Hemmingway

My nerves kick into high gear the second we pull into a dark garage that’s unlike any I’ve ever been in. It’s in split levels, and we dipped down when we drove in, going down an elongated slope, making me think we’re underground.

Tyson and I have had short, clipped conversations along the way, but now that we’re here, my irritation floats away. “What is this place, Tyson? It’s like one of those spy movies, I wonder if there are hidden passageways.”

“I wouldn’t put anything past, Pops. I can guarantee there are,” he answers, lacing his fingers through mine, easing my anxiety. “The fuck?” Tyson leans in further, and I mirror his action. Luca jogged from their car, pushed a few buttons, and a freight type elevator door opens. “That’s different.”

“Yeah it is,” I agree, keeping my eyes glued to Pops’ brother.

Luca comes over to us, and twists his wrist for Tyson to roll down the window. “Drive in, I’ll walk in behind you and put in the code that’ll take us where we need to go. When we stop, the door will slide open in front of you instead of behind you. Drive through and park to the side because Pops will be coming in behind us.”

“Got it,” Tyson acknowledges, rolling his window back up. “Don’t want the babies’ ears to pop, so we’ll make sure all the windows are up.”

“Good idea.” With rapt attention, I scan my eyes around, taking in as much as I can. It’s encoded into my genes to notice everything. I’m not sure if it’s from my combat training, or from having an overprotective father and brother.

When the doors shut behind us, and we jolt as we lower floors, the feeling of being trapped comes back full force. My breathing becomes erratic, and my pulse increases. “Jesus,” I pant, closing my eyes.

“Look at me, Hemmi,” Tyson insists, and like there’s an invisible string that forces me to obey, I snap them open. “Remember the breathing technique you learned from the doc? Let’s do that now, okay? Big inhale through your nose, hold it and count to three, then release it. Do it with me, baby.” After repeating this pattern a few times, we come to a lurching stop, the doors open in front of us, and I’m released from the confined burden.

“I hope that one day I’m not scared of enclosed spaces,” I confess, hating the way I froze, forgetting all the methods I’ve been studying, and memorizing. “That was an epic fail. I’m tired of being consumed and riddled with images during my time with the Admiral and Miller. I want to be set free, Tyson.”

“Babe, you need to give yourself some credit. That was the first time you’ve faced something that’d trigger that experience. And you didn’t haven’t a panic attack, so I think you did amazing.”

“Yeah?” I ask.

“Yeah,” he replies, parking the truck. “Ready to see your brother?”

“I don’t know. Pops hasn’t told him that you found me yet. He’s going to freak out.”

“That’d be my guess,” Tyson hums. “We should’ve brought some armor to put over Pops to protect him, because Master’s going to have a nuclear meltdown.”

“We can’t let my brother hurt him, Tyson. He’ll hate himself once he calms down.”

“The brothers won’t let that happen, Hemmi. Gunner and Kruger know how to reel him in.” I snort when he says this, because yes, Master will usually honor the wishes from the officers of the club, but his gloves come off and his common sense flies out the window when it comes to his family. I’m not sure anyone can reel him in when he’s lost in a red haze.

“Come on you two,” Pops calls out. “We have some people to surprise.”

“It’s as if he’s not scared to walk down the long green mile,” I whimper.

“He’s not on death row, Hemmi. It’s going to be okay, you’ll see.”

Hanging my head, I pray for the best. This underground bunker better not have a lot of places to hide a body, because I hate playing search and find games.

* * *

After the shock wore off from our abrupt manifestation, and my brother and I embraced, Tyson and I told him everything, laying it all out in front of the entire crew. Honor and Haven are being snuggled by the old ladies, loving the attention.

When my brother’s neck bulged, and his fists tightened into balls, the guys hauled him off, and against my advice, Pops and Luca followed. Lounging in my chair around an indoor fire pit, my eyes become heavy-lidded and shut, only for me to snap them open.

“You look exhausted,” Aspen, my sister-in-law, states. “There’s a place next to ours that’s vacant. It’s got two bedrooms, plenty of room for you and the twins.” I must get a crestfallen look on my face because she pats my knee and slants her head. “What is it, Hemmi? Do you not want to live alone? You three can stay with us, it’ll be a tight fit, but we can make it work.”

“That’s not it,” I wheeze.

“Then what is it?” she probes.

“Tyson.”

“What about him, Hemmi?” Her tone becomes gentle, almost spoken as a whisper.

“He has to be with me. I can’t-I can’t breathe if he’s not with me,” I convey around my stutter, grasping my chest directly over the spot my heart is caged. “He’s my lifeline, Aspen.”

“I know that feeling, Hemmi. Do you want to share a bedroom with him, or do I need to find a three bedroom house that’s unoccupied?”

Do I want to share a bed with him? Am I ready to take our relationship to that level? I feel like I am. I’ve found myself more in tune with my sexual side lately. My belly has always flipped when it came to him, and I still find it fluttering whenever he’s near—it’s gotten more intense since our date, and desire has turned from a slight flicker to a roaring flame in my core. As if a light switch has been turned on, it hits me that I trust him, want him, and wish to spend my life with him.

It’s time. I finally feel strong enough to push forward and reclaim my life. “Two bedrooms would be good,” I surmise, my gut not plummeting from the idea of him touching me the way a man does to a woman.

“Then let’s go get it ready,” she says, clapping her hands together.

“Thank you, Aspen.”

“That’s what sisters are for, Hemmi. Now, Master and I will keep Honor and Haven tonight, we need to get to know our niece and nephew anyway. This will give my old man a purpose to focus on instead of being up your ass driving you insane.”

“He’s not going to be happy that I’m shacking up with one of his brothers,” I mumble. “He’s going to lose his shit.”

“You leave your brother to me, I’ll take care of that, Hemmi. You need to stop worrying about him, and take care of yourself. He’s a big boy, he can handle it.”

“He’ll want Tyson to talk to him first before claiming me in any way, especially in the bedroom.” My brother may only be older than me by a few minutes, but he’s always taken on the role of a big brother, interrogating and pushing boundaries when it comes to boys I’d date. He thought that if he could run them off, they weren’t good enough for me.

“If they don’t have balls big enough to deal with a few idle threats, they aren’t man enough to take care of you,” he’s always said. Idle my ass, he’d go into details of what he’d do to them if I was hurt in any shape or form. Especially if they broke my heart. There were a couple of boys who I’d dated and then went through a bad break up with that I’d cross in the school's hallways sporting either a black eye or a broken bone. They’d never looked or spoken to me again afterward. Not that I blame them, but I found my circle of friends diminishing when the rumor mill would start winding.

* * *

“Did you see Charlee’s face when we tried to take those babies from her?” Aspen asks around a giggle.

“Yeah. It’s the first time I’ve been around her that she seemed speechless.”

“You mean butt hurt,” she returns, mirth dancing behind her eyes. “I can’t wait until I take them from the girls and they realize your brother and I are keeping them overnight.”

“That’ll be a sight to see,” I snicker.

“I’m glad you’re trusting us all with them, Hemmi. After being separated from them for so long, that must be hard on you.”

“You know, I’m surprised, but in all honesty, I trust every woman and man in this club. Y’all would lay your lives on the line before letting any harm come to them.”

“That’s the truth,” my brother mumbles as he and Tyson come strolling through the door.

I gasp when I see the two of them. “What did y’all do? It looks like you two went for a round in the ring with a professional boxer.”

Tyson walks over to me, skirting my brother, but not before giving him a shoulder check, and stands behind me, wrapping his arms around my middle and pulling me into his front. If this isn’t him making a public claim, I’d think he was doing it to yank my brother’s chain. “That’s not too far off the mark, beautiful. Your brother didn’t take it lightly when, after he and Pops went to blows, I announced to my brothers that I was claiming you as mine.”

Master crosses his arms across his chest, staring at the two of us. “Is this what you want, Hem? Because if not, I’ll pull him outta here.”

Tyson snorts before saying, “It’ll take an army to pull me away. Get over it, Master. She’s mine and I’m hers.”

“And my niece and nephew?” my brother probes. “Are they yours too?”

Standing taller, Tyson asserts, “They’re mine. The two of them may not have my blood flowing through their veins, but I couldn’t love them anymore than if they did.” My breath hitches and my soul soars when he makes this proclamation. Down deep, I knew he felt this way, but this is the first time he’s said this out loud. “This is my family, Master and I’ll never let you take that away from me.”

“And Amara, are you over her?” Master continues, pressing some buttons that he doesn’t need to. Why can’t he just let the dead lay in peace? It’s taken Tyson forever to forgive himself for not being there and preventing her from jumping off that roof top.

“I’ll always think fondly of her, but we both know she had some demons that’d never leave her. We weren’t meant to be, but Hemmi and I are. She’s brought me back to the land of the living, I can breathe when she’s with me. Now, are we done with this?” When my brother doesn’t answer, Tyson does. “We’re done. It’s time for y’all to say goodnight. Where are our kids, Hemmi? Let’s go get them so we can get them settled and bunker down for the night.”

“About that,” I say, biting my bottom lip. “They’re going to stay with their aunt and uncle tonight so we can… do other things.” An array of emotions cross my brother's face. Excitement and hesitation are the ones that stand out the most.

“And that’s our cue,” Aspen inserts, “say goodnight to your sister, Master. We have five kids that need to get to bed.”

“Fine,” Master huffs. “But I wanna make something clear.”

“What’s that?” I ask, digging my fists into my hips. This is not the time for him to be inserting his dominance. I’ll kick him in the shin if he gives me any orders when it pertains to my life.

“There’s a condition to us keeping them,” he says around a smirk.

“And that’d be?” Tyson stiffens, sneering at Master, ready to pounce at a moment's notice if he says anything inappropriate.

“They stay with me for however long I want them to.”

“Master, that’s unreasonable,” Aspen snorts, tossing her hands in the air.

“It’s not unreasonable that I want to keep them and bond with them for most of the day tomorrow. They don’t know who I am, for fuck’s sake!”

“I think that’s a good idea,” I acknowledge. “They need more people in their lives who love them.”

“The love I have for my family will never be debatable, Hem. I loved them the second you introduced them to me. Family is family no matter how that came to be.”

“You are so getting lucky tonight,” Aspen whispers to my brother, but not low enough that I don’t hear it.

“Yuck.” I fake gag. “That’s disgusting.”

“Not as disgusting as knowing what you two are going to be up to tonight,” Master counters. “That’s a hard pill to swallow for me, ya know?”

“Get used to it,” Tyson smirks. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to shower, and hit the sack. Night.” Tyson ushers them to the door. “Bye, bye, you two.”

Before letting my man kick my brother out, I sprint over to him and let him bear hug me… I saw how much he needed this. I needed it too. “Love you, sis.”

“Love you, too,” I remark, wiping the stray tears from my cheeks.

After gently pulling me out of my brother’s crushing embrace, he shuts the door, then turns and looks at me, it’s smoldering, pebbles break out across my skin. Only this time, nervous fluttering begins to take flight in my stomach, replacing the anxious ones I’ve felt previously.

“You should take a shower. When you’re out, I’ll take one. I got sweaty making the bed and carrying a crib here from the storage locker with Aspen.”

“Yes, ma’am. But just so you know, you’ll be taking a second shower later on because you’ll be getting all sweaty and filthy again.” He winks at me, pecks me on the temple, then saunters into the only bathroom this house has.

Sighing, I flop onto the couch and sink into the cushions, biting my tongue to keep from squealing. “I can’t believe after all of these years of waiting and dreaming, Tyson will finally be mine.”