Page 14 of Bound By Fate
Seeing the same for Micah, it made me want to become a member of the Ravage MC too. I needed that connection, and by prospecting I’d found it.
“You know what’s goin’ on?” I asked him as we made our way through the craziness that was my niece’s Trolls. True, she wasn’t biologically mine, but I claimed her. The Trolls, on the other hand, were insane.
One time I babysat Remy, and she dressed me up like a Troll. I forgot the damn name, but I do remember her putting her makeup on me, that I later found out was her mother’s … oops. She teased my hair so it stood straight up. How a child that age knew how to tease hair, I had no idea, but she did. Getting it tamed back down, that was a whole adventure in itself.
There were actually pictures around here somewhere that Micah had taken when he got home. Both he and Ensley laughed their asses off, until Ensley found out it was her makeup. Remy and her mom had a little chat, but like always the little one kept on smiling.
I had to use a shit ton of conditioner to get all the rats out of my hair, but as long as Remy was happy, it was all that mattered.
“Fuck if I know,” he answered as we stepped through the sliding glass doors and into the backyard. I pulled the door shut behind us.
All the men were here standing around talking. Most had a bottle of beer in their hands. Many were lighthearted, giving each other shtick.
“Good,” Cruz said, commanding everyone’s attention. He had that way about him. One word and we all listened. I had no doubt it was the same way when he was an active Marine. It also gave he and I a different kind of brotherhood together. Once a Marine always a Marine.
Both Cooper, his son, and GT, Cruz’s brother-in-law and our VP, stood on either side of him. That meant this was hardcore business. Tells. Everyone had one. Figuring them out was the hard part, but once you had them you could read moods without a word.
“We’ve got a problem.” Those were never good words to start a conversation. “Got a call from Crow.” Crow was the President of the Rebellion, Alabama Chapter of the Ravage MC. He was also another one of Cruz’s sons. He had three. “There seems to be a new player in town. Ace of Sparrows. It appears they’ve been growing right under our noses the last few years. Now they are established, according to Crow. They’ve been quiet. Under the radar. Also, under the radar when it comes to their supply.”
Everyone stared at Cruz taking all of this shit in. No one stepped on the Ravage MC’s feet. No one. And supply meant guns.
Yeah, I knew we were selling guns to assholes, but it was a good profit. Being in the Marines I’d worked with all kinds of them and was very fluent with them as well.
“I want Cooper, Deke, Micah and Dry to head there. You need to scope out the place. Put up some cameras or figure out how to get into their feed. We want to be able to monitor it here. Got it?”
“Yeah.” We had our orders, and while the other guys went to their women to tell them bye, I went into Remy’s room where she and Katie were putting away all of Remy’s new toys. It looked like a toy store exploded all over the place.
“She’s never going to take that off,” I said, leaning my shoulder against the doorjamb, watching the two interact. It was a sight to behold. Katie had a knack with children.
Katie’s eyes flashed up to mine, while Remy didn’t miss a beat. She came to me immediately, grabbed my hand, and pulled me into the room, saying, “Nope. Iz neverz taked it off.”
Katie chuckled. “That’s why I made it. For you to wear.”
“You’re gonna need to power wash it in about week.”
“No!” Remy screamed, horrified. “No watting wit powder.”
This made me laugh. Her speech had gotten better, but she still had this baby language at times. Ensley was taking her to get help for that. “Alright, bug, no powder. I hate to run out on ya, but I have to get goin’.”
“Whys?” Remy asked, not letting go of my hand.
I bent down on one knee, getting eye level with the little monster. “I have to work, but I’ll be back to see ya soon, and we’ll play with all this…” I looked around the room that was filled with rainbow-haired trolls, “…stuff.”
“Is gots lots of Twollz,” Remy announced with a wide smile on her face.
“Yeah, you did. Now, give me big hugs.”
Remy didn’t skip a beat, wrapping her little arms around me and giving me a large puff of pink hair in my mouth. I looked over to Katie who was smiling. “Hair … not my thing.”
This made Katie laugh as she said, “I remember…” As soon as the words left her lips it happened. She shut down. The spark went out of her eyes, and I swear her entire body sagged. It was only a moment, but I saw it.
I hated that for her. What those fuckers did to her. Anger pulsed through my chest. My girl. They hurt my girl. Those assholes made it out of this world too damn easy. I wished I could kill each and every one of them over and over again. Still, the anger wouldn’t go away. I didn’t think anything would take that away, except for Katie.
I rose to my feet. “Gotta head out.” Taking a step toward Katie, I reached out just to grab her shoulder and let her know I was there with her. But she surprised me by grabbing my hand, turning and pleading with her eyes.
“Be safe.”
Fuck that felt good. Damn good that she cared. Still after all this time, she was right there with me even if she was trying to keep me at arm’s length. Pushing my luck, I leaned over and kissed her cheek, whispering, “Always. I’ll see you soon too.”
