Angels and Ashes (Heaven's Rejects MC Book 2) (12 page)

Harley’s anger reaches the boiling point and I can almost see the steam rolling out of her ears. Well, that or one of those Looney Tune characters I used to watch growing up. Just picturing Harley’s face as an infuriated Wiley Coyote’s brings a smirk to my face. Her glare intensifies, and I know that little smirk just tipped her over the edge. This should be fun.

“If my dad knew how you were treating me—” she begins.

Holding up my hand, I silence her rampage. “Your dad may call the shots at the clubhouse but this is my house, and I do not give a flying fart in space what he has to say about my rules. If you are going to be under my roof and in the sanctuary of my home, it’s my way or the highway. Do you understand me?”

Harley’s defiance lingers in the air, and she mumbles to herself.

“You might want to speak a little louder, Harley. It’s not polite to mumble.”

“I’ll stay with Ky,” she says with chagrin reverberating in her voice.

“Good. Now that it’s settled, Colt will show you both to your room. Dinner will be at five, and you’re to be in bed by nine,” I command as both of Raze’s kids sigh.

“Dad lets us stay up until eleven,” says Ky in nearly a whisper, “but, I understand Mrs. Kyle.”

It shocks me how different both of Raze’s kids are not only from each other, but from their parents. While Harley has seemed to inherit her mother’s need to constantly stir the shit pot and cause as much havoc as she can, Ky is quiet and fiercely loyal to whoever is in charge of him. Their looks are also startlingly different with Harley looking so much like her mother’s side of the family with her tanned skin, dark hair and eyes, but Ky is fairer skinned with bright-green eyes and dirty-blonde hair. While you can’t tell now with his shaved head, a dark mop of hair used to reside on Raze’s head where only skin now remains. If I remember correctly, Brent once told me that Raze’s family was Italian so Ky’s light coloring from a Hispanic mother and Italian father didn’t make sense to me, but sometimes rare familial traits only pop up from time to time in kids.

Colt interrupts my internal inspection of Raze’s kids and leads both of them down the hallway with their luggage scraping across the floor of the living room. As much as it will cost to buff those scuffs out of the hardwood, the sweet silence that lingers is worth the hassle and money. But, that silence only lasts a moment before a slow clap softly begins from the couch in the center of the room.

“Damn, girl. I didn’t know you had that in you,” Dani remarks. “I’ve never seen Harley back down like that, even to Raze. I think you could show him a thing or two about how to parent his kids. Hell, I want you to teach me how to keep these twins in line.”

“I hate that I had to lay down the law already with them, but Dirty warned me about Harley. I can’t let her get the impression that I am a pushover.”

Dani laughs as her hands rub her large belly.

“Darcy, I think the twins straightened up inside of me at your so-called laying down the law. They were kicking and moving around like kids on caffeine in there until you started yelling. I think you missed your calling as a drill sergeant.”

I flash a sideways smile at Dani before stepping into the kitchen to take stock of my groceries, taking note of what I will need to feed my new family of six and a half people with counting that extra half for Dani. Hell, I don’t even know what these kids eat or what they won’t eat. If Harley’s defiance from the first five minutes of being in my home wasn’t a sign of how well this will go, I’m sure if I feed them something they’re allergic to, it will skyrocket this arrangement from nails on a chalk board to walking over hot coals followed by a nice salt in the wound rub.
How am I going to survive this without pissing Raze off and killing his kids?

Reaching back, I pull out my cell phone and shoot off a text to Raze.

I’m not your personal babysitter. Why do I get the honor to watch your kids?

His response is nearly immediate as my phone chirps with the incoming message.

Because I can trust you to keep them safe. Plus, Harley needs a kick in the ass and I think you’re the right woman for the job.

I can’t help it—I feel a jolt of happiness from his statement and his declaration that he can trust me. Yet, his entrusting of me with his kids doesn’t mean shit when it comes to him trusting me with Brent’s information. This club and trust aren’t exactly a two-way when it comes to someone outside of the brotherhood or when you have a pair of tits.

I’ll keep them safe, but you owe me.

He responds almost immediately again.

Like what? You have something special in mind?

I know this will set him off, but I can’t help it. A fair trade is a fair trade.

The information I gave you and the truth about my husband’s death.

The quickness of his responses end, and it’s several minutes before my phone chimes again.

Brent died from a bike accident, Darcy. Quit trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill and just keep my kids safe. I’ll take them off your hands soon.

The bastard may have thought he shut me down, but that’s about as far from the truth as you can get. I’ll get my answers whether he helps me or not. He’s a charmer for sure with his muscled body and strong, chiseled chin, but I won’t let myself fall for his tricks. He has every other woman in the world fooled with his looks and flirtatious ways but this one. I know when he’s bullshitting me, and right now, the bull is full of shit.

Over the next two and half days, everything is peaceful with the minor exception of finding Harley smoking in my spare bathroom. I’ve worked hard to keep my kids away from second-hand smoke to the point that I nearly have a sixth sense of when it’s near me. After I ripped the lit cigarette out of Harley’s mouth, I forced her to watch me take each one from the pack that she had in her hand as I ripped them each in half and flushed them down the toilet one by one. The look of horror on her face was enough justification to know that I had moved from bitch to tyrant in her mind, but frankly, I don’t give a shit. A girl her age shouldn’t be smoking at all, and it shows the kind of absentee parenting that she has grown accustomed to with Maj being out of the picture.

Settling back into my rocking chair on the patio while I drink my afternoon tea, I think about Raze’s ex-wife as a shuddering chill spirals down my spine. Her disappearance has never settled the right way with me, but that’s his bed to lie in, not mine. The rumors of her leaving him and heading back home to Mexico seemed to satisfy everyone else, so what’s the point in questioning the fact that she left her own flesh and blood behind without a second thought? It seems fishy to me, but like I said, it’s none of my business since I wasn’t the one married to the bitch.

My thoughts shift to the other half of that marital equation and what prompted this lockdown. Could it be the packet I found for him in Tijuana or did someone piss in his Cheerios? Heaven’s Rejects was truly a legitimate club now under his command, according to what Brent could tell me, that is, but it always seemed like they toed the line between the good guys and the bad. Thinking of Raze only reminds me of the appointment that I have today with one of the brothers in Delano. How in the hell am I going to get out from under the watchful eyes of the new club member stationed outside of my house? It’s not like I can stroll out to the garage, throw open the door, and nonchalantly just leave the house without him tipping off Raze and his band of watchmen. I wouldn’t get to the corner of our block without someone catching wind and reporting my escape back to him. Knowing him, I’d probably end up in chains next to Harley if I tried that. Hell, he would probably like that, and in a different situation, I might have volunteered as tribute for something like that.

I rack my brain on how in the hell I am going to pull this off for several minutes before a muted scream comes from my bedroom.

Shit. Dani.

My cup falls from my hand and shatters against the cement of the patio as I bolt from my chair toward the patio door. Softer screams bellow from my room while I run down the hallway and burst through the door only to find Dani lying on the floor at the foot of her bed tightly gripping her belly. I rush to her side and slide on the carpet on my knees next to her. Her skin is moist from sweat and she’s gritting her teeth against the pain.

“The babies,” she weakly whispers. “It’s too soon.”

My hands fly to her stomach while tears begin to stream down Dani’s face. I’m not a medical expert, but even I can tell something is wrong. I’ve got to get her to the hospital before she delivers these babies pre-term.

“Stay here and try to stay calm,” I order Dani. “Just keep breathing slowly and make sure you exhale when the pain is at its greatest. I’m going to go get my cell phone and call Hero and an ambulance. We need to get you to the hospital and see if they can stop the contractions.”

Dani vigorously nods her head and another round of contractions hits her hard. She grits her teeth as she tries not to scream. I hesitantly rise from the ground and charge down the hallway in search of my cell phone that should be lying on the counter. I fumble trying to grab it from the counter top while my hand shakes trying to search my contacts. Harley and Ky barrel down the hallway when Dani screams from my room. Their eyes are both filled with panic.

I fumble to dial Hero’s number and anxiously tap my foot waiting for him to answer.

Pick up, Hero. Your wife fucking needs you. Come on. Come on. Pick up!

“Yeah,” he barks into the phone.

“Dani is in labor and I need you to get to the house now. I’m calling an ambulance,” I verbally spew out at him in quick succession.

He doesn’t even respond before the line goes dead. I punch in 9-1-1 and give the operator my address while the woman on the phone assures me that it will only be a few minutes before the ambulance arrives before I hastely disconnect the call. Slamming my phone back down on the counter, I rush back to Dani, ordering Ky to go out front to not only tell Irons what is going on, but to watch for the ambulance while Harley takes Roxie and keeps the boys in their room. I don’t want them seeing their aunt Dani like this if I have to help deliver the babies. Once I reach her, both of her hands are on her belly and she inhales and exhales trying to force herself through the pain.

“Hero?” she questions.

“He’s on his way, and so is the ambulance.”

Dani nods just as another round of contractions hits. These are coming far too close together to be anything good, and I hope she manages to make it to the hospital before she delivers. Dani grabs my hand and squeezes the shit out of me just as the wail of the ambulance grows louder.

“The ambulance is coming, Dani. Hold on.”

A few minutes later, two men burst into the room with two large medical bags followed quickly by Hero. He dives next to his wife on the ground while I scoot away to give them room.

“It’s going to be okay, angel. It’s going to be okay,” he repeats to her, not just to comfort her, but himself. The paramedics ask Hero and Dani questions to ascertain the situation before the second man leaves and returns with a stretcher. As they slide the back board underneath her, Hero and I both grab a corner and help lift her onto the gurney. The men strap her down and Dani’s hands reach out for both Hero and me when they start to wheel her out of the bedroom and into the hall. I try to hold her hand, but maneuvering though the house is difficult with her conjoined to me so I release her from my grasp when they exit the front door and wheel her toward the ambulance. She is heaved quickly through the rear door, and Hero climbs in behind her.

“I want Darcy to come with me,” begs Dani. “Please, Tyler. I need her with me.”

“You heard her, Darcy. Get your shit and follow us,” Hero grunts before yelling for Irons to move into the house.

“Are you sure he’s qualified to watch four kids and baby?” I protest just as the paramedic moves to close the doors to the ambulance.

Hero scoffs at me with narrowed eyes. “He’s all we have, and my wife needs you, so fucking deal with it.”

After he barks his orders at me, the last door is locked into place and the ambulance pulls out of the drive with a wail of the sirens. I spring to action and run back into the house, grabbing my purse, phone, and keys while barking orders to the man I am entrusting not only with Raze’s children, but also my own.

“I have a two-year-old, a six-year-old, and a teenager, Mrs. Kyle. I think I can handle this motley crew. I’ve already got a call over to the clubhouse for some reinforcements, so you put the rubber to the asphalt and help our girl bring those kids into this world.”

I race out the door toward the driveway and slide into Brent’s car. I throw the car into reverse and zip down the streets, taking care to not go over the speed limit. California police cars have this unique ability to blend in and catch you completely off-guard, and because of their stealth, I had four tickets under my belt in the first year I lived in Upland alone. Slow and steady is the way to win the traffic jam race around here. Just as I turn into the hospital’s emergency room parking lot, a text beeps on my phone. Parking as close to the doors as I can, I reach into my purse and grab my phone as I push down the lock on the driver’s side door.

Trax: You here? I ain’t waiting all fucking day.

Shit, I can’t leave Dani to meet him, but an idea pops into my head as I rush to type a response as I briskly walk toward the rotating emergency entrance.

Dani’s in labor. Meet me at San Antonio hospital in a couple of hours and I’ll get your money.

Leave it to Dani to give me my opportunity to seek the truth. I just hope both of us are as lucky as I hope we are.