"Ally? What are you doing here?" Abel looked from our younger sister to me, hoping I had some explanation. She bit her bottom lip and gave us a small wave. Cade felt me tense up and pulled me into his arms. My back was against his chest as I stared at the girl I never expected to show up in Charming again.
"I turned eighteen last week. Mom said that if I didn't go to college, I couldn't stay there for free." We all continued to stare at her, wondering if she was getting to a point.
"Okay? You're here why?" She turned back and reached into the backseat. My jaw dropped and Abel muttered, "Oh shit.". Ally shrugged and looked down at the car seat in her hand.
"He deserves to know his dad since I never got to." She explained looking down at the little baby. Even in the darkness, I could see similarities between the baby and Juice. Cade scratched his head and looked over at Kenny.
"I'm gonna consider myself lucky to not have a damn clue what's going on." Kenny laughed and nodded in agreement. I ran my hand over my face, wondering why people I never thought I'd see again kept popping up.
"Rat, go get Chibs to get Juice. You really thought Friday night was a good time to bring a baby to meet it's father?" She twisted her mouth and shrugged her shoulders. She may have been a brainiac in school, but her social skills were severely lacking. Cade whispered the question he was dying to know.
"That's my younger half-sister, Alison. Mother of Juice's son, or so it seems." Cade let out a low whistle and I nodded, happy to have never intended on getting back with Juice.
"I have no idea why Kozik said Charming was boring." Cade said with a laugh. I nodded and turned to see Juice walking out of the clubhouse. He took one look at Ally and the kid before bolting. He was on his bike and out of the lot before anyone realized what he was doing. I groaned and looked at Cade. "Wreck my bike and you're paying to fix it, killer."
"Promise, babe. I'll be back as soon as I can." Cade nodded and kissed me softly before handing me his keys. It wasn't exactly normal for a Son to lend his bike to a girl, but I wasn't exactly any girl. The bike was a lot heavier than my Bonneville, but once I managed to get it rolling, I was set.
"Open the fucking door, Juan Carlos Ortiz!" I yelled, banging on the door with my fists. He finally yanked it open and I invited myself in, shoving past him. He slammed the door shut and glared at me.
"One fucking time and she gets knocked up? I didn't even like it that much." I rolled my eyes and held my hand up to stop him.
"It doesn't matter if you liked it or even if you like her, Juice. You have a son and I know you don't want him to grow up without a father like you did. You're a fucking Son, Juice. You all may not know what it's like to wrap your dick up but I'll be damned if any one of your brothers have ever turned their backs on their kids. You can be mad or happy, I don't care but you need to get back on that bike and go meet your son." Juice looked like he wanted to hit me but I knew he wasn't that stupid, not that he really wanted to in the first place.
I was following Juice back slowly, still overwhelmed by the size of Cade's bike. The red light from Oak to Main Street separated us due to Juice nearly running it and me struggling to keep the bike upright. I heard bikes behind me and looked up at the red that was still red. On my Bonneville, I would have run it any day. I didn't want to risk getting caught in the intersection against an oncoming car on Cade's Night Rod.
The light changed just as I felt a sharp, searing pain in my left shoulder. I ground my teeth together and took off, fishtailing and leaning horribly. The bikes caught up easily and I caught site of the Bandit's colors right before a ball bat swung out towards my head. I braked hard and barely managed to keep the bike up. I planted my feet and grabbed my Glock, popping off four rounds into the back of the Bandit that was closest to me. The other one fired at me and I felt it graze my arm. I groaned and raised my Glock, emptying the magazine towards the shooter before he tucked tail and ran.
I hissed and gritted my teeth, kicking the stand down and pressing Cade's speed dial. He answered on the first ring. I was still catching my breath as he yelled at me to tell him where I was.
"Oak and Main. There's still one somewhere." I inhaled sharply and dropped the phone to the ground as I lost the strength to sit up on the bike. I tried to pick the phone up until I realized I was struggling and losing blood for nothing. I focus on breathing and staying awake as the sound of several bikes approached. I just hoped they were family and not foe.
"Vic!" Cade was the first one to reach me, followed closely by Happy and my dad. I tried to smile at Cade.
"I didn't wreck it." He shook his head and helped Dad slide me off the bike as Happy called for an ambulance. The flatness of the concrete felt good for the pounding in my head and through my shoulder. Cade grabbed a towel from his saddle bag and put it over my shoulder, pressing hard. I whimpered and bit my lip but I refused to cry.
"You're gonna be okay, Vic. I promise." I nodded and closed my eyes to block out the flashing lights that were coming ever closer. Dad was yelling something but his voice sounded so far away. I let the darkness take over as everything went quiet.
I heard beeping. Repetitive beeping that wouldn't allow me to just go back to sleep. My arms and legs felt heavy and I groaned at the struggle and effort it took to move my hand and try to locate the source of the beeping. I finally opened my eyes to see why I couldn't move.
"Cade?" My voice was scratchy and my lips were chapped, but he still heard me. He woke up quickly and smiled up at me. The stark whiteness and sterile smell of the hospital reminded me what had happened. The memories started pouring in and the beeping grew louder and faster.
"Victory, baby, calm down. You're okay, I'm right here." His eyes searched mine before he pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. I looked at the tubes running into my body and groaned.
"All this for a round in the shoulder and my shoulder being grazed?" I groaned as the pain set in on command. He pressed the red button on the side of the hospital bed and brushed the hair out of my face.
"You lost a lot of blood, Vic. Your parents are on their way." I nodded and kept my eyes on him as the nurses and doctors rushed in. One of them hung a new, clear bag and hooked one of my tubes up to it. It didn't take long for the pain to subside to a tolerable level.
"How's that? Your back okay?" The doctor asked as he shone a flashlight in my eyes. I groaned and looked away, closing my eyes.
"What do you mean my back? It was just my shoulder." I narrowed my eyes, wondering how many gun shot patients they had to get confused. The doctor shook his head and turned on a light that illuminated an x-ray. I stared at the bullet shaped white spot far south of my shoulder.
"Mr. Lance, you'll need to step out." The nurse said as she came to the side of the bed. I shook my head and didn't let go of his hand.
"He stays. He's seen everything and I need him to stay." I relaxed when she nodded and looked at the doctor. He walked to my left side and gently pushed me forward. I groaned and Cade flinched, his eyes flashing with anger. I squeezed his hand and ground my teeth together.
"It's healing nicely, Ms. Teller. Your vest seemed to slow the bullets down enough to stop them from doing any permanent damage." The doctor seemed satisfied and let me lay back down. He went over my other injuries but my mind shut down two minutes in. He handed me some pamphlets about grieving and counseling. The doctor walked out with a frown and a promise to check in later. I could tell Cade wanted to talk about what the doctor had just told us but I heard my Dad from down the hallway.
"How's the bike?" I looked over at Cade. He opened and closed his mouth with surprise before finally smiling a little.
"Not a scratch, babe." I nodded and gave him a smile as my parents walked in with a vase of flowers and a teddy bear.
"Hey, baby girl." I smiled up at my Dad and Mom. Mom was crying and Dad looked to be on the verge of tears.
"Hey, you guys can't cry. I'm awake now, there's no crying!" Mom continued to cry as she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.
"I was so worried, baby. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't make it." Mom sobbed and I gave her hand a squeeze, still too weak to hug anyone. Dad hugged her to his side as he took my hand.
"We took care of it, Victory." I nodded, interested to know how it went down but not interested in upsetting my mom by asking. Cade's mouth was in a straight, tight line so I had a feeling it didn't go as smoothly as he would have liked.
"Have you been taking care of Duke? He hates when I'm not around." I looked over at Cade who had spent the most time with him and knew how to calm him down. He swallowed hard and looked up at my parents. "Cade, no."
"Babe, I'm sorry. I went home to get some of your stuff and the whole place was torn to shit. Damnit, Vic." I shook my head and sobbed, crying for the first time since the bullets ripped through me. He slammed the arm of the bed down, getting it out of his way so he could hold me as much as he could without hurting me or pulling at the tubes.
"Victory, baby, you can get another dog. The important thing is that you are going to be okay." I looked up at my Mom and cried harder into Cade's shoulder. It didn't make any sense for me to cry over a dog when I could take a life without blinking. Duke was innocent though. He had never done anything to deserve such cruelty. On top of what the doctor had just told us, I couldn't hold it together anymore.
"What happened to him, Cade?" He shook his head and kissed the top of my head. I sobbed again and pulled back to look him in the eye. "Cade."
"Victory, it can wait until you get out." Dad said, shooting a look at Cade. I ignored him and looked into Cade's hazel eyes. He swallowed hard and gently guided my head and his shoulder back together.
"They shot him. I don't think he suffered, babe." I cried for a few more seconds before pulling back and looking at Cade through puffy eyes.
"Did you kill the bastard that did it?" He clenched his jaw and shook his head. Dad sighed and shook his head.
"Victory, I'm sorry about your dog but it was a dog. We got the asshole that shot you, baby. I can't send the club after somebody that killed a dog. I'm sorry." I nodded and pressed the red button on the side of the bed.
"You don't have to, Dad. I'll do it myself." He was going to object as the nurse walked in. I turned to look at her and tried not to wince at the shoulder pain.
"I need whatever papers that need to get signed for me to leave, now." Cade shook his head and forced me to look into his eyes.
"Wrong time, Vic. I'll do it or I'll help you when you get out but you can't leave yet, babe. I promise we'll take care of it together, okay?" I sighed and considered the options. My shoulder hurt too damn much to drive or ride, much less shoot or operate any other tools I wanted to against the evil bastard.
"Okay." The nurse looked relieved and gave me a quick smile before leaving again. Dad glared at Cade and pointed towards the door. Mom put her hand on his chest and shook her head.
"That's what you have a clubhouse and chapel for, Jax. Fighting with Cade is only going to stress Victory out even more." She waited until Dad took a step back to drop her hand. As if on cue, Happy walked in with a brown paper bag and tossed it at me.
"Blueberry? Thanks Hap." He nodded and gave me a smile. Cade smirked and sat back down in the chair by my side. Happy looked from my boyfriend to my dad and raised his brow.
"This about the asshole that killed the dog?" Happy guessed. I mhmm'd as I ate my muffin. Happy nodded and sat down next to Cade. "Told you she'd want him dead. Should have let the kid and me go take care of it."
"There's been enough damn blood spilt, Happy. I'm not going to keep the war going over a dog." I narrowed my eyes and looked at my dad.
"You think they seriously want a truce? The animals killed an innocent puppy." My dad rounded on me and I glared back.
"It's about time you stay out of club business, Victory. You may get to help with some jobs but you don't sit at that table." I wanted to argue back but he stormed out of the room. Happy sighed and got up to follow him.
"He's not mad about Duke, baby. He blames himself for putting you in the line of fire. Just rest and get better, okay?" Mom kissed my forehead and gave me a comforting smile. I hated fighting with my dad. Hell, we hadn't had a fight since I was thirteen. I nodded, deciding to give him some time.
Cade frowned and propped his elbows on his knees, dropping his eyes to the tiled floor. I couldn't bring myself to talk about it, at least not in front of my mom. I reached out and brushed his arm with my finger-tips. He took my hand and pressed it to his lips.
"I love you, Victory." I felt all the pain and sadness in his voice because it was also my own. My mom was smiling but I just couldn't bring myself to fake a smile anymore.
"I love you, Cade." He nodded and kissed my hand again before excusing himself to go smoke. Mom sighed as he walked out of the room.
"Well, at least there's a silver lining." She rubbed my arm and comforted me as I cried again.
Wow! This may be the most I've ever updated in such a short amount of time. The writing bug hit me though and I had to get it to you as soon as possible. You may be able to put some pieces together in this chapter, but if not it will become clear in the next one. Yes, I cried when I wrote about Duke so if you did to, know you weren't alone.
