Ride Steady (Chaos #3)(80)

Chaos was claiming more territory. They were going to clean it up. They were going to keep it safe.

Once the Club voted, no longer would Chaos be five miles around Ride.

It would be ten.

Valenzuela held firm positions to the north, east, and west.

He would retaliate.

But it was time.

The Club would meet, then Tack would sit with Hawk, Brock, and Mitch. Mitch was going to lose his mind. Lawson wasn’t a straight arrow, but he was as straight as they came. Tack and Brock were working this to bring an end to Valenzuela that would not mean blood but would mean jail time, dismantling Valenzuela’s operations in a way it would decimate him.

But that shit took time.

Too much time, apparently.

“Kane, you’re kinda scaring me.”

He lifted and twisted, dropping his hands and curling his fingers around her thigh.

“Boys had some trouble tonight, they neutralized it. Not happy about the trouble they had, but they took care of business,” he told her. “But, Red, you gotta know, something’s comin’. There was never any way to stop it, but the time has come for us to stroll out to face it. And what’s comin’, you gotta brace.”

“Baby,” she whispered, sliding a hand around his side to his stomach.

“It’ll all be good,” he promised.

“I know it will,” she replied.

Zero hesitation.

Just, I know it will.

That was wife. The mother of two of his sons.

His dream woman.

He tipped his head back and he didn’t need to do more. She gave him her mouth.

He twisted further to take her to her back on their bed.

Then she gave him everything else.

Chapter Thirteen

That Hasn't Changed

Carissa

I SAT ON a barstool at the Chaos Compound, wondering how I was remaining seated seeing as I was so exhausted I could barely think¸ when Tack strolled in.

As usual, his eyes went right to Tyra, who had commandeered Lanie and Hop’s baby boy, Nash, and was bouncing him, cuddling him and cooing to him.

“Jesus, woman, every baby that gets within ten feet a’ you you claim. Do I gotta knock you up again?” Tack asked her.

She gave him eyes that were easy to read.

Tack read them. I knew this when he looked to the ceiling and muttered, “Fuck me. This rate, I’ll live in a kid-free zone when I’m eighty.”

“Like you don’t love it,” Tyra returned.

Tack took his eyes from the ceiling and gave them to his wife.

He, too, was easy to read.

He loved it. But he loved more giving her what she wanted.

I started to feel warm just watching them together as Tack looked to the bar and asked, “What the f*ck?”

“Carissa cleared out the day-olds at LeLane’s bakery,” Lanie said, a half-eaten cream puff suspended three inches from her mouth. “And everyone knows day-olds at LeLane’s are better than fresh everywhere else.”

This was true.

As much as my Chaos friends said I didn’t need to do anything for payback, I still needed to do something for payback.

And today was moving in day so I really needed to do something for payback.

Tack and Tyra’s renters were out a few days early so the boys were going to get my stuff out of the storage unit and my apartment.

Tomorrow would be filled with me unpacking, cleaning my old place and doing the chores I didn’t do when Travis was around but now needed to do because I hadn’t done them in a week.

And then Travis and I would finally be in a nice place. The kind of place you’d want to give your baby.

I couldn’t wait.

I still wanted nothing more than to curl up somewhere and take a nap.

This was because the flu had hit the cashiers at LeLane’s and was now sweeping through the store. It was not the twenty-four hour flu. More like the ninety-six hour flu. Another two cashiers had gone down, a produce guy, two butcher boys, and a floral technician. It was all hands on deck at LeLane’s and I had hands, so they used them. I’d taken extra shifts, double shifts or shifts and a half.

This would be awesome normally. I was racking up a ton of time and a half.

But I also had my son. I didn’t mind working like that when he was with Aaron, but I hated doing it when I had him.

Not to mention, I had boxes to pack and all sorts of stuff to do, like find time to make a half a dozen calls to switch over utilities.

So I’d been on the go for days, sorting things out on breaks and lunch, forcing myself to pack at least five boxes before calling it a night, thus getting minimal sleep and dragging myself out of bed and getting on the go again.

Just to say, if I never packed another kitchen up in my life I’d be happy. It seemed like nothing but all the stuff was hidden behind the cupboards. When you had to take it out, wrap it up and box it, it seemed like it could fill ten kitchens.

Because of this, I hated to admit it, and tried my best not to, but when I handed Travis over to Aaron the day before, I’d actually been relieved. I needed a break any way I could get it. And I’d been so preoccupied with the move, I hadn’t really noted that it was Aaron I handed him over to. He’d answered the door. He’d also tried to engage me in conversation, taking a close look at me and asking if I was all right.

I’d allowed this (though I didn’t share how I was doing) since he needed to know I was moving so I told him that and that I’d text my new details to him. Then I’d bent in, given my boy a kiss, and took off, my mind filled with what I had to do next (a shift) at the same time battling the desire to crawl into the backseat of my car and sleep for a week.