by KB Winters
And they’d have to kill me because I wasn’t going back. Ever.
A door opened a few minutes, maybe it was an hour later, and I stood beside the wall and braced myself for whatever came next. Loud, heavy footsteps sounded on the hardwood floors. I held my breath and raised both hands high in the air, knife poised for a downward strike. I realized too late the footfalls sounded behind me and turned.
“No!” The word came out more like a battle cry, and with one hand, Charlie grabbed my wrists and slammed them against the wall until the knife fell to the ground, his gun pointed toward the floor.
“What the fuck, Savannah?”
I blinked and took a step back. “What the fuck, me?”
He nodded and shoved the gun back into the holster he kept attached to the back of his jeans. “Yeah, what the fuck? You trying to kill me?”
Seriously? That’s what he got from this scenario? “Think again, idiot. One of your cars just exploded out front, or didn’t you notice?”
My heart raced while I explained about his visitors. “They were wearing Black Jacks’ patches, Charlie. They must know I’m here and that was a message for you. It has to be.”
It was the only thing that made sense.
Charlie’s big, warm hands fell gently on my shoulders, and I didn’t flinch at his touch.
“They have no way of knowing what happened to you, Savannah. As far as they know, you’re dead or your old man is hiding you somewhere. Unless Tits said something, which I doubt ‘cause she’d be dead if she did.”
“How would you know if she’s dead?”
“This is my life, dealing with the fucking Jacks and their petty bullshit. They want Reckless Bastards territory, and they aren’t above everyday terrorism to make it happen.”
Everyday terrorism. It was exactly the perfect way to describe what had just happened. It was traumatizing, but not even as much as the past six months of my life. But it also made all the pieces of the puzzle click together. Why Charlie was being so nice and accommodating, and why he wouldn’t just put me on a bus like I requested.
“That’s why you’ve been helping me, so I can end up as some fucking bargaining chip in your war with them.” I shook my head in disbelief that I didn’t see it sooner and that he was such an accomplished liar.
“Unbelievable. Un-fucking-believable. I’m out of here.” I turned away from Charlie and marched back up the steps and to the guest room, to my bag of shit.
He reached out and grabbed my arm just before I made it safely to the door of the room, spinning me to face him while he growled at me. He held my chin in his grip, so close I could smell the whiskey on his breath. I wasn’t sure if I should be disgusted or turned on. He brought out all kinds of feels.
“You were beat all to shit, strung out, and starving. I helped you because I’m a nice fucking guy. Even though my club wants to kick your ass to the curb or hand you back to the Black Jacks.”
“Bullshit,” I spat and yanked out of his grasp. “You helped me for your own reasons, and I don’t need your damn pity, biker boy. I need some cash and a ride to the quickest way out of here, and then I’ll be out of your hair and out of your life. For good.”
He flashed a smile that was both boyish and wolfish; it was sexy and charming with a hint of darkness and, dammit; I found it sexy as fuck. He stood there like a man who knew his power and was comfortable with it, and I hated that it got to me and made my heart speed up and my body respond to his innate masculinity.
“How about you let me fatten you up a little bit, and then I’ll take you to the bus station? Deal?”
I stared at his hand, certain it was fire meant to scorch my skin until it bubbled and peeled, and then I looked back up at the man with the beautiful smile. “What’s the time frame on this deal?”
“That depends on how often you eat and gain weight.”
It was a trap; I knew it. I felt it down to my bones. “That’s not an answer.”
Charlie growled, “It’s the only answer you’re getting at the moment. Take it or leave it.”
I put my hand in his, knowing I was stuck here. I was at Charlie’s mercy until he decided I was no longer useful and let me go. His hand was big and warm, and his touch sent electricity shooting through my body, hot and bothersome. I pretended as if I didn’t feel a damn thing and rolled my eyes. “Fine, we have a deal. I guess.”
“Good girl. Now I guess we have a fire to put out.”
“We?”
He nodded and pushed open the door to my room. “Yeah, you need some exercise and putting out the fire is a good start. How else are we gonna fatten you up?” He wore a playful expression that I hated because it made me smile back at him.
“Food. Clearly the answer is food.”
“Food is for after the hard work. Come on, Princess. A deal’s a deal.”
“Whatever,” I grumbled and grabbed the white and pink sneakers his mom had dropped off for me on Monday.
Charlie just laughed and walked away, like I was just some amusing little joke.
I was starting to like him and his playful smile, which meant I needed to get out of here before something terrible happened, like getting attached to the hot biker.
Chapter Nineteen
Charlie
It was a perfect afternoon for a long ride on a longer road, smooth and straight and curved in all the right places. Like the perfect woman. But as MC Prez, I wasn’t headed for a long drive to clear my head and enjoy the desolate desert view. Nope. I was headed to Glitz, to Midnight Mass to have an overdue chat with Jasper Ashby.
He’d been leaving messages all week, desperate to talk to me, and I was just as desperate to avoid him. Not out of fear, because I wasn’t afraid of him or his family. Especially now that Maisie was an Ashby. I avoided him because I didn’t have any solutions yet. Nor the time to waste until I did.
The MC, especially Golden Boy and Stitch, were of the mind that Savannah wasn’t worth the trouble she’d bring down on us, and I didn’t disagree. But this wasn’t about her worth to the club. She was a goddamn human being and didn’t deserve what had happened to her. No one did. Why I was so determined to protect her, I couldn’t say, only that I refused to turn her over to anyone if she didn’t want to go.
Fuck, I could really use a long ride right about now.
I parked my bike right in front of Emerald Isle Hotel and Casino, the brick and glass structure gleaming under the sun’s bright glare. Inside the upscale pub, the lunch crowd was throwing back craft beers with their burgers and shepherd’s pies. Music blared from the speakers connected to the digital jukebox in the corner, and a few that had already put away too much booze were dancing in the aisles.
“Hiya, Charlie. Jas is in the back; he’s expecting you so go on back.” Maureen’s blue eyes twinkled at the mention of Jasper, and then she was gone, off to flirt with customers or give them a hard time, I never could tell with the fiery waitress.
“Thanks,” I said even though Maureen had already moved on to a table of rowdy college boys who ate up the Irish lilt she put on while showing off her impressive tits.
Jasper sat in the back office, staring at the computer screen though it seemed as if he wasn’t really seeing it. He looked like a man who had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and I felt no guilt that I was about to add to it. “Hey man, what’s up?”
Jasper blinked to clear away whatever thoughts had put that faraway look on his face and looked up at me with a friendly enough smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Charlie. Thanks for coming.” He pushed away from the desk and stood. “Let’s grab some lunch and talk.”
“I’m always up for food.” And if the cost of that was a conversation I didn’t want to have; it was well worth it.
Jasper took the high-backed booth in the corner that provided a clear view of the entire pub and much of the parking lot for anyone seated in the booth.
“Beer?” he offered when he slid into his seat. “We got a new
red ale in that’s already a best seller.”
“Sure, why not?” I shrugged in Maureen’s direction. She’d just sauntered over to the booth with waters for us and her order pad in hand. She nodded, her gaze still on Jasper.
“And a bacon burger,” I said.
“Got it, sweetie. And for you, Jasper? A bit of Colcannon?”
He frowned and then glared at her laughing face. “Funny. I’ll have a bacon burger as well, smartass.”
“I’ve had no complaints yet about the size or intelligence of my arse, thank you very much.” She flashed another of those contagious toothy grins and closed the pad she hadn’t written a word on. “Anything else?”
“Two shots of Velvet Fire, Mo. And a bit of privacy, yeah?”
She gave a short nod, winked, and walked off with a bit more swing in her hips, which Jasper stared at until she disappeared into the kitchen.
“You have it bad,” I told him with a laugh.
Jasper sat taller and smoothed down the already smooth fabric of his dark gray dress shirt. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Fine by me.” I had enough drama in my own life to waste time on someone else’s. “I assume you want to talk about Savannah.”
Jasper nodded and lit up a cigarette, looking around for an ashtray when Maureen reappeared with a tray loaded with a bottle of Velvet Fire, two glass tumblers, an icy mug of red ale, and a heavy-bottomed ashtray with the Midnight Mass logo at the bottom. “Thanks, Mo.”
“Food’ll be out in ten,” she said and sauntered off again.
Jasper poured three fingers into each glass, nodding as he slid one my way. “Yeah, I want to talk to you about Savannah Rhymer. You need to get rid of her. Yesterday.”
“I know why you think that, but I can’t. They’ll kill her.”
I saw the tick in his jaw, the way he ground his teeth in restrained anger. “Keeping her around, hell keeping her alive is bad news for all of us. If the old man finds out she’s still alive, this shit will spill over to the Reckless Bastards as well.”
He looked genuinely worried, which made me curious.
“Why are you so worried about Ronan all of a sudden? I was under the impression The Crusaders were just a nuisance for your family.”
“They are, but the way things are going, Ronan is going to absorb every up and coming gang in the area until he has a full-fledged army.”
Jasper smacked a hand on the table and refilled his glass, shooting back the fifty-four proof whiskey and wincing as the sweet burn slid down his throat.
“If the Jacks find out you have her, they won’t stop to get her back. The Crusaders will think your MC had her all along.”
Both points I’d already considered. “Savannah thinks the old man has disowned her, and I’m inclined to agree. Sadie would have torn the whole fucking state apart to find Kat or any of you, but Ronan didn’t. Why do you think that is?”
“I don’t give a shit why, Charlie. We just killed his son. His only son, and if Ronan knows that Savannah is still alive, he will burn the Earth to get her back, along with everything and everyone that stands between him. You. Your MC. My family. My businesses. I’m talking war, Charlie.”
War. The Reckless Bastards hadn’t been at war in almost a decade, but we were always prepared for the possibility. They didn’t call the city Mayhem for nothing.
Maureen returned again with our food, and I took a few bites before turning back to Jasper’s angry glare. “I’ll deal with it, with whatever happens Jasper, but I’m not handing her back to the Jacks, and she doesn’t want to go back to Ronan.”
She was angry and hurt, and I was about the only damn person she trusted, even though she hated me. Not that I wanted to share that juicy tidbit with Jasper.
“It’s not just you, Charlie. Don’t you get that? This puts all of us at risk.”
I sighed. “Bull shit. Your feud with Rhymer and The Crusaders has been going on long before I happened upon Savannah, so don’t put that shit on me. Is Ronan becoming a bigger threat than you anticipated? Then, deal with it. Put the old man down. Make an example out of him.”
“What is it about her that has you so willing to risk the lives of your men and mine, just to keep her safe?”
I shrugged because the truth was, I didn’t know. “It’s the right thing to do. Her own family sold her out, Jasper. However bad she once was, she became a victim when they sold her out and her own fucking brother flat out sold her.”
Jasper nodded and let out a long, worry-filled sigh. “Then I guess we should both get ready for the shit to hit the fan.”
“Guess so,” I told him and finished off my lunch and my beer. “Only you and my MC know where she is at the moment, and I’m the only one who knows exactly where she is.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“I do,” I told him and stood. “Thanks for lunch, Jasper.” He gave me a curt nod, and I walked away, heading out to my bike where I took the long way to visit Bungalow Nine, on the edge of Glitz and Mayhem, just outside the Green Zone.
The place was done up like all the rest, a tropical theme that allowed all the girls to dress up in tiny bikinis and other tropical scraps of fabric that enticed the clientele. A few of the girls had gone MIA in the past week. I wanted to check in with Melody, the aptly named House Mom, because she oversaw the girls and managed all the Bungalows, and because she looked like a mom straight out of a 1980’s sitcom.
“Charlie! What do we owe the pleasure?” she smoothed her brown bob and walked around the thatched covering of the reception desk.
“Hey Mel, just checking in. Any word from Tianna or Angel?” It wasn’t strange for our whores to disappear now and again, but rarely did two girls leave at once and never the ones not battling a drug problem. Or a boyfriend problem.
“Yeah, Tianna came back with a poorly covered up black eye. Newly single. Again.” Melody rolled her eyes like the exasperated mother she signed up to be when she took the job ages ago. “Angel is back in Minneapolis. Has it in her head she’s gonna be a nurse. She’ll be back.”
“Good. Everything else normal around here?” I couldn’t deny that Jasper’s words had burrowed deep into my brain, and that worry had acid doing backflips in my stomach.
“Normal, no. I thought you came because of the message I passed on to Chickie?”
“No. What’s up?”
Melody nodded for me to follow her as three men wearing suits walked in. They were the kind to be intimidated by bikers, so I followed Mel down the hall to the office at the rear of the building.
“Aries and Gemma have gone missing, and this isn’t just young whores going on a shopping spree on Rodeo Drive for a week. Look.” Mel held her phone up and swiped through image after image of their shared apartment, tossed and wrecked. “Looks like a struggle of some sort, right?”
I nodded and grabbed the phone from her, sending the photos to Jag and Wilder. “Yeah. How long have they been gone?”
“Hard to say. I give the girls two days to be flighty and frivolous before I start to worry, but this is what I found when I went to tear them both a new one.” Mel looked away and blinked back tears. “Poor girls.”
I wrapped an arm around the older woman and pulled her close. “I’ll take care of this, Mel. Thanks for letting me know.” I’d have to have a word with Chickie about why she didn’t let me know, but that would have to wait until later.
“Of course. I worry about my girls. Always.”
That was why business was booming and our girls were the hottest and cleanest in the Tri-City area. “Some shit is in the air though, Mel. Check in on the girls regularly and let me know the minute something doesn’t feel right. Don’t worry about bothering me. I want to know. Yeah?”
She nodded and patted the piece she wore on her belt. “I will, Charlie. I promise.”
I had a feeling that Aries and Gemma were not off somewhere enjoying the money they made. I guessed it was payback from the Jacks becau
se they suspected the Bastards had Savannah or were protecting whoever did.
If they wanted a war, I’d give them one that they wouldn’t live long enough to tell their kids about. I had to be the leader my MC needed, especially since it was my decision that put us in the line of fire. I’d keep my club safe and protect Savannah long enough to get her healed and out of town.
However long it took.
Chapter Twenty
Savannah
“If you don’t relax, everyone will think I’ve kidnapped you.” Charlie’s dark brows knitted together in a worried frown as his gray gaze darted around the Chinese restaurant.
I let out a bland laugh and stared back, one brow arched. “They wouldn’t be too off the mark.” Though I guessed that wasn’t true anymore. Charlie had fattened me up enough that the size six clothes his mom brought over no longer hung off my body, and gone was the gaunt, sunken cheeks that had stared back at me in the mirror for months. My ribs hardly hurt at all and the bruises that still stuck around were mostly a disgusting shade of yellow.
“Don’t worry, Charlie, they aren’t paying that much attention to us.” That was why it was so easy to grab women off the streets. A person could stare right at you without seeing any significant detail they could recall later.
Another lesson from dear old dad.
Charlie sat back, a knowing smile on his face. “Kidnap? Fairly sure I rescued you, Princess, so they should see a hero.”
He was a hero, dammit, even if he was a reluctant one. “The only thing you’re missing is a cape. And tights.” His body was pretty fit, lean and wiry, and now I was thinking of Charlie in body hugging tights.
“Wouldn’t go with my kutte though, would it?”
I shrugged. “They do make leather tights if you’re in search of a new look. I hear that eighties fashion is making a comeback.”
“Pass.” He took a sip of beer and nodded at the sparkling water in my own glass. “Ready to grab some food?”
I was starving. The withdrawals were behind me and it was like my stomach was trying to catch up on months of food deprivation. “The waiter can’t come soon enough. I’m starved.”
