Page 33 of Georgie (Sons of Hell MC #10)

Josie

George was a dead man walking.

I was going to kill him.

Right after I took the hide off his bones!

Storming out of the ballroom, I clutched the paper Judge Tomlinson handed me tightly in my hands.

Married!

I was married to George!

I was already married to a two-timing, low-down, man whore bigamist and now George had made me a bigamist too!

“Whoa.” Bailey rushed over to me as I kept walking. “What happened?”

Handing her the paper Judge Tomlinson gave me, I continued my search for my soon-to-be-dead husband, Geroge Harrison Steiner. That was, if I could find the hiding fucker.

“Josie!”

Groaning, I shook my head. “Not now, Freddie. I’ve got to find my wayward husband and kill him.”

“Huh?” Freddie ran over and tried to keep up with me.

“Never mind,” I growled, then stopped dead in my tracks as Bailey bumped into me. Glaring at Freddie, I asked, “Why the hell are you here? Don’t you know my entire family is here for the wedding? Are you looking to be skinned alive?”

“Babe, I really need to talk to you.”

“Whatever it is, it can wait,” I snapped, my tone sharp enough to slice through the tension in the air.

“NO!” Freddie shouted as I flinched. Grabbing my arm, my gigolo con-artist soon-to-be ex-husband dragged me down the hall. “This can’t wait. I’ve been trying to nail your ass down for weeks, but you are impossible to get alone.”

Opening the nearest door, my eyes widened.

There, in one of the lodge’s storage closets, was one of my cousins, her head thrown back in only what could be describe as toe-curling ecstasy as she was being thoroughly fucked against the wall as she hung onto him for dear life.

“Damn.” Bailey smirked, looking over my shoulder. “Now that’s one fine ass.”

Slamming the door shut, Freddie yanked me toward another door, opened it, and sighed before shoving me inside and huffing. “Now we are going to talk.”

Sighing, I walked over to a chair and sat. “Fine. What is so damn important that it couldn’t wait?”

Reaching into his jacket, he handed me an envelope.

Taking it, I huffed as I pulled out several sheets of paper. Looking at them, I frowned, trying to make sense of what I was reading. “What the hell is this?”

“My parental rights.”

“You signed them away,” I muttered, looking up at him.

“Yeah,” Freddie sighed. “I’m sorry to do this to you, Josie. I really am, but I’m not father material. Let George raise them. He can be their father.”

Anger washed over me as I slowly stood. “You rat bastard! You can’t just throw your kids away like a worn pair of shoes!”

Holding up his hands, Freddie backed up. “Look, babe, it’s not like I’m in any position to care for them. Besides, I’ve got to lie low for a while. Some fucking bounty hunter is trying to locate my ass. Apparently, my real wife is pissed.”

“Real wife?!” I yelled.

“Yeah, Cherry. We went to high school together, and I got her pregnant. Man, was her dad pissed when he found out. Did you know shotgun weddings were a real thing?”

“Get out.”

“Um, by any chance, can I get some cash for a bus or plane?”

“Get out, Freddie.”

“Oh, come on, babe,” the slimy fucker whined. “Don’t do me that way. I treated you real good at first. Not my fault the ladies love me.”

“GET. OUT!” I screeched.

“You better go, Hunter, before she kills you,” George said from behind me. “And don’t ever come back.”

“Yeah, sure.” The father of my children gulped, sliding along the wall toward the exit. When I heard the door shut, my shoulders sagged as George wrapped his arms around me.

I couldn’t anymore. I was so tired. So fucking tired of everything. I just wanted to sleep for the next week and let the world pass me by.

“Forget about him, Josie. He was never worthy of you.”

“And you are?”

“I love you.”

Turning around, I looked up at the man who was my best friend. My lover. The love of my life and asked, “And when were you going to tell me we were married?”

George’s face flushed in a way that made my heart stutter. “I was waiting for the right moment, but you know me. I’m terrible with timing.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “Terrible with timing? That might be the understatement of the century. Promise me something, George?”

“Anything?”

“No more secrets.”

“Got it, babe.”

“I think I’ve had enough fun to last me a lifetime. What do you say we go wrangle the twins up and head upstairs?”

“That sounds perfect.”

Walking out of the room with his arm around me, I smirked. “You know I still have to get you back, right?”

“About what?”

“The vibrator incident.”

George groaned. “Can’t we just move on from that? Start fresh. You know, let bygones be bygones?”

I threw my head back and laughed. “Not a chance in hell, Carebear.”

Entering the ballroom, George spotted the twins before I did and left to go get them. Standing there, watching everyone laugh and have a good time, I never felt someone come up behind me until he whispered, “You move and I will kill you dead. Understand?”

“What?” I asked when I felt something hard poke me in my back. Looking around the room, I whispered, “Who are you and what do you want?”

“You are the manager of this place, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then you are going to take me to the safe and open it. I know the owner keeps cash on hand for emergencies.”

“How do you know that?” I asked, just as Athena, Scribe’s sister, stopped not far from me. I watched as she frowned, spun around as if looking for something, and then scurried off toward her brother.

“Let’s go,” he growled, jabbing me in the back again with what I assumed was a gun.

“Oh, there you are, cuz.” Romeo smiled, walking over. “I think the moms have had too much to drink. I’m gonna take them upstairs. Have you seen Wade? I can’t find him anywhere?”

Shaking my head, I muttered, “No.”

“Well shit.” Romeo sighed. “Oh well. Guess Auntie Marabella will know what best to do to him in the morning. Anyway, just thought I’d let you know.”

“Thanks,” I said as I tried to swallow my fear. I didn’t know who was behind me or what his endgame was, but I wasn’t taking any chances with so many people around.

“Let’s go,” I vaguely heard him say when Romeo turned back around.

“Hey, cuz?”

“Yeah,” I said, looking up at him.

“Remember that game we used to play when we were little?”

“What game?”

“DUCK!” Romeo shouted, and I instantly fell to the ground as every man in the ballroom aimed guns at the man behind me. Crawling away, I looked over my shoulder as Frank helped me to my feet, holding me tightly.

“Go ahead, motherfucker, I dare you.” Romeo grinned, aiming his gun at the man’s face as the man behind me paled.

“Martin Williams, you are under arrest. Drop the gun and put your hands behind your back!” Mike Brewer ordered firmly, walking closer.

The man snarled, “Not gonna happen. I ain’t gonna spend the rest of my life in a box.”

“Do it now, Martin,” Judge Tomlinson spoke up. “Do not make things worse.”

The man named Martin sneered, his eyes wild with something I didn’t know, but when he roared and fired into the crowd, everyone screamed as we all hit the deck, and several men returned fire.

When I looked up again, Mike Brewer kicked the gun away from the prone body on the floor, and I watched blood pool under Martin Williams. King was barking orders as women rushed the children from the ballroom.

“Jasper, Jasmine,” I whispered and tried to break free from Frank’s hold.

“They are safe, Josie. Your dad has them.”

“George!” I yelled just as Frank’s arms tightened. Looking frantically around the room, I saw several of the Sons of Hell brothers had formed a circle. “Frank. I can’t find George!”

“Lidi’s with him,” Frank said, his voice cracking as King walked over. “How bad?”

“She’s called for an ambulance.”

“Someone got shot?” I gasped as King looked at me. Shaking my head, I looked over at where the Sons of Hell were, then back at King, and my body went numb. I couldn’t breathe.

It wasn’t him.

I refused to believe it.

He just went to get the twins.

He just went to get the twins.

“Josie, I need you to take a deep breath for me.” I barely heard King say when a guttural scream erupted deep within me.

“GEORGE!”

The night wasn’t supposed to end like this. It was supposed to be a happy night. A night full of celebration and new beginnings. A night of promise and love. Instead, I was sitting in a waiting room, with most of Rosewood, waiting for word about George.

I’d hated hospitals ever since my mother died.

I hated the smell of them. The sterile scent of antiseptic enveloped me.

The fluorescent lights above hurt my eyes as they cast a harsh glare on the pale cream walls.

I clutched the edge of the chair, my knuckles white, as every whispered conversation around me turned into a deafening roar in my head.

No news.

No answers.

Just silence and the weight of uncertainty.

“He’s gonna be just fine. You mark my words, sweet girl,” Granny, George’s grandmother, said, taking my hand in hers. “I know my grandson. He ain’t gonna let a damn bullet keep him away from you.”

“I love him, Martha.”

“I know you do, my sweet girl.”

“We’re married,” I muttered, my voice spouting random things as my head tried to make sense of everything.

“I know.” Martha chuckled. “Jake can’t keep a secret to save his life. He called me the morning after your pub crawl with the girls. He said my son carried you in three sheets to the wind and he married you both right then and there.”

“I was mad at him for not telling me.”

“Honey, I helped raise that boy. Trust me. It won’t be the last time you’re mad at him. Just know, while he does stupid things, it comes from his heart,” Martha said as Claudia walked into the waiting room.

Jumping from my seat, I ran over to her.

“He’s fine, Josie. I promise. Bullet didn’t hit a damn thing. He will be up and walking around before you know it.”

“So he’s gonna be fine?”

“Yep,” Lidi smiled. “He’s in room 210 if you want to see him.”

“Good,” I said, marching past her and yelling, “’Cause I’m gonna kill him for scaring me half to death!”