Old Lady (Iron Disciples Book 2) (3 page)

Then she takes both of my hands in hers and looks me
straight into the eyes.

“Okay, I do know a few things and it’s not good. The next
time we meet I get the feeling we’re going to be in opposite corners.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Shooter was Cade’s Sargent at Arms, then promoted very
briefly to VP…of the Iron Disciples. How do you think he’s managed to stay
alive with Eddie in charge?”

“He jumped ship! Mother fucker switched to the enemy’s
side. How can you stand to be in the same room with him Stacy? He’s a traitor
and that’s just one rung above rat status. You’re practically sleeping with a
fucking rat!”

“Careful what you say Morgan. What we’re involved in is
way bigger than ourselves. Shooter is doing what he has to do in order to
survive and Cade has done the same.”

“What do you mean? Cade’s no fucking traitor and he’s not
a mother fucking rat bastard either!”

“Well somehow he’s survived Morgan and you may not like
how or what he’s done to survive; I’m just sayin’.”

“Fuck!”

“I’m sorry Morgan. I really like you…I mean I really
freaking like you and I’m not sure how this is all going to play out but I have
this feeling it’s gonna get a lot uglier before it gets prettier. I don’t know
what the future holds but I have a feeling before this is over, we’re going to
be standing on opposite sides of the fence. I’m truly sorry Morgan…I really
am.”

Then Stacy takes my face in her hands and puts her
amazingly soft lips on mine and instantly my anger disappears as goose bumps
run down my spine and my whole body just tingles like fucking crazy. There’s
just something in the way she kisses me that sets my whole body on fire; I
can’t help it. Her lips are so soft, so insistent that mine just automatically
open as her tongue slips inside and immediately I’m wishing her tongue would
slip inside a different pair of lips. God if she can make my mouth feel this
good, oh the things she can do to my kitty. By the time she breaks contact and
pulls back
I’m
ready to betray the club; to turn rat just to feel
Stacy’s mouth on my body again. Wow…talk about guys being pussy whipped... what
does that make me?

I watch her drive off and my body just starts quaking. I
feel an ache where I shouldn’t be aching after the touch from another woman.
But I have another kind of ache that goes deeper than my flesh and it bores
into my soul.

I hobble up to the steps of a non-descript Victorian
house and ring the doorbell. I have no idea what I am going to find here and my
future as far as I can see remains dark and cloudy like the sky just before a
thunderstorm. I feel a chill that starts deep inside and by the time the door
opens I feel like I’m standing in two feet of snow and not eighty-five degree
California weather.

The door opens, but the first thing out is not the person
behind the door; it’s the two barrels of a shotgun pointed straight at my
chest.

“State your name and your business and be quick about it.
I got an itchy trigger finger today.”

I just about crap my pants when that gun pokes out. It
takes me a second to find my voice.

“I’m Morgan…I’m Cade’s old lady.”

“It’s about time you showed up. Now get your ass inside
before someone other than me blows your head off!”

When the door shuts behind me I get a better look at the
old man and I nearly gasp at the family resemblance. It’s Cade’s old man.

“He said you were a fucking babe but I never would have
guessed this.”

“Funny, he said the same about you.” I reply sarcastically.

“Well that’s great! If my son doesn’t make it looks like
we’ll have a future together.”

“How is your son?” I ask anxiously.

“He lost his club to that asshole brother of his, how do
you think he is?”

“He’s a strong ma-”

“The hell he is! If he wasn’t such a fucking pussy he
would have gone to war and not wound up being run out of his club. He has you
to think for that.”

“Me? Why the fuck is it my fault?”

“Because his head’s not in the club anymore. All he’s
thinking about is pussy; yours! That’s why he made this fucked up decision to
not go to war. Going to war would have meant him being away from you for long
periods of time and he couldn’t stand the thought so he came up with this hair
brained idea to have a fight to the death with his brother over who gets
control of the club. Now he’s lost the club and he’s probably got a price on
his head so fuck you very much for that!”

Okay… I did not see that coming.

“Your concern for your son is touching old man; now let
me the fuck in so I can see my man!”

“Least you got a set of balls on ya.” He grumbles. “I’ll
give ya that.” He moves out of my way.

“I’m good for him. You’re gonna see that.” I say as I
pass him by.

I can literally feel the anger emanating off him as I go
by. I really am surprised he is able to keep from giving me a smack down given
his current level of rage. I leave him standing in the doorway and make my way
down a long hall to a back bedroom. The door is shut. I step up to the door and
knock.

“It’s unlocked.” Comes a reply from inside.

I place my hand on the door knob, take a deep breath,
swallow my fear, and step into my future.

It takes a second for my eyes to adjust. When they do,
the first thing I see is the wreckage of what used to be a furnished bedroom.
Dismembered sections of a dresser, a computer desk and oak headboard litter the
floor. Then I spot him, nearly lost in the detritus of his own rage! He is
sitting with his back slumped up against the far wall. He’s wearing a faded
pair of blue jeans, his trademark black steel toe boots and nothing else. His
smooth muscular chest and ripped abs are divided by a large swath of bandages
that seems to circle his entire body. The bandages are too well placed, too
perfectly arranged to have been from some amateur. He must have been to a doctor
that’s friendly to the club. My eyes travel up from his wound to his handsome
face. His long dirty blond hair falls recklessly about his broad shoulders and
a shock of hair covers his left eye. His right eye is swollen so much I doubt
he has much in the way of vision right now. Strangely though…he still looks
damn sexy. Even a stinging defeat at the hands of his brother can’t dim his
star for long. He is my man and he needs me.

I hurry through the broken mess of expensive oak and
cheap pine and kneel down at Cade’s side. Instinctively I reach out and brush
the hair from his grizzled face and my heart leaps into my mouth. I can see the
pain of defeat in his eyes and it nearly kills me. He’s a broken man and I know
with certainty that Eddie hoped my seeing him like this would break me too. He
could not have been more fucking wrong! 

“You shouldn’t have come.” Cade moans.

”I’m your old lady. That means my place is at your side
no matter what happens. You fucking know that so don’t go trying to push me
away.”

He nods but doesn’t say anything. I need to know what his
injuries are so I can know what to monitor and when to call a doctor.

“What’s the giant bandage for?” I ask, pointing to the
thick wrap.

“Couple broken ribs and a puncture wound where he stabbed
me, that’s all.”

“That’s fuckng all? Isn’t that enough shithead?”

He almost cracks a smile and his dark eyes brighten a
fraction. Maybe there is life underneath this shell.

“Are you in pain?”

“Not really. Doc gave me something for it.” He points to
a small bottle with the cap coming off.

There are several white oblong pills on the hardwood
floor and more in the bottle. I put back the errant pills and close the cap
properly before handing them to him.

“Go easy on these things,” I instruct. “They’re potent. Who
patched you up?”

“Friend of the club who will no longer be a friend of
mine since I’m out so I better not get hurt or I’ll end up waiting in line
behind our four legged friends at the vet.”

“Well it better not come to that. Now are you gonna tell
me why you’re still alive and not pushing up daisies?”

 “You’re not gonna like the answer.”

“Isn’t that always the case?” I reply with a bitter
laugh.

“This one you’ll especially not love.”

“Alright I get it, now spill it out already.”

“Saturday I have to come into the clubhouse and submit to
having my tattoo removed.”

“Holy shit! You mean the giant one on your back?”

“It’s the club patch, it has to go.”

“Can that even be done in one session?” I ask. “I thought
that had to be done in phases.”   

“We’re not talking laser removal here babe, so yeah,
it’ll take one mother fucker of a session.”

“What do you mean no laser? How else can it be removed?”

“They’re gonna burn it off Morgan; with a blow torch.”

“Oh fuck!”

Suddenly my brain stops working and I can’t even speak. I
am so horrified for Cade it’s beyond fucking words. Before I can even wrap my
mind around it he’s talking again.

“But that’s not all babes.”

Oh shit.

“I have to leave. I can’t be caught in Disciple territory
or I’m a dead man.”

“Shit!”

“Same goes for you too.”

He says it so matter of fatly that at first it doesn’t
even register.

“What do you mean same goes for me? I’m not even a
member…”

“You’re a member’s old lady are you not?”

“So…”

“So you’re just as much an enemy to the club as I am.”

“What about Stacy?” I ask.

“Well…she happens to be on the right side as long as
she’s Shooter’s old lady she’ll be fine.”

Fuck! So that’s what Stacy was talking about earlier when
she said we might find ourselves on opposite sides. Dammit. I wonder if this
shit is going to wander into our work. Not only would I hate to lose her as a
friend, but she’s an indispensable part of my little team at work. This not
fucking good at all. Dammit...just when I thought we could be great friends,
but now it looks like all bets are off.

“I blame you for this!”

I turn my fury on Cade. It’s just like his old man said,
he made the pussy choice and took the easy way out and now I’m fucked for it.
Dammit! Then I smack him in the nose. I wasn’t planning on hitting him. He’s
been battered enough, but it just came out. I couldn’t stand to see his face
looking at me like that so I punched him. He recoils in shock.

“What the fuck was that for?” He asks.

“Do you really have to ask?”

“Yeah I do. I did this to save dozens of lives; we’ve
been over this before Morgan.”

“And it doesn’t make a lick of sense.”

“You’re not gonna hit me again are you?”

I didn’t even realize I have my hand drawn back in a fist
ready to hit him again. I unclench my fist and drop my hand to my lap.

“I can’t leave. I have a life here Cade. I have a career
that I have worked very hard to develop. There’s no fucking way I’m gonna up
and move.”

“Can’t you just work from home like you did after the
accident?”

“Not permanently. There is just way too much involved for
me to be out of the office for more than a week or so. SEC rules and
regulations don’t allow for me to work away from supervision. In other words I
have to work from an office. The only reason I have been able to work from him
just a little is because Jason is in the office covering for me. He can’t keep
doing that. I have to stay. You go, but I’m staying.”

“When do you intend to go back to the office?”

“Monday. At least that’s what I was planning.”

“Aren’t you still planning that?”

“Are you kidding me? Have you looked into the mirror
lately? You need someone to look after you and I don’t think your dad is the
person to do that. He may just shiv you in the ribs one night while you sleep.”

“Yeah, there is that. He’s pretty pissed, but he’d never
directly harm me.”

“Don’t be so sure. I saw his face and felt his energy
Cade. To say he’s pissed is an understatement. How’d you manage to make an
enemy of your father?”

“It wasn’t one specific incident. I think he never really
bonded with me as a baby and I just grew up into a person he just never really
liked.”

“You led me to believe you had no family except for your
brother. Is your mother alive too?”

“No…she died when I was seventeen. We weren’t close
either.”

“Then you gotta repair things with your father. It’s too
late for your brother but it’s not too late for you and your dad.”

“Wait a second, weren’t you just now telling me how much
he hates me and my try to…to shiv me during the night?”

“But that’s not a guarantee. As long as he’s alive you
got a chance.”