CHAPTER ONE
Cassie snuggled into the heat of Deke’s body.
His arm tightened around her and they both felt the tumbling of the babies between them. Deke chuckled softly as his hand went down to her belly. “They’re really moving this morning,” he whispered.
“Yup, they must know what today is,” Cassie whispered happily.
“And just what is today?” Deke leaned back to look at her.
“Today, their momma and daddy get married.”
Deke sighed aloud. “I suppose that means we have to get out of this bed. I kinda like it right here with you.” He laid his head on hers. “I want to stay right here all day.”
Cassie giggled. “Me too, but we have a wedding to go to.”
Deke groaned. “I suppose if we absolutely have to go,” he whined.
Cassie leaned back to stare at him. “You don’t want to get married?”
Deke smiled. “Yeah, I do. I want to claim you and those babies in front of the whole world. You belong to me and so do they.”
“If you’re sure about that, we should get up. The Pastor will be here soon. Peaches and Paige are already up and making breakfast.”
“And how do you know that?” Deke grinned.
Cassie snorted. “Because there are pans being banged around and cussing going on in the kitchen.” She pushed off him. “You can hear it as well as I can. That would be Peaches. Hopefully, Paige will take over or breakfast will be burnt and uneatable.”
Deke made a face at her statement. “Yeah, you would think the girl would’ve learned to cook by now.”
“I think it’s useless with her,” Cassie agreed. “I’ve been trying to teach her most of her life.” She shrugged. “There are some people that just can’t cook and she’s one of them. Doesn’t matter how hard she tries.”
“Well, I feel sorry for Iceman then,” Deke stated with a smile as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. Grabbing his pants, he pulled them up. He glanced over his shoulder and asked, “Did you find something to wear today?”
Cassie grimaced. “Yeah, I found a dress. It isn’t much of a dress but it covers everything it should. And it’s big enough to cover my belly.”
Deke chuckled. “You won’t be this big forever.”
“Yeah, so you say.” She rolled her eyes. “Only another two months to go.”
Deke stopped what he was doing and sat down beside her. “Are you okay?”
Cassie shrugged nervously. “I don’t know anything about babies. I want to be a good mother I just don’t know how.”
“Sure you do, you’ve been taking care of Peaches most of your life. You aren’t alone here. Reva can’t wait for the babies to come. Every jack one of my men and the men down at Redemption House will help you out. Peaches is so excited that I bet she’ll move in soon. Plus, you have a sister and an uncle to boot. Hell, even Max and Peggy wAna help out. We’re gonna have to build a hotel pretty soon. These babies are gonna be so spoiled.”
Before she could reply, there was a knock at the door. Deke sighed heavily and called out for them to come in.
Paige peeked around the corner of the door and smiled. “I’m here to help you get ready.” She frowned slightly. “Peaches is in the kitchen making toast.” Giggling she added, “At least she can’t burn that too badly.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t count on that, she can burn it pretty good.” Deke snickered as he helped Cassie to her feet and kissed her lips. “I’ll see you later.”
~* * * *~
An hour later, Cassie walked between Paige and Peaches down a makeshift aisle toward Deke, Gator and Deacon. They were standing there waiting for her. There were chairs and people sitting on both sides of her and she was a bit nervous as she walked between her two sisters. She really hated being the center of attention and right now…everyone was staring at her.
When she reached the front, Deke took her hand in his and she calmed immediately. Her dress was a simple sundress and a shawl wrapped around her shoulders. It was late in the season of summer and the air was just getting cooler but she wore the shawl more to hide the scars on her back than because of the weather.
She and Deke turned to the Pastor Wesley Ashton. She’d met him through Redemption House. He often came to speak to the residents who stayed there. He offered them counseling and she had gotten to know him over the last few months. Since Deke didn’t have a spiritual person in his life, she had asked him to marry them.
As they stood in front of the family and friends, Cassie felt an unusual dread flood through her, almost a premonition of sorts. Pastor Ashton began the service and when he got to the point where he asked if there were any objections to them being married, the quiet was suddenly broken by the sound of motorcycles coming toward them.
Deke and Cassie turned, as did everyone else.
Deke frowned as the riders came closer and his frown deepened when he recognized the lead rider. He pulled Cassie off to one side and slightly behind him.
Gator, Deacon and Wiley stood behind him. Amos, Frankie and Gus surrounded Cassie and the two girls.
The six riders made a circle around Deke and the others. The leader came to a stop in front of Deke.
“What do you want here?’ Deke asked.
The leader reached out to shut off his engine. He sat back on his bike and glared at Deke. “I had to hear through the grapevine about my own son’s wedding. Why is that do you suppose?”
Deke shrugged. “Maybe I didn’t want this very thing to happen and maybe I didn’t think it was any of your business.”
“Now son,” he drawled. “That is no way to treat your father.”
“Maybe I just didn’t want to deal with the bullshit you carry around with you everywhere you go.”
“So, do I at least get to meet your bride before you tie the knot?”
Deke watched him for a moment then asked, “Why? What difference does it make to you who I marry?”
“I’d like to know she’s good enough for you that’s why,” Sam gritted out. “I see she’s pregnant, are you sure the kid is yours? Is that how she got you in front of a preacher?”
“Fuck you.” Deke growled. “What the hell do you care? I haven’t seen you in years.”
“Been busy boy, you know how it goes.” Sam narrowed his eyes.
“So, why don’t you just turn around and keep doing whatever it is you were doing?”
“Now you got me interested in what’s going on here,” Sam countered. “Why don’t you tell all your friends to take their seats while you, me and your bride get to know one another?”
“Why don’t you go to hell?” Deke seethed.
Sam got off his bike and stalked toward Deke. Reaching around the back of his neck, he pulled Deke toward him. “Now boy, that’s no way to talk to your daddy.”
Deke pulled away from his grip. He motioned with his hand and everyone went back to their seats, leaving him, Sam and Cassie standing there. The seated bikers closed in and surrounded Deke and Cassie. They shut down their engines and stepped closer.
Cassie watched as best she could and when she felt someone come up behind her she called out a warning, “Don’t you fucking touch me!”
Sam snickered. “She’s a bit touchy isn’t she?” he asked. Deke.
“She warned him, you’d better hope he listens. Otherwise, I’m not liable,” Deke warned his father.
Sam motioned he wasn’t worried. “She’s ain’t big enough to hurt my guys.”
That’s when the man standing behind her made a mistake. He grabbed her upper arm and pulled her back to him. Cassie lifted her foot and brought it down on his foot. She was wearing pumps and she ground the heel of her shoe into his foot hard. She snapped her elbow into his lower stomach and smashed the back of her head into his face.
The man groaned and released her arm but his fingers snagged the shawl and pulled it off her shoulders. When she twirled around, she showed off the scars on her shoulders. She wrenched the shawl from the man’s fingers and pulled it back on.
Sam snapped his fingers and two of the others helped the man on the ground up. His nose was bleeding and he was limping. Sam turned hard eyes to Cassie and was surprised to find her glaring at him. Most people didn’t dare look him in the eyes but she did. His eyes narrowed as he stared back at her.
“I think you should leave now,” Deke told his father. “You aren’t wanted here.”
“I think I’ll stick around a while,” Sam told his son. “Your woman has intrigued me and I find I want to know her better.” He started his bike again and over the roar of the engine, he told Deke, “We’ll be down at the clubhouse waiting for you. Don’t make us wait too long. I don’t play the waiting game very well.”
Deke watched as the bikers left the area and made their way to the clubhouse. With a frustrated curse leaving his lips, he ran his fingers through his hair. “This wasn’t how this was supposed to go.” Raising his eyes to Cassie he said, “I’m so sorry baby. We’d better get to the clubhouse before he destroys everything.”
Cassie nodded. “Okay, I guess this was never meant to be.”
He watched as she turned and began walking away. Deke caught Gator’s eyes and motioned for the man to go to the clubhouse ahead of him.
Gator took off with Wiley and Amos.
He turned to the rest of his friends and family. “I guess this is going to delay the wedding. Let’s go down and eat and have a good time anyway.” He waited while everyone else left before he joined Cassie, Peaches and Paige. “Are you all right?” He grabbed Cassie and pulled her into his arms.
Cassie nodded. “I think your father needs some lessons in manners.”
Deke barked a laugh. “He needs something alright. Although, I doubt a kick in the ass would help much.”
“I’m going back to the house. I don’t think I can put up with your father right now,” she told him.
“I don’t blame you.” Deke admitted. “I wish today would have turned out differently.”
Cassie leaned against his chest. “Me too.” Her arms went around his waist and she pulled him tight to her.
“I’m not giving up on this,” Deke promised her as his arms went around her shoulders holding her close for a moment. “We will be married before the babies are born.”
Cassie chuckled. “It’s probably a good thing we have about two months to go then huh?”
Deke smiled. Resting his big hand on her belly, he felt his babies tumble and turn. He kissed her forehead then glanced over at Peaches and Paige. “I want you guys to go to the house. I don’t want any of you around my father or his brothers. They’re not nice men.” Turning to Cassie he said, “Make sure you have Demon with you.”
“Is your house safe with them here?” Peaches asked.
“I’m sure it will be, Redemption House men will stand watch as well as some of my own. Those guys won’t let anything happen to you guys or Cassie.” Deke nodded. He then turned and walked the distance to the clubhouse to deal with his father.
When he walked inside, he saw his father and his five men sitting at the largest table there. It was supposed to be the wedding party’s table. It was covered with a white linen tablecloth and streamers. A banner with his and Cassie’s name had been mounted behind the table. They had ripped the banners off and the red and black ribbons now lay in tatters on the floor.
No one else in the clubhouse was making any noise at all. But Sam and the other members of his club were drinking and sneering at the others. Sam was staring at the paintings on the wall behind where they were sitting. He raised his head and frowned when he saw Deke coming toward their table. “So where is your woman Junior?” he asked as he swirled his glass on the table.
“She didn’t want to come. She deplores bad manners.” Deke stopped on the other side of the table. “Why?”
“Because I came all this way to find out about her.” Sam lifted his drink to his lips.
“Why don’t you just go home and leave it alone?” Deke asked. Sitting down across from his father, he stared at the older man. They both had the same dark hair and pale blue eyes. Sam had a scruff of whiskers on his face where Deke was clean shaven.
“Did it ever occur to you that she could be using you?” Sam asked quietly.
Deke snorted. “If you knew her, you wouldn’t say shit like that. She’s not like the women you surround yourself with.”
“And what kind of women would that be?” Sam hardened his gaze.
“The kind of women that would take any man on,” Deke replied. “Cassie isn’t like that at all. It’s none of your business but the first time we were together she was a virgin.”
Sam raised his eyebrows. “That doesn’t make sense with the scars on her back. What’s up with that?”
“That is none of your business,” Deke informed him.
“Yeah well, I’m making it my business.” Sam growled. “You’re my kid and what you do reflects back on me and I won’t allow you to fuck up your life. Not over a pussy.”
Deke got to his feet. With a hard stare, he told his father, “You can stay the night but I want you gone in the morning. You gave up saying anything about who I allow in my life a long time ago. And yes old man, those babies are mine and they will carry my name before they are born.” He turned and walked out.
He stopped just outside the door and took a deep cleansing breath. Every time he spent time in Sam’s company, he felt dirty. He hadn’t know who his father was until he was twelve years old. His mother, Janice wasn’t mother of the year material in any sense of the word, she was little more than a club whore but she hadn’t told him anything about his father. It wasn’t until Deke had laid eyes on the man and saw the same face looking back that he knew.
He had the same color eyes and chin as his old man. The same brow line and the same hairline. One glance had been all it took for the two of them to discover each other. When Sam found out about Deke, he took him home with him. Sam was a bastard and had ripped the boy away from the only world he’d known. Deke had hated it at first but soon, learned how to cope. The only real friend he had there had been Gator. Gator had taken him under his wing and taught him more in the short time he was with his father than Sam ever did.
He’d spent six long years with his father’s MC before he broke away. When he left them, Gator had come with him. They founded this group and using what lessons he learned from his old man he found himself the leader of these men. Gator had stayed by his side the whole time. He hadn’t wanted the leadership but as always, he was beside Deke the whole way. Deke may carry the same name as his father but they were not the same kind of men.
~* * * *~
Sam watched his son walk away with a frown. He’d never known how to talk to him. When he found him as a half grown man way back, he’d been surprised he even existed. Janice never told him she was pregnant. He’d slept with her and walked away like she’d been nothing more than a fuck buddy. To him, that’s all she had been. Then he found his son and his life took on a different meaning.
Sam didn’t realize it at the time, but the boy had come to mean something to him. He hadn’t realized that until the day Deke walked out on him and his lifestyle. It had nearly broke his heart but he hadn’t wanted to admit it to anyone, not even himself.
He sat there gazing at the painting on the wall. He wouldn’t admit it but he wanted so much more for Deke than he ever had and that included the love of a good woman and a family. When he heard about the wedding, he’d come here only to make sure the woman was good enough for his son. ‘Well old man, you certainly fucked that one up royally, didn’t you?’ he thought to himself. He lifted the glass to his lips and was about to swallow when Gator sat down across from him. Sam glared at the other man over the top of his glass.
Gator simply sat there and glared back at him. When he folded his arms across his chest, Sam frowned.
“What the fuck do you want?” Sam growled.
“I could ask you the same question,” Gator countered.
“I don’t answer to you or any other man here,” Sam retorted.
“You’d better check your attitude at the door man. This isn’t your house, it’s Deke’s.”
Sam sneered. “And Deke is my kid.”
“That has nothing to do with why you came and you know it.”
Sam slammed his glass down on the table. “Go to hell. I don’t have to have a reason to see my own son.”
Gator nodded his head in agreement. “Normally, I would agree with that but the last time the two of you were together harsh things were said by both of you. If you press this visit you might not like what he does about it.” Gator leaned forward. “You fucked up bad with him, old man. You should have given him what you claimed you wanted. Respect. He was almost a man when you found him and you wanted him to be a mini you. When that didn’t work, you tried to beat it into him. How did that work out for you?”
Sam broke the glass in his hand when his grip tightened too much. Whiskey dripped from his fingertips onto the table, mixing with the blood dripping from a few cuts the glass made.
Gator didn’t even flinch as he continued, “You’ve got to let it go, Bones. He’s his own man, good or bad. Your opinion doesn’t matter to him. He lives the way he wants to. He found himself a good woman. She’s not perfect in any way, shape or form, her life has been a hard one, but she’s great for him. She completes him like no other woman ever will. You ruined what should have been a great day for him. He’s gonna marry that woman whether you like it or not. Don’t fuck it up or he’ll cut you out of his life for good.” Gator stood up and looked over at Amos standing against the wall, then with one final glare at Sam, he walked away.
Sam glared at the Gator as he grabbed a napkin off the table and cleaned the blood off his hand.
Sabbath, his Sargent at Arms leaned toward him and asked, “So what are you gonna do about this? Do we stay or go?”
Sam thought for a moment. “Find me a place I can talk to this woman alone. Not here but close. Then find a way to get her there. I want to talk to this woman and find out what her story is.”
“You know that isn’t going to go over well with Jr. don’t you?”
Sam turned and glared at Sabbath. “You let me worry about Jr. You just get the woman alone and bring her to me.”
Sabbath got up and motioned for two of the others to follow him. Before he left, Sam cautioned him, “Oh and Sabbath, be careful she don’t kick your ass again. She’s a feisty one.”
Sabbath rubbed along his still swollen nose. “Yeah, I owe her for that.”
Sam turned his head and snarled, “Don’t you even think about hurting her or I’ll have your head!”
Sabbath narrowed his eyes and nodded. “Whatever you say boss.”
“You let the others know that too. I don’t want her hurt. She’s carrying my grandkid.”
Sabbath grinned. “Now that’s a trip, do we call you Grandpa now or what?”
Sam growled at him. “Just do it.”
Sabbath chuckled softly and walked out with Halo and Fury behind him.
Sam turned to stare at the painting again, but as he did he caught sight of a man standing against the wall studying him. The man was older and a bit scruffier than the normal man but the intensity of his gaze gave Sam notice.
He gave the other man glare for glare but the other man never backed down, never looked away. Sam reached for a new glass and poured himself a drink. When he looked up the older man was gone. As Sam lifted the drink, he wondered why Gator had even acknowledged the man earlier, he wasn’t a biker he could tell that right away. Sam felt troubled by not knowing who the man was and what he was doing here.