Clearwater’s Redemption by Tiffany Casper

Prologue

Fiona Three Years Ago.

“Fried eggs two, bacon two, toast, and a side of house fries,” I called out from the ticket I had just taken to Randy the cook.

“I swear,” Novalie growled when she had to bring a plate back to the cook for the second time. “Customer says he doesn’t like to have his food touching. We fixed that. Now his reason is his bacon is too crispy.”

“It’s customers like that one, that pisses me off,” Randy said, I mentally agreed.

So while Randy was making the two orders, Novalie asked, “Hey, so what are your plans for Thanksgiving?”

Sighing I said, “Nothing really, my grandparents are going on a cruise.”

“Well we are having a huge bash at the clubhouse; I would love it if you could make it?”

I’ve never been to a clubhouse; I thought about it over the next two weeks. Novalie was my friend, hell she was the only real friend that I actually had. So that morning when I had walked into the diner I had asked her if there was anything I needed to bring. Novalie had squealed with delight.

Since Novalie had been going through a lot of things, I hadn’t mentioned that I had met someone and since I was just tired of being so alone, we had moved in together.

Sure things weren’t great like any relationship, but what I didn’t like was the fact that he rarely helped around the apartment cleaning wise and all of his income went to games and new gaming systems. Hello, we have bills to pay.

So here I was a week later, I walked out the door of our apartment while he had been playing video games. I had thought about asking Cole to come with me but something had kept me from doing it.

Especially due to what I had walked into last night after my double shift at the diner. I didn’t even want to think about that.

The moment I had pulled up to the clubhouse, a man stepped from a shed that was at the front gate.

“Yeah?” I saw that his kutte had the word prospect on it. He had long blonde hair, a strong jaw, and a crooked nose. He wouldn’t win any beauty contests but I could see the draw for some women.

“Hi, I’m Fiona, Novalie invited me for Thanksgiving,” I said shyly.

“She said you were coming, drive on through. Have a good time.” I gave him a small smile, then when the gate opened, I drove through, and spent the next five minutes trying to find a place to park.

It looked as if everyone and their mother had come here today.

Taking a deep breath, I hauled myself out of my car and tried not to be nervous. I looked down at what I had on, a tight long sleeve black shirt, a long suede skirt, and my light brown Minnetonka boots that came up to my knees.

Walking across the lot I looked at all of the bikes, but one, in particular, stood out to me, the paintwork on the gas tank, it took my breath away. It was a skull with a giant crow sitting on its head with its wings expanded. I freaking loved it.

I had done some research into my past, and I had found that a crow is the symbol of wisdom and divine spirituality with my people. Surprisingly, I wanted to meet the owner of this bike.

Walking to the big doors, I pulled one open. When I walked through there were masses of people in the huge wide-open space.

Looking around, I spotted Novalie as she had just set a dish atop a long bar that spanned the length of the right side in the room. I weaved in and through a throng of people, the moment she saw me she smiled and walked over to me as she threw her arms around me.

Returning her hug, I pulled back then smiled back at her. Standing there with Novalie I took everything in, in the clubhouse of Wrath MC. When you think about a motorcycle club, this right here, this is not what you imagine. Family gathered around heaping plates of food.

“So glad you came.” I could hear the excitement in her tone.

“So am I. I needed this.” I told her.

Cotton who had come into the diner to eat when she was on shift came up behind Novalie as he wrapped his arms around her, “Everything almost ready Kitten?”

I even swooned a little. He was handsome to the tenth degree.

“Yeah honey.” She softly said, I had to look away, it felt as if I were ruining their little moment.

When she had told me that she was an ole’ lady I had been shocked at first because I didn’t know what that meant, until I had seen her man Cotton in his leather kutte. I had watched Sons of Anarchy; I know it wasn’t really anything like the real world of a motorcycle club but still. Who didn’t love Jax, Opie, and my squeeze, Happy?

“Yeah, just a few more things to take care of.” With that, Cotton nodded and walked off.

It was nice to have someone to talk to and when Novalie turned her attention back to me, she gave me that look. She knew what that wrinkle in my brow meant, something had happened.

Without giving her the chance to ask, I told her, “So, you know how I told you about watching my pseudo grandparents and wanting to find that same kind of love?”

“Yes.” She gave me a kind smile.

“Right, so I’ve been seeing someone. We even got a place together last month. Only I had been a fool. I walked in and he was sleeping with my sister.” Novalie knew that Sorcha wasn’t really my sister, just that we had grown up in the same orphanage when we were younger and we were both kind of taken in by two elderly people that we refer to as our pseudo grandparents.

Novalie scowled at me, “Now when you say sleeping do you mean…”

“Cole said they had only been sleeping when I left the next morning for work.” I didn’t try to hide the mocking tone. I had even crashed on the couch because I had been too tired to wake either one of them up.

“Girl, I’ve got some men at my back if you want us to mess him up,” Novalie offered with a smile.

“Who are we going to mess up?” I heard Xavier ask, he had been on protection detail for Novalie quite a few times at the diner.

Novalie growled, “I’m going to mess you up, if you keep dropping into my conversations.”

“Yeah, what are you going to do about it? You and your little self.” He smirked at her.

I saw Novalie smile evilly as she called out, “Kane.”

I knew who Kane was too, that was Cotton. I also knew that she was the only person on this planet that had the right to call him that.

“Yeah, Kitten,” he answered her automatically, even though he was halfway across the room.

“I think Xavier here wants to go a round with you in the ring.” The light in Novalie’s eyes even caused me to chuckle.

“That right?” He asked as he turned fully to our little huddle.

“Fuck. Me and my damn mouth,” Xavier muttered, I busted out laughing, the whole room erupted in laughter, all of them clapping his back as he walked away from us.

“No, it’s okay,” I murmured into my glass of sweet tea that the man behind the bar had just handed me.

However, just as I had taken a sip, I saw a dark shadow fall over us.

Turning my head it was to see a massive chest that was covered with a dark green t-shirt that sat underneath a kutte. I looked at his patch where his name was and saw that it read, Knox.

Looking up, and up which I had to crane my neck to do, since I was only five foot four, it was to find a man. A man that literally took my breath away, he was that gorgeous.

He had dark blue eyes, tanned skin, and full lips that I suddenly had to fight the urge to nibble on. He had a scar that ran along the right side of his jaw. Realizing I was staring, and realizing that he was staring right back, I dropped my head and took another sip of my sweet tea.

I looked at Novalie’s wide eyes as she said in a timid voice, “Knox, this is Fiona. Fiona, this is Knox.”

Turning my head to look back up at him, my eyes stilled on his arm.

Unknowingly I had flipped my wrist over, slid my shirt sleeve up and ran my finger along the Crow that I had tattooed on my inner wrist on my left arm.

I looked up into the eyes of the man that Novalie had introduced as Knox, I saw that his eyes had flared at the sight of my tattoo.

Without a word, he held his hand out for me. I heard an intake of breath that I ignored, almost as if there was some force driving me, I placed my hand in his, trusting this man.

Knox led us over to a table that was in the far corner of the room, he pulled out a chair for me, I was floored. No one had ever done that for me. I looked up at him in surprise.

Softly I muttered, “Thank you,” as I sat my glass of sweet tea on the table.

I tensed under his stare with my hands between my legs. When I bit my bottom lip I heard him growl low in his throat.

“So.. um... what made you want to be in a motorcycle club?” I was getting nervous, and when I got this nervous I talked.

“Brotherhood.” He whispered.

So I whispered back, “Just the brotherhood?”

“Men who think like me.” He almost said it so quietly that I thought I hadn't heard him.

This man puzzled me. He didn’t talk much, which I was observing when others walked by and tried to talk to him, but he never answered them, he just gave them a chin lift. But he was talking to me.

However, our conversation or whatever you want to call it was stopped when Cotton said, “Let’s fucking eat.”

Knox and I stood, then with him in front we made our way over to the bar, which he then, turned, held out his hand for me to step in front of him.

Suddenly I just couldn’t help myself, nor stop myself from blurting out the words, “What do your crows mean?” I asked him as I looked up at him.

It was as if he could read my mind when he glanced down at me and muttered softly, “People.”

His eyes never left mine, did he mean his family, or did he mean… that was when it hit me. People were moving out of our way not only because they respected him, they were afraid of him.

Just who was this man called Knox?

I filled my plate with Knox at my back and when I went to sit beside Novalie instead of heading back to the table we had occupied earlier, Knox had followed.

I chose to ignore the looks that Novalie, and Cotton had given him. He also paid them no mind as he sat his plate down, then walked over to our table, nabbed our drinks, then brought them back.

A few others sat down with us. I was introduced to York, Garret, and I already knew Xavier.

“Thanks again for inviting me Novalie, this food is great.” I told her as I swallowed a piece of turkey.

“Girl hush. You would’ve done the same for me.” She said as she dug her fork in her macaroni.

I felt a bump to my shoulder, I looked at Knox who had stopped eating as he looked at me with a raised brow. Why I found myself telling him, I didn’t know. “My pseudo grandparents went on a cruise for Thanksgiving.”

He simply nodded then waited. I sighed, “It’s a long story. But I think this was the right decision.”

When I said that I saw his hard eyes soften a degree then he continued to eat.

Conversation flowed around the table with Knox staying silent.

It wasn’t until we had finished our plates, that I got ready to grab them to throw them away when I was stopped as Knox beat me to it.

He stood, grabbed them and our glasses.

I watched him with a curious frown as he tossed our plates, then he took his glass, and mine to the bar.

“Okay, this is fucking weird I’ve never seen Knox act like this.” Novalie said with puzzlement written all over her features.

The others nodded as they too watched Knox.

But it was Cotton’s reply that had me swallowing, “You hurt him, I’ll kill you.”

I froze, stared at him wide-eyed and almost walked out of the clubhouse to never look back, until a glass of sweet tea was placed in front of me, grabbing it I looked up at Knox.

He held his hand out to me, deciding I’d rather be with him then near Cotton, I stood.

When I placed my hand in his it was also to hear Novalie threatening Cotton. Smiling, I tossed her a grateful grin.

Then I froze yet again at the gravelly words that came from Knox’s mouth, “You hurt her. I hurt you.”

Knox then turned and led me out of the clubhouse and over to a swing that was nestled between two trees.

When he sat down, I followed him.

“Who’s the asshole I need to handle?” I offered him a small smile.

“I walked in on my boyfriend sleeping with my sister, well she’s not really my sister, we were brought up in the same orphanage until we were fostered together.”

I heard the man growl.

“Cole, my boyfriend, he said they weren’t doing anything, only sleeping. They had their clothes on, but still. It feels wrong.” I ran my hand over my arm.

“It is. One woman. One man.” Shockingly I knew what he meant.

“Yeah I know, I’d want my man to be pissed if I was merely sleeping in the same bed with another man.”

He grunted in agreement with me.

“I haven’t known him for long, only a couple of months.” This made me sound like an idiot. Who moves into a place with someone else after only knowing them for a few months?

“Don’t matter.” No, I guess it didn’t.

I looked up at the stars until I felt Knox’s finger-tips tap on my wrist where my crow lay.

I figured he wanted to know why I had a tattoo put there. “When I was a baby, only two days old, I was dropped off at an orphanage with a blanket wrapped around me and a note that said, ‘You are Apache. Forever embrace your warrior's heart’. That was it. So when I got older and into a home, I had researched the Apache. I had read that a crow is the symbol of wisdom for my people, or wherever I come from. I don’t know. I've always been fascinated by them, and I guess I just wanted to feel closer to my heritage if that’s what it even is. I don’t know why I just told you that.” And I really didn’t. I hadn't told anyone that. Not even Novalie, or Cole.

He simply nodded as he took a pull from his glass.

We just sat there underneath the stars after we had eaten, I talked about nothing important and he simply listened.

He had said a few words here and there, but to be honest it was how I felt in his presence.

It felt as if I mattered. As if someone cared about me.

And I knew that on some strange level he had. When he had told me to text him when I made it home okay, I had to tamp myself down so I wouldn’t do a happy dance when he programmed his number in my phone.

I had been on cloud nine last night when I texted him that I had made it home.

And the one-word response I got was Good.

It felt as though I had cheated on Cole. Knox and I had only talked but there was just something about Knox that I couldn’t get over. It felt as though I were tethered to him for life.

I never saw Sorcha again after that night that I had walked in on them in the bed sleeping. She had written me a letter that she was off finding herself, whatever the hell that meant.

Over the next few years I didn’t text him often, mostly it was random at times. I texted him funny jokes I had heard, or when I’d had a really bad day at the diner.

I’d seen Knox in passing, and I saw him at Cotton and Novalie’s wedding. Cole didn’t want to come with me, but it was Knox that had stayed glued to my side, until he had gotten a text and left without a backward glance. He came to the diner for a meal three times a week. He was staying present in my life. He never spoke in the diner except to ask one question, “Okay?”

I hadn't been back to the clubhouse, no, Cole hadn’t liked that I had gone in the first place without him. His words were, “I'm invested in this. No one is having you but me.” Little did I know the extremes he was willing to go through to make that happen.

I still haven’t slept with him, call me old-fashioned or call me a prude but I wasn’t sure if Cole was the man that I was meant to be with.

All the times that Cole had tried to get me to make love to him, were about to reach their boiling point. Sure some of this was my fault. But then again, if a man didn’t respect a woman’s wishes, then he wasn’t much of a man at all.

Cole hadn’t really factored in someone else being in my life when I needed it the most.