Page 17 of Always and Forever

I sit at the bar, running over what just happened in church today. After I spoke to Hawke over the phone back in Tennessee, I rounded up my brothers and told them to get their asses back to New York. Some weren’t too pleased about it, but I didn’t give a fuck—shit was going down, and I needed Hawke to tell me what that was.

Now that Hawke has come clean, confessed at church what went down, it all makes sense. Why we were targeted at Ink Me, and now Josie, Hawke’s ex. Santana wants me to run the drugs for him, and take over from where my old man left off. He got wind I’d killed my father, and now thinks he can demand for me to take over. Well, he doesn’t know me very well. I’m not my old man, and I don’t take kindly to orders. I promised my club we would get out of the bad shit and focus on the good, and there is nothing, or no one, who will make me take back my word from my brothers. If Santana wants a war, then so be it. I’m ready for him. I killed my old man, I can take him and his crew down too. If that’s what it takes to keep my club and Jasmine safe, then I will do what I have to.

So now, to be safe, I’ve ordered the club to go on lockdown, and that includes getting my brothers’ families here too. I can’t take any risks. When Santana gets word I’m refusing his orders, he’ll want to come and find me, and most likely teach me a lesson and take me down. Well, I won’t let him destroy everything that I’ve worked hard for.

Images of Jasmine and my unborn baby display before my eyes, and I rub them with the heels of my palms. She doesn’t deserve this; she deserves a husband that can keep her safe. Maybe I was selfish marrying her but she’s mine, and there’s nothing I can do about it. When our eyes locked for the first time I felt our souls connect, and I knew from that moment she was the one for me, and I made a vow to always protect her.

“Hey, man, you okay?” Looking over my shoulder, I take another swig of my beer. Hawke slides onto the stool beside me, and Daisy hands him a beer.

“Yeah, man,” I reply, placing my beer back on the bar. “You need to get Luisa here, Hawke. I know you two have your disagreements, but get her here.” And just as I’m about to say, “I’ll call Jasmine,” my phone vibrates on the bar, Jasmine’s name displaying on the screen. I answer it right away.

“Hey, babe.” I get up from my seat, and head outside where I can get some privacy.

“Hey, you,” she replies, and my cock hardens just from the sound of her voice.

“I don’t want to alarm you or anything….” Those words have my gut clenching and my hand tightening on my phone.

“What is it, Jasmine? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I just had a visit to the doctor’s. I had a little pain in my pelvis, but the doctor assures me that it’s Braxton-Hicks.”

“Braxton what?” I repeat, pacing the gravel.

“Braxton-Hicks. It’s basically considered false labor.”

“What the fuck, Jasmine. You lied to me, you’re not okay.”

“I am, I promise. It was a false alarm.”

“I’m flying out to get you,” I state, running my free hand through my hair, my heart beating fast.

“Don’t be silly. I got your message to get down to the club, is everything okay, babe?”

I stop pacing and rub my jaw, sighing. I need to tell her everything but I don’t want to worry her, and after her explaining that she went to visit the doctor, I think twice about telling her anything.

“Quill, you still there?”

“When can you get home, babe?”

“Um… the next flight leaves in the morning, is that okay?”

I sigh in frustration. I want her here now but it will have to do. “I should have brought you home with me, baby.”

“You had business to take care of. I’ll be there tomorrow, don’t you worry.”

I hear the club’s door open, and turn around and find Trigger exiting. I lift my chin at him and he leans up against the wall, obviously wanting to talk. “Hey, baby, I gotta go. I’ll be there to pick you up from the airport in the morning. Do me a favour, get Luisa to come home with you, okay?”

“Sure, I will. I love you, Quill.”

“I love you more. Be safe, and I’ll see you in the morning, yeah? Text me the flight details.”

“I will, see ya,” she says softly, and ends the call.

Looking at the screen on my phone, I forget Trigger is around till I hear, “Prez, everything all right with Jasmine?” The tension in Trigger’s voice has me believing he does care deeply for her. There was a time their friendship pissed me off, but now that Jasmine is wearing my ring and has my baby in her, it almost feels childish to think he had a chance over me.

“Yeah, man,” I reply. “Just checking in and asking her to get back here to the club. With all the shit that’s going down, I don’t want to take any chances.”

“Some honeymoon,” he states as he pushes himself off the wall, walking toward me.

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