Page 49 of Irons

He sat back in his chair and a slight grin formed as the edges of his lips curled up. “How did Carlson react when she saw you?”

I know I also grinned when he asked me that question. “She’s everything and more than I ever dreamed she would be. I thought I’d see the same pity in her eyes as the last time I saw her but that wasn’t the case. I am concerned about her time over there and what she endured, plus what all may have happened with the Scorpions, but seeing her again was way better than I expected.”

He leaned in and whispered. “She’s hot as hell, so you better lock it down before one of the other guys cause problems.”

“I don’t know how to reply to that because I don’t know her all that well. We are different people now and I caused her a lot of harm when I left. The way she cried when I was taken out of that hospital room in handcuffs still haunts me. She’s an adult and if she finds happiness here then I’ll just have to accept it.”

He shook his head. “Don’t do that shit, man. Don’t put off the inevitable. I could see by the look on your face when I said her name you’re already there with her. Don’t put too much thought into it, you have to jump on it when it comes to you. I love Morgan so damn much and leaving her for that mission about killed me. Then I almost died and all I could think about was how I didn’t get to tell her I loved her one more time. In our line of work, tomorrow isn’t promised.” He warned me.

I chuckled. “You act like I didn’t just see her for the first time in fifteen years last night. Damn, give me some time to figure this shit out.”

“Irons, you’re one of the best men I have ever had the honor to serve with, and in my eyes you’re one of my brothers. You’re a good friend to all of us and an uncle to my daughter. You’ve sacrificed probably more than any of us to make Creed’s Lake work. You don’t even let it be known you’re the second largest investor. You never take anything for yourself, not even stepping in as VP like you should. You deserve Wrenly the way you probably were meant to have her years ago. All of us Originals have been aware for years that you loved that girl even as kids. It’s time to stop putting others first and take what you need to be happy in this life. I know Axton grabbed her up today, but I’m officially making you her trainer. Starting tomorrow, you are fully responsible for her.”

I was kind of pissed that Axton put himself with her today.

He cleared his throat. “With that being said, Axton does have some concerns so he may not be on board with it, but that’s too bad. He has never been a supporter of relationships between the Originals and the operatives. As you remember he tried to put that into the policy book. It’s not because he wants to be an asshole, it’s because he thinks emotions will get in the way of our missions. But I don’t agree. Not many civilians will understand this life. I got lucky with Morgan, but you know how it is, it’s hard as an operative. You understand that, don’t you?”

I nodded, since every relationship I ever tried has failed. It’s difficult to have secrets and not be able to tell the woman you are dating that you’re a part of a civilian black ops program. They assume you’re a piece of shit asshole that used them because one day you’re with them and the next you disappear for an extended amount of time with no warning. Saying you had to travel for business was fine until you consistently return with obvious injuries. They tend to think we are involved in a lot of illegalactivity, and I had one girl ask if our MC was involved with drugs or illegal firearms. I could understand why they would suspect such a thing since most believe we are in a motorcycle gang. “It’s not really possible, unless you meet someone and they’re understanding once you trust them enough to explain. I’ve never gotten to that point with a woman.”

He took a sip of his coffee as he nodded in agreement. “You’ll be assigned to her after today, and don’t worry about Axton. He is my closest friend, but we all know he can be a bit of an asshole. I’ll take care of him. I want what’s best for you, and I could tell when I met with her how much you mean to her. After meeting Morgan, I no longer believe we are meant to live life alone, and I will be that pain in the ass that tries to right a wrong done years ago. Also, don’t you think it’s time for you to step up and take your rightful place? Axton knows not to fuck with you, hell you’re technically his boss.”

I heard a giggle coming from upstairs and smiled. “How is the adoption coming along? I know the home study is a concern. Did you figure out what to do about it?” I wanted a change in subject.

He leaned back and ran his hand down his face. “It’s a big concern. It’s not like I can have them sign a nondisclosure. Thankfully, my arsenal is in the bunker which isn’t in the house plans or easy to find. I’ve already dismantled my command center upstairs and turned it into a playroom for Addie and the twins. The problem is explaining the armed guards and who knows what the social worker will see while driving through the community. We’ll just have to hope for the best.”

“It’ll work its way out. Do you still need me to take Addie to speech therapy this week?” I asked because it was Columbus Day, and I wasn’t sure if the college was open. I had been doing it for a few months. Whenever I was in town, I picked her upfrom school once a week and took her to Bloomington to meet with a speech therapist at Indiana University. I always had it penciled in because it was our special time together. We would go to therapy then spend time doing something fun afterward. The reason I took her was because they weren’t ready to expose Addie to the attention Morgan gets from her fans, and Creed had also become recognizable. They were still very protective of Addie and didn’t want photos of her in the press. Not to mention the crazed fan issue. It was safer for me to take Addie than to send Melissa, plus I wanted to take her and have our special fun day.

“Yeah, and I appreciate it. They’re open, and I think it’s just the post office that’s closed.” He was spinning his empty coffee cup like he was deep in thought. I knew what he was thinking and of course it was sad. Addie struggled in a lot of areas because her parents didn’t give her the best life. The girl had therapy with Bolton, Speech Therapy, and was pulled out of her regular class at school for a few hours a day by the special education teacher. Addie didn’t have a genetic learning disability, she was as smart as hell, but her speech issue made a few subjects where communication is vital to learning very difficult. She had difficulties with reading and writing, especially writing. She wasn’t able to sound things out the way she needed. Her articulation disorder was caused by abuse and neglect, so hopefully she would grow out of it with time and therapy. Of course, the abuse and neglect also contributed to her behavior issues, but my little Addie was naturally sassy and way too smart for her own good. She could cut up with the guys better than anyone and put people in their place. I was active in Addie’s life in many ways because of Morgan’s fame. I took Addie to appointments outside Creed’s Lake just so Addie didn’t face the stress of being approached by strangers and photographed.Creed wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of Morgan leaving Creed’s Lake too often since she was pregnant. That could be contributed to the paparazzi since they all wanted that high dollar shot of Morgan Rossi pregnant with twins.

“I think we will visit the Children’s Museum and have dinner downtown, so we'll be a tad later than usual.” I informed him.

He nodded. “She would love that, God knows she needs as many positive experiences as she can get. That fucking asshole Shane never gave a damn, so maybe these positive experiences will overshadow the bad ones eventually.”

“I know it bothers the both of you that you can’t really take her, but I’m sure someday the paparazzi will get tired of waiting around.” I hoped that was the case. Morgan was an A-list actress and one of the most famous at the time of her retirement. It’s not something someone could just walk away from and be forgotten, especially since she still had one more movie to release. She was already busy promoting her last two movies and teaching. That woman couldn’t sit still if you paid her, she was always busy doing something, but needed to slow down soon.

“I should head out. Victor decided to work today, so I need to make sure he doesn’t burn the place down.” I stood.

“Oh, Morgan wanted me to get these brownies to the shop this morning. Mind taking them with you?” He stood and walked over to a plastic container.

“Sure, but she’s going to have to come up with a new plan. He has added gummies to his diet.” I hated that Creed was so protective of Victor. We disagreed on the whole weed issue. Creed saw it was something that Victor always did, and he never harmed anyone. I almost killed a girl when I was a kid because I took some pills while I was already drinking andsmoking weed. If anything, ever happened to Victor, or he was high while driving, I’d feel responsible because we let it happen. Victor makes damn good money, and if Creed would allow me to make the decision, I’d send him to rehab and tell him he was out of a job if he didn’t get himself straightened out. What if he got himself or someone else hurt in the shop? Creed and the others just blow it off as Victor being Victor, but I had a problem with it. The man had been so fucked up nearly his whole life that he didn’t even realize when he was high or not. Morgan agreed with me and that’s why she always replaced the brownies.

“I guess she will have to get a little more creative.” He chuckled.

“Can I ask you a question?” I was serious.

“Sure.”

“What will you do when one of your kids accidentally eats one of his brownies or gummies? I say when and not if because it’s bound to happen.” The thought angered me, and I couldn’t watch the kids around Victor every single time they visited.

Creed’s face became unreadable. “I’d fucking kill him.”

I shrugged. “But would it really be his fault? You know they’re in the shop and Victor is Special needs, no matter how you look at it. Something is going to happen with him if he doesn’t get his shit together. Just don’t say you weren’t warned when it does happen.” I turned and walked away, because he knew how bad it pissed me off anytime we talked about it.

It was a cold morning with temperatures near freezing, so I left my bike at home. After hopping into my truck, I went to the shop to check on things. I didn’t have much planned for the weekend, which wasn’t typical. Honestly, I guess I hoped I’d be with Wrenly showing her around and helping her move intoher cabin. Things were fine at the shop and Magnus was already there tinkering around with his bike. He invited me to ride along with him to visit his dad. I rarely passed up the opportunity to see him. His dad was old school, former military, and a good man. We decided to take him out to lunch in Clarity, and that was when we learned the news. Magnus answered a call from a very pissed off Creed. We were used to Creed and Morgan in the tabloids, but a main stream media source published a letter with pictures that accused Magnus as being involved with Morgan. They included pictures from early on when Magnus took Morgan to make funeral arrangements for Callie. Creed was made aware of the notes left on Magnus’s truck and in his dad’s mailbox. We even put up camera’s, but it seemed someone had it out for both Morgan and Magnus. He received six in total, but we just let it go, thinking it was some crazed fan. Now Creed was putting our investigators on it. The reason we thought the same person wrote the letters and the one to the media was because of the wording. They were very similar. Creed wasn’t pissed at Magnus and knew better than to become jealous of any of us with Morgan, but she had stalkers in the past, but this one seemed far more obsessive. Nothing scared Creed more than a crazed fan hurting either of his girls. I knew it was someone trying to come between Creed and Morgan then also Creed and Magnus. We knew it was a crazed fan, but which one? Was it one of the ones that tried sneaking into her house in California? Did they really travel all the way to Indiana or was there a new one? All the threats involved Morgan, so that was our best hunch. I felt for Magnus because he was pulled into the whole mess. It seemed he was collateral damage in the mind of her stalker.

Settled

Wrenly

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