Chapter 9

Chapter 9ForgeIt had been three weeks, and although I was going stir crazy at the cabin, I was afraid to leave with Bella because Storm reported sightings of her bosses and about a dozen of their men asking about her all over town. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how much money they must have been making off her at that fancy club to go through this kind of trouble to get her back. It was funny how quickly the stupid fuckers forgot about the Russo brothers in favor of hunting down their star attraction.Bella was having her third visit with the trauma counselor, and I was pacing back and forth while they talked on the bench in front of the river. In order for anyone to get to them, they’d have to go past the cabin where we now have six armed guards, a combination of prospects and club brothers. Once again, my Bella was becoming tearful and upset. I took a step in their direction, meaning to put a stop to the session, but a firm hand on my shoulder pulled me back a few steps.“Yer lassie has to work this out in her own way. Ye can’t be bargin’ in every time she sheds a feckin’ tear,” Celt said.I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him.The bastard wiggled a finger in my face. “Ye be knowin’ I’m right. So, don be actin’ like a brayin’ ass about it.”I huffed out and exasperated breath. “Yeah, I know you’re fucking right. That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”“No, ye sure don’t. When my Gracie was seein’ that feckin’ wicked witch of a counselor, I came near to ripping her feckin’ throat out for makin’ my lassie cry. Storm gave me the same advice I’m givin’ to ye.”“Alright, I get it. Your old lady got better. I know Bella will too. It’s just infuriating to watch.”“Want ta fight? I’ll fight ye. Come on, boy. Take all your frustration out on me.”I sighed and forced myself to relax. “As tempting as that is, I’m going pass.”Celt slammed into my shoulder. “Don’t tell me yer afeard to fight me like a real man.”“No, you idiot. I don’t think watching me kick your ass is what Bella needs to see right now.”Celt stopped messing with me and stood up straight. “Ye were a good patch. I voted for ye because of that cool head of yers. Don’t make me regret me vote.”My mouth fell open as I watched the older man turn and stroll away. This cabin was suddenly starting to feel like a very crowded place.The next thing I knew, Mason pulled up on his bike and strolled over to me. “How are y’all holdin’ up, brother?”“Not very well. The prospects are extra stupid these days, Bella is crying her way through every counseling appointment, and Celt’s on my ass like nobody’s business.”“Did he offer to fight you?”I looked at Mason in surprise. “Yeah. How did you know?”“He’s been doing that a lot. Somehow got it in his mind that fighting is a great stress reliever. Him and Grit have been going at it like bull gators in the bayou.”“I didn’t know Grit was under stress.”“He’s not, but Celt is chomping at the bit over his daughter and Corey loving up on each other all the time.”“He’s fighting a losing battle there. The more he objects the more he’s pushing them together.”“Yeah, I told him that. Every-fucking-body told him that. He doesn’t listen.”“I wouldn’t worry about him too much. Surely Storm will step in if he gets too crazy with it.”“Storm’s already stepped in a couple of times, but you know Dusty is the closest thing we’ve got to a club princess. I think half the brothers in this club would love to drop Corey off in the middle of nowhere and let him spend a few years finding his way back.”“Jav might have something to say about that. He’s a fully patched member, after all.”“You know, I don’t see many of the brothers voting Corey in when he’s finished prospecting.”“That would be a shame. He’s a damn good prospect.”Mason shrugged. “Life’s full of difficult choices.” He jerked his chin toward the river. “Well, what do you know, looks like your singer’s dried up all her tears. That’s a smile on her pretty face.”That’s when I realized that Mason was just here to distract me since Celt’s offer to fight didn’t work. I slapped him on the back. “Thanks for the conversation. I needed something else to focus on and you really came through for me.”“You’ve done enough favors for me over the last couple of years. Y’all take it easy and look out for your new friend.”“Will do,” I said absently as Bella begins walking toward me.I met her halfway, passing her counselor along the way. “You feeling better?” I asked. “This last session looked intense as fuck.”“Yeah, I’m okay. We were discussing my grandmother’s death and how guilty I feel because I wasn’t able to be there for her during her final few months because my asshole keepers couldn’t spare a handler to escort me a couple times a week.”“I can’t imagine what that must have been like.”“The hardest part was stuffing all the anger in depression inside for fear of what they would do once I stopped dancing to their tune.”“Mobsters are unpredictable. It’s good that you didn’t end up being forced to learn the answer to that question.”She turned to look behind us and grumbled, “It looks like everyone who’s anyone in your club showed up to watch me have my session. It’s embarrassing that I cried with so many people around.”“I doubt many of them were watching. They come here for target practice once a month. They were just waiting for your session to be over so they could get started.”“What kind of target practice?”The curiosity in her voice caught me off guard. Then again, maybe this was just another in a long line of new interests. “We have several brothers who were trained snipers when they were in the military. They usually pick off pinecones and such in the trees across the river. We have several who like to bow hunt, so they practice with bows. And we have about eight to ten brothers who like to practice with their pistols.”“What about you? What do you like to practice with?”“I own a rifle with a scope and a couple of handguns. I am fairly proficient with my handguns, so I’ve been practicing with my rifle.”“Can I watch you practice, or is that not allowed?”“Old ladies are welcome. They rarely attend, though. Mostly they hang back at the cabin and cook or send the prospects to pick up food if they’re not in the mood to cook. Sometimes they like to hang out and play board games or video games. One quilts, I think. A couple of the old ladies do beauty podcasts.”A ghost of a smile crossed her face. “That all sounds absolutely amazing, but today I’d like to hang out with you.”“Alright, then. We all keep duffle bags or trunks in the basement with our personal effects. I have a trunk. We can grab my rifle and get started.”In the cabin, Dusty and Corey were hanging out, drinking wine coolers. Dusty was not supposed to be drinking, but I’d long since decided not to get involved in young people drama. Not my circus, not my monkeys.I opened my combination lock, popped the top open on my trunk, and pulled out a black plastic case. After I locked my trunk back up, we headed outside. I stopped at one of the picnic tables and opened the hard plastic case and ran my fingers over my beloved Smith & Wesson M&P15 semiautomatic rifle. I remembered the day I finally saved up enough money to buy it, how proud I was and what a big deal my club brothers made over it.Lifting it out I separated the upper and lower receivers making sure not to lose the pins, and started disassembling the lower receiver, putting the buttstock to one side as I took out the trigger mechanism and inspected it. It had been a while since I’d used the rifle, and I’d wanted to check it was clean, so I gave everything a quick wipe down. I then started disassembling the upper receiver, taking out the bolt and the charging handle. Looking down the muzzle, it all seemed dust free as I fed the bore snake through it, but I’d strip it down again later on and fully lubricate it.“It’s in pieces,” Bella pointed out, stating the obvious.I began pulling out the component parts and putting them together, my movements sure and fast. Each piece slid into place as I replaced the final pin. I loved my rifle more than any other possession I owned. I could put it together in my sleep if I had to.Bella murmured, “That’s amazing. You know exactly where every piece goes.”“I can teach you if you like.”Pure excitement jumped onto her face. “Really? I’d love that.”I began breaking it down again. Explaining that the rifle was made up of two main parts, the lower receiver with the firing mechanism—this was the part that made it a weapon—and the charging handle, barrel, and sight in the upper receiver— this controlled the ejection and trajectory of the bullet—it was a gross oversimplification, but she didn’t need to know the details. When each piece was back in its place, I asked, “Do you remember where the first pin I removed was?”She touched the pin next to the safety catch.“Good. Now which was the second pin I took out?”She then pointed to the pivot pin. This woman must have been paying close attention because she picked out three of the next five pieces correctly. I showed her how to click them into place, and when it was fully assembled, her hand traced over the matt, graphite black finish. She touched my rifle like she touched me. I suddenly realized it was a tender, loving touch.I broke it back down and gave her encouragement as she disassembled and assembled it a total of six times. By the last try, she was able to click the more stubborn pieces into place all on her own.“Good job, Bella. You’re a quick learner. Are you ready to learn to shoot now?”Her eyes went wide as she nodded. “I don’t know exactly why I’m loving this so much, but I totally am.”We headed over to one of the makeshift tables and I put a couple of extra clips down because I strongly suspected we were going to need them. I threw her some ear protection and lifted the rifle, zeroing in on a pinecone across the river, and squeezed the trigger. The large pinecone burst into several pieces. Pleased, I turned to Bella. “The difference between this weapon and fully automatic rifles, is that you just get the one shot for one pull of the trigger. Do you want to learn to shoot?”“Yes. Of course I do. If you’re still willing to teach me, that is.”I walked behind her and positioned the rifle in her hands correctly. As she got a feel for the weight of it, I started telling her all the safety rules for firing a weapon and warned her about the recoil. The action of the AR-15 was so smooth it was barely noticeable, but for a novice it might be a shock. She was actively listening to every word I said, asking me to repeat things and asking questions along the way.We worked on how to lift the weapon, put whatever she wanted to shoot in the crosshairs, and squeeze the trigger. She didn’t hit anything right off the bat, but I didn’t expect her to. After almost three hours, the brothers were breaking for the day, so we packed up as well.After cleaning and stowing my rifle back in the case, we headed out to the back of the cabin where three grills were going.“You hungry, princess?”She grinned at me, all pearly white teeth. “I could eat a horse, though I guess chicken will do,” she replied while eyeing the chicken legs on one of the grills. I knew enough about my new lover to fill her plate myself, and she was more than happy to let me pamper her.I quickly made us both plates of grilled chicken, vegetables, and rolls. By the time I made it to the table, Hash and Crystal were seated on the other side of the picnic table. I slid her plate in front of her and realized they were knee deep in some dramatic story about a famous actor Crystal once worked with who drove his car into a swamp after having too much to drink and had blamed it on her.My Bella was appropriately outraged on Crystal’s behalf. “That scum sucking ass hat. I can’t believe he’s still getting paid an exorbitant amount per movie and you’re not.”“It’s fine,” Crystal stated, glancing over at Hash. “I’m right where I want to be.”“Still, he doesn’t deserve the success he’s had. You were a much better actor. Your performances were always so nuanced and layered.”Crystal beamed at her new friend. They’d only been talking for a couple of weeks but were already growing close. “Thanks for saying that, Bella. Have you been thinking about joining my community theater group?”“I’d love to, but now’s not a good time for me,” Bella responded.“There’s no time like the present,” Crystal responded encouragingly.I was quick to interject, “Not a chance. As long as those assholes are looking for her, she stays out of sight.” I turned to Bella. “Don’t worry. It’s only a matter of time before we find the slippery fucks. After that, you can go anywhere you like without having to look over your shoulder.”Crystal’s face registered surprise. “You have stalkers?” Bringing her hand to her chest, she exclaimed, “I had a stalker too. We need to compare notes.”“Mine are two old gangsters who forced me to sing in their nightclub and pretty much held me hostage.”“That’s exploitation,” Crystal cried indignantly.“Yea, and one of them wanted to make me his mistress. Luckily, I only learned of those plans after Forge rescued me, or else I’d have been too scared to sing.”“That makes it sound almost civilized. The bastard wanted to rape you!” I cut in.Bella placed her hand on my shoulder like she was trying to soothe me—that woman was just amazing, after what she’d been through, she was more concerned that I was getting upset. At that moment I realized I never wanted to let her out of my life, and with every ounce of strength in my body I would protect her from harm until my last breath.“You are not the only woman who’s ever gone through something like this. My stalker was some random crazy person who crossed paths with me at a gas station,” Crystal said.“Wow. What are the chances of that?”Crystal waved one hand in the air dramatically. “Astronomical.”Hash swallowed the food in his mouth. “You’re cute when you’re acting.”Instead of being upset, Crystal grinned. “What the gesture too over the top?”“A little,” Hash replied as he stole a french fry from her plate and tossed in his mouth.Crystal looked down at her plate, momentarily worried. “I hate overacting. I’m going to have to work on my hand gestures. I swear, it feels like I’m dropping skills.”Bella gave a cute little laugh. “You’d have to drop quite few more to end up in the same category as your former costar.”“He was a royal pain in the ass,” Crystal admitted.“I loved your last movie. The one where you played the wife who was in a coma for years, only to wake up and discover your husband had given up and married another woman. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. You can’t imagine how disappointed I was when he stayed with the second wife. The whole movie was heart wrenching.”Crystal leaned forward and said, “It was one of those go big or go home type of moments.”“Have you ever thought about doing a musical at your community theatre, Crystal?” I asked.Crystal’s eyes flew open. “No, because until now we haven’t had anyone with a suitable singing voice. What do you think about taking on a leading role in a musical, Bella?”“That sounds amazing. Once all the danger is past, I plan to get a job and maybe my own apartment. If I can fit in any kind of hobby, I’d want it to be that or shooting Forge’s rifle.”Hash choked on his bite of steak and kept thumping himself in the chest until his eyes watered. “Did you just say you were shooting Forge with a rifle?”“She said shooting with my rifle, not shooting me with my rifle.”“You’re teaching her to fucking shoot a rifle? What in hell is wrong with you?”Crystal’s head cranked around to look at him. “Are you saying she can’t shoot a rifle because she’s a woman?”Bella propped her chin on her upturned hand and waited for Hash to pull his foot out of his mouth. Both women were breathlessly awaiting his answer.He pressed one hand against the center of his chest, looking all kinds of embarrassed. “Well now, I didn’t mean that exactly. I just think there is a marginal amount of risk having inexperienced people around high-powered weapons.”The woman I was growing a serious liking for over the last few weeks of fun-filled days and incredibly hot sex at night moved closer to me and said, “No need to worry about that. Forge is a real safety-first kind of guy.”Hash eyed me suspiciously. “I’m sure he is.”