Jase (Kings of Korruption MC Book 3) (17 page)

“
Ryk,” I call, just as he’s about to step out of
sight.

He takes a
step back and looks my way. Taking my fist, I hold it over my
heart. “Never forget it, brother.”

Several
seconds go by before he finally moves, placing his own fist over
his heart. He gives me a nod, then he’s gone. I look around this
pitiful excuse for a garage. Over a month ago, I was pissed that
the world didn’t seem to want to give me a chance, and now look at
me. When the hell did my luck change?

Ellen

My heart’s
lodged firmly in my throat as I help Bryce pack a bag to take to
his father’s house. He’s running around, talking a mile a minute
about all the fun things they have planned for this weekend,
totally oblivious to the fact that I’m in the midst of having a
nervous breakdown.

“
Did you get your toothbrush?”

Bryce rolls
his eyes, as he seems to be doing more and more lately. “Yes, Mom.
For the third time, I got my toothbrush.”

The doorbell
rings and Bryce tears off down the hall, yanking the door open.
“Dad! I’m just about ready,” he says excitedly, throwing his arms
around his father’s waist.

Paul pats
Bryce’s head and glares at me from the front step. “Why don’t you
go grab your stuff,” he tells Bryce, never taking his eyes off
me.

Bryce passes
me in a hurry, almost knocking me over in his rush to get to his
bedroom. “They certainly didn’t waste any time dipping into my bank
account,” Paul calls to me.

I have no idea
what he’s talking about. “Pardon?”

“
That money you wanted so bad,” he sneers. “The courts have
already taken almost half my goddamn paycheck to start paying
you.”

“I never
asked for you for anything, Paul, and certainly not for your money.
You took
me
to court,
remember? This is not my fault.”

“
Oh fuck you, Ellen. You’ve been giving me a hard time since
day one. At least now, I can see my fucking kid without having to
get a signed permission slip to take him out of your piece of shit
house.” He takes a step forward, pointing an angry finger in my
direction. “I should find a way to make it hard on you now. What do
you think of that?”

“
What’s going on?” I hear from behind me. I spin around,
plastering a phony smile on my face.

“
Nothing, baby. Just grown-up stuff. You have
everything?”

His frown
deepens and he looks past me to his father, nodding his head
slowly. I can tell by the look on his face that he heard some of
what was said, but I can’t be sure of how much.

“
Let’s go!” Paul shouts from the front door. “I don’t have all
day, Bryce. Get a move on.”

Bryce jumps
into motion, throwing on his shoes and grabbing his coat from the
hook in the closet. “Ready,” he calls, and before I know it, he’s
out the door. I didn’t even get a chance to give him a kiss.

I watch
through the window as Paul storms to his truck, jumping into the
driver’s side. Bryce follows along behind him, jumping up as high
as he can to reach the handle on the lifted truck. Finally, he gets
the door open, throws his bag inside and climbs in. They peel out
of the driveway, then they’re gone.

I lean against
the wall and suddenly everything hits me at once. The court case,
Paul’s newfound visitation rights, the way Paul talks to me, and
Bryce’s behaviour… everything. I feel like I’m drowning, and
there’s nothing I can do to make it go away.

My chest
heaves and my throat hurts as I try to keep my crying as calm as
possible, when all I really want to do is throw myself on the floor
and scream. I hate this all so much, and it feels like it’s never
going to end. Paul is never going to go away, and he’ll never stop
being an asshole. Bryce already has a lot of his father’s attitude,
and now that they’ll be spending more time together, that gives
Paul even more time to brainwash my son into hating me.

I sit like
that for twenty minutes, my knees pulled up to my chest as I let
myself have the cry I needed so desperately. The tears help.

Slowly, I feel
the tension in my shoulders start to relax, and I think back to the
things the judge had said. She was right. Paul is a difficult man,
but that doesn’t mean that I have to cower every time he comes
over. I need to learn to stand up for myself because Paul isn’t
going away, and no one’s going to do it for me.

His passive
aggressive comments and threats are never going to stop unless I
put a stop to them, and God only knows what he’s saying to my son.
This is just the first visit in an arrangement of biweekly visits
for the next seven years. God help me.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Jase

I
take the front
steps two at a time and ring Ellen’s doorbell with a smile on my
face. I can’t wait to tell her about the garage and all my plans to
make it a success. When the door swings open, I get a look at her
face, and my excitement fades.

“
Babe, what the hell?” I put my hand to her belly and guide
her backwards so that I can come inside, and close the door behind
me. “What’s wrong?”

She sighs and
grasps my wrist, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I’m fine. I just got
a little emotional when Paul left with Bryce.” I search her eyes,
knowing that’s not everything.

“
What did that prick say to you?” I know he said something.
Ellen’s tough, and she wouldn’t just cry because her son went away
for the weekend.

“
It’s fine, Jase, really. He was no more of an asshole than
usual, but I was upset because I realized just how much longer I
have to deal with him.” She looks away. “And it hurt watching Bryce
pack up his stuff in a big hurry to get away from me. I know he
doesn’t get it, but…” Her shoulders lift in a sad shrug. “Doesn’t
make it hurt any less.”

“
He said something else,” I push. “I know he did. Tell me.”
Ellen’s teeth sink into her lip and she stares up at me, clearly
trying to come to a decision. “Babe,” I say, “just tell
me.”

“
He was angry that they took the money from his paycheck for
child support. He was acting like I asked for the money, even
though it was him that took me to court in the first place. He was
blaming me, saying I just wanted to make things hard on him.” She
takes a deep breath and looks off to the side. “He said that maybe
he needs to find a way to make things hard for me.”

I grit my
teeth and try to fight back the anger that washes over me. That son
of a bitch had never had any part in this kid’s life until a year
ago, and now he’s frustrated that he has to pay? Fucking deadbeat.
My father may not have won the father of the year award, but he
always made sure I was taken care of, and that I had what I needed.
It sounds like the time has come for me to finally meet this
fucker, and help him to understand a few things.

I pull her
into my arms, wishing that I could make this whole thing go away
for her. She wraps her arms around me and takes a deep breath, her
body tense.

“
Wanna get out of here?” I suggest.

“
Not really,” she says, scrubbing her hands down her face.
“I’d rather just sit here and feel sorry for myself with a tub of
Ben & Jerry’s, to be honest.”

“
Nope,” I say. “Not happenin’. Get your purse, woman. We’re
going out.”

She complains
a bit, but with a little more coaxing, she heads to the bathroom
and freshens up.

Outside, I
hand her the helmet that I now think of as hers, and wait while she
does up the strap. “Where to?” she asks as she climbs on behind
me.

“
There’s a party at he clubhouse tonight. I wasn’t gonna go,
but I think you and I could both use a beer. Besides, you haven’t
been there yet, have you?”

She shakes her
head and I grin, starting up the motorcycle. I take the long way,
feeling the tension leave Ellen’s body the longer I drive. One
thing that a lot of people don’t get is that riding a Harley isn’t
just a mode of transportation. It’s fucking therapy. No matter how
pissed off I get, or how worried I am about something, hopping on
my bike and going for a ride makes me feel better every single
time.

We pull into
the compound and I wait while she climbs off, my eyes scanning the
long line of motorcycles, trying to figure out who’s here. I’m
surprised when I see Ryker’s ride standing proudly at the front of
the line. I thought he said he had plans with Charlie.

Taking Ellen’s
hand, I head inside, weaving through the large crowd of people
gathered. Every Friday night is busy at the Kings’ clubhouse, but
tonight is busier than usual. Bosco’s leaning against the wall in a
relatively empty part of the room.

“
Hey, Bos. What’s with all the civies?”

Bosco
chuckles. “Fuckin’ bunch of fools were at the Pig’s Ear and got
into a fight.” He waves his hand, indicating the far side of the
room where two patched members, Hulk and HaHa sit, surrounded by a
group of women I’ve never seen before. “They invited a bunch of the
ladies back here after the bouncer kicked their asses out.”

Great. We’re
not forbidden from having outsiders coming into the clubhouse, but
having a bunch of them here at once never goes well, and always
ends in some idiot civie getting his or her ass kicked. I look to
the left to see Lucy and a couple of the other whores scowling at
them all, clearly not happy to have their territory invaded. There
is no way this is going to end well.

As the new VP,
it’s probably my duty to do something about this before shit gets
out of hand, but I decide to let it go for now. I have something to
celebrate, and Ellen needs to get her mind off her problems.
Besides, how much trouble can a few women get into anyways?

Grabbing her
hand, we move to the back of the room where Ryker and Charlie are
sitting at a tall table with Tease and Laynie. “Hey fuckers,” I
tease, pulling out one of the bar stools for Ellen. “Ryk, I thought
you said you and Charlie were gonna be doing shit together, away
from here this weekend.”

“
Yeah, but it turns out Charlie had a surprise for me when I
got home. I was hoping you’d show up here because you’re the first
one I wanted to know.”

“
Oh my God,” Laynie squeals at the same time Ellen asks, “You
are?”

Charlie grins
at the two ladies and nods her head excitedly. “I’m pregnant.” All
three women let out an ear-piercing screech that draws the
attention of everyone in the room.

“
Did you hear that everyone?” I yell. “Ryk’s gonna be a
daddy!”

Rounds of
cheering fill the room, and people start shuffling forward with
beers, offering the happy couple their congratulations. I’ve never
seen Charlie smile so big as she does when she talks about how she
found out she was pregnant, and I watch my best friend as he smiles
at his wife when she tells the story. He doesn’t take his eyes off
of her.

I take Ellen’s
hand and give it a squeeze.

“
You were right,” she shouts over the drone of loud and
drunken conversation. “This was exactly what I needed.”

“Oh!”
Charlie shouts, almost jumping out of her chair. “Did you tell
Ellen
your
good
news?”

Ellen turns to
me. “You have good news?”

“
I was going to tell you later, but now’s as good a time as
any. Ryker and the rest of the Kings are gonna give me a hand
opening up my own garage. Ryker’s already found me a
building.”

“
What?” she says, throwing her arms around my neck. “That’s
awesome, Jase! I know how important that is to you.”

I can’t hide
my smile. Deciding that we need something more than beer to
celebrate, I get up and make my way to the bar, searching for a
fresh bottle of Patrón. I kneel down and look on the shelves
underneath, shoving aside half-open bottles until I finally find
what I’m looking for.

Standing with
my prize in hand, I meet a familiar pair of blue eyes that I never
thought I’d see again.

 “
Jase,” she smiles. “I was hoping I’d see
you here.”

My body
freezes. “Tawney, what are you doing here?”