Page 74

CHAPTER

EIGHTEEN

Jingles

“Brother, not sure why you’re so damn surly seeing as you’re leaving this weekend to see Belle walk across the stage as she graduates,” Phantom states as I toss the wrench in my hand to the ground.

“Not surly,” I grind out, glaring at the bolt on the engine block that won’t budge.

“Bullshit. Ever since Belle went home last month, you’ve been damn near unapproachable,” he argues.

Running my hand through my hair I look at him. “Sorry, Brother. Hell, it’s not that she’s not here, although that’s part of it. It’s that even though Dragon and Wrecker did all they did for Moira, she still refuses to speak to anyone.”

Phantom shakes his head, then rationalizes with me by lecturing me. “Brother, she went through literal hell. Maybe she’s not ready to say anything to anyone just yet. Maybe she’s still processing. At least she’s no longer catatonic, right?”

When he says it like that, I have to agree, although I’m unsure what’s worse; her staring off into space and not moving, or her sticking to the shadows at the clubhouse like a silent wraith. “Belle is worried about her.”

“Which means you’re worried,” he accurately deduces.

“I am because we haven’t gotten any more information out of those two fuckers in the basement either. Dragon said there are factions of them all over the place, you’d think those two would have more information.”

“They’re low-level lackeys, Jingles. Basically, they’re given orders to follow but not the reasons behind them,” he replies. “Doesn’t matter, they’ll be done and dusted by the time we hit the new year, remember?”

I chuckle at his words. “How can I forget? Rael was very clear that they’d be back for the holidays to finish taking care of business. I honestly don’t know how either of the two are still holding at this point, to be honest.”

We’ve broken bones, flayed skin from their backs, removed fingernails and toenails, dislocated knees, shoulders, and elbows, given them barely enough food and water to survive, and yet, they’re still breathing.

“Have you gotten the information together for the Christmas toy run?” he asks, leaning down to get the wrench I tossed down. Once he has it in his hand, he looks at the bolt that’s been giving me fits, taps it a few times, then loosens it. I huff in irritation because that thing refused to loosen for me no matter how much muscle I put behind it.

“Yeah, got it all lined up and will present what I’ve lined up at church,” I reply. “Kinda cool, actually, because once I put the word out, there were some clubs I’d never heard of that signed up to help.”

“That’s usually the way of it, Brother,” he says. “Now, let’s get this done so you can take off for Cleveland.”

I grin, my heart already with my ol’ lady. The calls and texts haven’t been enough, and even though I had wanted to run to Cleveland sooner, the jobs coming in prevented me from doing so. She said she understood, but I know she was probably as disappointed as I was that I wasn’t able to go.

At least we’ll be together for Thanksgiving, and if all goes as I hope it will, she’ll be with me for good at Christmas.

That’s the hope, anyhow.

“That’s my ol’ lady!” I loudly exclaim as Belle’s name is announced over the loudspeaker and she walks across the stage to receive the diploma for her degree.

I see her looking over where her brother and the rest of the club are sitting and watch her eyes widen when she spies me. Smiling widely, she shakes the Dean’s hand and takes the cardboard holder before she moves to walk down the other side of the stage.

She didn’t know I was coming, and it was the hardest thing to keep from her, but Sleeper and I agreed to the plan a few weeks back. Once she makes it to her seat, she keeps stealing glances in my direction, leaving me with a shit-eating grin on my face.

“She hasn’t told you yet, but she has all her shit packed up and boxed so she can go back with you after Thanksgiving,” Sleeper leans in and whispers. “Figured I’d give y’all a few weeks, if that, then come down for Christmas if that’s okay.”

I smile knowing that she’s coming home with me. “Not a problem, Brother. At this point, I think Brick’s about to turn the clubhouse into one of those AirBnB places.”

Sleeper chuckles, since he knows the Roanoke chapter gets its fair share of visitors, especially from Ankeny and Tonopah.

Once the graduates are dismissed, I stand waiting for Belle to make her way to us, then wait a little longer as each brother hugs her and slips her a card. Finally, after she’s thanked Sleeper for helping her achieve this goal, she turns to me, and I open my arms wide. She launches herself into them and I hug her hard while she sobs into my neck.

“I didn’t think you were going to be able to come,” she wails. “Tony said y’all had a huge project come in and Brick wouldn’t let you take the time off.”

“ Tony fibbed a little bit,” I reply, kissing her. “Proud of you, babe. You should be proud of yourself, as well. A lot of people wouldn’t have finished after all you went through, but you did it.”

“Not without a lot of sleepless nights,” she admits. “I mean, I don’t have nightmares any longer, but I’m still so worried about them showing up that I’m terrified to let my guard down and be vulnerable, I sleep a little here and a little there.”

“I’m here, Belle, and I’ll keep you safe.”

Normally, I would stay at the clubhouse, but this time, I rented a hotel room, since I wanted to have some time alone with her and not have to worry about the brothers saying or doing anything that would embarrass her.

“I know you will, Jingles. So, are y’all taking me to eat or what?” she asks me and Sleeper, causing us both to chuckle.

“Yeah, babe, we’re going out to eat,” I reply, taking her hand in mine.

Dinner with a group of bikers is anything but quiet, and because we can be assholes, poor Belle was the focus point as they’d point her out and say she was a college graduate. The manager finally comped the whole meal, probably to get us the fuck out of there, but I’m perfectly fine with his decision because now my woman is sitting astride behind me, breasts pressed into my upper back, and her arms wrapped tightly around my waist. Thankfully, Sleeper brought her a change of clothes because it’s much cooler here than at home and she was wearing a pretty dress that wouldn’t have done much to keep her warm.

I decelerate as I pull into the hotel parking lot and feel her arms tighten around me. Taking my hand from the handlebars, I pat her thigh, then pull in front of the main door and shut my bike off. “C’mon, Belle,” I say, holding out my hand to assist her so she can get off. Once we’re both solidly on our feet, I take our helmets, lock them into my saddlebags, and lock my bike down.

Taking her hand and lacing our fingers together, we walk through the sliding door and over to the bank of elevators, with her not saying a word. “Jingles?” she finally asks once we’re inside and I’ve pushed the button for the floor my room’s on.

“Nothing’s gonna happen that you don’t want to happen,” I reply. “But I wanted to spend some alone time with you, it’s getting cold as fuck up here for riding, and I didn’t think you’d want to stay with me at your brother’s clubhouse.”

She wrinkles her nose making me chuckle. “Yeah, y’all sometimes have a warped sense of humor, and I know my brother. He’d kill all of them and ask questions later if they so much as said one off thing to me.”

“I’d be by his side,” I admit as the elevator dings and the doors open. “C’mon, we’re over here.”

Once we’re inside my room, I try to look at it from her eyes and perspective. There’s a king-size bed along one wall, with a television mounted to the opposite wall. In the corner is a door that leads to the bathroom, and there’s a small desk and chair on the other corner.

“This is nice,” she says, swiveling her head and looking around. “Whenever Mo and I would go on a road trip, we’d stay at places that were little better than dives.”

“I usually do that too when it’s just me, but you deserve a safe place,” I say, shrugging off my cut and hanging it over the chair. “Let me take your coat, babe.”

She slips out of her coat, and I place it in the seat of the chair, then kicks off her boots. “Ah, I feel like I’ve been liberated!” she exclaims, giggling. “Every spare minute of time since I left Roanoke has either been working at the local vet’s office to get practical hours completed, or doing online assignments. I’m not sure I always remembered to eat or drink.”

“Explains how you were able to put away that steak tonight, then,” I tease. “Do you want something to drink? I picked some sodas, water, and beer up earlier from the convenience store, and they’re chilling in the mini fridge.”

“Oh! You got my Fanta Strawberry! Thank you, Jingles,” she says, grabbing one from the fridge. “What do you want?”

“Water, babe.”

She hands me a bottle which I put on the desk so I can take off my own boots. “You’re right, this is freeing,” I tell her as I wiggle my toes and move to the side of the bed I prefer. “Sleeper grabbed some clothes for you that are in the bathroom if you want to get comfortable.”