Ties That Bind: Ruthless Sinner’s MC

by Wilder, L.

  His words packed a hell of punch, but I knew he was right. The club was my life, and if Delilah continued to hold on to her grudge, no matter how valid, things with us would never work. I could tell her a million times over that my brothers were good guys, but it wouldn’t change a damn thing. She needed to see it for herself. There was just one catch—Danny. He wasn’t a quick healer like Rafe. He was still on the mend, and Viper still hadn’t made the call on what we were going to do with him. As long as he remained at the club, especially with a fucking gunshot wound, there was no way I could bring her to the clubhouse, so I’d have to figure out another way for her to spend some time with the guys. That thought had me turning to Axel and Menace. “Hey, what do you two got going on tomorrow?”

  “Nothing much that I can think of. Why?”

  “I got something I need you to do.”

  I explained the plan to them, and just as I’d expected, they both were more than willing to help me out. After one last drink, I said my goodbyes and headed out. A half hour later, I was sitting outside Delilah’s apartment. I hadn’t intended on stopping by, but I found myself there just the same. I glanced up at her place and all the lights were out. I wasn’t surprised. It was almost midnight, and she had work early the next morning. As much as I wanted to crawl into bed next to her, I decided against it, thinking she could use the rest. I was just about to leave when a black truck caught my attention across the street. If it hadn’t been for the faint glow of a burning cigarette, I would’ve never noticed the guy sitting inside. It was too dark to see his face, but there was something about him that gave me an uneasy feeling. I got off my bike and started walking over to him, but as I got closer, he eased out of the parking space and skirted off down the street. Thinking Menace might be able to check him out, I tried to get a look at the guy’s license plate, but it was too dark to make it out.

  A short time later, I finally convinced myself that I was making something out of nothing and got back on my bike. I took one last look up at Delilah’s apartment, then headed home for the night. When I woke up the next morning, I got dressed and went over to the clubhouse to meet up with Axel and Menace. When I pulled through the gate, I found them both waiting at the front door with Viper. Axel walked over to me and said, “We’re ready when you are.”

  “Prez coming along too?”

  “Yeah, I filled him in on what we were doing, and he wanted to join in. Widow, too. He’s going to meet us there.”

  “Appreciate that.”

  “No problem, brother. Glad to do it.”

  With that, he and the others got on their bikes and followed me over to the nursing home. When we arrived, Widow was waiting for us in the parking lot. We parked next to him, then headed inside. I was checking in at the front desk when I spotted Delilah walking towards us with a concerned look across her face “Hey, what’s going on?”

  “If it’s all right, the guys and I thought we’d visit with Mr. McClanahan for a bit.”

  “Really?” She looked over at my brothers and smiled. “That’s sweet of you to think of him. I’m sure he would’ve enjoyed seeing you, but he’s not doing very well today.”

  “Oh? What’s going on?”

  “We’re not sure. His blood pressure has been up and down all morning, and he’s a bit disorientated.” I could hear the worry in her voice as she added, “I’m not sure he’d be up for a visit. It might be too much for him.”

  “I don’t know,” the nurse behind the desk interrupted. “I think he might enjoy some company.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, I think it’ll be good for him.” The nurse handed Delilah a clipboard. “Go with them and monitor his vitals. As long as they’re good, the guys are welcome to sit with him.”

  “Okay.” Delilah looked back over to us as she said, “Come on. I’ll show you to his room.”

  We all followed Delilah down to McClanahan’s room, and when we walked in, he was lying in the bed with his eyes closed. Delilah walked over to the edge of the bed and placed her hand on his arm, giving him a gentle shake as she leaned over him and whispered, “Mr. McClanahan, you have some visitors.”

  “Hmm,” McClanahan groaned. “What visitors?”

  “You remember Hawk, don’t you?” With squinted eyes, he looked over at me, and his face lit up when he noticed the brothers behind me. “They wanted to chat with you for a bit, if you’re up for it.”

  He eased up on the bed and smiled. “Of course, I’m up for it. Glad to see you again, Hawk. Good of you to come by.”

  “Delilah mentioned you were having a bad morning. You doing okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” He placed his hand on his chest. “The old ticker is trying to play out on me, but I’m not ready to call it quits just yet.”

  “Good to hear that.” I motioned my hand over to Viper. “I’m not sure if you’ve met my president. This is Viper. Also brought along my VP, Axel. And next to him is Menace and Widow.”

  “Good of you boys to come down like this.” McClanahan turned his attention to Viper as he said, “Heard good things about you, son. Sounds like you run a steady ship over there at the Ruthless Sinners.”

  “I do my best.” A smile crept over my president’s face as he told him, “I heard the same thing about you. The Ravens are a good group of men.”

  “They are.” Sadness filled his eyes as McClanahan muttered, “Miss those boys. Wish I could see them more.”

  “Maybe we could do something about that.”

  “Maybe.” He thought for a moment, then said, “You boys ever ridden the Tail of the Dragon up near the Carolina border?”

  The Tail of the Dragon had always been popular with bikers. They came from all over the world to ride the eleven mile stretch down US 129. The desolate, wooded roadside isn’t for the faint of heart. The highway is filled with twists and turns that any biker would get a thrill out of riding, but with all the animal life and possible downed trees, it can make it dangerous to travel on a motorcycle. A smile crossed Widow’s face as he nodded. “Hell, yeah. Ridden it many times. One of my favorite places to ride.”

  I glanced over at Delilah, and she was all smiles as she sat back and listened in on our conversation. Every now and then, she’d take a moment to check McClanahan’s heart monitor, but I could tell from her expression that we had nothing to worry about. He was hanging in there just fine and clearly enjoying himself. McClanahan shook his head as he said, “I remember the first time I took my Clarice out on that road. Thought she’d squeeze the life right out of me.”

  “I bet. It’s definitely not a road for the squeamish,” I replied. “Natchez Trace is also a good one.”

  “Hell, yeah, it is. Nothing better in this world than being out on the open road with the brothers. I wouldn’t trade those days for anything.” McClanahan glanced up at the ceiling as he tried to get a grip on his emotions. “You boys still ruling the roost downtown?”

  “Doing what we can,” Viper answered. “It seems like it’s getting harder and harder these days.”

  “With a good, strong leader like you, those boys of yours can handle anything.”

  We continued to talk, and in what seemed like no time, two hours had passed. McClanahan was starting to grow tired, so Delilah stood up and said, “I hate to cut things short, but I think it’s time for our friend here to get some much-needed rest.”

  “No need to rush off. I’m fine,” he argued.

  “As much as we’ve enjoyed it, we best get going,” I interjected. “Besides, we wouldn’t want to upset the boss lady.”

  “Yeah,” McClanahan looked over to Delilah and smiled. “She can be a real stickler when she has to be.”

  I glanced over at Delilah. “I know that all too well.”

  “Let’s move it, boys,” Delilah ordered with a smirk.

  We each said our goodbyes to McClanahan, and as we started out the door, Delilah called out to us. “Hey! Wait a second.”

  Viper turned to her and asked, “Ye
ah?”

  “I just wanted to thank you for coming.” There was no missing the sincerity of her voice as she said, “It meant a lot to Mr. McClanahan, and it really meant a lot to me.”

  “Glad to do it.”

  “Well, thanks again, and I hope you guys can make it back sometime.”

  “Definitely.” Viper gave her a quick wink. “Good to see ya, Delilah.”

  When he turned to walk away, the others followed, giving me a moment alone with Delilah. I leaned forward and kissed her, then said, “I better get going, but I’ll see you later tonight.”

  “Okay.” As I turned to walk away, she called out, “Be careful.”

  “Always.”

  When I reached the others, they were already on their bikes and ready to go. I slipped on my helmet, and just as I was about to start up the engine, Viper looked over to me and said, “I gotta admit, I had my concerns about your girl being able to keep her mouth shut with everything that went down with her brother, but she’s done all right. Looks like you might’ve been right about her after all.”

  Without giving me a chance to respond, he pulled out of his parking spot and started towards the exit. The rest of us quickly followed suit, and as we drove back to the clubhouse, I was feeling pretty fucking good about things. Delilah seemed pleased by our visit, and Viper was starting to come around where she was concerned. I couldn’t blame him for having his doubts. Hell, I had plenty of my own, but time and time again, she’d not only proven herself to me but to everyone around her.

  When we got back to the clubhouse, Viper called all the brothers in for church. It had been several days since we’d met, and he wanted to fill us in on some new developments. As soon as we were gathered in the conference room, Viper stood and said, “Before we get started, I want to commend you on all your hard work getting the new club up and going. I think you’ll each agree that last night was a big success.”

  “Absolutely,” Axel replied. “Only one thing would’ve made it better.”

  “I’m about to get to that.” Viper’s smile faded as he said, “You all know about our issues with our last shipment and the fallout that came after. That being said, it’s time for us to nail down a new dealer, one that we can trust, with the means to handle the demands of two clubs. Axel and I have been looking into it, and we think we might’ve found someone.”

  “You feel good about them?”

  “It’s hard to say,” Viper answered. “In my gut, I think he’s our man, but after the way things played out with Danny, I think it would be in our best interest to do a little more digging into this guy. We need to know everything there is about him before we make a move.” Viper turned to Menace and said, “I’ll get you everything we have on him, and you see if he has any skeletons in his closet that we should know about.”

  “You got it.”

  “What about Miller and Danny?” Rafe asked. “How we handling all that?”

  “Miller has been dealt with—Billy had his boys take Miller’s car and set it up to look like the guy bolted with both the cash and the drugs, taking any speculation that we were involved off the table.” Viper let out a deep breath, then said, “Danny, on the other hand, is a different story altogether. While he wasn’t the one behind the counterfeit drugs, he did try to skip out on us, and he shot Rafe ... twice.”

  “Ah, I’m all right, Prez. Besides, the kid was scared shitless.” Rafe could’ve easily held a grudge against Danny, but it was in his nature to just let things go, so I wasn’t surprised when Rafe said, “He knew what was coming, and if I was in his shoes, I probably would’ve done the same fucking thing.”

  “He shot you—a brother of the Ruthless Sinners. You don’t do that shit and get away with it,” Viper argued.

  “He didn’t.” Rafe nodded his head to his left. “Shotgun made sure of that.”

  “You saying we should just let this kid walk?”

  “I don’t see why we wouldn’t.” Rafe shrugged. “I know he panicked and all that, and didn’t come forward to set things right, but he wasn’t the one who tried to pull one over on us. And don’t forget ... he took a bullet for you.”

  “Rafe’s got a point,” Axel agreed. “You both do. He fucked up when he shot Rafe, but he’s come a long way in making up for it.”

  “That he did.” Knowing how much it would mean to Delilah that her brother would soon be free, relief washed over me when Viper said, “We’ll let him walk. Who knows? Maybe having him around will come in handy someday.”

  “You never know. It just might.”

  “The day’s wasting away, boys.” Viper stood as he said, “Get out there and make the best of it.”

  We all got up from the table and slowly dispersed. I stopped and had a few words with Axel and Viper, thanking them again for going over to the nursing home with me to see McClanahan. As soon as we were done talking, I headed over to Delilah’s place. I was just about to enter the apartment complex when I noticed the black truck from the night before whipping around the corner. Once again, he was going too fast for me grab the fuckin’ license plate. Having no choice, I let it go and continued upstairs to her place. I’d barely knocked when she opened the door and smiled. Her scrubs from earlier had been replaced with a pair of running shorts and a long-sleeved, tie-dyed t-shirt. Her hair was down, and she was wearing just a hint of makeup, but she didn’t need it. Delilah was a natural beauty who looked amazing with little effort. “Hey... come on in. Dinner’s almost ready.”

  She closed the door, then rushed back into the kitchen. “What are we having?” I asked as I stepped inside her apartment.

  “Tenderloin and veggies.” As she checked the potatoes, she looked over to me and said, “You were pretty clever today.”

  “Really? How so?”

  “Bringing the guys to the nursing home like you did.” She gave me one of her little smirks. “I know you had ulterior motives.”

  “Oh? And what was that?”

  “You bringing them over to see Mr. McClanahan wasn’t just for him. It was for me too.” Her eyes narrowed as she stared at me and said, “You were hoping I’d get to see a different side of them.”

  “Um-hmm.” I eased over to her and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her close. “And did it work?”

  “Yeah, pretty much.” A smile crept across her beautiful face as she said, “I gotta admit, I was kind of surprised. They were all really great with him, and it meant a lot to Mr. McClanahan. He wouldn’t stop talking about it. As a matter of fact, everyone in the nursing home was going on about you guys.”

  “I’m glad to hear that, but I want you to know ... I would’ve gone back to see McClanahan regardless of what happened with us, and sooner or later, the guys would’ve ended up coming along too.” I kissed her lightly on the neck. “I just sped up the process a bit.”

  “I know.” Her expression grew soft as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “That’s one of the things I like about you.”

  “One of the things?” I took a step back and looked down at her. “So, there’s more?”

  “Yeah, there’s plenty more.” Her blue eyes never left mine as she said, “I like that you’re a little self-absorbed, and yet so very thoughtful of others. I like that you’re confident when you’re right, but you’ll admit when you’re wrong. I also like the fact that you’re this rough and tough biker, but at the same time, you can be the most gentle man I’ve ever met.”

  Damn. I’d never had anyone sum me up quite like that before. We’d only known each other for a couple of weeks, but she nailed it. Delilah knew me even better than I knew myself, making me realize, now more than ever, that I’d found the one. Delilah was like no woman I’d ever met. She was it for me. No doubt about it. Consumed with emotion, I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers, kissing her long and hard, showing her exactly how much she meant to me. The kiss led us into the bedroom, and I knew the second I started to remove her clothes, dinner was going to be late—very late.

&nbs
p; Delilah

  Things with Zander were going well—even better than I’d ever imagined. I never dreamed that I’d fall in love with him and could be so utterly happy, especially given all the secrets and being kept in the dark about what was going on with Danny’s situation. Even though he hadn’t actually said the words, I had a feeling that things were going to be okay with my brother. Zander had never given me any indication otherwise, so I was doing my best to hold on to the hope that someday soon I’d be seeing him again. Besides, Zander was a good man, and he was close to proving that his brothers were too. There was just one thing that gave me doubts—the person in the black truck who had been stalking me for the last week or so.

  I assumed it was one of Zander’s brothers, but he was different than the others. When I’d walk by in the mornings, his brothers would at least nod or smile, giving me some kind of acknowledgement. I knew why they were there. I knew they were watching me in case I opened my mouth and went to the police about what had happened with Danny, but there was something about them being there that I found oddly comforting. The same didn’t hold true for the new guy. There was something about him that gave me the creeps. He just sat there behind his dark tented windows, staring at me as I walked by—day and night. And honestly, I didn’t even understand why he was there—especially since the circumstances had changed. Zander spent most nights at my place, or I at his. I’d given the Sinner’s no reason to think that I would go against my word, so it didn’t make sense that they’d suddenly chosen to increase their surveillance.

  As I started down the steps and towards the parking lot, I decided not to make a big deal of the fact that he was sitting there, yet again. Instead, I looked over to the guy sitting behind the steering wheel, smoking his stupid cigarette, and gave him a big wave. He did nothing—just sat there completely motionless. Acting complete unbothered by the fact that he didn’t return the gesture, I smiled and continued towards my car. I kept smiling as I got in and drove away. I thought I’d handled the situation very well, until the asshole started to follow me to my mother’s house. That’s was something the other brothers hadn’t done, and I’d had enough. There was absolutely no reason for him to follow me there, so I pressed my foot against the accelerator and started zipping through traffic, doing my best to lose him. Even with my best efforts, he managed to stay close behind, but then I got lucky. Just was I was coming up on a traffic light, a massive dump truck pulled in front of him, forcing him to stop. I quickly turned down a busy street, and after making several more turns, I finally lost him and continued on to Mom’s house.