Torn (24 page)

As I walked to the back door I heard her
voice faintly say, “Thanks, Jaxon.”

*****

We arrived at the church twenty minutes
before the service was due to start and I was surprised to see a
closed casket. I don’t know why but I thought I’d have one more
chance to see him, to say goodbye. But the more I thought about it,
the more I thought about what he would have wanted. He wouldn’t
have wanted people touching him or staring at him. He’d want us to
have a big party and pay our respects by celebrating his life, not
crying over his death.

The powers that be decided they would keep
his cover intact and bury him as a brother of the MC. Mark had
planned a full military funeral, including final honors.

Barb, Drew, Leila, Mark, Barrett, and I were
seated in the front row with the brothers and old ladies flanking
us. Several of the brothers took turns telling stories about good
times they had with Viper. There were brothers from other chapters,
Marines both active and retired from all over that showed up for
the service.

There were bikes as far as we could see as we
followed the hearse. I led the procession riding Viper’s Harley. It
was the hardest ride of my life, and I prayed to God along the way
to let that be the last time I had to do that.

Thankfully, the burial site service was
short. Leila looked like she would drop from exhaustion any minute.
I thought I was doing good, all things considered, until they
played “Taps” and seven Marines shot the three volleys as the final
honors. It gutted me and I had to walk away. I couldn’t stay and
watch people throw roses on the casket of my best friend, partner,
and brother. It was just too much.

Leila walked over as I sat down on V’s bike.
“Are you okay, honey?”

“Sorry, I just had to get out of there. How
are you feelin’?” I ran my hand down her belly.

“I’m okay. She’s pushing on my ribs like
crazy though.” She rubbed her side and arched her back. “Do you
want to skip the luncheon? I think everyone would understand if you
did.”

“Nah, I have to be there. Why don’t you let
me walk you back to the car?” I stood and took her hand, leading
her back to the limo behind the hearse. “Everyone is heading this
way so we should be leaving in a few.”

We met up at Magnolias for a few hours. We
shared stories and laughed the way Viper would have wanted us to.
We honored him.

Leila and I had decided to keep Viper’s bike
and put it in the garage. I wasn’t sure what else to do with it. He
loved that bike, I couldn’t imagine selling it or seeing anyone
else ride it. Leila suggested I should take it out on special
occasions and ride it to remember him.

At home that night, while Leila soaked in a
bath, I sat in the garage with two beers and had a conversation
with my best friend. “Man, I fucked up. I should have never told
you to go to that warehouse alone. I swear I never…Wherever you
are, I hope you’re happy. I wish I would’ve known about you and
Barb, man. I wouldn’t have ragged on you so much about fuckin’
around.”

I finished my beer and opened the second one.
“To you, my friend.” I raised the bottle then sat it on the ground
next to the kickstand of his bike. “Rest in peace, brother.”

Chapter Thirty-one

Leila

Tuesday morning Brody, Jaxon, and I were at
Dr. Rogers’s office for what I prayed would be our last appointment
before the baby got here. Today was my official due date and I felt
like I was going to pop any second. Dr. Roger’s exam showed no
change in my cervix; I was still at two centimeters.

It was late afternoon and Barb had changed
our night out to tonight. One last hurrah before the baby. She made
plans for us to go to dinner, but I wasn’t sure she was ready to go
to dinner.

She took Viper’s death really hard.
Apparently, unbeknownst to everyone else, they had been spending
more time together than either led on. She wouldn’t say where we
were going, only to dress nice but casual. I couldn’t help but
wonder what she had up her sleeve.

Jax stood in the doorway of our lavish
bathroom and watched me get ready. “So, she’s not tellin’ ya where
y’all are gonna go?”

“Nope.” I brushed on my mineral foundation.
“I’m worried about her.”

“She’ll be okay. It’s not like they were
getting married or anything. I mean, I know she cared about him,
she just needs time… I’m not sure I like you going to dinner,” he
quickly changed the subject the same way he did every time someone
mentioned Viper. “What if somethin’ happens and I need to get to
you? What if you go into labor, Lei?” Jax ran his hands through his
messy golden hair, which had not been cut since I had taken
scissors to it a few weeks ago. It almost reached his perfect
jawline.

I shook my head with a giggle. “First of all,
we are going to dinner, not a cruise in the Caribbean. Second, we
have our phones so I can call you. And lastly, Barb is an RN. I
think she can manage if I happen to go into labor. Which is not
going to happen, Jax. I haven’t even had a contraction in a few
days.”

“I still think she needs to at least tell me
where y’all are gonna be,” he pouted.

“What’re you doing tonight?” I tried to
redirect the conversation.

“Huh, oh, uhh…” He was stalling. “Just stuff,
not much.”

I stopped applying mascara and looked up into
the mirror to see him rubbing the back of his neck. He was stressed
about whatever it was.

“Jax, is this about Viper? I thought you
promised to let Drew and the task force handle all of that.”

“Babe.” He just looked up at me and cocked
his head.

“Oh no, Jaxon, you promised. You are supposed
to let them handle tracking Axel down—”

“Babe, stop. I’m not talking about Axel or
Viper. I swear.” He crossed the bathroom and wrapped me in his
arms. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. You don’t need the
stress, babe. Really, I’ll probably just hang here with Ruger.”

Grumbling, I pulled back. That had been
almost exactly what he said to me the night he was shot. Twice.
Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.

“Okay. I have to finish getting ready,” I
informed him as I padded past him into our enormous walk-in closet,
which was pretty spectacular. It was about the size of a normal
bedroom with built-in shelves, drawers, and cabinets that separated
my side from Jaxon’s. An island with eight long, thin drawers
resided in the middle of the room closer to the door with a bench
on the opposite end of the room.

“Babe.” He nodded at me and gave me this
feral look. All the while smiling.

“No. I’m almost ready.” I clung to the towel
I had wrapped around me.

He looked at me like prey and stalked
forward.

“Jax, I’m serious. Barb will be here any
minute and I still have to put my dress on. Out. Now.”

“Come on,” he pleaded. “I’ll be quick,
promise.”

I burst out laughing. “Oh and that’s supposed
to entice me? No, keep it in your pants, hornball. I’m gonna be
late.”

Grabbing the fitted pale pink maternity dress
off the hanger, I slipped it on. Picked out a simple pair of black
ballet flats and pushed past the pouting, horny, overgrown
man-child standing in front of me.

“Bye, honey. I’ll see you later. Love you.” I
all but ran from the bedroom and made my way down the
staircase.

Barb arrived a few minutes later, dressed in
a black tank, skinny jeans, and heeled boots. “Look at you, hot
stuff.” She whistled as she came in the kitchen, where I was
grabbing a bottle of water for the ride.

“Not looking too bad yourself, hooker. You
ready? We
have
to go before Jax—”

“Before Jax what?” His deep voice rounded the
corner.
Damn, he is so sexy.

“Before you get down here and start playing
mother hen again and getting all crazy with worry.” I was sure to
keep the large island between us. I swear the last few weeks he’d
been insatiable.

“Let’s get you out of here before Tarzan over
there drags you off.” Barb looped her arm through mine and we took
off. After a short drive, we pulled up in front of Drew’s place.
Which was weird. She drove down his block away from East Bay,
instead of up toward it. Then again this was Barb, there was no
telling what went through this chick’s head.

“What are we doing here?” I turned to her as
she took off her seatbelt.

“Drew is comin’ to dinner with us. He and
Drake are meetin’ us here. We’re all riding together,” she said as
she opened the door and hopped out of the Jeep. “Come on. I got a
text from Drew right before I got to your house that he was ready.
Drake’s not here yet so we’ll just wait inside”

“Gee, Drake’s late. Shocker,” I mumbled.

I climbed down, careful not to fall. My
center of gravity was definitely askew. Barb knocked on the door
then just walked right in. Not that I expected anything different.
She always walked in.

“Surprise!” people from screamed at us in
unison as I followed her in.

“What the hell?” I jumped back, startled.

Everyone was crammed into the condo. Jaxon,
Drew, Drake, Jane, Brody, Kai, Bobby, Donna, Jasper, Mary, Derrick,
Lois, and even Jaxon’s parents. There were decorations littering
every corner and free space.

A baby shower. I couldn’t believe after
everything that happened with Viper, Barb had the energy to do
this. Even though Jaxon and Brody both had already bought
everything any baby might need, she still wanted me to have a
shower.

A baby shower with lots of guys, no games,
beer, and pizza. Of course, I loved it. I loved pizza. The baby had
been craving Andolini’s for weeks. Yum. I wasn’t the kind of woman
who liked all that girly shit. Nope, I preferred football Sundays
to Sunday brunch, beer and pizza to champagne and caviar, and fast
American muscle cars to dainty chick imports.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” I asked my
best friend as we sat around the dining room table.

“Hells yeah I am,” Barb raised her beer and
hollered.

“You okay?” I whispered so no one else
heard.

The mask she had been wearing slipped for
just a minute and I saw she was barely dealing with the aftermath
of Viper’s death. Even if she didn’t want anyone to know. “Yep, I’m
good.”

It was a great night. Until it wasn’t.

I knew it was too good to be true. Brody was
sitting next to me at the dining room table, innocently talking
about baby names. In all of the craziness, I may have forgotten to
tell Jaxon we had decided on a name. He overheard Brody tell Rick
that we had finally picked his granddaughter’s name.

“Lillian Elizabeth Davis,” Brody said
proudly.

“What? What did you say?” Jaxon walked away
from Drake and Drew.

Oh shit.

“I said my daughter’s name. You have a
problem with that, Jax?” Brody stood up and squared off with a
hostile Jaxon. I really thought we had all gotten past this.
Apparently, I was wrong.

With the help of Jaxon’s dad, I stood up and
got between them. “Knock it off, both of you. This is supposed to
be a baby shower, not an MMA fight.”

“No, let him talk, Lei. What’s wrong with
my
daughter’s name, Jaxon?” Brody kept
poking the tattooed bear.

“Fuck you, Brody. She’s not just your child.
We get a say in her fuckin’ name too,” Jaxon spat out.

“Jaxon, please,” I tried to get a word in
edgewise.

“No, Lei, stay outta this. This is between me
and the sperm donor.”

Well, damn. It’s going
down like that tonight.

“Son of a bitch,” Brody cussed and tried to
step around me.

Drew, Kai, Bobby, and Jasper immediately
jumped between the assailing assholes. I took a couple of steps
back, trying to protect my baby and myself. Barb rushed over and
grabbed my hand. I watched as they continued to cuss each other,
while being held back by several people.

Donna, Barb, Jane, and I watched as the men
tried to get them under control. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in
my belly then all of the sudden I was wet. I could feel something
running down my legs. Looking down, I saw a puddle at my feet.

Holy shit, did I just pee
myself in all the excitement?
No fucking way. I mean sure I
had dribbled a little when she pushed really hard on my bladder,
but this was like…
Son of a bitch. I think my
water just broke.

I squeezed Barb’s hand and pointed down. Her
eyes shot back up in disbelief and mouthed
no
.

Enough. I am so over this
bullshit.
I pushed my way into my kitchen, grabbed two
frying pans and stalked back toward the chaos, slamming them
together. It only took two or three times to get everyone’s
attention.

“Enough! You two are such fucking assholes.
This was supposed to be
my
night.
My
baby shower. Of course, you’d ruin it
with your petty bullshit—”

Jaxon interrupted me. “Petty bullshit? Are
you fuckin’—”

“Shut the fuck up,” Brody shouted at him as
he tried again to push past Drew.

“Both of you shut up,” I bellowed with a
death grip on the frying pans, debating if I should just hit both
of them. “If you two would just stop for two seconds and let me
fucking talk, you’d hear me ask if you think you could stop arguing
long enough to take me to the fucking hospital.”

Aha! That got their
attention.

Chapter Thirty-two

Leila

“What
?” Jaxon rushed
to me first, with Brody hot on his trail.

“It’s time?” Brody asked, eyes as wide as
half dollars. “Are you sure?”

“Well, the puddle on the floor would be a
damn good indication,” Barb snarked.