by Blue, Jayne
I woke up after a few hours of sleep and felt like I could handle things again. I thought giving myself to some man would put me in a weaker position, make me dependent. But I didn’t feel like that, right now. I just felt happy to be with Ridge.
“You sleep enough?” he said as we lingered a bit, watching dawn slowly creep into the room through the small bedroom window.
“I did. I mean, four hours usually isn’t great, but I uh, apparently I sleep like a baby with you.”
I stretched and felt somewhat like a cat, feeling very comfy next to this man.
“Good. You’re goddamn beautiful when you’re sleeping.”
“Yeah? My hair is probably wild animal level nuts right now.”
I had a lot of hair and it did what it wanted if I didn’t force it into submission.
“It’s all good from my view,” he said, and I rolled onto my back.
“For a nice Catholic girl, I sure surprised myself the last few hours.”
It was true. I’d had boyfriends and I’d had okay sex, not insanely good or anything, but this was something new. Ridge had brought out something in me that I had no idea was there. And boy was it there.
“You’re a nice dirty little thing, aren’t you?” Ridge whispered in my ear and I felt shivers from my neck to my toes.
“I think I better get going, get up, uh—”
And he was kissing me again, like we were on a vacation or something, like we had no other place to be. I wanted that to be true. I was letting myself believe it was true.
“I am up, as you can feel.”
Shit, he was, and I wanted to stay right here. I wanted not to move away from what he made me feel.
“Wow, oh, no, we just can’t,” was what I said, but what I did was wrap myself around him.
“We can get ready and stay just like this.”
Ridge was out of bed and pulled me up too. I wasn’t shy around him. I mean, it was practically daytime, and he was seeing everything. More than that, he let me know he liked what he saw. It gave me confidence. It made me feel good about every inch of me that he seemed to appreciate.
We padded into his shower. The cold water sprayed Ridge and he sheltered me from it with his body. Slowly it warmed up and he rotated us, and we shared the suds.
Ridge was an apt helper when it came to getting us good and sudsy.
In no time, I was back to feeling intense need. I was back to wanting him in any way I could get him. Ridge’s strong legs lifted me up and I was pinned to the shower wall, by him, with him. Wow.
“This is so, uh…” And my words failed me again.
“See, getting ready for the day, and fucking your gorgeous body, two birds, one stone,” he said, and I started to see colors instead of the actual shower or even him. It was unreal how good he felt; how easy it was for me to forget where we were.
The water sluiced off his muscles and I was shocked again by how fucking gorgeous he really was. He was tough, menacing looking even, but this body was what heaven had in mind when men were designed. I had zero doubt about that.
I held on tight as he showed me just how great a shower could be.
I knew the day ahead was one of serious responsibilities and scary consequences of the night that came before. But, with Ridge, maybe the two of us could be stronger together. Maybe I’d found someone whose shoulders were big enough to face what we needed to face.
It sure felt like that. I hoped to God this was as right as it seemed.
Somehow, I peeled myself off him and made my way back to my place across the hall.
I knew we had a lot of things ahead of us. But I felt stronger now, not weaker.
As I was about to go downstairs and start the million things I needed to for the bar, I remembered the neighborhood watch. Was that still a thing after the first disastrous outing? Then there was the festival. Would anyone come now that there are just straight up drive-bys in the streets? And on the top of the list, I had to visit Hayden.
Ridge stopped me during my mental preps for the day. This wasn’t for more sexy time; this was Ridge, looking at me more seriously than anyone had in my life.
“I need you to be careful,” he said, and I knew he was right. Things were dangerous, but I didn’t want to be paralyzed by fear. I didn’t want to think there was someone trying to shoot me at every turn.
“The police are going to have a patrol near the bar, and they’re stepping it up in the neighborhood. I’ll be okay.”
It didn’t sound that convincing, but I had to power through. I wasn’t going to let Crank ruin my life and turn me into someone scared of her own shadow.
“I’ll be careful.”
Ridge didn’t look convinced, but we didn’t really know each other that well yet. He didn’t know what I was going to do, and I didn’t know what he was going to do.
“Hey, before we leave, before we go out there, I want you to know, last night was different. I wasn’t posing when I said you’re mine. I want to you safe. And—”
He stopped in mid-sentence. What was he going to do to keep me safe? It was something that put a spike of worry in my chest. It reminded me that the same man who’d been tender with me last night, the same man who knew how to give first aid in a crisis, was also the one who’d beat Crank within an inch of his life.
“Yeah? Well, you stay safe too. I’ve seen your temper. And Crank very well has you in his sights too.”
I had a flash of darkness, a vision, of what it would be like to have Ridge hurt. Of what it must have looked like when he was shot. It was terrifying. I blinked it away.
“I’ll be handling GWMC business today. Why don’t you just stay close to the bar?”
“Because I’m visiting Hayden.”
“Hayden?”
“Officer Parker.”
“Ah, well, there will be cops crawling all over that hospital room, that’s something,” Ridge said, more to himself than to me.
“Have a nice day at the office dear,” I said, and I popped up to kiss him on the nose. My cute plan was to run then, run out of this conversation and out of this bubble we’d been in since last night.
I leaned up to give Ridge the brush off kiss and he captured me in his arms. There was no peck on the cheek or the nose: his lips were hot and fierce on mine. I responded, whether I intended to or not. My body wanted what his wanted. And the kiss was intense. It left me dizzy.
Ridge released me and I felt like it was an effort to get my balance.
“Be fucking careful,” he said, and he ended the conversation on his terms, with the warning ringing in my ears.
I didn’t know what his day was about, how he planned to “clean up” the GWMC, but I knew what I had to do, and I was glad, in a way, to be free of his pull, to do my thing. I had a hard time concentrating with Ridge next to me.
I went to the hospital first, and it was exactly as Ridge said. There were police cars outside, there were patrolmen inside, and there was a rigorous I.D. check to get anywhere near Hayden.
Finally, they let me see him. He was breathing on his own, which was good. And I’d snuck in a plate of Lamont’s cookies.
“Hey, you,” I said, because what else was there to say?
“Miss Kaminski.”
“Didn’t we say I was Frankie?”
“Frankie.” Hayden tried to sit up in his bed and I saw him grimace.
“Hey, why don’t you stay still? What are the doctors telling you?”
“That I’ll be good as new fast. I am healing quickly, but the stitches, well, they’re stiff, that’s all.”
“You’re lucky. I mean, that was so scary. I just. I’m sorry.”
I couldn’t help it. I knew that bullet was meant for me.
“Sorry? Because criminals are terrorizing Stickney Forest? That’s hardly your fault.”
“No, but I think that was meant for me.” I pointed to the dressing, covering his wounded chest.
“Well, I am just glad I was there then,” he said and smiled.
He was like a grown-up Boy Scout. So different to Ridge, but in some ways, the same. They were men who wanted to protect women, their community. I was humbled by the sacrifice. And again, felt guilty that Hayden was in the line of fire because of me.
“I need to get back to the bar, but I expect you to be healed up fast. We’re going to need you at the festival. You’re an honorary member of the neighborhood now.”
“Mrs. Zbornak said that means I have to do the dunking booth?”
There was a look of fear in his eyes at that prospect.
“Ha, yes, well maybe you’ll get a note from your doctor? Get out of it that way?”
“Maybe.”
“Frankie, one question. Ridge, that man who was there with us right after?”
“Yeah?”
“He’s a gang banger. I mean, I have no idea why he did what he did, but the Great Wolves are the Great Wolves and we’ve had nothing but trouble with them.”
“Uh huh?”
Was I about to get another warning?
“The guys are telling me there’s a crop of ‘em with a lot of money. They bought the Woolworth’s building. New money could be big trouble. I mean, look at this?” He pointed to the wound himself now.
“I know, but the new ones, Ridge, who helped you, they’re working to make sure the Cranks of the world are out. So really, more Great Wolves could be good news?”
As soon as I said it, I knew that Officer Hayden Parker wouldn’t believe one word.
“I do owe him one for what he did on the street,” he admitted.
“Yeah, you’re alive and you’re getting better. I think that’s the main thing you need to worry about.”
“Okay, yeah.”
“Oh, that and getting out of dunk tank duties.”
Hayden smiled and we said our goodbyes. It did make me feel better to see him today. Better than the moments yesterday when I thought this young cop trying to help me and the neighborhood was going to die on the sidewalk.
I tried to look forward.
I just hoped Crank was long gone and that he took the worst with him.
But I knew better. It felt like we were on the cusp of something more explosive. I just didn’t know what.
Fifteen
Ridge
“So, where do they hang out? What’s the likely scenario?”
I was meeting with Thorn, Kase, and Brogan. I didn’t have an official take on officers, but this would be a good test to see how much I could trust them.
“SMH,” Brogan said, and I literally smacked my head. What?
“South Mercy Hospital, SMH. It’s been shut down for like fifteen years. It’s creepy as fuck. Crank thought that shit was perfect. It was his second choice after the house we torched,” Thorn said.
“Fine. We’re going there. All of us. And here’s the deal. Each one of us is in charge of a team of three. You stick with your team. We’re going to break down what we can.”
“Kill em?” Brogan asked.
“No, no killing. We want them to get the fuck out of here, and if we see them again, well, one warning is it.”
“Let’s get after it,” Thorn said, and we rode about ten minutes out of Stickney Forest to the SMH property.
It was a depressing hulk of a building. Windows were boarded or broken, spray paint defaced the wall in random gashes, and if weeds were encroaching on the building GW just bought on Woodrow, this was already part jungle.
“What’s the best play, Thorn? You know this place.”
“Yeah, I say we take that back entrance there, one quiet team. The rest of us take the front and two side entrances. Back team, Brogan, I think. They stay silent. They’re going to either run that way or start swinging.”
I was impressed with the head on Thorn’s shoulders.
Brogan broke off with two, Kase took the right-side entrance and Thorn the left, and I was headed straight in with Hawk and a dude they all called Bones, but his cut read Darius. Whatever, I’d learn the back-story for my guys over the course of time.
Right now, I’d see if I could trust these dudes to follow my orders. If I could, we’d gone one step further into being a real club.
If I couldn’t? Yeah, dead. I’d be dead.
I walked in and yelled at the top of my voice.
“CRANK IN HERE? DANNY? TIME TO SLITHER THE FUCK INTO THE OPEN.”
There were boxes, in random piles; there was also gear, and a few bikes.
I nodded to Thorn. He and Kase started knocking it all down.
“WHAT THE FUCK MAN?”
And there was Danny, the little shit that had tried to shake down Frankie the first day I saw her.
“The fuck is that you’re done operating here. I see you’re trying to set up shop after we burned down your little shack. Well, this place is next.”
“Fuck you man,” Danny said, and he charged me. I would have laughed if I weren’t so pissed off at these fuckers.
I side stepped him and turned. It was so easy to punch his lights out that I almost felt bad about it. Almost.
“Come out, you fucking scum bags!”
Kase’s crew of three and Thorn’s swept the perimeter of the large lobby. This place was huge. It smelled of mold and God knows what. Maybe decades-old blood and disinfectant.
Eventually, the group of about six former Great Wolves turned to run toward the back, where they were greeted by Brogan, who’d found a kid, probably the errant busboy, and had him by the scruff.
“This everyone?” I asked the kid.
“I don’t know,” he said, and I decided none of these assholes were worth saving, except maybe this kid. He had to be barely sixteen. He’d tried. I mean, he knew enough to try working at the bar.
“He took a good swing at me,” Brogan said, and it looked like he was almost impressed.
“You stay here. You’re Paul, right? Baby Paul?”
He nodded yes.
“The rest of you. If you cause one more fucking problem, I’m going to get rid of every single one of you.”
“Oh, what, you gonna call the cops? Don’t think they’re too interested in what anyone wearing a cut has to say.”
Danny had stood up and was bleeding from a cut I’d opened above his eye. He was a piece of work. Man, I wanted to be done with him.
“No, you’ll wish I called the cops.” I said it low, and right into his face. “Now, who the fuck shot at Frankie Kaminski?” I continued and he flinched.
“It wasn’t for that; I didn’t want that,” Danny murmured, hoping that the rest of his crew didn’t hear, maybe?
“Yeah, so who was it? I know the kid here was bait.”
Baby Paul looked scared shitless at this point and he should have.
“Crank’s got a couple crews. They were following his orders.”
That was Baby Paul; so, he was speaking up now? Interesting.
“Who, Danny?”
Danny looked at the kid and hissed, “Interesting how easy you’re willing to give us up. Considering you’re the one telling everyone where Franking is.”
Baby Paul looked like he was going to cry.
Danny turned to me, “I’m not saying shit.”
I punched him in the gut, and he doubled over. The rest of them were slowly disintegrating as I watched. They wanted to run.
“Listen up, you all get it?” I announced. “Not one more hair gets touched on anyone’s head, especially Frankie Kaminski. IF I see you—any of you—in Stickney Forest, you’re as good as dead. Get out of here and keep your fucking noses clean.”
They started to disperse.
Thorn came up to me and pointed to two that so far hadn’t said a word. They’d not thrown a punch or fought our invasion in any way.
“Those two,” Thorn said.
“Brogan?”
Brogan nodded. I had a plan. And Brogan was going to execute it for me. His crew of three took off, quietly. I looked to Kase. I had a job for him too.
“Take him to the store. We’ll meet up the
re in an hour.”
Right now, our new HQ was still no more than an abandoned store, so that’s what we called it.
I knew this little excursion would stir shit up and that was okay. I needed to find out who shot Hayden Parker.
We met back at the new HQ for the GWMC.
It was an important part of what I needed to do in Stickney Forest. I’d looked around town and knew this was the answer. They needed places that weren’t shitty. If there was one Baby Paul looking to get into trouble, there were a dozen others out there.
I’d taken possession of the property right away. That was one of my conditions. It had sat empty for years and years, so the owners were glad as hell and willing to do anything I asked.
So, the store was ours. Well, it was Grand City GWMC’s and mine.
I could see what it could become. And Sawyer had invested in it on my say so. I had put my own cash into it as well.
But the local guys, this GWMC Chicago Crew, they needed to own it. They needed to know it was theirs.
So, the rest of what would happen here was going to be our own sweat. We would figure this out and turn it into something as a club. They’d own half of it, and they’d earn it by working to make it real.
But I wasn’t going to make them live on future promises: I was going to be sure they all got paid. I wanted them to see that there was more than brotherhood in a legit club. There could also be real coin. Enough to keep your old lady happy, and to keep you clean, clean enough to stay out of the pen.
I would pay them all, out of my own significant bank account. I had over a decade’s worth of money saved up, and it was time to use it to invest in this.
“I need this place cleaned out,” I announced to the group. “We’re going to turn this into our club, into a gym, and into our base of ops for security for this neighborhood. Maybe even places to live, if brothers need it. But, for now, we need it cleaned out. Put whatever you can into the dumpsters out back.”
The GWMC members got to work, jackets off and sleeves rolled up.
I still had Baby Paul to deal with.
He was looking scared and sullen but was smart enough to know he probably had a better deal here than with Crank.
