Chapter Seven

Valor

I WASN'T EXPECTING Savannah and I to talk about what happened with the house bunny in the clubhouse that day. She was quiet when she got back from the clubhouse two days ago and I had a feeling it was about the house bunny, but no one but Shy and Gwen knew what happened between Savannah and the woman. They weren't gonna tell us what was said because it happened to Savannah and it's her place to talk to who she chooses about it. I know it doesn't change anything between the two of us, but it's a step in the right direction and one we needed. We've spent the last five years apart because of a misunderstanding with the house bunny and feelings I thought I had for someone that weren't real. I wish we would've talked about this shit when it happened, but that's not how Savannah is. My love has to sit and think about things which typically leads to her getting lost in her head and imagining things being even worse than they are. In this case, she wasn't exactly wrong, but the last five years have changed me and there's nothing I won't do to show her how I feel and that I'm serious about her being mine.

After we packed up her bedroom, I knew she was done. Savannah pushed herself and ended up doing way too much when she should've still been taking it easy. That's why I left her in the bedroom downstairs to take a shower and go to bed. The girls were already asleep after packing their bedrooms up and getting everything ready for the move. Honestly, I'm not surprised they didn't put up a fight to move away from Benton Falls. If any of them would have done that, it would've been Ava. She's just as stubborn as Savannah most days and she's built a damn good life for herself here in Benton Falls. However, she's also very smart and I know she'd realize this situation is serious and a change needed to be made in order for them to be kept safe from any harm finding them.

I slept on the couch so I was the first person anyone trying to break in would see. Chrome and Court are still outside the house. They've barely taken a break since we got here. Court refuses to leave me alone at the house. He keeps telling me he's my best friend and he's not gonna leave me here on my own if this Conrad fucker shows himself and tries to get near my girls again. He stays out of the way and Ava's really the only one who's seen him. She was sitting on the porch when he walked around the house during one of his patrols. Ava screamed and I raced out to find Court standing a few feet from the porch with his hands in the air and fear filling her face. He hates that Ava got scared when she saw him and has tried to remain invisible since that day. Even after Ava apologized and told him she didn't hear him walking up because she was lost in a book and spotted him out of the corner of her eye. Court is a big man and hardly makes a sound when he moves. Hopefully things will change when we get home because he's my best friend and I plan on him being in the girls' lives so they'll need to be used to one another.

After barely sleeping on the couch again, I got up and made the girls breakfast for the last time in the kitchen here. This is their home and sanctuary. Savannah made it the safest place she could once they got settled in here and it's only gotten better since I've been gone. Conrad took that from my girls and I want to gut him for that reason alone. I know I can't because of his father, but it doesn't stop me from thinking about everything I want to do to him so he suffers and all of his victims finally get the justice they deserve to have.

Unfortunately, Conrad hasn't shown up near the house since he beat the fuck out of Savannah. Fox put up extra cameras and a few are pointing up and down the road. He monitors them from his office and the rest of us have access on our phones. I've been watching them way more than I should each night, but I wasn't here when Conrad did this and I'm not going to miss him. He won't get close to my girls and hurt them even more than he already has. Savannah might be the one he put his hands on, but Ava, Miracle, and Chloe are hurting just as much because they found their sister unresponsive in their home while she was covered in blood. It was scary as fuck and Miracle has had more than one nightmare about it. I've sat up with her a few nights and made sure she could get back to sleep. When I can't sleep myself, I walk the interior of the house and triple check all the windows and doors so Conrad can't get in that way.

Each of the girls makes their way in the kitchen when the smell of me cooking starts to fill the house. Savannah still hasn't made an appearance, but I'm not surprised by that. She was up really late and in pain. I'm going to let her sleep in as long as she can.

"Good morning, Valor," Ava greets me, walking up and looking in the pans on the stove. "Breakfast smells good."

"Thank you. I know we have a big day today and I want to make sure you girls eat before I get your sister up. I'm gonna take her to the school so she can get what she needs to enroll you in Pine View. Shy and Slim are gonna come hang out with you. Rayven and Kinsliegh want to see you before we leave later today. You're gonna see the guys comin' in and out of the house so they can load up the trucks with everythin'. How much do you girls have left in your room to pack?" I ask her, putting my arm over her shoulders as Miracle and Chloe start setting the table for us.

"I'm done. It didn't take as long as I thought it would to pack everything. Miracle needs some help and I planned on doing that after breakfast. I think Chloe is almost done. When we're ready, I was going to start packing everything down here so Vanna doesn't have to worry about it," Ava answers me, her voice almost a whisper as she looks over her shoulder at the girls who are just sitting down at the table.

"Good. Let's get breakfast," I say, turning off the burners as the girls bring their plates over to me and I give them a little bit of everything.

This morning we're having potatoes, eggs, sausage, and toast. It's quick and easy to make so we can get our day started. I want to be in Pine View today, but if we're not, that's okay. I have to think of Savannah and make sure she's comfortable on the trip. I'll be driving one of the trucks and my bike's already been loaded in the back of it. All the guys here are gonna escort us home so we'll have plenty of escorts if Conrad somehow manages to discover that I've taken my girls out of Benton Falls and home where they belong.

Killer and Stryker are the only ones who won't be in trucks or SUVs for the trip. They'll be on their bikes in case we get followed by anyone. Killer will take off after whoever's following us while Stryker remains with the rest of us in case they use one vehicle as a distraction and then come out of nowhere with a second vehicle. This trip, I don't need anyone from Pine View to meet us. Slim let me know the entire club is going with us so they can check out everything in Pine View. With the boys getting older, they want to see our clubhouse and check out some of the businesses we've started. I think they wanna see the small city at the same time so they can start making plans for when they move down there permanently.

"Morning," Savannah says, walking into the kitchen dressed in clean clothes and her hair wet from the shower she just had.

"Mornin', Love," I say, grabbing the plate I just filled for her and handing it over while I finish filling my plate. "After we have breakfast Slim and Shy should be here with the girls. They're gonna hang out here while I drive you to the school so you can take care of everythin' there. Court is gonna follow us and I think Killer's gonna hang outside in his place. The girls won't be left alone and they're gonna finish packin' up their rooms so it's one less thing for us to do when we get back."

"Sounds good. Thank you, Zach. For everything. I know I've acted like an ungrateful bitch, but I really do appreciate you being here when you didn't have to come back," Savannah says, her voice barely above a whisper so the girls don't hear her.

The two of us got really good at communicating almost silently when I lived with them before moving. Anytime we wanted to talk about something they didn't need to know about, we would whisper or Savannah would write something down and hand it over like we were passing notes back and forth in high school. I still have every note she wrote me in a shoe box in the top of my closet at the clubhouse.

"Vault and Annabell sent me some pictures of the house. They got all the new furniture inside and tried to set things up in a way they know you'd like. We can change anythin' you want once you see it all put together," I tell her, following her to the table with our plates. "And you don't ever have to thank me for bein' there for you, Love. You and the girls are my priority and one day you'll believe that."

"Okay. We'll see when we get there. I'm sure everything they bought is more than fine," Savannah responds, walking to her seat at the table.

The five of us eat breakfast and listen as the girls talk so fast about moving and everything they want to do in Pine View. Excitement fills the air and settles over Savannah and myself as I sit back and listen to the excited chatter of teenage girls. It's been a long time since I've been in the middle of this chaos and I missed it more than I thought I would. I can't wipe the smile from my face as I look around the table and finish eating so Savannah and I can leave for a while this morning.

Savannah and I have gotten everything taken care of that we needed to. The last thing we did was go to the bank so she could withdraw a large sum of money. She already knows she won't be able to use her debit or credit cards once we leave Benton Falls and wanted to be prepared while having money on hand in case the girls needed something. I wasn't about to tell her that I got it covered because Savannah would've gotten pissed at me. Right now, we're having a good day and I want to keep it that way. So, it's just easier for her to think she's getting her way and knowing I'll pay for the girls no matter what they want or where we stop on the way home.

I couldn't stop laughing when we walked through the grocery store before heading to the bank. Savannah told me we needed snacks for the trip and got so much shit I don't know where we're gonna fit it all. There's chips, crackers, cookies, soda, bottles of water, a small cooler for the drinks, beef jerky, some fruit, and candy. My girls love their chocolate and I knew there'd be a good amount of that going in the cart. Savannah made sure I had some stuff in there to snack on during the ride home too. She doesn't want any of us to starve or spend a second of the trip hungry. It comes from never knowing if they'd have food or not growing up.

Savannah used to eat two meals a day in school and then each afternoon she'd walk home with a bag of food the school gave her. Her mother managed to take that shit from her on the days she was lucid enough to realize what was going on around her. It didn't take my girl long to start hiding the food somewhere outside where no animals would steal it from her before she could bring it inside. The second her mother was blitzed out of her mind, Savannah would bring in the food and make sure her sisters ate while she went without. Now, she's always got more than enough food in the house so they don't ever have to worry about going without.

Pulling back in at the house, I take in all of the chaos going on. There are several trucks lined up in front of the house and the guys are going in and out with boxes. Two trucks are almost completely loaded up already. Savannah and I weren't gone that long as I park on the side of the house and shut the engine off. Savannah jumps out of the truck as quickly as she can without reinjuring herself to find out what's going on. I follow behind her in the house to find Shy directing traffic as the girls finish packing up the kitchen.

"Holy shit, Shy," Savannah gasps in shock as I take a look around to find everything done. "How did you guys manage to get this all done so fast?"

"I called the guys to come over and lend a hand. Gwen and I packed the inside of the house with the girls while the guys started loading everything in the trucks. Valor, do we need to load the washer and dryer or did your brother make sure to buy those?" Shy answers before turning her attention on me.

"I'm not sure. Let me call him and find out," I tell her, walking further in the house so I can hear my brother.

"Valor, what's up?" Vault asks, answering his phone with laughter filling his voice.

It's so good to see everything Vault has overcome since we lost our dad. He's smiling and laughing again, hasn't touched a drop of alcohol in years, and is putting himself out there again. It's been amazing to watch him find the man he's meant to be again and knowing that he did it all on his own. Vault didn't ask for help from anyone and did what he had to do in order to get where he needed to be. It was a long, hard road he had to travel, but Vault found his way and Savannah has too. She's just as strong as he is and I know she doesn't see it the way everyone else does. My girl is the best person I've ever met and I can't believe it's taken me so fucking long to realize what's been right in front of me all this time.

"We're gonna be headin' out soon. The guys already got most of the stuff loaded up and Shy's finishin' up packin' the house with the girls. Savannah got everythin' taken care of that she had to for the girls to move. Did you get a washer and dryer for the house or do we have to bring the set here with us?" I ask my brother, watching as Savannah laughs with her sisters as they make quick work of packing the kitchen stuff.

"We got a washer and dryer. I got two even though they're those new fancy ones that wash and then dry the clothes without havin' to switch them over to the other machine. You guys will be able to get a ton of laundry done when you get home. I know how Savannah is and she's gonna wanna wash everythin' after it's sat in boxes. Thought it would be easier on her. How's she doin'?" Vault informs me before checking on Savannah like he has every day since I got the call from Ava.

"She's okay. Still healin', but that's to be expected. As you know, her ribs are gonna take the longest to heal. They're still givin' her trouble, but she's handlin' it like she does everythin' else," I answer him, not taking my eyes off my girls.

"You start gettin' sorted out between the two of you?"

"Yeah. Talked about things last night. Part of it was nothin' more than a misunderstandin'. The day I helped the house bunny when the water lines ruptured and flooded the laundry room? Savannah saw me walkin' back that way with her and thought I was takin' her somewhere to fuck. It didn't help that the bitch told her I'd been fuckin' her the entire time I was with Savannah. I guess she finally told my girl the truth. Plus, she knows how I thought I felt about Kasey. We talked about that too. I'm not sure if she believes me or not, but I'm gonna do whatever it takes to prove to her I'm serious when I say I love her and that I want her," I tell my brother as Savannah moves around to the table and sets a box on the top of it.

I watch as she grimaces in pain. She's doing too fucking much and we both know it. Shy is saying something to her and I have to stifle my laugh as Savannah puts her hands in the air like she's surrendering and steps away from the box and kitchen.

"Fuckin' skanks. I just had to put the three we got here in their place again. Annabell was workin' in the kitchen and they once again thought they'd corner her and talk shit. You know my wife isn't gonna do somethin' stupid since she's pregnant and I happened to hear them. They're on their last chance and all of them know it. I hope they take me seriously because they're lucky they're even gettin' this chance after the first time they went after my girl," Vault states, his voice hard and cold since he's talking about someone fucking with Annabell.

"Let them say somethin' to Savannah when we get there. She'll fuckin' gut them and leave them on the floor for the others to clean up. She's not the one to fuck with and you know that. I think we need to talk about limitin' their access to the clubhouse since the girls will be there now and you're gonna have a baby soon. We need to keep them away when the kids are around," I tell my brother as we bullshit for another few minutes before I hang up and make my way inside to find Savannah as she goes through the house to make sure all the rooms that have been emptied so far as clean and nothing was forgotten.

Helping the guys load everything up in the trucks, Savannah, Shy, and the girls make their way to the clubhouse to load up the SUVs with the kids and the rest of the ol' ladies. The Prospects will remain here to keep an eye on things while we're gone. This is going to be a club trip and I'm excited to have them see what we've been doing at the clubhouse in Pine View. It's been a very long time since any of them were there and things have changed for the better with Annabell running certain things. Plus, I want to see Annabell and my girls reunited. They were close at one point and I hope their friendship goes back to that when they're all in the same place. Finally, just before dusk, we load up and head out, stopping just outside of town for dinner before making the journey to Pine View. I'm with my girls and it's not long before they all fall asleep leaving me to think while driving home with them.