Sam doesn’t look mollified. “Still…”
“Anyway,” I move swiftly on, “I was amazed. Part intrigued, mostly disgusted, so I asked her how she could do what she did.”
Sophie’s sitting forward. “I always wondered how the girls started out. Go on, Ella, it’s fascinating.”
I nod and go on to explain what she’d told me that long-ago morning before all this had started.
Carmen’s looking at me oddly. “So, the thought of biker cock on tap excited you? You obviously weren’t afraid of bikers then, honey, but when you came to the club, you were fuckin’ terrified.”
Sam shoots her a look, and then stares at me intently. I remember she hadn’t seen me the first time. I throw her a silent plea for help. How much should I disclose?
“Ella, there’s more to it,” Carmen insists. “What happened to make you so scared?”
I look down at my glass, which is now empty again. “Look, it’s club business. But Slick came to see me. Told me if I’d do something for the club, they’d let me in as a sweet butt.”
Rosa’s gazing at me. “Did you really understand what it means to be a club girl, Ella? They’re here to do anything and everything the men want. Any time, day or night. When your girls come here tomorrow, they’ll be expected to service our men too. It might suit a nympho, but you don’t seem like someone who just likes sex and doesn’t care who it’s with.”
I give a shiver. While I liked Titch, for example, he’s got to be sixty if he’s a day, and the thought of deep throating an old man’s cock fills me with disgust. “No, I don’t think I understood that at all. Jill made it sound glamourous.”
Now they all laugh. Sam’s frowning. “They must enjoy it. They can leave at any time, but they don’t, they stay.”
“It’s not just the sex, they like feeling wanted and needed. Jill said she had control over the men.” I’d had plenty of time to think it through. “Let’s face it, being somewhere I’d be appreciated sounded good at the time. I had no prospects, no man. It would have been a roof over my head, food, and company who wanted me. Jill said there’d be a chance that one of the bikers would take a particular liking to me and I might become an old lady.” Which as it turned out, was exactly what happened. Just not in the way I’d originally expected.
“They all think that. One of the main reasons they do it. But they’ll be disappointed. It’s very rare a man wants a woman all his brothers have already dipped their cocks in every hole.” Now everyone nods sagely.
I nod at Rosa. “I know that now. But then?”
Carmen is still like a dog with a bone. “So you weren’t afraid of bikers at that point, when Slick came to see you?”
Giving a small smile I reply, “No, and I even thought if they were all like him it wouldn’t be a hardship at all.”
“You liked Slick?”
I admit it. “Very much. I was attracted to him from the start.”
“What happened?” Now it’s Sandy who probes.
My voice drops to a whisper, and I glance toward Sam again. “I went into a biker club…” my voice breaks. I hadn’t noticed her get up, but Tiffany brings me another drink. I take a hefty swallow and find the strength to continue. “They made me pull a train.”
“Why the fuck did you agree to that?”
Sam jumps into my rescue. “There wasn’t agreement or consent, ladies. And the whys and wherefores come under club business. Ella here did the club a favour, and it’s thanks to her all the men are alive. Let’s just leave it at that.”
“I wasn’t meant to get hurt.” I give a small smile of thanks at Sam’s concise explanation.
“But you did.”
“And that’s why they wanted to look after you,” Sandy puts in. “I did wonder. Oh, honey, I’m so sorry for what you went through.”
Tiffany comes and sits down next to me. “So that’s why you looked like a lamb going to the slaughter when you arrived? You thought the Vegas chapter was going to be like the club you went to? Oh, honey, you’ve nothing to worry about here. The brothers are pussy cats. Wouldn’t dream of hurting a woman or making her do something she didn’t want to do. Anyway, you’re wearing your property cut. Ain’t no one gonna touch you with that on.”
I start to thank her, then change my mind as a term she used registers. “Pussy cats?”
“Perhaps sometimes they can be tigers. Or maybe that’s just Fox. Mmm mm.” Tiffany laughs, and the amount of drink we’ve all consumed makes that one of the most hilarious things we’ve ever heard.
“Talking of sweet butts, when is your lot coming up?”
“Tomorrow,” Sam answers Rosa. “The prospect’s taken the truck back tonight and will be driving them here in the morning.”
“Hmm. Well there’s rooms on the upper floor where they can bunk with our club girls.” She waves her hand around the room. “Don’t worry, this is an old ladies’ only retreat.”
That’s good to hear, and as they seemed to have finished with me being the topic of conversation, and I’m let off the hook, I start to relax once again. I finally discover that Rosa was married to the chapter’s old president, who’d died of cancer a couple of years back. That she’s still got a home here, and they’ve made her feel wanted is the final nail in the coffin of my fears as I at last understand, I can’t tar all bikers with the same brush.
Having had a relaxing evening, I go to bed, sliding in next to an already sleeping Slick. But he’s only dozing as though he’d been waiting. The bed dipping wakes him up, and he turns and pulls me into his arms.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Slick…
I hated leaving Ella in Vegas. It just didn’t seem right. I cursed having to abandon her now we’ve reached such a good place in our relationship. Oh, I’m confident enough that this short break won’t harm us, but I don’t like that I’m leaving her alone. I miss her already. My comfort is that she seems to be settled in the Vegas club, not overly concerned by the brothers now she’s met them and surrounded by old ladies whom I can see have become her friends.
On the long ride back to Tucson, all I could think about is that night when she allowed me to let my inner beast free, the memories rolling around my head on a loop. Fuck, once I’d gotten over the shock of her asking, I’d let myself go and she’d taken all I had to give. I’d certainly fulfilled my promise and couldn’t hide my smirk when I saw her walking stiffly the next morning. Yeah, babe, that’s what biker loving does to you.
Last night at the Vegas compound I’d changed pace once again, making love to her so gently, cementing the depth of my love for her in my actions as well as words. If this was to be a final goodbye, then I wanted to leave her something to remember me by.
It’s not my intention to die, but who the fuck knows what lies ahead? Each and every one of us would lay down our lives for our brothers and for our club. It’s impossible to predict what’s going to happen, and not out of the question that some of us might not be coming back.
At least the women are safe. If anything happens to us, Red will look after them.
Arriving back at the Tucson compound, breathing in the familiar smells of home, I’ve got to put Ella out of my mind and concentrate on securing a future for us. Now I need to give one hundred percent commitment to my club while we deal with the Herreras and whatever Archer’s going to throw at us. Oh, and to track down who ran Heart and Crystal off the road. There’s no doubt with the women away, and no sweet butts to distract us, we can get down to business without worries of them in our minds.
But fuck does it feel wrong to lie alone in my bed, my hand resting on the side where she usually lies, my head on her pillow just to breathe in the perfume she left, remembering the promise I made that I would be returning to her, having to deal with the knowledge it was a pledge that might be beyond my control to keep.
The next morning, the clubroom seems eerily empty with no women around. Smells of burned bacon are wafting through as the prospects do their best at serving up
an edible breakfast. They fail, but I grab something, knowing I’ll need it to keep me going. When I walk into church, it’s to find my brothers equally subdued.
Prez is toying with the gavel, but with mostly silence around him there’s no need to bang it. He twists it between his fingers before giving a half-hearted tap on the wood.
“I don’t need to explain what we’re all getting into,” he starts with no preamble. As he looks from one of us to another, I wonder if he’s burning the image of us all into his brain in case some of us don’t come back. His action reinforcing my notion we’ve no idea what we’ll be stepping into today.
Mouse gives a slight wave of his hand. “I’ve done everything I can, Prez. The link between the Zetas and the Herreras is still strong, and as we all know, that cartel’s on its way back. They’re gaining ground all the time, and while still weakened, a direct attack from them would be more than we could handle.”
“They’re better armed for a start,” Peg puts in. “But my gut feel is we have closer enemies to deal with. Leonardo Herrera wants us to take out the trash. I’m worried that not everyone in the family will appreciate us cleaning their house.”
I nod, he’s right. The Herreras could take us out, with or without the cartel. It’s just a simple question of numbers.
“Leonardo is the head. His son will be taking over when he goes.”
“What do we know about the son, Mouse? Apart from the fact he wasn’t at the fuckin’ meeting you had?”
“Yeah, that’s my worry, Dart.” Prez glances down the table. “We don’t know how long the old man will last. His son might have a different way of doing things.”
Dart points with the glowing tip of his cigarette. “Way I see it is Leonardo is worried about the Zetas. Sure, there’s a relationship there, but the Herreras have been muddying that by dipping their toes into the skin trade.”
“They’ve been clever, they’re not shipping the kids out of Tucson, just keeping them for the entertainment here in the city.” This from Beef.
“It’s still skin trade,” says Joker. “Herreras can expect blowback if the cartel finds out.”
“And if the cartel finds out we’ve launched an attack on the family they’re protecting, I don’t give much for our chance of staying in the clear.” Beef voices one of my worries.
“Could we talk to the Zetas? Get them on board?”
A dozen heads swing around to look at Lady. He clears his throat. “Just a thought.”
“Lady’s right, we should look at all options.” Prez rubs at his forehead. “But the cartel’s always bloodthirsty, and they don’t like loose fuckin’ ends. Likely result is they’ll go for the Herreras and then come after the club.”
A voice comes from a man leaning against the wall at the back, Red’s VP, Crash. “Have we got enough manpower if they do?”
“Probably not right now,” says Drum. “Not if the cartel comes for us. The Herreras, maybe. If I can get a warning out in time and we can call on the support offered by the other chapters. What worries me most is if we go ahead with what Leonardo wants, we could be walking into a trap and won’t have that time to prepare.”
Lost, Snake’s VP, folds his arms as an ominous roll of thunder sounds right overhead. Before he can speak, there’s a round of nervous laughter. He looks up. “Fuckin’ weather. Can’t wait to get back to San Diego. Thought Arizona was a desert!” Again a few chuckles. “What I was gonna say before I was so fuckin’ rudely interrupted was, we’ve talked this all out, agreed on a plan. I say we just fuckin’ go for it.”
“Lost’s got a good point. We can talk around this all day. We up for a vote on whether to go ahead on the assumption Leonardo’s straight and we’ll do what he’s asked?”
“Don’t like being used by anyone.” Peg’s grumbling again.
“Truth, Brother?” Wraith sits forward and leans his elbows on the table. “We’d have gone searching for the addresses, which was giving Mouse a headache. Leonardo has speeded things up by giving us heads on a fuckin’ plate. The names tally with the info we beat out of Diego, so we can be sure we know all our targets. Yeah, we take it at face value. We could be on to a winner. Just have to take the risk that there’s no hidden agenda lurking beneath.”
Drum bangs the gavel. “Let’s take a fuckin’ vote. All in favour of proceeding as planned? Or do you women want to gossip about it some more?”
Another rumble of thunder coincides with our laughter. It’s a fairly quick vote. Being men of action, and not women as Prez pointed out, we feel better moving than sitting around.
Prez starts to run through the plan. “We’ve got five men that we’re targeting. If we can trust Leonardo, they’ll be completely unaware.”
“And if he’s not trustworthy, they’ll be ready and waiting.”
Drummer glares at Peg. The sergeant-at-arms shrugs then waves to indicate he’ll shut up. “We go in heavy, prepared for whatever we might meet. Five teams. I take one, Wraith, Peg, Blade, and Slick will lead the others. Lost, you and your men will be with me. Slick, you’ll have Crash and the Vegas boys with you.” Prez goes on to assign the rest of my brothers to the teams. Everyone’s going except the prospects, who’ll be left at the compound. We’re hoping to find each man on his own, but plan in case they’re heavily protected.
“What about collateral damage?” Rock asks, tugging at his ear. “You want us to limit that, or what?”
“Women, kids?” Prez asks Mouse.
“Lucas isn’t married, couldn’t find a connection to a woman at all. Pablo and Miguel have wives, but no kids. Pedro’s got a woman and a couple of youngsters. Arturo has two teenage boys.”
“No women or kids to be hurt,” Drum announces, then stares everyone down to ensure we’re all on message. “We take them out clean.”
“What about any men they have with them?”
“Tongue, I think it’s safe to assume they’re on the wrong side. If they get in the way, remove them.” Drum sits back and puts his foot against the table, tunnelling his hands through his hair. “Brothers, this ain’t the way we work and it’s fuckin’ killing me to do this, but we aren’t going out to murder innocent men. Even if it wasn’t at the whim of fuckin’ Leonardo Herrera, we’d still need to clean out this town. What happened to Jayden can’t be allowed to happen to any others if we can help it. These five men are scum and need to be taken out.”
“I hear you, Prez, but we can’t stop that sort of shit forever. Supply and demand, someone will step up to fill the void.”
“Yeah, Peg, that’s the risk. But doing this, we’ll have saved some young kids. If anyone has doubts just ask Mouse about those fuckin’ videos he watched.”
“I’d rather you didn’t.” Mouse grimaces.
I know what the prez is doing. He’s winding us up on purpose. But fuck, I need no such encouragement. Jayden’s my family. “I’d do it alone if I had too.”
Steely grey eyes come my way. “You don’t have to, Brother.”
A murmur of agreement, then another fucking crack of thunder so loud it makes all of us start. I guess all our nerves are stretched tight today.
“We leave at midnight. Now we all got our skills. Use them.”
Peg raps the table. “And leave your cuts behind. We don’t want anyone clocking us.”
As everyone nods, there’s a knock at the door. Drum rolls back his head. “What the fuck now? Come in!”
Road looks pissed off when he opens the door. “Got visitors at the gate, Prez. Those two detectives and a number of squad cars full of cops too.”
Prez gives a little grin, it wasn’t exactly unexpected. “Everything hidden?”
“Squeaky clean, boss.” Wraith returns his smirk.
“Then let’s let them in.”
I’m not the only one who follows him down to the gate, partly out of curiosity and partly to offer support. There’s a crowd of us waiting when Hyde opens the gate. The rain has just stopped and puddles glisten in the emerging sunlight.
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Archer’s the first in and steps up to Drum, a piece of paper in his hand once again. “You’ve been served!” He almost spits out the words and lets the letter fall on the ground.
Drum ignores it. “If you’ve come for the kid she’s not here.”
The detective’s face goes red. “I don’t believe you. We’ve got a fucking warrant to search this rathole.”
Prez stays calm. “Knock yourselves out.”
Archer waves to the men behind him and about a dozen flood in. A couple peel off and go into the auto-shop, and from the racket, they’ve started tearing it apart. Fuck knows why they’d be looking for a three-year-old in there. Seems they’re using the opportunity to cause as much trouble as possible.
The detective himself leads the others up the compound, some brothers go with them, but all they’ll be able to do is watch. I stay where I am. If the auto-shop is an example to go by, it’s going to break my heart to see the damage they’ll be leaving behind.
Detective Hannah has remained. She steps up to the prez and says grimly, “I’m so sorry, Drum. I couldn’t stop him.”
Turning his stare to her, Drum looks impassive. After a few moments he says, “The kid’s not here, Marcia. She’s safe.” He’s being gentle with her, understanding her frustration. At least the information she’d given had provided us with a heads-up. It’s Archer we’ve got an issue with, not her.
The detective looks relieved. “I’m trying to find evidence, but he hides everything well.” Her eyes look in the direction her partner had gone then come back to Drum. “Any news on Heart?”
“No change.”
Her hands bunch at her side. “He’s got to come around, then we can put an end to all this farce.”
“It won’t end,” Drum replies sagely. “Men like Archer don’t give up once they’ve got their sights on something. He just won’t be able to do it legally anymore.”
She stares down at her feet as though she’s got nothing to say.
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