Steel is the first to fire. His bullet hits one guy in the shoulder. Harry. Idiot number three. He goes down and is tackled by Steel and Haze.
I see movement to my right just as another idiot appears from what I now see is a bathroom. Quickly holstering the gun in my right hand, I grab him by the throat with my left. His arms start swinging and he tries to push me away, but Tiny steps up and kicks him in the side of the knee. I hear a snap, the guy screams in agony, albeit almost muted because of my fist blocking his airway, and he crumples to the floor. Tiny uses his zip ties and bundles the guy’s wrists and ankles, then hefts him over his shoulder and out into the dark they go. Quinn. Idiot number six.
Looking around the kitchen, I don’t see anyone else, but I do hear a bunch of heavy breathing and grunts coming from the front of the house. Gun back in hand, I head down the hallway and come to find one Gearheads tied up and face down on the living room carpet, another is shot in the chest and dead. Drake and Dean. Idiots and brothers numbers one and two.
That means the two idiots we met on the front lawn were Jason and Josh. Idiots four and five.
Cypher jogs in the front door. ”Is this everyone?” He lifts the three unconscious guy’s heads one by one, looks at the tablet in his other hand, then nods. “All the faces match the guys who were at The Lodge. Their names also match the Department of Corrections info I dug up. We got ‘em all.”
“One dead. Five still breathing.” Even know I know everyone knows how to count, I still need to say it out loud. “Good job, Brothers.”
“Let’s get this show on the road.” Steel cracks an evil laugh. “We’ve got some work to do.”
The clock on the dash reads2:27 a.m.when I press the start button in my truck.
Not to toot our own horn, but that was not a bad turnaround. That’s why the Rebel Vipers MC is the best at what we do—fuck with us and you get bit.
CHAPTER TEN
DUCHESS
TUESDAY MORNING
Whiskey got home from whatever biker adventure he was on last night just as the sun was starting to peek around the edges of our blackout curtains, so when my alarm goes off at eight, I let him sleep. I slowly slither myself out of bed to go about the start of my day.
I take an everything shower, which is not always easy to do when you have a busy life. Between my wild child who keeps me on my toes, an even busier husband, and owning your own business, the little luxuries of spending a few extra minutes to shave your legs and exfoliate often times fall by the wayside.Now when I think about this new journey that we are all about to embark of with growing our family, I have to admit it’s a little bit daunting. I have no doubt we can do it, and I am happier than I have ever been, but I know that I need to start prioritizing the little things better.
Starting now, I need to prioritize me better. Now that’s not to say I will be not be prioritizing my family, but I realistically can not take care of them to the best of my ability if I don’t start with taking care of myself. We all should.
After drying off, I french braid my hair and even put a little makeup on. Once I’m dressed, I tip toe out of our bedroom and head across the hall to wake up the little man.
Krew is already awake and talking to his monkey when I go in to get him changed and dressed, so I keep his door closed just in case he starts making too much noise and wakes up his dad. I want Whiskey to get as much sleep as he can today.
After an easy breakfast of scrambled eggs, yogurt, and toast for Krew, we then move to the living room floor for some play time. With the television playing some random toddler learning show, where they are learning about the alphabet in the background, I sip my tea and munch on some saltines to settle the tiny bubbles in my stomach. I had a few forkfuls of scrambled eggs as well, but moved onto the saltines when we relocated to the floor.
Since those first couple days of puking, I haven’t thrown up again. The tea and crackers seem to be doing the trick to keep the bubbles to a minimum, so I can’t complain too much. This pregnancy couldn’t feel any more different than like when Krew was in my belly, but I already found one thing I like much better this time. I had morning sickness for several months with him, and at almost twelve weeks this time, I only have a little nausea. I call that a win.
“Good morning.” Whiskey is awake. I hear him before I see him. He comes around the corner from the hall and makes abeeline straight for us. He sits down on the floor beside me and pulls me in for a kiss before looking down at the mug in my hand. “What are you drinking? Is that tea?”
“Mmhmm.” I disguise my reply as I take a sip.
“Why?”
I shrug as I set my mug on the coffee table, then kneel to get ready to stand up. “Just felt like having something different.”
With his head titled and both eyes squinting, Whiskey is looking at me like I have two heads.
“Are you still sick?” He puts the back of his hand to my forehead.
Playfully swatting him away, I get up and walk to the kitchen to make him some coffee. Just because I can’t have caffeine for six more months, doesn’t mean my hubby can’t. And since my secret needs to stay a secret for four more days, I need to act and pretend like everything is still normal.
“I’m fine. But why are you up already? You came to bed less than three hours ago. You should still be asleep.”
Krew lets out a full belly laugh as Whiskey roars and playfully tackles him, tickling his belly.
Boys and their roughhousing. The older Krew gets, the more rough and tumble Whiskey gets with him. I don’t mind it, as long as no one ends up bleeding or with any broken bones. But if what Blue tells me is true, and Krew grows up to be anything like his father, then band-aids and casts and slings will be an inevitable part of our future. I just don’t want it to happen any time soon.
And God forbid, if I end up with all boys like my sister, I might end up pulling all my hair out from the stress.
