Page 19 of Operation Annulment (Silent Phoenix MC)

eighteen

Kate

“ D o you want me to wait here or go in with you?” Jeremy asks as he pulls up in front of Dakota’s house.

“Oh, you’ve already come this far. Why not join in on the chaos?”

Jeremy locks the car as I run up to the front door. Before I can knock, the door is wrenched open.

“Oh, it’s just you, Kate. Come on in.” I’m not even sure how he’s out of the hospital, but Zane stands before me in nothing but a pair of jeans, his arm in a sling.

I step back in fright, my heels connecting with Jeremy’s toes. He grips my shoulders to steady me. “Zane, you scared me to death. Were you crouched by the door, waiting for someone to show up?”

He laughs easily. “You can never be too careful. Jeremy, good to see you.”

Jeremy steps around me and follows Zane into the living room. “It’s Good to see you, too, Zane. You’re looking a little worse for the wear, though, man. ”

Zane sits down on the arm of the couch. “Yeah, I took a bullet last night. Do you want a beer?”

Jeremy nods and holds up his hand. “I’ll get it.”

I try to rationalize why the same man who got my sister arrested is now acting like he owns the place.

“Say it, Kate. You’ll just combust if you don’t.”

I glare at him. “I would not. I’m just a little confused about why you’re here.” I look around the room. “And where is my sister?”

“Right here. Sorry, I was in the shower.” Dakota’s hunched over, running a towel through her wet hair. When she stands up to face me, I gasp.

Her nose is covered in a bandage; black and blue bruises peek from underneath. Her eyes are swollen and bruised as well. It looks like she was beaten.

She gives me a confused look. “What? What’s wrong?”

I point at her. “Your face! What happened?” I spin around to Zane. “Did you do this to her?”

She starts laughing. “Kate, Big Guy would never do anything to hurt me?—”

It’s my turn to laugh. “Really? So, him having you arrested and charged with drug possession was just an expression of love. Look, I know that trauma can make things murky, but this man?—”

She puts her hand over my mouth. “This man is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Zane beams with pride, and I want to kick him in the shin. Jeremy wanders back in with two beers and takes a seat next to him on the couch. “What’d I miss?”

Zane leans over to him. “Nothing. Cap’s getting to the good part right now.”

I turn back to Dakota and shake my head.

“No, Mary Katherine, don’t you dare shake your head at me. You’re going to listen to everything damn thing I have to say. Sit.” She pushes me into the chair and continues, “Do you remember Jackson?”

I roll my eyes and mutter, “Of course, I remember Jackson. ”

She smiles. “Good. That would have been a headache to have to rehash. So Jackson showed up at the gym last night and insisted I get in the car with him—something about Zane, I think. Anywho, so I got in the car, and it was a setup. He admitted that he was behind my arrest. He took me to his warehouse but wasn’t counting on the fact that he was dealing with a woman who possessed the training of Black Widow.

I disarmed Bill just as Zane showed up to ‘rescue me.’ I didn’t need a hero, though?—”

Zane clears his throat. “There you go again with the air quotes, babe. I thought we talked about that.”

She purses her lips. “Yeah…right. Sorry. Zane showed up to interfere, and he got shot in the skirmish. It was a big skirmish—guns blazing. If I hadn’t been there?—”

“Dakota shot me, Kate,” Zane says dryly.

“That’s not been proven, Big Guy.” Dakota places her hands on her hips in mock anger, and I’m glad I’m sitting down.

My head is a fishbowl of nonsensical information right now. Dakota’s ex-fiancé kidnapped her and was the mastermind behind her arrest. The guy was barely capable of tying his shoes on his own.

“Was this part of your whole ‘A girl needs a name’ plot? Did you shoot him because he was on your list?” My head hurts as I try to figure it all out.

“You had my name on a list, babe?” Zane stands up and comes over to her.

She nods. “Yeah, but that was before I had all the facts.”

He leans down and kisses her on the nose. “I’m honored that I made your vengeance list.”

I close my eyes and shake my head. Maybe I’ll shake loose something that explains what I’m seeing because this is unbelievable. This kind of stuff doesn’t happen in real life.

“So Dakota, you shot Zane—but who broke your nose?” Jeremy takes a casual sip from his beer as he reclines on the couch, one ankle crossed over his knee. As if gunfights and drug deals are everyday topics of conversation.

Her eyes light up. “Right, I can’t believe I left that part out. I broke my own nose. Jackson got to waving the gun around like a moron, and I stumbled over my own two feet. I made close friends with the gravel.”

Jeremy nods and takes another drink.

Maybe I need a drink to make sense of all of this. I leave the three in the living room and walk into the kitchen. My mother and Little Ricky are sitting at the kitchen table, watching something on his phone. A bowl of cereal sits in front of him.

He laughs and takes a big bite before noticing me. “Holy shit, Hail Mary. I thought I heard you in there. How’s it hanging?”

My mother smiles nervously.

“What are you two doing here?” I’m confused enough as it is. I don’t know that I’m mentally capable of handling anything else tonight.

“Hail Mary, I’m always here. You know that.” He rubs his flat stomach. “I got a little hungry, and Caparina has the best cereal. What are you doing here?”

I place my hands on the kitchen counter and lean over, using it to support myself. “I—are you high?”

“Kate, asking people if they’re high is not polite,” Mama chastises.

“I’ll get to you in a minute. Little Ricky, answer the question.”

He takes another big bite, elaborately licking milk off his lip. “Hail Mary, I was up late last night working and couldn’t relax, so I partook of the herb. It’s all-natural, with none of the harsh side effects of Ambien.”

I slide down the front of the fridge and hug my knees to my chest. “This is psychosis—disorganized thinking and hallucinations.”

“Is she talking to herself, Celia? Hail Mary, you’re thinking of peyote—not psychosis.” Little Ricky pauses something on his phone.

“You said you were working late. What were you doing?”

My mother places her hand on his arm and shakes her head. “Don’t.”

He grins widely and then places his hand where she can’t see it— his thumb and pointer finger in the shape of a gun. The blood leaves my head, and I slump forward, trying not to pass out.

Dakota walks in and stares at me. “Come on, Kate. Quit moping on the floor.”

I stare incredulously at her. “You’re joking, right?

You were so upset with me earlier, and now you’re acting like all this is fine.

You shot your boyfriend after getting kidnapped.

Mama is watching cat videos with the stoner over here.

I’m sorry, I’m having difficulty keeping up with everything in front of me. ”

Maybe I should place myself under a mandatory seventy-two-hour hold or until I can make sense of my life, whichever comes first.

Little Ricky takes another bite of cereal, oblivious to everything around him. “Caparina’s emotions will be all over the place until the second trimester.”

Second trimester?

I look up at Dakota, and she bites her lip. “I was going to tell you…”

Well, Zane’s presence makes a lot more sense. So, there’s one thing I’ve managed to piece together. The enormity of it hits me, and I start crying. “How? When?”

She sits down next to me. “I found out last night in the ER, and when two people really love each other?—”

I hold up my hand. “Stop. I get it.”

She’s only twenty-two. Zane hasn’t been in the picture that long. What if she ends up like our mother, raising kids alone because Zane takes off? Or worse, gets killed in the line of duty? My dad dying was so hard on us financially.

I’d have to support her and the baby.

Sweat breaks out on my forehead, and I focus on breathing to keep from hyperventilating.

“Kate, I have something I want to discuss with you.” Mama stands up and comes over.

Just as she opens her mouth, Jeremy and Zane walk in. Dakota’s kitchen was barely made for two people to fit. We’ve managed to cram in six.

Jeremy looks over and gives me a sad smile. “Kate told you guys she got married in Vegas, yeah?”

Why?

Universe, I thought we had a good thing going…

My mother pats my back lightly. “You got married, Kate?”

I place my head on my knees and suck in a ragged breath.

Dakota stands up and goes over to Jeremy. “Congrats. I have a brother now.”

Little Ricky cracks up and mutters under his breath. “You’re so dead, Jarvis.”

He’s obviously talking to himself.

I’m about to that point myself.

When Dakota hugs Jeremy, he shoots me a panicked look and blurts out, “She didn’t marry me…”

Dakota whirls on her heel and stares daggers at me. “God of thunder, Kate. Tell me you didn’t do something as stupid as marrying that asshole!”

I stand up. “Well, it’s time for me to go.”

She shoves a hand into my chest, and I wince. “No, you don’t, Mary Katherine. I need details!”

I grind my teeth together. “You just called my husband an asshole, Dakota. You don’t get to make demands now. Jeremy, let’s go.”

“If you’re married to Nate, why are you here with Jeremy?”

I grab my purse from her coffee table, ignoring her on my way to the front door.

“Kate, stop. Don’t leave like this. Let’s talk. You can tell me how the wedding was.”

She tries to stop me, and I shrug her off.

“Kate—Dad’s alive.”

I stop and turn back. Everyone is standing around Dakota. Mama nods as if confirming everything.

“My dad died,” I say the words slowly, hoping the truth will sink in .

Mama shakes her head, and Little Ricky laughs. “Nah, Hail Mary. Your padre is my boss.”

Oh my god.

My dad is the president of the motorcycle club. I look at my mother. “So, your husband is my dad?”

She nods. “Kate, I wanted to tell you?—”