Page 207 of Savior
“You’ve been so busy lately. We hardly ever… get to… these last few weeks.” She pouts at me.
I reach my hand to her face and stroke her cheek. “I’ll do what I can, Kitten. But you need your rest, so don’t try to wait up for me.”
She lowers her eyes, letting out another sigh, but this time, it’s mingled with something other than resignment, or exhaustion.
“What is it?” I ask.
That fake smile she puts on when she doesn’t want to be interrogated, curves her lips, before she replies with that flippant, “Nothing. Be careful. I love you.”
Placing my hand against Ace, I lean forward to kiss her forehead. There will be time to get into whatever this is about, when I get back.
“I love you too, baby.” I tell her. “The prospects are staying outside. Send one of them, should you need anything. No going out.”
She doesn’t bother arguing anymore. She knows how I am. How I’ve always been about her. Though, now that she’s really showing, she seems so much more vulnerable and delicate, and I’ve been flooded with a fierce, protective need to keep her guarded and looked after at all times. Especially since there’s been radio silence from the Demons. Ever since that night Legion could have killed me. The same night Axel and Viking burned down their club house. We’ve all been waiting for the other shoe to drop, for weeks. I’ve been quietly hoping Legion discovered the truth about his brother, and since the prick is already dead anyway, decided to drop his twisted mission for vengeance. Maybe he'll remain under the rock he crawled out of, back in Arizona.
I know better than to let my guard down, however. Legion is patient. He strikes whenever I least expect it. And so, I will keep on expecting, while hoping for the best.
When I walk into the War Room, my brothers are already seated and waiting for me.
“Vanna okay?” Viking asks, as I take my seat at the head of the table.
“She’s pregnant.” I reply. What else is there to say?
Viper chuckles, fully aware of exactly what I mean, having lived through this with Rosita. “Home stretch, brother.” He gives me an encouraging fist bump.
Diesel and Chopper go over the run-down of club expenses and the profits from Stogies, as well as the list of Vendors for our fall fund raiser rally, which is happening in a few weeks from today. It’s shaping up to be our biggest one yet.
Then it’s Viper’s turn to update us on business pertaining to the MC’s mission.
“Medusa’s Gates contacted me this week.” Viper announces. “We’re all clear for guard watch and transporting to court appearances. I need to know all hours of availability, so I can coordinate a monthly schedule with them, too.”
Volunteering blocks of hours to guard their safe houses, helps off-set the cost agencies like Medusa’s Gates, have to pay for round the clock security. It might not sound like much, but hours add up quickly, and security isn’t cheap. The money we save them by volunteering our time, can be used for so much more to help the victims in the way of therapies, both mental and emotional. As well as the cost of legal fees pertaining to court appearances, and as needed repairs at safe houses. We’re also cleared to escort victims to and from those court appearances, to act as a deterrent for those who might try to intimidate them out of testifying.
“And that brings us around to another situation that needs discussing.” Viper adds, turning to look at me. “Magnum wants a meeting, regarding the Demons.”
“That so?”
“He’s just waiting on the okay to roll up. Said he didn’t want to piss you off by showing up unannounced, after the way you two left off last time you were face to face.”
Viking chuckles. “And we’re the beta pussies, or whatever the fuck he called us after I kicked in his door.”
If Magnum wants to talk Demons, after all this radio silence from Legion and that crew, he must have some inside information. And it must not be too favorable to the Demons. I wonder if Legion really did pick up and go for good? If Magnum is trying to make nice with us again, the Demons must have lost their grip on his club.
Then again… this could all be a set up. A ploy to lower my guards. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Legion is still pulling a few puppet strings.
“Alright.” I nod at Viper. “I’ll hear what he has to say.”
“There’s a really cute baby store down town in the historical district.” Cherry says, placing the bridal magazine back down on the slate coffee table. We’ve been sitting on the leather three-seater for the last hour, snacking on french-fries and milk shakes while flipping through the collection of wedding magazines she borrowed from Rosita. “Dean and Viking have been talking about a time to get together and paint that pink room for Ace.”
“Oh?” is all I manage to say. I don’t know what she knows about that room, though her upbeat attitude suggests she may not know what’s actually on the other side of that locked door at the end of the hall. I haven’t seen inside Maddie’s old nursery, since I laid eyes on that broken up crib a year go.
“Maybe we can go check it out together? Pick out some things for Ace? I’m sure they have a registry. We can get a list together for your baby shower. Dean is going to insist on purchasing and putting together the crib himself though, so if you find one you like, we could at least buy that.”
“Sure, why not?” I say. “When do you want to go?”
“How about the Sunday after next?” she suggests. “There’s also a really cute little cake shop right across the street, if you wanted to pop in there and schedule a cake tasting for the wedding?”
“The wedding?” I look at her, perplexed. “We haven’t set a date yet.”
