Chapter 12
Banshee
I’m officially Granny’s bitch. After eating and I mean uncomfortably eating with Granny flirting with our twenty-something waiter and then her slipping him her number, I thought I could handle the trip to the grocery store. Denied. If I didn’t think I’d freeze my balls off in one of the frozen food displays, I’d hide from her.
When we entered the store, Granny told me I was going to push the cart and protect her purse. Yep, I’m a bitch. I’ve been downgraded from scary biker to Granny’s slave in a matter of minutes. You think my woman helped a brother out. Hell no! She grabbed her cart and took off. I haven’t even seen her ass in passing since we got here over an hour ago. Granny has checked every label from hemorrhoid cream to the ingredients in a can of green beans.
Now, we’re exploring the dairy aisle and hopefully the last one we venture besides the checkout aisle. Rounding the corner, I see a sea of black and blue with Bellamy in the middle. I place a hand on Granny’s arm to stop her progress. She gives me a weird look, and I tilt my head towards the end of the aisle. She shakes her head in anger when she sees Bellamy surrounded.
“Stay here. I’ll take care of it.” I say as quietly as possible but loud enough for her to hear.” She nods and grips the handle on the cart.
The closer I get the better I can see Bellamy. One hand is shoved in her purse, while the other has a slight tremor. Her face is a mask of irritation. The surrounding men are definitely members of Reggie’s crew, but Reggie is nowhere.
Before I’m able to saddle up to Bellamy, she drops her purse as her hand emerges with her Glock. She presses it into the man’s chest in front of her as I watch the rest of the crew gradually reach to their backs.
“I’m tired of this bullshit.” She yells. “I’m at the fucking grocery store, and I don’t have time for a bunch of thugs telling me what the hell I’m supposed to be doing.” She shoves the gun harder into his chest, and he stumbles slightly. “You tell Reggie that Victor is his problem, not mine. He’s not my family or even my friend. The night he came in I did my job. MY JOB.” She screams. “I have no obligations to the fucking Blue Enigma, and I have no intention of ever being involved in y’alls shit, so back the fuck up off me before I put a hole in your chest and then Reggie’ll have another one of his thugs to worry about. Got me.”
I stay planted in my spot ready and waiting to see what comes next, but I don’t have to wait long. The man backs up a few steps and glances at his crew and shakes his head. In a low voice, he says, “you’ll be seeing us again. Let’s go and tell Reggie that his little nurse is being difficult.”
They rush out of the aisle and as soon as their out of view, Bellamy’s shoulders slump and her chest heaves. I surround her in my arms and breathe in her scent. “No more going off on your own. They, apparently, have a tail on you.” She nods against my shirt as I take the gun from her hand. “Let’s get the rest of our stuff and Granny’s and get out of here. We need to figure this out. Reggie’s gone too far this time for me to dismiss it as a grieving man.”
“Okay.” She says softly picking up her purse, and I deposit the gun inside.
Turning my head in Granny’s direction, she has her phone plastered to her ear and head shaking as she argues with who’ve is on the other end. I tilt my head to the side, and she starts rolling the cart toward us.
She pats Bellamy’s shoulder as she drops her phone into her purse. “I’m proud of you, babycakes. Don’t ever let a bastard back you in a corner. I may not have brought out my gun, but times be a changing and saying ‘get the fuck out of my face’ doesn’t work as well as it did back in my younger days. Now, a kneeing to the groin worked spectacular, but I’ve never had to face that many men at once.” Bellamy leaves my arms and falls into her Granny’s. “I called your daddy, and he’s meeting us at the house, so let’s get this shit paid for and hit the road before he sends out a manhunt for us.”
“Got it. Let’s roll.” Bellamy says as she wipes her face with the sleeve of her shirt. “Daddy’s not a very patient man, and I wouldn’t be surprised if momma and the boys are with them.”
We trek to checkout, and once again, Granny breaks the tension by making me unload all her groceries and telling the cashier about how I’m the hunk of her dreams, and she can’t wait to ravage me later for being a good boy as Bellamy giggles in the background.
What the fuck have I gotten myself into with this family?
***
Pulling in front of Granny’s house, Kenny mimics a raging bull as he lifts Granny out of the front seat and then hands her over to one of Bellamy’s brothers, Mitchell. He shoves the front seat up against the dash with more force than necessary and snatches Bellamy out of the back seat. He cradles her in his arms and carries her into the house. Travis, Bellamy’s other brother, and I watch as Granny and Viola follow behind him.
I pop the trunk and start grabbing bags as Travis and Mitchell fall into step beside me. We tote as much as we can and then make a few more trips back and forth until the trunk is empty. Approaching the kitchen and settling the last of the bags on the counter, Viola and Bellamy are putting everything away in sync with each other and their motions around Granny’s kitchen.
As Bellamy passes by me, I snatch her up and place a kiss on her forehead. She winks at me and goes back to getting everything put away. Granny strides into the kitchen and starts pulling canned goods out of the pantry and digging through her freezer. She pulls out a slab of meat slamming it on the counter. Obviously, Granny doesn’t like the quiet rustle of bags and shuffling of shoes on the floor.
“Y’all are staying for dinner, and we’re going to discuss what happens today,” Granny commands. Mitchell peeks into the kitchen with Kenny over his shoulder. “Bellamy, shove this roast into the crockpot and get it started. Travis, chop up an onion and some carrots to put in with it. Mitchell, you wash up ten or so potatoes and start peeling em’. Viola, you get a pot out of the cupboard and fill it with water, so Mitchell can put the potatoes in it when he’s done skinnin’ and choppin’ them up.”
“Granny, I’ve got to get home and unload my groceries.”
“Fuck that.” Granny snarls.
“Granny!” Viola gasps.
“Lawson,” Granny calls, and I step forward. “Grab that cooler off the back porch and put all of her shit in it and then fill it with ice. It’ll keep until after dinner and then ya’ll can take it home.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I go about my appointed job as fast as I cannot wanting to leave Bellamy for a second. When I finish, I text Poison to let him know what all happened in the grocery store and he vouches to send the recent information to Brute.
Bringing the now full cooler into the kitchen and setting it down, Bellamy brings the ice bucket over and dumps it on top of her perishables. I slide the cooler to a corner in the kitchen, so it’s out of the way and skate behind Bellamy as she adds salt, pepper and beef stock in with the roast.
“How are you doing, Sweets?” I murmur.
She blows out a frustrated breath. “Just trying to figure it all out. I’ve never once in the years I’ve been a nurse had to deal with a patient’s family getting so attached to me that they believe that my presences is needed on a daily basis. I’m used to going in, doing my job and going home at the end of my shift without the worries of the hospital on my shoulders.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of it. I don’t care if we have to have a sit down with Reggie and his crew. Brute doesn’t trust them any more than I do and I know Mauve is going to be pissed that they cornered you in the grocery store. Do you know who you were yelling at?”
“Yeah, that’s Reggie’s righthand, Pyro.” I thought I recognized him, but I wasn’t certain. “I think I’m going to call Kelly, my ICU friend and find out the status on Victor just so we know how bad it is and what could be triggering this with Reggie. He’s losing grip with reality if he thinks its okay to stalk me and demand that I be at the hospital every damn day.”
“Might be a good idea. He must not be getting any better if this is what it’s come to.”
She leans back into me and places her lips on my neck. “I’m sorry for getting you involved in all this. I swear I’ve never had this happen before.”
“I’m not sorry. I’m more than happy to have your back through the chaos as long as I have all of you when it all settles.”
“You have me.” She whispers.
“That’s all I need. Let’s go fill in your family before your dad wears a path through the carpet and your brothers start a backyard brawl with all their pent-up anxiety.”
“Get ready for the boom.” She says under her breath as she skirts around me into the living room.”
I hear her dad mumbling to himself as I sit beside Bellamy and tuck her into me.
Kenny’s pacing comes to a halt, and then we get the BOOM.