Page 11

ROCHELLE

It hadn’t taken me long to realise that those in the Crow MC were as genuine as they came across. I was a naturally suspicious person, and the last four years of my life hadn’t helped.

After this weekend and how Noni, Julia, and Josie had done something as lovely as the nursery for Daisy, it was at that moment that I realised I could trust them with anything, and my daughter was one of the most important things to me. I had to ensure that she’d be safe if anything happened to either me or Bond. There was no way I could allow her to end up with her father’s people. Not my baby. I’d do everything I could to ensure that never happened.

With that thought in mind, I finished completing the order I’d been working on and walked out to the front of the shop to find Bond. He wasn’t at the counter, which meant he was probably outside. The pushchair was missing, so I assumed that Daisy was either with him, Blaze, or Rogue.

The three of them seemed to have serious baby fever. Shaking my head in slight bemusement, I’d never met men like them. They were tough when they needed to be but were complete marshmallows when it came to their women and children.

‘I was right,’ I thought as I walked onto the shop veranda and looked across the road to where Cairo’s new shop was nearly finished being built. All the Crow men were congregated in the shade on the other side of the road, including Roman and Van, who it seemed were being taught how to lay bricks by the builders.

Turning, I pulled the shop door shut and locked it behind me before walking out into the blazing hot sun. Sweat immediately started to pool along my lower back. Taking my sunglasses from where I’d shoved them in my hair earlier, I lowered them over my eyes. Bond seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to me and turned around as soon as I stepped onto the road; the rest turned to see what had caught his attention. It was a bit disconcerting to suddenly be the focus of all that male hotness. And they were all hot. I may be totally enamoured with Bond, but that didn’t mean I was blind. I fought the urge to lift a hand and waft my face like some Victorian lady, but holy moly, it was hard.

“You good, baby?” Bond wants to know as soon as I am within hearing distance.

“Yeah,” I reply, going up on my toes to press a kiss to his lips before settling back on my heels. “I need to go and see Noni. I’ve locked the shop. Do you want me to take Daisy?” I ask, looking around for her.

“She’s with Blaze,” Rogue grumbles, looking put out. “He’s got five minutes, then I’m taking her. This one,” he points a thumb at Bull, “wouldn’t let me take my niece.”

Bull rolls his eyes, “She was sleeping. Don’t you know the story about sleeping dogs and babies? You leave them alone when they’re asleep.”

Biting my lip to stop myself laughing at how ridiculous they all were, I meet Bond’s gaze and see he is just as amused. “They’re over there,” he points towards the small supermarket. Turning, I watch as Blaze walks back with Daisy in his arms, and Briana and Alana walking hand in hand back to us. The two little girls each have ice creams in their hands and are making a huge mess. Blaze seems totally unconcerned as he watches them walking ahead of him while he licks his cone. Daisy watches him with interested eyes every time he takes a bite, and I am wondering if it is time to start giving her watered-down porridge.

“Okay, if you’re good with keeping her, then I’ll go speak to Noni. I shouldn’t be long.”

“It’s all good, baby; we’ll be making our way back soon. It’s hot as hell, so we’re going to take the kids for a swim,” Bond assures me, pressing a kiss to my cheek before he pats my arse and pushes me gently towards the hotel.

Meeting Blaze along the path, I checked on Daisy, but she was happy enough, so I left her to her dad and uncles, walking quickly along the shaded veranda towards the hotel.

Noni was where I expected to find her—in her office; she amazed me with the amount of juggling she did.

Knocking on the door, I stuck my head around it, happy to see Julia in there with her.

They both smiled when they saw me, although I could see the surprise on their faces. It was the first time I’d actively searched them out. “Hi, Roch, what do you need?” Noni asks.

“I need your help,” I state baldly, walking in and sitting in the chair across from Noni.

Surprise lit their faces, and they glanced at each other. “Okay,” Noni responds slowly, “what do you need my help with?”

“Umm,” Julia put up a hand as if she were in school, making me bite back a smile, “do you need me to leave?”

Shaking my head, I answer, “No, please stay because this involves all of us. Do you think we should ask Josie to come? I don’t want her to feel left out.”

“I’ll send her a message,” Noni says, picking up her phone and typing into it. We wait a minute until she gets a reply. Noni reads it out loud, “Go ahead without me. You can fill me in later, I’ve got an emergency c-section on a patient.”

“Okay,” I say, taking a deep breath, wiping my hands down nervously on my thighs. “So, a couple of things, and none of this reflects on the guys and their ability to keep us all safe. It’s just that over the years, I’ve learned to be prepared.”

Julia moved from her desk to sit in the chair next to me. Patting my hand, she says, “It’s okay, Roch. Tell us what you need.”

“First, I need to do a will so that if anything happens to me and Bond, then Daisy will be okay. I know that Skinny has done some magic with her birth certificate, but I’d also like to ensure guardians for her should anything happen. I haven’t spoken to Bond about any of this because I honestly don’t think he’s thought about it. But take it from someone who knows that the best-laid plans go awry when you least expect it, and I’d like to know that Daisy will be okay. And I doubt very much he’ll be upset with what I want to do.”

Both Noni and Julia nodded that they understood, and as mothers, I figured they would because they’d want the same thing for their children.

Turning towards Julia, I declare, “I’d like to put you and Rogue down as guardians for Daisy should anything happen to me or Bond.”

Surprised delight flowed over Julia’s face at my statement. “Oh wow, of course. We’d be happy to be her guardians. Nothing is going to happen to you, although I totally understand needing to be prepared. We’ve done the same for our children and have Draco and Molly as their guardians. But,” she hesitates, and her eyes slide towards Noni, who didn’t look surprised at all. “Why us and not any of the others?”

“Because even though Noni and Bull would happily step up, they have four young children already, and adding another one didn’t seem fair to any of them.

“All the guys are single, and I wouldn’t put that pressure on any of them, plus what happens if they end up with a right witch and she’s mean to my baby?

“Skinny and Josie, I think, are wanting to start their own family, and I didn’t think it was fair to ask them.

“You and Rogue would love her like she was your own, and Roman and Rosie are older, and watching you with them makes my heart happy. Plus Rogue is already wrapped around her little finger, and you are what I’ve always thought of as a perfect mother. If I had to choose a perfect second set of parents, then it would be you.”

“Oh, Rochelle,” Julia responds, wiping at her eyes, “that’s such a compliment, thank you.”

Smiling at Julia, I looked towards Noni to see if she’s upset, but she’s beaming with happiness. “Perfect choice,” she assures me. “When do you want to do this?”

“As soon as possible,” I inform her.

“Okay, let me contact the lawyer. We may be able to do this online and just have you sign it,” Noni states, picking up the phone again and calling the lawyer.

Julia and I sit quietly, waiting until Noni is finished talking to the lawyer. From what I could gather, we could set it up today, and he would send it over for signing. It should all be done by the end of the week. I heaved a sigh of relief, and a weight disappeared from my shoulders.

With that taken care of, I ask another question that had been burning at the back of my mind ever since the first Church meeting I attended where I laid everything out for them.

“One more thing: in the last meeting, Bull mentioned that you would be adding a fence so that you could bring in stock for game drives and such. I took Daisy for a walk along the river the other day, and I was wondering if you’d considered fishing safaris and extending the front of the hotel along the riverside. You could put in a boat ramp with an outdoor bar and seating area. There’re no rapids down that end, and you could also do an evening boat cruise for your guests, similar to what they have in Livingstone.”

Noni sits back in her chair as she thinks about it before replying, “Honestly, no, I haven’t thought about it. Mostly because we’ve been so busy getting the hotel and businesses up and running again after they’d been nearly run into the ground. It’s a good idea, but we just don’t have the finances at the moment. We could do it maybe next year or the following, though. You’re right; it would bring in more revenue as we’d be bringing in different clientele.”

“I’ve got the money,” I respond quickly, then let out a whoosh of breath. Not sure why I was so nervous, on the next breath I muttered, frustrated with myself, “I’m not explaining myself very well.”

“Let me start again,” I declare, sitting up straighter. “Noni, I’m not sure how this works, but what I’m trying to say is that I’d like to contribute to the business. If I’m going to be a Crow, then I need to be a Crow, and if there is one thing I know, it’s running a company.

“Here,” leaning over, I pulled a notebook from the bag I’d dumped next to my chair when I’d walked in earlier. Opening it up, I handed it to Noni, “I’ve started rough figures for you, but I think it could work. I have money I’d like to invest in this venture with you.”

Noni grins, taking the book from me, and Julia let out a little chuckle, “She’s perfect for the Crows; it’s like she’s Bren point two.”

I knew Bren was one of the Crows in the UK, but other than that, I had no idea why I reminded them of her. “She’s the one who always comes up with our business ideas,” Julia explains at my look of confusion. “Noni, Bella, Avy, and Bren are a force of nature when it comes to driving the different businesses the Crow MC owns.”

“Ah,” I reply with a nod, my attention drawn back to Noni, who was reading through my business proposal. I was so nervous that I started chewing on a nail.

“Relax,” Julia says, patting my leg, “it will all be fine.”

“This is really good,” Noni states, looking up from the notebook, excitement gleaming in her eyes. “Are these projections accurate?”

“Yeah,” I reply with a nod. “I did some research and picked an old acquaintance’s brain. Those are conservative estimates.”

“This is a lot of money to invest,” Noni comments. “Are you sure about it? You know how things can change on a dime in business; it’s a lot to lose if we fail.”

“We’re not going to fail,” I respond with certainty, “and yes, it’s a lot of money, but it’s blood money that I’ll be using. Jared was an idiot when it came to money, so I’ve been stashing away whatever money I could get my hands on for years.

“It’s been sitting in a bank, growing interest for four years. Initially, I was going to use it to get away from him after Daisy was born, but now, I’d like to use it for this instead. Nobody knows about it, not even my dad. It’s under an assumed name, and I opened it with fake identification, so I may need Skinny to work his magic, but it’s all there.

“Dad left everything he had to Daisy and me, so if it does fail, which it won’t because none of us are idiots, we’d still be okay financially because, like you say, we’re a team,” I assure Noni.

“In that case,” Noni grins, standing up and holding out her hand, “welcome to the Crow Ladies Consortium. All the Crow MC businesses are in our names, so that if the shit does hit the fan, we can still run them with no problems from the authorities. It’s one of the reasons we don’t always get told when the men are doing things; it’s best we don’t know anything about.”

There was no need for her to say more; coming from the life I’d lived, sometimes it was better not knowing. Standing up, I took Noni’s hand and shook it. A feeling of rightness flowed through me. It had taken a few years, unhappiness, and hard living, but I was finally home.

Noni squealed happily and danced on the spot, making Julia and me laugh. “I knew you’d be perfect as soon as I met you,” she exclaims, hands thrown up in the air, before getting serious again, “Let’s get this into a PowerPoint, and I’ll tell Bull to call Church so we can let the men know.”

A few hours later, my mind was reeling with figures and ideas. The will had been the easiest part of the afternoon. I’d had to tell Bond about the guardianship—not that he minded—and he seemed relieved that I’d thought about it. Rogue had been stunned, but from the hug I’d received, he’d been happy when asked to be Daisy’s guardian.

Daisy wasn’t christened yet. I was going to speak to Bond about that later, and if he was happy with it, I wanted to ask Rogue and Julia to be her godparents, it made the most sense. I’d like to wait until the situation with the Black Mambas had been put to rest because I’d like my dad to be there if he could.

We’d done Church later that evening after the children were in bed. It had been quick, filled with excitement and laughter. I’d given Skinny the bank details and passwords, and in less than ten minutes, the half a million dollars I’d managed to put away was in the Crow company account, ready for us to use.

Noni and I had a meeting booked tomorrow to get started on the first bit of the plan, which was building the slipway to launch the boats. The first tendrils of excitement filled my belly as we went through the PowerPoint, and everyone listened, throwing out ideas as we went.

They really did work as a team; nobody shot down an idea without explaining why. Just as we had to lay out why we thought it would work, including projections for the future. The revenue raised by this venture, along with the revenue from the photographic and game drives, would more than pay for itself within a year.

I was excited to be part of this, even with the threat of the Black Mambas hanging over my head.

Bond hadn’t mentioned anything to me about them, even though I knew that Bull was in constant contact with those who were watching them. For safety’s sake, I’d not spoken to my dad yet, but I’d been assured that he was comfortable and looked after. You never knew who was listening in or who to trust in the city. Not with how far-reaching the Black Mambas’ contacts were.

I had to have faith that they knew what they were doing and that it would all work out in the end. Bond had assured me that Bull would let us know if there was anything we needed to know about or if the situation changed.

It was hard not to worry, though; I knew what the Black Mambas were capable of. I hoped that Jason was so far gone on drugs that he’d forgotten about me and Daisy. Probably not, though. Not when the next shipment of drugs was due at the end of the month and none of Dad’s trucks would be there to pick it up.

I’d love to be a fly on the wall when he realised that his delivery hadn’t made it. He’d never checked, just assumed that Dad and I were so broken down and scared we’d do what he wanted. He’d not been entirely wrong about that either.

It would be interesting to see how Jason managed it. He was used to using violence to get what he wanted, and I almost felt sorry for whoever was supposed to be watching our old warehouse.

Almost sorry, but not completely!