Luke wasn't expecting her to wake up so early the morning of his flight. In fact, he was hoping that she would sleep through his departure so he didn't have to say goodbye. He had half his suitcase packed, and a note already written to explain his whereabouts when he heard her. "Luke, what are you doing?" Mackenzie asked, still groggy from her slumber.
"I have to leave for a while, love." Luke whispered, folding his suit jacket and laying it in his suitcase. "I'll only be gone a week. Maybe two."
"What? Why are you leaving? Where are you going?" She sighed, rubbing her stomach.
"I just have to go to.. uh.. Boston for a bit. I've got unfinished business I need to take care of." Luke threw in a few more items of clothing and his toothbrush before zipping up his suitcase. "I won't be gone long, I promise."
"Luke, I don't want you to leave." Tears welled up in her eyes as Luke carefully sat on the bed next to her.
"Baby, I promise it won't be long. I'll be right back here with you before you know it." Luke pressed his lips to her forehead, letting them linger on her skin. "I love you."
"Call me when you get there, so I know you're safe. And, I want you to text me every chance you get. I don't like it when you're so far away." Mackenzie sat up carefully and wrapped her arms around Luke's torso.
"I will, Mac, I promise. I want you to call me if anything happens. I don't want to be out of the loop. I've got the boys scheduled for different times to look after you." Luke rubbed her back gently and she laid her head on his shoulder.
"I'm gonna miss you." She sighed, letting a few tears fall onto the material of his sweatshirt.
"I'll miss you, too, baby girl." Luke pressed a soft kiss to her head and stood up. Mackenzie wiped her eyes and watched Luke walk out of the room. Feldy came into the room shortly after Luke left.
"Will you tell me why Luke's going to Boston?" She sighed, leaning against the headboard.
"He's just got to talk to some important businessmen." Feldy said, taking a seat in the new rocking chair.
"Businessmen for what?" She asked, looking at Feldy.
"They're the ones who actually own the club, he has to give the annual report on sales and things." Feldy lied. He couldn't tell Mackenzie the real reason Luke went to Boston.
"Does he really have to go to Boston for that?" Mackenzie blushed softly and looked down at her hands.
"He's just following protocol, Kenzie." He chuckled and looked out the window. "It's snowing again."
"The snow reminds me of Ohio." Mackenzie smiled. "I hope Caden likes the snow, so we can build snowmen together."
"When are you due?" Feldy asked, turning to Mackenzie.
"June 11th." Mackenzie smiled and rubbed her stomach. "I'm 24 weeks along."
"Pregnancies and babies are so crazy." Feldy laughed.
"Did you know that the baby is about the size of a large cabbage right now?" Mackenzie smiled softly.
"Have I ever told you about my kids?" Feldy asked, looking at Mackenzie again.
"What? You have kids?" She widened her eyes. "No, you never told me."
"I was married once, to a beautiful woman named Amy. It was before I got involved in the gang and I was living in LA. I had 2 kids. A boy and a girl." Feldy sighed and looked out the window. "I told my wife that I was moving to New York for the gang, but she refused to come with. She told me I had to choose between my family and the gang."
"You chose the gang over your family?" Mackenzie tugged at a string on her blanket.
"No, just let me finish. I had decided to stay at one of the hotels the previous leader owned in LA while I thought about what to do. When I got back home after making my decision, I found my family in the dining room. They were all tied up to the chairs. My wife had been shot multiple times in the chest and stomach. My kids each had a single gunshot to the head." Feldy looked down at his hands and tried not to cry in front of Mackenzie.
"John.." Mackenzie whispered softly. She stood up and walked over to him.
"I was ready to tell her that I was choosing them, but they had been taken from me before I got the chance to appreciate them." A tear streamed down his cheek.
"Who killed them?" Mackenzie rubbed his shoulder.
"We never found out who. We only know it was a gang from LA that wanted me gone. I guess they heard I was joining a Hemmings gang and thought I wasn't welcome in LA anymore." Feldy wiped his tear and sighed.
"There's been multiple Hemmings gangs?" Mackenzie asked, sitting on the bed across from him.
"You know Luke is from Australia. He came here with his brother, Jack, almost 10 years ago, I think. Jack used to be the leader, but he didn't want to be in the gang anymore so he told Luke to take over and then he left. We haven't heard much from Jack since then." Feldy looked at Mackenzie. "Luke saw Jack a few years ago when he went home and found his parents murdered in their home."
"I remember Luke telling me about his parents, but he never told me they were murdered. He wouldn't tell me how they died." She sighed and rubbed her stomach. "He disappeared for 2 months after that".
"He had gone home to tell his parents about you." Feldy smiled softly. "He wanted them to know how happy he was with you. They had been asking about you and he wanted to surprise them by going to see them"
"He always told me that I would have loved his mom." Mackenzie smiled sadly. "I just wish I could have gotten the chance to meet her."
"His parents were wonderful people and they definitely deserved better." Feldy smiled. "Gang life does shit to people that you can't forget or live without."
"Do you think Luke would give up the gang if I asked him to?" Mackenzie sighed and looked down at her stomach.
"You wouldn't have to ask, Kenz." Feldy chuckled. "He's whipped, remember?"
***
Luke had been gone for almost 2 weeks and Mackenzie was started to worry about him. He had gone from texting her every day to texting her every other day. She had now been 4 days with no text or call. "C-can someone get me a pillow?" Mackenzie let out a deep breath as she made her way down the stairs.
"Kenzie, are you alright?" Ashton asked, coming out of the kitchen.
"There's a light that keeps shining into Luke's room, so I'm gonna sleep on the couch. I just need more pillows for my back." She breathed deeply and sat on the couch.
"A light? What kind of light?" Michael asked, walking over to her. Ashton walked to the hall closet and pulled out a few more pillows.
"Like headlights. I looked out the window, but the lights turned off." She leaned forward slightly to catch her breath.
"Hey, are you having trouble breathing?" Michael asked, holding her arms.
"I'm getting really pregnant, so I get short of breath a lot more. The baby is pushing on my diaphragm." She rubbed her stomach and looked up at Michael. "Will you help me lay down?" Mike nodded and held her arm while she laid back against the pillows Ashton brought.
"This whole pregnancy has us all acting weird." Ashton chuckled and helped Mackenzie adjust the pillows.
"I'm almost 25 weeks along now." Mackenzie smiled. "Have any of you gotten ahold of Luke yet?"
"Calum talked to his this morning. He's on his way home." Ashton smiled and rubbed Mackenzie's shoulder.
"I'm gonna sleep until he gets here." Mackenzie nodded, closing her eyes. "Wake me up when he gets here." She mumbled, already drifting off to sleep. No one woke her up when Luke got home. They already knew Luke wouldn't appreciate them waking her up. He sat on the floor next to the couch where she slept. He pressed a soft kiss to her arm and rubbed her stomach gently.
"I'm home, my loves. I've got everything worked out for us. I'm getting us out of this." He whispered, smiling to himself.
YOU ARE READING
Second Chances
Teen Fiction"Well, I don't love you! So why don't you just leave me alone!" Luke screamed back. The air seemed to leave the room completely. Both of them were at a loss of breath. The tears that formed in her eyes were now freely streaming down her reddened che...
