Page 29 of Desert Sky (RB MC #4)

SKYE

T he lock clicked, and the heavy door groaned open. “Hi, I’m Amber. This is Regan,” she pointed to the petite woman beside her. Behind them, the shadows of other MC women moved like a quiet storm.

My breath caught in my throat. I didn’t even dare hope.

“We’re getting you out of here,” Amber said simply, unlocking the shackles.

Relief flooded me like a crashing wave. I crumpled forward into her arms, legs shaking with the weight of exhaustion, pain, and something dangerously close to hope.

But the comfort didn’t last long.

The moment I was upright again, they led me—not roughly, but with purpose—up the stairs and into one of the Clubhouse suites. It smelled like leather and lavender, pine cleaner and old cigar smoke. The lamp cast a soft golden hue over the space, but the warmth was deceptive.

This was no safe haven.

Regan shut the door behind her with a click that sounded too much like finality.

Amber dropped onto the edge of the bed, her eyes tracking my every move like a panther watching prey. Another woman—one I hadn’t met—stood at the vanity with her arms crossed and an expression that promised no mercy.

I licked my dry lips. “Should I be worried? This feels like an ambush.”

“No,” Regan said coolly, walking over and leaning against the dresser. “This is an interrogation.”

I gave a short, humorless laugh. “I’d almost rather face the men. At least they throw punches instead of verbal daggers.”

They didn’t laugh. Not even a smile cracked their faces.

“Sit,” Amber ordered.

I did.

And then the verbal firestorm began.

“How could you leave him like that?”

“You destroyed him.”

“He waited for you, broke every day because of you.”

“You let him think you were dead.”

Each accusation hit harder than the last, like fists to the chest. I tried to hold myself together, but my composure unraveled with every bitter truth they spit at me.

“I was trying to protect him!” I finally shouted, voice cracking under the pressure.

Regan’s eyes narrowed. “From what? Love?”

“No.” I shook my head, my vision blurring. “From his family. From what they would do if they found out.”

Amber folded her arms. “What did they do?”

“Find out about what?” Regan cocked a brow.

I drew in a long, shaky breath, the words like thorns in my throat.

“Our baby. JD’s mother came to the trailer park.

Found me weeding the damn flower bed. She said I was trash.

She said if I didn’t leave, she’d bury me and my baby.

She put a gun to my temple. Said her family owned the sheriff and all the judges.

She’d kill me in cold blood then drive straight to the country club for a martini.

She wrote me a check—like I was a problem to be bought and erased.

I never took her money but I did heed the warning. ”

The room fell silent.

“I ran,” I whispered. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

“You were pregnant?” Regan’s voice was barely audible.

Tears streamed down my face. “Yes. With JD’s child. A son. Jackson. He’s six now.”

Amber let out a soft gasp, her tough exterior cracking.

“I gave birth alone. Malik helped me disappear. He risked everything to keep me and my baby safe.”

Regan’s face transformed from shock to fury. “That b*tch threatened a child?”

I nodded, trembling. “I couldn’t tell JD. I couldn’t even look back.”

“We need to go after her,” said the unknown woman. “That’s war.”

“No,” I cried, stepping forward. “Please. Let me be the one to tell him. He deserves to hear it from me.”

Regan looked at Amber, then back at me. “You sure you’re ready for that?”

“I owe him the truth,” I said. “All of it.”

Amber touched my arm. “You realize… once he knows? He’ll blow up the world to get his kid back.”

Regan added, “And he might never forgive you.”

I closed my eyes, heart heavy. “I know. But I have to try. I’ve lived in shadows long enough.”

For a moment, no one moved.

Then Regan stepped forward and nodded. “You’re strong. We’ll give you this. But you only get one shot. ”

I looked her dead in the eye. “I won’t waste it.”

And in that quiet suite, surrounded by fierce women who moments ago wanted my head, I found something unexpected?—

Allies.

I rubbed at my arms, trying to warm myself against the chill that had nothing to do with the temperature.

“You don’t understand,” I said. “The Northport family… they aren’t just rich.

They’re powerful. Vindictive. Ruthless. JD’s mom—she has connections in every dusty corner of New Mexico.

She paid off a nurse at my OB-GYN’s office.

Got copies of my charts. My sonograms. That’s how she knew.

That’s how she knew before I even told JD. ”

Amber’s mouth fell open. Regan’s expression darkened.

“She didn’t come to reason with me. She came to destroy me. To erase me and the child like we were stains on her perfect image.”

I looked them in the eyes, one by one. “She said no one would believe me. And she was right. Everyone in that town worshipped the ground her family walked on. All it would’ve taken was one whisper—one lie—and JD would’ve been forced to hate me.”

Amber stepped closer, her voice rough with emotion. “She messed with the wrong mother.”

Regan nodded slowly, fists clenched at her sides. “This changes everything.”

“I still want to be the one to tell JD,” I said softly. “No matter how much it hurts.”

Amber’s voice was fierce. “Then you better be ready. Because when he learns the truth? There’s no telling what storm that man might unleash.”

The tension in the room was thick as Amber paced, gnawing on her thumbnail while Regan leaned casually against the wall, arms folded with all the cool confidence in the world.

“We can’t just sit here,” Regan said. “We’re not the kind of women who wait for the men to fix everything.”

“I agree,” Amber said, although her voice wavered just a little. “But going after Clarissa Northport? That’s a big move.”

“She’s not invincible,” Regan replied, smirking. “And Edge knows I don’t take orders. I give them. And Tarak? Please. I’ve done this before.”

A soft clack broke the tension. Hacker’s wife had opened her laptop, already typing like lightning. “I know all his passcodes. Give me a minute.”

We crowded around her as she worked, the screen displaying surveillance routes, bank accounts, encrypted email trails—and finally, a location. Clarissa Northport, widow of Charles Northport, was living it up on the coast of Spain. In a villa. Paid for in cash. She was hiding in plain sight.

“There she is,” Hacker’s wife said, pointing at the screen. “Cliffside view, thirty miles from Marbella.”

Amber exhaled sharply. “Damn. She’s living good.”

“I can’t go,” I whispered. “I don’t even have a passport. And Jackson?—”

“We’ve got that covered,” Amber cut in. “I’ll dispatch Tank. He’s in Maine laying low with his lady, but he owes me. He’ll go to North Carolina and guard your boy with Malik.”

I stared at her, overwhelmed. “I... I need to call Tyler. He deserves to know.”

They gave me a burner phone.

Tyler picked up on the first ring.

“Hey. It’s me.” My throat tightened. “I’m okay. ”

He sounded relieved, but cautious. “Where are you?”

“Somewhere safe. Listen, Tyler... I’m sorry. For everything. Maybe we could’ve been something, but... it’s complicated. Too complicated.”

“I figured,” he said quietly. “But I hoped.”

“Thank you for everything. It’s time... it’s time to tell them both. Jackson and JD. Malik and Tank will be with you soon. Go home. Protect my son.”

He didn’t say goodbye, just “Be careful.”

I turned back to the women. “Let’s go to Spain.”

The air in Spain smelled like citrus and sea salt. The coastal villa stood tall, modern, gleaming like the smugness of the woman inside it.

Clarissa Northport.

We rented a private plane. We didn’t tell anyone.

Amber, Regan, Hacker’s wife, and I arrived unannounced.

The men were going ape shit. But we didn’t care.

Regan politely told them it was women’s Club business.

And not to be misogynistic that sometimes the girls just gotta handle girl shit.

I can’t even describe the shades of red on Edge’s face when this all went down over FaceTime.

Hacker can’t hack his own shit since his wife changed all his passcodes.

It was surprisingly easy. We let the air out of all their tires while Regan was slinging drinks.

Amber suggested a poker night. Just like that we had an open window to split.

It was an inside ambush the men never expected.

The women were gonna catch major heat for this—but secretly, I think they still love to be chased.

JD—he thinks he’s angry now just wait until full disclosure. But it’s time I fought my own battles and later we can finish ours.

Clarissa opened her front door in a flowing linen dress, sipping chilled rosé, clearly not expecting a party of pissed-off women.

“Skye?” Her mouth curled like spoiled cream. “I heard rumors. But I didn’t expect you to crawl back.”

“I’m not crawling,” I said coldly. “I’m here to end this.”

Regan shoved the door open wider with her boot. “You threatened a child, bitch. That’s not gonna fly.”

Clarissa’s lips pursed. “This is my home.”

“Not today it isn’t,” Amber snapped.

“What do you want?” Clarissa asked. “Money? JD’s heart again? Because that ship sailed.”

“No,” I said. “I want you to feel what I felt. Powerless. Alone.”

She laughed. “You think you scare me? You’re still just trailer trash playing dress-up.”

That was it.

Regan moved first—quick as a whip, she shoved Clarissa back into her white marble hallway. Clarissa stumbled, and I followed, fists clenched.

“You paid off nurses. You tried to erase my child,” I seethed.

“I made sure my son had a future!” she screamed.

“You stole it!” I lunged, fists flying, rage igniting every nerve.

She clawed back, surprisingly strong. Nails raked. Hair pulled. Furniture crashed. We rolled across the polished floors, shouting and snarling like wild animals.

Amber grabbed a vase before it shattered near my head, shouting, “Not the face, not the face! ”

Clarissa spat at me. “You ruined him. JD was mine to mold—he was our legacy!”

I pinned her down, panting. “He’s not yours anymore.”

“Get out,” she hissed. “You don’t belong in his life.”

“I do,” I said, voice shaking with fury. “Because I gave him a son.”

That shut her up.

Flat silence.

“You... what?”

“I gave birth to JD’s child. He’s six. And he knows nothing because of you.”

Clarissa looked stunned—pale, lips parted.

Regan crouched beside us. “Now, let me explain how this works. You keep your mouth shut. You disappear for good. Or we bring the full force of the MC down on your perfect villa.”

Clarissa blinked slowly, calculating.

Amber added, “And if you *ever* try to hurt Skye or Jackson again, there won’t be a beach far enough to hide you.”

Clarissa finally nodded, lips trembling. “Fine. I’ll stay gone.”

I stood up, trembling. The fight had left me breathless—but free.

“You can’t rewrite the past,” I told her. “But I’m writing the future. And you’re not in it. Don’t try to contact your first grandson—-the one you threatened to murder. You don’t get his sunshine in your life. EVER! And if me and JD work things out and you stay the fuck away.”

Regan looped her arm through mine. “I told you we’d handle it.”

Clarissa suddenly shrieked, trying to wrench free. “You think you’ve won? You think telling JD about your bastard child gives you power?”

I froze. “He’s not a bastard.”

“Oh, darling,” she hissed, laughing, wild and spiteful. “You think you’re the only one who kept secrets? Let me tell you something... JD isn’t even a Northport.”

The room seemed to tilt.

“What?” Regan asked sharply, stepping forward.

Clarissa’s lip curled with twisted pleasure. “That’s right. He’s not Charles’ son. JD is the result of my little... act of rebellion. My revenge. I gave my husband another heir—just not *his*.”

Skye’s mouth dropped open, her blood running cold.

“You had an affair?” Amber asked, stunned.

Clarissa tossed her hair back with a bitter laugh.

“JD never fit the mold. He never liked horses, never cared for the politics or the legacy. He liked bikes and backroads and that goddamned girl from the trailer park. I always knew why—because he was *never* one of us. My greatest triumph, my biggest sin.”

“And you punished him for it his whole life,” I said, sickened.

Clarissa shrugged. “He was a mistake I couldn't erase, so I tried to shape him. Then you came along and threatened it all.”

“You mean *freed* him,” Regan corrected.

Clarissa’s mask slipped then—bitterness etched into every line of her face. “Maybe. But if he finds out... everything changes.”

“I’m going to tell him,” I said. “He deserves the truth.”

Clarissa laughed, but it was hollow now. “Then go ahead. Let him hate me. I’ll be sipping rosé with my guilt long after you’ve run back to your dirt and regret. ”

Amber leaned in close, voice low and dangerous. “You’re lucky we don’t leave you in the goddamn ocean.”

Regan added, “This stays buried. Or next time we don’t knock.”

Clarissa’s face paled, and for once, she stayed silent.

We walked out of that villa for the last time, but the truth we carried was explosive—and it was JD’s to learn next.