Fox by Harley Wylde
Chapter Eleven
Raven
I couldn’t believe I’d done that! I’d physically assaulted someone, and all because she said something I hadn’t liked. I’d never been a violent sort of person, at least not toward others. The fact Fox hadn’t been angry over the incident, and if anything seemed pleased by my reaction, made me feel a little less sick over it. The woman might have been mouthing off about Fox, but I’d gone too far when I broke her nose. At least, I thought so. Everyone else seemed happy about it. Even Luciana and Violeta had attacked the other two women.
“You’re not angry?” I asked Fox as he drove away from the clubhouse.
“No. You were staking your claim, Raven. In my world -- now yours too -- that shit’s important. Those women wouldn’t have backed down if you’d asked them politely.”
“You pulled Spider aside to talk. I thought maybe you’d actually been upset about it but hadn’t wanted to say something in front of everyone. I didn’t want to embarrass you.”
He reached over and took my hand, lifting it to his lips. “Sweetheart, I was damn proud of you. As for Spider, I needed to get something from him. We’re making a stop on the way back to the house.”
We hadn’t driven through the gates, so whatever it was I knew it had to be part of their property. Fox drove past the house and continued down the road. The houses became farther apart until we were nearing the end of them. I saw two that seemed larger than the others, both set farther back off the road. Fox pulled into the driveway of the first one and shut off the engine.
“Are we visiting someone?” I asked.
“No. This house is empty. When I picked out the house I have now, I didn’t have anyone special in my life, and kids weren’t even on my mind. Now that I have you, and we have a baby on the way, I thought we might need more space.” He turned in his seat to face me. “We don’t have to accept this house. If you don’t like it, I’ll tell Spider we’re keeping the one we have. I’ll just need to come up with a way to give us more room. I have a few ideas, but this seemed like a simpler solution.”
I eyed the large home and wondered exactly how many rooms he thought we needed. As far as I knew, there was only one baby growing inside me. He’d mentioned the possibility of more kids, but we hadn’t really had a discussion about it. Did he want a large family? Could I handle having more than one child? Having grown up without a father, and then my mom throwing me out, I hadn’t had the best example of what a parent should be. What if I screwed up our kids?
“If you don’t want to go inside, we won’t,” he said.
I could tell he wanted this house. Or more accurately, he hoped I would want it. He hadn’t asked for a single thing since he’d let me move in. The least I could do was look at the house with him. I’d try to keep an open mind.
“It doesn’t hurt to look, right?”
He smiled. “Right. Come on, sweetheart. Let’s see if we even like this place. I haven’t been inside it since they finished putting up the walls and made it livable.”
I opened the door and got out, then followed him up the walkway. The yard had been cut. A flower bed stretched along the front of the home, but only dirt filled the space. Someone had placed stones along the outer edge to form a border. Decorative pavers led from the front porch down to the mailbox. The home had beige bricks and a brown roof. Rustic wood shutters framed the windows. It would have fit into any suburban neighborhood and didn’t look a thing like a house I’d expect a biker to have. Then again, I hadn’t really known any before coming here. Maybe they all lived in beautiful homes like this one.
Fox pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. He motioned for me to enter first, and the moment I stepped inside, I knew we’d be taking the house. The entry had a natural stone floor that continued into the kitchen to our left. A large family room on the right had dark hardwood floors. I saw three other doors on this level as well as French doors that led into what appeared to be a sunroom.
The brightly lit space called to me, and I had to see it. I pushed open the doors and stepped down into the room. The same stonework in the front entry covered the floor. Large windows encased the space on two sides. The third held mostly windows, but also had a large glass door that led out into the backyard. Since it didn’t have a fence, I could see for what seemed like miles. In the distance, I saw a line of trees. I hadn’t realized the club had so much property. Although, if he wanted children, we’d need to put up a fence.
“It’s beautiful,” I murmured.
“Come on. Let’s see the rest of this place.” Fox took my hand and pried me away from the sunroom. One of the other doors opened to a small bathroom with a standing shower, sink, and toilet. The other two were probably intended to be bedrooms, even though they were on the smaller side. Unless someone had thought to make one an office.
Fox walked back to the front entry and went into the kitchen, pulling me in his wake. The stone floor covered the room, just as it did the entry and sunroom. The walls were a pale, buttery yellow. The cabinets were a darker wood, and the counter tops boasted a smooth marble in a café au lait sort of tone. Brand-new appliances were in place, the tags still on them. I walked across the large space and opened a door on the opposite side. It led into a small side entry. I saw a door with glass in the top, letting me look out into the side yard. An open doorway showed a spacious pantry with a lot of shelves and room along one wall for a chest freezer. It even had an outlet already available.
“I haven’t seen a laundry room,” I said as I went back into the kitchen. Surely a house this size would have one? Or some sort of spot for a washer and dryer.
“Let’s look upstairs.”
Fox and I climbed to the second floor. All the doors stood open so we could easily peek into each one. One door stood off a ways from the other rooms. I went inside and saw a washer and dryer, along with cabinets over the top of them and a counter on the opposite wall that would give me space to fold clothes.
“This place has four bedrooms up here,” Fox said. “And a big bathroom for three of them. Want to check out the master suite?”
Suite? Did he mean it was bigger than we had right now? I went inside and my jaw dropped a little. The room sat at the end of the hall and had two exterior walls. One wall had two windows and the other had one. The light made the room feel open and welcoming. A nook caught my attention and I saw someone had added a small sitting area through an archway to the left of the lone window. Just large enough for a bookshelf and two chairs. The perfect spot to relax at the end of the day. The space also had a window.
“The bathroom is amazing,” Fox called out.
I left the little nook and went to see the bathroom. A large sunken tub looked big enough for four or five men the size of Fox. The shower had an open doorway, but as I stepped inside, I saw the drain and showerheads -- yes, plural as there were two -- were designed in such a way the water wouldn’t seep out into the main part of the bathroom. The wall between the shower and the rest of the room had been made of glass blocks, letting in light but obscuring anyone’s view.
Double sinks and a long counter sat under a mirror. The sinks were unlike any I’d seen before. They looked like large bowls on top of the counter, and the curved spout reminded me of a waterfall when I turned it on. The cabinets and drawers under the counter would give us plenty of room for towels and other bathroom items. I found the toilet hidden behind another door, which seemed a bit humorous since most bathrooms didn’t hide the toilet. There were even his and her closets.
“I think this bathroom is the size of the bedroom at the house we have now,” I said.
“No, I think it’s bigger.” Fox came up behind me, curling his arm around my waist. “Does this mean you like the house?”
I nodded. “But do we really need all this room?”
“Well, I thought we could make one of the downstairs rooms a play area for any kids we have. The other can be a guest room for your dad when he visits. That leaves three bedrooms to fill with children. If we’re blessed with that many, or if you even want more than one. We can talk about it later.”
“I didn’t see a linen closet.”
“There’s enough room in the laundry for me to add some rolling storage carts or something under that counter. Or you could get decorative bins to put there. Hell, I could rip out the counter and put in a set of cabinets to match the ones over the washer and dryer.”
He better not touch that counter. I liked the idea of not having to haul a basket of clean clothes to the bedroom, then dump it on the bed to fold everything.
“We don’t even have enough furniture for this much space.”
He kissed the side of my neck. “We can buy new things. Or leave the rooms up here empty for now. When you’re ready to set up a nursery, you let me know which room to use and what color you want it painted. No reason to rush out and buy everything right away. We can take our time.”
I turned in his embrace and faced him. “What about the cost?”
He smiled. “It’s a perk of being in the club and being the VP. None of the patched members pay for the homes here. The club earns money off various things. Typically, whoever helps with a certain job gets a cut. When we decided to build houses here, everyone agreed a percentage of any incoming funds would be earmarked for the compound.”
“So we don’t have to buy it or pay rent?” I asked.
“Nope. It’s ours if you want it to be.” He rubbed my back. “The house we have now will be up for grabs if another brother wants it, or it will sit empty until someone else gets patched in.”
I nodded, thinking it was too good to be true. The home was beautiful. More gorgeous than anything I’d ever lived in before, even when I still stayed with my mom. And it could be ours? I almost wanted to pinch myself, certain I must be dreaming.
“So, do I tell Spider we want to move in?” he asked.
“I want it,” I said.
“Then I’ll make arrangements to have us moved in by end of the day. You and I are going to make ourselves scarce, and I’ll have two Prospects box up everything and start moving stuff. We can start with a celebratory lunch and go from there.”
He pressed a kiss to the side of my neck, and I leaned into him. Everything seemed to be happening so fast. I kept thinking I must still be at Balmoral, doped up on drugs and locked in a dreamlike state. None of this could be real, could it?
Fox led me back outside and helped me into the truck, then he made some calls on the way to the front gate. He rolled down his window and handed a set of keys to the guy standing guard. I hadn’t had a chance to meet everyone, and I didn’t know who he was. He seemed nice enough, and even gave me a little wave as Fox pulled out of the compound.
“Is this a date?” I asked.
Fox glanced at me before focusing on the road again. “Do you want it to be?”
Did I? I couldn’t remember the last time I went out with someone in a date-like capacity. Certainly before the incident. “I think I would. We haven’t really been on one yet, even though you say I’m yours and you’re mine.”
He pulled over onto the shoulder and turned toward me. “I didn’t even think to ask. Do you want a ring?”
“Ring?” My brow furrowed as I tried to figure out what he meant.
“Wedding ring.” He held up his left hand. “I’ll wear one if you want me to. I’m having a property cut made for you, or rather Luciana is. It will look like the one she had on today, except the back of yours will say Property of Fox.”
I thought about it a moment, mulling the idea over. “A ring might keep men away from me. I don’t like it when strange men come up and talk to me. It usually doesn’t end well.”
Fox reached over and took my hand. “Sweetheart, no one is going to hurt you anymore. I won’t let them. Anyone even thinks of touching you, and I will gladly rip out their spines.”
I blinked at him, and the rather vivid picture he painted. Perhaps his urge to commit violence should have scared me, but since he wanted to hurt people on my behalf, I felt oddly special. Cared for. Maybe even… loved? No, he couldn’t love me. He didn’t know me well enough for that. In fact, there was a chance he’d never love me, but he treated me well.
He pulled the truck back onto the road. “We’ll stop for rings before we go eat. Do you want to officially be Mrs. Josh Turner?”
“You mean actually get married?”
He made a humming sound. “I was thinking more along the lines of asking Surge to hack into the county clerk’s office and make it look like we got married. The paper trail would show we’re officially husband and wife, but without all the hassle involved with a wedding. Unless you want one.”
Did I? The thought of standing in front of a bunch of people, all of them staring as I married Fox, made my stomach churn. No. Nope, I definitely didn’t want to get married. Not if it meant having a wedding ceremony. But having someone marry us without all that other stuff? I would be okay with that.
“Can you ask Surge to do it?” I asked.
Fox handed me his phone. “Can you pull his name up in the contacts and put the call on speaker?”
“It’s locked,” I said, staring at the Enter your Pin screen.
“Six. Nine. Eight. Three.”
I entered the numbers, wondering what they meant. Instead of asking, I scrolled through his contacts and found the name Surge. I connected the call and put it on speaker like he’d asked.
“I’m a bit busy, Fox,” Surge said instead of using the customary hello.
“I don’t even want to know,” Fox said, as music blasted in the background through the small phone speaker. “Raven wants to be my wife. Can you take care of it?”
“Yeah. Not right this minute, but I will later tonight. By morning she’ll legally -- or illegally -- be yours. Anything else?”
“That’s it. Have fun with whatever you’re doing,” Fox said and nodded for me to end the call.
I handed the phone back to him and he shoved it into his pocket. When he pulled up in front of a small jewelry store, my palms started to sweat. Diamonds sparkled in the front windows. I hadn’t realized he’d meant he would buy me a ring at a place like this one. I’d thought we’d get cheap bands somewhere.
Fox got out of the truck, and I had no choice but to follow. When we entered the shop, the lights flickered off all the gemstones in the cases. I couldn’t remember a time I’d felt so underdressed. In my shorts and tee, I felt better suited to the discount store than an upscale jewelry store. The shop might be small, but there had to be a fortune in jewelry in the glass cases.
“Come on, beautiful. Let’s get wedding bands.”