Brave as It (Hellions Ride On #7)

2. Wesson

TWO

WESSON

Boomerism: War isn’t always fought on a battlefield.

“Killing me beautiful.” I tell her honestly. “Wish you were here in my arms.”

“Wesson, you’re so full of shit,” Emmalee blows off my compliment. “If you weren’t the man you are I wouldn’t have dared have a video call without makeup on.”

“Man I am, huh.” I smirk, “Baby girl, the man I am sees a woman who is gorgeous top to toe. Makeup or not, you turn me on.”

She blushes and rolls her head back trying not to take in my words. I’ve noticed this about her. She doesn’t take compliments well. Honestly, it turns me on more. She is sexy as fuck in this innocent way. Emmalee is unlike any woman I’ve encountered before.

“Fuckin’ got me hard over here with a single smile.” That is the damn truth. Honestly, she breathes the same air as me and I’m hard. I haven’t had this reaction to a female since I lost my legs. With her, it’s more than physical attraction. It’s a connection I can’t explain. I want to call her. I want to text her. I want to be the reason she smiles, laughs, and has a good day.

After my accident I struggled with intimacy. If I get real with the man in the mirror, I still battle my ability to let someone in, but with Emmalee I think I can really do this. All aspects of a relationship suddenly seem like a possibility. Something I haven’t done since well, ever.

I’ve fucked a lot of women. I’ve thought I shared something with a few of them. My accident though, it brought everything into perspective. What was love really wasn’t. What mattered before didn’t. Every part of my life I see differently now. Being half of who I once was, feelings change in all aspects of my life. My perspective on everything is different now. From the moment I woke up in the hospital it’s like I’ve been floating through each day. Learning to transfer, to take a shit, peeing sitting down, it has all been a harsh adjustment. Imagine every demasculinizing thing and I endured that humiliation post-accident. Even now, there are still challenges, accidents, and embarrassment.

On the outside, I don’t dare let anyone know how much it bothers me. They want me to be strong. They want to know I’ve accepted things. They don’t want to know I relive my accident and recovery every night and most days. The thoughts that consume me are the kind no one talks about. The dance with the devil on my shoulder telling me everyone would be better off without me. They would all understand if I gave up. If I took things into my own hands and ended the pain, no one would question why or how or what could have been different. Granted not one person close to me actually knows the thoughts I battle.

They all think I’m fine and I plan to play the part until I take my very last breath.

Since meeting Emmalee, I’m different. The thoughts don’t consume me. The pity for myself isn’t there. I don’t have to fake my excitement to live. I genuinely look forward to moments with her, from a meal to a simple phone call, I have happiness with someone. She is like this angel in battle with the devil that had a hold on me. The thoughts are at war with the desire to speak to her once again. It’s hard to wish I wasn’t here while wishing I was with her in the very same breath. Emmalee grounds me like gravity. It’s a pull I can’t fight.

Women have good intentions. They see my chair, the loss of my legs, and the sympathy comes in strong. I don’t need or want anyone’s pity. Emmalee never once has looked at me with anything other than genuine intrigue about who I am inside.

Reading people becomes easy when you lose your legs. The eyes watching me no longer hide things. The shock, the wonder, the pity, it all shows and so much more. It didn’t take me long to learn who was interested in me and who was paying attention to my chair. From the moment my eyes locked to hers, Emmalee is all about the man I am.

“Wesson,” my name comes out in a whisper.

I laugh, “baby girl, I’m not ashamed and you shouldn’t be either. Tell you like it is, you’re a showstopper. More than that, you are you. Strong, independent, intelligent, and wise beyond anything. You read a room and know how to adapt. And class, baby girl, you got class and it’s hot as fuck.”

Her face gets serious, “You always compliment me. I don’t know how to take it.”

I, in turn, get sincere. “Take it for what it’s worth and just so you know you’re worth everything.”

“You say that to all the girls.”

I shake my head. “Nope. Not a one until you. Have I told women what they want to hear, won’t lie to you and say I haven’t. But what I say to you, it’s all truth. Emmalee Van Etten, you got me fuckin’ smitten like a damn teenage boy. Your mind is brilliant. You think outside the box. You captivate me because I don’t know what you are going to do or say next. No one around here studies microbiology with dreams to work in a lab. That’s you though. It isn’t your intelligence alone. It’s the way you can be comfortable in silence. Total fucking package.”

“Who says I’m comfortable in silence?” She challenges.

How do I show her, explain to her? I see her. I feel her. I get her, through and through. “Met you on New Year’s Eve. The woman I danced with was curious about me, but unafraid. I took your hand in mine, you weren’t nervous. You never once doubted my abilities as a dancer or a man to get you off. We didn’t have to talk. You don’t need a bunch of bullshit blown up your ass.”

“Oh my God!” She shrieks, “Wesson, we don’t need to talk about that. I was very much there.”

I laugh. “With me, no need to be ashamed or self-conscious. Ever. I mean that Emmalee. Your orgasm then, and the ones I plan to give you in the future are beautiful. Won’t lie, I’ve been with a lot of women. Before my accident, pussy was pussy. It was release. The way you melted against me, cling to me, hold my fingers right there as you explode, baby girl, fucking everything in that moment. Want more of those.”

She sighs, “You always ask about me, worry about me, and want to take care of me. You know what I mean by take care of too.”

“You will always get yours before I get mine. So yes, I’m gonna take care of your orgasms. Get used to it.”

“What about you? Not just the part you like to talk about giving me. I want to know you.”

“Nothing special to share. Things were shit when I was super young. They got good. Real good. Got in an accident and things were shit again.”

“Wesson, you deserve all things good all the time.” She has this soft smile that gets me every time.

I smirk, “hoping like hell you’re the next good in the rollercoaster of life I’m on.”

“I don’t know how to take you,” she responds with what I’ve already learned.

I study her expression through the phone screen. “Emmalee, it’s you. Complete fit to me. We don’t have to speak; you trust this connection just like me. Not used to that shit. Won’t pretend I know how to fucking do this relationship shit, but I want to try.”

“What are you saying, Wesson?”

I smirk, “thought it was pretty clear, you and me. I wanna try this relationship. See where we can take this. You mean something to me, and I damn sure hope I matter to you.”

We have done this talking daily thing for weeks now. The more I get to know her the more I want to know. When we aren’t talking, we’re texting or sleeping, or working. For me, it’s my job at the Hellions garage and for her, it’s school. Either way, all of our free time we connect with each other in some form. I find I like it. I look for her to get in touch with me. I’ve never cared if I had to work late or be on a transport. Now, I watch the clock knowing when I get home, I’ll spend my evening with her over here or on the phone.

This is us and it’s the beginning of something I never thought I would experience.

I’m ready to hold on for a ride in love with her.

There is nothing more helpless than being stuck like I am right now. Her call, the panic in her voice, it kills me. I can’t get us there fast enough.

I pull up, Kick rushes out telling me to call EMS as he goes. We know it’s needed. As much as we try to keep things in house with Doc Kelly on standby for us, it isn’t always possible.

Hearing the things we heard, we need paramedics and a hospital.

Seconds feel like hours as I get myself out of the van and up the ramp. Kick is already inside taking things on headfirst while I was calling for the club and medical assistance.

“The matter is handled.” I can hear Thomas Reigns explain to my brother as I approach the top of the ramp. “I’ll have it cleaned up. This is no concern of the Hellions.” The way he’s calm and collected sends chills down my spine. “I’m sure you have watchers out. I’ve handled it. I’ll buy the property from the owner. Forget you were here, biker.” I fight back a laugh. The property isn’t for sale motherfucker and this man won’t be coming out of this unscathed.

I can see in through the window that has been shot out, the scene in front of me is infuriating. Calm in the chaos, I learned about that in the Army. It will serve my brother and I well in this very moment. Colton shakes his head, “oh, but fucker, it is.” Thomas Reigns has his back to me but doesn’t speak as my brother continues, “a concern of the Hellions.”

I move to better my position on the front deck causing Reigns to turn his head to me.

The moment his eyes lock to mine, I can read it. The chair, he finds it to be a weakness. He thinks I’m not a threat. He immediately dismisses my presences and turns his attention back to Colton.

“Diem is mine. Do you know what that means in my world?”

“I don’t care what it means. She’s gone.” He shrugs his shoulders looking around the space. I can’t see his face to get a better read. “She’s no bother to your club or to me anymore.”

I watch my brother’s face turn to stone. He hit a nerve. Diem can’t be dead. We aren’t too late. I refuse to believe it. I refuse to give up. Diem and Emmalee will get through this alive. Instincts take over as I ready my gun. I watch Colton move his finger to the trigger of his and adjust slightly as he sends the bullet straight to his target.

The bullet hits him, and his shoulder pulls back before he drops to his knees grabbing for his own firearm. I pull my trigger hitting his hand as he lined up with the back of his waistband. The bullet goes through his hand and into his spine. Exactly as I intended. I want him to suffer. For the pain he’s caused my brother, Diem, and Emmalee. He doesn’t get an easy one shot, one kill, even though both Colt and I are trained to do just that.

Colt moves in on him, “you should care, motherfucker.”

Thomas Reigns unable to get control of himself as Colt handles him, I wheel past them both going right to Emmalee. My hands tremble as I lean down to pick up her hand. My fingers to her wrist, I steady my emotions to focus on her. “She has a pulse. Weak, but it’s there.” Emmalee, fight baby girl, fight. She is most likely in shock since she’s unconscious. Twisting my chair, I move to Diem. She’s alive, her eyes holding onto mine as the blood pools around her. “Hold on Diem. Help is coming,” I try to comfort her.

Having trained in emergency medical services in the military, I know what needs to be done, but being stuck in this chair I can’t get the right position. Frustration builds inside me. Diem and Emmalee are both critical and the odds of them surviving aren’t good.

I go to work trying to get control of the bleeding for Diem. She moves to sit against my chair as I try to get things under control. Relief fills me as I hear the sirens blaring in the distance. I can hear the mufflers of the bikes approaching too. I don’t know that Reigns is paying attention to the sounds given the way he keeps crying out in pain.

Colt continues with Reigns, “Where’s the money? That’s what this shit is about.”

And it is. Thomas Reigns and Paul Van Etten got in bed with the devil himself. O’Leary will be here for his money if he isn’t already. Those two knuckleheads couldn’t have fucked over a more dangerous man except maybe Javier Almanza from the Almanza cartel. He’s as ruthless as they come, but O’Leary and the Irish aren’t far behind him.

Reigns tries to get out of the hot seat. “I told O’Leary. Paul did that shit. I don’t know where the money is. I didn’t take that shit, he did, but set it to make it look like I did.”

“What’s O’Leary got going on in Haywood’s Landing?” Tripp asks entering from the back door with the rest of the brothers hot on his heels. “You can tell us, and we spare you with a bullet to the head to make shit quick, or you can keep quiet, and the cops will be here in three minutes. You go to lock up, O’Leary’s going to end you slowly, painfully, and behind bars.”

Reigns doesn’t say a word studying everyone around him. Some of my brothers go to Emmalee to access her while others come over to me and Diem. The ambulance is almost here, I give a squeeze to Diem’s shoulder. Please, I beg the God above in my head, don’t let them die.

Reigns finally speaks, “O’Leary doesn’t want shit moving through here. In fact, if Paul hadn’t stolen the money Haywood’s Landing never would have seen a single part of O’Leary’s business other than the money I moved for him through my business. He’s never once wanted to come here. We had a system. It worked. Paul set me up.” Before anyone reacts, he spits on the dead body of Paul Van Etten. “Fuckin’ bastard crossed me. Thirty fuckin’ years of trust he threw away to double cross me. He thought he could run my business better than me. He thought wrong.”

Tank mutters to Tripp, “I’ll get word to O’Leary, he crosses into the Carolinas it’s war.”

Tripp nods which I knew would happen. We are the Hellions; we don’t let outsiders run shit down here.

“I gave you what you wanted, Crews. Get me out of here and not in a set of cuffs or in a body bag,” Thomas Reigns tries to negotiate.

I want to put a bullet between his eyes. There is nothing for him to leverage. I should have ended him the moment we arrived. Now, I have to stand down until Tripp gives the call to end him.

No Hellion wants war, but we won’t back down if he comes here. My dad, Boomer, moves to Reigns who is on the floor now holding his chest fighting through the pain that is no doubt radiating through his entire body. “Thomas Reigns, my name is Nathan Vaughn. I’m here to simply explain to you how shit works in our world. You see, this is my family. My son claimed your daughter, that makes her my family. You caused her a great deal of pain.”

“She’s not my fuckin’ daughter,” he spits out and the shock hits me. “I don’t want problems with the Hellions. I want to get the fuck out of here. I got fucked too, ya know.”

My father, completely calm, unrattled, simply strokes his beard. “That’s not how this works in my world. See, my sons aren’t my blood, but they are my sons. The men in this room aren’t my blood brothers, but they are my brothers. And what you need to know is there’s not a man in here unwilling to bleed for anyone else in this cut or the people claimed under the umbrella of this cut.”

Reigns red in the face with fury, “Fuck your loyalty family bullshit. “I gave you all the information. I told you what happened. You have a code. I’ve heard about the honor of the Hellions. Now get me the fuck out of here!”

Boomer stands backing away from Reigns with his eyes to Tripp. “Clear the house, the ambulance will be here any second.”

I roll back as BW and Red lift Diem from the floor. Colt looks to her, “Diem Reigns, I will always keep you safe. Your pain is my pain, and I promise to feel every ounce of it.”

I can’t look at Emmalee. I feel her pain right now. Mostly, I am afraid. Once again, I have something good, and life is a son of a bitch ready to take it away from me.

“Mighty bold of you,” Reigns taunts my brother. “Then again, you think you have it all.”

Colt laughs, “Fucker, I have it all. I know the feel of a good woman coming alive just for me and not because of money or status. I know what it is to be free. I know what it is to give as good as I get. I know what it is to have family, real family. Yeah, I’m fucking bold from it all. I’m also bold enough, brash enough, and brave enough to tell you, Thomas Reigns, I’ll see you in fuckin’ hell.”

Without a moment of hesitation, he pulls the trigger firing the kill shot into Thomas Reigns.

Threats eliminated, I make my way to my van and off to the hospital. I’m not leaving her.

Not now. Not ever.

I finally have something good for myself and I’m not about to be away from her.