“Want to tell me who the fuck you are,” My voice comes out strong and demanding because any other way will cause these men to think they can fuck with me.
He chortles out a laugh, smirking. “I see my father didn’t tell you who you were supposed to meet. Typical of the old man.”
I didn’t know Luis even had a son. “You didn’t answer my question,” I grumble.
His smirk grows bigger, “You’re feisty. No wonder he sent me here,” The mystery man extends a hand and I shake. “My name is Deo, Luis’ eldest son.”
“I’d say it’s nice to meet you Deo, but I’d be lying.” I state blankly, removing my hand from his.
“Normally I don’t appreciate women who have tongues like yours. But a woman in charge must be as strong as her opponent.” I never would’ve thought of that, but Deo is correct.
“I’m glad we’re on the same page. I’m not appreciating that your father felt the need to lie to me, so how about we cut to the chase and get this lovely meeting over with. The storm has delayed us both and I’m sure we have other things to be getting back to.”
“Yes, I’m sure we do. You called for a meeting why exactly?” Deo questions.
“We’ve run into a problem back in Baltimore. A group of men who refer to themselves as the Baltimore Kings have decided to fuck with the deal your father and Dog had struck. They’ve been putting contaminated product on the streets using our logo, making it seem like we’re the ones killing people.”
Deo purses his lips and his eyes darken. The more I sit with him, the more I see how he is definitely someone who works in this industry. “That’s not good for business. What have you done about it?”
“Easy. I repackaged the product we had and put a new logo on it. So, the Kings don’t think we’re the ones putting product back out on the streets. They believe they’ve won but are now being targeted by a new group.”
Deo nods, “It’s a smart tactic, however not one my father would’ve given you authorization for.”
I put my arms on the table, trying to appear as intimidating as possible. “Would your father have preferred he didn’t get his payment, because that would’ve been the other option. I used the resources we had available to come up with another plan so he gets his precious cash. The nerve you have to sit here and berate me for my methods.” I roll my eyes, frustrated with this ‘my balls are bigger’ game all the men love to play.
He busts out into laughter, “I said my father wouldn’t have been okay with it. Never did I say it was dumb. You came up with a way to ensure business moves on as normal. I like you, new lady,” Deo peers down to where my name is, “Gamble, I seem to have the feeling we can bet on you. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders.”
“Great, glad we established that. So, what’re you going to run back and tell your father?”
“Nothing, just that business is moving on as usual. I might even add that you’re a strong-willed, feisty woman who will rip people to shreds. I highly doubt I’d be lying. We like strong leaders, Gamble. If you keep selling our product and continue to make your payments all will be well.”
“Great. Then we’re done here?”
“For business, yes . . . but not on a personal level.”
I scoff, “No offense Deo, but you shouldn’t be treating me any differently than you do others. I highly doubt you flirt with the men.”
He gives me a wink, “You don’t know me, darling. I don’t pick sides, simply enjoy whatever I can.” Oh, so he’s bi-sexual. “Although, I should add most women aren’t appealing to me. They’re too catty, but not you. I can see the tigress within you.” Deo licks his lips in a seductive way. “No matter, you’ve told me no. I have a feeling this won’t be the last time we see one another. Have a safe trip back home.” Deo stands from his seat and before I know it he’s already gone through the doors of the café.
I’m left here asking what the hell just happened and how. Not only did I have a successful business meeting but got flirted with in the process. Jesus. I have enough issues on my mind figuring out what the hell is going on with Hart and I. It’s not like I need another potential suitor. Especially since they usually end up dead.
Chapter Twenty-One
Telling an angry Italian woman to calm down works as well as baptizing a cat
~Unknown
Hart
It’s been a week since we’ve been back at the club and while I haven’t been around here very long, I’d say everything is normal. Mammoth and I almost killed Gamble for running off and having a one-on-one meeting with Luis’ son, Deo. She’s new at this job and I doubt she realized that could’ve been an ambush to kill her. We might’ve laid it on heavy to her, but of course she pulled the shit where she told us to shut our traps because we wouldn’t speak to a man the same way.
Reluctantly, we shut up, ‘cause she was right. Mammoth is extremely protective over her and I still don’t get what that’s about. As far as I knew she’d only been sleeping with Dog, but why would Mammoth wanna watch over her the way he does? It bugs me, but I’m not gonna say shit about it to her. It’s not like the two of us are dating, or she’s my ol’ lady or anything.
I’m sitting in my small ass room on my bed, scrolling through the news when my phone buzzes with a call. I’m shocked at the name and instantly answer.
“Rancid, I wasn’t expecting a call from you.”
“No, I don’t think you were. Tell me, how’s it feel sticking your cock in something that doesn’t belong to you?” My eyes go wide while my heartbeat starts to quicken. How in the fuck does he know anything about Gamble and I? We haven’t told a soul. Mammoth doesn’t even know anything.
“Sorry. What’re you talking about?”
He chuckles like a diabolical villain, “Don’t play dumb. It doesn’t suit you, Hart. I can’t help but get the feeling Petros was right when it came to you . . . and I helped you get out of that mess. Is this how you repay me? By touching what isn’t yours. Gamble is my slut. The Prezs are allowed to borrow her sweet cunt. Not a nobody like you.”
I can act in two ways right now. I can apologize for fucking her, which I don’t want to do . . . or I can act in a way that just might get me killed. “Don’t act like you give a fuck about her. If you did, you wouldn’t have kept her as your fucking prisoner for years. You wouldn’t have played with her like a toy or make her Prez and allow others to touch her. When you love someone, you don’t do that shit. But that’s the thing, Rancid. You don’t love her. You despise her. She’s nothing but a trophy for you.”
“You keep speaking this way and I’ll personally kill you.”
“Try me, bitch. Because that’s what you are. You’re a little pussy ass bitch who gets his rocks hard by tormenting a girl. You’ve had her for over ten years, since she was a child. You’re nothing but a sick fuckin’ pedophile piece of shit. I’m sure I can speak for everyone here at the Baltimore charter. If you even so much as make a play at Gamble, we’ll be the one killing you. You took one Prez from them. They won’t allow it to happen again.”
“Is that a threat, Hart?”
“No, Rancid. I’d never be stupid enough to threaten you. I do make promises, and damn I follow up on them.”
Rancid laughs on the other end of the line, “Hart, you have no idea the war you started.
“I think you’re confused, Rancid. You’re the one who started this war when you killed Dog. I’ll let you in on a little secret. No one can fuckin’ stand you. One day, you’ll lose everything and I’ll be there watching, reveling in your pain. Watching everything you built crumble to ashes. More importantly, I’ll applaud the motherfucker who takes your place. You don’t deserve this. You deserve to rot.”
“Oh, how I’ll make you suffer! Tell that bitch I’m coming for my child, too.” Rancid seethes as the line goes dead.
I roll my eyes and sit up in my bed. He’s nothing but a pathetic, miserable man. Fuck, but what he said only confirms one thing. I stand up and charge into the mai
n part of the clubhouse, scanning my eyes across the vast space searching for the sinful blonde I’ve been thinking about since our night on the beach in St. Croix.
She’s sitting at the end of the bar, flipping through the pages of some sort of ledger looking binder. I walk straight up behind her, knowing the moment I say this, she’ll no doubt go into hyper overdrive.
I place my hand on the back of her shoulder and address her in the most respectful of ways, “Prez, I need to tell you something.” Jugs and Peaches eyes immediately shift to mine from behind the bar. It’s obvious in my tone they can tell something’s wrong.
Gamble turns on the metal barstool with her brows drawn together. “What’s happened, Hart?”
There will be no easy way to say this. “We need to have church, now.”
Gamble sits there in silence for a few seconds. “No, whatever you need to say, say it now.”
“Fuck, I hate saying this . . . but there’s no doubt about it anymore. We have a rat in this club. Rancid just called me and he knows we fucked, and he knows other things too.” I shift my eyes down to her stomach, causing her eyes to widen and for her to stand up and stagger backwards. She’s obviously scared and I can’t blame her.
“How?” One word holds so many questions.
“I wish I knew. I only know what I’ve told you. There’s a rat in here. One of us is betraying the club.”
Gamble turns and see’s Mammoth over by the door. She clears her throat and slams her hands together in the loudest clap I’ve ever heard. “Listen up, the club is on lockdown! Everyone get your asses in here. Right fucking now!”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Be careful who you trust. Salt and sugar look the same
~@Average_Student
Gamble
I’ve never felt so much rage course through my body in all the time I’ve been alive. That’s saying a lot since I witnessed my entire family butchered in front of my eyes. Knowing someone in the club I lead went behind my back and ran to Rancid strikes a chord I never even knew I had. It makes me want to rip them limb from fucking limb.
I’ve just told everyone the club is on lockdown and the brothers nod, confirming they’ve heard me and take their seats. Meanwhile, the fuckin’ clubwhores look at each other like this is a god damned joke.
Razz is the smartest one out of the bunch and comes out from behind the bar, planting her ass on a stool. Hell, I didn’t even notice she was here with Jugs and Peaches. Butcher comes out from the kitchen and takes a seat beside her. Meanwhile some of the new girls from the whorehouse walk out from the area where they’ve been sleeping. “You ladies can go back to your rooms, none of you need to be here for this.” There’s a rat, which means whoever it is has been here for longer than our latest additions.
A couple of the brothers come down from upstairs and make their way into seats. “Any of you toward the front of the club, move in. I’m not gonna scream so you can hear me.” I state.
Electra comes out from the clubwhore’s quarters and I look around seeing all the regulars are here.
I replay everything that’s happened over the last couple weeks in my mind. The only people who know I’m pregnant are the male members of the club, and the only person who undoubtedly knew I slept with Hart was well, Hart. He wouldn’t have told Rancid, and if he was guilty of telling Rancid, he wouldn’t have come and told me Rancid knew about the baby.
“Someone in this club is Rancid’s bitch, running back and telling him shit he doesn’t need to know.” I know better than to allow people to normally see or hear the anger in my voice but today isn’t like any other day. Someone within these four walls is trying really hard to get me killed. Of that I’m sure.
I meet eyes with every brother, “Does anyone feel the need to admit what they’ve done, or do I need to start interrogating?”
“Pfft. You don’t have the nerve to do it.” A too familiar voice speaks up from behind me. I turn and come face-to-face with Cheryl. She’s standing maybe ten feet behind me. She always has her hair done up like she’s a 1950s wife who stays home and cooks for her husband and three kids. Her makeup is flawless and while she looks sweet as pie, she’s really a poisonous snake. If I had any doubts about it before, they’re out the window and it’s been confirmed now.
If times were different I would think and calculate my next move, but times aren’t different. I’ll react however the hell I want so I charge right up to Cheryl and grab her scrawny ass chicken neck with my palm, wrapping my hand around and throw her onto the ground.
She seems to be shocked at first when her body hits the floor but quickly recovers. “Did you just assault me?”
“I highly doubt it’s the first time you’ve been thrown to the ground like the trash you are,” I hiss, crossing my arms. “Want to tell me what the fuck you did, or are we gonna play this the hard way?”
“You think Cheryl is the one who ratted to Rancid?” Butcher questions, walking up beside me.
I nod, looking to him for but a second. “She confirmed it with her attitude.”
“She’s tattled and gone back to Rancid before,” Serpent speaks up, causing me to turn to where he’s seated at the bar.
“You knew this and didn’t say shit?”
“Yeah, uh. She told him something personal about me . . . so I didn’t think it was important.” Serpent explains.
Men are the dumbest creatures on earth sometimes. “Of course it was important. It shows a pattern of behavior.” I correct him, but immediately stop speaking as the reality of what Cheryl’s done fully settles in my mind.
Dog was tortured because she reported back to Rancid. Rancid only found out what Dog was planning because this bitch said something that didn’t pertain to her. I dig my hands inside the pockets of my jeans and slide on my brass knuckles, hop down onto the floor and take turns with my right and left fists until blood is splattering from Cheryl’s face.
“Gamble,” Butcher tries to sooth me with that soft, older voice he has but it won’t work. There’s no talking any sense into me right now. She’s the reason Dog is dead. She’s the reason I’ve been put in this position. She’s the reason I barely sleep at night and had to experience yet more heartache.
“You’re the reason he’s dead!” I scream, yanking my right hand up for another punch. I slam my fist into her jawbone and a cracking sound rings out, “You’re the reason we lost the best Prez we had!”
The nerve of this cunt. She laughs with blood spilling out her lips, cackling like a mentally deranged hyena. “No, I’m not.” She coughs, spitting blood out on the ground. “You are. You and your need to turn this back into the club your daddy started. Newsflash, bitch. That won’t ever happen. There was a reason everything came crashing down on your family, because I did it. Dawson didn’t want me, so I made sure everything was ripped from him.”
Dawson was my father’s name. My hands fall to my sides while I stare at Cheryl and try to figure out what all this means. “Oh, you don’t remember. Do you?” She cackles.
“Your daddy let me in the Knights of Retribution. I was nineteen when he let me become the first clubwhore the club had in years. I came from the Royal Bastards after Rancid had made me really upset. After having one Prez’s dick I had a craving for it. You see, I jumped around from club to club . . . but your daddy made me want more. I did everything I could to get you and your fucking family away from him. One day you three girls went down to the beach and I tried to seduce him, he denied me. Said he was married. I’d heard the same thing so many times before but it never stopped any of them. He pushed me up against the wall and told me to fuck off, that he wasn’t interested. So, I called my baby Rancid, apologized for leaving him and gave him the best present he could ever ask for. A club to destroy and a young little thing to violate. You see, all of this was my doing.”
“You’re . . . the reason they’re all dead . . .,” I whisper out in disbelief.
Primal instincts take over and I go to town, slamming my fists
so hard against her flesh that I hear cracking. But out of nowhere I’m being pulled back. Mammoth turns me toward him and holds me to his chest closely while Butcher stands next to Cheryl. “I was hoping she’d be dead, but I still see the bitch breathin’.”
Mammoth on the other hand looks me sternly in the eyes, “You aren’t like Rancid, or her. You don’t have to kill her.”
“I know I don’t have to . . . but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to.”
“What do you want to do?” Hart asks, and honestly, I don’t have a clue.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Every jungle has a snake.”
~Filpino Proverb
Hart
“What do you want to do?” I ask her again after a couple minutes of silence pass. Gamble’s staring intently at Cheryl, looking as if she’s contemplating something within her mind.
Something draws my eyes lower and I see Gamble’s hands shaking violently. It’s obvious she’s torn up by everything that was just said. Hell, I’d be a wreck if I were in her shoes. She just found out this bitch is responsible for every aspect of misery she’s ever experienced. Typically, Rancid is the one pulling the puppet strings . . . but in this case Cheryl was pulling Rancid’s. Oh, how the plot thickens.
“You don’t have to decide right now. You can wait and figure it out when your thoughts slow down.” I suggest, hoping she’ll accept what I’ve said. She nods her head once and that’s confirmation enough.
“Sly, take this traitor out back and lock her in the cellar.” Ravage orders, sticking behind his Prez.
Sly goes up to Cheryl and picks her up with one arm but she’s thrashing like crazy so I go with him. I grab onto the other side of her and assist him in taking her out the back. We go through the glass doors, down a few steps and I see a shed type thing I never really noticed before. We go down another few steps and he unlocks the door, tossing her down. There isn’t a ladder or anything but it’s obvious she took a drop. “Have fun with the spiders, bitch.” Sly slams the door shut and locks the deadbolt again.
Bet On Me: Royal Bastards MC: Baltimore #1 Page 10
