Filthy Bastard (Grim Bastards MC) (18 page)

Ignoring me, he heads toward a sandwich shop. “You haven’t eaten a thing all day and neither have I, so I figure we got time to grab a bite.”

Realizing he’s right, I follow along. We both place our orders, and within minutes, our food is in our hands. Instead of sitting at a table in the restaurant, Brew leads me back across the street. At first, I think he plans on eating while he drives. Instead, he passes the van and heads to a nearby park. Finding a bench, he pulls me down beside him and starts unwrapping his sandwich.

Pulling a napkin out of the bag, I lay it across my lap then grab my sandwich. “Are you sure there will be room for all of us at the clubhouse? Look at how much stuff we picked up today. Cameron may be small, but he has more shit than ten adults.”

“For a while,” he says, after swallowing a bite. “It’ll do, until we can get into the house.”

My head snaps to him. “What house?”

“I bought a place not too long ago. It’s only a few blocks from the clubhouse,” he says, with a barely noticeable shrug. “The place needs work, but it’s got good bones. I’ve already sent a few of the prospects over there to get started.”

My heart is beating so loud that I can hear it in my ears. “You have a house for us to move into? Alex, Cameron, and me?”

“Don’t forget about me, Little Red,” he adds, still eating his sandwich as if he hadn’t just rocked my damn world.

Brew wants us to live together? When did he make this decision? How the hell did this happen, and why in the hell am I so excited about it? Isn’t it too soon? Shouldn’t I be scared? Shouldn’t I be freaking the hell out?

Breathing through my nose, I attempt to calm my racing heart. “Are we moving in together? Is that what you’re saying?”

“What do you think we’re doing here, Red?” he asks, shoving his sandwich back in the bag and sitting it beside him on the bench.

I stare at him, trying to figure out what he’s asking. “I don’t know what you mean.”

He reaches out and jerks the sandwich out of my hand. After placing it in the bag with his, he pulls me into his lap and buries his face in my hair. “Damnit, Addy. I want you to be my woman. Someday, I want my ring on your finger and my ink on your skin. When I said I bought a house, I should’ve said I got it when I finally met the woman that made me not want to be alone anymore. I had no reason to buy one until you came into my life.”

“But...” I start, stumbling over my words, and say the first thing that comes to my mind. “I’m not good enough for you.”

His head jerks back, causing his brown waves to catch the wind, and he looks into my eyes. He’s quiet for a few minutes, still staring into my eyes. Finally, he raises a hand and lowers his lips to mine. His kiss is gentle, nothing more than a brush of his lips, but it’s sweet just the same.

When he finally pulls back, his hazel eyes are a storm of both brown and green. “I went to prison for trying to kill a man when I was just seventeen years old.”

I’m so shocked that I don’t utter a word as he goes on. “He raped my fifteen-year-old sister, Trina. The man was nearly forty-years old, and he was a guest in our home at the time. After it happened, our parents refused to call the police or even force him to leave the house. They were more worried about how it would look to their friends than their daughter.”

Pain shoots through my chest as I realize how similar our two stories are. Hers is worse, though; she was just a little girl, a child that should have been protected. Evil like that should never touch someone so innocent.

“Oh my God,” I mumble, grabbing the front of his shirt. “Was your sister okay?”

“She was just a little girl. She was covered in bruises and blood. He hurt her, hurt her bad,” Brew replies, as he looks past my shoulder. “Trina cried and cried. I swear, I didn’t think her tears were ever gonna stop.”

In my mind, all I can see is a young girl being brutalized by a grown man. Everything that Blake ever did to me, transfers to her. I swear, I can feel her pain, her fear, and most of all her confusion. If I could, I would have taken her place.

“Have you ever heard of Decker Creameries?” he asks, bringing his eyes back to mine.

My eyes blink at his quick subject change. Decker Creameries is one of the biggest ice-cream chains in the world. Hell, we passed two of them while shopping for stuff for Alex and Cameron. They make the best chunky monkey ice-cream I’ve ever tasted.

“Of course, I have,” I reply, not understanding why he asked.

“My name is Isaac Decker,” he says, a sad smile on his face. “My great grandfather founded the company when he was only twenty-six. He passed it down to my grandfather, who passed away fourteen years ago. My father has been CEO since then.”

Good Lord, Brew is rich. No, that’s not exactly true. He is filthy rich, or at least his family is. My parents’ wealth wouldn’t be a penitence compared to the Decker family fortune. How did I not know this before now?

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask, wondering what other secrets he’s hiding.

As soon as the thought crosses my mind, I realize how ridiculous it sounds. I’ve been keeping my fair share of secrets, too. Still would be, if everyone hadn’t walked in while Blake was attacking me.

“Does it matter? Does it change how you feel about me?” he asks, his eyes still trained on mine.

My answer is instantaneous. “Of course not.”

“That’s not who I am anymore, not since the day my parents refused to make my sister’s rapist pay for his crime,” he says, then goes on to tell me about how he ended up in prison.

After he’s done, I ask, “How’s your sister doing now?”

He looks at me again, sadness filling his eyes. “She’s married to him, married to the bastard that raped her.”

I can’t keep the gasp for slipping past my lips. “No, you’re wrong.”

He goes on to tell me what he learned the day he got out of prison. His sister now shares children with her rapist. Then, he talks about a secret trip he made to see her, a trip that even his brothers don’t know about.

“She told me to stay away from her,” Brew says, his voice filled with pain. “Trina was embarrassed of me. She said she didn’t want anyone to even see her talking to me.”

Unable to think of the right words to say, I simply wrap my arms around him and lay my head against his chest. We both stay quiet for a few minutes, just holding on to each other. Finally, he pushes me back to look at me again.

“You think you’re not good enough for me, think you’re dirty and broken,” he whispers, as he places his hands on my cheeks. “To me, you’re beautiful and strong. You did what you had to do, to protect your sister, just like I did.”

“I’m falling in love with you, Brew,” I say, not even taking a second to think about my words.

His hazel eyes shift to green as he replies, “Right back atcha’.”

Brew

IT TOOK
fucking forever to get Alex and Cameron loaded in the van. First, the doctor had to come in and give her instructions. Then, another doctor came in to talk about her upcoming heart surgery. After that, there was a million papers to sign. Of course, just as we were about to pack up, Little Man decided he was hungry, and he wasn’t willing to wait to be fed.

When it was finally time to leave, Addy treated her sister like glass, worried every move she made could set off a heart attack. After listening to the doctor talk to Alex, I have to admit being a little worried myself. As he was discussing the additional damage the delivery did to her heart, I became more and more pissed at their parents.

I drive the van as my brothers follow me on their bikes. Round, Smoke’s dad, brought the van to us yesterday, and took my bike back to the club. After we get loaded up at the hospital and everyone is ready to go, we head back to the clubhouse. Boz tried to talk Trix into going back to the hotel a time or two, but she refused. I never even mentioned it to Addy; I knew better. The three-hour drive drags by, as Addy and Alex both fall asleep. The only sounds in the van are the occasional whine of the baby and a nearly silent hushing from his mother.

As the drive comes to an end, I see our house coming up. Red asked about a million questions about the house, but there wasn’t a lot I could tell her. I wanted to at least have it repaired before she saw it, but she’s so damn excited that I have to give her at least a little peek. Rolling down the window, I stick my hand out and motion for my brothers to go around. When they do, I pull into the drive then reach over to give Addy a gentle shake. Her eyes blink a few times before they come to me.

“This is it, Red,” I say, nodding my head toward the house.

When she finally turns to look at it, a gasp leaves her mouth. “Oh, Brew, it’s beautiful.”

She’s wrong; it’s not, but it will be one day. The house was originally built in the twenties, a huge three-story monstrosity. It still has the original wood siding, which is now covered in peeling white paint. It has a huge porch that wraps around the entire house, with a balcony on both the front and back.

“The inside’s not quite as bad as the out, but it’s close. The boys are finishing it up, before they start working on the porches and painting,” I tell her, as I nod to a building in the back yard. “That’s a guest cottage. It’s in even worse shape than the house is. Later on, though, we’ll fix it up, and Alex can have her own space if she wants it. If not, she can stay with us.”

Alex leans forward, placing her upper body between Addy and me. “You don’t have to do that for me, Brew. I’ll find a place for me and the baby, as soon as I can. My parents and Blake may think I’m useless, but I’m not. After the surgery, I’ll get a job and take care of Cameron and myself.”

Considering what the doctor said, it’s gonna be a long damn time before that shit happens, if ever. It’s definitely not something she needs to be worrying about right now. Still, I understand her need to say what she had to say, and I respect her even more for it.

Addy starts to say something, but I cut her off. “You can do whatever in the hell you want, Alex. But you need to know, you and Cameron are both welcome to live the rest of your lives with us. You’re my family too now.”

With those words, I pull out of the driveway and head to the clubhouse. As soon as we pull in, a few prospects come straight to the van and start unloading, before I can even give the order. Guess my brothers got that shit sorted as soon as we arrived.

“Pres has a few boys moving your stuff to a room on the second floor. He wants her put in his old room,” a prospect says, nodding his head at Alex. “Your rooms will be right beside each other. Boz figured you’d want it that way. Said if you didn’t to let me know.”

“Yeah, he was right,” I reply, thinking about what my Pres just did for me.

Boz is giving us his family’s rooms. It’s a bit separate from the rest of the rooms, allowing the Pres and his family to have a little privacy. I’ve been told Boz’s dad stayed there until the day he died. Boz stayed in the room until his Mom moved out. Then, he moved down with the rest of the brothers. Now, he’s turning it over to me. Fuck, my brother’s a good man.

“Let’s get them inside,” I say as I grab Cameron’s car seat, with him still sleeping inside it, out of the van. “I want you to personally help the women get shit set up. You’re gonna need your tools. The bassinet and the swing have to be put together.”

The prospect nods and says, “Boz said to tell you that he wants to see you in his office as soon as you got here.”

Addy’s hand comes to my arm and gives it a squeeze. “I got this. Go do what you have to do.”

I place a quick kiss on her lips as I pass the baby to her. “Be back as soon as I can.”

Leaving her with the prospects, I head into the clubhouse. As I’m walking through the common room, I see Trix making her way outside, and let out a relieved breath. I trust the boys with Addy, but she needs someone by her side that she knows.

I walk into Boz’s office and see him sitting behind his desk. Smoke is in the chair across from it, sucking back a beer. His father, Round, is leaned against the edge of Boz’s desk, smoking a cigarette. I knew they’d all be here waiting to have my back. When my eyes land on another man, sitting at a table working on a laptop, a smile spreads across my face.

“Welcome home, brother,” I say, walking toward him.

Hack looks over his shoulder, a smile on his face, too. “It’s good to be back.”

Looking in his eyes, I can tell his words are true. The shadows that have been living there, since his old lady died, have faded. They’re not quite gone, but there’s only a trace of them left behind.

Motioning toward the laptop, I ask, “You find anything yet?”

“I’ve pulled up all the public records on your woman’s parents and the dickhead that’s gonna be dead soon,” he says, turning back to his laptop. “Dug a little more, discovered her parents have nearly a dozen bank accounts spread across the state. That alone didn’t tell me much, but the way they transfer money back and forth between them lets me know something else is going on.”

“No reason to go further on them, Hack,” I say, knowing it’s time to tell them my plan. “I grew up around people just like them. I know how to end this shit, without spending more time digging up fucking dirt on them.”

“Care to share?” Round asks, walking toward me.

“Can you set up accounts for Addy and Alex?” I ask, directing my question to Hack.

He doesn’t even look up as he nods his head. “Sure can.”

After that, I spend the next few minutes telling them my plan to hit Addy’s parents where it will hurt the most, their bank accounts. When I’m done, I ask, “Y’all up for a ride, tonight?”

“I’m in,” Smoke says, nodding his head.

“Are you sure this is what you want, brother?” Boz asks, standing up from his desk. “If someone pulled this shit on my woman, I’d want them dead.”

I think about my answer for a second, wanting to make sure they understand the anger I am feeling. “Death would be too easy on them. I want them to hurt, and not having their money is gonna hurt them worse than anything else.”

“I agree with you,” Hack says, finally closing the laptop and turning to look at me. “This way, we can keep an eye on them. If they ever start to rebuild their fortune, we can fuck with them again. The fun never ends.”