Raging Barons MC – Book Nine – Knuckles

-:- JOLENE -:-

Sunday morning and I’m feeling good, the evening with Sybil and the other women was good and showed I have to take my life into my own hands and stop relying on Lincoln so much. He’s having to put his life on hold because of me.

With the women, maybe I can stop this Tommaso from taking me and ruining my life. I don’t know how long I have to wait for Nell to find the information we need, but I’ll sit tight until we find out more.

Lincoln walks into the kitchen, and I pour him a coffee before making myself chamomile tea. Lincoln takes a drink of his coffee and leans back in his seat, cupping the mug with both hands.

Sitting across from him at the table, I smile. “I went with Sybil to a clubhouse called the Raging Barons MC and had a great evening speaking with all the ladies.”

Lincoln squints his eyes. “You know, that’s the club that Knuckles belongs to.”

“Yes, they mentioned him last night. It was interesting that a lady called Nell could find out about Tommaso and maybe get him off our back. She said I could stay with her at her boarding house and the other ladies thought it was a good idea.”

“No. I don’t want you anywhere that I can’t keep a check on you. If that fucker gets his hands on you he could take you out of the country, and I’d never find you again.”

“Amelia, one of Sybil’s friends, suggested one of the club brothers claim me and then I’ll have club protection.”

Lincoln sits forward, face set, and snaps. “No. The only way I’d agree to something like that is if it was a last resort. Tying yourself to one to save yourself from another isn’t a solution at all.”

“Well, it would only be for a while, until the danger passes. Amelia didn’t say it would be permanent.”

“Look, if it came to that, I’d probably only agree if you were placed with Knuckles. We know him, and we know he is a good man. Yeah, he’s a fighter, but he stood up for you when he didn’t have to. I owe him for that.” Lincoln finishes his drink, rinses out his mug, then turns to me. “I’m going out. I’ve had an offer to work with a construction crew, and it’ll be better money than the delivery job. I’ll be back later.” Kissing the top of my head, he doesn’t wait for me to respond and bolts out the door. I suppose that’s his way of saying conversation over.

Fetching my notebook from upstairs in my bedroom, I settle myself once more at the kitchen table and continue writing the chapter that has been waiting for my attention.

Tapping on the back door has me looking up and walking over, unlocking it, before opening it to Sybil, who has Amelia and Bitty in tow. They all three bundle inside and Bitty makes herself at home by putting the kettle on. I stand and watch in shock as Amelia and Sybil take a seat at the table and Amelia picks up my notebook.

I rush over to take it from her, but she holds her hand out to stop me. Gritting my teeth, I’m ready to say something when Amelia smiles. She opens the book on the first page and won’t allow anyone to get near to see it. We all wait for her to finish and Bitty passes out mugs of ginger tea before finally taking a seat next to Amelia.

Twenty minutes later, Amelia passes the book to Bitty, turning to look at me immediately after. “Girl, this is good. You have to publish that. How many books have you written?”

“I have three completed and this one. But, I’ve no way of typing them up as I don’t have a laptop. I don’t even know how I would go about publishing a book.”

“Oh, don’t you worry about that. We’ll find out all about publishing, we’ll ask Specs. He knows everything, and what he doesn’t know he can find out.” Amelia grins.

“What about on Amazon? You know I read my romance books on my Kindle, and I purchase them on that. You could sell them on Amazon.” Bitty picks up her purse and takes out her Kindle, showing Amelia all her books.

“We’ll find out.” Amelia pats my hand and grins, but before she can say anymore the front door gets our attention when knocking and giggling can be heard.

Bitty storms over and unlocks the door before I can stop her, flinging the door wide, then laughing. “Come on in. Don’t stand on the doorstep.”

To say I’m shocked would be an understatement when the women from Friday evening all walk into the house. They all have a jacket that says Property of someone and the Raging Barons MC logo in the middle and not one of them looks shy at bursting into the house.

“Nell will be here in a minute. She’s got some information she wants to share.” Mia, who appears to be the ringleader, says.

“Who’s looking after the babies?” Amelia asks.

“Heather is staying to watch them, but Meat is hovering. You know he takes being godfather literally as though he is their father.” Mia giggles. “Axel is around the clubhouse too, so he’s got one eye on them. You all know he won’t leave them too far when I’m not around.”

Tapping on the door has Sybil walking over and opening it, allowing Nell inside. Me, I’m sitting in a fog as to what the heck is going on, because I didn’t invite all these people here and I’m not sure Lincoln will be happy with me when he finds out.

Smiling to myself because we are all crushed into this small kitchen, well, until Amelia waves my notebook around, informing everyone that I’m an author and need to publish my ‘girl next door’ romance books.

Mia grabs the notebook and opens the first page, reading the first few pages, then looking up at me. “Yeah, you have to publish this Jo, it’s really good.”

“She has three more,” Bitty pipes up and I give her a withering look because I didn’t want it known that I wrote silly love stories.

“Too good not to publish,” Carrie says as she’s reading over Mia’s shoulder.

“I’m going to talk to Specs, and see if he can find out about publishing them on Amazon,” Amelia crows, looking darn proud of herself.

“That’s a great idea. I know someone who is a designer. She does posters for businesses, so should be able to make your book covers,” Tilly throws into the conversation.

Nell is watching what is going on with great interest and helps herself to a drink before speaking out. “Okay, ladies, let me have your attention.”

The kitchen quietens and everyone is looking at Nell. “I only have an hour before Tank comes back for me. You know how protective my boys are and Graham is back now, so he’ll be here too if I’m late.”

“Okay, what did you find out?” Mia asks.

“I spoke to Vincenzo. He knew he had a problem with Tommaso, but not to the full degree. He said it appears his Capo, which is Tommaso, sees himself as Don, which is Vincenzo’s position.

“There are three soldiers awaiting a visit from Vincenzo. He wants to question them and find out what they know because they are Tommaso’s soldiers. I’ll report back when I know more, BUT, he said if he’s trying to force a woman, that is enough to confirm he’s gone rogue as Vincenzo would never allow a woman to be taken as a wife, mistress, or for any other reason.” Nell is grinning, which has me a little worried because, from the sounds of it, he’s someone very important.

“Who is Vincenzo?” I blurt.

“He’s the mafia Don. The boss of the mafia in America. He has a lot of Capos directly under him, and then the Capos have soldiers. That is the basic hierarchy of the mafia. All answer to Vincenzo.” Nell tells me, giving me a grin. “He’s a good man actually, but he has to do bad things. Since he became Don, he has stopped all human trafficking where he can, but he can’t stop the Mexican Cartels and others without a war. He does as much as he can because his sister was trafficked, and they found her four years later, but sadly she was a shell of a person. She took her own life eventually and since then Vincenzo has protected women wherever it has been possible.

“Tommaso will not survive this, but they have to find him first as he’s gone underground. They may find out more from the soldiers. I’ll let you know what he finds out if it’ll help keep you safe, Jo.”

Sybil curses, which is unexpected, as she’s not one for swearing. Mia grins. “Well ladies, I think we may need to find ourselves a brother for Jo. Knuckles is our first and favorite choice, the MC will have her back as soon as she has a property patch on her back.”

I’m a little worried when I see the excitement on all of their faces, and the names they are throwing at Mia. Kya laughs, which gains our attention. “What if we say we’re going to place Jo with one of Vincenzo’s men? I’ll bet you fifty bucks one of the brothers will step up to claim her.”

“I like that idea.” Raven laughs.

Knocking on the door has us all looking at it with more than a little worry, but Nell walks over and checks the spy hole. “It’s Tank.”

Opening the door, I hear her say, “Coming,” Turning back to us, she grins. “Let me know what you decide and I’ll call you in a couple of days Mia, even if I’ve nothing new. That way we’ll all know what’s happening.”

When Mia nods in agreement, Nell gives us all a wave and steps out the front door closing it behind her.

“Okay, we’ll wait until Nell has something new from Vincenzo, but if this Tommaso makes a move, we’ll get a brother to claim you, Jo. I know it’s not ideal, but it’s better to be with us, safe, than be with this Tommaso asshole.” Mia pats my shoulder. “Come on, let’s get back to the clubhouse and see what Meat has for lunch.”

Once everyone has piled out shouting bye and see you soon, I look at Sybil, Amelia, and Bitty who are grinning like fools. Shaking my head at them, I walk over to the fridge and take out makings for sandwiches, ignoring their quiet muttering about men, women, and matchmaking.

Later that afternoon, I’m writing another chapter, checking my notes at the back of the notebook, when I hear laughter once more, and tapping on the door. I quickly walk over and unlock it before Amelia, Bitty, and Sybil burst inside. Carrying a box, Bitty gives me a huge grin before placing the box on the counter.

“That’s for you. A gift from the three of us, and when you publish your first books, we want a copy.” Bitty laughs.

Looking at the box, I walk over and peel back the layer of brown paper before sucking in a surprised breath when it reveals a laptop. I look at the three of them, who have expectant looks on their faces.

“Thank you so much,” I manage to stutter as a tear rolls down my cheek. “I will repay you for this when I make enough money.”

“You will not. That’s a gift from us and we don’t want to be repaid. We want you to write your stories so we can read them.” Amelia states with more than a little force in her voice.

“Thank you.” Turning, I hug each of them in turn, then smile broadly. I can’t wait to set this up and get typing.

“Oh, Specs said he’s set it up for you. It has all the programs you’ll need. Something about a word and spelling,” Bitty states, shrugging her shoulders.

Sybil looks at Bitty, and Bitty grins. “We bought it from Specs because he always has some at the clubhouse in case anyone’s laptop breaks down. He said when you’re ready he’ll help you get published on Amazon, said it’s easy.”

Before I can say more Amelia speaks out. “Come on, let’s get out of here. We’ve things to be doing, places to be, and people to see.” They all three hustle out the back door, but as she leaves, Sybil turns and winks at me.

Locking the door, I take the laptop out of the box, grinning to myself, and set it up on the kitchen table. It’s already fully charged, so I rush up the stairs and get the first book in the series, and excitedly get started typing it out.

I don’t realize how long I’ve been absorbed in the laptop until it tells me to plug it in as it’s going into battery saver mode. Sighing, I rub the back of my neck where it’s tensed up some with the amount of time I’ve been sitting here.

Closing the laptop down, I place it on the counter, pop it on charge and put away the notebook ready to continue tomorrow. I don’t know if anyone would be willing to read my books, but if I can make a little money, it will help Lincoln.