CHAPTER TWO
The doors at the end of the hall opened up and a nurse came through them. She gazed around at the waiting room filled with bikers and swallowed hard as she called out a name, “Tory.” When everyone got to their feet, she could see that some of them were well over six feet tall and some, nearly 3 feet wide, she backed up a step as she swallowed hard. Then she took a deep breath, turned and led the way to Melora’s room.
When everyone came in, the room suddenly got very small.
Melora sat on the bed holding her son and Sam was standing there grinning from ear to ear. “I’d like to introduce you to my son.”
“His name is Talon Boone Morgan Tory,” Melora announced. “But we’re gonna call him T-Bone.”
Izzy came over to her friend’s bed and with tears in her eyes whispered the name, “Boone?”
Melora nodded. “I hope you don’t mind?”
Izzy shook her head. “I don’t think he’d mind at all.” Tears rolled down her face as she mouthed the words, “Thank you.”
When her dad, Mountain came up behind Izzy and peeked over her shoulder at his grandson, he smiled. “Now why would you go and name the kid Talon?”
“Because my mother loved a man with that name,” Melora told him proudly.
Sam lifted his hands. “I had nothing to do with it at all. She wouldn’t even tell me what my son’s name was until now.”
“I’ve wanted that name since I was a little girl,” Melora told him. “I gave him your name too.”
“Yeah you did, even though we didn’t get married today.” Sam shook his head. “Things just didn’t work out the way they should’ve but we’re still going to get married.”
“I know.” Melora glanced over at Adriana. “But now we have the whole family together and that’s more important.”
Adriana stared at her for a moment then glanced at the baby in her arms. “So this baby is my brother?”
“One of them.” Melora nodded at Deke. “He’s the other one, and Quinn is your sister too.”
“Yeah, I kind of got that part.” The girl shrugged her thin shoulders and commented, “Sorry, I screwed things up for you.”
Melora smiled. “You didn’t screw things up for anyone. I’m glad you’re here.”
“Why? You don’t even know me.” Adriana just stared at her with no expression in her eyes at all.
“I may not know you yet, but you’re part of Sam’s family and that makes you important to me,” Melora replied simply.
Adriana shook her head. “Yeah, well don’t get too hyped, this situation is only temporary. I will be going back to my Mom.”
Deke came up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
Adriana stiffened then shrugged his hand away. She moved over to the corner and slid down the wall.
Melora watched her from the corner of her eye and shook her head. Then she turned her attention to her son as Deke took the baby from her.
Holding him close, Deke murmured to the baby sleeping so content in his arms. He glanced up at Melora and smiled. “You did good, little mama.”
“Thanks,” she whispered.
“T-Bone huh?” Deke whispered. “I like it.”
“Yeah, me too.” Melora smiled. “Not sure Sam is thrilled but he didn’t really have a choice.”
“He’ll get over it,” Deke smirked.
Melora glanced over at Sam and noted the slightly panicked look on his face. “He won’t even hold his son,” she whispered. “He looks scared to death.”
Deke studied his dad and then glanced down at the baby in his arms. “Maybe he’s never held a baby before. I remember he wouldn’t hold his grandkids until they were a little older.” Before he could think about it, Deke went over to where his dad was standing and pushed the baby into his arms. Sam tried to protest but Deke wasn’t taking no for an answer.
The baby opened his eyes but didn’t make a sound when he gazed up at his father.
Sam just seemed stunned. He looked down at the baby in his arms and couldn’t believe he was holding him. His arms were frozen and shaky as if he were afraid of dropping this tiny human being.
When Izzy came over, he gladly gave up the baby. The baby fussed at being taken away from his dad but settled down quickly. Izzy took him over to his grandfather and grand uncles and he was passed around quickly.
It wasn’t long before the nurse stepped back in and suggested it was time to go. She looked a little afraid of all the large men in the room in their motorcycle vests, but she firmly nodded her head at them all.
Mountain finally passed the baby back to Melora. Leaning over her bed, he kissed her forehead. “You did good, baby girl,” he whispered. “But who is Boone?”
Melora gazed at her father with tears in her eyes. “Maybe you should ask Izzy. He’s very important to her and she is very important to me. I told you we had a history.”
Mountain glanced over his shoulder at the woman that was becoming very important to him. “I’ll ask her.” He gazed down at the baby. “We’ll be back in a few hours to see you.”
Melora smiled. “Can you have Izzy grab the bag I packed for the baby? I didn’t have time to grab it before we got here last night.”
“Sure thing.” Mountain straightened up and glanced over at Sam. He held out his hand and when Sam grabbed it, they shook briefly. “Take care of your family, old man.”
Sam nodded. “I will.”
~* * * *~
Slowly, the room emptied until there were only Sam, Melora, the baby and Adriana.
Deke had asked the girl to come home with him for the rest of the night but she didn’t want to go and rather than start something, he’d just left her there.
Now, it was just them left and Melora knew she had to deal with the situation.
Before she could say anything, Adriana got up and came over to sit on the side of the bed. “So did Sam tell you what the deal is?”
“No we hadn’t got that far,” Melora replied. “Why don’t you tell me about it?”
Sam started to say something but Melora gave him a look and he snapped his mouth shut.
“The MC in Saratoga Springs is about to go to war with an MC in Glens Falls. My mom didn’t want me caught in the middle, so she called Sam to get me out of the way.”
“Why were they going to war?” Melora asked.
“The MC in Saratoga Springs is called the Blue Devils. My Mom is involved with Radar, he’s the President of the club. Anyway, the Enforcer of the Red Cajuns, that’s the MC from Glens Falls, he thought he could just come in to our town and start some shit. Radar taught him a harsh lesson and the Red Cajuns didn’t take it well.” Adriana shrugged. “They sent three men after my mom and me, thinking they could use us against the club.”
Sam spoke up now, “They almost got their hands on Adriana, and Stacy shot one of them before the guys got to them. They sent the other packing but figured they’d be back. Stacy wanted Adriana protected and away from the coming firefight.”
“I don’t blame her.” Melora shuddered. Tightening her hold on her son, she couldn’t help herself. “I would do whatever I could to protect my kid from that kind of violence too.” Holding out her hand, she grasped Adriana’s hand. “I’m glad you’re here and you’re safe.”
“Are you?” Adriana asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Melora asked with a frown.
“Oh, I don’t know, probably because I stopped the wedding.”
Melora smiled. “I don’t think you’re to blame for that.” She lifted her son. “I think he might have had something to do with that as well.”
Adriana sat down in the chair next to the bed. “So now what’s going to happen to me? I mean I can’t stay here.”
“I think you should go home with your dad and get settled in,” Melora advised. Sam started to protest but she put her hand up. “The two of you need some time one on one. The baby and I will be just fine and you can come back tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?” Sam whispered as he leaned close to her and the baby.
“Yeah, I am,” Melora assured him. “I’m tired and she needs you tonight. She can’t help but be worried about the mess her mother is in. I know I would be. She needs you.”
“Sam can always just take me home, you know.” Ariana shrugged.
“No baby girl, I can’t,” Sam told her. “I promised your mom I’d keep you safe and I plan to do just that.”
“But who’s going to protect my mom?” she asked softly. “The Cajuns will kill her to find me.”
“Why would they do that?” Melora asked.
Adriana turned away and didn’t say anything for a moment or two. Then she turned to Melora with tears in her eyes. “I heard Benny and Radar making a deal. Radar has hated me since him and my mom got together four years ago. Radar told Benny he would sell me to the Cajuns when I turned fifteen for a price. Mom doesn’t know I heard it but I did. That’s why she called Sam tonight. My birthday is the day after tomorrow. Benny came by the club and Mom saw him. I have a feeling if Radar can’t produce me, Benny might start a war.”
Sam growled as her story unfolded. “What the fuck kind of man is this Radar piece of shit?”
Adriana shrugged. “I’m really worried about my mom. She tried to get away from him once and he beat the hell out of her. I don’t know what he’ll do when he finds out I’m gone.”
“Do you think he’ll come here looking for you?” Melora asked.
Adriana shook her head. “He has no idea who my father is. Mom refused to tell him. All she would ever say was that my father was no longer in the picture. She talked as if he were dead.”
“Why would your mom get involved with this loser anyway?” Sam asked. “I thought she had more sense than that.”
“It wasn’t her fault!” Adriana cried out. “She didn’t have a choice. Radar chose her and made it difficult for her to say no. He threatened my life.”
Sam sat down hard on the bed next to Melora. “Why didn’t Stacy ever say anything to me before? I would have come for you, hell I would have taken you both to safety.”
Adriana shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Melora looked over at Sam. “You need to take her somewhere safe. You can’t go home someone might be watching the house.”
Sam nodded. “I know. I’ll take her to the club. I can use one of the cabins for tonight at least until we can get some security set up tomorrow.” He paused, then added, “I hate to leave you and the baby alone though.”
“I can call my dad.” Melora assured him. “He’ll come back and watch over us. You just take care of your daughter tonight.”
“We can wait until Mountain gets here,” Sam suggested.
“Ok, you’d better call him then.”
Twenty minutes later, Mountain and Izzy returned and Sam took Adriana back to the compound.