by K. D Clark
Kit crossed his arms over his chest. He couldn’t believe they were talking about this. No one in the room spoke, everyone lost in thought.
“Those in favor of taking the deal?” Gunner asked.
Kit kept his arms tightly folded in front of him as he watched his brothers raise their hands. Gunner raised the gavel, but before he could slam it on the table, Kit stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Chapter Sixteen
Cam
She should have immediately called Jen to pick her up, but something stronger pulled her down the hall to the room that the receptionist said Megan was in. Cam’s heart ached for the woman she didn’t know but had seen laying on the floor in probably one of her worst moments.
She listened at the other side of the door for a noise. What if she was sleeping? If she was asleep, then Cam would just leave and call Jen. This was a stupid idea anyway. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.
“Come in,” a voice called from inside.
She pushed the door open to see Megan propped up in the hospital bed. Machines surrounded her, beeping softly. Megan raised an eyebrow at Cam in confusion.
“I’m sorry to barge in… I was with Kit when he, uh, found you.”
She shook her head. “God, can this get any more embarrassing?”
“I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Kit told me to go home, but…”
She smiled an inch. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just fucking mad at myself.”
Cam nodded, unsure what else to say. “Well, I should get--”
“Wait, are you dating my brother?” Megan asked.
“Kind of, tonight was our first date.”
Kit and she had never had an official talk about their relationship status, but he did have a tattoo on his body that represented them.
Megan smiled a genuine smile. “Finally, he’s dating someone and not messing around with those club sluts.”
“The girls at the clubhouse?”
Megan nodded. “I haven’t been around for long, but I know the younger guys at the club can be wild.”
“Did you use to hang out at the clubhouse a lot?”
“Pfft--no, I can’t stand the Savage Spades.”
Cam didn’t ask for an explanation because she didn’t want to get her angry while she was still recovering.
“They’re going to let me out in a day or so. I’ll have to find a group or go to some kind of treatment, but I would like to meet the woman that is making my brother finally settle down. Maybe he’ll even stop fighting.”
“Fighting?” Cam asked.
She arched an eyebrow. “Yeah, you know, the fighting ring. He can make some good money if he wins, but it’s not worth him getting concussions.”
“Like street fighting?” Cam asked.
Megan frowned but didn't say anything. How could she not have known about this? He hadn’t had any bruises on his body in a while. She’d almost forgotten about the marks on his face when he first started coming around the bar. She should have pushed for more information. Fighting for money was stupid no matter how good you were; if someone hit him the wrong way, he could be dead. What else about Kit’s life did Cam not know about? They barely knew each other if she thought about it.
Cam forced a small smile. “I should let you rest.”
Megan nodded in agreement, and Cam walked out of the hospital room. She walked outside to the concrete stairs and sat down on the top step. Jen picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, where are you?” Jen asked.
“Um… I’m at the hospital. I was going to see if you could pick me up?” she asked, thrown off by how Jen answered the phone.
“Amire, watch the bar. I have to pick up Cam. I’ll be right there.”
“What's going on?” Cam asked.
“I’ll tell you when I get there.” She hung up before Cam could ask any more questions. This night was just getting better and better.
*****
She slid into Jen’s beat up Honda. “So, what’s going on?” she asked.
Jen pulled away from the curb and drove back towards town. “Hugo said Venom showed up at the clubhouse.”
“Kit told me. Is that where he went?”
“I don’t know, but they had a vote…and…”
“What Jen? Spit it out!”
Jen let out a sigh. “They made a deal with Venom that they’d convince you to sell the bar and give the profits to Venom. He said if they didn’t agree, he’d bring his sex trafficking business into Goldbeach.”
Cam’s blood started to boil. She’d been calm all night, but her composure was slipping. “They can’t decide what I do with my bar. I’m not selling.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the window. Who did they think they were? First, they barged into her bar and claimed they’re protecting her, and now, they believe they can make decisions for her? Did Kit agree to this?
“Come on, Cam,” Jen said.
“Come on what? It’s my bar. If I decide to sell or not is my decision. Not some club that decided they like to drink there.”
“The bar isn’t making any money, and it never has. If people want to drink, they either do it at home or go into the city.”
She looked at Jen in shock. Jen had never given her opinion on Cam’s business.
“I’m sorry, but Venom is a scary guy, and keeping the bar is playing with fire,” Jen told her.
She hated that Jen was right. Even knowing that selling the bar would leave her without a job, Jen was encouraging her to do it. Her dad wouldn’t have wanted her in this situation, but getting rid of the bar was easier said than done.
Cam swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’ll think about it.”
Jen dropped her off at home and then went back to the bar to close. Her shoulders finally dropped from being around her ears all day when she walked into the empty house. Who knew a first date would turn out so crazy.
*****
She’d called Kit five times, each one going to voicemail. She had class in a few minutes, but she was more worried about where Kit was. He was probably pissed after the whole Megan situation, but she needed to know where he was. Had he really agreed that making her sell the bar was the solution? If he wanted her to sell the bar this whole time, why hadn’t he talked to her?
She dressed for class with no idea how to get there. She hated to wake up Jen since she’d closed last night, but at this point, she was out of options. She knocked on Jen’s door.
“Huh?” Jen croaked out from the other side.
“Can I borrow your car? I have class, and Kit’s not answering.”
“Keys are on the table,” she said.
“Thank you. I owe you one.”
She grabbed Jen’s keys and walked outside only to stop in her tracks when she saw Big Blue parked in front of the house. She left Jen’s keys on the entry table before closing the door and walked up to her truck.
So he had time to fix her vehicle and drop it off but not enough time to answer the phone? What time was he here last night? He might be going through a lot right now, but that didn’t mean he could shut her out. Even Jen knew more about what was going on than she did. Cam got in the truck, finding the keys in the ignition. Good thing the truck didn’t get stolen. Did Kit even think about that when he dropped it off?
*****
She sat through a boring, hour-long lecture. It was a waste of time considering all she could think about was Kit and the future of her bar. This was precisely why she didn’t want that damn club involved in her life. She needed to be focused on school. If she would have just paid Venom his monthly payment, this could have been avoided. Instead, she let herself believe for a second that a motorcycle club would take care of it. That’s what she gets for relying on someone else. How many times did she have to learn that she’s the only person she can depend on?
The professor dismissed class, and she walked out of the lecture hall with the rest of her classmates. There were two homework assi
gnments that she had to get through and a paper to write if she didn’t want to fall behind, but she barely had time to breathe, let alone do homework. She checked her phone to see that Kit still hadn’t called her back. There were only a few places that he’d be. She started the truck and drove to the clubhouse.
His truck sat in the first spot in front of the bar entrance. She took the place next to him and threw Big Blue in park. She took a deep breath, trying to calm the fire that was in her belly. Had he really voted that he would convince her to sell her bar? He must have, or why else would he be avoiding her? When she walked inside, Zeke was sitting at the bar.
“Oh, hey, Cam.” He looked around as if searching for someone. “Has Kit talked to you?” he asked.
She sighed. “No, but Jen has.” She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow.
Zeke shook his head. “I’m sorry, Cam.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s not up to y’all what I do with the bar anyways”
His eyes widened. “You’re not going to sell it?”
“I don’t know, but if I do or don’t, that will be my decision.”
“Cam--”
“Where’s Kit?” she asked, not giving a fuck what else Zeke had to say about her business.
“Haven’t heard from him since he stormed out last night. You can check his room.”
She looked around, trying to figure out where his room might be.
“Down the hall, follow the set of stairs. It’s the third door on the left,” Zeke said.
“Thanks.”
As she followed Zeke’s instructions, she realized just how many rooms were in the clubhouse. There must be a room for every member and then some. When she got to Kit’s door, she took a deep breath before knocking. No answer. She knocked again. Nothing. Fuck it, she opened the door herself. He couldn’t avoid her forever. His body was spread out sideways on the bed. He wore the same outfit as last night. His pants now had grease marks on them, probably from working on her car. She kicked the side of the mattress.
“Kit.”
He groaned in response.
“Where the hell have you been all night? I’ve been calling you.”
If anything, he should have been at the hospital with his sister, not working in his shop. He turned over to his back. His cheek had a ugly bruise as well as dried blood crusted under his nose. Megan’s words replayed in her head: He can make some good money if he wins, but it’s not worth him getting concussions.
“Did you fight last night?” she asked.
He sat up and rubbed a hand over his face.
She snorted. “You know what, forget it.”
Why did she even care? He was the one shutting her out. She had her bar to worry about. It was a waste of time coming here. She was stupid to think something serious was going on between them. He was probably just trying to be friendly by fixing her truck and inviting her on the camping trip. He said it was his and Zeke’s job to make sure she was okay. That’s probably all it was. She walked towards the door.
“Cam,” he said so quietly she barely heard him, but she walked away anyways, shutting the door behind her.
Chapter Seventeen
Kit
Fuck, his body hurts. The smell of Cam’s perfume lingered in the room. After the meeting, he had to find a way to get out his frustration, so he’d gone to the fighting ring. Of course, he got his ass kicked because he couldn’t think clearly. His mind was filled with the image of Megan lying on that bathroom floor.
After leaving the ring, he was still too hyped up to sleep, so he worked in the shop, getting as many cars done as possible. It was only once his body had been completely exhausted, and he’d dropped off Cam’s truck that he finally passed out. He needed to get his ass up to the hospital to meet Megan. They’d probably release her today. If not to go home, they’d send her to a rehabilitation place.
He peeled off his dirty clothes, leaving them on the floor before getting in the shower. He let the warm water wash over him. His mind cleared the longer he stayed under the water. As much as he wanted to kill Venom with his bare hands, the club was right. Their best option was to get him out of their hair and wipe their hands clean of this. But that didn’t solve the most significant problem on his hands. Megan. She needed to go back to rehab, but it’s not like he had the money to send her anywhere. Maybe if he would have won some fights last night, he’d have something to offer. Getting out of the shower, he changed into jeans and a t-shirt before walking out of the room. He passed Zeke on the way outside to his bike.
“Hey, did Cam find you?” he asked.
Kit ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, she found me.”
Zeke’s eyes went to the bruise on his face. “You win?”
He shook his head.
Zeke sighed. “How’s Megan doing?”
“She was okay last night. I was just going to the hospital to check on her.”
“Let her know that we’re here if--”
“You know how she feels about the Spades.”
“Yeah, I know…you want me to talk to Cam?” Zeke offered.
Having Zeke talk to Cam about selling the bar would take one thing off his plate, but that’s a conversation he needed to have with her, no matter how much he was dreading it.
“She said she might not sell.”
“I’m sure she did,” Kit said, a hint of a smile on his face. In addition to him leaving her at the hospital last night and not answering his phone, he was sure that’s part of the reason she was so pissed at him this morning. God, he really fucked up. “I’ll talk to her,” Kit told Zeke before patting him on the shoulder and walking out the door.
*****
“And you don’t remember anything specific about the man?” a police officer asked Megan as Kit came into the room.
Fuck, he should have known the police would be involved. The officer looked up at Kit. But he wasn’t just a police officer. It was the fucking Sheriff. Sheriff Garrett, the asshole who had been after the Savage Spades for years.
“Kit Wolke, what a nice surprise,” Garrett said.
Kit walked towards the hospital bed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t mind me, go ahead and finish interrogating my sister while she’s lying in a hospital bed.”
Garrett’s jaw twitched. “Watch yourself, boy.”
“Or what?” he challenged. It was stupid to poke a bear, especially when Garrett was already sniffing too close to the club.
Garett closed his small notepad and placed it in his pocket. “You know, you’re right, Mr. Wolke. There is another case I could be working on. Such as Dustin Connor, who was found in his bar…burnt to a crisp.”
“I heard. That’s unfortunate, although I did hear he had a thing for young girls, so maybe it’s not that unfortunate,” Kit said, keeping his expression stoic.
Garrett furrowed his eyebrows, attempting to stare Kit down. He wasn’t worried. If they had any evidence tying the Spades to Dustin’s burned-down bar, they would have already arrested them. These crooked cops were the reason the Spades had to take things into their own hands anyways. If they had kept Dustin in custody, he wouldn’t have had to die.
Garrett looked back over at Megan, who stayed quiet during their conversation. “If you remember anything, please let me know.”
Megan nodded. “I will.”
Garrett walked past Kit, making sure to shoulder check him. Kit gritted his teeth at the pain that shot through this arm. Fuck, he shouldn’t have gone to the ring last night.
He turned his attention back to Megan. “Let’s get you out of here.”
*****
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay here?” he asked Megan.
They’d released her from the hospital, but he felt odd leaving her alone in this apartment. Everything about it was the same but something had changed.
“I’ll be fine. I found a group online. They have a meeting tonight. I’m going to go” She sat on the couch, crossed-legged.
/> He nodded. “Are you sure you don’t need to go back to rehab?”
It all seemed too normal that she could just join a group and go to meetings after such a big relapse. He wanted to offer her more.
“I’m fine.”
He nodded and tucked his hands into his jean pocket. “Zeke wanted me to tell you that the Spades are here if you need them.”
She snorted.
“What is your problem with them?” he asked, finally voicing the question that had been bothering him for years. Now wasn’t the best time to bring it up, but it was starting to bug him. “You need people right now. You told me that you came back here for a support system.”
“Those people are not a support system. You want to know why I can’t stand that club of yours?” she snapped.
“Please, enlighten me.”
“Because you had them. While I was at home cleaning up after our drunk father, you were busy trying to work your way into that club. I was the one who had to clean up the mess at home.” She crossed her arms over her chest as her voice broke with her admission. “You should have been there, but you weren’t. You were surprised when Dad got arrested, but I wasn’t because I’ve watched him basically try to drink himself to death. I knew it was only a matter of time.”
Her words were like a punch straight to his gut. It was so long ago that his memory was fuzzy. He’d found the club months before his dad had gone to jail when he was just a teenager himself. He hadn’t thought about what Megan was dealing with at home. Kit had found a place that accepted him and he’d been too busy doing everything he could to stay in that spot. By the time their dad had been put away, he’d been spending every waking hour at the club.
“Megan--”
She put a hand up to stop him. “I don’t want to get into this tonight…please.”
He wanted to push her, but she was in a fragile state right now. But wasn’t she always? Megan was always one step away from falling into another bender. Instead of leaving, he took a deep breath and joined her on the couch. She inched away from him.
