Damn man.
Shaking my head, I walk into my studio through the door next to my apartment staircase and hang up my bag ready to begin the day. The sense of not being alone hits me and I tense before I feel a presence behind me.
I go to turn, to confront whoever it is, or punch them, but before I can move something is shoved over my mouth and nose shocking me.
I try to struggle, try to knock them away as I buck my body but that causes whoever it is to hold me tighter to them and drowsiness begins to hit.
I blink then blink again as my vision blurs and I begin to fall as everything goes black. Bellamy and our baby—our life together—are the last things I think of.
Chapter 21
Cage
“Cage, I know why you wanted to take the floor for this meeting, something you haven’t wanted to do since leaving, but it isn’t fucking happening. You’re not appointing Trick as president, it’s your fucking role, your legacy!” Dad snaps as soon as I answer the phone, not giving me a chance to grunt anything, and I sigh as commotion echoes down the line in church.
I told Blaze last week, before he left, that I’ll be leading the meeting, that I have a vote to be cast. He looked pissed while Drew just looked confused, not from our world.
Guess I should have seen him running to Dad to make sure I didn’t leave the club.
“I have to, Dad,” I say softly, and he snaps, “No, we’ve already got the fucking Chargers trying to intercept our runs, we have prospects being swayed by them for fucking money, your motheris struggling, your sister cries every fucking night. I need my fucking son home, to take charge like I know he can and knock those fuckers out. Right now, they’re getting cocky thinking you’re about to hand in your cut and believe I’m too old to take them on!”
“Dad,” I begin, but Trick cuts me off and states, “You hand in your cut, I’m handing in mine,” and every brother agrees with Trick except for Blaze, who keeps quiet, the only brother aware of my situation.
“Blaze!” Dad snaps, not liking his silence.
He says, “I won’t be handing in my cut because he will be coming home. He just needs more help in understanding his family will be safe no matter what.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Crash asks with confusion, and I swallow hard.
“I went to see Cage last week, met his girl,” Blaze explains, and Crusher says, “We know, we’re still pissed you and Trick have met her in person, and we haven’t.”
“She’s pregnant,” I announce, shutting them up and I continue, “thirteen weeks, I had found out the day Blaze said he was in town. He brought me down from the brink of hyperventilating.”
“Fuck,” Trick chokes and Dad just sighs.
I swallow, and I admit, “I’ve fucked up a lot over the years, I mean a-fucking-lot, to the point I’m lucky I didn’t get locked up for life. I’ve hurt Mom, I’ve hurt Whit, and all of you. I chose my grief, drugs, sex, and my anger over the club. That isn’t a good leader. I should have stepped up, but instead I fell apart, chucked my leather on the ground, and walked away. You don’t want me as your leader, and honestly, my sole focus needs to be my girl, it needs to be my baby,” I huff, “After getting the DNA results with Toya, Dad, I was coming to find you to tell you I couldn’t be a brother. We didn’t know how far the Chargerswould go and even now we don’t know how far they will take this shit all because they’re greedy assholes,” I clear my throat, “I already had one foot out of the door for the baby she terminated, why would I stay now when I not only have a baby on the way but a girl who keeps me grounded. She keeps me above the water that always wants to fucking drown me like it downed my baby sister?”
Everyone stays quiet for a few minutes, none of them able to answer my question until Bones says quietly, “Because we're your family. You didn’t know about Toya—none of us did. She used Angie's knowledge of the termination as an excuse, but we all know that's not why she went after her. It could've been Whit next—or the rest of our family.”
“He’s right,” Crash says, “I fucked Toya a few months before she went crazy with Crusher, meaning Clark could have been at risk. The woman was attention-seeking, she saw any female giving the brother she wanted attention a potential threat, and what happened wasn’t your fault. It could have happened to any of us, fuck look what happened with Trick and my sister. Look at the pain they’ve gone through, all because women want what they want.”
“Son,” Dad whispers, “this baby, it’s my first grandchild, your mom's, it’s family, you’re family, and so is she. Please, just come home, we’re begging you, don’t hand in your cut, my old heart won’t be able to take the heartbreak.”
“She’s bringing you back, brother,” Blaze joins in, and I drop my head as he states, “I spent time with you both, I saw the old Cage coming out. The Cage who liked to joke and laugh, he was there, and she did that. Why can’t you give her the benefit of the doubt and see that she trusts you enough to keep her and your baby safe? Why can’t you stop underestimating your skills where your family is concerned? You were eighteen, brother, fuck, eventhe old timers didn’t see the crazy Toya was and she’d been around a lot.”
I sigh and open my mouth to tell them to give me a little more time to appease them, but before anything can come out, the door to my tattoo room slams open, and I scowl as a tearful Elizabeth runs inside.
“What the fuck was that?” Trick demands, but I ignore him and snap at the bitch before me, “Fuck off and get out Elizabeth!”
“Drew's missing,” she sobs like I didn’t speak, and I roll my eyes at her pathetic attempt, but she shakes her head and cries, “I swear, Cage, I’m not lying to try and split you both up, I’m telling you, my sister is missing. I was walking past her studio when the moms were complaining they couldn’t get a hold of her. I’ve tried to call her, but she blocked me. I had Dad try, and it went to voicemail. He’s trying to find her and told me to come get you, and if you didn’t believe me, to call him yourself.”
She lets out a pained sob that despite the situation I don’t believe. I completely freeze as Dad chokes, “Son? Is she telling the truth or not?” already aware of Elizabeth's antics, and I rasp, “She’s telling the fucking truth!”
And she is, because if she wasn’t, she wouldn’t have told me to call Joel.
“Fuck, right, brothers, ride out, I’ll call Blade and get him to meet us in Rose Hill, Trick, mic up with your helmet and help Cage try and locate her!”
Dad hangs up, and I rush past a sobbing Elizabeth, who cries, “Cage, I was so nasty to her…” and I growl at her word.
