Willow by Erin Osborne
Chapter Fifteen
Zander ‘Breaker’ Williams
BLOOD CALLED AND gave me a heads up Crave and Trinity were on their way back home. Neither one of them are working tonight because of something that happened at the club when they got there. He wouldn’t go into details about what happened over the phone and said my friend would fill me in when he got here. I’ve been pacing the porch since getting the call and I have no clue what the fuck I’m going to find out when they pull up. The only reason I’m out here is because I don’t want to get grams upset when there’s nothing she can do to help. It would be different if I had a clue of what’s going on, but I don’t yet. How long does it fucking take to get here from the club?
Finally, after what feels like hours have passed, one of our SUVs pull into the driveway. Without skipping a beat, I rush from the porch and head straight for the passenger side where I can see Trinity sitting through the windshield. Yanking open the door so hard I’m surprised I don’t rip it off, my eyes never leave the woman who is coming to mean so much to me. Tears roll down her face as she unfastens her seatbelt and reaches out for me. I pull her into my arms and just hold her. Trinity wraps herself around me; her arms around my neck, head buried in my neck, and her legs wrapped around my waist. Crave gets out of the driver’s seat, rage flowing off him even from the opposite side of the SUV. He’s pissed as fuck as I take in the stark white bandage covering his arm.
“Are you okay Trin?” I ask her, not making her let go of me or putting any space between our bodies.
“I’m shaken up but otherwise okay,” her muffled reply comes.
“What the fuck happened?” I question Crave, walking up on the porch with him.
“We were ridin’ to work and noticed an SUV followin’ us. By the time I was pullin’ in Legacies parkin’ lot, they had guns out the driver’s side windows. Almost laid the bike down when it got squirrely on the loose gravel. Managed to get around the side of the club as bullets started flyin’. I was grazed in the arm after tossin’ Trin to the ground and coverin’ her with my body. They took off after shootin’ up the bikes, Tonya’s truck, and the front of the club,” Crave tells me, his voice filled with the venom racing through his veins. “You should probably know, I claimed Trinity for the both of us after it happened. She’s our ol’ lady now. Hope you were ready for it.”
“The fuck?” I bark out, hearing what happened pisses me the fuck off. “Bullets started flyin’ and you tossed her to the ground. Trin, you need to go to the hospital to make sure the baby is okay. Why the fuck didn’t you take her there? These fuckers are messin’ with the wrong club. You don’t ever fuck with women and kids. I don’t give a fuck who you are. They don’t have a fuckin’ clue what hell they just unleashed on themselves.”
Trinity jumps in my arms. There is no way I’m pissed about her being our ol’ lady. I’m pissed as fuck some group of thugs decided to open fire with a woman out in the open. They could have caused an explosion with the bikes and truck sitting in the parking lot. One bullet hitting the vehicle just right and boom. We could have lost members, Trinity, and my best friend. All because this group of twatwaffles wants something from us. They haven’t even let us know what they’re after. Who the fuck does that?
“I’m not going to the hospital. I’ll be okay. I’m sore and just want to go lay down and rest for a little while. I’m sorry you are tied down to me now. Crave you shouldn’t have claimed me. I don’t even know what the fuck that means,” Trinity says, only slightly lifting her head from my body.
“Wouldn’t have claimed you if I didn’t fuckin’ mean it. It might not be how I want things right now, but I made the claim for both of us. Breaker wants you just as much as I do. There are things you need to know but it’s not the time to go into those details. As soon as we figure out what’s goin’ on, I’ll tell you why I’ve acted the way I have,” Crave tells her, stepping up close as he places a kiss on the top of her head.
“Us claimin’ you means you’re ours. You will get a property rag, and everyone will know who you belong to. It’s not for us to control you or any of that bullshit; it’s more for protection and keepin’ you safe,” I tell her, still not sure we’re explaining this shit right.
“When all this stuff is over you can just take away your claim on me then? In the meantime, I’m what, your girlfriend?”
“No, that’s not how this works. You’re our women and we’re your men. Our claim on you is for life. In the eyes of the club we’re as good as married. There is no way in hell either of us are goin’ to back out of this. That just doesn’t happen in the club,” I tell her, knowing Tonya can probably explain it better to her.
“Your wife?” she asks, her voice raising in pitch. “That’s insane. We’ve had sex once. Well, twice with Crave. I don’t know anything about you, and you don’t know anything about me. This is not what I was expecting.”
“Let’s get inside. I don’t want to be out in the fuckin’ open,” Crave states, looking up and down the street to make sure no one is here watching us or trying to pull an ambush.
“I don’t have a good feelin’. Get inside and then we need to figure out what to do from there,” I add in, carrying Trinity inside the house.
“What’s to figure out?” Trinity asks as I don’t pause downstairs with her.
Carrying Trin straight up to her room, I carefully lay her down on the bed. Pulling her shoes from her feet to help her get more comfortable, I put a light blanket over her body in order to help her stop shaking. Right now I can’t get in this bed next to her because I’ll peel her clothes off before removing my own and sliding inside her hot, wet pussy.
“Baby girl, I think we need to think about movin’ to the clubhouse until we find out more information about who’s after the club and what they want. It’s the safest place for you and gram. Here, there’s no security and it takes men away from doin’ business like we have to. As it stands now, we have men missin’ and more could happen any second of the day. We can’t find these fuckers and it’s takin’ a toll on all of us. Crave and I would worry less about you and gram if we’re all at the clubhouse where men are on you and gram at all times. No one has to leave the clubhouse to protect you, and someone will always be around gram,” I tell her, knowing this is the right move to make as I look across the bed at Crave.
“He’s right Trinity. The best place for you and gram is the clubhouse right now. No one will get through the gate without knowin’ who they are. You’ll never be close enough to the gate to get hurt. I wouldn’t worry about the baby as much either because someone will always be with you too. One of us will either be workin’ or out searchin’. The sooner we can get these fuckers, the sooner we can go back to life as normal. We have rooms at the clubhouse. Gram can stay in mine, and we’ll share Breaker’s. You don’t have to worry about anything gram needs, we’ll make sure it’s there and ready for her. I’m sure we can even get a nurse in to help you take care of her. It probably wouldn’t hurt with you bein’ pregnant and tryin’ to work. You would know without a doubt she’s taken care of when you’re not there with her,” Crave adds in as I keep my eyes locked on the woman between us.
“This is a lot to wrap my head around. Give me a few minutes to get everything straight in my head and we’ll talk again. For now, I just want to sleep for a few minutes,” she says, closing her eyes as I lean down to kiss her forehead while Crave pulls down the top of her dress just enough to place a kiss on her bare shoulder.
“We’ll go start makin’ dinner. I’ll wake you up when it’s ready,” I tell her as we get ready to leave the bedroom.
Walking downstairs, Crave sits in the living room with gram while I pull my phone from my pocket. Calling Blood, I let him know what we just discussed with Trinity. He’s happy with the thought of us moving in behind the compound wall and not having to spread out our men even more with keeping one or two on the house at all times. Things for us are about to get busy as fuck so we won’t be around as much. He lets me know they’ll get nursing in the clubhouse for gram, make sure Crave’s room is cleaned up and new sheets are put on his bed, and that things are moved around so it’s easy for gram to get through the clubhouse in her wheelchair. She’s still got a few weeks left in the thing and we don’t want her to feel as if she’s stuck in a room on her own because we didn’t make changes to accommodate her.
With that phone call out of the way, I look in the kitchen to decide what we’ll have for dinner tonight. Finding what I need, I make pork chops, mashed potatoes, and peas. Before moving in here, it’s been a long time since I cooked a good meal. There’s really no point in cooking for one person like this. I actually enjoy cooking and make sure the people I care about are taken care of. If it’s helping around the house, cooking, or just being there for them I don’t mind helping out one bit. Crave is helping in his own way right now. He’s keeping gram company and letting his arm rest. I’m sure he’s in more pain than Trinity knows. My friend won’t want her to know how bad it hurts. Even getting grazed by a bullet is hard to deal with. Crave won’t accept pain medicine either. Again, that’s his story to tell.
Crave went up to wake Trinity up from her nap as I plate up our food. With gram in a wheelchair, she’s been making sure we have our meals in the kitchen. She told me Trinity wanted it to happen, but she was too weak to make it there even with help before. Now, she can make it there and we can eat as a family. Gram is all about Crave and I being with Trinity. She doesn’t care what other people think of our relationship because she sees we feel something for her granddaughter. With her blessing, there is no way I’m not going to make the most of Crave claiming her on our behalf.
Through dinner, Trinity is abnormally silent. She doesn’t look at us or her gram as she picks at her food. For the most part, she’s just pushing it around her plate to make it look like she’s eating. Gram is eating with enthusiasm and doesn’t notice her granddaughter not eating. I’ve been watching her, and she’s barely put any food in her mouth. This is not going to help her keep her strength up or feed the baby she’s growing. Nudging her with my leg, Trin finally looks up at me and begins to put more food in her mouth.
“Baby girl, you need to eat. This is not good for the baby or you,” I whisper to her, so her gram doesn’t overhear me.
“I know. I don’t really have an appetite after today’s events. I’m trying,” she tells me, fear filling her voice as I wrap my arm around her.
“I know baby. Just try to eat more for me and then I’ll leave you alone about it. I just want you to keep up your strength after already passin’ out once. We don’t need this to happen again right now,” I remind her gently. “After dinner, we’ll talk more about what was said earlier.”
Trinity nods her head before placing more food in her mouth. It’s not long before the four of us are done eating and Crave begins cleaning up the kitchen. When Trinity tries to help him, both of us tell her we’ve got it handled and to go spend some time with her grams before we have our conversation. She huffs a little bit before doing as we ask. While Crave is rinsing off the dishes, I put the leftover food away. Together, it takes us less than five minutes to get everything cleaned up so we can have our conversation with Trinity.
Nodding my head to her, she pushes gram in her room to help her get ready for bed before helping her get settled in. Gram will watch TV for an hour or so before turning it off and going to bed. It’s the same routine she’s had since we started staying here with them. Crave and I settle in on the couch to wait for her so we can have this conversation and get things ready if we’re going to be heading to the clubhouse. Right now, we wouldn’t make a move until the morning. Gram is in bed and I’m not going to get her out of bed to move to the clubhouse. Plus, I’m not going to have her disturbed so we can pack her things up. Finally, Trin makes her way out to us and sits down between Crave and I.
“So, I’ve been thinking,” Trinity begins, looking between the two of us as Crave wraps his arm around her shoulders and I take her hand. “I understand why you want us to move to the clubhouse. It makes a lot of sense. I honestly don’t want to go through anything like today again. My gram has to agree if we’re going to make the move and I’m not going to make her move there tonight. Not when she’s already in bed. If she doesn’t agree to go to the clubhouse then I’m not going either. We can stay here on our own while you guys go back to your lives.”
“You’re ours baby girl. The sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be. We’re by your side for better or worse. Told you in the eyes of the club we’re as good as married now. If you and grams are here, we’re here with you. You’re both at the clubhouse, we’re at the clubhouse. Trinity, we’ll be by your side and at your back for the long term. This isn’t a game we’re playin’,” I tell her, my voice gentle as I keep touching her.
“Fine. If she agrees to do this, what happens next?” she asks, her voice wavering as everything is overwhelming her.
We threw a lot of information at her earlier and she hasn’t had time to sort through it. I’m sure she’s got questions and has no clue how to ask us what she wants to know. There’s time for that once we know what’s going on. When we’re moved into the clubhouse or have a schedule set up for guys being on guard here at the house, we’ll talk to her about everything. For now, we need to figure out what’s going on with where we’re staying.
“We’ll pack up some stuff for you and gram and move to the clubhouse. Breaker has a larger room than I do so the three of us will stay in there. My room is right next to his and that’s where gram will be stayin’. We can hear her if she needs somethin’ no matter what time of day or night it is. Every member and ol’ lady will be there for the two of you. All we’ll need is a list of things you and gram need. Blood already said he’d take care of it and make sure it’s all there and ready for gram,” I answer her as Crave slides in closer to her.
“Okay. I’ll go talk to her,” she says, knowing it has to be soon because if not gram will be sleeping.
“We’ll be right here waitin’,” Crave says, giving her ass a swat as she stands up in front of us and heads to her gram’s room, shutting the door on us.
Leaning back against the couch, I turn on some action movie. Crave and I aren’t paying attention to the movie as we wait to find out what gram’s is going to want to do. All we can do is wait and make sure nothing goes wrong here. Even if one of us have to go in and talk to her ourselves.
