“It’s not,” she tells me with a trembling bottom lip. “He’ll come after me again.”
“No, he won’t. Your grandmother came up with a plan to keep him away.” Reaching out to tuck a strand of long blonde hair behind her ear, I tell her, “I’ll tell you all about it after your visit with Dr. Patch, and you’ll laugh.”
She nods as her tears dry up. “Is it true? That’s really my grandmother, the one who ran?”
I nod, sensing what a big moment this is for her. “Yes, ma’am. Her name is Victoria, just like you said. It was right there on her helmet. ‘Queen Victoria,’ with a little crown over it. I saw it with my own eyes.”
She gives me a faint smile. “She even looks like me.”
I smile down at the woman I love. “Technically, you look like her. Her old man and club nicknamed her Queenie.” Bringing her hand to my lips, I give it a kiss and tease her. “It makes me think she might be spoiled, like you’re gonna be from here on out.”
She relaxes back into our bed and breathes a sigh of relief. “It’s good to be home.” After pausing for a few seconds, her mouth turns up into a little smile. “I can’t believe I have family, and they’re perfectly normal.”
“Talk to Dr. Patch and let him examine you. I’m gonna go look for some proper clothing because the Brittany I know wouldn’t be caught dead dressed like that. My old lady is a bit of a fashionista.”
She laughs and nods. “Yeah, I don’t want to look like an extra from a period piece when meeting my family for the first time.”
When I move back, Patch steps forward. I gotta say, he has a reassuring bedside manner. I feel comfortable with her seeing our club doctor. Once he’s in doctor mode, he’s way too serious to do anything out of pocket.
I slip back out into the main room. All my boys come running over to me. Jack asks a little too loudly, “What’s wrong with your old lady? Why is she dressed funny?”
Before I can answer, Roan complains, “Stop calling her old. She’s young and pretty.”
Robbin chimes in, ganging up on Jack. “Don’t be mean.”
I stoop down to talk to them face to face. My youngest, Charlie, just comes to sit on my knee ‘cause all this is going right over his head. I say to them, “Jack isn’t being mean. Remember, ‘old lady’ is just what bikers call their girlfriends and wives.”
Robbin is only six, but he’s clearly wanting answers. “Why is she crying? Is she hurt?”
I always try to be truthful when I can without confusing and scaring them. “She’s been through something scary, but she’s going to be okay. Dr. Patch is with her right now, if she needs anything then he’ll make sure she gets it.”
I’m in the middle of trying to reassure my boys when my phone buzzes. It’s Siege telling me that they’ve got Gina. I tell the boys, “I’m gonna have a word with your mother. I want you to stay here with Uncle Tex and Auntie Clara, okay?”
They all nod because this isn’t the first time they’ve heard us argue. When I head downstairs, I become aware that Queenie and Rock are at my back. I don’t particularly care if they want to see me give my deranged ex a piece of my mind.
Once I’m in the basement I see my club brothers are trying to put Gina in the same room with Silver, but she’s kicking up a fuss. I grab her by the arm as Ghost unlocks the door. When I drag her into the room, she tries to slap me. I shove her towards the far wall where there’s a small cot, “Sit down and shut up.”.
She screams, “I cooperated, did everything you asked me to do. I don’t deserve to be taken to the utility shed and tortured like Silver.”
Silver stands there with her arms crossed. “God, you’re stupid. They don’t torture women here. They just said that to trick us into turning on each other.”
My ex gives Silver the once-over, realizing that she doesn’t have a scratch on her, and then flies at me in a rage. I push her back with one hand, sending her staggering backward.
I point at her. “You were foolish for abducting Brittany and downright stupid for thinking that if you could get her out of the way, I’d take you back. You hurt the woman I fucking love in order to get to me. Do you have any idea how angry that makes me?”
Something about the tone of my voice finally gets through to her, and she backs all the way up.
“Yeah,” she says with a trembling voice. “That was messed up. It won’t happen again.”
“I know it won’t,” I spit back. “Because I’ve got a good mind to give the both of you a fucking dirt nap.”
Silver speaks up. “You already know Siege said no to that plan. He just doesn’t know what to do with us.”
This is when Queenie steps forward. “These are the two bitches who took my granddaughter?”
“Yeah, fucking idiots that they are, they left forensic evidence all over the place. And the security feed recorded them leaving the building with her. Trust me, they weren’t hard to find, nor was it difficult to get them to talk. They turned on each other alarmingly fast.”
Queenie says, “Turn them over to me. I know exactly what to do with them.”