Starting Over by Mia Malone

Chapter Seventeen

Taken

Tony

The days after the funeral were busy.

He had a lot of shit to wade through since they’d been away from Hark Falls.

Rosie had things to handle regarding her grandmother’s estate.

The kitchen was still a construction mess, and what seemed like everyone in the club wanted to check in and make sure they were okay.

So, they were busy, but in a good way, and it felt oddly normal.

Then his goddamned father tried to have dinner at the Roadhouse. Hilt called and shared that they’d made Andy and three other men leave, Dagger and a couple recruits were blocking the door, should he go outside and shove a bottle of Jaeger up the asshole’s rectum, or could Tony perhaps come and deal with the situation?

Fifteen minutes later, Tony stood in front of his dad with Coop and Finn at his sides.

“You don’t get to spend time here,” he rumbled. “Just go away.”

“It’s a restaurant open to the public, isn’t it?”

Well, fuck it. The fool was basically harmless and mostly creating the annoying buzz of a persistent mosquito, but Tony decided to end his antics right then and there.

“It’s a restaurant run by Cascadia, and it’s open to people we allow on our premises,” he clarified. “Just cut it the fuck out, go away, and don’t show up here again.”

“You have a problem with us?” Andy snarled.

“Why the fuck would I have a problem with you?” Tony asked with a condescending chuckle. “You’re just some old has-beens who couldn’t get into any of the clubs, and I’m president of Cascadia with a crew more than a hundred times bigger than yours.”

“Wh –”

Tony interrupted him immediately, trying and failing to hold back a small eye roll.

“Let me set this straight since you don’t seem to get it. You won’t get our shield, won’t get any of our assets, and you can run around with your pathetic little group of fools for all I care, but you can not do it around Cascadia properties.”

“I’m your father.”

Tony knew how much he resembled the man physically but suddenly remembered Rosie’s comparison to Roddy Hagen. Maybe he was like the former president of Thor, and maybe he wasn’t, but right then, Tony knew without a sliver of doubt that regardless, he wasn’t anything like the man in front of him.

“You’re nothing to me, and nothing to the club. Just go the fuck away,” he said and started walking toward the entrance to the Roadhouse.

“That’s all you have to say?” Andy called out.

Tony turned slowly and looked down on his father.

“Oh yeah. There’s one more thing,” he said loudly and with a hint of anger in his voice. “Not a single man in Cascadia liked that stunt you pulled at my home, and they’re all chomping at the bit. Right now, old man, I’m the only thing standing between you and them. Touch Rosie ever again, and I will unleash every man I have.” He waited for a beat and added dismissively, “You won’t like it if I do.”

Then he walked into the Roadhouse followed by Finn and Coop, and the doors closed behind them with a loud thud.

“Hope the asshole got the message,” Tony said.

“I think he did,” Finn said. “Just to make sure, I’m gonna ask one of the recruits to tag along with Rosie for a while.”

“She won’t like it,” Tony said. “But you’re right. I’ll try to calm her down, and if you choose Buddy, it’ll help. She likes him for some reason.”

“You seem surprisingly calm about this,” Cooper said.

“That’s because I am calm,” Tony said with a shrug. “He got what he deserved, which is nothing.”

“Most of the time, you’re fucking annoying,” Coop said. “Right now, though? I was reminded why you’re the president, and I’m not.”

“Huh?”

“I would have bashed in the fucker’s face,” Finn said with a sigh. “That condescending speech you made probably hurt him more, so yeah. I’ve known all along, but I was also reminded that we made the right choice when we picked you.”

Picked him? No one had picked anyone as far as he could remember.

“I thought we tossed a coin?” Tony asked.

“Oh please,” Coop said with a snort of laughter.

“What?”

“You would never have asked for it, but you were the right choice. So, we made sure you were chosen,” Finn said with a shrug. “Not a big deal.”

Not a big deal?

It was a fucking huge deal, actually.

They were right, though. He’d wanted the gavel so bad but wouldn’t have asked for it because how could he? Andy Ryan had been a disaster of a president, so how could his son walk in and claim the title he’d had?

“I would have been a good sergeant,” he muttered, trying to hide how much it meant that his friends had believed in him enough to give him what he hadn’t asked for.

“Don’t give us that shit,” Coop said with an exasperated sigh and put a pretty annoying finger in his face. “You would have been a fucking horrible sergeant. You would have exploded in weekly shit-fits and killed half the club by now.”

Finn started laughing loudly, and Tony couldn’t hold a chuckle back because he would have been a pretty lousy sergeant, and Coop had a very valid point.

He would probably have killed half the club.

***

Rosie

We were back in Hark Falls, I’d handled the funeral, and the weeks that followed were mostly a daze.

On the one hand, there were declarations of love followed by the first of many take-out dinners and incredibly vigorous bouts of sex.

On the other, there was the messy and loud renovation of the kitchen, which somehow seemed to involve visits from plenty of people who didn’t renovate a thing. Instead, they wanted to talk about anything under the goddamned sun, which usually involved bitter mumbles about Emma and ended with thinly veiled queries about my state of mind.

And in the middle of everything, I had to knock things off the list I’d made with Nana. Most of it was pretty straightforward, and it felt oddly good to have everything else to deal with at the same time.

Because I missed her.

In so many ways, I’d lost her when Gramps passed away, but I’d had the infrequent glimpses of the woman who pulled me into her arms, spat at my father’s feet, and led me off to their old, beat-up pickup while Gramps made a deal that saved me.

I knew she’d been ready to go, but I missed her.

I hadn’t talked to Tony’s mother and sister yet. Tony told me to wait and that he’d ordered them to back so far off from me that they had a front seat view of Denali, which was sweet of him, but I had to let them start mending the fences they’d broken. I wasn’t ready for it, though, and didn’t know what to say, so I stalled.

Then we had an event with the book club that had been planned for quite some time. Momo had offered to reschedule, but I wanted a happy and uncomplicated night with my friends. Momo’s co-worker Jessica was invited, and I was pretty sure there would be lots of laughter because she had a small side business organizing home sales parties.

Selling sex toys.

Jessica had already placed some boxes on the coffee table when I got there, and several bags filled with more boxes stood to the side. She asked us to sit down and talked about materials and different types of vibrators, and other paraphernalia. We nodded and let her go through what clearly was a carefully prepared sales pitch.

“Do you have any questions?” she asked, and we all shook our heads. “I’m very discreet, so you don’t have to order now,” she said reassuringly. “I’ll give you my card, and there’s a link to the website where –”

“I want this,” Momo said and held up a bright pink dildo. “Look, it glows in the dark!”

Addie leaned forward and reached for one in neon lime green, with a mumbled, “This one has my name of it, and if it doesn’t, it should.”

When Richard moved out, I’d looked on websites for something like what I had in front of me, but it had seemed too clinical. Glitzy images against a white background and perky descriptions promising unlimited and somewhat lonely pleasure hadn’t felt sexy, and it hadn’t felt fun. The situation I was in right then was fun, and I knew it was a completely safe environment, so I rifled through the boxes until I found a pocket-sized vibrator.

“This is nifty,” I said. “It looks like a lipstick, so I can have it in my purse.”

“In case of emergencies!” Angelica squealed with a cheeky grin. “Give me one.”

“Do they have one in blue? It would look good with my new jeans,” Joanna said, but added, “Or black?”

“Hey, Rosie, you wanted nipple clamps,” Momo called out. “Hearts or stars?”

I looked at the items she lined up and started laughing as I pointed on one of them.

Momo tossed me the box, and I put it next to my vibrator.

“I guess there’s no need for discretion,” Jessica said with a grin, but she looked a little stunned.

“Not with this crowd,” I said.

That had not been a lie. The evening went on in a flurry of wild hoots, a small fight broke out over the one pair of crotchless panties Jessica had brought, and I laughed through it all.

It was insane and loud and happy and just what I needed.

When things had calmed down, Jessica lined up a row of small boxes on the coffee table.

“Soo...” She grinned and moved her hand over the boxes. “I get items to give as gifts for special customers. I usually don’t do this, but you ladies have broken my sales record several times over tonight, so I think you qualify as very special customers.”

“Damn right, we’re special,” Addie said and put an arm around my shoulders.

“Let’s make it into a game. You get one box each, and I won’t tell you what’s in them. Open it at home as a surprise,” Jessica said. “Who wants to pick first?”

“Rosie,” Angelica said immediately. “You had a lot of shit coming your way lately, so you get first pick.” She winked at me and added, “This time.”

The others agreed, so I reached for a box in the middle but changed my mind and snagged the one at the far end.

When I walked into the almost finished kitchen at home, I was still laughing at how the others had descended on the remaining boxes like a wake of vultures. I threw my tote bag to the side and leaned on the island as I opened the box.

Inside was a black round thing made of an elastic material. Part of the ring was thicker, there was something on it that looked like a rubbery button, and I was about to press it when I heard steps coming in from the backyard behind me.

“What have you got there, babe?” Tony asked.

“I’m not quite sure,” I said, although I suspected that I knew what it was. “I got it at the book club.”

I held the thing up and turned.

And froze because Coop and Finn were there too.

“Hu-ey,” I pressed out and glanced at the sex toy I was holding.

And the bottle of massage oil that had fallen out of my bag on the kitchen island next to me,

“That’s a cock ring,” Tony said calmly.

“Yup,” Finn agreed, and I saw how his lips twitched. “Some book club you’ve got there, I must say.”

I explained quickly about the sales activities and secret boxes, and if my voice was a little breathy, then that surely was to be expected because I might be very candid with my girlfriends, but I wasn’t used to talking about glow in the dark dildos with handsome men.

“I should probably head home,” Finn said when I trailed off.

“I should probably start dating,” Coop said.

“You should,” Tony said, but if he meant to comment on Cooper’s love life or just wanted them to leave wasn’t clear.

His voice had deepened, though, and I recognized the way it sounded, so a shiver ran down my spine.

It was his sex voice, which meant that approximately five seconds after his friends had left, he had snagged the bottle of massage oil from the counter, we were in the bedroom, and he was tugging at my clothes.

“No,” I said, and he froze.

“Huh?”

“No, I don’t mean no,” I said with a giggle. “God, how I don’t mean no. But it’s for you, right?” I wiggled the black thing. “So, you should get naked.” I handed him the ring. “And show me how it works.” Heat washed through my pussy, and a tingle settled in my belly at the thought, but I tried to smile calmly and added, “I will watch from here.”

Then I sauntered over and sat down on the large, plush armchair next to his bed.

“You’ll watch,” he drawled and pulled off his tee slowly. “Will you like that, Rosie?” Slowly, slowly, he unbuttoned his jeans. “Watching me make myself hard?”

“Yeah,” I breathed out.

“Do you know what a cock ring does?” he asked, and I shook my head slowly because I had absolutely no idea. “It tightens around the base.” He pushed his jeans down, stepped out of them, and moved toward the bed. “Holding me back.” The way he looked when he leaned on the pillows was making my breaths hitch, and I felt tiny shivers run through my core. “Making me last a lot longer.”

He poured some oil in his hand and moved it slowly to grab hold of himself, and I exhaled on a shaky sound.

“God,” I said. “You are so sexy.”

“Glad you think so,” he said but looked down on himself as he spread the oil out before sliding the ring over the tip of his cock and downward. “Ah,” he breathed out when it was all the way to the base, and flashed a grin at me. “Let’s play, baby,” he murmured.

The fact that Tony was an attractive man had in no way escaped me, but somehow, I hadn’t gotten the full force of his appeal. He looked fantastic when he moved around the house in his underwear, and I loved him in his usual jeans and tight tee. And in his leather jacket. God, how I loved the way his hair curled at the nape of his neck, skirting the faded leather. When we made love, he was close, so I saw him, but I didn’t see all of him.

It completely blew my mind to watch all that was Tony Ryan pour some more oil on his cock and move his hand slowly, not tugging but holding himself in a firmer grip than what I did when I touched him. The muscles in his arm bulged, and when he widened his legs a little and used his other hand to adjust the black ring slightly, I couldn’t hold back a soft sound.

“You look flushed, baby,” he said. “Take off your top.”

I did and felt my lids droop a little when his heated gaze landed on the black bra.

“Do you like?” I asked and slid a finger along the lacy edge, tugging a little but not pulling it off. “It’s new.”

“Fucking fantastic,” he ground out and stopped moving his hand.

“I got matching panties,” I said, and a grin spread on his face.

“Did you now?” he murmured and started moving his hand again. “Take off your skirt.”

I stood and pulled the soft skirt down until it fell to the floor. Then I slowly turned and heard him push out a soft groan when he realized that the backside didn’t cover anything at all. When I leaned down and picked the skirt off the floor, he groaned again, but then I placed it on the armrest and sat down.

“Jesus, Rosie,” he said. “Never seen anything sexier than you.”

He would have seen plenty of bodies both younger and more fit than mine, but I could see clearly in his eyes that he meant it.

“Never felt sexier,” I said, stretched in a way that arched my back a little and raised a hand to pull part of the bra down so I could caress my nipple. “Don’t stop,” I breathed out when his hand slowed down again.

“Want you here with me,” he said. “Want to be inside.”

“We’ll get to that,” I said and moved toward him, but when I got to the bed, I put a hand on his chest to stop him from moving and kneeled between his legs. Then I leaned down and slid my tongue over the tip of him. “Want to taste you first.”

I wasn’t a pro on using my mouth on a man and hadn’t been particularly fond of it, but right then it felt sexy and intimate in a way it hadn’t before. The way he tilted his head back and groaned loudly when I took as much of him as I could into my mouth and sucked hard sent a flash of heat through me, and I felt a rush of wetness between my legs.

“Rosie,” he said when I slowly slid my tongue from base to tip. “Want inside.”

I slipped out of my underwear and moved over him until I straddled his hips. He positioned himself, and I sank down slowly until he was buried deep inside.

Or, as deep as he could get because the thicker part of the ring was in the way, and I made an impatient sound.

“You’ll like this,” Tony said and moved his hand between us.

The ring started vibrating softly, he pressed it again, and the vibrations increased in a way that pushed a loud moan up my throat. And then another.

“God,” I breathed out. “It’s –”

He put his big hands on my hips, slid them around and ground me down harder on the vibrating nub between us. It hit my clit, and I couldn’t hold back.

The orgasm took me by surprise, and I fell forward, burying my face in his neck as I trembled and moaned. It went on and on, and every wave of pleasure weaved into the next one until they were tinged with pain, and I couldn’t take it anymore.

“God,” I repeated and moved a hand between us, tugging at the ring.

It was a tight fit, but it was elastic, and the oil made it easier, so I managed to pull it around until the vibrating part moved away from my clit. I still felt it against my rear and was about to move so we could turn it off when Tony suddenly pushed me down firmly.

I raised my head and started swirling my hips a little, pushing the vibrating part harder into his balls. His face hardened immediately, and then he tilted his head back and groaned loudly. I felt his cock jerk and how he shook as he emptied himself and watched him until his face softened and his jaw went slack.

“Fuck,” he said on an exhale. “Can’t –”

His hand was between us again, and then the vibrations stopped. I sank down against his chest and nuzzled the side of his neck. We were both breathing heavily, and I smiled against his warm skin.

“I thought that thing was supposed to make you last longer,” I murmured teasingly. “Perhaps it malfunctioned?”

He burst out laughing and pressed me closer to him.

“Guess we’ll have to try again until we get the hang of it,” he said. “Might kill me, but what a way to go.”

***

I got off my bike and looked at Buddy, who had stopped next to me.

“Girl talk, Bud,” I said. “You get to wait outside.”

“Okay,” he said and walked with me to the front door. “I’ll be right here if you need me.”

“Okay,” I mumbled absentmindedly, thinking about the conversation I was about to have.

I hadn’t told Tony where I was going because he was still a little pissed off about Emma’s part in the whole Lilyanne-ruckus. I was too, but we couldn’t ignore it like I thought we would.

When I said we could coexist, I hadn’t understood how that would be interpreted by the members of Cascadia MC and their women. It quickly became clear to me that to them, it meant taking sides, and they seemed to be overwhelmingly on mine. It was sweet and heartwarming and very, very destructive. Emma had talked about people behind their backs but making her pay by doing the same to her would only create an environment where this was the norm.

I wanted us to be the kind of place where we dealt with shit openly and had decided to talk to Emma to see if we could find a way to start downplaying the situation and show everyone that we were calm and mature about the whole thing.

I’d already met Katie for coffee a couple of times, and we were slowly finding common ground. She explained about hearing a couple of motorcycles outside just as she was rushing to get to the non-profit she volunteered at and how that had frightened her. She was terrified that her ex-husband would do something bad because it was, according to her, simply what he did when he had the chance. Then Lilyanne showed up, and Katie winced when she admitted that she was aware of who Lilyanne was to the men in the club but had let herself be fooled into thinking that she might have left some makeup and a necklace at Tony’s place.

“I didn’t tell her to make herself at home,” she said. “I take full responsibility for the stupidity in giving her the key, but she asked if Tony would mind if she made a cup of coffee, and I told her to help herself.” She swallowed and finished, “It was a stupid goddamned comment that didn’t mean anything, Rosie. I don’t know how she twisted it into what she said, but she did. Milo yelled some at me and even more when he heard about the key, so we went over there to get it back and heard part of what she said to you.”

“I’m okay with it,” I said because I was.

I liked hearing her explanation, but I had figured some of it out myself already, and I wasn’t angry with her anymore. Emma was another story. She clearly had issues she needed to deal with, and I wasn’t going to simply forget or forgive the way she’d talked about me, and even less the way she’d talked about Momo.

We still had to find a way to coexist, and I went through my carefully rehearsed speech as I walked up the stairs to Emma’s apartment. The building wasn’t old, but it seemed a bit worn down to me, and there was a broken flowerpot on the first landing. I crouched to push the pieces to the side so no one would trip on them and noticed a couple of small stains on the wall and decided to check with Tony if his sister was strapped for cash and needed a little help.

Her door was at the far end of the corridor on the third floor, and I slowed down as I approached it because it was slightly ajar.

“Emma?” I called out but didn’t get an answer.

My gut suddenly clenched into a block of ice because it hit me that the building actually wasn’t shabby at all, and it was in a good neighborhood, so there shouldn’t be broken decorations or stains on the walls.

Or on her doorframe.

I threw the door wide open, took a few steps inside, and looked at a completely trashed studio.

“Emma!” I screamed again, but the place was small, and she was not in it, so I ran back down the stairs, yelling for Buddy.

“What?” he answered, and his voice broke.

Oh, God.

I was alone with a young recruit, and Emma had been... I didn’t know what she had been, but it wasn’t good.

“Emma is gone, and the place is trashed. I have to call Tony. Go upstairs and call Finn, tell him what you see.”

“I can’t leave you,” he said.

“You have –”

“No,” he said, and this time, his voice didn’t break. “I promised Finn that I would stay with you, and I will. I won’t leave you unprotected out here. You should call Tony now, and I’ll call Finn.”

I stared at him for a split second and realized exactly why he’d been picked as a recruit in the mother chapter. I’d seen the young boy with his troubled past and worries about college. Tony, Coop, and Finn had seen the man in front of me and the potential he had.

Then I called Tony, who predictably but understandably lost his mind completely.