Page 29 of Riding Through Life

We get to the Clubhouse with little time to spare. I hop off Aftermath’s bike and Nadia with Matthew, Danyella, Monica, Daisy and Jezebelle drag me into the Clubhouse, walking a million miles an hour. I’m exhausted and desperately need a shower, but I get that time is moving fast so I let them drag me away.

“We have three hours to get you ready for your wedding,” Nadia explains as I open Aftermath’s and my room. “So, there will be no fraternizing with Aftermath. That goes for all of you ladies too. Exleigh and Syvannah have the older kids and they’re getting MJ and Jaxson ready. Nina will be taking Matthew from me in a little while to get him ready so Red and I can get ready too.”

“First thing you need to do is shower,” Daisy says plugging her nose. “You smell like Tequila and jail.”

I giggle and shrug my shoulders. “Can’t help it, trouble always finds me.”

“Well, skip the trouble today and focus on marrying that hunk out there,” Jezebelle replies. She swats my butt and shoves me toward the bathroom. “And don’t take too long.”

“Yes, Mom.” I salute Jezebelle like an asshole. I shut and lock the door before anyone can come in and interrupt me.

I take a quick shower, shaving all the important parts and do a quick rinse of my hair, trying to get the jailhouse odor off. Once I’m clean and hair-free, I turn the water off and step out of the shower. Drying off, I open the bathroom door and for the next few hours, I’m poked, prodded, pinched, squeezed and ready to sayI do.

Chapter

Twenty

AFTERMATH

Capone called Church as soon as my kickstand was down and Kensi was whisked away by the Ol’ ladies. They’ll be busy for a while so we have time before we need to be at the beach.

Everyone is in attendance today, including the Prospects and the table is full for this meeting. Knight and Seth are standing against the wall with Torch’s twin brother, Jax. Last I knew, Jax hadn’t decided if he wanted to become a member or not, but with him here, it means he’s made his decision and Torch will be sponsoring him. Kensi’s dad is here too, which has my attention. Why is a non-member in Church?

“How did you get us out?” I ask, instead of asking the real question why Donovan is here. Yeah, he’s going to be my father-in-law in a few hours but he’s still on the legal side of the law.

“Well, that’s the thing.” Capone lights up a cigarette and exhales before continuing. “I didn’t get you out. Donovan did.” He points to Donovan leaning against the wall. He’s wearing faded blue jeans and a hoodie. Completely different than his normal attire of business suits and dress pants.

“What? How?” I lean forward and rest my hands on the scarred table. “Please don’t tell me he went back to work for those suits.”

Capone taps his cigarette ash in the ashtray, “No, he didn’t, but he did agree to help them bring down this ring. I’ll let him explain more.”

Donovan moves forward so he is addressing the whole room. He looks tired with dark circles under his eyes and his neatly styled salt and pepper hair is sticking up all over the place. “When I called Capone to help find that missing girl, I got a tip from someone working at the Sherrif’s office in Orange County on where she might have been. I followed the tip to discover Sherrif Long and several of his deputies were involved with the Mexican Cartel. When they failed to deliver security to the Cartel, the Cartel demanded several women of certain types. They had to be young, smart and naive. Once the quota for women was filled by Long and his cronies, they thought they’d be free of the Cartel. Well, as you all know, that’s not how it works. So, Long got a brilliant idea to try and pin this Cartel shit on you guys and planted Lynn in Nadia’s dance studio.

“Only Long didn’t realize the obsession Lynn has had with the Royal Bastards. She particularly had her sights set on Aftermath, not realizing I was Kensi’s dad. We don’t know why she targeted you and Kensi but here we are. She’s in custody with an ass-kicking by my daughter.”

“What does this have to do with the FBI though?” I ask. I don’t want him going down that rabbit hole, not only for Kensi’s sake but the asshole is growing on me and I don’t want anything bad happening to him.

“At first, the FBI thought I was the local sheriff abducting these women, which is why they broke into my house and took Kensi and me. When we escaped and came here, I helped Red and Bones uncover who really was behind it and agreed to work with them to bring Long down. But I also told them I want my pound of flesh in Mitchell for hurting my daughter.”

“The director wasn’t too keen on letting an ex-agent and current agent battle it out, but she’s cool like that and will allow me to have my time in the ring with that prick. They owe me this and more for how they treated me since Kensi was missing years ago. That’s it. I’m done with the FBI and want to help rescue women like you all do. That’s my purpose in life. To be here for my daughter and our little family and help you guys do what you do.” Donovan leans back against the wall and releases a deep breath.

I’m shocked by all this information but pleased that Kensi will still have her dad in her life. That he won’t sell us out to further his career. That in itself tells me what kind of man Donovan is.

“Do I still have to call you Sheriff or can I call you Pops?” I ask standing up and facing Donovan. I’m being a smartass but it’s also a serious question. I’ve never had a father figure in my life before.

Donovan steps to me with his arms crossed over his chest. “You make my daughter happy, Aftermath. But if you fuck up like you did, Pops or not, I will blister your ass.” He pulls me in for a long hug and I fight back all the emotions flooding to the surface.

“Thanks, Pops.” I hug him back and take my seat.

“Now that the biggest issue is out of the way, we have a new member to prospect and a wedding to get to. Everyone, say hey to Jax. He is officially a Prospect for the Royal Bastards MC.” Torch flings a cut at Jax who catches it and immediately puts it on.

“Thanks,” Jax responds, running his hands over the leather.

“Does this mean Rose will become an Ol’ Lady?” Trigger asks, wiggling his eyebrows.

“If and when Jax patches over, yes, Rose will become his Ol’ Lady. Shit,Trigger, they’re fucking married.” Torch slaps his palms on the table.

“Just making sure things won’t be weird around here.” Trigger shrugs.

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