Beautiful Outlaw by Emily Minton
My Woman
Bowie
I narrow my eyes at Lock’s shouted question. “She’s getting dressed. Give her a fuckin’ minute.”
“Do not tell me that you were in bed with my sister?” he says as he looks at my bare chest. “She’s not one of your damn club whores.”
Brother or not, I’m not putting up with this shit. “No, she ain’t. She’s my woman.”
He starts toward me, but Shooter puts a hand to his chest, stopping him in his tracks. “Think about what you’re doing, Lock. If Bowie is claiming her, your sister will be safe.”
“My sister is not going to be on the back of some piece of shit’s bike. She’s worth more than that.”
The tension in the room skyrockets as I ask, “What the fuck did you just say?”
He meets my eyes, not backing down a bit. “I love you, brother, but you’re a criminal. I want more for her than that.”
“What about what I want?” a whispered voice says from the hall.
I turn in time to watch Shay walk into the room. She is wearing the same crumpled clothing she wore the night before. Her blonde hair is tousled, and dark circles line her blue eyes. Still, she is the most beautiful woman I have ever fuckin’ seen.
“I spent nearly half my life with a man I hated,” she states as she walks to her brother. “Isn’t it time I get to choose what I want?”
“But...” Lock mumbles out as he raises a hand to cup her jaw.
Shay shakes her head, cutting him off. “I want to be happy, and I think Bowie can make me that way.”
Her voice sounds so sure, like there isn’t a doubt in her mind. She just knows I can do it. I can make her happy. Can I? I sure as hell hope so, but I’m not sure. I’ve never had a woman before. Had a lot of women, but never had a woman of my own. I do know I’ll die trying to keep a smile on her face.
Lock’s voice softens as he says, “You don’t know what he does, don’t know how he makes his money.”
For the first time since meeting him, I want to reach out and gut his ass. The fact that he is worried about this shit now, but didn’t think twice about me taking care of his sister, pisses me way the fuck off. Brother or not, he is not coming between me and Shay.
“Do you trust him?” Shay asks, raising her hand to cover his hand.
“You know I do,” he says as he looks to me, letting me see the truth of his words. “I trust him with my life.”
“Do you trust me?”
He hesitates this time but finally answers her. “I do, but Laura, you’ve been sheltered from the world. You don’t know what it means to be his woman.”
She nods, agreeing with him. “No, I don’t, but I want to find out.”
Her words do something to me, make me feel something I have never felt before. Without my consent, my feet march to her. I pull her into my arms and look into her eyes. “It means I’ll take care of you as long as there is a breath in my body.”
“Fuck,” I hear Lock mumble. “I should have sent her to Shooter.”
Shooter’s laughter fills the room. “Sorry, brother. I got an Old Lady of my own to handle. One is enough for me.”
Moving my eyes from Shay, I ask, “When the hell did this shit happen?”
I didn’t even know he had a woman until I called him for a place to stay and he offered up his Old Lady’s trailer. Shooter stayed clear of women. Sure, he got his dick wet, but that was all. Claiming an Old Lady is a hell of a lot more than just fuckin’ a club whore. It’s about respect, commitment, and spending your life together. It’s something I gotta think long and hard about if I’m gonna keep calling Shay my woman.
Shooter shakes his head. “Not something I want to talk about in front of your woman.”
His words are hard as steel, letting me know that there is more to the story. “Okay, brother. We’ll talk later.”
He nods. There is something in his eyes that tells me that our talk will lead to trouble, and I’ve got to wonder if it has anything to do with the shit his club has going on with the Desert Ghosts. Fuck, if they messed with his Old Lady, blood will be shed.
“Did you tell her?” Lock asks, taking my mind off of club trouble.
“Yeah,” I reply, giving Shay a squeeze, wondering how my girl is holding up. She hasn’t shed a tear this morning, but she cried enough last night to last a lifetime. Even in her sleep, she whimpered in pain.
“How’s Dad?” she asks, knowing exactly what Lock is asking about.
Her voice is so soft, barely above a whisper. I can hear the heartbreak in it, and it cuts me to the bone. I lean down and kiss the top of her head, hoping to comfort her.
“I went over and saw him before I came here. He’s doing better than I thought he would be.”
“Can I…” she starts but stops without finishing.
“What do you want, baby?”
Looking up at me, she pleads her case. “I know it’s dangerous, but I really need to go to the funeral. I want to be there for Dad. He’ll need me.”
I’m about to tell her no, even though I don’t want to, when Lock answers her question. “There’s not gonna be a funeral.”
“What?” she asks, jerking away from me to stare at her brother.
He shrugs. “Mom set it all up after she found out about Marcus. She knew you would try to come, and the bastard would then know you were alive.”
“What do you mean, she set it all up?”
“Fuck, Laura. You don’t want to know this shit,” he says, his jaw ticking with tension.
“Yes, I do,” she whispers out, as if she’s afraid of what he is about to tell her, but still needing to hear it.
Lock’s eyes fill with pain as he explains. “Mom donated her body to science. She hopes it will help someone else in the future. She didn’t want anything, no service, nothing.”
She leans back into me, and I can feel the sorrow coming off her in waves. “Her body, Mom’s body.”
The words leave her mouth on a sob as she turns into me. Shay buries her face into the crook of my arm, and I can feel the tears drenching me. I wrap my arms around her, holding her as close as possible. I don’t know what to say, not sure there is anything I can say to ease her pain.
“It’s what she wanted, Laura,” Lock says in a quiet voice.
She finally pulls away from me, wiping the tears from her eyes. Then, she looks over to her brother. “My name is Shay. Laura’s dead.”