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Chapter Sixteen

“Yeah, she’s right here.” I hand the phone to Jessika, hoping she doesn’t tell Big Daddy or Gwynee about the bullshit Faye tried to pull.

“Everyone’s been very welcoming.” She gives me a side eye glance. “I promise. I’m okay. I think I’m going to like it here.”

My woman smiles at me. It’s been a week or so since Faye pulled her shit. She and my asshole of a brother have been keeping their distance. But Jessika is healed physically and today Faye will answer for what she did. Gabbie too.

“She did what?” Jessika’s mouth drops, then snaps closed. “For real? How? I don’t know how to thank you. Seriously. Okay. Cool. Yeah. I’ll put him back on.” She hands the phone back to me.

Big Daddy informs me that Lucie, Faye’s cousin, pretended to be Jessika. She went to file for a divorce and found out that their marriage was never legal. Jessika’s free of him. At least legally. Now there’s nothing stopping us from being together except my marriage to Faye.

We’re required to be separated for well over a damn year before the divorce can go through. Would go a lot faster if I killed the bitch. But I’m going to enjoy watching her and Dirty drive each other fucking bat shit insane.

We end the call with him, telling me that he’s having a couple of his guys drive Jessika’s stuff here. Tree wants to lay eyes on Faye after hearing what she’s been up to, and he’s bringing me a present.

Big Daddy sat down with Hector and negotiated a deal. We’ll give the Juarez brothers a discount on Diamond Dust, allowing them to expand their operation stateside. Working with them sleazy fuckers isn’t ideal, but getting out of bed with them is a future problem.

Right now. I’m focused on what’s in front of me. My woman and the future I want to give her, but mostly I’m enjoying living in the moment and worrying about what life throws at us as it happens.

“Yo, Prez. We’ve got company,” Foolish knocks at my door. “Tree, Wicked, and Hero are here.”

“I’ll be right there.”

I wake Jessika up from her nap. I know she’s itching to get her hands on her stuff and I’m curious to see what this present is Big Daddy sent me, but I have a good idea what or who it is.

We walk out front to where Tree has the truck backed up at. He’s Big Daddy’s nephew and Faye’s half-brother. You’d never know the two are siblings by looking at them. He’s a tall motherfucker.

“Hey, man. Would have been here sooner, but we made a pit stop in Texas for BD to pick up something for you.” He opens the back of the truck, revealing Jessika’s belongings all neatly packed away in boxes and then chained to an anchor on the wall of the trailer must be Thad.

He’s got that smug asshole look about him, even though the shit has been beaten out of him.

Whether it was the Juarez brothers or Big Daddy’s men who worked him over, it doesn’t matter.

I’m going to put a bullet in him after Jessika is done with him.

She tenses beside me.

“Take him to the garage,” I order my men. The less he’s around him, the fucking better.

“Go fetch Faye and my brother,” I tell Foolish.

“Bring them to the garage. Rizz and Swift take Jessika and her stuff to the house.” I kiss her on the cheek.

I’ll have them bring her over after Tree sees his sister.

She’s moving into my house and fixing up the guest room for the baby.

Right now, we’re going at her pace. Taking things slow.

I’m living at the clubhouse and we’re dating. Seeing where life takes us.

She’s started working at a bookstore in town part time and helping my sister out at the office to give her a sense of routine and normalcy. She thinks she’s paying me to rent my house, but I’ll be putting that money into an account for the baby.

I don’t want her money. I only want her. I know we both come with a lot of baggage, but I’m willing to put in the work.

“Juarez brothers will be in touch with you to arrange their first pickup,” Hero tells me.

“We’ll be ready.”

“Tighten your security and don’t show them where you manufacture. They’ll look for any way to expose your weaknesses.”

“I’m not worried. We can handle those greasy fucks.”

“They will try to take over your territory given any opportunity.”

“Why haven’t we executed their asses yet?”

“Because someone hungrier, more violent, and greedier will fill their shoes. Sure, at first there may be some in house fighting to establish the new hierarchy, but make no mistake, you’d rather deal with them than their replacement.”

“I hear my little sister has been giving you a hard time,” Tree says as he falls in next to me and Hero.

“Something like that,” I mutter and Hero laughs. He knows Faye is as spoiled and fucking crazy as Lucie and Sissy.

“Speaking of pains in my ass, did BD tell you about this other trouble making bitch?”

“The one you want out of your hair?”

“Your sister’s accomplice.”

“And what am I supposed to do with her?”

“Fuck if I care. I can’t have her here. Faye and her together is dangerous and Jessika can’t stand the sight of her.

” Gabbie can’t be trusted not to run her mouth and share shit about the club, so she’s got to be dealt with.

I’m not asshole enough to give her to the cartel.

But I can send her to California to get her out of my hair.

I should be sending Faye back with him, but keeping my eyes on her and Dirty is easier to do with them here.

Fucking sucks to know I can’t trust my brother not to try something behind my back. At least now I’ll see the knife coming when he tries to fuck me over.

He’s got a lot of work to do to earn my trust and keep his position in this club. Faye may have been exaggerating about the promises he made to save her ass. Either way, I don’t care. Being stuck with each other is their punishment.

I spot the two of them walking up to the garage. Faye’s face lights up at the sight of her brother, but quickly pales when she sees the mean mug he’s giving her and my brother.

“Never learn, do you,” he grumbles as she gets closer to where we stand.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“I don’t give a fuck. When BD made a deal with Woods to marry you, this wasn’t the behavior he expected.

I’m ashamed to call you my sister. And you.

” He shifts his attention to Dirty. “Fucking your brother’s ol’ lady.

Hero should do him a favor and take you out, but for whatever reason, you’re still standing. ”

“Let’s not pretend Faye and Woods were in a loving marriage. It was business, but we could have had something good.”

“Then you shouldn’t have fucked up and went to prison. That’s on you,” Hero tells him. “All you did was prove BD right. You weren’t fit for the job.”

“Did you come to take me back to California?” Faye asks, looking excited at the prospect.

“No. BD doesn’t want you back. I’m here to pick up your little friend.”

“Gabbie?”

“Why?”

“You don’t get to ask questions. What you are going to do is apologize to Jessika and not give Woods a hard time with making the divorce go through. Then I’ll come back for when you marry this asshole. Where’s this bitch I’m taking back with me?”

“In here.” I take Tree past the garage to the trailer we’ve been holding Gabbie in to make sure she didn’t make a run for it or tell our business to someone she shouldn’t.

The second he lays eyes on her I can tell he’s got the hots for her, but that’s not my problem and now neither is she.

I leave him to it and return to the garage to deal with Thad. But first, I have one of the guys fetch Jessika so Faye can formally apologize.

“This isn’t necessary,” Jessika says to Faye as she kneels at her feet in front of the entire club.

“The fuck it’s not,” I growl. “She’d be within her rights to do the same onto you as you did to her. Ought to take you out in the woods, cover you in honey, and leave you for the bears.”

“Hurt people, hurt people,” Jessika tells her. “I don’t know what broke you, but it wasn’t me. You’re not mad at me. Not really.”

“You know nothing about me.”

“You didn’t want to be with Woods, but doing so kept you close to Dirty. I was a threat to that. A threat to him finding out the truth and kicking you to the curb. But did you ever stop and think of just being honest with him?”

“Doesn’t matter now, does it?” Faye huffs. “I’m sorry, Jessika.”

She’s not sorry, but her shitty apology will have to do for now.

“Come near her again and I won’t be as forgiving,” I warn her.

I take Jessika back out to the garage where the guys have been giving Thad another beat down. His eyes are nearly swollen shut, but I want her happy and in my arms to be the last fucking thing he sees before I end him.

The guys have the bastard strung up between two engine pulleys.

“You’re a real piece of shit.” I shake my head at him as he stares past me at Jessika.

“Why, Thad? Why lie to me? Hurt me. Use me. What was the reason for any of it?”

“You were an easy target and even easier lay. You ate up the attention. Was desperate for it. I needed someone to get close to Gwynee and find out shit about the club for me. Every time you went there, I bugged your car, your purse. Hell, I even had one in your phone case.” He laughs.

“Joke’s on you, motherfucker. She’s pregnant with your kid, but you’ll never know them.

While you’re rotting away somewhere in Hell, your kid will be calling me daddy.

I’ll be there for all their firsts by Jess’s side.

” I was going to put a bullet in his brain, but I want him to bleed out slowly while thinking about the kid he’s never going to watch grow up.

“Get her out of here.”

“I’m staying,” she says.

“You don’t want to watch this,” I promise her as I pull out my knife.

“Maybe, but I need to. I want to see him hurt. For what he did to me. For how he treated Gwynee and every other woman he’s ever hurt.”

“Okay.” I pull her in for a deep kiss, making sure Thad hears her whimper for me.