Page 163 of Patching Over

His eyes widen in shocked surprise before he shakes his head. He looks at the girl nestled in my arms, and a relieved smile encompasses his face. “Anytime, darlin’, anytime,” Kracken says.

We’re standing around, and Hannah is now in one of the Cedar Creek brothers’ arms when she suddenly yells, “Mama!” then I see Selah rushing toward her at a dead run.

“Hannah!” Selah screams and I watch in fascination, with tears flowing down my face, as Hannah leaps up into Selah’s arms and they tumble to the ground. “God, baby, I missed you so much,” Selah says, covering Hannah’s face with kisses.

Kracken’s arms tighten around me, and he says, “We’ll be going home to Roanoke once you get checked out. Since I don’t think you can handle that long of a ride on the back of my bike, we got a truck and a bike trailer.”

I’m busy watching as Selah and Hannah are moved to the van where a large man that I now know is Mammoth is sitting. He’s been beaten to hell and back, something I recognize, yet he comforts Selah as she cries over him getting caught because she took off.

“Fire in the hole!” Butcher shouts as the ground rumbles and the building explodes. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

“Crazy fucker,” Wrecker criticizes. “One day, he’s gonna blow us all up.”

I see Selah roll her eyes as she smacks her brother. “Stop. He will not,” she rebuts.

“It’s his job,” Hannah defends. “He’s a protector.Ourprotector, right, Mama?”

“That’s right, baby. He is,” Selah replies. “He always will be.”

I smile, seeing how happy my friend is now that she has her little girl once again, and she’s surrounded by her family. All of the men’s phones suddenly buzz, and I look at Kracken when he stiffens while looking at his screen.

“We gotta go. Now!” Banshee hollers. “Trouble back home. Y’all be safe.”

Orders are being shouted as Kracken leads me toward the other Roanoke brothers. “Ban?” Kracken asks as we all start jogging toward where I presume they left their bikes.

“We’ll get the bikes then we’re going to call and have Hawg set you up with a rental truck and bike trailer, Kracken. He’ll text you the coordinates,” Banshee replies. “We gotta head straight home, but Brick said y’all were stopping in Georgia.”

Georgia? Why are we stopping in Georgia?I muse.

“If we’re needed at home, we’ll head there,” Kracken says.

“No,” Banshee retorts. “Shit’s happening and with those fundamentalist fucks so close to home, we don’t want you to bring Moira back that way until it’s safe.”

“Fuck,” Kracken mutters. Seeing the look on my face, he quickly says, “It’s not you, roisin, but I’m the club’s Sergeant at Arms. It’s my job to be there to protect my president and vice president.”

“We got this, Krack,” Scythe replies. “You just get your ol’ lady to Georgia. We’ll let you know when it’s safe.”

Looks like I’m going to Georgia. And did he just call me Kracken’s ol’ lady? Does that mean what I think it does? Is it possible that I’m getting a do-over where he and the others are concerned? Hope once again blossoms in my chest. This time, I vow to fight harder to reclaim myself and build a life.

CHAPTER

TWELVE

Kracken

I’m still in shock that even though she’s not talking, she seems far more relaxed and livelier than she was after her last abduction. We rode with the rest of my brothers until Vicksburg, Mississippi, then stopped to rest while I waited for the truck and bike trailer to be delivered at the designated location. I knew Moira had been abducted while living on the streets, so she had next to nothing when we left the facility she was being kept at—no clothes, personal hygiene items, or even a fucking hairbrush, and she damn sure wasn’t given anything while she was held captive a second time. So, after waving off my brothers, we went to Walmart to grab her enough things to get by with until we reached Georgia.

“I only shop when I absolutely have to,” I explain, as we walk into the bustling store. It’s the middle of the fucking day, why are all of these people out and about? Doesn’t anyone work anymore? “In fact, I have no problem shopping online, but I know you need things now, so we’re gonna get them.”

She starts shaking her head. Smirking, I nod mine then lean in and tap her nose. “Until you decide you’re going to start talking to me, I’m gonna do what I want.”

I burst out laughing when she not only rolls her eyes at me, but she also sticks out her tongue too. Grabbing a cart, I move toward the women’s section, Moira right by my side. She stops at the shirts, and I watch to see what style she picks out, waiting to see if she has a color preference or style she prefers. Once I see what size she wears, I wander off and start finding others I think she’d like, then put them in the cart.

Soon, she has a few pairs of shorts, some jeans, and pajamas added to the pile, and I quickly realize that we’re going to need a way to get it all back to the hotel we’re staying at because my saddlebags only hold so much. She blushes when she picks out some sports bras, and a pack of underwear, causing me to hide my smirk. Because she has absolutely no idea whatsoever, that at some point, I’ll know every little thing there is to know about her.

It happens when we’re in the health and beauty section so she can get the stuff she needs when I feel her clutch my bicep in a tight grip. Looking down at her, I quietly ask, “Moira? What’s going on? Are you alright? Was this too much?”

I don’t know why I just asked her a bunch of questions in rapid succession when she currently doesn’t speak, but then, I watch her open and close her mouth several times before the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard passes through her sensuous lips. It’s raspy, unused, and still, I want to hear more of it.

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