Page 39 of Defended by Bama (Royal Bastards MC: Mobile, Alabama #1)

Brooklyn

I was jerked from my slumber by a giggling little girl.

“Mommy, I love you, but Bama and I are leaving without you,” Sofie said with sass dripping off her words.

“Is that right?” I mumbled, pulling her closer. “You excited to go back to school?”

“Yep. But Bama is getting me breakfast on the way to school.” She tossed her ponytail over her shoulder.

Giggling, I sat up. “Must be nice. But you enjoy and be good. Can’t wait to hear all about it later.” She gave me a quick kiss, then bounced off the bed. “Love you, Mommy! See you later!”

Bama came over, leaning down, and tucked some hair behind my ear. “Love you, Linny. I’ll pick her up and get her back here, but I got some shit to do later so I need you to hang out here.”

Disappointed he’d be busy all day again but not wanting to make him feel bad, I didn’t ply him with questions or complain about being here all day again.

He seemed more stressed than normal, and Glenda explained that their business wasn’t always on the up and up.

And like we talked about yesterday, he was overly protective.

Something was bothering him and he probably thought he was doing the right thing, so I wouldn’t push the issue.

“Well, maybe I can lounge around the pool again later. It won’t stay warm forever.”

“Don’t work too hard.” He popped my lips, then pressed his forehead to mine. “I love you.”

“I love you.”

He headed toward the door, so I called out, “Don’t let her talk you into a soda. She can have juice or milk.”

He turned, grinning, and winked. I tossed a pillow, but he closed the door. Those poor teachers.

It was still fairly early, but I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I got up and showered.

Once I was done, I rifled through our bag.

I only had a few outfits with me. I fished out the last clean pair of panties and tossed on one of Bama’s white tanks and recycled my shorts from the day before.

I was at the pool most of the day, so I only wore them for a couple of hours.

Once I slipped on my sneakers, since I’d be cleaning with Glenda, I headed to Sofie’s room and did inventory on her clothes.

Not much there, either. I could wash our clothes here, so I grabbed her things, then went to collect ours and headed straight to the laundry room to toss them in.

Then I went to the main room to grab coffee and breakfast before work.

“Hey, Linny,” Sunny said. She had platinum hair and looked like a doll with a perfectly cinched waist and huge boobs. She knew her way around the clubhouse and was good about helping out when she stayed. “Coffee?”

“Yes, thank you. How you doing?”

She pulled a mug from the back wall of the bar and poured me some coffee. “Not bad. You?” she asked before putting some individually wrapped half and halfs in front of me and a canister of sugar. I missed the flavored creamer Bama got me.

Pouring sugar in, then pulling the top off several of the half and half tubs, I answered, “Not bad at all.” Stirring my coffee, I stopped. “Really fucking great, actually.”

The smile that spread probably was cheesy, but I didn’t care.

Everything was really fucking great. Damn near perfect.

I had the perfect man for sure and found perfect friends.

The only imperfection was more of an inconvenience: club business.

At least with club business, I knew it was really about the club, and it was best I wasn’t in the know.

With Marshall, he was secretive about work, even though he wasn’t an investigator or anything, and a lot of it was more to cover his indiscretions.

He really thought he had me fooled with OT.

How does a cop not realize you can’t cover the stench of alcohol, smoke, and another woman’s smell?

“Congrats on the patch. Bama’s a good one. You hungry? I popped some biscuits in a while ago.”

“Sounds yummy. Need some help?”

She waved me off. “Nope, just helping out until Pinkie rolls out of bed.”

Since I wasn’t officially a club girl, I still didn’t understand their schedules or assignments. I did know Pinkie always did kitchen duty, and Glenda did housekeeping. But some of them seemed to rotate. I did housekeeping to hang out with Glenda.

***

After a yummy bacon biscuit breakfast and too much coffee, Glenda and I got on with our tasks and gabbed all the way through.

You’d think a bunch of bikers would be messier, but honestly the only places that got a little harder to clean were the women’s restrooms and the main room that used to be a casino and bar.

As far as I knew, there was no official name for it, but it was the common area they frequented, even where there wasn’t a party.

Since I’d been spending more time at the clubhouse, not nearly as intense partying had been going on as that first night I was here, and the girls who worked the bar and kitchen often helped pick up through the day and night.

We headed back to the laundry area and switched loads. I’d already dried and folded what little we had with us but hadn’t taken it to our room yet.

“I need to take these up.” Sighing, I said, “Hey, sounds like we may be stuck here again and Bama seemed too busy to stop. You think you can run me to the house? I promised Sofie Fluffikins and that didn’t happen.

Plus, I could use another change of clothes and if I have to drink one more cup of coffee with plain half and half, I may lose my mind. ”

Glenda giggled. “I guess. I need to run by the store, anyway. Mind if we stop on the way back?”

“Nope. I may need to grab some creamer. The one at home should still be good, but if not, I need some!”

“I take it black, so I don’t have these problems,” Glenda said.

“I know. I’ve stared. But I’m not a badass like you. I need the flavored creamer.”

She rolled her eyes but chuckled. “Hardly a badass. Let me go grab my keys.”

After a few minutes, we met up at the front door and headed outside. We’d both opened the doors to her tiny two-seater car, but Ollie shouted from the sidewalk, “Hey, where the hell are you going?”

Glenda leaned on her door, looking over with squinted eyes. “Running to the store and by the house.”

He started walking to the parking lot, his silver ponytail blowing in the hot breeze. “I’m following.”

We both rolled our eyes. “Is that necessary?

He didn’t say anything. Instead, he straddled his Harley, put on his helmet, then fired up the engine.

We shook our heads, but climbed into the car and buckled in.

“Maybe he can carry my tampons for me,” Glenda said.

“I need you to make that happen.” I started laughing. “Can you imagine Ollie with his bandana, cut, and long hair carrying a box of tampons around?”

She started the car and pulled out of the parking spot, heading to the road. “Either he’ll run off or he’ll take them, cradle them, and growl at anyone who looks at him sideways. I’m excited to find out.”

She blasted the air, but at first it only blew out hot. “Can I crack a window?”

“Yeah, sorry. Takes a few to cool down. But I love this car. This model is the last it was produced. Ninety-one, baby.”

“This car is older than you?” I was not a car girl, so I didn’t know makes or models.

“Yep, but it’s petite and fast. Just like me.”

After a few minutes, the air finally cooled down and we rolled the windows up the rest of the way to the house. We jammed to Alice in Chains, AC/DC, and Guns N’ Roses before finally pulling up to the house.

My shoulders relaxed and I sighed. Funny how having a real home makes you miss it.

“You good?” Glenda asked just as Ollie pulled in behind us.

Opening the door, I got out, closed it and walked to the front steps but leaned down, feeling under the second to last step.

“Yeah. Happy to be here. Sucks I can’t stay, but he has his reasons.

Got it.” Pulling out the key hidden there in case I got locked out of the house by mistake, I climbed the steps.

“Let’s make it a quick stop, ladies,” Ollie said as he caught up to us.

Opening the door, I started to head inside but stopped in the living room. The hair on my arms stood up. “Something’s wrong.”

Ollie pulled a gun from under his cut and put his arm out. “Go wait by the door.”

Glenda and I stepped backwards toward the door, arm in arm. My heart pounded in my chest and my breathing became labored. Something wasn’t right. I didn’t know what, but I just knew.

Ollie walked back to the other side of the house, still motioning for us to stay put. He came back into the living room, tucking his gun away. “Didn’t find anyone, but we need to–”

Glass shattered, and Ollie stopped talking, briefly suspended as a bullet passed through his forehead, so close to my head I heard the wind whip past. Then everything was quiet. Not silent, but as if I was in a bubble. Someone was yelling, but I couldn’t understand them, and I couldn’t move.

A scream was trapped in my chest, tears pleading to burst from my eyes, but I was frozen. At least until Ollie’s lifeless body crumpled to the ground only feet away from us.

I was being tugged and looked down to see Glenda’s arm pulling me. Sound rushed back. “C’mon, we gotta go now!”

My body shook but I turned to run toward the car with her. We almost made it, but footsteps were hot on our heels. I didn’t look back, but yelled, “Glenda!”

“Go, go, go! Fuck!”

When she yelled, I turned. A man with a black mask with nothing but eye cutouts was holding her as she squirmed and kicked. A small box truck came barrelling from the back of the house. It must have been down the trail to the water bank. Another masked man was quickly in my face, reaching for me.

He picked me up, but I kicked and flailed my legs until I made purchase, so I kept aiming for the same spot. It slowed him a little, but not enough. I yelled, for no other reason than to amp myself up, and headbutted him as hard as I could.