Spec (Defenders M.C, Book 6) (9 page)

Sixteen

Candy forced her eyes open and stared at the stark white walls of the hospital.  She was so thirsty she thought she might die.

“Water.”  She croaked out and a straw pressed to her lips.  She drank thirstily and groaned when the straw was pulled away.

“Easy honey.  You’ll make yourself sick.”  Angel’s voice sounded tired and she looked like hell.  Candy must have said so because Angel raised a brow.

“Well thanks very much.  You scared the shit out of us.”

She let her eyes cut around the room and found Spec leaning on the window ledge.  His knuckles were white from holding onto it so tightly.  Candy tried to offer him a smile.

“Angel, give us a minute.”

She looked up at him and almost argued before she caught his look.  “I’ll be right back Candy.”

Candy couldn’t look away from the intensity in Spec’s eyes.

“Why?”

“I had to.  How could I let him take you from me?”

“He could have killed you Candy.  You know what that would have done to me.  How could you put yourself at risk like that?”

“Women do crazy things for love.”

Spec’s anger melted away and he rushed for her.  He eased his arms around her and kissed her until she could barely breathe.

“Never again.  Don’t you ever do that again.  You are so much more important than me.  I can’t live without you Candy.”

“I’ll never ask you to.  I promise Adam.”

“I love you Candy.”  He looked into her eyes.  “I love you.”

“I love you too Adam.”

They just sat there for what seemed like hours.  They looked at each other, they kissed and they shared whispers.

“I want a life with you.”

“I want that too.”  She was feeling so sleepy.  Her eyes started to close and she heard him chuckle.

“Rest Sweets and I will be here when you wake up.”

“I want a cheeseburger.”  She drifted off but she thought she heard him laugh.  She loved his laugh.

The next time she woke the room was dark.  She heard something that made her fight to open her eyes, but she couldn’t figure out what it was.  When her eyes opened she saw Preach standing nose to nose with her mother.  She slammed her eyes shut and just listened to what they were whispering about.

“How the fuck do you expect me to protect her from a bullet?  You sent her up her to be a goddamned stripper!  We have done a hell of a lot for her so stow your judgmental bullshit right now.  I know how she was raised so don’t give me this mother of the year bullshit.”

“You son of a bitch.  You don’t get to talk to me this way.”

“You need to leave right fucking now Ruby.”

“That is my kid in that bed.  I have a right to be here.”

Candy hadn’t seen her mother since she was sixteen and the woman had turned her out of the house.  Candy didn’t pretend that her life in a tiny camper trailer had been sunshine and roses, but it had been something.  Candy had made the mistake of going to the pool and had stopped by the club her mom had worked in to drop off something her mom had left at home.  She had worn cut off shorts and a tank top over her bikini, but it had made her mother furious.  After that there had been more calls to the trailer and more of them had talked to Candy.  After that Ruby just saw her as competition and sent her on her way. 

She had given her a ratty old envelope and told her if things got to bad she could take it to a man with a tattooed cross on his arm by the name of Preacherman.  He would make sure she was taken care of.  Candy’d had too much pride even then.  She had moved in with a friend and finished high school.  Funny how much a like her life had been to Spec’s even if he had lived with the comforts of money.  She had worked her ass off to make money and had even done sidewalk drawings for tourists in summer.  Luckily living in south Florida, she didn’t need many clothes so she was able to save some of her money and buy a piece of shit car.

It wasn’t until her friend went to college that she found herself truly adrift.  She worked her way north seeking information on the man who could offer her security.  She found him, but she didn’t disclose the letter.  She hadn’t known that he knew who she was until just now.

“You gave up your rights to her when you tossed her out on her fucking ear at sixteen.  What kind of mother does that shit?”

“It was for her own good.”

“You were jealous!”

“Fuck you Preach.  You don’t know me.  Just because I fucked your brother doesn’t give you the right to say shit to me.  He left!  I had to make the best of it.”  She spat with venom.

“He died Ruby.”

“He died after he left me with a baby on the way.  He died three years after that so don’t defend that shit.”

“Why didn’t you send her to me?”  We would have taken care of her.”

“I did send her to you!  I sent her to you with a fucking letter from Neil.”

Candy heard a long exhale.  “I’ve never seen it.  If Spec hadn’t traced her back to you I’d never have known and she would have been just another club girl.  Do you know how rough that life is on a girl like Candy?  You could have picked up the goddamned phone.  How the hell do you even know about this shit anyway?”

“Mrs called me.”

“The fuck she did!  Why the hell would she do something like that?”

“Because she knows a mother has a right to be with her child when she’s hurting.”

“That’s bullshit Ruby.  You want something and I’m not dumb enough not to see that plain as day.  What is it?”

“I want a job Preach and maybe a little money to get on my feet.  I have been struggling since my last boyfriend kicked me out and that call from your old lady was a God send.”

“I’ve got nothing for you.  I might be able to make arrangements for one of the other clubs to take you in, but you’d just be a club girl ‘cause I ain’t speakin’ for you.  That’s a shitty life for a woman your age.  No chance of being anything but a whore.”

“I’d have food and a job.  The rest don’t matter.  When do you think you could do that for me?”

“I’ll make a call to a charter down south.  Might be a good idea to keep you away from Candy.  When can you leave?”

“Right now if you think they’ll take me in.”

“So much for the motherly act.  You don’t want to wait until she wakes up?”

“Nah, she wouldn’t want to see me anyhow and I can’t say that it’s worth the delay to wait around on her to finish her beauty sleep.  I can see she hasn’t made much of herself.  She’ll probably be down there with me in a few years.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.  She is my blood and she will always be taken care of.  That girl is going to school and working her ass off.  She’s not a fucking stripper and she’s no whore.  She’s Spec’s old lady and he’s damned lucky to have her.”

“Well I guess she must have sucked enough dick to win her respect then.”

Candy felt a tear roll down her face.

“I always knew she would turn out to be a little whore.”

The crack of flesh meeting flesh was loud in the room.  “You just lost your chance Ruby.  Get the fuck out of here and if I see you again I’ll put you in the ground myself.”

“I have a right to my kid.  Sounds like she might be able to take care of her poor mama now and she owes me goddamnit.”

“If you want to breathe, you will disappear.”

Candy heard the rustle of something and figured Preach was paying the woman that had given her life.

“That’s all you’re getting out of this club.  Beat it Ruby and if I even get a thought that you are fucking with Candy you are dead.”

The door closed and Candy kept her eyes shut tight.

“You gonna play possum all day?”  Preach said on a sigh.

“I didn’t know what to say.”  She opened her eyes and looked up at the man that was the only relation she had left.

“Nothin’ to say in a situation like that.  Best to let me handle it.  It’s the least I can do.”  He sat in a chair by the bed.  “Why didn’t you ever tell me?  I could have made things easier on you.”

“I didn’t know.  I never read the letter.  It was addressed to you.”

She tried to sit up and Preach reached out to help her.

“You’re my father’s brother?”

He nodded. 

“He left us.”

He nodded again.  “He had a rough life.  Some bad shit was on his tail.  He left to keep it from finding you.”  Preach wiped his face.  “It found him.”

“What now?”

“Up to you.  I think Angel will be thrilled.”  He sat back in the chair and it creaked.

“I want to think about it a little.  I want to tell Adam first.”

Preach nodded. 

They sat in silence until Candy drifted back to sleep.  The next morning she woke to the sound of Preach’s voice again, but this time it was accompanied by Adam’s.  She had almost convinced herself that everything with her mother had all been a dream until she saw the look on Preach’s face when he nodded and left the room.  She suddenly felt less alone in the world and she didn’t know what to do with the warmth the feeling brought to her.

Spec bent to kiss her and filled her with another sort of warmth as he set a cup of coffee on the little table along with a bowl of fruit.

“How are you feeling Sweets?”

“I’m ok I think.”

Candy had only been hit in the side and the bullet had gone clean through.  Tommy wasn’t so lucky.  He had tackled Pick and taken a bullet to the chest.  Candy was released after spending one night in the hospital while Tommy would have to stay longer.  The doctors were confident that he would recover, but his condition was critical.  Mina had insisted on staying with him. 

Seventeen

Spec moved into Candy’s apartment as soon as he could get her home.  He refused to leave her for any reason until she was totally well.  She found it endearing for the first few days, but it began to feel confining by the end of the week. 

The women had been bringing over groceries, but a trip to the store sounded like an adventure to Candy.  She had decided enough was enough.  She stepped out of the bathroom with only her towel on and stepped toward him.

“Shit!  Don’t do that to me Candy, it’s cruel.”

“How is this cruel?”  She felt embarrassed for a moment.  What if he didn’t like her scar…

“We can’t do anything right now.  You need to get better first.

“I’m fine Adam.  I heard you talking to Preach.  You have things to do.”

“I can do them from here.”

“What about school?  I need to go back on Tuesday.”

“I’ll drive you.”  He leaned back on the couch.  “Might even join you.”

She dropped her towel and stepped closer to him.  “I have needs Adam.”

His eyes were riveted to her body.  “I won’t hurt you to satisfy myself.”

“Adam please.  I need to go get my hair done and I want to go to the store.  I’m getting stir crazy.  If you won’t touch me at least let me out of here for a little air.”

He let out a long breath.  “Get dressed.  We can go to the clubhouse for a little while, but I can’t let you out by yourself just yet.”

Candy wanted to argue, but anything was better than being cooped up in the apartment.  She turned to walk off and heard him groan so she added a little shake to her ass to punish him a little.

The clubhouse was quiet.  Candy found Lacey sitting on a barstool nursing a soda while Megan and Max dug in to two bowls of ice cream.

“Hmm, that looks good.  Any of that left for me?”  Candy asked as she pressed a kiss to first Megan’s and then Max’s sticky cheeks. 

“Mmmhmm.  Daddy always keeps ice cream in the freezer.  The chocolate with nuts is the best.”  Megan said with a big grin.

Max looked up at her with his little round face and grinned a chocolate grin.

Nikki came in with three bowls filled with the frozen goodness and winked.

“I saw you come in and just figured.  How ya holdin’ up sweetheart?”  She asked as she took a bite of her ice cream.

“I’m about to lose my mind.”  Candy admitted.

Lacey gave her a knowing grin.   

“How do I get him to stop treating me like I’m going to break?”

Nikki and Lacey looked at each other and smiled.  “Sex.”  They both said at the same time and laughed.

“I tried that before we left and he turned me down!  He isn’t willing to hurt me.  I’m going crazy.”

“You get him in bed and he will see you aren’t going to break and he will start to lighten up.  Believe me.  We have both been there and we feel your pain.”  Lacey said with a shudder.

“I’ve tried! He won’t let me touch him.”

Nikki grinned and leaned in close.  “Strip naked and wear nothing but your cut.  They can’t handle that shit.  Let him see that you belong to him and he won’t be able to think about saying no.”

Lacey almost purred.  They are a proprietary bunch.  Her cheeks heated and Candy thought there was probably a steamy story there.

Candy smiled evilly.  “Oh I think I can handle that.”