Phoenix Rising Rock Band: The Series

by Kathryn C. Kelly

  Hurrying along and circling the family room to avoid everyone, I approach the kitchen from the opposite side. When I enter, Georgie and a petite blonde girl talking and giggling. They don’t notice me, so I stay in the shadows, taking my fill of them and witnessing what real friendship looks like.

  The little blonde wears a leather vest that says Property of Outlaw, leather pants and thigh-high, stiletto boots. A bandanna on her head tames her long hair, but the loose part is wind-blown.

  Wow! She’s a biker chick.

  Georgie glances in my direction and smiles, garnering the biker chick’s attention. My God, but this woman is gorgeous. She has the bluest eyes…well, other than Sloane’s. But hers are brighter. Where Sloane’s eyes remind me of sapphires, hers are the color of cornflowers. Bright and happy and full of life.

  “Oh, Meggie, this is Raine,” Georgie announces, indicating me with her hand. “My new nanny. Raine, this is Meggie, my best friend.”

  Meggie smiles. It’s genuine and unguarded. “Hi, Raine. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Hello,” I offer, not sure where I fit in. Hmmm. Is it because I’ve never had a best friend? That might be. At the moment, I’m never more aware that I’m the hired help. The hired help doesn’t fraternize with her boss’ guests, right? Oh, but I know what I can do to make myself useful. I smile. “Would you like some refreshments brought out, Georg…er, Mrs. Mason?”

  Shock crosses both their faces, and I shift, wondering if I’ve done something wrong.

  “I can whip up whatever you like and serve you,” I add.

  “Of course not, Raine,” Georgie answers with a frown. She points to the baby monitors on the counter. “We just have to bring those, but I want you to come and meet my brother and Outlaw.”

  “And the rest of the guys,” Meggie adds.

  “Baby, what the fuck you doin’?” a voice calls from the family room.

  “That’s my Christopher,” Meggie announces with pride.

  “Outlaw,” Georgie adds.

  Oh, right. The club’s president. I think. “Okay.” What else am I supposed to say?

  “C’mon,” Meggie encourages, waving her hand at me and turning on her heel.

  Georgie follows, which leaves me no choice but to do the same. Sloane’s band members have arrived, along with Jaeger, and a dark-haired guy in a suit. Seven bikers have their backs to us, set apart by their vests that says Death Dwellers MC above a grim reaper and Hortensia, WA, below it.

  They don’t notice our arrival.

  “Asshole, you couldn’t let me see Georgie without you showing the fuck up?”

  That’s Cash. I recognize his voice from when Georgie called him.

  The suit shakes his head. “Nope, she’s my little sister, too, dick breath.”

  One of the bikers shuffles, some of the others snicker, and another laughs.

  “I haven’t sucked off Stretch since we’ve been on the road, mite face.”

  Uh…A gasp escapes me as Georgie snorts.

  “Josh, you’re so fucking juvenile,” she chastises as every eye turns to me.

  Holy shit, am I imagining these men? They’re tall and muscled and…and beautiful.

  A biker with startling green eyes and midnight hair shot through with gray, captures my attention. He has youthful features, and is at least six feet four inches with not an ounce of body fat on him. He has leather chaps over blue jeans and a cigarette hangs from his mouth. I don’t think he even notices me. He sees Meggie and it seems as if he checks out of everything else.

  “’Bout fuckin’ time. What the fuck you two talkin’ ‘bout any fuckin’ way?”

  “Catching up,” Meggie answers, her serenity not dented by his rough authority. “Georgie and I haven’t seen each other in months, Christopher.” She nods to me. “That’s Raine.”

  He gives me his full attention. “You the bitch Sean worked the fuck over?”

  I hesitate, wondering if I should be offended. He sounds so matter-of-fact. “Um, yeah.”

  “Don’t fuckin’ worry, babe.” He takes a pull from his cigarette, then jams it back in the corner of his mouth and produces a nine-millimeter from the inside of his vest. “I brought my fuckin’ hollows. Tomorrow, he ain’t gonna be a fuckin’ problem.”

  No one blinks at this announcement. He makes it sound so easy. I have to warn this poor man that Sean is no one to fuck around with.

  “Sean is dangerous,” I announce. “You won’t be able to get to him so easily. No matter what you think you can do, he’ll do it faster. Before you’re finished talking, you’ll be dead.”

  Isn’t it my duty to say that? I mean, I don’t know these bikers, but they’ve come here to help me find Montana’s body, right? The logical place to start is with Sean. On the other hand, I’m more than acquainted with the crime boss.

  “Sean that fuckin’ good?” Christopher questions.

  Every man in the room snickers.

  “I’m not joking,” I say tightly, lifting my chin.

  Christopher hides his gun again. He glances around, until he spies an ashtray, where he taps out his cigarette.

  “He’s dangerous,” I add as he returns to Meggie’s side.

  “Thanks for the concern, sweetheart, but we’ll manage,” another biker tells me with a wicked grin. He has gorgeous silver-gray eyes, golden hair and skin, and a face that belongs on a magazine. “I’m Johnnie, by the way.” He starts pointing to the other men. A Black dude with long dreads and light brown eyes. “That’s Mortician.” Another Black dude with shorter dreads and darker eyes. Where Mortician is tall and muscled, this man is long and lanky, but I notice a resemblance. “That’s Digger.” Johnnie nods to a stockier man, the shortest of the bunch, with a tear-drop tat in the corner of his eye. “That’s Val.” A point to a tall, brown-haired man. “That’s Cash, Georgie’s brother.”

  “Nice to finally meet you, sweetness,” he drawls.

  I nod, and Johnnie points to the suit, surprising me.

  “That’s Josh, also Georgie’s brother.” Finally, he points to the last man. He has brown hair, too, but a kinder, gentler face. There’s a small scar on the left side of his face. “That’s Stretch.”

  “Nice to meet all of you,” I say, slightly nervous at the way everyone is looking at me. For some reason, Kiln comes to mind. It’s so unfortunate that he doesn’t see his own value. I can recognize it all I want to, but until he does, he’ll always be miserable.

  I want to help him so badly. He needs someone to break through that wall of bitterness and self-pity, so he can stand as tall as these men do, be as comfortable as they are in their own skin.

  “Okay, then,” Georgie starts into the silence. “We’re going to leave all you big, strong men to chat and drink, while the three of us go upstairs and check on the kids.”

  “I miss my babies,” Meggie tells her husband, who bends and whispers something to him. She blushes and giggles.

  “You have kids, too?” I ask Meggie, interrupting Christopher’s clear intentions to kiss her and ignoring the frown he’s directing at me.

  “Yep. Five. But they’re home. I need to Facetime with them,”

  “You have five children?” I blurt. “Holy fuck, how old are you?”

  Christopher stiffens and narrows his green eyes at me. Danger surrounds him and I actually stumble back. “First of fuckin’ all, aintcha fuckin’ business how the fuck old Megan is. Second of fuckin’ all, if she wanted ten fuckin’ lil motherfuckers, that’s her fuckin’ business. Under-fuckin-stand?”

  I gulp, stunned into silence

  “Damn, prez,” Mortician says with resignation.

  Johnnie sighs. “She just met Megan. Can you lay the fuck off for once?”

  “Fuck you. Fuck no. Fuck off,” Christopher responds.

  “Omigod, Christopher. Raine didn’t mean any harm,” Meggie protests. “She’s just asking girl questions. Don’t frighten her. This Sean person has done enough.”

  Normally, I’d take umbr
age at someone saying I’m frightened so easily. In this instance? Hell, no. Meggie is so right.

  Christopher grunts and scowls at me.

  “Ignore him,” Sloane says. “Meggie let him out of his cage and forgot to feed him his raw meat.”

  Everyone laughs, including Christopher. Leaning over, he kisses his chick.

  “Kiss my motherfuckin’ raw meat ass,” he jokes.

  The return of his calmness helps me to relax. I have some knowledge of bikers, so I smile. The guys do, too. Adam, Quint, Maitland, and Jaeger find seats. Sloane comes to Georgie and pulls her into a relaxed embrace, his front to her back.

  Josh keeps his pretty hazel eyes on me, but, he too, finds a seat, after flipping Cash off and receiving the gesture in kind. Cash targets a window seat. Stretch follows him to it and sits beside him, grabbing his hand, kissing the back of it, and then holding it.

  A comfortable camaraderie exists amongst these two groups of men. Rockers and bikers. I even see how much both Georgie and Meggie are cherished. This is a stress-free environment, and I revel in it. It is the most amazing thing I’ve ever witnessed.

  “I didn’t mean to insult you by asking the number of kids you have, Meggie.”

  She waves my words away. “It’s fine, Raine. Feel free to ask me anything you’d like. And, I’m twenty-three, by the way.”

  “So am I,” I chirp, rocking back on my heels. “I’ve met bikers and their old ladies before. A lot of them are passed amongst the brothers. How often does that happen to you? Are all your children for Christopher?”

  Dumb ass that I am, I took her at her word that I could ask her anything. As it is, my mouth is unfiltered. If someone gives me free rein, then I go for it. But I realize my mistake immediately.

  Meggie groans and Georgie bites her lips. The rage sweeping Christopher’s face makes me retreat. Once more, I think of my lost brother, wishing he was here to protect me and enjoy this safe—sort of--environment.

  “You’ve just awakened psycho stalker Wildman, babe,” Val tells me as Meggie whispers something to Christopher.

  “Yeah?” he snarls. “Then clue this bitch the fuck in.”

  “Meggie is Outlaw’s wife,” Georgie rushes out. She points to his left hand. Too late, I see the gold wedding band. “All her kids are his kids, too.”

  “We all have wives,” Johnnie informs me with kindness.

  “But we normal,” Digger pipes in. “Prez fuckin’ psycho.”

  “Especially over Meggie,” Sloane adds. “Magnify how I am with Georgie by about a thousand and that’s Outlaw with his wife.”

  “And,” Mortician says. “No bitch allowed to call him Christopher except his woman and his sisters, Raine.”

  “How the fuck was I supposed to know that?”

  Instead of addressing any of the others, I fling my question to Christopher, although Meggie has him preoccupied so he isn’t listening to me.

  I’m so fucking wrong. He turns his attention to me.

  “You wasn’t supposed to know cuz you don’t know my motherfuckin’ ass. That’s fuckin’ why you needed to shut the fuck up and don’t call me Christopher.”

  I place my hands on my hips, suddenly fed up. He’s angry, but I notice he isn’t making a move to rush me. Words, I can handle. It’s the violence, having no protection, that frightens me. “How the fuck was I supposed to know what to call you? All I heard was Christopher and Outlaw. No one told me your Christian name was off-limits.”

  “She’s right, Christopher,” Meggie tells him.

  He grits his teeth, but she settles him. The woman has a lot of influence over him. He stomps to the bar, grabs a decanter of amber liquid, opens it and chugs.

  “You need to have all your faculties to confront Sean,” I say. “You shouldn’t drink that much.”

  He sends me a dark look, then glances at Meggie. She shakes her head. Watching these two fascinate me.

  “Sean likes to play mind games,” I venture. “When you go to confront him, if you’ve been drinking, he’ll run rings around you.”

  “That’s enough, Raine,” Sloane commands.

  “It’s fuckin’ okay,” Chris…Outlaw says. “Megan fuckin’ like her, so let her fuckin’ be.”

  “You’d kill me if Meggie didn’t like me?” I squeak.

  “Fuck, no. I ain’t a woman-beater. And the only fuckin’ way I fuck a girl up is if my Megan threatened, then I blow that bitch away,” he answers, as if he’s discussing Sunday afternoon in the park. “As for fuckin’ Sean, ain’t intendin’ to confront that motherfucker. I’m going to shoot the fuck outta him. Case fuckin’ closed. John Boy the motherfucker for psychological torture. My ass ain’t. You fuck up. You die. Sean fuckin’ dyin’.”

  “Because of me?”

  Do I want a man’s death on my conscience? Absolutely not! There’s been enough blood and violence.

  Outlaw stares at me, hard and intense, like he’s trying to see into my soul. I squirm. “You sold pussy to survive, right?”

  I lift my chin. If he’s trying to embarrass me, he won’t succeed. “Yes.”

  “You fuckin’ ran into all types of motherfuckers, yeah?”

  I nod.

  “Never wanted them to fuckin’ bleed?”

  “Not really. Montana, my brother,” I clarify when he lifts a brow at me, “would always take care of them. He’d punch them.”

  “Montana?” he says with a frown. “Why the fuck you sound like that when you talk ‘bout the motherfucker?”

  “He’s dead,” I say quietly.

  “What the fuck you mean? Dead? As of fuckin’ when?”

  “Almost two weeks ago,” I answer.

  Another hard stare. Another swig from the decanter. He gives me a thoughtful look. “Fuckin’ condolences,” he says after a moment.

  “Th-thank you,” I respond, unsteady. “That’s why I don’t want any more bloodshed on my account. Montana’s dead because of me.”

  He gives me an inscrutable look. “Ain’t fuckin’ up Sean cuz of you, Raine. I’m fuckin’ the motherfucker up cuz he fuckin’ up women in general. You ain’t the only bitch he fuckin’ abused. Not to mention the fact that he killed a coupla bitches.”

  My eyes widen, and I give Cash a hesitant look before addressing Outlaw. “You know about that? I told Cash I wasn’t sure.”

  More swigging before Outlaw answers. “I got PIs on my payroll, babe. Be-fuckin-sides, I got fuckin’ watchdogs in all my support clubs and with any motherfucker I associate with. I know shit motherfuckers don’t even realize.” He looks toward the hallway. A satanic smile wreathes his lips. “Well, look who the motherfuckin’ cat dragged the fuck in. What the fuck up, Kiln? You just the motherfucker I wanna see.”

  All eyes turn toward the doorway. The look in Kiln’s eyes, the coldness on Outlaw’s face, concern me. This is like being in the midst of a TV show, where everybody has secrets and they are all detrimental.

  “Outlaw,” Kiln greets, his skin ashen.

  My heart drops. I don’t need a crystal ball to know he’s managed to get on Outlaw’s bad side. While he’s probably no match for Sean, Kiln’s different. He’s not a criminal. I know that world, though, so maybe I can save him.

  “Kiln’s been laid up in bed, since Sloane beat his ass.” The words rush out of me.

  Sloane glances from Kiln to Outlaw, then curses. “What the fuck have you done, Kiln?” he asks.

  Panic flashes across Kiln’s face. He looks fucking sick.

  What the fuck has the dummy done?

  Kiln clears his throat, a completely nervous gesture. He’s too arrogant and assholish to be so uncomfortable. He’s the alpha of all alphas.

  Unease fills the air. There’s a lot of shifting. The coldness in Outlaw’s eyes chills me.

  “Good to see all of you,” Kiln says, grim, not looking away from the club president.

  No one responds. If a stickpin dropped, it would sound like a fucking explosion.

  “Georgiana, why don’t you, Meg
gie, and Raine head upstairs.” Sloane couches the order as a suggestion, but he’s already disentangling himself from his wife and pushing her toward the door.

  Meggie rubs Christopher’s back. I expect her to say something. Calm him down. Talk him down. She reads my face and gives me a gentle smile. “I don’t interfere in club business, Raine.”

  No! I can’t let this happen. Kiln will not be at the mercy of some dude, who has to make himself feel like a man by preying on private citizens like Kiln. I dare him to act like this with Sean. Swallowing my derision, I run to Outlaw. “Please, don’t hurt him. I don’t know what he’s done but…but I’m making money now and I’ll pay whatever the stupid motherfucker owes you. I swear. I know he’s a dickhead and a fucking asshole and he fucking deserves to be punched sometimes, but don’t kill him.”

  “Fuck, Raine, if you’re taking up for me, please shut the fuck up,” Kiln growls.

  I turn a wild gaze to Kiln. “You think this is funny, fuckhead? I lost my brother, the only person in the world who cared about me. Until I met you. You’re a stupid motherfucker but you have been concerned about me. I owe you a debt.”

  He smirks at me. The fucking asshole. “Are you sure that’s the only reason?” he says smugly.

  “Stop being such an egomaniac, dude. This is serious shit. Whatever this is.”

  “Do you apologize for not visiting me on my sick bed?”

  “Fuck no, Kiln,” I yell. “You were a horrible asshole, but I don’t want you maimed or killed.”

  “Come on, Raine,” Georgie says, grabbing my arms. “Let them handle whatever this is. They’ll work it out.”

  “I want to stay.”

  “You can’t, babe,” Outlaw decrees without remorse.

  Georgie grabs one of my arms and Meggie grips the other. Together, they start to drag me away. Kiln watches me with sadness and resignation.

  Because, he knows, as I do, that Outlaw didn’t only come for Sean.

  The man came to deal with Kiln, too.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Raine’s worry and defense of me buoys me up. However, I remain silent, watching as Georgiana and Megan drag her away. She’s scared for me. Her sense of preservation and time on the streets alerted her that Outlaw means business.