However, Hammer refused to help me, the man he's known all his damn life, my best friend's big brother, my brother-in-law. He's known Draven was his brother a fuckin' year and suddenly he does everything the prick tells him to. I know that's his brother, but where the fuck do his loyalties actually lie?
He did tell me when he was drunk about the wall in Vidal's garden that wasn't maned for ten minutes each hour as the guards do the rounds and check everything is secure around the perimeter, though. Then there's the fact there's no CCTV in Maria's room. Something about Draven not wanting to make her a complete prisoner, and not letting anyone see her changing.
Idiot doesn't even know what he's done.
“What you smiling at, Veep?”
“Nothin' you need worry about, Roman.” I slap him on the shoulder. Roman is a big bastard of a man and twice as handsome. According to Nova, Roman is the kind of man you find on the cover of a magazine. Tall, full of muscles, tattoos all over his body, eyes so green they make his tanned body and chiseled jaw stand out. According to the women of the club, Roman is every man and woman's wet dream, and don't the cocky ass just love hearing that?
I take a seat at the bar next to him. Tammy, Red's old lady, hands me a beer with a wink. I take a large swing. It's nice and cold and goes down the right way, just what I need right now.
“What's going on? You look like the cat that got the cream or the perv that got the pussy.”
Ass!
“You went to see her, didn't you?”
I didn't even see Tank sitting there, at the end of the bar. It's not like him to be here this late. Not since my sister forbade him to be out late. She's got him on a short lease. He needs to be home in time to put Ember to bed. Little madam can scream her lungs out until her dad gets home. I've seen her do it. After he's tucked her into bed, Nova lets him out like a good boy. Makes me laugh. The man never took orders from anyone, but Shepard in his life before Nova came along. However, I challenge any man to go against her. She's not the kind of woman you piss off without consequence.
My best friend is married to my baby sister. His brother is married to my other baby sister, and I'm trying to sort things so I can marry Hammer's baby sister. Circle of crazy or what?
“So?”
“So?” Tank slides closer to me. “Are you stupid or something? Were you not warned what would happen if you went near her again?”
“How the hell did you even get to see her? I thought Vidal had her under lock and key?” Roman asks.
“Yeah well,” I smirk while drinking my beer. “I have my ways.”
“This is gonna backfire on you so bad, and I don't even think you care what that means for the rest of us.”
“It means,” I slam my beer bottle down on the bar, and everyone is looking at me. Like I give a fuck, I'm VP! “That I'm claiming what's mine, just as you did. She's pregnant with my kid. If any of you fuckers think for one-second that I'm just gonna walk away from that because some jumped up Mafia King thinks he can scare me, you're all more stupid than I thought!”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Tank squares up to me, chest to chest. Ain't no one in the world would get away with squaring up to me like this, but we've been best friends, brothers, our whole lives. We've beaten the shit out of each other a couple of times. Fuck have we ever. However, that's just who we are.
I know he feels like he's being pulled in every which way right now between Hammer and me, and I'm not asking him to take sides just to understand how this feels.
“There's a lot wrong with me, Tank! There's a lot wrong with me, brother.” I take a step back. I'm not going to fight him. What the hell would that solve? Fighting with my own family because I'm frustrated? Can't happen. I won't let it.
“I know this is getting to you, Jett. I know you want to be in your kid's life, but you have to keep your wits about you. If you want anything to do with that baby, you need to calm the hell down and let Hammer deal with it.”
“He's not dealin' with it, though, Tank.” I rake my fingers through my short dark hair. I'm frustrated to fuck!
“Don't underestimate him, Jett. He's doing more than you think.”
Can't be a fat lot as I don't think he's doing anything.
“Just stay away from her, Jett. Promise me.” I look at him for a moment before nodding slightly. He's right I need to stay away from her.
Fuck it all!
Now, I may have promised Tank I'd stay away from Maria until Hammer could talk to Draven, but I've been sneaking over to their house each night for the past three nights. I watch her sleeping through her window, sitting on her balcony like some sick stalker.
Is it possible to fall for somebody you've hardly spent any time with? I can't say that's what's happening to me because I just don't know, but it sure feels like it.
Okay, maybe “falling for” is a little strong. It's more like an obsession. Maria is an obsession that I can't quit. An addiction that I need like I need air. I long to touch her skin, taste her lips. I've never wanted anyone this much before.
Maybe it's because she's forbidden fruit. You know what they say about the forbidden? It always tastes sweeter.
I watch her through the window, coming out of her bathroom in her short, pink, silk night slip. Her long, dark hair is loose, hanging down her back and over her shoulders. Four days. That's how long I have left before I lose her forever. Once she's married to whichever prick her brother has picked out, there will be fuck all I can do to take her from him.
I've never been a selfish man, wasn't raised that way. Yeah, if I want pussy, I'll take it. However, this isn't just about simple pussy; this is about the mother of my child. There's something inside me so strong that won't – can't – give up this woman. She's mine, there ain't no doubt about that, and if I have to kill half the damn state to stop this stupid wedding, then trust me, I will.
I won't be pushed out of my child's life. I might be a lowdown dirty outlaw biker, but that doesn't mean I don't deserve to know my child. I never want to be the kind of dad who never sees his child, but what could I do if Maria was married to another man? Not that I'd ever allow another man to raise my kid indefinitely. I'd make damn sure one day that that kid knew me, but I don't want to wait years. I want my child under my roof, knowing that I'm its father and that I love him or her more than anything in this world.
I could take Maria and her stupid husband to court for access to my child, but it wouldn't get me anywhere. Vidal would kill me the second he realized I'd seen a lawyer. I'm not scared of death, I've seen too much of it in my life to be scared, but I would do anything to be a father to my child. I want to be the first man to hold him or her in his arms. I want to be the first man to kiss that baby's head and tell it how much it's loved.
Damn, I never knew I could feel like this about a child who isn't even born yet, but I do. I love my kid, and I want his or her mother home with me. I know I could love her, take care of her, give her a good home and family. We could be magic together. Don't we deserve the chance to find out?
Four days.
Four fuckin' days is all I have to stop this shit. The only trouble is, I still haven't worked out how to. If I took her and ran, Vidal would find us, and as much as I want Maria with me, I don't think either of us would survive without our families. I can't even talk to him about this because he doesn't want to know.
I have to think of something. I can't lose her. I just can't.
I'm taking a massive risk being here. It's fuckin' suicide. Each and every night I do this is. However, I'm like a dog with a bone, and I can't stop my damn self. Tonight is different. Tonight I can't just watch her sleeping I need to see her. That's why I tap the window of her balcony door with my knuckles. Not too loud, don't wanna draw any unwanted attention to myself.
With narrow eyes, she comes closer to the door, pulling back the sheer gray curtains. Her mouth hangs open in surprise. She opens the door and asks me, “What are you doing here, Jett?” I don't say anything.
I'm hungry for her, desperate in a way I don't understand. I need her like I need air. “Jett?” She backs away a little, but she ain't going nowhere. I need to touch her; I'll die if I don't.
Not literally, of course, that would be fucking ridiculous. However, since Maria told me she was carrying my baby, I haven't been able to get my damn dick up for any other woman. Its like he knows this woman's body belongs to him. Like she belongs to me.
God help me.
I slide my hand around her back and pull her toward me. My other hand gently takes her face, and she leans into my touch for a second before looking at me and biting her lower lip. I tug it loose with my thumb and stroke her lip. “Jett,” My name is a whisper on her lips, and it brings back all those memories of her screaming my name that first night, the night we made our baby.
“I had to see you, Maria.”
“But this is so dangerous, Jett. Do you know what my brother would do to you if he found you here?” I do know. He'd blow my fuckin' head right off. “I don't want anything to happen to you. I need you to be there for the baby.”
“And I will be. There ain't nobody gonna keep me from this baby, Maria. Not your brother, not your new husband...”
“Promise me that you'll always be there for our child.”