Sanctuary (Freaks MC Book 2) (23 page)

“
Can't....”

“
Yes, you can.” He ran his finger along her scar. “C'mon, little one. Don't lose your shit. You're Samson's ol' lady, make him proud.”

“
Tiny, I need...” She fought the urge to grab hold of him. It wouldn't look good here in the clubhouse, with so many patches from out of town, for Tiny to be holding his brother's old lady, but she could feel her legs turning to jello. “I can't do this.”

“
Sure, you can.” He looked over as Deke approached. “She's freaking out, brother. Get her out of here.”

“
Oh shit, baby girl.” Deke held her against his chest. “I'm so sorry. I should never have asked you to come.”

“
I-I'll be okay.” He felt so good. “Just hold me for a little while. Sorry for being such a loser.”

Gently, he pushed her away from him and lifted her chin. “Wanna take a ride?”

Emma blinked. “No, you should be here. This is your new chapter. Your party.”

“
Doubt I'll be missed, baby girl.” He bent and kissed her. “It's just a party. There'll be more.”

“
Really, I'll be fine. I just freaked out. I'm okay now.” She gave him a shaky smile. “I'm going to get some air. Go and enjoy the party.”

He took her hand. “I said I'd stay close and I meant it. You're not going out there on your own.”

As they made their way through the crowd, Yaz looked over and smirked. “Quite a performance, darling. Wondered how you'd convinced him to stick around.”

Deke let go of Emma's hand and stepped forward. “You wanna watch your mouth, or I'll... ”

“Deke.” Emma grabbed his arm. “Don't, please.”

Yaz laughed. “Yeah, I'm pretty sure hitting the President's old lady won’t go unpunished.” She turned on her three inch heel and stalked off towards Bugs, stopping on the way to bitch at one of the girls.

~ oOo ~

If he lived to a hundred, Samson would never understand how Bugs put up with that gash. She may have been with him for nearly fifteen years and given him five kids, but as far as he was concerned, she was still the two-faced, manipulative, cheating whore she’d always been, and he still believed that she couldn’t be trusted.

She’d been working as a stripper when he first met her, as a young, slightly naïve prospect in Winnipeg. The older, native New Yorker had seemed pretty worldly to the twenty-two-year-old Alaskan, and he’d fallen for her. Hard.

Despite his tender years, he had already established himself as a pretty ruthless fighter and was earning good money in underground bare knuckle fights both in Canada and the States. Yaz had seen him at a fight and latched onto him immediately, sticking to him like glue until his winnings were spent.

He didn’t mind spending his money on her. He'd believed he was in love, and he wanted to make her happy. He hadn’t even tried to stop her stripping, although he couldn’t pretend he liked the idea much. He got that she wanted to earn her own money, especially after he injured his hand, and it was looking as though his fighting days could be over. And it wasn’t like she was fucking those guys.

He had been only months away from getting his top rocker when he’d come home unexpectedly and found her on her knees in front of some old dude. The guy probably didn’t deserve the beatdown he got. Certainly he would never breathe through his nose again, and maybe the two year prison sentence was fair. All Samson knew was that he had to serve another year as a prospect on his release, and Yaz had disappeared, leaving only his cut and his bike.

She’d hurt him a lot, but he was young and there were plenty more fish in the sea, so he soon pushed her to the back of his mind and moved on with his life, never expecting to see her again.

He couldn’t believe his eyes when he’d walked into the Seattle clubhouse a few years later and seen her, heavily pregnant and as smug as the cat that got the cream. She’d finally bagged a Freak, and one who was as ambitious as her.

After much internal debate, he had decided to not say anything. Bugs was a few years older than him and was already SAA. And truthfully, what could he say. She was pregnant and wore his property patch. Maybe she had changed her ways.

Samson snorted as he watched the girl hurry out, blinking away her tears. Change her ways? What a fucking joke.

For a short while it had seemed that Yaz was contented to be a good old lady. She gave birth to a son, followed eighteen months later by twins, boys again.

It wasn’t long after, though, that her true colors began to show. Bugs had been made VP and at the same time Samson had become the nomad President, despite his young age. Suddenly he was back on Yaz’s radar. She was too stupid to realize that as a nomad, being President meant little. All she saw was the patch. When she had drunkenly pushed up on him, he had done her the huge favor of not telling Bugs. He knew the Seattle VP had a quick temper and would be within his rights to punish her however he saw fit. But she was the mother of his kids, and no matter how he viewed it, no good would come of him saying anything. So he’d pushed her away and warned her that if she ever tried a trick like that again, with him or his brothers, he would take it straight to her old man.

Anyone else would have been contrite and blamed the drink. But she’d always been a stupid bitch and had never forgiven him for rejecting her. She never missed an opportunity to get at him, even to go as so far as to imply that he and Beth had been fucking behind Tiny’s back. It was fortunate that his brother trusted both him and his old lady, because if he hadn’t, and Beth had been hurt because of her vindictiveness, he would have killed her himself.

The small hand squeezing his brought him back to the present, and he smiled. “C'mon, baby. Let's get outta here.”

Once outside, he led her to his bike. Emma stopped. “I'm fine, Deke. I just freaked out. I was in the kitchen with Lola and we were talking about... When we went into the clubhouse, I dunno. There were too many people, and I panicked.” She pressed her hand against his chest. “I'm sorry, I'm such a pussy. I just couldn't get it under control. But I'm okay now. Really.”

He wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her close. “You're not a pussy.” He pressed his lips against her forehead. “You're an amazingly strong woman. I love you, Emma Mae Murphy.”

“
I love you, too.” Her arms found their way inside his cut. “Still think I'm a lousy old lady, though. And it looks like Yaz agrees with me.”

“
Yaz is a bitch. This has nothing to do with you. Her beef is with me.”

“
Why?”

“
We got history from way back. It ain't important.” He kissed her on the top of her head. “She don't like being told no.”

“
She came on to you?”

“
It don't matter. She don't matter. Just give her a wide berth. She's gonna be strutting around the place like she's a fucking queen now that Bugs has the gavel. She's always wanted an ol' man with a President's patch.”

“
Did you fuck her?”

“
Long time ago, when I was a prospect. Before she got with Bugs.” He pushed her away from him so he could look her in the eye. “I was just a dumb kid. Like I said, ancient history.”

“
Jesus, Deke. Are there any women in there you haven't fucked?”

There seemed little point in lying. He shrugged. “Not many, but none since I've been with you. You're all the woman I need.”

“I know. I trust you. You've never let me down.” She smiled. “Maybe we should get together and compare notes.”

“
Not even remotely funny, baby girl.” He lifted her chin and kissed her. “You sure you're okay to go back in there?” Emma nodded. “Good, cuz I could really use a drink.”

~ oOo ~

As soon as they walked back through those big black doors, Emma felt her heartbeat quicken. She took a deep breath and gripped Deke's hand a little tighter. He turned and frowned. “You okay?”

“
I'm fine.” She forced herself to smile as the throng pressed closer. Even before, she'd not been comfortable in the clubhouse. She took another deep breath. “Could use a drink, though.”

Someone pushed past her and she pressed herself closer to him. “Hey!” Deke spun and faced the offender. “Watch where you're going, asshole.”

“It's okay, Deke.” Emma willed herself to stop trembling.

He shook his head. “You don't have to do this, baby girl.”

“Yes, I do. Let's just get a drink.”

They threaded their way through the crowd to the bar, her hand held tightly in his. She could do this. No one was going to hurt her. Deke would keep her safe.

“Samson. Brother!” A huge Freak she'd never seen before approached and, momentarily, Deke let go of her hand as he was pulled into a hug. “Been too long.”

Emma's heart was beating so hard, she swore she could hear it over the deafening music. She fought to stay in control and nearly jumped out of her skin as a hand touched her back. She spun around and almost cried with relief as Tiny grinned. “Reckon your ol' man is gonna have to play nice with his brothers for a while. How 'bout you an' me get a drink an' find somewhere quiet to wait for him.” He nodded to Deke. “It's okay, brother. I'll stay close.”

Deke nodded and laid his hand on her cheek. “You okay with that?”

She nodded, her mouth too dry to speak, and Tiny laid his hand on her shoulder. “She'll be fine, brother. I got this.” He took her arm and led her to a ratty old sofa in the corner of the room, scowling at the young patch and scantily dressed girl who were sitting there. “Find somewhere else to sit.” As they stood, he grabbed the girl's arm. “Get us two beers.”

“Are you always this rude?” Emma sat and leaned against him.

He shrugged and grinned. “Gotta maintain my rep, little one.” He looked over to where Deke was talking to a group of patches, his eyes still fixed firmly on her. “You did good, back there.”

“I freaked out again, Tiny. I'm pathetic.”

“
No you ain't. You're tougher than you give yourself credit for. You came back in. You did good.” Clearly deciding he'd said all there was to say on the matter, he changed the subject. “How's the exhibition coming on?”

“
Good, I think.” She laughed. “Terrifying, but good.”

“
They're gonna love you, little one.” He grinned. “Still waiting for my invite, of course.”

“
You're more than welcome, although I do draw the line at threatening critics.”

“
I don't threaten. I persuade.” He took the beers from the girl and passed her one. “And you want good reviews don't ya?”

She shook her head and laughed as the tension left her body. “Well I'd appreciate it if you could refrain from persuading anyone.”

“I swear. No one will even notice I'm there.”

Emma shook her head. “Yeah, right.” She took a sip of her beer. “How’s Beth?”

“Psycho.” Tiny rolled his eyes. “When she's not bawling or puking. I'm seriously considering hiding all the knives.”

“
I'm sure if anyone can cope, it's you.”

“
Ain't sure 'bout that, little one. Don't be surprised if the reports of my murder are on the morning news anytime soon. I can't do anything right at the moment.”

“
It won’t be forever, Tiny. And you'll soon have two beautiful babies.”

His expression clouded. “Yeah.”

She wanted to hug him. He'd been such a good friend to her over the last few months, and his fears for Beth and their new babies were palpable. “It'll be fine, big guy.”

“
Yeah, I know.” He pulled out a cigarette. “You an' Samson thought about kids?”

“
Not really. I always wanted a big family, but it's not something we've talked about. And you know, biological clock and all that.”

“
You're still young.” The kiss on her temple was feather light. “My kids are the best thing to ever happen to me.”

“
Worth nine months of a psycho old lady?”

“
Yep. Worth every minute.”

“Samson okay with you pushing up on his ol' lady?” Spike threw himself, uninvited, onto the sofa. “Reckon he'll let me have a go when you're done?”

“
You are treading a fine line, brother.” Tiny scowled. “You need to show some respect.”

“
Sorry, sweetheart.” Spike grinned and looked anything but apologetic. “No offense intended.”

Tiny nudged her gently. “Ignore him, little one. His mouth don't have a filter.”

Spike's grin got even wider and he spread out his arms. “I'm just giving Emma the chance to sample a piece of this. Sure you ain't interested, darling?”

“
I'm sure. Deke is all I need.”

His sigh was pure theater, and she found herself warming to him. “How come you ugly fuckers get all the hot women? I just don't get it.”