hand to run over his bearded cheek.  “Is this your way of asking me to marry you?”

“No, this is my way of telling you that we’re getting married as soon as you get out of here.” He shakes his head, running his thumb over the ring.  “You’re mine now, baby.”

“I’ve been yours since the minute I climbed on the back of your bike.”

Six Months Later

Epilogue

Bowie

Resting my chin on Shay’s shoulder, I brush my lips over her neck as my hands rub over her rounding stomach.  “Are you ready to go, babe?”

Shaking her head, she turns to cup my bearded face and places a quick kiss on my mouth.  “No, I don’t want to leave yet.”

I laugh, thinking about how much she bitched about coming to see Tag get his patch.  “I thought you didn’t want to be here for this.”

“I’m having too much fun to be mad at you anymore.” 

She’s been pissed ever since I told her Tag was going to be a prospect.  She says he’s too young, but I think taking a bullet for my woman makes him prime Outlaw material.  “There was nothing to be mad about in the first place.”

“He is just a kid.”

“He’s not a kid anymore, babe.” My eyes search the party, finally finding him talking to Rachel.  By the way he’s looking at her, he doesn’t think she’s a kid either.  That’s something I’m gonna have to be talking to him about real soon. 

Shay’s body goes stiff in my arms for just a second, before she finally relaxes against me.  “I’m not gonna fight with you anymore.  I’m gonna sit here and pretend to be the perfect Old Lady.”

Smiling down at her I say, “You are the perfect Old Lady, even if you do bitch all the time.”

By the look in her eyes, I can tell she’s about to prove my point when Lock takes a seat beside me.  As soon as his ass hits the seat, he reaches over to steal the cookie in Shay’s hand and sticks it in his mouth.  “I love your lemon bars.”

“So do I.  That’s why I was eating one,” She says with a glare, before picking up her plate and covering it with her hand.  “If you want some, go get your own plate.”

Lock let out a chuckle then raises his eyes to mine.  “She’s getting testy, brother.”

“Sure in the hell is.  You should’ve been at the house earlier, she wouldn’t quit bitchin’ until I drove all the way to town and got her a fuckin’ Big Mac.”

“Whatever,” She huffs out, before laying back against my chest again.

They continue to talk as my eyes drift across the room, landing on Lila.  Her girls are running around with the other kids, both with smiles on their faces, but she looks as if she’s lost.  It’s a look she’s been wearing ever since Red pulled his shit.  He put her through a lot, and I’m not sure if she’ll ever get past it.  Shay’s doing her best to bring her back into the fold, but I’m not sure if we’ll ever see the old Lila again.

Red kept her and their girls locked in their bedroom for nearly a week, beating her to get her to give him information about Shay. She kept quiet, claiming to not know anything, until she started cramping.  Knowing that her child was in danger, she finally told him what Shay had said about her past.  He took that information to Cash, and the fucker used it to track Marcus down.  Apparently, Red had been skimming money off the books for a while. When Cash found out, Red had two choices.  Work with the bastard or die.

Even after she had given Red what he wanted, the fucker refused to let her go.  He knew that if she got word to me, his ass would be dead.  Lila ended up delivering the baby at home the same day Red and Domino took Shay.  Her son was still-born, and she nearly bled to death herself.  Luckily, Rollo thought to check Red’s house before coming back to the hospital to sit with Tag.  If not, Lila would have died with her child, leaving her two daughters alone. My eyes drift away, just as Rollo steps in front of her. 

I continue to look around the clubhouse.  Nina and a few of the Old Ladies are manning the food table, and the rest are by their man’s side.  Everyone is laughing, drinking, and having a good time; it’s nothing like the parties that were thrown under my dad’s rule.  Granted, we still party.  But now we bring our families from time to time too.

“This is how it used to be when my Grandpa was alive.”  This is what he wanted Savage Outlaws to become, and I’m more than fuckin’ proud that I was the one to make it happen.

Leaning into me, Shay runs her lips over mine.  “He was a smart man that’s why we’re naming our son after him.”

“He sure in the hell was.” The words barely leave my mouth, before my phone starts to ring. 

Reaching into my pocket, I pull it out.  Seeing Shooter’s name flash across the screen, I gently push Shay from my lap.  “Give me a second.”

Clicking talk, I place it to my ear as I walk to my office.  “Did you find him?”

After putting Marcus in the ground, my next priority was finding Red.  It didn’t take long to figure out that he went underground.  After months of looking, I was beginning to wonder if we would ever find the bastard.  Then Rollo got a lead in North Carolina.  He was right in the heart of Hellion territory, so I called Shooter to join the search.  

“No, but Rex did.”

Fuck!  I’m glad Red’s ass has been found, but I don’t like the idea of owing that mother-fucker a thing.  “Is it done?”

“Yeah, it’s over, but now you owe his ass,” Shooter replies, reading my mind. 

Having Red in the ground is a relief, but I wonder how fuckin’ much the deed will cost me.  With the shit going down in Rex’s life, I’m sure I’ll be finding out soon.  “Tell him just to call when he needs me.  I’ll have his back.”

“He knows and don’t worry, he’ll be calling the marker in soon.” 

We continue to shoot the shit for a minute, when I notice the clubhouse go quiet.  “Brother, I gotta go.”

Sticking the phone in my pocket, I walk towards the door.  It swings open, before I can even reach it.  A second later, Tin walks in with a baby in his arms.  “What the fuck? Whose kid is that”

His eyes move to mine and he says, “Mine.”

Five Years Later

Bonus Epilogue

I look across the bon-fire and smile. My dad is helping the kids make s’mores. I watch as my four year old son Tobias shoves one in his mouth, getting more chocolate on his clothes than in his mouth, and can’t stop a laugh from bubbling out. 

A year after Bowie and I got married, Dad moved to Kentucky.  With Mom gone and neither of his children in North Carolina, he decided that this was where he wanted to be.  He rents a little house in town, not far from Nina’s.  He’s here nearly every day playing with the kids. I love having him here, I just wish Mom could be at his side. 

Jeremy steps in front of me, taking my attention from Dad. “I’m gonna do a beer run.  You need me to pick up anything.”

My brother moved here a few months after Marcus died.   He gave up his badge to look for Heather.  After that, something happened between him and the woman that he was planning on marrying. He’s never told me exactly what happened between them, but whatever she did tore his life to shreds. She comes down to see him every few months, begging him to come back to North Carolina.  Each time she does, he sinks further and further into himself.

“No, I think I got everything,” I say as I look to the beer in his hand.  “Are you sure you should be driving?”

“I’m fine. No need to worry, sis,” He says as he raises his drink. “I’ve only had two.”

The brother I knew has disappeared.  His obsession took him away from us, and I’m beginning to wonder if he’ll ever be found.  He traded his badge for a cutt.  He’s an Outlaw now and proud of it.   He’s harder, doesn’t smile as often. He doesn’t come around much, prefers to spend his time at the clubhouse.

His life now revolves around the club and looking for Heather. He’s determined to find her or at least find her body, nothing else seems to matter to him.  He gave up his life, to search for this woman.  I understand the need to find her but don’t understand why it’s taken over his entire life.

I smile at him, hoping he can’t hear the worry in my voice. “Just be careful.”

Nodding his head, he turns and walks away.  I watch until he reaches the side of the house then turn back to the party, bumping into to Nina. 

“That boy worries me.”

I follow her eyes to the spot Jeremy just disappeared and nod.  “Me too.”

“He’s full of hate.  He has to get rid of it before he can find happiness.”

“I’m not sure what to do to help him.” I’ve tried everything I can to get him to give up his search, but he won’t even consider it.   

“You can’t do anything.  He has to fight his own demons. Just pray that, in the end, he finds the answers he seeks.”

“I do every day.”

Before she can reply, Toke walks to her side and wraps an arm around her shoulders.  “The kids want to make you a s’more.” 

She smiles up at him, before turning towards the fire.  “My grandbabies know how much I love chocolate.”

I watch them walk away with a smile on my face then turn to see Tin-Man placing a marshmallow on a stick for his daughter. As soon as he’s done, Cori rushes back to the fire.  I can hear her giggle as she pushes the marshmallow into the flames. 

Walking over to him, I lean into his side.  “She’s getting so big.”

Tin throws his arm over my shoulder and says, “She is, too damn big.”

The words no more than leave his lips, before Cori holds up her perfectly roasted marshmallow and shouts, “I made it just like you like it, Daddy.”

“You sure did,” He shouts back, before looking down at me.  “I gotta go eat that nasty shit now, don’t I?”

Letting out a laugh, I pull away from him.  “Yeah, you do.”

He smiles then walks to her, eating his marshmallow in one bite.  My eyes move from him to where Rachel is sitting by herself.  I can see the exhaustion on her face as she runs her hands over her growing belly.  Walking over to her, I ask, “Hey, hun.  You feeling okay?”

She looks up to me with a tired smile on her face.  She continues to run a hand over her growing belly and says, “Yeah, I’m fine, just a little tired.”

“You can go lay down in Tin’s old room, if you want.”

She looks across the backyard to where Tag is standing.  He’s talking to Rollo and Lila, but every minute or two, his eyes move to Rachel.  She waves at him then motions towards the house, before climbing from the chair. “I think I will.”

Just before she walks away, I reach out and cup her chin.  “Let me know if you need anything, sweetie.”

Nodding again, she says, “I will, but don’t worry. Tag will be inside in a second.  If the baby decides to make an early appearance, he’ll let you know.”

With those words, she walks away.  I wait until she gets inside before turning to look back at Tag.   My hands fist as one of the club girls walks up and plasters herself to his side. Lila says something to Rollo, before the two of them walk back to the fire, leaving Tag alone with the woman.  I take a step forward, when his arm snakes around her waist and I’m pulled back into the warm arms of my husband.  “Leave it alone, Shay.”

Relaxing my body into his, I draw in a deep breath. “This is a family get together, not a club party.  That woman shouldn’t be here.”

“I already got Rollo on it; she’ll be gone in just a minute.”

I continue to watch as Tag’s hand lowers to her ass and gives it a slap.  When his head bends down to whisper in her ear, I nearly scream.  “What happened to him?”

The boy that I loved has turned into a man I despise.  He hurts the one person he loves over and over again and never feels an ounce of shame.  Even with a baby on the way, he doesn’t see that he’s doing anything wrong. 

“He grew up,” Bowie says, as if that should answer my question.

I twist around to look into his eyes. “The fact that he’s a man now, doesn’t means he can treat Rachel like crap.”

He lets out a frustrated breath, before raising his hand to run his thumb over my bottom lip.  “No, but it means that he’s too damn old for us to tell him what to do.”

“But, she’s your sister.”

He nods and for the first time I see the anger at the situation in his eyes.  “But, she’s his Old Lady.  Until she gets tired of it, there’s not a damn thing I can do.”

“She’s too blind; she doesn’t even see what he’s doing.”  She’s completely oblivious, and she won’t listen to anyone.  As far as she’s concerned, Tag is everything she could ever want or need. 

“She will and when she does, we’ll be here for her.”

I know he’s right but I also know when she finds out, it’s gonna kill her.  Before I can tell him so, I hear the sound of my daughter screaming. I look to the porch where she has been sleeping in her playpen, and see her sitting up.  “She’s probably hungry.”

“You want me to get her.”

I look back to Bowie and shake my head.  “No, I’ll do it. I want to get her fed, so I can start cleaning up some of this mess.”

Before I can step away, he leans down to place a kiss on my lips.  “Don’t work too much, baby.  I don’t want you tired; I’ve got plans for you tonight.”

“I’ll never be too tired for you,” I say as I give him my sexiest smile and walk away. 

Just as I reach Chelsea’s playpen, my phone starts to ring. I pull it out of my pocket and bring it to my ear, as I pull her into my arms.  “Hello.”

“May I speak with Laura?” A woman asks, her voice just above a whisper. 

No one, not even Dad, calls me Laura anymore.  Just hearing the name sends cold chills down my spine.  “I’m sorry, you must have the wrong number.”

“No, no.  I really need to speak with Laura.”

My pulse raises as I reply, “There’s no Laura here.”