Reunion Series-

 

Chapter One

It had been two years since the first arrival of the WarLords to Braaken Ridge, Montana. But those two years had been full of good times and bad, tears of pain and tears of pleasure for the five brothers and their families. Now everything had settled down and life was good.

Charli might have lost her grandpa to Andy’s bullet but she found Ace and a whole new life. The brothers had cleaned up this part of the world and now almost everyone was living the good life. 

Charli and Ace’s son, Ben, was six months old now. Luna was pregnant with their first child as well. King and Mags had just had their first baby too, a little girl they called Alison who was born a month ago. Then Jack and Jaden also added to their family with another little girl, they named Megan. 

Everything seemed to be almost perfect now in their world, almost. 

Charli was at the cemetery this morning visiting with her parents and grandparents when she felt a shiver run up her spine. A feeling of foreboding washed through her. She raised her head, searching the area with careful eyes. She hadn’t felt this particular sensation in a long time and the last time she did, her world came crashing down around her. In fact, it had been the day before her family was hit by that car…

She stood up from the grass where they had been sitting by the headstones and gathered baby Ben up in her arms. She got both herself and Ben to the four by four. With one last look around, she sped off toward the big house and the safety Ace provided his family.  

Charli came skidding to a stop just outside the house.

 The door opened and Ace came rushing out. “Babe, what’s wrong? Is someone following you?”

Charli just sat there in the four by four, her whole body shaking. She turned to gather her son in her arms.

Ace was right there when she slid off the seat with her son in her arms. Ace wrapped his arms around his little family.

With a huge sigh, Charli planted her face in his broad chest. 

After a moment, he tipped her chin up with his fingers and studied her face with questions in his eyes. “What’s going on, Charli? Why did you come tearing back here like the boogeyman was chasing you? Are you and Ben okay?”

Charli nodded. “Yeah, we’re fine but something is gonna change here real soon. I don’t know what’s coming but something is. It's like a black cloud looking for somewhere to bring the storm.”

Ace looked confused. “What does that mean?”

Charli just shook her head.

“Come on, let’s go in the house and talk about this.” He told her. He ushered them inside and were met with concerned looks from everyone else. 

King, Jack, Deuce, Joker and some of the women were waiting inside.

Mags came up and asked quietly, “Do you need me to take Ben for you?”

Charli shook her head and gripped her son tighter to her body. Her eyes looked haunted and she stumbled over to the sofa. She lifted her son higher in her arms and then rocked him back to sleep.

Ace sat down beside her.

 No one said a word for a long time, then finally Joker knelt in front of her and looking at her he asked, “What’s going on here, Charli? Why are you so scared and what are you scared of? Please tell us.” He paused, then he said, “You’ve always been so strong, so tough, but now you’re sitting here shaking like a damn leaf. Talk to us.”

Charli took a deep breath and looked around at them all. “You all know I’m part Gypsy, right?” 

Everyone nodded and waited.

“I figured out that it had to be that part of me that…” She shook her head. “...that feels things no one else can feel. It's like when the world gets tipped off its axis for a fraction of a second, you know? Most people just don’t get sensations like that but I do and I always have. I just  never talk about it. The first time I felt it was the day my parents died. Somehow, I knew that trip would be the last time I would see them. When they all the farm that day all I could do was watch them go. I was just a kid and the feeling I had scared the crap out of me, you know?”

Everyone just stared at her. 

Charli shook her head and her voice went low as it trembled,  “I knew they were gone the moment the crash happened. In my mind, I could see their souls leave their bodies and I was afraid to say a word about it to anyone. I laid in my bed here that night and I just cried. My grandmother was afraid for me because all I could do was cry. I was safe with my grandparents but I knew before they told me that my parents were gone. When they got the news about the crash she just turned and stared at me. She seemed to realize that I knew what happened to them before this. She and grandpa tried to speak to me but I couldn’t tell them the truth, they would think I was crazy or something.” Charli let out a long breath and looked up at the ceiling.

Joker patted her hand to encourage her to finish.

She nodded her head and spoke again, “I think they were a little afraid of me after that. For the longest time they would give me strange looks.  Then over the years, those feelings got stronger and I didn’t say anything to anyone about what was going on. But grandpa would watch me carefully. Then my grandma got sick. Grandpa knew what was coming just by watching me. He began making preparations and he was there for both of us. But he knew. Then after she died, he stayed close to me for the longest time.”

“Did you feel like he was going to die when he did?” Ace finally asked her.

Charli slowly looked at him and nodded. “I knew, I didn’t want to know but I did.” Then she raised a hand to her forehead and she began to rub the place between her eyes. “But this is bad and it's coming right to our front door. I don’t know what it will be exactly, but it will come.”

Ace glanced at his brothers then at the other people in the room and shook his head. Finally, he asked her, “Babe, what can we do?”

Charli raised her head and also looked around at everyone’s faces. “You don’t believe me.” 

“Its not that we don’t believe you but even you have to admit this is a stretch.” Ace shook his head. 

“You think I don’t know that?” Charli snapped. “You think I want to be able to know when bad things are coming that I can’t control? I hate it. I have never told anyone about this because I don’t want anyone to look at me the way you guys are looking at me right now. I shouldn’t have shared it. I knew I shouldn't but I can’t hide it anymore either. I care about you all too much not to warn you that trouble is coming. You all need to know that much but I don’t have to stand here and look at your expressions of disbelief and doubts.” She stood from the couch with Ben in her arms and  went down the hall. 

They all heard the door shut.

Ace sighed heavily. He had been stunned by what she said and he also heard the pain in her voice but he had no idea how to comfort her either.

“What the hell are we supposed to do about this?” Joker asked his oldest brother. “I mean can someone really feel disasters coming?”

Ace ran his hands over his head and shrugged. “I don’t know, but that’s not what’s important here.”

“What is important here then?” King asked his brother.

Ace gazed at his family, his brothers and their wives. “We have to stand behind her or we might lose everything we built here.” He surged to his feet. “And I’m not gonna lose the peace and the sense of family we have. I’m not gonna wait unprepared for something she thinks is coming. So for a while we’re gonna be prepared for anything to happen.”

King and the others glanced at each other, then they all turned to look at Ace. One by one they all nodded. They might not know what’s coming if anything at all, but they would be ready for it.

A few hours later…

 The house had gone quiet. Everyone was asleep.

Charli wasn’t sleeping as she became like a ghost that haunted the night. The same feeling she’d gotten at the cemetery this morning had come back to her, disturbing her rest. 

Now she walked silently through the house, keeping guard over her family. In her hand, she carried her rifle, cocked and loaded as she kept watch over her family. She knew no one believed her premonition but she believed in it. She’d lived with her secret all her life. 

She paused at one of the living room windows and searched the front yard. Then her body stiffened and she searched again. Whatever she feared was outside right this moment. She could feel someone staring back at her and the air around her seemed to go still, almost as if it was waiting too.

Charli turned on her heel and went to the back door. Peeking out, she halted but nothing out there alerted her, so she slowly reached for the door handle. She opened the door silently, then slipped outside, pulling the door closed behind her silently.

She used the cover of darkness to slip around the corner of the house and made her way around to the front. Staying in the shadows, she closed her eyes and cleared her mind, almost willing herself to feel where someone was standing.

Opening her eyes, she spotted some kind of movement in the darkness beyond. She raised her rifle in her hands and snapped on the sights. A red dot suddenly appeared and it landed against something solid. “I found you and I will kill you if you don’t tell me why you are here,” she called out softly, just loud enough for her voice to carry.

 The shadow moved slightly and someone moved into the moonlight. “Please don’t shoot me, cousin,” a voice called out. “I came here to warn you, not to hurt you.”.

Pausing at the familiar voice, she called out, “Mario? Is that really you?”

“Si, cousin, it's really me and I come with news that you have to hear.” Mario took another step out into the moonlight. “My papa sent me to warn you about what’s coming.”

Charli came down the steps and lowered her rifle. Before she could say anything the shadows moved again and she raised her rifle back to a firing position. “Who’s there with you Mario? Did you bring someone else here?”

“I did but she isn’t dangerous. Please do not shoot her. She found me on the road and begged me to bring her here. She says her name is Angela and she used to live here. She was just looking for a way to come home.”

Charli could hear the truth in his voice. So she once again lowered her rifle and stepped into the light. “Is there anyone else with you? Any more surprises I need to be aware of?” She glared at her cousin.

“No bella, there is just us and you, of course,” Mario called back. “Are you going to trust me or shoot me before I can tell you the news I bring from Italy?”

Charli shook her head, “You’d better come inside before one of the brothers that live here takes a shot at you before I can tell them who you are.”

Mario paused and stared at her. “You have men living here with you? What does Ben have to say about that?” Mario exclaimed with a growl in his voice as his hands clenched into fists.

 

Chapter Two

Charli slowly turned to look at her cousin and said, “Ben met them all before he died almost two years ago and he was okay with them living here. Besides, I'm old enough to make my own decisions. My husband lives here with his brothers and their families.”

Mario looked surprised. “You’re married? Since when? Why wasn’t anyone else notified of this?”

Charli scoffed. “And why would I have to tell anyone? What I do is my business. Besides, I haven’t heard anything from your side of the family since you all moved  to another continent.”

Mario looked annoyed. “You should have told us because you are Michael’s daughter, that’s why.”

Charli stared at him. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“Let’s go inside.” Mario pressed his lips tightly together while still looking annoyed. “Someone should have told you some things years ago. They failed you then, but I will explain.”

As they entered the dark house, the lights came on before Charli could reach the light switch.

At the sight in front of them, Charli, Mario and Angela froze.

Ace, King, Jack, Joker and Deuce all stood there with their weapons in their hands. They looked fierce as they glared at the strangers, Charli had standing behind her.

 “Baby, you need to move away from him right now.” Ace growled as he raised his weapon and pointed it at Mario.

“Before you shoot him, I’d like to introduce you to him. He is Mario Benettinni, he’s a cousin on my father’s side. Please don’t shoot him, even if he deserves it. He says he has something to tell me about my dad’s family.”

The men paused then lowered their weapons.

Charli noticed that none of the WarLord men put them away, but this didn’t surprise her either. She nodded at them then led the other two into the living room. She motioned to the sofa.

Still looking leery of the brothers, Mario and Angela sat down. 

Mario didn’t take his eyes off the armed men but finally he turned to Charli and asked, “Which one of these men is your husband? They don’t look like the type of men you should even know, let alone be living with.”

“Who are you to say what I should be doing with my life?” Charli asked with a scoff. “Your entire family left me here to go back to Italy over fifteen years ago.”

Mario shook his head. “We left someone behind to watch over you. He should have notified us when you got old enough to marry.”

Charli shook her head in confusion and she glanced at Ace. Turning to reply to her cousin, she said, “I never had anyone but Ben around me growing up. And why would anyone care? You all made your positions clear years ago after my parents died.”

Mario shook his head. “Damn him.”

“Who?” Ace barked out.

Mario looked disgusted. “My Uncle Ray. He was supposed to keep in touch with you over the years and report back to us if there were any problems.”

Charli shook her head. “I’ve never even met the man. I don’t think Ben did either, at least he never mentioned him. What is going on here, Mario? Why would your family even care about me at this point? Ben was the only one who stuck around. It was like after you moved, that side of the family just stopped existing for me.”

Mario reached out and took her hand. His head turned quickly when he heard Ace’s growl at the contact. Mario recognized it as possession, so he very carefully let her hand go and he studied her carefully. “Who exactly are these men, bella?” he finally asked.

Charli raised an eyebrow at him. “These men are my family, Mario. Ben raised me, but these men saved me. Ace is my husband and the father of my child. When you and your family went back to Italy, you cut all ties. Ben might have been old but he and grandma finished raising me. They were there for me every day when I lost my parents in that feud that had nothing to do with us.”

“We are all Vets and we formed an MC,” Ace said. “We came here looking for our brother that had disappeared right off the face of the earth. We found him alive and well due to Charli saving his life after he’d been stabbed while protecting her. We stayed and cleaned up this damn town. Ben lost his life in a shootout due to one man losing his temper. We settled his ass down hard and his father lost his own protection when we called his bullshit. She’s under our protection now.”

Mario lowered his head and sighed. “You never should have been left alone. Ray was supposed to step up and keep us informed of any danger coming your way. He failed that duty.”

“But that doesn’t explain why you’re here and who she is.” Charli motioned toward Angela. “Unless she’s with you?”

Mario shook his head. “No Bella, she isn’t with me in that respect. I picked her up at a diner on the other side of Chicago. She came along with me when I mentioned I was going to come to Braaken Ridge to find my cousin. She told me she knew that name and she thought she used to live here once upon a time.”

Everyone turned to look at Angela.

She shook her head. “I didn’t come here to cause trouble. About four years ago, I found myself in the hospital. My belly had been sliced open and I lost a lot of blood. The doctors told me that if I hadn’t been found I might have died. It was a trauma that took my memory of who I really was or why I was even there. I mean I didn’t know anyone there and I couldn’t remember my past. I was in Billings then and after I recovered enough to move, I left.” She took a deep breath and went on, “It was like starting all over with no memory of whatever I’d left behind. I got on the first bus I could and got as far as Chicago then I found a job but was no closer to remembering anything. Then I met Mario and the name of this town meant something to me when nothing else ever has, so I tagged along.”

Jack glanced over at his brothers. Then he looked down the hall at the bedroom where his wife and daughter were sleeping and shook his head.

“So what did you come here to tell me?” Charli glared at Mario.

“I came here for two reasons. One was to find Ray and check on you after word reached the family that things were blowing up over here and that you might be in trouble.” 

Charli paused and glanced at Ace. “And what does Ray have to do with anything? I haven’t head his name in over fifteen years.”

Mario shook his head and explained, “And that little one, is the problem. Ray was supposed to keep an eye on you and let us know if you ever needed us. He didn’t and now he’s missing.”

“Missing?” Ace asked. “What do you mean he’s missing?”

Mario sighed hard. “We found out that Ray was not keeping an eye on Charli. He also took our money, then set himself up in an arms running business with several others. They were selling American guns to whoever could pay the most. He disappeared ten years ago and dug himself a hole that protected him while he built his own small army to protect himself against not only us but anyone else that would one day be looking for him. Now we can’t find him and the family is about ready to go to war again on your behalf.”

Charli looked entirely lost as she exclaimed, “On my behalf? But why? I’m not involved in any of that.”

Mario shook his head. “Bella, you are our leader’s daughter. Your father, Mike Bennett, was our leader by birthright and we took over until you grew up. Now it's your birthright to lead our family.”

Charli sat down hard in the chair across from Mario and just stared at him. “What the hell are you saying?”

“Ray was supposed to be working with you all these years, getting you ready to take your place.”

Charli shook her head. “I already told you, I never saw him and Ben never said he ever came around. I also do not intend to run any family but the one I have with Ace.”

“Did Ben ever tell you who your father was?” Mario had to ask.

Charli shook her head. “He never talked about other side of the family. He told me you guys left me behind and went back to your real home in Italy. That the feud was over and my parents died in vain. That they were ambushed over nothing and they died over a feud that meant nothing.”

Mario shook his head. “He was wrong, bella. The feud was very real and the deaths on both sides ripped families apart for nearly a century.” He sighed then said, “But Ben was supposed to guide you and tell you about your dad’s position and someday, your own position.”

“Her position is that of my wife and the mother of my children.” Ace glared at him. “My brothers and I can protect her here and she isn’t going anywhere.”

Mario slowly turned to study him for a long moment, then he shook his head. “That will be determined by her father’s family. She has obligations to maintain here.”

Charli scoffed. “Then you get the council together and you bring them here to talk to me. I will be happy to step aside and let your father take my place. Meanwhile, they can decide what happens to Ray. If he’s broken the laws you live by, then you take care of him. You and your family left me behind, a long time ago. So now, you and your family can handle the family business. Ben raised me and I belong here. He left this farm to me and I’m happy here.” She looked around the room then turned back to Mario. “This is my family now and nothing you tell me will change that. I grew up here with people that loved me unconditionally, they were here for me every day after my parents died. You and your family never paid me any mind really. You only talked to me when it was convenient for you to do so. Then when I was fourteen, your family left me behind, yet again. You all moved to a whole other continent and I was left here with my mother’s family. When we buried my grandmother you didn’t show up, when I buried my grandfather you weren’t here either. You don’t get to decide how I live or who I love. You are my cousin and I have some fond memories of you. We were tight at one point in my life but you can’t tell me how to live anymore, you’re about fifteen years too late.”

Mario surged to his feet and his hands were clenched into fists. “You can’t denounce your heritage, bella! It is a part of who you are. You have your father’s blood in your veins and Michael would be so disappointed in you if you didn’t take your place in this family.”

Charli jumped to her feet as well and went nose to nose with her cousin. “Don’t you tell me that my father would be disappointed in me. You don’t get to do that, cousin. His family let me down, your family let me down. So don’t you dare bring my father’s blood into this. You’ve got no right to do that! My mother’s blood raised me, they cared for me when I was growing up. They were there for me when I was sick, they went to my graduation, not you or yours.”

She broke apart and went over to Ace, who opened his arms and held her tight while she sobbed into his chest. 

Meanwhile, Ace just glared at Mario.