Never Forever (BlackPath MC Book 1) (18 page)

Mom
is getting to know Callie over in the other corner of their front room. Mom
loves Callie just the way I knew she would. They talk like they have known each
other their whole lives. Mom is telling Callie everything about home and about
the house we are going to be living in. It was mom and dad’s first home. It’s
on the same property as our compound, where dad and mom live now. Keifer and
his wife live in town. Keifer wanted the house we’re moving into, but mom
wouldn’t have it. Mom doesn’t like Kizzy, Keifer’s wife. They have never liked
each other. They barely speak. In fact, it is better when they don’t speak. Mom
has furnished the whole house and put all the housewares we’ll need in it. All
I have to do is get her to buy our food next week and then Callie can finish it
when she gets there.

Chief
was called in to a meeting not long ago and so dad, Keifer and I are just
waiting.

“Are
letting her know everything?” Keifer asks but dad gives him a hard look and he
knows to shut up. I motion for dad to know we need to take this outside.

“Kat,
we are going outside. Be back in a few.” Dad let’s mom know and the three of us
make it outside and we walk over to mom’s SUV and get inside to have a talk.

“Keifer,
you need to keep shit to yourself. No, I have not told her everything and I am
not. I will keep her safe and she is going to be my wife. That’s all she needs
to know. Everything else is club business. She understands what club business
means. She’s not like Kizzy. She was brought up in our life.” I want Keifer to
keep his mouth shut.

“Have
you told ma?” Keifer ask dad. “Did you tell her this matter is delicate?”

 “You
leave your ma to me. She knows our life is hard and we have to do what we have
to do. You keep your woman away from Callie. She doesn’t need to be upset with
things Kizzy will throw in her face. If you want to keep her breathing, keep her
away. Last warning.” Dad looks at Keifer so they understand where the other one
stands.

“She
seems like a nice kid. I hate to see her caught up in this. When Chief finds
out we will have a war.” Keifer is always the family worrier.

Then
we see Ty stick his head out the door and look around. I step out of the door
and wave over my head letting him know we see him and will be in soon.

“We
will need to get back to Oklahoma tomorrow morning. As soon as the courthouse
is open you two can get your license and we will return Friday night. Devil if
you want to, we have that cabin at Beavers Bend for a short honeymoon. You can
at least give her that. I’ll call and have it stocked and cleaned. You need to
talk wedding when we get back in there and get it over with. The sooner the
women have it squared away the better it will be. No monkey suits though. I
hate ties and being uncomfortable. I know Chief said a couple of the club’s ol’
ladies would help. That way ma and Callie have more stuff to keep them out of
the way for a while.” Dad is talking like he is the one getting married. I know
he just doesn’t want to have to bring ma back down here this week.

 “That’s
fine with me. The cabin will work.” I hadn’t even thought about the honeymoon.
Marriage is two people, a license, and a preacher to me. All the rest is
unnecessary but if this is what I have to do to get a ring on Callie’s finger
then this is what I will do.

“I
think we should get back in there.” We all agree and get out of the SUV and
walk back into the clubhouse. I hear the laughter coming from ma before we get
in all the way. Ma and Callie are laughing it up. I knew they would be good
friends. They are too much alike not to be.

“We
need to get this wedding discussion over with. I only need to know my part.
Everything else doesn’t matter to me. What have you two come up with?” I look
at ma and Callie but both look confused.

“Son,
I know you men of mine think this world revolves around you, but we haven’t
been discussing the wedding. We were having girl talk, but if you want to
discuss the wedding we can.” My ma puts me in my place. She loves us but she
does enjoy taking our egos down a peg or two every once in a while.

“I
don’t want a wedding. A JP ceremony works for me. You wear whatever, I wear my
jeans and we go in and it is over. Simple. We make an appointment and it is
done fifteen minutes later.” Callie puts in, but Chief is coming out of his
chair and his face does not look happy.

“I
said you would have a wedding here. I am going to get Kelsey and Chelsea in
here so everything can be put together while Kat is here.” Chief lets his
wishes known. “I only have one daughter and I will give her away at her
wedding. Callie, I swore to Tommy I would. I will keep my promise or you won’t
be getting married. Ty get the girls from upstairs” Chief is not letting Callie
out of this. We will have to do a small ceremony.

“Chief,
what if we have just a simple ceremony here with just club families. Will that
work? Callie you can have your simple. Chief can give you away and I, get the I
do’s. Everyone happy. Ma, Kelsey, and Chelsea will set up the ceremony so you
don’t have to do anything. Just pick out a dress and show up.” Seems simple to
me. As long as I don’t have to wear a suit I am fine.

“What
if I want to wear jeans?” Callie is being difficult. Then I see she is just
kidding. She has a sexy little grin on her face. She knows exactly what she is
doing and ma sees it too, and has a big grin on her face. Those two together
are going to be trouble.

“Ok,
settled.” Chief must know Callie is playing or he just doesn’t care and knows
he is going to get his way. “Women in the front room and men in my office. We
need to talk about a few matters. Kelsey and Chelsea will be down soon to join
you two. Callie will you send Hambone and Zman back when they get down here.
Get it all taken care of Callie. There will be a ceremony if you’re getting
married.” With that Chief leads us into his office.

I
take the chair behind my desk and sit down. I feel tired. Very tired. Driller,
Ty, Steel, Stone, Devil and I just get seated when Hambone and Zman joins us.
Everyone here needs to know the information that we have dug up. All of our
main objectives is to keep Callie safe. I have to trust Devil and his family to
help with that now. It is hard but I have to accept it.

“Ok,
Devil I am talking to you now. Not Steel. This is the way you want it so you
get it. Diamondback is the one responsible for the shooting in front of the
club. We know he has found out Callie is his biological daughter. This son of a
bitch is twisted. We don’t know what his angle is yet, but we are sure it was
him. We have to keep him away from her for her safety. A little while after
your wedding, I am going to try and set up a meet with him. I want to find out
what he wants. I still can’t figure out why he would want to hurt her. I have
never met the man, but surely he doesn’t want to hurt her for no reason.”

Chief
looks deep in thought. The man looks tired. He can run an entire Club but when
it comes to someone hurting his little girl, then he will leave no stone
unturned or stop until he puts an end to it. “Can your club keep her safe? Will
you do what it takes to protect her?”

“Our
club will keep her safe, I assure you. I will guard her with my life and every
life in our Club. She is mine and no one hurts what is mine.” Devil says it and
by looking in his eyes I believe it. Callie has worked her magic in such little
time. I see that he genuinely cares for her. That helps with the things I must
show him next. Callie would hate it if she knew I showed this to him but I have
to. They have to know what Karen is capable of if she comes in contact with
Callie. I know Callie can take care of herself but I still do not trust Karen
to fight fair and she has sworn her revenge on Callie. She has always hated her
daughter since before she was born. She tried to make herself miscarry many
times during her pregnancy. She did not have an abortion because she knew Tommy
would have left and cut her out of his life. For as much as Karen hated Callie
she loved Tommy.

The
day Tommy was killed, even though it was Karen’s fault, she blamed Callie. The
men killed Tommy but they were sent after Callie by Karen. She was going to
sell her young daughter for drug money she owed. Callie would have become a sex
slave to depraved men. Her life would have been hell. Tommy saved her, but he
lost his own life in the process. I have to make these people understand the
lengths Karen will go to. I have to do this so I might as well get this done.

“Ok,
I will take your word for that, but you need to look at all these pictures.
These are pictures of the day Tommy, Callie’s brother, was killed protecting
her from child sex traffickers. This is what they did to his body. This is what
Callie looked like.” I showed them the pictures of each.

“These
are more pictures of Callie. Karen, and her boyfriend at the time, beat her.
She was only three. We kept her as safe as we could but the state kept giving
her back to her. Tommy finally was awarded temporary custody of her after
this.  After Tommy was killed, Karen did two years in a dry out clinic and
half-way house. A slap on the wrist. She never did any time for what she hads
done to Callie. She knows if she comes here she will die. We have cleaned up
our club, but this is me. I will put this woman in the ground.” I am watching
for Devil and Steel’s reaction but Stone is the one most moved by the pictures.
It’s like he can’t believe his eyes and he does not do a good job of containing
his anger.

“Chief
said this is not club, but I can assure you if I see Karen first she will meet
her maker.” Driller puts in.

“That
goes for me too. I don’t remember the woman but if I do meet her I will be the
last thing she sees.” Ty adds.

“That
goes for any man in this club. We stand as one on this.” Zman also puts in.

“The
women feel the same. My ol’ lady would take her out and laugh about it.”
Hambone speaks up. I know my club loves my girl and I love them for it.

“I
promise you I will protect your daughter from shit like this. That is beyond
right. Some people shouldn’t have children. I will protect her as she is mine.
I swear to you Chief.” Steel looks me in the eyes and gives me his word. Devil
is still looking at the pictures. He finally lifts his head from them and
approaches me with his hand extended for me to shake it.

“I
promise you Chief, I will never let that happen to Callie again. I will keep
her safe. You have my word.” I look in Devil’s eyes and I know there is
something he is not saying, but these pictures are a lot to take in, so I’ll
give it to him for now. If I had only known to look deeper to what he wasn’t
saying.

“Ok
then, we are on the same page. Let’s see if those women are done and we can get
on with this day.” I let everyone go with that and I will try to get through
this next week with a smile.

I
can’t believe the pictures I just saw of Callie. She was such a small child.
The things Karen did to her were unbelievable. The pictures told the story. You
would never believe the things Callie has had to live through. She doesn’t show
it from the way she acts now. She’s a little quiet for a teenager, but never
would I believe she has lived through the trauma of those pictures and to have
witnessed her brother’s death. Callie is definitely amazing. She has bounced
back from devastation and come out stronger from it.

I
see Callie and ma sitting where we left them. I know I still have to get some
rings and I guess now would be a good time to do that. It will get me out of
here for a while. Just as I am about to say that, my mom comes up to me and
pulls me over to the side and dad joins us.

“Son,
have you thought about rings yet? She’s not wearing one. I brought something
just in case you wanted it. Let me get it from my purse.”

She
goes over to the table and I see her pulling a jewelry box out of her purse.
Now I see what she has brought and you know I think it might be perfect. She
rushes back over to me and I see out of the side of my eye Callie curiously
watching.

When
ma hands me the ring box I know what is in it. It is my grandma’s wedding ring.
My grandpa gave it to my grandma when they became engaged and then my dad gave
it to my ma. Ma wouldn’t let Keifer give it to Kizzy, but she is offering it to
me. I know this is important for her so I will do it. I turn toward Callie and
crook my finger at her to get her to come over. She approaches hesitantly and I
reach for her hand. I take it in mine then I take the ring and slip it on her
wedding finger.

 “This
ring has been in my family for three generations now. My grandfather gave it to
my grandma and then my dad gave it to my ma and now I give it to you. Now all
we have to do is say I do.”

Callie
gives me the biggest smile. A real smile. Somehow that smile makes it all worth
it. I feel ten foot tall. Then I look at the faces around us and my world comes
rushing back. Chief looks concerned as always. My ma is laughing and is on
cloud nine. My dad has a guarded smile on his face. Keifer is fully pissed. He
knows ma doesn’t like Kizzy but this is like a slap in the face for him. He
asked for this ring for her and was refused. The rest of Chief’s men have no
looks or expressions on their faces but the ol’ ladies are over the moon with
my ma and are fussing over Callie. Callie looks happy but she still does not
trust me completely. Smart woman. Now just to get through this week.