Chapter Twelve

Savannah

I'VE BEEN KEEPING a close eye on my sisters since I told them about our mother. Last night they were fine and talked with everyone in the clubhouse. They spent time with the kids they were around since the Phantom Bastards rescued us and saved our lives and made sure each man and woman got a few minutes with them. It's been so long since they've really had the chance to just be around everyone and I'm glad they're taking the chance now before everyone goes back home and returns to their normal lives. When they went to bed last night, I remained awake watching over them in case any of them had nightmares and needed me. Zach didn't sleep at all either. He stayed up with me and tried to get me to fall asleep so I wouldn't be tired today. I refused after the nap I took yesterday and I'll take a nap today if that's what I have to do.

It didn't help that I was lost in my head and kept thinking about what I need to do in order to protect the girls if something were to ever happen to me. Zach and I talked about it in the past, before everything happened, and he always promised me he'd take the girls in and raise them as his own. I know that's a promise he'll keep even now. He's told me more than once that we're his girls and if I trust anyone with them, it will be him. Zach has the backing of the entire Phantom Bastards club and they'll help him raise the girls to be the strong, loving, loyal women I know they'll be. All four of us want to be better than the mother we were born to. With Zach raising the girls, I know that will happen. It's one of the many reasons I started to fall in love with him so long ago. Zach is one of the best men I know and that's never changed when it comes to my sisters.

While I was wide awake, I came to the conclusion about what I need to do in order to protect my sisters if Conrad ever gets his hands on me again. I already know I won't come out of any interaction with him alive. Conrad is going to take me running from him as a personal insult and that's not something he can handle. He believes he's a man no woman can resist when the reality is that he's a monster. Conrad will never change and he'll always be evil. I don't know if it's how he was raised or something he turned into over the years. What I do know is if his father is also involved in trafficking people, then it was something he learned by watching the asshole who was supposed to love and mentor him. He got plenty of mentoring from what I can tell, but it wasn't to do with anything good. It kind of makes me wonder where Conrad's mother is. If she's just stood by and let all this shit happen because she's scared or if she's actually a part of this entire situation.

Personally, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I knew something that horrible was going on and I did nothing to stop it from happening. There's always a risk when you get involved with men like Conrad and his father, but the risk of not protecting innocent lives is far greater if you ask me. I'd give my life for my sisters without hesitation and that goes for anyone else I see out in public. I might not be the fastest, strongest, or bravest person, but I will always try to do what's right and avoid letting someone get hurt because I was too scared to go up against someone bigger and stronger than I am. Something I didn't learn from my mother, but from my dad before he was taken from us. That's one of the main reasons he went into the military and chose to stay in after he met our mother and they started having kids. I miss him so much and will always try to do what I feel he'd want me to.

This morning, the girls chose to go to school. They didn't want to stay at the clubhouse and just sit around doing nothing. It just shows how little they think of our mother. Zach even tried to get them to stay home and they refused. Ava's reasoning is that she wants to cheer this weekend at the game and for the competition, and if she misses school, she'll be benched. Chloe said she had a test and needed to be there to take it so she didn't have to take the make-up test alone and miss a class starting the next subject. Miracle told me she wanted to go so she could talk to the coach for the volleyball team. Some of the girls she made friends with play, and she's decided to try out if she can. I'm so proud of my baby sister and how far she's come since moving to Pine View. There's one reason for her breaking out of her comfort zone—Zach. He's talked to her and told her if she wants to do something, then to go for it. That we'll be there to support her and help her train or do whatever it takes so she can make the team.

Zach went to church this morning and I've been left with the ol' ladies in the clubhouse. After cleaning up from breakfast, we decided to start making dinner. I talked to them about my plans with Zach and the girls. Shy was my biggest supporter and told me to talk to him so we could make it happen. That woman has always supported everyone in her life and I don't know what I'll do without her on a daily basis. But, she reminds me often that she's always a phone call away and I have Annabell here with me. Annabell should be taking it easy since she looks like she'll be having her baby any day now. She swears she's only having one, but the girl is huge and I'm not sure that's the case. I guess we'll see when he or she is born. She's decided she doesn't want to know the gender of their little one and Vault is going along with her idea. Anything my friend wants, her man makes happen. She's fucking lucky and I know they will be awesome parents.

"Love, can we talk for a minute?" Zach asks me, coming into the kitchen after church.

"Of course. I'll see you girls later," I tell everyone around me as I wipe my hands on a towel before following Zach out of the kitchen and toward our room upstairs.

He takes my hand and laces our fingers together as we head up the steps and straight to the room without stopping to talk to anyone. We only pass Court as he makes his way downstairs. Zach nods his head at him and doesn't offer anything more. I'm sure that whatever he's about to tell me is going to make me lose my mind. It's never good when he takes me to a private room for a talk we have. But, I can also give him my idea to protect the girls and see if it's something he'd be interested in doing.

"Love, we've been lookin' at shit and everythin' is pointin' to Conrad bein' here in Pine View. He got here shortly after you and the girls did. We don't think he was followin' you, but Buzz, Fox and Kingston are goin' through all of your stuff now to make sure there's not some kind of tracker they didn't catch the first time they searched. His father has also gone off the grid. That's weird because he usually remains in the public eye so he's always got an alibi. No one knows where he is, includin' his staff," Zach tells me, his voice serious and low as he looks at me and wraps his arms around my middle so I don't run from him.

Fear fills me as I realize that Conrad's so close to me. We've never been safe from him and I don't know if we ever will be. Not until someone takes him out once and for all. Even if he's in prison for what he's been doing, that's no guarantee that he won't try to get his hands on me and the girls still. If I've learned anything over the years, it's that. The only guarantee you have in life is that nothing is ever a guarantee. Even the best laid plans will more than likely fail for one reason or another.

I can feel myself start to shake in Zach's hold as he keeps me tight against his body. My breathing is coming out in chopping pants and it feels as if my heart is going to beat straight out of my chest with how fast and hard it's beating. Zach doesn't let me go as he tips my chin up so I'm looking in his eyes the best I can with my vision turning hazy.

"Breathe, Love. Deep breath in and hold it. Release it slowly," he tells me, placing my hand on his chest so I can feel his heart beating steady and strong in his chest while he tries to help me get my breathing under control.

"I gotta protect the girls, Zach. How am I gonna protect them if we don't know where Conrad or his father are? They're gonna take them from me and I won't be able to stop them," I say so fast I'm not even sure Zach understands what I'm saying as the panic fills me once again.

"They're not gonna get the girls, Love. We'll do everythin' it takes to keep them safe and home where they belong. The school knows somethin' is goin' on and are prepared for them to do a homeschool thing in order to stay at the clubhouse but still get all of their work done. It's gonna suck for their sports, but if they have to put that aside this year to keep them safe, then it's somethin' we'll have to deal with as a family. Some of the guys are already at the school to make sure no one shows up there to take the girls from us. Court will follow us when we go pick the girls up later today and then we'll have everyone at school already followin' us back here," Zach informs me, his voice serious and gentle as he keeps his eyes locked on mine while not saying a word about focusing on my breathing.

"What if we left here? I mean, once we know there's no way for him to track us. I'll leave my cell phone behind and everythin' we don't absolutely need in order to get away from him," I state, the need to run with the girls overwhelming me to the point it's the only thing I can think about.

"Not happenin', Love. You and the girls are stayin' here with me where you belong. I'm not gonna let you go again. I did that once and it was the biggest mistake of my life. You're mine, Savannah, and I'm gonna claim your ass because I want you as my ol' lady and wife. I want to have kids with you, raise the girls as if they were ours, and make sure Conrad and his father don't ever get their hands on you. Any of you. We've got the club at our back and they're all prepared to go to war for us," he states, putting his hand around my neck when I go to look away from him. "You're not gonna run and hide from this, Love. We're gonna fuckin' fight together and the girls will see us protectin' them from the evil in the world."

"I don't know if that's gonna be enough, Zach. None of you know Conrad and what he's willing to do in order to get what he wants or follow his father's orders. Thinking back on everything, I have no doubts left that everything has been a demand or order from his father. Conrad never wanted me. He just needed to get close to me so he could get his hands on the girls and me since we got away from them before. It wouldn't surprise me to learn they're going after all the girls you guys saved that night. Has anyone checked on them to make sure they're all okay?" I question him, another idea popping in my head after thinking about the girls and myself for so long.

"I'm gonna have Fox get on that. They know him from the past and will be able to make sure they're all okay and still livin' their lives. I know he checks on them every now and then to make sure everyone is good and doesn't need anythin'. So far, he's only found two girls the club has helped get in therapy. One of them has been sent to rehab because she couldn't get past everythin' without usin'. She's startin' to do really good now and is so thankful to the club that she's promised to get sober and stay that way. She wants to live her life and not let Conrad and the rest of the stupid fucks win and take anythin' more from her. Slim and Shy are actually gonna go visit her soon," he informs me, his voice filled with emotion because he was part of the group who rescued us and will always have a soft spot for the people in the trailer with us that night.

I watch as he removes his phone from his pocket and makes the call to Fox. They talk for a minute and I'm so lost in my head, I can't even process their conversation. Zach is doing nothing to hide this side from me as he normally would. Maybe it's because this was something I brought to attention or maybe it's because I'm just like the others Fox will check on and make sure no one's gotten to them again.

"Do we really have to pull the girls from school?" I ask, needing to know if that's the next step we have to take with them.

"I think it's somethin' we need to talk about with them. They need to know it's a possibility so they're as prepared as possible. I don't want this to be somethin' we spring on them and make them upset because we're uprootin' their lives once again," he answers me, pulling me back into his arms and holding me tight.

"Maybe we should pull them out now. I mean, if he's in town, then he could be watching the school right now. I know you said you've got guys there watching over them, but it doesn't mean they'll be able to protect the girls. Conrad can charm his way inside the school and have them out of there before anyone realizes what's going on," I state, my mind whirling with all kinds of possibilities.

"The school not only knows the situation with the girls and Conrad, but Fox made sure they had a recent picture of him. Even if he changes his appearance, his face and everythin' will remain the same. He'd have to go in hidin' for a long time in order to heal from a surgery to reconstruct his entire face, Love. Conrad isn't gonna put that much time and effort into this shit," he states as if they've already thought of the possibility of him changing his appearance. "At most, he'll dye his hair and maybe wear colored contacts. Other than that, the school knows what he looks like. He won't get close to our girls. I promise you, Love."

"Okay. I'm gonna trust you, Zach. In this, we'll play things your way unless I see something I don't like," I tell him, looking around the room in an attempt to push the last of the fear and panic from my body. Now is the time to tell Zach about my plan and what I want. "Zach, I know this isn't the time or place to have this conversation, but I want you to adopt the girls. If anything happens to me, I want to know that you'll have them and be there for them the way you always have been. I don't want anyone to be able to take them from you. I've already adopted them as you know and it's time for you to do the same. We've talked about it in the past and then everything happened with your dad and brother. It's time."

"You really want me to adopt the girls still?" he questions me, his eyes large and wide with the shock he's feeling right now.

"Of course I do, Zach. No matter what's happened between the two of us, you've always been there for them. You've shown them each fucking day that you're gonna have their backs and will take time out of your day to be there even if you're not in the same town. They call and you talk to them. Or you jump on your bike and get to them as fast as you can. You make sure someone is there for them until you can show up. That meant the world to them and it was something so small and simple. You've been amazing with them and continue to give them unconditional love and support when you don't have to. Yes, I want you to continue being there for them if something happens to me. We need to put plans in place now so I can relax knowing they'll be taken care of no matter what happens moving forward," I tell him, my voice breaking at the thought of not being here to watch my sisters grow up, find love, start their families, and figure out what they want to do with their lives.

The only peace I will ever have is because of the man in front of me. He will do everything in his power to take care of all of us and it won't matter what he has to do to accomplish that goal. Zach is going to give the girls the best life they can have and if that means I'm not here to witness it, then I'll be okay with him taking care of them.

"It would be my honor to adopt the girls, Love. I want them to know they'll always have me at their back and with me comes the entire club. They'd have the club no matter what, we both know that. By makin' shit official, neither one of us will have to worry. I think we also need to put plans in place in case somethin' happens to both of us. Personally, I'd like to see the girls go to either Slim and Shy or Vault and Annabell. You know either couple would raise the girls the exact way you want them raised and give them the unconditional love and support we both want them to have every single day of their lives. This entire situation has taught me not to take anythin' for granted and that starts with the four of you," he says, pulling me back into his arms and holding me close as I feel his body tremble with the emotions coursing through him.

"We need to talk to them all and make sure they'd be okay with taking the girls if something happens to us," I tell him, knowing it will be better to get everything in place right now than to wait for something to happen and not having anything prepared.

"Let's go do this. We can have our lawyer draw up the paperwork and we have a judge who will take the adoption case to get it taken care of. The sooner we're done, the better I'll feel about everythin'," he says, giving me a kiss before lacing our fingers together again and leading me from the bedroom we share with the girls at the clubhouse.

After talking to Slim, Shy, Vault, and Annabell Zach makes the call to the club's lawyer. She assures him she'll have everything drawn up and bring it to the clubhouse so we can sign off on everything. Then he calls the judge and talks to him to get everything set in motion for an adoption hearing. Fox and Buzz make sure everything is in order before we meet with the lawyer and judge so there's nothing holding us up from getting this stuff taken care of. I know the girls aren't going to mind what we're doing. If anything, they'll be excited about the changes. We agree to talk to them tonight just before going to bed so we can be alone and away from everyone in the clubhouse. I'm nervous and excited all at the same time because this is a huge step for us and it's one I'm not hesitant to take because Zach is proving he's the man I thought he was so long ago.