Rain Falls (14 page)

Yo Neg and Sledge walked through the main room to the bar. “Hey, Rick.” Rick turned to look at them, his blank expression stone cold. The guys had noted that despite being in the middle of a motorcycle club and totally out of his realm, Rick still radiated hardcore badass despite being older than most of them. The soldier part of him would always show no matter what his surroundings.

“Boys,” Rick said, taking another gulp of his whiskey. “Don’t just stand there looking awkward, spit it out, boy,” Rick told Sledge.

Sledge and Yo Neg shared a look and Sledge shook his head. “You’re in. Gotta say, I can see why.”

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“It’s the soldier in you,” Sledge smirked, and grabbed a glass. He poured some of the Jack that sat in a bottle by Rick and took a drink. “That, plus you have good taste in beverages.”

“Doesn’t everyone drink Jack?” he laughed.

“Only the ones who aren’t pussies,” Yo Neg laughed.

“Can’t argue with that. Thanks for the drink, boys. I have some business to attend,” he grinned.

“Might wanna suit up before goin’ up there. Can’t guarantee you won’t have bullets whizzing over head.” Sledge had seen how pissed off the girls were, and it wasn’t good. Abi, plus anger, was disaster. Their girl could beat the living hell out of most of the guys there. She still held her title belt, and was due to start training again in less than two weeks for another big fight in Las Vegas. She’d worked her ass off for so long and now she’d made it to the top.

“Thanks for the warning, but I think I can handle it. Watch and learn, boys.” He stood and nodded, headed to the war zone of angry hormonal women.

The women went up to their floor and Shady waited until they were at the top and then closed the door they had installed and locked it. They needed privacy right now.

“Oh my fucking GOD!” Abi yelled and the rest of the women laughed.

“Did that really just happen?” Freedom asked shocked. “I mean, I know they are all Alpha and shit, and like ‘me man you woman’ in the bedroom but honest to God, I can’t believe they took it that far. Actually planning around our plan.”

“Yeah they did. And I have no clue what to do with this,” Harmony said and turned to them. “I am shocked. I have had this talk with the guys, I get they are protective, but seriously, I thought we worked past it. I mean, they let me torture someone with them.”

“Yeah, but you were in control, they were in control. This, they have no idea what can happen, they don’t like it,” Shady said quietly. “I get it, I do, and we all talked about this. We know what we are up against.”

“Shay,” Nike said and stepped forward. “Every single person in this room has the ability to shoot a gun with accuracy, kill a man with one hit, and run like the fucking wind if we are in trouble. They know this, and they still don’t trust us. I don’t know if there is anything else we can do.”

“Yeah there is. We do exactly what they want, and if we teach them the lesson before we get there, better for us,” Shady said. “I do not want to rip the club apart. I want them to treat us like we have a brain. Because you know, our plan still needs them. We can’t do it without them. Okay, ladies, let’s not be stupid. This is what we will do.”

Rick walked up to the door and knocked. He knew the guys wouldn’t take long to make their decision and they hadn’t. It took longer than what he liked but finally the door swung open.

“Yeah?” Bob said.

“I need to talk to you all,” he said firmly and Bob rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder. Apparently, someone agreed, because the door was swung open farther for him.

He stepped in and the women were all sitting on couches in the center of a huge room. He spotted Rain right away and grinned. Without hesitation, he said.

“Here it is, ladies. I am now your liaison to the men. Just got voted in, now they were a bunch of dumbasses, and they know it—”

“Hang on, Dad, what the hell? You can’t, you are still—” Rain argued.

“If you would let me finish,” he said. “They know they fucked up, and just needed a reminder of a few things. Now, I resigned my commission effective immediately, because after being here and seeing what you are doing, I gotta say, I want to help out. I let them know and I will let you know, I will wear both your patches but won’t be involved in girls’ night out. But I learned a long time ago working with a spouse can fuck shit up. So even though you had good intentions, this is never gonna work because you don’t speak the same language.”

“You speak girl?” Abi snorted.

“No, I speak honest and you will come to appreciate that, because I do it to both sides. No one will get special treatment, if I think you’re wrong, then I will tell you, same goes for them. That way you are fighting with me not your men and you can actually have some loving time instead of fighting with your men,” Rick said and then turned to Rain. “All but you, you can fight with your men, in fact, maybe you should stay away from men for a long time, you know, until I can handle it.”

Rain smiled and shook her head. She hadn’t seen her dad like this since she was small. He was usually buttoned up tight, now he was looser. It was good. Really good. “Okay, Dad, what do you suggest? We have a tea party and bake cookies and shit to offer up as a truce?” He may be her dad, but that didn’t mean that one little falter in her emotions would set her back to being a helpless little daddy’s girl. He needed to know she was, and always would be, one badass bitch the chicks under him in the military would cringe at.

“Cookies are always good, but I’m thinking a little less domestic, ladies.” Rick took a seat on the couch, his back slumped down, and propped up his feet. Oh yeah. This was a lot better than behind that fucking desk.

“Please, elaborate.” She gave a snarky eye roll but the smile that tugged at her lips showed she was more teasing than serious. He gave her a discrete wink and grinned.

“Tonight, the clubs come together for a BBQ. There’s nothing better to comrade troops than ribs and beer. Tomorrow, you kiss your man at the door and ride out to fight by his side. How’s that sound?”

“First off, who the hell is cooking all this food? Do you honestly think that after having us play at our wifely duties, they will stand by our side and not shove us back even farther than they have now?” Rose stood as she spoke. “We have a new baby. If something happens to her father, that leaves me raising her on my own. It’s not about his Neanderthal need to protect me. This is about us protecting each other and our little girl from monsters like Zane.”

“You are absolutely right. And I think I’ve put things into prospective for them. I’ll send out for the side dishes, and the grilling is man’s work. You girls can take charge of the refreshments, but leave the cooking to the master.”

“The last time you grilled burgers they tasted like lighter fluid,” Rain laughed.

“Yeah, well, the last time you were ten. I’ve cooked a lot of meals since then and have mastered the art. Gas grills don’t hurt either,” he chuckled.

“Okay, Rick, a BBQ it is.” Shady started delegating tasks to the girls, starting with Rick’s advice on drink choices. She was half-shocked he was a whiskey man and not some fancy Brandy or Scotch drinker. Jack Daniels was going to be a very popular man tonight.

“Come here,” Charro said in a low voice. Rain’s eyebrow quirked, but she didn’t move. He copied her and she knew his dominating wasn’t about the club. It was the fun kind. She pretended to keep up her guard, but from the shadowed look in his eyes, she wanted him to tear it down, and tear her up.

“What?” she asked cattily.

“Closer.”

She took the last step and closed the distance, standing toe to toe with him. “What?” she repeated again, her little back bowed and chest puffed out. He reached out, grabbed her hands, and twisted them behind her, crushing his mouth down on hers. No denying what his intentions were, if the huge bulge in his pants grinding against her stomach was any clue. It didn’t take long for him to break her down and her to fall into his kiss. What she hadn’t expected was the feeling of something cold snapping on her wrists and two more hands coming up from behind her. She jerked away and turned around, her mouth still parted.

“Just in time,” Knight said, taking over where Charro left off. They passed her back and forth, kissing and groping her until she couldn’t fight it if her life depended on it. Before things got hot in the middle of the sitting area, Rick walked in and put a stop to it.

“You boys wanna explain?” His eyes shot from them to the cuffs on Rain’s wrists.

“Do
you
want us to explain?” Knight returned, fighting a grin.

“Good point.”

“Foreign relations. We’re making an alliance.” Charro grinned, all of his pearly whites showing.

“That works for me. Carry on…someplace besides here.” Rick looked down at Rain and shook his head, still playing the protective father roll but giving in enough the guys knew he approved.

“You heard the man,” Knight said and hoisted Rain up over his shoulder, her yells of disapproval once again apparent.

“Good luck with that,” was the last thing they heard before they took their woman to bed.

They pulled out at six a.m. that morning. Rain looked over her shoulder to her father who was riding his new Harley Fatboy and grinning like a little kid on Christmas morning as they pulled onto the highway.
Wow, who would have thought
? The perfect uniform wearing, boots polished to mirror status, clean cut man, was now decked out in leathers with a bandana tied around his head. She couldn’t believe it.

Charro and Knight flanked her and as she looked around, the women with bikes were also being flanked by their men, and the four trucks behind them were filled with both Savages, Warriors, and Lady Riders.

While they were gone, Kink was in charge. Of course that had been a battle as her best friend wanted to come with them, but he was the next highest-ranking Warrior and they needed him there just in case Rugel sent someone to the compound before they were able to strike.

The rumble of the bike and the smooth road made Rain grin; she loved it when they took long rides. To get to the Warriors’ Chapter in Oceanside, Cali, it would take four hours. It was the most gorgeous drive she had ever been on and Rain looked forward to taking it with her men.

Yep, she finally admitted to herself they belonged to her. As fucked up as everything had been over the last few days, they had stepped up. Made sure she understood they had her back, and also, made sure that even with all the shit going down, she knew they would put her first. Even if it pissed her off.

Damn, emotions sucked. She also wasn’t going to say anything until she was divorced. She needed to get this shit dealt with and then she would see where the other led. It wasn’t going to be easy to hold back, she wanted to be with them, but her past needed dealt with, and she had no clue what was going to happen.

During the ride, Rain had time to think about a lot of things, mostly her future. She would watch the guys who would instinctively look at her, smile, nod, and then make sure she was safe. It was weird how they did it. One of them would move forward to block if a car was passing, the other would fall behind when they were getting off the highway making sure she didn’t get in the sand, which usually gathered on the road, and was slippery on the exits. It made her feel like they really did care.