Renegade
Not only had Clarity been unable to shop for Darby and Fawn, but my traitor sister had insisted on staying at my house with them. If I hadn’t known better, she’d done it on purpose. So now I found myself wandering the kids department at one of the big chain stores, picking up tiny jeans and shirts and wondering if the silent Fawn would like any of them. I didn’t know a damn thing about the kid, other than she was covered in bruises and couldn’t speak. Did she like pink? Purple? Or did she prefer boyish colors or neutral ones? And why the fuck did I even care? Kids were like little aliens as far as I was concerned, and I honestly never planned to have one of my own.
There was a purple long-sleeved tee with a kitten on a motorcycle. Checking for Fawn’s size, I tossed it into the shopping cart before adding a few more animal shirts. Since the Florida weather was unpredictable, I added a few T-shirts and three sweaters. When I saw the mini-biker type leather jacket, I couldn’t pass it up and added it to the growing pile. Buying a package of the tiny panties was awkward as fuck, but I found her size and threw them into the cart along with some socks, then headed over to the shoe department.
If I’d thought buying for Fawn was weird, then picking out bras and panties for Darby was by far one of the worst things I’d had to do. I’d honestly prefer to dodge bullets. It was hard to maintain the badass biker image while holding a pair of black lace panties. When it came to sleepwear, I found that the thought of her wearing the silky negligee hanging on the end rack was tempting. Instead, I chose things that looked like they would be comfortable while she healed. Before I went over to the other clothes, I stopped and stared at the nightgown again. This time, I found her size and tossed it, along with two other colors, into the cart, then hastened over to women’s jeans. It wasn’t like I’d ever see her in them, but damn if my imagination wasn’t doing an adequate job of how she’d look in the sexy garments, minus her current cuts and bruises. Maybe it made me an asshole to be thinking of her like that. She’d not only been beaten to hell and back, but she was a mom who didn’t need the likes of me panting after her. Her name hadn’t sounded familiar, but the more I’d looked at her I’d finally started piecing things together. When she’d been younger, I’d seen her watching me and Nikki. There’d been interest in her young eyes, but I’d never let on that I saw her. She’d been a cute kid, but all grown up? Holy hell. Even under the bruises and cuts, the woman was more than just pretty. And too fucking young. If she’d been taken at fifteen and had been gone five years, then she was twenty. I could be her fucking father. Not that a big age gap seemed to bother Scratch and Clarity, or Cinder and Meg. Didn’t mean I wanted to follow in their footsteps, though.
The shopping cart was nearly overflowing when I approached the front registers. I’d known the total would be high, but I hadn’t counted on just how much this shit would cost. Good thing I’d brought the truck because no way in hell this stuff would have fit into my saddlebags. As the cashier handed me the receipt, I realized I hadn’t bought a single toy or game for Fawn, and she didn’t have a damn thing to do at my house except watch TV. I loaded the bags into the back seat of my truck, then reset the alarm before trudging back into the store.
I didn’t know much about little girls, but the ones in the movies usually liked dolls and that sort of shit. I bought a baby doll, a dollhouse with the extra crap that went with it, two board games that looked appropriate for a younger child, and just in case she didn’t care for girly things I grabbed a handful of cars. If she and her mother stayed with me for long, Fawn would need more clothes. As I exited the toy department, I saw the books and magazines. Darby was as much of an enigma as her daughter. I tossed in two of the fashion magazines I knew my sister liked, as well as two paperbacks I’d seen her read. Not that Nikki and Darby were necessarily anything alike, but I hoped it would give her something to do. Once she was feeling better, I’d let her come buy her own shit.
Assuming she was still living with me. After we dealt with the threat to her and Fawn, then there was nothing keeping her at the compound, or my house. It wasn’t like I ever allowed the club sluts to come to my place. If I wanted a quick release, there were plenty of bathrooms at the clubhouse. A shower wall would work. My home was my sanctuary. And now it was overrun with unwanted guests. Except, if I really thought about, they weren’t all that unwanted. It had been nice having someone in the house last night. I’d checked on Darby a few times, and Fawn, who had slept on the couch. It hadn’t been ideal and I knew I should have something better for her.
I hesitated before going up to the front again. The store carried pretty much everything from clothing to automotive supplies, even things like plants and furniture. It wouldn’t hurt to just see what types of beds they might have for a kid. And if she didn’t stay long, then I could donate it to someone who could use it or let her take it with her. By the time I checked out a second time, I’d bought a twin platform bed, mattress, and dresser for Fawn, and since I had an empty room right next to Darby’s I’d just put everything in there. She’d have her own space for however long she was at my house.
My truck was loaded down when I entered the compound. The look on the Prospect’s face was humorous, but the knowing glint in my Pres’s eyes as I stopped in front of my house was a different story. I shut off the engine, then took a breath to steady myself before facing whatever Cinder had to say on the matter. The second my boot hit the driveway, he started toward me.
“This doesn’t look like a temporary situation,” he said.
“Little girl needed a place to sleep. Her mom is healing so it didn’t seem right for them to share a bed, and the couch didn’t seem like a good option for her either.”
He arched an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything else, even though I could tell he was holding back. It wasn’t like him not to just say whatever he was thinking, and it made me nervous as fuck. With Cinder’s help, I unloaded the truck quickly, then the big bad Pres even got down on the damn floor and helped me screw the furniture together. It wasn’t until the mattress was placed on the bed that it occurred to me I didn’t have bedding. How the fuck did parents deal with this shit? Then again, they probably didn’t buy everything all at once. I looked around the room, and realized there wasn’t a damn place for any of the toys either. Her clothes fit in the dresser, and I’d put her shoes in the bottom of the closet. A toy box hadn’t occurred to me while I was shopping.
“Well, fuck,” I muttered.
Cinder smirked. “Need to make another run?”
“I really hate that fucking store. If she didn’t need stuff tonight, I’d just order online and have it delivered.”
“Did you buy a booster seat for your truck?” Cinder asked. “She’s on the small side and should ride in one.”
Fuck. My. Life. Kids needed too much shit. I ran a hand down my face and heaved a sigh. I pulled my phone from my pocket and opened a doc, then started making a list. With Cinder’s input, I added things both Fawn and Darby would need that I hadn’t considered on my first trip to the store. Then the Pres called his wife and she had me add even more. It would have been just as easy to ask Nikki, but she was doing her best to keep Fawn occupied. As I stared at the items, and the growing list, it was starting to feel like an elephant was sitting on my chest. I’d never wanted a wife and kids, not like some of the other men in the club, and having Darby and Fawn under my roof was starting to feel a little too much like I had a family.
Families died. I didn’t want to survive that again. Mostly because I wasn’t sure I would survive if it were my wife and kid who died. It had been hard enough losing my parents and brother. Knowing Nikki hadn’t perished in the fire had helped to some extent. Even if we didn’t suffer together on the anniversary of their death, we knew that we had each other when it counted. Like now. Nikki had really pulled through when I’d asked her to come over. I’d worried that Darby would freak the hell out when she woke in a strange place with a man she didn’t know. Despite the fact she’d seemed familiar, I hadn’t been certain that I knew her, or that she’d recognize me. It had been obvious someone had beat her to hell and back. Even though I’d assumed it had been a man, it could have easily been a woman. That didn’t seem to be the case, since she’d spoken to me about the last five years of her life with Boomer. I’d found that typically men beat women like that, even though I’d heard of women being just as violent. The prisons were full of them.
With my list saved to my phone, and Cinder’s promise to be at the clubhouse should Nikki, Darby, or Fawn need anything, I got back into my truck and went back to the store I liked to think of simply as hell. Each item that went into the cart, I removed from my list. Instead of a toy box, which the store didn’t seem to carry, I found a storage trunk with latches. It wasn’t ideal, but it would work for now. Meg had told me to add tear-free shampoo for Fawn, as well as some baby soap, even though she wasn’t a baby anymore. Then she’d suggested some feminine scented hair and bath products for Darby. It was the last item she’d added that had me frozen in the middle of the aisle. I stared at the back wall and the wide variety of products, not knowing the difference from one to another.
Resigned, I called my sister, knowing I’d never hear the end of this.
“Did you get lost?” she asked.
“Kind of. When it’s that time of the month, what do you use?”
Dead. Silence. Seriously, if I were in a cartoon, I’d have heard crickets right then.
“Nik? Meg said I should get something for Darby just in case, but I have no fucking clue what I’m looking for. All this shit looks the same to me, just in different packaging.”
“I can assure you they aren’t all the same,” she said. “I’ll text two images to you. Get both.”
“Thanks,” I muttered and hung up, but not before I heard her snickering. Yeah, I’d get teased over this one for a while.
My phone chimed a moment later and I matched the images to the products on the wall, tossing in a package of each. I ran from the department as fast as I could. Once I was in the bedding section, I felt moderately better. The kids section didn’t seem to have those bed-in-a-bag things I typically grabbed for myself. I had no fucking clue who most of the characters were on the bedding, but I did recognize one from a cartoon Fawn watched earlier with Nikki. I grabbed the sheets and matching comforter, then decided to grab plain pink sheets and a plaid comforter that was purple and pink. Wouldn’t hurt to have a backup. The kid hadn’t wet the couch when she’d slept last night, but it didn’t mean she’d never have an accident. Better to be prepared now and not have to return later.
Anything else they needed, I’d buy online and have shipped overnight if need be. I’d pay just about anything to avoid this place again in the next few weeks. I checked out and loaded everything, then headed to the compound. I fucking hated shopping. Or more accurately, I just hated shopping inside a store. I’d buy crap online all fucking day and have it shipped. Not that I’d ever admit it, but I tended to get one-click happy with shit after I got paid. When I needed groceries, I usually made a list and sent a Prospect. Some of them weren’t twenty-one, so I made my own alcohol runs most of the time, but those were quick trips. Occasionally, one of the club sluts would run to the store for a few of us, but I noticed they acted special afterward, like they were better than the others. Even worse, they tended to get territorial, like we were going to claim them or something. Far as I was concerned, one hole was good as another, and I didn’t favor one girl more than any other one.
Honestly, I hadn’t gotten laid in a few months. One of the guys had a pregnancy scare with a club whore and I’d decided to take a break. I’d also gotten tested, just in case. If the girls were poking holes in the condoms, which we’d dealt with more than once now, then I wasn’t taking any chances. Cinder had cleaned house and told those involved to never come back -- then immediately dumped the community bowl of condoms in the clubhouse -- and while we had a new crop of pussy to pick from, I just hadn’t felt the urge to sample the latest batch. I’d bought a box of condoms and stashed them in my bathroom at home, but I hadn’t opened them yet. I wasn’t about to let some slut try to trap me into taking care of her. Not that it would work. I’d keep the kid and kick her lying ass to the curb. Half the women who hung around us did more drugs than we did. I’d not had more than a hit of pot here and there in years, and I sure as shit didn’t want my kid’s mom doing that crap.
Coming to a stop in my driveway, I started to unload everything, just piling it near the front door. It was easier to haul everything inside at once than to keep running out to the damn truck. I kept the carport clear for my bikes. I had a sweet Harley Fat Boy and a 1971 Triumph Tiger Daytona I’d found in a scrapyard. It had taken me for-fucking-ever, but I’d managed to fully restore it. The Harley was my everyday ride, but I liked taking the Triumph out for recreational runs when I just needed to feel the wind in my hair for a bit, hit the open road and drive for an hour before heading home. I didn’t do that as often as I’d like.
What I really wanted was to get my hands on a 1950 Triumph 6T Thunderbird. They weren’t overly pricey all things considered; it was more the problem of finding one in decent shape. Not to mention the guys already gave me shit over the Triumph I had. They preferred American bikes all the way, and while I’d never ditch my Harley, there was an elegance to the classic British cycles. Ever since I’d watched The Wild One with Marlon Brando, I’d wanted one. And I knew that one day, I’d find the perfect one, even if I needed to put some work into it.
Cinder opened the door right as I set the last of the bags near the door. I went back to close the truck door, then began hauling stuff inside. Fawn’s stuff went to the room I’d set up for her. Nikki left the little girl watching yet another show and snatched the bedding from me.
“You should wash it before you put it on the bed. What if she’s allergic to the dye in it?”
Shit. I hadn’t even thought of that. I always just opened them and put them on the bed. Then again, her skin would be a lot more tender than mine. I followed Nik to the laundry room and saw that while I’d been gone, she’d emptied the dresser of Fawn’s new clothes and washed those too. While she handled the bedding, I took the clothes back to the room and put them away again. Cinder was placing the toys into the storage trunk, but I noticed he’d broken the latches off and left the lid open.
“What the fuck, Pres?”
“Kids are curious. What if she crawled inside and accidentally locked herself in there?”
The more I learned today, the less I felt I should ever have offspring. I’d likely kill them the first day. Unintentionally, of course. If they lived to their teen years, then any deaths after that would probably be another story. I remembered Nikki’s snotty attitude when she’d been younger. Even though she hadn’t lived with me, I’d tried to spend as much time with her as I could, and there had been a lot of times I’d wanted to strangle her.
It took forever to get Fawn’s room set up and all her stuff washed, but Nikki was making the bed when Fawn wandered in. Her eyes went wide and she stared at everything. I motioned her closer, then knelt so I’d be nearer to her level. The last thing I wanted to do was scare the kid, although she hadn’t been fearful of me so far. If anything, she tended to cling to me whenever I was in the same room with her.
“Fawn, while you’re here, this is your room. You have clothes in the dresser, shoes in the closet, and the toys in that chest,” I said, pointing to the storage trunk, “are all for you.”
Her lower lip trembled and I worried she’d start crying, but she threw herself into my arms and hugged me so tight that my heart stuttered for a moment. The kid really was sweet, and it sucked that she’d had such a rough life so far. If we could deal with the Mayhem Riders, then maybe she’d have a better future. Her and Darby both. They were both victims and deserved to live their lives without fear of Boomer and the others who had hurt them over the years.
She released me and went over to the toys, gently lifting the doll and holding her against her chest. While Fawn got acquainted with her room, I went to check on Darby, carrying in the bags of things I’d purchased for her. I set everything in front of the dresser as quietly as possible when I saw she was sleeping. Careful not to wake her, I removed the clothes and stacked them on top of the dresser so she’d see them, then lined up the shoes on the floor beside the closet.
The bathroom items I’d purchased for both of them went into the hall bathroom. I just set everything on the counter and figured they’d put it where they wanted it. By the time I had finished, something delicious teased my nose from the kitchen. I found Nikki standing over the stove stirring something.
“What did you make?” I asked.
“Well, you missed lunch earlier so I decided to make dinner a bit sooner than you typically eat. I thought homemade chicken noodle might be good for Darby and Fawn, but I also put a chicken and rice casserole in the oven in case that wasn’t enough for everyone.” She got a wistful look on her face. “It was Mom’s recipe. One of the old neighbors had a copy and gave it to me.”
That was news to me. I hadn’t realized that Nikki had been over there since the fire. It made me wonder what else I didn’t know about my sister’s comings and goings. Maybe I needed to pay a bit closer attention.
“You staying for dinner?” I asked.
She shook her head, her cheeks flushing. My eyes narrowed, knowing that she was trying to hide something from me. Which could only mean one thing. She had a date. I hated her asshole boyfriend and wished I could feed him to the fucking sharks. He didn’t hit her, but he did talk down to her all the time and controlled her, even if she didn’t realize it.
“Give Chad a big ‘fuck you’ from me when you see him,” I said, as I opened the fridge for a drink, pausing when I saw it was fully stocked with food as well as juice, milk, sodas, and my favorite beer. “Did you go shopping?”
“I made a list and asked Bane to pick everything up for me. He dropped it off while you were off buying stuff for your houseguests. I knew you wouldn’t think about feeding them until it was time to actually cook something,” she said. “And I’m not seeing Chad. Ever again.”
Well, that was at least a bit of good news. As well as discovering I had beer. I wasn’t sure which was the better news to be honest. I hated fucking Chad with a passion, but… beer. Yeah, the beer might win this round. I’d never brought in the alcohol after finding Darby and Fawn, and since the beer had been cold at the time, I’d had to toss it after it got hot.
“So who are you meeting when you leave here?” I asked.
She sighed, her shoulders drooping as she glanced at me. “I can’t hide anything from you, can I? I didn’t say a word other than I wouldn’t have dinner with you.”
“Nope.”
“Fine. Yes, I’m going on a date, not with Chad, and that’s all you’ll get from me.”
If Nikki thought that would be good enough, then she was slipping. No way I’d let her go off with some guy I’ve never met and not worry about her safety. I pulled my phone from my pocket and shot off a quick text to Dixon to keep an eye on Nik when she left today, and to make sure whatever asshole she was meeting knew that I’d rip off his balls if he fucked her over.
I knew that Nik was all grown up, but she was still my baby sister. I’d already been fully grown and out of the house when she’d been born. I’d been a surprise to my parents. They’d gotten married and struggled for a while. Then they’d had my brother, and Nikki had been another surprise after my mom thought she couldn’t have more kids. It seemed she’d had her tubes tied and they’d grown back, or some shit. She’d told me about it when she’d said she was pregnant again, but I’d only half-listened. There were some things a guy didn’t want to think about. How his mom came to be pregnant was one of them.
She did her best to not look me in the eye as she finished making dinner, then she fixed me a plate, as well as making a bowl of soup for Fawn. When she tried to skirt around me to get the kid, I reached out and grabbed her arm. Not tight enough to hurt, but enough to draw her to a halt and let her know I wasn’t playing.
“I don’t like that you’re going out with some jackass I haven’t met. After Chad, I’m not sure I can trust your judgment when it comes to men, Nik. This new guy hurts you, he’ll answer to me. And you will tell me what happened with Chad. I’ve practically begged you to drop that guy and you refused. So what the fuck did he do?”
She sniffed and tugged on her arm. “He fucked my best friend -- ex-best friend -- not two days after he asked me to move in with him. I stopped by to surprise him and caught him with his pants down, literally, thrusting away.”
My jaw tightened. He’d cheated on her? And with Bethany? The two girls had been thick as thieves for as long as I could remember. I didn’t understand women who couldn’t follow a simple code. You don’t shit where you eat, and you don’t fuck your best friend’s man or woman. Everyone knew that. Except Bethany it seemed. Now I was doubly glad I’d never accepted her blatant offers since she’d become legal.
“I’ll be having a little talk with Chad.”
She shook her head. “I already handled it.”
“How?” I asked.
She shrugged. “There’s a slight chance the police may be coming after me. I sort of went all Carrie Underwood on his car.”
“The penis-mobile?” I asked, thinking of the little bright red foreign sports car he owned. Then I processed her words and remembered that song she listened to on repeat a while back. “Did you take a bat to that car?”
She grinned, and I had to grudgingly admit I was proud of her. It also meant I needed to make a few calls. If the cops were going to arrest her, then I wanted a heads-up. Wouldn’t be the first time I’d offered a bribe to the local cops, but if it kept Nik out of trouble, I’d gladly do it again. Truthfully, I wished someone had filmed her beating the shit out of his car. I’d have loved to see it. I was glad she’d stood up for herself. The asshole was lucky I didn’t rip his balls off, but he’d actually done me a favor by showing his true colors. At least Nikki was finally away from him, even if I didn’t like the way it had come about.
I kissed the top of her head, hugging her tight, then let her escape. It made me wonder if Darby would ever stand up for herself again. From what she’d said, any disobedience had been dealt with in the harshest way possible. There were people who would criticize her for staying, for having a child in that environment, but I’d learned that sometimes it wasn’t so much that a woman was weak when she stayed. Walking away wasn’t easy. In Darby’s case, it would have meant her death, as well as her daughter’s, if not something even worse like her kid being sold to a pedophile. To me, the fact she’d survived and shielded her daughter as best as she could spoke of her strength. Too many people were eager to condemn someone like Darby without knowing all the facts, or having ever experienced something like that themselves. A person could never say one hundred percent for sure what they’d do until they were actually in that type of situation.
Fawn skipped into the room, the doll clutched in her arms, and she clambered onto a seat at the kitchen table. Nik came in right after her, setting the bowl of soup down. I glanced down the hall and saw that Darby’s door was still closed.
“Darby not awake yet?” I asked. “I wasn’t sure how long she’d been sleeping.”
Nikki chewed her lip and glanced down the hall, then back at me. She did it twice more and I got the hint, forcing my feet to move toward Darby’s room, the one place I knew I needed to avoid. The woman tugged on my heart and I didn’t have time for that shit. I needed to deal with her issue and get her the hell out of my house.
Pushing her door open, I’d taken all of three steps before I froze in shock, then called myself an asshole when my dick got hard looking at Darby’s naked body. She might be bruised and battered, maybe even a bit too skinny, but the woman had the perkiest breasts I’d ever seen. Her nipples tightened under my perusal and I knew I was going to fucking hell. If I’d ever had a doubt before, I didn’t now.
“Shit,” I muttered and took a step back, bumping into the door making it shut behind me. My gaze shot up to her face, and what I saw had me moving forward again, and not stopping until I had her in my arms.