Hadley (The Club Girl Diaries Book 3) (22 page)

We stepped out the doors of the airport and my eyes widened. It looked as though the whole club was here.

Their bikes were lined up perfectly next to the curb, and each man stood next to their bike. I couldn’t stop the smile that crept onto my lips.

Optimus stepped forward, grasping Leo’s hand and pulling him in and patting him on the back. “Welcome back.” They pulled apart and Leo grinned. “Let’s get home.”

Optimus nodded. “Got Ham to bring your bike. He’s gonna catch a ride home in the truck with Chelsea.” I looked past the bikes to see Op’s truck, Chelsea waving out the window with a wide smile. I waved back before Leo grabbed my hand, and led me to where his bike was parked, next to Blizzard.

Blizzard folded his arms across his chest and smirked. “You gonna buy me a new ride?”

Leo snorted and handed me a helmet, before putting on his own. “Buy your own.”

I gave him an apologetic smile, but he just laughed, throwing his leg over his bike and starting the motor. Leo waiting for me to climb on the back before he started his up. The familiar rumble of a bike between my legs was nice. Being around Satan’s Sanctuary for the last few years, I knew how to ride. To me, it was a thrill, and I could already feel the excitement filling me as I wrapping my arms around Leo’s body, plastering myself to his back.

The roar of engines surrounded it, everyone at the airport turning to stare in awe as around fourteen bikes pulled away from the curb. We rode in a large pack down the highway, Chelsea’s truck in the middle surrounded by the deafening purr of Harley’s. As we cruised, I took the time to admire each of the brothers’ bikes.

Optimus’ had the Brothers by Blood logo airbrushed onto the side, something I noticed only he and Kit had on their bikes. I assumed it was an honor given to the presidents of their chapters.

Blizzard’s bike stood out too. While all the other men had varying styles—they were all black, a couple with accents of color. Blizzard’s though, it was a beautiful dark blue. It reminded me of his name, the dark shade of navy that the clouds would go when a storm was brewing.

It really was stunning.

The chrome on the bikes glistened in the sunlight, every single bike sparkling and clean. These men took pride in them, they were important and to be respected. You fucked with a man’s bike, you were looking for a world of hurt.

As we pulled into the road heading to the clubhouse, I noticed the black marks were still evident from where I’d slid Leo’s truck into the corner at high speed. The marks traveled across the road and bumped up onto the curb.

I shuddered. It was a day I’d never forget, the scars it left were a reminder.

Leo’s hand covered mine and he squeezed it. I squeezed back, telling him I was okay.

We pulled through the club gates, and the men backed their bikes back into line with flawless precision. I was saddened as I watched the men gather around Leo, realizing someone was missing from the group.

“Where’s Slider?” I asked, drawing the attention to me.

Leo looked around, realizing his brother wasn’t gathered with them.

“In the hospital,” Optimus said.

I grabbed Leo’s arm, I wasn’t sure why. It was like an automatic reaction, like touching him would give me strength. “What happened?”

Some of Leo’s brothers moved away while Blizzard and Op stayed.

“He came off his bike,” Blizzard explained.

I squeezed my eyes shut. “The drugs, they make him dizzy and lightheaded. It almost happened once before, I should have told you.”

“No,” Optimus said. “He should have told us.”

I opened my eyes, seeing Optimus clenching his jaw tightly.

“That should have never been put on you, and I apologize.”

“Op’s right,” Leo said, taking my hand. “We are his brothers and he kept it from us. That hurt us all.”

I leaned into Leo. “He’s hurting, too. He’s scared, he thinks he going to die.”

“Is he?” Blizzard asked with complete seriousness. I pulled my brow together in confusion. Blizzard sighed. “He won’t tell us anything. And there’s so much shit going on here at the moment, we’ve sort of just let him have his peace.”

I noticed the way Optimus clenched his fists. I looked up at Leo, curious to know what the tension was about, but he shook his head. “Later.”

I turned back to Blizzard. “He never really told me what the doctors had said. But yeah, there’s a high possibility he might not make it.” I laid it out for them. It was the truth. Slider may not pull out of this alive. For now, there were some options, but cancer was unpredictable at the best of times. It destroyed people’s hope, their families, their lives. And then it destroyed them.

When the men didn’t respond, I asked, “Can I see him?”

Leo patted me on the butt. “How ‘bout we deal with one drama at a time.”

“This place is turning into a regular soap opera,” Blizzard grumbled as we followed him inside the clubhouse.

Rose jumped up from a table where she sat with Jayla, rushing over to give me a hug. I giggled.

“I’m glad you got back okay,” she said as she stepped back.

I sighed. “Me too. But unfortunately, we’re no better off than we were when we left.”

“Not true. At least I have a workable plan now,” Leo interrupted.

“That you won’t inform me of,” I said, screwing up my nose.

“That being said…” Op cut in, “…let’s get into church and talk some shit out.”

Leo nodded, bending to kiss me on the cheek. “Won’t be long, go upstairs and try to get some rest. I’m gonna leave Macy at Carly’s tonight.” Then he was gone, following the boys out of the room.

I followed Rose over to the table where Jayla sat, tickling the young girl under the chin as I said hello and earning a giggle from her.

I sat down. “Thanks for calling Angelo,” I told her as she picked up a marker, helping Jay with the picture she was coloring.

She looked up and smiled. “When Blizzard said you guys were moving up the east coast, I knew he’d be able to get to you quickly. Angelo is good like that.”

I rolled my shoulders, trying to ease the tension that had built up in them over the past week. “His lady friend, Emerson I think her name was, she gave me these clothes.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “Did you say Emerson?”

I frowned. “I’m pretty sure he said her name was Emerson.”

“Holy shit,” she murmured.

“Umm… okay. So who is she?” I asked, sitting forward. Angelo was mysterious. He had a darkness that surrounded him, but he was only ever polite to me for the small amount of time we were with him.

Rose swallowed. “My cousin.”

I sat up straight. “Woah. Woah. Woah. Isn’t Angelo part of your family?”

She shook her head. “Uncle Anthony took Angelo in when he was young, brought him up as a son. This is why his loyalty is to the DePalmas. Anthony was like his father, I’m not sure what happened with his real parents.”

“And Emerson?”

“Belongs to Anthony’s younger brother Antonio. He doesn’t have much to do with the family business. He built his own empire in hotels and resorts. From what I’ve caught, he distanced himself from the mafia side of the family. He attends family gatherings, but he refuses to have any part.”

“You can just step out of things like that?”

Rose shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ve only met him and Emerson once, and there didn’t seem to be any animosity between Antonio and Anthony.”

“I’m sure there might be if Antonio figures out his daughter is screwing Angelo.”

Rose nodded. “Me too. That’s why I’m surprised. That and Emerson must be barely twenty-one. Angelo is like forty.”

“Well, that sounds like a whole mess I don’t want to be involved in.” I laughed.

Rose sighed. “I hope he knows what he’s doing.”

“He seems to have things pretty under control,” I commented, trying to ease her mind a little.

She nodded, forcing a smile. “You’re right.”

“Hey Hadley,” Chelsea said, followed by a yawn as she made her way down the stairs.

“Hey, you disappeared when we got back,” I said, standing to meet her in a hug.

She stepped back, nodding as another yawn took over her features. “Yeah sorry. These babies, they step on my bladder, and if I don’t rush to a bathroom I pee my panties.”

A loud burst of laughter rang out from Rose, but she quickly snapped her mouth closed when Chelsea shot her a death stare.

“You just wait. We both know once things are sorted with Jay, that Blizzard’s going to be putting as many babies in you as he can,” Chelsea said, pointing a sharp finger.

Rose snorted. “Yeah, at this rate I’ll be fifty. The courts keep screwing us around.”

Jayla looked up from her picture and looked at Rose. “Are you going to have a baby?” she asked in her whisper quiet voice.

Rose glared at Chelsea, before plastering a smile on her face. “Not anytime soon, honey. Aunt Chelsea is just hormonal and grasping at straws.”

Jayla screwed up her nose. “What’s hormonal?”

I tried to stifle my giggle, covering my mouth with my hand.

Rose rolled her eyes. “Jesus Christ, Blizzard is going to shoot me.”

“You think this will work?” Op asked, reclining in his seat.

I scratched at my beard. “Don’t know for sure, but we’re running out of options here. Can’t lose her now.”

Op nodded, totally understanding how I felt. He would do anything to protect Chelsea and keep her safe. The stakes were high, but I knew I had my brothers at my side. Being in Troy had been good, but they were extended family. It was these men who I’d spent so many years of my life with, riding the ups and downs of club life like a rollercoaster. One that I would never get off.

Op excused my brothers but remained seated. I stayed until everyone but Blizzard had filed out. “How’s shit going with Sugar?” I asked, knowing that in just the week I’d been gone, shit had hit the fan within our family.

“Almost killed Wrench,” he said simply.

“Noticed he wasn’t around today.”

Op scoffed. “Scared that if I see him, I won’t let him leave alive.”

I nodded, scared for my brother, but understanding Op’s frustration. “It’s a whole clusterfuck, isn’t it?”

“If they would just tell me what the hell is going on, then I could help. But both of them keep saying it’s being dealt with, that it’s nothing to do with the club.” He clenched his fists.

“Least you know Harlyn is safe here,” I told him. “Whatever mess they’re in, she isn’t going to be involved.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that one of my men is keeping shit from me. And the mother of my child is lying out her ass,” he snapped, breathing heavily.

Blizzard stepped in then, knowing his best friend was getting worked up, and an angry Optimus isn’t something any of us needed right now. “Let’s just concentrate on one problem at a time. We figure out this crap with Hadley, then we work on Wrench and Sugar.”

“And in between, we somehow figure out what to do about Slider.” I sighed, a dark chuckle rising up in my throat. “Tell me, when did we start fighting so many damn battles? Lately, it seems like we’re being hit with one thing after another.”

Blizzard and Op both looked at each other. “Women.”

I stood in the doorway of my bedroom. Hadley was curled up in the center of the bed, her blankets wrapped around her like she was a burrito.

I smiled, shutting the door softly behind me before I padded across the floor to the bed.

“Wondered how long you were gonna stand there watching me like a stalker,” she said quietly, rolling over to face me.

I chuckled. “You think you’re so stealthy, I knew you weren’t asleep.”

She frowned, looking cute as fuck with the blankets pulled up to her chin. “You did?”

I stripped my shirt off and worked on my pants. “Your breathing is different when you’re sleeping.”

She snuggled deeper into the blankets.

“You gonna share the bed, and those blankets?” I asked.

“No,” she answered with a sweet smile.

I tugged at them, wrenching them from her grip and pulling them back to reveal her naked body. I quirked an eyebrow. “Well, what’s this?”

She rolled her eyes. “Just get in, I’m cold.”

I dropped my jeans to the floor, leaving me completely naked before climbing in with her and pulling the covers back over the both of us. Her body automatically curled into mine, her head going to my chest and my arm wrapping around her body, holding her against me. There was always so much sexual tension between us, but right now all I felt was comfort.

“Did you get everything sorted?” she asked, her voice soft and melodic.

“I hope so,” I told her. “Simon is unpredictable. So we just have to hope that we’ve read him right.”

There was silence for a few minutes, just the sound of her breathing easing my body.

“I wish he’d signed the divorce papers. I filed them the day after he left.”

“Not gonna be a problem after this is done,” I told her.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t plan on him getting out of this alive.”

She used her elbow to boost herself up so she was looking down at me. “Leo, you can’t kill a federal agent. Do you know what kind of time you’ll do for that?”

I reached up and smoothed back the panic in her features. “Baby, trust me on this. I know what I’m doing.”

She leaned into my hand, closing her eyes. “I’m scared.”

“Of what?”

“Losing you,” she said, her voice whisper quiet.

I sighed. “We’ve talked about this Hadley. It’s going to be fine. We aren’t alone in this, my brothers will stand with us, and when we stand together we’re a force to be reckoned with.”

My words seemed to pacify her for now. She laid back down and we spent the rest of the day sleeping, attempting to recover from the last two days.

I looked over at Macy’s bed. She had a small table beside it, and there was a picture there of Kim.

It was strange not to feel guilty with another woman in my arms as I looked into Kim’s eyes. I almost felt like she was smiling at me, that she was happy. Maybe she was. I’d found a woman who made me happy and watched over our daughter like she was one of her own. My heart ached inside my chest. But I knew now that it wasn’t because it was broken at the loss of my wife, it ached because it was being pulled back together.

There would still be cracks, those kind of things would never heal, but I didn’t want them too. They were a permanent reminder of the love I held for Kim.

Hadley had done what I had thought was impossible. She’d shown me that there wasn’t one person in this life for us. I would always mourn the woman who I lost, but I knew in my soul that she was happy I’d found someone else who could piece me back together.

I looked down at Hadley, her brown hair floated around her face, and the light that shone through the curtains gave her an angelic glow.

Maybe it wasn’t luck that Hadley had come into my life.

Maybe she was sent here, knowing that she would be the one to heal me and fill me with the passion and vibrancy that I thought I’d lost.

“Thank you,” I murmured as I looked back over at the picture, taking in Kim’s beautiful face.

Hadley groaned and shuffled, drawing my attention. Her eyes peeled open slowly.

“Thought I heard you talking,” she muttered through a sleepy haze.

“Just talking to myself.”

She rubbed at her eyes, her lips kissing my chest. “You do that often?”

I smiled. “Sometimes.”

She shook her head. “Knew you were crazy.”

I rolled her onto her back and braced my body over hers. “I’d have to be, to put up with your smart mouth.” I smirked.

She shrugged. “Part of the package. Thought you knew that.”

I bent my head, kissing her softly on the lips. “Anyone tell you that an Old Lady is meant to be quiet and listen to her man without back talking.”

“Chelsea told me to give you hell,” she said, her eyes lighting up playfully.

I laughed. “She would. She’s got Op wound around her little finger. Sometimes I wonder if I should be calling her president.”

“I think she’d do a good job,” Hadley said, nodding enthusiastically.

I shook my head. “You women.” I pressed my hips against her, my cock growing harder with the close proximity to my woman.

The light in her eyes soon transformed into lust as her lips fell apart and her eyes became hooded. I groaned, just the look on her face enough to have me rock hard within a second. I dipped my head again, my lips grazing across her jaw and down her neck. She arched, pressing her chest up and forcing her breasts against me, pleading for me to take one into my mouth.

I obliged, shuffling lower on the bed and swirling my tongue around her nipple, teasing her before taking the whole thing into my mouth. Her hands reached for me, gripping my short hair between her fingertips, holding me where she wanted me.

I loved that my woman wasn’t afraid to show or tell me what she wanted, and what she liked. She was a free spirit. Unashamed to show her sexuality. It spurred me on, taking the small bud in between my teeth and pulling on it. Her small gasp of pleasure shot through my body and straight to my cock.

“Leo…” she whispered, her body squirming in anticipation now.

“Yeah, baby?”

“I need you inside me,” she stated. “Now.”

A smirk began to rise on my mouth.

My girl wanted me, she was practically shaking, knowing that once I was inside her, I would give her exactly what she needed to find that place of ecstasy that she craved.

And I would give it to her.

For the rest of my life, I would make sure this woman knew just how much I cared for her. She would never need anything, I would give her my all.

I knew that without a doubt.

“Whatever you want, baby.”