Soothing His Madness (6 page)

His amenability
should've pleased her. He wasn't making demands and she was free to do whatever
she wanted with what she acquired before she met him. She walked past him and
out the door. Then why was she taking his compliance as a sign that things
would never be the way she hoped?

She never wanted to
be a woman who relied on her man for money, security, or protection. She valued
her independence, and believed women should not give up their livelihood just
because they married. She glanced at Slade and warmed. Yet for a short time
when they were having sex, she delighted in him taking control of the situation.
Then it was as if someone had flipped a switch, because she fought with him for
taking responsibility of his kids onto himself when she was willing to help.

He slipped his
fingers in her hand and together they walked across the parking lot. Maybe she
was the one that was messed up. The other girls were right. Loving a biker was
a pain in the ass but when it was good, it was the best thing she'd ever
experienced.

Chapter Ten

A gray Cadillac
drove past the turnout, taking the on-ramp to I-5. Slade pulled out his
pre-paid cell and checked the time. Five minutes until three o'clock, and Ray hadn't
arrived at the meeting point yet. He hoped the motherfucker showed up, or
everything he set into motion was screwed.

"If things go
bad, you get the hell out of here." Rain walked over to his Harley and
straddled the seat. "We'll take care of cleaning up."

Slade spit on the
ground. "It's not going in that direction. I'm taking my kids back whether
we strike a deal or not, and no one's stopping me."

Rain motioned for
Torque to take off. Slade watched him ride away. Ray had to come, or his plan
for Torque to get his kids could turn bad. He'd planned every scenario if
things went wrong.

So far, he knew
Kurt received the message Tori sent through Shiloh Baker, who lived in the next
apartment to his ex, and the boys were at the Baker's waiting for Torque to
pick them up. Shiloh's husband, Deek, owed him for the engine re-haul he did
for free last year when Deek lost his job, and promised to play the middleman.

If everything went
according to plan, the boys were safe and ready to come home.

"Heads up,
amigo
."
Raul slid his hands into his gloves and stepped away from his bike in an almost
cat like move.

Ray's blue sedan
pulled into the off-road parking spot below the on-ramp. Slade's gut tightened
and he remained on his motorcycle. Tonight, he'd have his kids under his roof
and safe from Los Li coming to Pitnam, his woman lying beside him, and the
motherfucker who made his life hell would no longer be a problem.

The car stopped and
Ray stepped out, sniffing and looking around as if he could take them all down.
Slade waited for the motherfucker to approach him. He was done bending over and
being raped because he was afraid of what the court would say. He'd handle
today's meeting man to man, in a language the motherfucker understood.

"Last I heard,
Ramchett, drop-offs were at a designated spot and required the kids to be with
me. I don't think Judge Harvey meant we were supposed to meet outside of the
designated weekends, under an overpass, with your…gang surrounding you." Ray
stopped four feet away, lit a cigarette, and blew out the smoke. "This
better be good. If I miss buying in at the table tonight, because of this
little meeting, I'm sure Jodie wouldn't mind having the kids the next time
you're scheduled to have them."

"Then I'll
make this short, so you can understand and leave." Slade reached behind
his back, removed a thick envelope out of the backpack tied to his bitch seat,
and slapped it onto the gas tank of the Harley. "I want them Lee and Kurt
back under my roof every night and sitting at my table every morning. There's
seventy-five thousand dollars in cash in this bag. That money buys your
cooperation. You'll keep Jodie away from my kids, and keep her from notifying
her attorney that I have the kids full time."

Ray ran his hand
over the back of his neck. "She'll never go for it."

The motherfucker
twitched with unhidden desire to grab the loot. He was probably already dreaming
of raising the stakes in the poker game tonight. Slade shrugged. "She will
if you share the money with her. All she's ever been about is living a
comfortable life and having fun. Divide the dough any way you want to please
her, and keep the rest."

"Shit,"
Ray muttered.

"I know you
have Banjoey after you for a gambling debt. There's more than enough to pay him
off and start over. All I want in exchange for the cash is my kids and you to
keep Jodie from fighting me for custody. We both know you'd rather not have the
boys underfoot. I can make that happen, right now."

"I need a
hundred grand." Ray took the cigarette out of his mouth, and flicked the
filter behind him. "Jodie rather play all the time than take care of the
kids, and I need to pay off my debts."

Slade shook his
head. "Seventy five and I don’t kill you. Buy your freedom."

"Fuck." Ray
ran his hands through his hair and glanced at each member of the Bantorus club.
"Jodie will know you killed me…"

Slade lifted his
brow. "Doesn't bother me if she knows or doesn't know. She's not my
concern, she's yours."

"Jesus." Ray
planted his hands on his hips and paced. "Are the bills marked?"

Slade again shook
his head. "Clean money. It's yours if you walk away and don't make any
move to fight me. Give me a month, and then have Jodie contact me. I'll set up
times when she can see the kids at Cactus Cove. Only at Cactus Cove. I'm not
looking to kick her out of their life, but it's not healthy for them to be
around you both."

"I ain't done anything
to those kids." Ray glared. "They got a roof over their heads and they
go to school."

"Right,"
Slade muttered, removing his pistol from the back of his jeans and pulled back
the chamber. "One bullet in the knee for all the dinners they were forced
to make themselves from the stale shit they found in the cupboard."

"They ate,"
Ray snapped.

"One bullet in
the thigh for not providing electricity to keep them warm at night, because you
were out gambling their comfort away," Slade raised his arm.

"God
damnit." Ray stepped backward. "Let me think."

"One bullet in
your stomach for the hell you put my boys through the last two years."
Slade pointed the pistol at Ray's midsection.

"I don't want
the kids," Ray said, shaking his head. "I need the money."

Slade raised his
aim. "One bullet between your eyes, motherfucker, for putting Kurt in the
position of having to raise and protect his little brother, and making him
choose between doing what's right and having what he wants."

"Okay!" Ray
bent over at the waist and braced his hands on his knees. "I'll take the
money. You can have your kids."

Slade picked the
envelope up with one hand, and kept his pistol sighted on Ray with the other.
He tossed the money to the ground. "You show your face anywhere around me,
my woman, my kids, and the deals off. I'll kill you without blinking."

Ray scooped up the
package, thumbed through the contents, and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I got
you."

"Then get the
fuck out of here." Slade lowered his arm, but kept the pistol in his hand.

When the dust from
the gravel spraying under Ray's tires settled and he could no longer hear the
car, Slade put his weapon away and turned to Rain. "Text Torque and see if
he has the kids."

Rain pulled out his
phone. Several minutes went by, and he raised his head and met Slade's eyes.
"Boys are safe and on their way to Cactus Cove."

Only then did the
air he desperately need the last two weeks without his boys fill his lungs. He
leaned forward and braced his arms on the handlebars of his bike, and let his
head fall between his hands. Rain slapped him on the shoulder. He raised his
head and the relief was so great, he laughed.

Raul grinned,
joining in the laughter. Rain raised his gaze to the sky and shook his head in
amusement. Slade kept laughing, because damned if it didn't feel good.

Rain walked over
and sat his Harley. "If you boys are done fucking around, let's
ride."

Slade started the
Harley, and followed the dust trail onto the highway. He couldn't wait to get
his arms around his family. Now that he had half his problems fixed, he could
protect and love his family the way they deserved. He filled his lungs with
fresh air. It was a damn good feeling to have the madness at bay for a change.

Chapter Eleven

Torque entered
Cactus cove and lifted his chin at Taylor. She leaned against the bar waiting
to clean table number six, smiled and turned around to sit on a bar stool when
she froze, catching a glimpse of a red T-shirt squeezing out from behind
Torque's body.

Lee fell into the
room, skidding on his sneakers. Taylor's heart raced. Far as she knew, the boys
were supposed to be at their mother's house, and nowhere near Slade. The judge
was very precise on the orders that he only had contact with his kids every
other weekend.

She hurried over,
catching Lee as he threw himself at her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
She gazed up at Torque. "What are you doing? This could get Slade in
trouble," she whispered.

"Slade
knows." Torque ruffled his hand in Kurt's hair. "Little men are going
to hang with us. Slade's on his way here."

All she could do was
stare bug eyed at Torque. He wasn't giving her any answers, and Slade made no
mention of the kids coming. In fact, the last thing he said was…

"Oh my
God," she whispered. "He wouldn't…would he?"

"Let's not go
there." Torque moved in closer and pressed his hand into her back, guiding
her over to a table. "I bet the kids would love one of Bruce's special
hamburgers with a load of fries. Why don't you go get the order started and
bring us all a big glass of milk."

She glanced at the
kids sitting in the chairs to Torque watching her carefully. "Slade?"

"Is
fine…" Torque raised his brows. "Breathe, sweetheart, and go get the
boys some food. They're hungry."

On autopilot, she
gave the order to Bruce to relay to the cook, and then filled three glasses
with milk before returning to the table. She passed the boys their drink, and
handed the last milk to Torque.

The lines around
his eyes intensified and his mouth softened. "Really?"

"Huh?"
She glanced at the glass of milk in her hand when it dawned on her what she did.
"Sorry. I'll get you a beer."

His hand came out
and tagged her elbow before she could hurry away. "Slow down. Sit. Milk
would probably be good for me—he raised his brows at the kids—bottoms up,
boys."

Taylor sat down
when Torque pulled out an extra chair for her. She looked around helplessly,
wondering if she should be doing something. Maybe hiding the children in case
the police showed up or taking them back to their mother's house to keep Slade
from getting in trouble would help.

Kurt wiped his
forearm across his mouth, erasing the milk mustache from his face.
"Where's dad?"

"Well…"
She glanced at Torque, but he looked off in Ginger's direction. "I'm not
sure, but Torque says he's coming here."

Lee whispered,
"We're sick."

"Huh?"
She took in his grin, his legs swinging on the chair, and the excess energy
that kept him always moving. "Does your tummy hurt?"

"We're not really
sick." Kurt kicked Lee under the table, eliciting a yelp from his brother.
"Dad had Aunt Tori text me last night. We were only pretending we had the
flu so we could stay home from school and Mrs. Baker would babysit us."

The pounding of her
blood roared in Taylor's ears. She schooled her reaction to that bit of
information, and formulated her own conclusion. Slade had planned to abduct his
kids, and didn't share that information with her.

Bruce appeared with
two plates filled with food. "Eat up if you ever think you'll be strong
enough to hold up a Harley. Can't join Bantorus, until you can ride on your
own."

Both boys dug into
their food with gusto at the challenge. Taylor sagged against the chair. Males
of all ages came with a healthy appetite, but she wondered if Lee and Kurt's
hunger came from lack of food at their mother's apartment. Even wondering about
their wellbeing softened her attitude toward Slade.

It wasn't as if she
disagreed with his idea to have Lee and Kurt home with him. She pushed a paper
napkin closer to Lee, and smiled at him when he mopped his face. Slade wasn't
dealing with club business, but children who required school, routine, and the
carefree experience of being children instead of mini adults caught in the
middle of their parents' battle.

Lee raised his
head, put his burger down, and slid off his chair. Taylor snapped out of her
thoughts and gazed in the direction Lee ran, and her gaze collided with Slade.
He continued staring at her as he hugged his son to his chest and lifted him in
the air. Her sigh of relief came and went. She broke her gaze with him and
looked at Kurt.

Kurt grinned. She shook
her head in defeat. Slade's oldest son was exactly like him. He acknowledged
his dad's arrival with the quiet acceptance in which Slade often handled
change. And, she had no clue what the boy was thinking, and he wasn't in any
hurry to share his thoughts with her.

Slade corralled Lee
back to the table, leaned down and kissed Taylor's upturned and questioning
mouth, and whispered, "Later, baby girl."

Raul came over to
the table, squatted beside Kurt, and laid a link to a chain beside his plate.
"Brand new. Do you remember how I showed you to take the pin out and align
the link?"

"Yeah."
Kurt picked up the piece and shoved it in the front pocket of his jeans.
"Thanks, Uncle Raul. I can't wait to fix my dirt bike and get back to
riding."

Everyone acted as
if it wasn't unusual to kidnap two boys and have Lee and Kurt at the bar in the
middle of the day. She scooted her chair out and stood.

Slade blocked her
escape. "Hey, sit and relax."

"I need to get
back to work." She sidestepped to walk around him.

Ginger paused on
her way by. "Don't worry, I have you covered. Next Thursday, I have a
dentist appointment. We'll switch shifts. Go be with your family."

She brought her
hand up to her forehead, trying to keep up with the changes. "Okay…thanks,
Ginger."

Slade watched her
carefully. "See. Everything is covered. No worries."

She pointed to the
hallway. "Can someone watch the boys, so I can talk to you in
private?"

Slade frowned. "Can't
it wait?"

"No, not
really." She walked off, hoping he'd follow her.

What she had to say
to him wasn't something the kids should overhear and honestly, she wasn't sure
she could keep her voice down. Slade risked his freedom, the kids' security,
and their relationship by stealing the kids from the custodial parent. People
didn't do that sort of thing without getting in trouble.

She paced in the
hallway, keeping an eye out for Slade. When she thought he wasn't going to come
and talk to her, he entered the hallway. She met him halfway. "What the
hell did you do?"

"Got my
kids," he said.

She held her arms
up in the air. "I can see that, but how?"

A flicker of
something—guilt or reluctance to share that bit of information, perhaps?—flashed
over his face. He glanced behind him and lowered his voice. "The less you
know, the better off you'll be."

"Don't give me
that shit. I live with you. I'm going to be taking care of those boys. Don't
put me in the middle and expect me to accept when someone comes and rips my new
family out of my arms." She yanked at her Tee, overworked and hot.

Slade rocked
forward, his gaze heated. "Like the sound of that, baby girl."

She slapped his
chest, and when he only came closer, she planted both of her hands on him and
shoved. She stepped backward, because he only kept coming forward. "Don't
do that," she warned.

He stepped closer,
tagged the front of her jeans, and pulled her up against him. "Or
what?"

She moaned in
frustration over her body melting at the contact. She hated and loved the way
she reacted, but now was not the time. "I'm serious, honey. I need to
protect those kids and you, because I don't want to lose everyone."

Slade's body
softened and he cupped her ass, holding her in place. "I paid him
off."

"What?"
She arched back to look in his face. "Who?"

"Ray. I used
every penny I had in savings, called a favor on a couple of the guys who owed
me money, and got enough dough together where I thought Ray would take the
deal. He did. The motherfucker couldn't care less about the kids and as long as
Jodie is settled and has money in her pocket, I figure I have about two months
before I have to worry about her showing up to see the kids." He leaned
down until she was breathing the same air. "They're out of our lives for
now. I took care of things."

"But the court
ruled—"

"I took care
of things." He kissed her softly. "Let me do my job of taking care of
my family."

She relaxed and nodded.
"Okay, but this has got to stop. You can't do things behind my back when
what you do affects me."

"I hear
you." He kissed her lightly. "Some things though, I'm going to do and
you're going to have to accept them because I'm not going to have my woman
treating me like pussy…when it concerns my kids, I deal with it. Can you
honestly tell me they're better off with Jodie and Ray?"

"No," she
whispered.

He nodded. "Do
they belong to me?"

"Yeah, but you
also belong to me." She blinked extra-long and then looked up into his
eyes. "Just, please, let me be your old lady once in a while, huh?"

He kissed her
again. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Good." She
wiggled away from him.

He pulled her back.
"Here's something else. I want you with me if you're not at work. I want
both of us covering the kids when they're not in school."

"Because of Ray?"
she asked.

"Yeah, and Los
Li will be arriving in Pitnam tomorrow." He smoothed her hair back from
her face. "Need you safe. Need my kids safe."

"Los Li came
through years ago, when I first started working here." She shuddered.
"A couple of their guys came into the bar when Bantorus members were out
on a run. The riders who stayed behind didn't recognize them, but when one of
them started mouthing off, everything went crazy. They caused a lot of damage
and trouble."

"They start
anything with you?" His gaze intensified.

She shook her head.
"Not really, I hid in the office with Sugar once the fighting started. Do
you remember her?"

"Yeah, she's
out of the club and doesn't have anything to do with bikers anymore." He
dropped his head. "Rain will have you protected here. I'm a phone call
away if they show up. I won't let anything happen."

She shrugged off
his concern. "I know. I'm not worried about them."

He kissed her hard.
"Let's get the kids home and settled. Then we'll talk more."

"Talk?"
She laughed. "The only time we do that is when I fight with you."

He looped his arm
over her shoulders. "Yeah, well, I like fighting."

"No, you just
like to shut me up." She stopped walking and turned to him. "We need
a new bed. If your kids are living with us, there's no way we're using that
squeaky old mattress of yours."

He pulled her
along. "We'll use the floor."

She leaned against
his side, slipping her hand into his back pocket on his jeans. Confident she
won this last round of being included into his decisions and she got the honest
answers she was looking for, she relaxed. Later, she'd find out more in case
there was a threat against the boys that she'd have to watch out for. The Los
Li problem didn't concern her, but Slade's ex freaked her the way out. She
didn't trust the woman.