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CHAPTER

SEVENTEEN

Belle

When I wake up the next morning, I’m surprised to see the recliner right next to my bed, only no one is in it. “Wonder what happened?” I ask myself as I gather clean clothes and head into the bathroom to take a shower. I’m all hot and sweaty, as though I spent the night running or something, but I don’t remember any of my dreams.

Once I’m ready for the day, I head out of my room and down to the kitchen to find something to eat. I’m not surprised to see several others eating, including two men I don’t recognize, although they’re wearing a Royal Bastards cut that says Cedar Creek on the bottom rocker. Wonder if they’re the two men Brick talked about over dinner?

“Belle, this is Dragon and that’s Wrecker,” Banshee says once I’ve made myself a plate of eggs and toast.

“Nice to meet you both,” I reply, sitting down at the table.

“The pleasure’s ours, darlin’,” the one Banshee indicated was Dragon replies.

I wonder where Jingles is but don’t want to ask in case it oversteps, but when he walks through the doors to the kitchen, I can’t help the smile that crosses my face. He fixes his own plate and sits next to me, reaching over to lightly kiss my lips, which has me blushing while the other men chuckle.

“Are they here to see Moira?” I quietly ask Jingles, leaning into his side.

“You too, if you agree to it,” he replies.

“Why me?” I question. I wasn’t treated nearly as badly as Mo was, so I don’t understand why they’d want to see me as well.

“Did you know you have nightmares?” he asks.

“If I am, I don’t remember them,” I admit, my head hung down.

He lifts my chin with the tips of his fingers so we’re looking at each other. “Hey, now, none of that. What you went through was traumatic, and it makes sense that you’d have nightmares,” he murmurs compassionately. “Wrecker has the ability to dream walk and go through your memories so they’re not as scary or in-your-face,” he tells me. “Dragon can manipulate the mind, memories, and other things having to do with the brain, and can help you get a handle on what happened. But only if you want them to, they won’t do it without your permission.”

“But Mo can’t give hers,” I say.

“No, she can’t but it’s because right now, she’s locked away in her head,” Dragon adds. “We’ll go into her catatonic mind and seek her permission, see what we’re able to do in order to dull or remove those memories that have her locked away, so she comes out of the state she’s currently in and begins the healing process.”

I’d like that; I miss my friend. I know she was violently raped multiple times, so I worry holding onto those memories will keep her bound to a time that has passed. “You really think you can help her?”

“We do,” Wrecker replies. “We’ll do you first, so we can see what happened that day, and get a lay of the severity of the situation you two faced if it’s okay with you.”

“I’m a little nervous,” I admit, my appetite suddenly gone.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Dragon says.

“I’ll be there with you the whole time,” Jingles adds. “I won’t leave your side.”

“I was thinking about something. I know with us being taken up in Cleveland, it’s possible that Moira might not want to go home. Would she be okay staying here if I went back with Sleeper to wrap up school?”

“Don’t see why not,” Jingles replies. “Hopefully, Dragon and Wrecker will make a difference for her as well.”

“Okay, then that’s what I’ll do.” I nod my head, determined to try and find my new normal so that I can move forward with my life.

I still haven’t decided if I’ll want to stay in Cleveland permanently or return to Roanoke, but as long as Jingles is by my side, I’ll be fine no matter where we end up living.

“And you’re sure my nightmares should stop?” I ask Wrecker a few hours later after he went into my memories and did a little bit of work. I clearly saw where it was not my fault that we were taken that day; no, the fault lies with Alvin and Bert. We were scammed, lured into a trap, plain and simple.

“They should, yes,” Wrecker replies, standing by my door.

True to his word, Jingles hasn’t left my side. When Tony found out what Dragon and Wrecker planned to do, he wanted to be with me as well, but I figured if Jingles and I were starting a relationship, it should be him holding my hand through this and not my brother. Surprisingly, Tony understood, something I’m happy about.

“Good, because even though I didn’t remember them at all, waking up this morning covered in sweat and tangled up in the sheets, I knew something happened while I slept.”

“We’re going to see your friend now,” Wrecker says.

Once they leave, Jingles kisses me, causing tingles to course through my body. I know it’s not the time or the place, but I’m happy knowing that the shit Alvin did hasn’t killed off my desire. “How about I take you for a ride?” he asks.

“Can my brother come with us?” I reply.

“Absolutely. Let’s go find him.”

Hours later, my face windblown from the cooler autumn air, we pull over to a barbecue place and he shuts the bike off. Once Tony parks, he helps me off the back of Jingles’ bike, and the three of us walk into the restaurant.

I don’t miss the envious looks from the other women even as they sneer at me. Whatever. I’m secure enough in who I am as a person and a woman that I don’t have to be decked out to the nines, or have a shit ton of makeup glopped on my face. Deciding to ignore them, I slide into a booth and Tony slides in next to me while Jingles sits across from me. I kind of like that, actually, because I can see his expression as he talks.

“Do… Do you think I can say something to Alvin at least?” I quietly ask once the waitress has come and taken our drink order.

“It’s club business, sis, you know how that works,” Tony replies.

“Maybe so, but it happened to me , Tony. Not you or any of your brothers,” I retort. “Seems to me I should get a little bit of a say-so.”

“How about I talk to Brick and see what he thinks?” Jingles asks, stopping our argument before it reaches full steam.

“Thank you. Can you find out if Dragon and Wrecker were able to help Moira?”

Jingles nods and pulls out his phone, then quickly sends a text. While we wait for our drinks, all three of us look at the menu, which is somewhat limited but looks filling.

“I want banana pudding,” I say.

“What about actual food , Belle?” Tony questions, teasing me.

“Life’s short, eat dessert first!” I exclaim, giggling, which earns me a smirk from both men. “Seriously, I’ll take a pulled pork plate with fries and coleslaw, plus a banana pudding.”

“Jingles, you sure about this?” Tony asks. “She eats like a teenage boy.”

“I like it that she doesn’t shy away from eating because she’s with us,” Jingles says. “And that actually sounds pretty damn good, although I’ll get two sandwiches.”

Once our food arrives, Tony and Jingles talk about people they both know from the Cleveland chapter, while I merely listen, and people watch. Our booth gets a wide berth from others coming in when they see my brother’s and Jingles’ cuts, which I don’t understand. I mean, I’m sure they don’t necessarily stay on the legal side of things based on the things I’ve witnessed over the years, but I’d rather know someone had a bit of gray inside them than to think they’re upstanding citizens, only to be stabbed in the back, like Alvin and Bert did.

Because they came across as holier-than-thou, when they were worse than the worst vipers in any snake pit as far as I’m concerned. Like I said, others may fear my brother’s club, but they’d do better to be afraid of people who tout their high moral compass as far as I’m concerned.

“Did you have fun today?” Jingles asks me later that night. We came back to find an impromptu cookout going on, complete with firepits blazing and music roaring.

Raising shining eyes to him, I nod as I swallow the last bite of my s’more. Even as tired as I am, I couldn’t go to bed without having at least one of the tasty morsels. “I really did. Thank you for taking me on a ride.”

“Loved having you at my back,” he admits.

When we reach my door, I’m loathe for the day to end, but I know he has to work the next day while I work online to get my ducks in a row to finish up my degree. Like Tony said, I’ve never been a quitter, so I’ll focus my attention on getting the requirements for my degree wrapped up. I haven’t said anything to Jingles yet, but I don’t plan to stay in Cleveland any longer than necessary. Even with Tony residing in that city, there’s nothing but bad memories there for me now. If I want to be successful in my recovery, and not looking over my shoulder every time I get near my car, I need a fresh start, and it doesn’t hurt that Jingles would rather be here where he’s made a life for himself.

“Have you had a lot of women on the back of your bike?” I ask, then mentally slap my forehead. “Wait, no, don’t answer that, it’s none of my business, Jingles.”

“You’re the first person who’s ever been on the back of my bike, and outside of any kids we might have down the road, you’ll be the only one to ever have that honor, Belle,” he promises.

Kids? Hell, we’ve kissed a few times, and while the attraction is most definitely there, he may be getting a little ahead of himself. He must realize what he said because he revises his proclamation by saying, “Not that I want kids right away. Hell, I’m screwing this up, babe. What I mean to say is that further down the road, when we’re both ready for them, the only other people who will ride behind me will be any kids we might be fortunate enough to have.”

A nervous giggle escapes as I wind my arms around his waist. “I was a bit nervous there for a minute. Growing up for me kind of sucked until Tony came along, so I don’t even know if I’d be a good mom or not, you know? But as long as we’re not popping babies out next year, I’m good.”

He chuckles while tucking some stray hair that fell loose from my bun behind my ears. “Definitely not next year. Someone has her degree to finish first, then I’m sure she’s going to want to decide what she wants to do with it.”

“I want to work with animals as a vet tech,” I whisper. “That’s what my degree’s in, veterinary sciences. Tony was willing to continue paying for me to keep going so I could be an actual vet, but I didn’t want to do that.”

“So, you have part of a plan, then,” he teases, leaning down to kiss my forehead.

I don’t know what it is about forehead kisses, but every one he’s given me, and there’ve been quite a few today, makes me melty inside.

“Yep,” I reply, barely resisting popping the ‘p’ like I do with my brother because it irritates him.

“Get some sleep, sweet Belle. I’ll see you after work,” he says.

Long, glorious moments are spent kissing until we’re both breathless. When he finally pulls back, he whispers, “Sweet dreams, babe.”

“Good night, Jingles.”