“Well, that’s not how we run things here.”
My shoulders sag in relief, and it seems the other prospects, along with Saint, Sterling, and Ruin, deflate a little too.
“Besides, apparently war is coming, and I can’t afford to lose any of you.”
“’Ppreciate it.” I nod, knowing he’s not quite done. My blatant refusal to follow direct orders means I’m not getting off scot-free.
“That doesn’t mean I’m not fuckin’ furious. I get why you did what you did. If it’d been Cambri, I’d have put a bullet in that prick too. We all would for our ol’ ladies. I guess wanna know if Jupiter is your ol’ lady, or just some sidepiece to occupy your time before you pass through town?”
“She’s mine,” I say too quickly.
“Does she know that?” Ruin asks, side-eyeing me.
“Fuck you, asshole.” I tilt my chin defiantly. “She knows. Just like I know I’m a fuckin’ goner. I ain’t leavin’. I ain’t runnin’ away again. I’m done being nomad. Now, I know this ain’t the best time to throw my hat in the ring after I’ve defied orders, but I want a permanent seat at your table, Prez. Whether that takes five months or five years. I ain’t leavin’ Uprising. I ain’t leaving the Kings, and I sure as shit ain’t leavin’ Jupiter.”
“I can’t hand you a goddamn patch after pulling a stunt like that, but you stick around, you see us through this shitstorm you brought to our door, and we’ll vote on it.”
I nod. “That’s all I’m askin’.”
“Well, with all that shit out of the way, when are we supposed to expect the Tennessee charter?”
“In around two hours or so.”
“Naw, shit,” Bash says.
“Fucking awesome!” Sterling says.
Chaos sighs. “Cambri’s gonna fuckin’ kill me.”
“Speaking of the old ball and chains,” Jinx says, “you think it’s time to bring everyone in? I don’t want our women out there when the Bastards are on the move.”
“Yeah. Get everyone in here now. I don’t want any surprises. The Bayou Bastards started this, selling drugs on our turf, threatening our own. We just took out the fuckin’ trash, but this is war, and I need every single one of you to have your head in the game.” He lifts the gavel and says, “Get your women and families, and then get your asses back here within the hour. We’re officially in lockdown.”
Chaos bangs the gavel and I breathe a sigh of relief. It’s short-lived, though, because I may not be put to ground today, but I have to find a way to break the news of a clubhouse lockdown to Tink, and she might just prove scarier than the Uprising club prez.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Bear
When I return to the house, Tink’s brothers are all sitting around the table, drinking coffee and cleaning the food from their plates. I didn’t bother knocking; this place already feels more like home in the last few days than North’s cabin ever did.
“You want somethin’ to eat, man?” Liam asks.
“No. I need you all to go pack a bag.”
“What?”
Tuck’s face lights up. “Where are we going?”
“Lockdown.”
“I don’t think I like the sound of that,” Liam says.
“I have school.”
“And we have work,” Jeb says.
“You have three seconds to move your asses. Prez has called a lockdown—that’s what Prez gets. I’m taking your sister, and since she’s my family now, that makes you my family too.”
“That’s touching but we can’t drop our entire lives because your prez says—”
“Listen, motherfucker—none of you will have a life left to live when our enemies come to town. Now, you can go pack a couple things for a night or two and follow me to the clubhouse, or I can bring you in bound and gagged in the back of Jupiter’s truck. The choice is yours.”
“What is going on here?” Tink says from the doorway. I turn to face her, resigned to having my ass handed to me for talking to her brother like that.
Jeb and Tuck get up from the table and scurry away. Liam gives me a long disapproving look but sets down his coffee mug and addresses his sister. “Bear was just telling us to pack a bag.”
Her eyes flit between us. “What?”
“Chaos has ordered a lockdown.”
“And that means what exactly?”
“It means our families get their asses to the clubhouse for everyone’s safety.”
“And do what?”
“You wait until we’ve dealt with the problem.”
“I can’t go into lockdown and sit around the clubhouse twiddling my thumbs with the rest of the ol’ ladies. I got work to do.”
“It’s not up for negotiation.”
She laughs humorlessly and crosses the room to the coffee machine. “You know, I’ve heard a lot of that lately, and I’m getting kind of tired of taking orders from the club.”
Liam uses this moment to slip out of the kitchen. I sure hope the asshole is going to pack, because he’ll never live it down if I have to bring him into the clubhouse hogtied in the back of the truck.
“We’re trying to keep you safe,” I tell her. “It isn’t about ordering you around or taking your freedom from you now that you’re mine.”
“What did you say? Because it sounds a lot like you’re laying claim to me, and here I thought I was my own person.”
“Jesus, woman.” I tilt my head back and stare at the ceiling in exasperation. “You’re so fuckin’ stubborn. You haven’t even figured out yet how much goddamn danger you’re in, so let me spell it out for you—if you stay here, you die. If you go to work, they will find you and kill you, but not before they’ve raped and tortured you first.”
She flinches, jostling the coffee pot in her hands and spilling the black liquid over the side of the cup onto the counter.
I lower my voice and step toward her. “Is that what you want? To end up collateral damage? To be brutalized, fucked until you’re bleeding from every goddamn orifice you have, and then have your pretty throat slit? For what? So you can pretend you can hold your own?”
“I can hold my own, and I ain’t afraid to sleep alone, Tennessee.”
“I don’t doubt it. Hell, you’re the fucking strongest woman I ever met—stubborn like a goddamn mule too. Thank fuck your cunt is pretty, because otherwise I’m not sure you’d be worth all the fucking drama.”
“You’re an asshole!”
“I’m an asshole who’s trying to save your life,” I say through clenched teeth.
“I’m not wearing your goddamn patch.”
“Bitch, something tells me that the fact you keep bringing it up means you’re hard up for that shit.”
“Oh, yeah,” she says sarcastically. “I just love being claimed by a man publicly. What’s next? Beat me over the head with your club and drag me off to your cave? No, thanks.”
“It ain’t even like that.”
“Then what’s it like?”
“A ‘property of’ patch means no one’s fucking with you.” I scrub my hand over my beard, frustrated with this whole fuckin’ conversation. “It’s like a wedding ring in MC culture.”
Her mouth opens in a little “oh” and she glances at her feet. “I ... didn’t—”
“Know? Yeah, well, maybe if you weren’t so quick to jump to conclusions this whole conversation never needed to happen.”
Her throat bobs as she swallows, and fresh tears spill from her lashes. She wipes them away with the heel of her palm. The silence seems to stretch on between us.
“Hi, I’m Jupiter Jones.” She extends her hand for me to shake. “Stubborn bitch prone to jumping to conclusions, and also, kind of a dumbass.”
I take her hand and pull her into me. “You forgot feisty, rage-aholic feminist.”
She smiles and squeezes her eyes tightly closed, scrunching up her cute little nose, and goddamn it if my heart didn’t just skip a fuckin’ beat. “Why the hell are you still here, Tennessee?”
“Because I happen to love stubborn, rage-aholic feminists. I’m pretty partial to dumbasses, too, especially when they look like this.” I slide my hand down to pinch her ass.
“Then you’re in luck.” She stands on her tiptoes and wraps her arms around my neck. “Because you got me whether you want to or not.”
“I kind of figured that out already, but thanks for the clarification. Now get that sweet ass in your bedroom. You still have to pack, and I wanna fuck that pussy. I want my cum dripping down your thighs when we walk into that clubhouse so everyone knows exactly who you belong to.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Bear
“Nashville are here,” Chaos says.
I join the rest of my brothers and we walk outside to meet my old club. All fifteen of them line up their bikes alongside ours, and Anvil and Chaos greet one another. I step forward to say hello to my old prez.
“You made it through the morning, I see.”
I clap my hand in his and he pulls me in for a hug, slapping me on the back. “By the skin of my teeth.”
“You could do worse,” he says to Chaos. “I got half a mind to order his ass back to Tennessee.”
“I was thinking about it this morning when I found out he’d brought this shit to my doorstep, but I think we’re better with him than without, rogue incidents aside.”
“They don’t come more loyal than Bear—”
“Naw, shit Prez. You’re making me fuckin’ blush.”
“You didn’t let me finish, asshole. Shame he’s pussy-whipped, though, because that’s when all common sense goes out the window.”
“Yeah, I’m startin’ to see that.”
“Bear,” a grating voice calls, and I glance beyond Anvil to my old Sergeant at Arms Butch. Mckenna leans against the railing by his bike and gives me a fluttering wave. I grin. Of course Butch brought her here. Those fuckers aren’t happy unless they’re causing discord wherever they go. Her smile is all razor blades and heartache as she heads toward me, which makes me realize that I may have singlehandedly started a war with another club and a white supremacist group over Tink, but my little angry feminist is still less fuckin’ trouble than this bitch.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Jupiter
I take the shot of whiskey that Tennessee hands me and toss it back. My eyes are puffy from crying and I feel like shit. My brother is dead. Bobby Ray is gone, and I can’t fathom a life without his stupid jokes and pain-in-the-ass attitude around the shop. And Mama’s dining table is going to feel a little emptier at family dinners. It’s too loud at the clubhouse, and lockdown is just as fucking miserable as it sounds. All around me, people are drinking and smoking weed and partying as if that’s the sole reason they came here.
“Hey.” Jeb sits on the clubhouse couch opposite me, sandwiched between Tuck and Liam—who seems to be having the time of his life, drowning in club whores and whiskey. “You should get a glass of water or something.”
“I’m fine,” I tell him, but that’s not true. I’m far from fine. I’m restless and heartsore and I want to hit something. I want to hurt someone. I want my big brother back.
I stand on shaky legs and walk toward the kitchen. When I enter, I find Bambi, Tyra, Asia, and some of the other girls whose names I don’t remember. There are too many people here. It’s too noisy, too crowded. I can’t breathe.
I head to the fridge and pull out a bottle of water.
“Jesus, girl. You look like shit.” Asia’s judgmental gaze roams over me from head to toe as she sits on the counter.
I don’t dignify that with a response—just twist the cap off my bottle and take a sip.
“Asia!” Bambi warns. “She just lost her brother.”
Asia remains unmoved, and why wouldn’t she be? It wasn’t her brother’s throat that was slit.
“What?” Asia gives Bambi wide, innocent eyes and shrugs. “She does. I’m doing you a favor, girl. I mean, if you plan to hold onto a man like Bear, at least make a little effort to look like you deserve him.”
“Jesus you’re a bitch,” Tyra says.
“I’m just sayin’. That man is fine, and you’re ... you’re definitely punching above your weight. I’m so fucking bummed Ruin replaced me with you on that shoot. At least I would have made that shit look realistic. And what was the fucking point? You did it to save your brother, right? But look where that got you. This whole thing is your fault. The reason we’re stuck in this clubhouse on lockdown is because your idiot brother screwed over the Kings.”
Hot rage courses through my veins and I fly across the room and slam the heel of my palm into her perfect little face. She screams and cups her nose. Blood pours between her fingers and drips on her skirt. She tries to get away, but she can’t because she’s sitting on the kitchen counter and I’m right up in her face.
“Oh my god. You broke my nose, you fucking psycho,” she screams.
“Fuck you! You don’t know anything. Don’t you dare talk about him like that.” I lunge for her again and she flails her arms to ward me away, smacking me in the cheek.
“Fuck!” Bear pulls me off her, but I struggle in his grasp, reaching for her. “Jesus, woman. Calm the fuck down.”
“What the fuck happened?” Ruin demands of Bambi while Crow and Mako tend to Asia. Bear drags me from the room. In a heartbeat, I’m thrown over his shoulder, and all I can do is thrash against his back as he carries me through the clubhouse.
The cooler night air hits my body as he moves outside. He sets me on my feet, and I lurch forward, but he’s too big and too damn strong for me to push past.
“Stop!” His eyes are hard as he holds me at bay. I shove at his chest, but he grabs my arms and turns me, pinning me in place between his big body and the stone wall of the clubhouse. “Now, I don’t wanna hurt you, darlin’, but I ain’t afraid to put you over my knee and spank this attitude right the fuck out of you in front of everyone.”
A harrowing sob tears free of my chest, catching me off-guard. I swallow around the lump in my throat, but tears fall from my lashes anyway. Bear releases his brutal hold on me and turns me to face him.
“Aw, hell, Tink.” He pulls me close and wraps me tightly in his arms. “You’re breaking my goddamn heart.”
“I can’t believe he’s gone.” I clutch his cut and hold on for dear life. His long hair falls around my shoulders, he smells of shampoo, leather, and whiskey, and his arms around my body take the edge off the pain. “I don’t know how we do this without him. I don’t know how to be strong for the others when I’ve been shattered into a million pieces.”
“You’re okay, darlin’. You’re stronger than you know.”
Sterling opens the door and we both turn to look at him though I can’t see much past Bear’s huge bicep. “Sorry to interrupt but Prez wants everyone at the table.”
I sniff and let go of Tennessee’s cut. I step back and swallow hard. “Did I really break her nose?”
Bear grins and glances at Sterling with a “can you believe this woman?” expression. “Yeah, Tink. You broke the bitch’s nose.”
Sterling laughs. “She’s still inside, screaming about how she’ll get it fixed.”
I grimace and Bear wraps his arms around me. “Come on, killer. Let’s get you settled in.”
“You can stay in my room. Leah won’t mind. She hates lockdown—had to do too many of them as a kid, so she’s probably happy for the company.”
“Thanks,” I say. “I promise not to punch her in the face.”
“That’d be good, ’cause my woman ain’t afraid to hit back.”
I laugh and cover my mouth, startled by my outburst. I am just one big emotional roller coaster of crazy right now. God help Tennessee for buying a ticket to this attraction.
I let Bear lead me inside and kiss me in front of Sterling’s room. “I’m probably gonna be gone for a minute. You gonna be okay?” he asks.
“Yeah. I’ll get there.”
“Strongest fuckin’ woma
n I know.” He cups my face and smooths his thumbs over my cheeks.
I pull his hands away and kiss them one by one. “Don’t keep Chaos waiting. He might throw me to the wolves.”
He dips his head and searches my face. “I’d never let that happen. You know that, right?”
I nod. Sterling kisses Leah on the lips and joins us in the hall. Leah presses her shoulder against the doorjamb and grabs my hand, pulling me away from Tennessee. “She’ll be fine here with me. I’ve already snagged us a bottle of whiskey, and I’ve brought face masks from home. We’re gonna watch Netflix and—”
“Chill?” Sterling asks with a grin.
“No. At least, not in the way you’re thinking anyway.”
“You two should totally speak to Ruin about filming a little girl-on-girl action.”
“No!” we say at once.
Bear and Sterling pout.
“You two better get your asses to church, or Dad’s never going to let you hear the end of it,” Leah says, pulling Sterling in for another kiss. “Be careful.”
“Always.”
I glance at Tennessee, not even wanting to say it out loud. He nods and kisses the top of my head, and then they leave us. Leah shuts the door and grins at me with wide eyes. “Oh my God, he is so freaking into you.”
I give her a tight smile. “I don’t know why. I’m a complete head case right now.”
“Girl, come on. That’s how you know they’re your person. When everything turns to shit, and you lose your freaking mind, but they still stick by you.”
I grimace. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a person before.”
“Well, you’ve got one in Bear whether you want it or not. I haven’t spent a whole lotta time with him, but he’s always around, and I’ve never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you.”
“Is it ...” I sigh, trying to calm my frayed nerves. “Is it always this stressful when they leave?”
“Every time, but you know what? Those boys have each other’s backs. All of them, even Crow and Mako, who haven’t patched yet. They treat Bear as if he’s always been a part of this chapter. He’s in good company.”
Bear (Kings of Carnage MC - Prospects Book 4) Page 13
