Raging Barons MC – Book Nine – Knuckles

-:- JOLENE -:-

Saturday morning and it feels great to be out of that cage and away from Tommaso’s threat. It all seems so unreal that a man could see a woman, decide she’s going to be his mistress, and then try to do everything they can to make that happen. Even as far as kidnapping and hurting people to achieve that goal.

Rolling out of bed, I allow myself a smile when I think of Knuckles wrapping me in his large arms and tucking me into his chest to sleep. Who would have thought a huge guy like Knuckles would enjoy spooning? A giggle passes from my lips, surprising me.

Last night, while sitting and talking, Winter told me today I’d be organizing my training and getting my life put in order. Now my life has been so hidden in the past that to say what I’d like to do with it feels rather unreal.

Rushing through my shower and dressing, I’m ready to leave the bedroom when Knuckles walks inside. “Oh, I thought I was going to have to wake you. I wanted to talk with you today sometime, if that’s okay?”

“We can talk now.”

“Okay.” Closing the door behind him, he takes a seat on the end of the bed and I sit next to him. Waiting for what he wants to talk about because I’m sure with the Tommaso thing, there has to be a lot to clear up after the time we’ve just had.

“What do you envision for your future?”

Now that is a surprise. Not what I thought he was going to ask me. But it’s something I’ve thought about in the quiet of my room when I’ve been trying not to listen to the silence that sometimes would try to suffocate me.

Wringing my hands shows the nerves I’m feeling, but Knuckles takes my hands in his large one. Rubbing his thumb along the knuckles of my right hand.

“I want to write stories. Romance stories, and give women a moment in their lives where they are lost in emotions, whether they be to cry, laugh, or be angry. I want to have babies, and live in a house with a porch where I can sip iced tea and relax with the love of my life.” I turn my head to look at Knuckles and the softness on his face catches me unawares, but when he gives me that one-sided smile and his dimple pops, I can’t help but smile back at him.

Knuckles gives me a nod before lowering his face and kissing me gently. “We can do all that.” He whispers before taking my lips once more.

Before the kiss can deepen too far, a banging on the door has us jerking apart, and I can’t help but giggle at the look of disgust on Knuckles’ face as he hurries over to the door and throws it open. “What?” he asks rather forcefully.

Mia is standing there grinning. “I need Jo. We’re going to hold church.”

Knuckles gives Mia an odd look, then looks at me before I step past him and smile at Mia, who grabs my hand and pulls me along behind her.

Walking into the room they call church, I quickly see all the women sitting and waiting. They pushed everything to the sides of the room and created a circle of seats so everyone can see everyone else. It makes it feel intimate rather than the cold place I imagine it normally is.

I look to my right and in the seat next to mine is Amelia, and following around the women seated are Bitty, Sybil, Eden, Carrie, Raven, Tilly, Kya, Winter and two other women I don’t know. Mia is sitting in the center of all the women and looking directly at me.

“This is Heather, who runs a commercial cleaning company, and this is Cora, who works with Raven as a mechanic at the garage. We are the girl gang. You are now part of the gang, the same as Sybil who has just joined.” The smirk on Mia’s face has me a little worried because it has a touch of the one I’ve seen on Axel’s face. “We want to know everything, from the very beginning. Leave nothing out, even if you think it doesn’t matter. It may be important.”

Amelia looks over at Mia. “Who’s looking after the twins?”

“They are in the playroom, but I left Reuse watching over them. He’s obsessed with them staying clean and everything being in its place.” Giggling, she leans forward. “Even I can’t find half of what I want when he’s been in the playroom.”

Amelia pats my hand and gives me a smile. “Okay, girlie, tell us everything.”

The next hour I inform them of everything that happened from the time I was in the library working and Tommaso walking in wanting a reference book of some kind. The way he looked at me and leered before walking out, up to now where I’d been on the roof of the mall with Winter and being told I’d be training in hand-to-hand combat and weaponry.

Looking at the women, it’s interesting to see they are all nodding in agreement at my last comment, and I’m getting worried about this aggressive stance they want me to have. It must show on my face when Winter leans forward and looks at me.

“You have to learn to protect yourself, Jo, it’s a case of being able to hold your own long enough for one of us or one of the brothers to get to you. We all do the training on Sunday mornings. We work with each other and with Meat, Wings, Chaos, and Target. All the brothers join in at some time, so you’ll not be left out. Oh, Cora has started to train with us too because she works with Raven and used to train with her, but they both train here now as it’s the safest.” Winter informs me.

Heather holds her hand up as though she’s in class, which has the ladies giggling. “I want to come train if you’d allow it?”

Mia laughs. “Yeah, you can train because, girl, you’re in the girl gang and we all stick together.”

Carrie speaks next. “What’s your specialty?”

“I don’t know what you mean?” I reply, frowning.

Mia speaks and I turn my head to look at her once more. “Well, I’m good with a blade, a knife of any kind. But we all train with Meat on odd weapons, such as a cleaver, bow and arrow, and staff.”

“I’m best with a rifle,” Tilly adds.

Mia points at Eden. “Bow.”

Carrie, “Crossbow.”

Raven, “Anything I can get my hands on.” Which has everyone giggling.

Kya, “Glock or Sig is my go-to if needed. But I can do hand-to-hand well.”

Winter, “You all know I’m a sniper, so obviously a rifle, but I can do hand-to-hand better now I’m training on Sunday mornings.”

Amelia has everyone giggling when she joins the conversation. “I’m an expert with a cane, and my girls here, they can use a cane now, too.”

“So, what’s your specialty?” Mia asks me, and everyone looks at me expectantly.

I feel the flush run up my cheeks and as I’ve no training to speak of, so I think of what I can do, then I can’t help the giggle that busts out before answering. “Shoes. I’m good with a shoe.”

They all look at me with a blank face, and I giggle again before continuing. “When we were in the cage, Knuckles got one of the horrible men in a headlock and I took my shoe off and hit him as many times as I could, and as hard as I could on his head before I knocked him out.”

They all continue to stare at me before Tilly giggles, throws her hands over her mouth and a cackle bursts forth. That seems to set everyone off, and the room is quickly filled with the sound of our laughter.

“Okay, so we know now what’s a good weapon, or training-wise, we know what happened while you were in that damn cage. Now we need to know what you want to do going forward. What is your aim for the future?” Mia asks with a serious look on her face.

“I want to write; I’ve always dreamed of being an author. But I want a home, children, a man I can trust.” Looking at the women sitting around me, they are nodding in agreement and I can see they understand what I’m saying. “I want my brother to have his own life, instead of always having to put me first. He wants to join the service and has never been able to because of me. It’s time he could move forward and do things for himself.”

“Well, you’ve got Knuckles now, and girl, he’s all in. We can see him looking at you as though you hung the moon. He made sure you stayed safe when Tommaso grabbed you, too. I bet he wished when he snatched you he’d put you in a cage of your own or kept you away from Knuckles.” Carrie states.

“Yeah, I agree. He made a huge mistake putting you in with Knuckles. I can just imagine him standing in front of you with his arms folded across that massive chest of his.” Kya looks over at me, grinning. “You’ve got to admit, he’s one heck of an impressive man, and those damn dimples.” I can’t help but grin to myself when the whole room sighs at the mention of his dimples.

“Okay, let’s get the books you’ve finished published and then get some out to local bookstores. I’ll get one of the prospects to drive us around and talk to people, but we’ll have to have Axel’s permission for that.” Mia grins, “It won’t be a problem. I have my ways.” Wiggling her eyebrows and pursing her lips before sending out kissing noises.

After the meeting in church, I walk through to the common room where a few of the brothers are sitting and talking. Not seeing Meat, I walk into the kitchen, which everyone has told me is his domain as he’s the cook for the clubhouse.

He’s not in the kitchen but Wings is sitting with a notebook in front of him, so I quickly walk over and take a seat in front of him at his table. Looking up as I settle, Wings lifts a questioning eyebrow. “You okay, Jo?”

“Yes, I’m good, thank you. I wanted to thank you for everything you did while we were in that cage. I know you had to do some horrible things, but you did them to keep us all alive and safe. I want you to know I highly respect that you were brave enough and strong enough to do it. Thank you.”

“We came for you and our brother. We’d never have left you behind, ever. I’m happy we got you both out safely in the end, and we were the distraction needed to stop Tommaso from doing what he really wanted.”

“Is that lady alright? I’m not sure if I can go and speak to her or not. I don’t want to get into any trouble.”

“You can go visit if Stitch says she’s okay to have visitors. He has her safely in his medical room. We’re not sure who she is at this point.”

“I’ll ask Stitch because I don’t want to cause any problems.” Standing, I start to walk back into the common room but turn back to Wings. “Where’s Meat? I would like to speak to him too.”

Wings gives me a look I don’t understand. “Meat is in his treehouse. He’s not come down since we got back, but he will when he’s ready.”

Standing a moment to ponder if I should go speak to him outside or not, before I gather my bravery and step out of the back door, look around, and see the treehouse.

Looking up, I give a small smile when I see Meat sitting on a walkaround looking into the distance. He’s wearing combat clothing as though he’s going on some sort of mission.

Sucking in a breath, I speak loudly because I need to catch his attention. “Meat, can I speak with you for a few minutes?”

Nothing. He doesn’t react at all. It’s as though he’s in another place in his mind. Stepping where I’ll be in his line of sight I try again. “Meat, can I speak to you for a few minutes?”

Again, nothing. I try three more times, then feel my temper rising, because I’m sure he can hear me, and he can see me as I’m standing in front of him, although on the ground.

Looking around, I see an area with stones, and walking over to it I pick up a few small stones, pebble size, before walking back towards Meat and throwing a stone at him. It takes a few before Meat’s eyes flick down at me. I slam my hands on my hips and scowl.

“You are an ignorant asshole. I’ve been trying to speak to you for half an hour. Now either come down here and speak to me or open the damn treehouse so I can come speak to you.” I give him my best scowling face and keep my hands on my hips but turn my hands into fists.

Meat steps into his treehouse and I’m worried he’ll ignore me and not open up the damn thing when the hatch opens, and a rope ladder drops down. Shit, he wants me to climb up and I’m scared of heights!

Dammit. I grit my teeth and head to the ladder. Grasping hold, I make the climb and it’s higher than I first thought it was, but I’m chanting in my head, don’t look down, don’t look down.

Climbing into the treehouse, my heart is pounding, but I try to show a calm exterior. Meat is sitting on a small stool, next to a small table and a sleeping bag on the floor. Looking around, there are quite a few boxes and he’s even got a cabinet on one side.

Standing in front of Meat, who hasn’t said a single word as yet, I frown slightly but know I need to get on with this. “I wanted to say thank you for all you did while we were in that cage. You didn’t need to come and help us or put yourself in that situation. He could have killed you and Wings, but you still stood strong. I think you are one of the bravest, kindest, and most honorable people I’ve ever met in my life and although you and Wings had to do horrible things, you did them for the right reason. For that, I thank you because I’m not strong enough, or brave enough, to have done it myself.” A tear runs down my cheek and Meat reaches up and swipes it away with his thumb, giving me a grunt as he does.

“Thank you.” A sob burst out of my mouth, and I lunge forward and wrap my arms around Meat’s neck before sobbing into his neck. I feel the tension in his body as I do so, but within a few minutes, he softens, wraps his arms around me, and hugs me gently.

As I’m getting myself back to normal, Meat suddenly stands, places me on one side, and slams the hatch closed, bolting it so no one can open it from underneath.

“Come, you can go out of this exit.” Meat grips my hand, not harshly, and guides me out to a ledge. I plaster myself to the treehouse wall with my eyes closed. I can feel Meat wrapping something around me and places my hands on something, before pushing me forward.

It feels like I’m falling and my eyes shoot open and a wailing screech leaves my mouth before I can even think of stopping it. I’m not falling, I’m going down a zip line or something, and at the bottom is Knuckles, holding his arms out to catch me.

Slamming into Knuckles’ chest, he grunts loudly as he takes a few steps back, but he never lets go of me. Blinking rapidly because I really don’t know if I want to laugh or cry, I look at Knuckles. He gives me that lopsided grin with the dimple popping out before he lowers his head and slams his lips onto mine, taking me by surprise.

When we hear clapping, hooting, and remarks that no children should be around we break apart and I can’t help the laugh that bubbles up and out.

Looking up, I smile and wave at Meat, who gives me the slightest of nods before he turns and walks back into the treehouse. Everyone waits to see if Meat will appear and when the hatch opens and he climbs down without a word to anyone, we watch as he walks to the clubhouse and enters through the kitchen’s back door. It’s odd, but we all follow him through as though it’s an everyday occurrence.

Turning to Knuckles, I lift an eyebrow, which gets me a shake of the head and a shrug of his shoulders. Frowning because who the heck knows what’s going on with Meat. “Okay. I want to speak to Stitch and see if he’ll allow me to visit the lady.”

“He may not allow it, ‘cause he seems to have taken a protective stance over her. Even Axel’s not been allowed in as yet.”

I look at Knuckles, and he gives me that grin again. “I’ll come with you, see if he’ll allow it.”

But we’re told a resounding no before the medical room door is slammed in our faces and told to fuck off and find someone else to bother!