Page 25
Diamond
Tonight wasn’t a regular church meeting.
Only three men were sitting at the table.
Diamond was with Axel and Chains. The president and VP. The two most influential men in the Diablos.
The pair remained silent while Diamond recounted everything from the Snow mansion explosion. He got Joelle settled and tucked into bed, emotionally drained, and then came to the club to chat with Axel.
This shit was too much for him to bear on his shoulders alone.
“Snow knows for sure it’s the Irish mafia?”
Diamond answered Axel. “He says so. Said he got a cryptic message from the Shannon chick that he wouldn’t be able to silence her. Then, less than an hour later, his house blew up. It’s too much of a coincidence.”
“And you’ve knocked up his daughter?” Interjected Chains. “You kept that quiet.”
“It was her choice.” His jaw felt like glass. If he gritted his teeth any harder, his face would shatter. He didn’t want to leave her alone, but things needed cementing before he could return home. “Joelle didn’t want to tell anyone yet.”
“How did the old man take it?”
“Not well. But he all but begged me to look after her tonight. He wants her far away from him like he expects some other shit to happen.”
During the silence, Axel and Chains exchanged a wordless glance.
He knew this shit didn’t look good.
But he couldn’t abandon Joelle.
Even if she weren’t carrying his baby, he still would have dragged her away from that bombed estate, screaming and kicking, if he had to. As soon as he’d heard the fear in Snow’s shaken voice, and the old man had begged him to take Joelle with him, Diamond had wanted to turn around and get her far away to safety. Fuck the rest of them. His total focus became about protecting her. It hadn’t even happened suddenly. It had been happening over time, little by little until that was all he could think about.
“It makes little sense,” Chains finally said, drumming his tattooed fingers on the table. He then ran a hand over his shorn mohawk. “We talked to the Irish, and they weren’t aware of the bitchrella’s revenge plot. They shut her down.”
“They didn’t shut her down enough.” Shrugged Diamond. “That’s as far as I know. And I don’t care. I don’t give one shit about the Judge and what happens to him. I hated working for that fucker.”
“You didn’t hate all of it if you got into his daughter’s panties.” Smirked Chains.
His jaw worked tight again, and he shot the VP a stare across the table, trying to remain calm. He wasn’t one to rattle easily when provoked by the boys, but he was finding out Joelle was his weak spot.
“Joelle isn’t up for discussion, Chains.” He bit out.
“But she is, isn’t she?” asked Axel, scrutinizing from the head of the table. “You’re here because you want us to protect her.”
“Not exactly. But I’ll be absent because I know she’s gonna want to poke her nose in, and I have to be close to intercept the nosiness. I already said I don’t give a shit what happens to Snow. Or how he handles his disaster.”
He was uncertain about what he wanted.
Understanding?
Acceptance?
These men were his brothers. Not by blood, but they might as well be. He respected his patched brethren. They’d fought side by side for a lot of years. You couldn’t go through economic wars and not forge strong friendships. It was built on trust and loyalty.
His guilt stemmed from that.
The club shared every piece of good news as if it were their own.
He’d kept Joelle and the baby a secret, which hadn’t sat well with Diamond.
“This isn’t our drama, Diamond,” Axel stated in his totalitarian voice. “Snow hasn’t paid us to get involved. And we’re not wading in against the Irish fucking mob on a whim. We have enough on our plates already with the Riot Brothers. The Murphys know more than we do about them, and they said they’re fucking lunatics. My house was bombed once already. I don’t want a second go-around. I have my old lady to think about now. We’re trying to dig out of shit, not ask for more.”
“I know that,” agreed Diamond, somewhat frustrated at what he was hearing, but he got it.
“You know the rules, D,” added Chains. “We don’t throw the club’s weight behind just anything. We have a lot to lose. Is Joelle your old lady?”
“No.” he grimaced. It was fucking complicated. “But would you abandon your kid’s mother at a time like this? Could you leave her in a place that would get her hurt or worse? Sometimes rules have to be shifted for extenuating circumstances.”
“Listen,” Axel stated. “We agree with you. Snow can fend for his fucking self. He has enough cops on his payroll to take care of his ass. If he gets blown up, he is one less jackass to worry about. As for your situation.” He said, pinning Diamond with his presidential stare. “Your not old lady, had it right. Keep things close to your chest for now.”
Diamond could feel himself heating under the collar, and he had to clench his fists on the tabletop.
“Before you blow a gasket,” he continued, “It’s for your kid’s safety. The fewer people know she’s pregnant with a Diablos biker, the better. These mad fucks wouldn’t think twice by dragging her into the mess, using her to get to Snow. So, as far as it goes, this talk didn’t happen, yeah?”
Diamond climbed to his feet. “Yeah, got it.” He’d do whatever he had to do. Even if he did it alone.
It was funny that bikers got into the lifestyle, so they didn’t have to live by society’s rules, yet the MC still had rules in place and expected everyone to follow them. Until now, Diamond had been a good soldier, always following the MC bylaws, and had agreed with many of them. Especially about who the club waded into trouble for.
He wanted to say so fucking much. That he’d protect their old lady’s without a second thought.
Officially, Joelle wasn’t his. But she was his . Underneath everything, he felt it in his soul.
Somewhere under his pissed-off anger, he got what they were saying. But he didn’t like it. Not one bit.
He wouldn’t allow Snow’s bullshit to touch Joelle or their unborn child.
And if he couldn’t rely on his brotherhood, he’d do the protecting alone.
“Diamond?” he heard when he reached the door and turned at the sound of Axel. Diamond lifted an eyebrow, and waited. “You’re gonna be a good dad. Pleased for you, brother.”
He gave a brief nod and left. And he didn’t stop to talk to anyone on his way out. The ride back to his complex didn’t take very long, and when he let himself in, locking up behind him, he found Joelle where he left her. A tear-streaked face, asleep in his bed. She woke when he opened the bedroom door, sitting up.
“Is there any news? Has my father called?”
“Nothing yet.” He answered, slipping out of his cut. He hung it up in the closet and turned to find her watching him. “Are you hungry?”
“I couldn’t eat.”
“Let me rephrase that, Bluebell. I’m making something, and you’ll eat. The baby needs it.”
She sighed, but nodded. “Okay. Have you been out?”
“I needed to do something. I’m back now, not going out again.”
“I should be at home. Or at the hospital.”
“You’re right where you need to be.”
She followed him into the kitchen, but he motioned her into the living room, where he heard the TV switch on.
“It’s all over the news,” she gasped.
That wasn’t a surprise. It would remain breaking news for days.
“They’re saying it’s a terrorist attack. Do you think it was?”
He was mixing and chopping. Monitoring Joelle and not the TV screen. “If that’s what they say.”
“But you don’t think so? Or you know differently already. What did my father say to you exactly, Diamond?”
“Just what I told you.”
He saw her eyes narrow as she stared at him over the back of the couch. “You’re lying.”
“Withholding info for your safety isn’t the same as lying.” He clarified, and she pursed her lips, making her fucking adorable. But he didn’t think she’d appreciate being told that right now. So, Diamond stuck to putting ingredients together.
“Okay, let me fill in the blanks.”
“Joelle, leave it alone.”
“No, I can’t leave it alone. My mom is in the hospital.”
“She’s not seriously hurt. She’s only there for observation.”
“An entire house exploded around her!” She blew out her next breath and turned back to the TV, doom watching her family life exposed on the screen. “One crazy bitch couldn’t have made that happen, could she?” she asked, guessing at the truth. And then. “Diamond?”
His gaze shifted toward her. She was understandably upset. But she had to grasp that her family was not his priority. Joelle was.
“Can you trust me on this?”
“I do trust you. But I still need to know who’s trying to kill my family.”
“It was more like a warning, Joelle. You must know your father isn’t squeaky clean.”
She blinked. “He’s a Judge. Of course, he makes enemies from people he puts away.”
Diamond was building the sandwiches, but couldn’t pull his gaze away from Joelle for long. Unable to bear her upset voice, he left the knife and joined at her side. After he took her hand, she immediately latched onto his fingers.
“Trust that I’m gonna ensure you and the baby are safe, Joelle. That’s all you need to know. Your dad and his staff, plus the whole police division, have everything else.”
“But...”
“No, Joelle. You’re not getting in the mix of this.”
She huffed and pulled her hand from his.
He could deal with a stubborn woman who hated him. But he couldn’t deal with her getting hurt. So he’d be the asshole as much as was needed. He rose to his feet, leaned down, kissed her forehead, and then returned to making sandwiches.
* * *
Joelle hardly talked to him for two days unless he asked her something.
It wasn’t precisely animosity, more like she’d crawled into her shell.
And on day three, he realized what it could be.
She’d only been wearing his neutral-colored sweats and t-shirts.
So that night, while she was watching a show, he said he was going out for food. He couldn’t check out the mansion while the cops were there, but they were done with their investigation. Despite the destruction at the front of the Snow mansion, Joelle’s suite and that side of the house remained undamaged. He had to make four trips between her room and the truck to bring out the items he packed for her.
His girl needed her colors.
Upon pulling into his complex, he became alert as he noticed another Harley parked outside, knowing exactly who it belonged to.
Diamond was pissed, and his face showed it as he used his key to get inside and faced Axel, sitting on his couch across from Joelle.
“Hey,” she smiled. The first smile she’d given him in days.
“Why did you open the door?” he bit out.
His abrupt words surprised her, but he didn’t care at all. The Irish mob was targeting her father, yet she still opened the door to a stranger and welcomed him in.
It didn’t matter that it was Axel.
Axel was watching him with a raised brow. Diamond would get to him in a second.
“I’m waiting, Joelle.”
She pulled a stubborn face. “I heard the bike engine and thought it was you.”
“It wasn’t me. It was someone you don’t know.”
“Relax, brother,” Axel said. Smiling.
The asshole would smile on the other side of his face in a minute. But his stare still zeroed in on Joelle and her blatant lack of self-preservation.
“It could have been anyone, and you just invited him in and made him a coffee.” He narrowed his eyes, seeing the cup in Axel’s hand.
“It was polite to ask.” She dared to say as his fury fucking skyrocketed. “He said he knew you.”
“So would a fucking lunatic carrying a shotgun.”
In an instant, her eyes widened, filled with tears, and she gasped.
“D, take it easy,” Axel warned quietly as he climbed to his feet. “I told Joelle who I was. That’s the only reason she let me inside. Why don’t we talk outside?”
“Yeah. Why don’t we?” He snarled and waited for Axel to walk by him before he turned to the door. But her sweet, uncertain voice stopped him. “Diamond?”
“You are in so much trouble.” He told her, and this time, when her eyes widened, it was with no distress.
“Me? What did I do? It’s not my fault all motorcycles sound the same, and I thought it was yours. This is your fault!”
“Bluebell...” he warned.
“Don’t Bluebell me, big bear. Now I’m angry with you all over again. Axel dropped by to check on us. It was a kind gesture and made me reevaluate talking to you again. Well, I’ve reconsidered.” She huffed and turned her back on him, sitting like a debutante with her back straight and chin high to stop her crown from slipping.
Christ, that woman was going to put his ass in an early grave. But he lost his anger with her as he glanced at the side of her blushed face and fingers latched together in her lap. Beautiful fucking queen.
She was still in trouble. He’d come up with an adequate punishment later. A nice little spank over her full ass would downgrade his fury.
Outside, he walked to the end of the complex where Axel was waiting. The prez turned when he heard Diamond’s approach.
“Big bear and Bluebell,” smirked Axel.
“Don’t,” grated Diamond, folding his arms. “What are you doing here? You gotta know I’m pissed you’ve ambushed Joelle.”
“It wasn’t an ambush. I assumed you’d be here.”
“You should have waited outside when you knew I wasn’t here.” He shot back.
He felt frayed at the edges.
The uncertainty of Joelle’s safety affected him, but not being able to communicate with her was messing with his mind. Smelling her scent every day aroused him to the point of madness until he had to stand on the back porch several times a night to clear his head. He’d known having her so close would build this need in him until he wanted to punch walls to distract his dick from wanting to fuck a woman two bedrooms away from him.
“You said you wanted nothing to do with this, Prez. I respected your decision.”
“You wanted to tear my head off,” smirked Axel.
“You don’t get to stroll into my house and ambush the mother of my kid.”
“That’s fair.” Axel conceded. “My old lady saw all the shit on the news earlier. She sent me on an errand to check if Joelle needed clothes or other feminine stuff. She’ll run into town tomorrow and pick anything up for her.”
Diamond’s eyes narrowed. “You told Scarlett after telling me to keep my mouth shut?”
“Brother, when you have an old lady, there isn’t much you don’t tell them. She wanted to help.”
Yeah, Scarlett would want to help. That’s what she did.
But he felt oddly possessive about Joelle and didn’t want to share her with anyone.
Axel may have been right about keeping it a secret. This way, he got to be the protector and have her to himself longer.
“I’ve got everything sorted.”
“You said she wasn’t your old lady.”
Diamond snapped his eyes up. Said nothing.
“That in there didn’t look like she wasn’t your old lady. She lit up when she heard you coming home until you yelled at her. Even then, your connection is clear.”
For two nights, Diamond had hardly slept. Between the sexual frustration and worry, he couldn’t close his eyes for long. He sighed and let the tension roll off his shoulders. He leaned into the house wall and faced his friend and MC leader.
“It’s complicated.”
“I can see that.” and then the fucker smirked and added. “Big bear.”
“Shut up, asshole.” He said, but did it smiling.
“Call me a nosy fucker, but I needed to see it with my own eyes.”
“See what?”
“You and her. If she’d been a one-night hookup, you wouldn’t give a shit about bringing the issue to the church table. That’s not you, Diamond. Even if a kid were part of the equation, you’d do right by them but not involve the brotherhood.” Axel explained. “I had to see for myself if she could be trusted, being a Snow and all. She’s your old lady.”
Diamond exhaled and didn’t know what to say. “It’s complicated.”
“The best ones always are, my brother.”
“She’s not my type. And I’m sure I’m not hers either.”
“But?”
“Can you see me with someone like her? A socialite and a bruiser. It’s laughable.”
“We could all say the same about our women. But when it works, it works. You can’t pigeonhole feelings, D. Shit never makes sense. It’s what feels right that matters. I never expected to find a waif trying to rob me for sandwich money and how seeing her would affect every decision after that,” Axel said. Then he smiled. “Ruin is with America’s popstar sweetheart. You couldn’t have written that shit and made it believable. But it happened, and for Ruin, it’s righter than he’s ever had.”
Axel pushed off the wall and faced Diamond.
“I made some calls.”
Diamond lifted a brow in silent question.
“It’s got the mob’s fingerprints all over the explosion. The info comes from the Murphys, so I know it’s not just rumor and gossip.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I did. You came to me, and I shut that shit down because I want nothing else touching the club right now. I was wrong to do that, D.”
“I don’t want shit to touch the club, either.”
“But you have other priorities now. For what it’s worth, I don’t think they intend to pursue the vendetta. They made their point clear to Snow. But for the sake of your old lady and unborn child, we’re at your back, brother. And the Murphys said they can weigh in if talks with the mob need to take place.”
Diamond was stunned.
He had expected none of it.
“She’s changed me, Axel.” He breathed.
“Yeah, I can see that,” his buddy stated.
“I don’t even know what to do. But seeing that house wreckage and knowing if she’d been in it and hurt... it would have destroyed me. It sounds so fucking bad that I wasn’t thinking of my baby. Just her . I would have lost everything if she’d been taken from me.”
“I know. That shit, when it grabs you, it’s like a fucking noose, but a happy one you want to put your head into.”
Diamond chuffed a laugh at Axel’s description while agreeing with him.
When Axel turned to walk to his bike, he paused.
“We learn a lot of shit in different ways in our life, don’t we? No person is better than another, Diamond. Your socialite in there is quirky. She’s different, but I can tell she’s so fucking loyal to you. She’s someone my Scarlett would rope into her gang in a second.”
Diamond groaned and rubbed a hand down his tired face. “That was fucking cruel to say to me, Axel.” He could only imagine the female carnage.
The prez laughed because Axel indulged his old lady in all her whims.
“We don’t get to live a long time in this life. There’s no point in wasting the time we’re here second-guessing what we don’t deserve. Grab on and take your slice of good.”
With that cryptic message, the prez turned and strode to his bike.
Diamond was already letting himself into his place before the engine roared and powered out of the complex.
He faced an angry woman holding a sofa cushion to her chest like a protective barrier. Tears were filling her eyes, but not yet spilling down her cheeks.
He frowned. Confused.
“So we are clear. You’re not my type either, River Durant!” Without another word, she shot off down the hallway, and the slam of her bedroom door made his back teeth rattle.
Fuck .
He exhaled like a gust and locked the door, slipping out of his jacket.
She’d heard what he’d said and got it all twisted.
Parking his ass on the couch, he groaned like his bones were five hundred years old and looked down the darkened hallway as if he could see into her bedroom.
He was the only biker in the world who’d fucked up with his old lady before he could even attempt to make her his old lady.