Just Ride Black Rebel Riders' MC Volume 1

by Glenna Maynard

  "Why are you doing this?" My lip is swelling and my head hurts. I don't understand what Trouble is getting from doing this.

  "I was patient with you, Baby. I kept waiting for you to see me, but you kept throwing yourself at anyone but me. Why was I not good enough for you?" He towers over me. His eyes are dark and clouded with anger. This isn't the guy who held my hair when I puked on New Year’s, or who wiped my tears when things didn't go my way. This guy is a complete stranger. "You're just a dirty biker whore." He spits on me, actually fucking spits on me. If I could get out of this chair, I would rip his filthy tongue off.

  He bends down to my ear and whispers, "I'm sorry, Baby. It has to be real. I'd never hurt you, but he has to believe me." Trouble takes out a syringe and jabs it in my arm, and at some point I lose consciousness.

  Rebel

  **Chicago One month earlier**

  "Fuck, my legs hurt." I kick back on the couch in the apartment Kilmore set me and Striker up with over the old warehouse he wants me to build the still inside of. I think this used to be an old carpet outlet or some shit.

  "Quit being such a pussy." Striker smacks me on the back of the head as he walks by me. He’s been on the phone with Aspen since we got here. She has chewed his ass out for a good twenty minutes, because he blew her off last night. I laugh thinking if she only knew.

  "Ask her if she needs to smell your dick while she's at it." Striker flips me off and Trouble is eyeing me wanting to know what it is that I am privy to.

  "So what was the deal with Baby this morning?" Trouble tries to pry.

  Running my fingers through my hair trying to get the knots out from the wind, and kicking my feet up on the table, I laugh and say, "Figured you'd know more than me, aren't you and Baby like this." I cross two of my fingers being a smartass. "Haven't you hit that yet, son?" I ask knowing good and well that he hasn't come close, and I want to see what kind of reaction I can get out of Striker.

  "Whose ass hasn't he hit yet?" Striker flops down beside of me on the couch with a beer in his hand.

  "Baby's fine little ass, that's who." I see the tips of his ears turning red. That’s how I can tell when my brother is pissed, his ears get beet red.

  "Don't talk about her like that, motherfucker." Striker punches me in the ribs.

  "Easy asshole, I was just giving my man Trouble here a rough time. Though I bet he'd like to rub up against Baby, show her a real man, ain't that right, Trouble? I see how you look at her, you follow her around like a lost little puppy."

  Trouble doesn't answer but I can tell by the look on his face that is exactly what he'd like—to fuck Baby. "I told you don't talk about her like that." Striker gives me a pointed look cocking his brow at me, wanting to know what I am getting at.

  I send Trouble over to the Disciple's clubhouse to check in with Kilmore and see when he wants us to get started. Once he is gone, I corner Striker. "Have a good time last night?"

  "What the fuck is your problem today?" He shoves me, just a little brotherly affection.

  "I want to hear you say it?" I flip the ashes of my cigarette and wait.

  "What?" He looks at me with an innocent look, knowing good and well that I know who he did.

  "You fucked Baby, admit it."

  "Fuck you, you don't know shit." He removes his glasses laying them on the counter. Little brother wants to fight.

  "You like her don't you, little brother?" I spit the accusation at him.

  "Worry about your own shit. You afraid she won't be pinning after you if I show her what a real man is all about?" Damn, I was just messing with him, but now he is getting serious with it.

  "Oh, like you fucked her and ran out on her, then paraded your fucking girlfriend whom you won't claim in front of her, making her watch what you won't give her. Is that the real man shit you are referring to?"

  "I said don't fucking talk about her!" he shoves me into the wall.

  "Truth hurts don't it." I shove him into the opposite wall.

  "So what, you can fuck her but no one else can, is that it Rebel?" Striker lunges for me, but I grab him around the waist and send him back into the wall.

  "I never fucked her, she's been hurt a lot, and you shouldn't fuck around with her unless you plan on claiming her ass." I punch him in the side, and he lands an uppercut to my ribs.

  The ringing of my phone interrupts our conversation with Romeo on the line. "Yeah, we just got in a few hours ago, I'm about to get some shut eye, I'll keep you posted."

  Chapter 14

  Baby

  **Present Day-Devils Rejects hideout**

  When I come to, my head is foggy, but I can tell I am still wearing my clothes, and I am still in this fucking chair. What did he inject me with? I hear lots of shouting then the popping of gunshots. I am afraid of what is on the other side of the door when the handle begins to turn.

  "Romeo," I cry out in shock and relief. What in the hell is he doing here?

  He tells me, “There isn't much time explain, I need you to tell the police when they arrive that the Devils Rejects kidnapped you. No matter what and no matter who asks, that is the story I want you to give.” Romeo promises me that I am going to be okay, but he has to leave before the cops come, and he will get up with me when he can to explain everything.

  I can vaguely hear sirens in the distance as Romeo leaves me tied to this fucking chair. Moments later, I can hear the police swarming the building. "In here, Captain," an officer shouts as he kicks the door open to the room I am in.

  "You alright, Miss?" I nod that I am. And the jackass has the nerve to tell me to sit tight, like where in the fuck am I going to go to while tied to a fucking chair? I am trying to work out in my head how Romeo ended up here, and what in the hell happened while I was knocked out. I am coming up blank.

  The cops have been questioning me for hours, and I keep telling them what Romeo told me to say, but they aren't buying it. No one has been allowed in to see me, but I am finally given a reprieve, when my doctor comes in and tells the detectives I need my rest.

  "Miss Jones, I would like to speak to you about your test results. We found traces of a mild sedative in your blood stream and THC. I will assume that was due to where you were being held. The fetus seems to be unaffected by any of it."

  "Hold up." is she crazy? "The whooba whatta? I'm not pregnant." Sweat beads breakout across my forehead. This cannot be happening to me. They must have made a mistake. I think I am going to be sick. She must be mistaken. I’m not pregnant. He wore a condom didn't he or did he...? My cheeks flush slightly, remembering the way he made me feel, my body is a traitor, but my heart knows he did me wrong.

  "Your blood doesn't lie. I suspect you are very early in your first trimester, the hormone found in your blood stream was very faint, but I am sure if we were to do further testing, we would find the same results. I see that this is quite a shock to you. I'd like to keep you overnight and monitor you just to be on the safe side. Get some rest. You won’t be bothered anymore tonight. I have given strict orders that you are not to have any visitors until tomorrow."

  I try to count back in my head she said early first trimester, fuck me. I am not ready to have a baby and with Striker, after he fucking shit all over me. I am mentally exhausted, and I drift off to sleep as I try to figure out what in the hell I am going to say to my father come morning. He is going to kill me. I can't tell anyone I am pregnant just yet, until I know what in the hell I am going to do.

  **

  I awaken at some point in the night to Romeo whispering in my ear, "Baby, can you hear me? I need you to wake up, it's important."

  Rubbing my eyes, I sit up in the bed. My wrists are sore from being bound to the chair. My lip feels puffy but nothing physical pains me, it's the mental pain that I can't bear.

  "Shit got crazy yesterday, I know you have questions and I have answers, but right now isn't the time for them. No one is to know we have spoken." I nod urging him to continue. I know shit must be serious if Romeo is involve
d and talking club business with me. "What did you say to the cops?"

  I try to speak but my throat is scratchy, feeling parched, I take a sip of the water on my side table. "I told them what you told me to, but they weren't buying my story, they kept pressing, but I didn't crack."

  "Good girl, today you tell them that you remember more, that you weren't able to think clearly at first, but now you remember. You tell them that Trouble took you there under the rouse of going to buy some weed, and when you got there, you were ambushed. Trouble was shot trying to defend you, and if they ask you about Lucky, you deny knowing him. My friend at the station says that they have been looking for your phone, they are trying to place a link between you and Lucky. He was a FED and the boys in blue ain't too happy about losing one of their own ,and they are looking for someone to pin something on, don't give them shit. I was able to get your cell phone and put a new sim card in it. I have your old one. I'll give it back to you later. Don't tell anybody, not even your sister what went down, it's better for all of us. You're going to make one hell of an old lady one day, kid. We'll meet up when things die down. I gotta' go."

  He kisses my forehead and I turn to my side away from him.

  After Romeo leaves, I try to get some sleep, but I can't. My mind is working in overdrive trying to piece the whole thing together. The detectives are back by the time breakfast is served and I tell them the story Romeo gave me, and they seem to buy it. Turns out Lucky wasn't lying to me, he was an undercover DEA agent, and he had been working undercover for the past few years to bring down the Devils Rejects for dealing in drugs. He was looking for a way to bring down The Rebels, but he didn't rat on us.

  Maybe a part of him really did love me. The swat team that raided the Rejects hideout was there to serve a warrant on the evidence that Lucky had turned over. I still don't know how Trouble fit into the story, but I suspect Romeo knows, and he will tell me when he can. When the detectives arrived on the scene, I was the only person found alive other than Trouble, who was shot in the arm. How is that possible, did Romeo kill them all, including Rush? And is Lucky really dead?

  I am waiting for the doctor to release me when Grim and Sunshine come barging into my room. My father looks like he is ready to rip someone's head off, until he sees me, and he breaks down in tears as he brings me into his arms. I don't think I can remember a time I have ever seen my father shed one single tear. Not one.

  Grim takes me into the chapel after I am released, and he tells me everything that Romeo was supposed to. Trouble took a bullet in the arm and is being held for further questioning, but they don’t have enough against him to really charge him with anything. After Trouble came back from Chicago, he went to Romeo about the deal he made with Lucky and the Devils Rejects, all so that he could keep me safe. It doesn't escape me that there is no mention of Rebel being involved. Isn't that just like Trouble to protect Rebel, because he knows he is important to me.

  Rush was planning to lure my father out using me as bait, and he was crazy enough to think that I would really shoot Grim. Trouble had no choice but to kill Lucky, if he hadn’t, he was going to use the evidence he had against all of us to blackmail us for money, or who knows what else. Trouble knew he couldn't take them all out on his own. When he went to Romeo, he took Trouble to my father. Grim ordered Trouble to stick by Lucky's side until Rush made a move on me. My father was ready to kill Trouble when he found out he was working with a cop, but he soon realized Trouble did what he did to protect all of us, and our way of life.

  When I showed up at the Devils Rejects Hideout Trouble called Romeo for backup. When Trouble drugged me, it bought him enough time to wait for Romeo to arrive. My father was too far away to come and says if anything would have happened to me, he would have never been able to forgive himself. I remind him that it didn't. For the first time in years, I feel closer to my father.

  **Chicago**

  Rumor

  Chicago is amazing and living with Aspen is great, except for the fact that she is constantly fighting with Striker. Their relationship has been strained since we got here. The guys have been occupied handling club business. Rebel has been really great to me. He has taken me out on his bike a few times and shown me around the city. He hasn't pressured me for more, but I know he will grow tired of the friend zone, and then there is the fact that he is clearly a man, a good-looking man, one who has needs. I know a man will go and get his needs fulfilled somewhere—Tread did, not that they are anything alike, but I know I am not giving him what he needs. Even if he says it is enough for now. Now being the keyword. He is going to want more from me, soon.

  Baby has been distant and down every time I talk to her. Whenever I mention Aspen or Striker, she hangs up with me, or stops responding to my text. I know Striker has something to do with it, I just wish I knew what. I mentioned it to Rebel, he told me he didn't want to tell me, because I am friends with Aspen, and it would put me in an awkward position. Which lead me to believe Baby and Striker messed around, and now she feels used yet again. On the other hand, I am reading much more into the conversation. I'd ask Baby but she never tells me anything, unless she wants me to know anyways.

  I found a job at a coffee shop near our apartment and we live close enough to the university that I can walk on warm days, but in the winter, I foresee that I'll be taking the bus. Aspen has her car, but she will need it for work. I thought about getting a car but the parking fees in the city are insane. I am only signed up for the basic classes until I decide what it is I want to do with my life. Aspen says as much as she likes Rebel, she thinks I need to experience life, and get to do the full college experience without a boyfriend. Like she is one to talk. She can't go five minutes without keeping tabs on Striker.

  In fact, he is here now, and they are fighting because he is driving back to Drag Creek. Foxie called and said they need him home right now. Something major went down, but I have no idea what, because it is club business, and none of my concern. I left that life and I am not going to be sucked back in, not even for Rebel. And there it is—the biggest thing holding me back from him. How could we ever really work? He belongs to the life, no doubt about it, and I want no part of it. Look at Aspen and Striker they can't go a few minutes without his loyalty to the club coming between the two of them. She is upset, she wants him to wait and drive back with her this weekend, so she can visit her folks, but he says he has to leave now.

  "Striker, if you walk out that door, I swear we are done. I am sick of being second best."

  "Baby, was hurt. I have to go." What does he mean Baby was hurt? I don't mean to be listening in on them, but it is kind of hard when they are in a screaming match, and I hear my sister’s name being thrown around.

  "Why, what do you owe Baby? She isn't your girlfriend, I am. Your place is with me, not at that whore's side."

  I walk out of my room just in time to see Striker punch a hole in the wall by the door. "Don't you ever talk about Baby, you bitch. I love her more than I will ever love you." Damn, I was right, him and Baby. Oh my, this just got awkward.

  "I'm sorry to interrupt I really am, but what did you say happened to my sister?" Striker is holding his fist at his side trying to control his temper, Aspen is shaking with anger and her mascara is streaking her face.

  Striker turns to face me, and I can see the veins bulging in his neck, I have never seen him this upset before. "Something went down, Trouble was shot, and Baby was in the hospital. She’s okay, but I have to go."

  "Striker, I am sorry about Trouble." Aspen is at his side trying to comfort him, but he looks at her as if he is repulsed by her touch. "I'm sorry, please don't leave like this." She is trying to hold on to him, trying to stop him from leaving, but I can see it in his eyes, he is done, and nothing is going to keep him from walking out that door. Now I find myself wanting to go with him. I know what I said about leaving that life behind, but Baby is my sister, and if she needs me, I will be there in a heartbeat.

  I try to let his words sink in
after he has gone, he said Trouble has been shot. Baby must be devastated and why was she in the hospital, and why didn't someone call me? Aspen has gone to her room to sulk. She might be my friend, but she isn't going to talk about my sister like that either. I let it go this time, because I know she is really pissed at Striker, and taking it out on Baby, but there will not be a second time.

  I call Sunshine and she can't tell me much, she said I don't need to come home, that Baby is physically fine, but it isn't the physical damage I am worried about.

  Chapter 15

  Rebel

  "Hey, brother. I am just the messenger. Grim said to keep our asses planted, he is afraid Rush will try to pull something, like taking Rumor. Baby is going to be fine." I hold my hands up in surrender. Grim doesn't want me to say anything to Rumor. But I am to keep more of an eye on her until things calm down. Rush could be dead, but if he isn't, he will strike soon.

  "Shit, we got work to do if we are going to teach these guys how to run shit their self. The sooner you help me get Kilmore's men in shape, the sooner you can go back to Drag Creek and fix shit with Baby. But why don't you just call her and talk to her it's been like six weeks or some shit. I am sure she has gotten over that fact that you fucked her and left her hangin'."

  "This ain't shit that can be fixed with one phone call, and you think Grim is just going to let Baby be with me?"

  "Yeah you got a point there. He's already out for blood and has no one to bleed dry. Fuck, I would hate to be in your boots."

  "Sure you don't want to try them on for size. When you gonna claim Rumor's ass?"

  "It's complicated." I sigh exasperated.

  "Trust me, man. I know all about complicated. Aspen is so pissed at me. We broke up this morning." He plants his ass on the couch. I know bringing him here was a mistake. He needs to be back in the garage where he is comfortable. He has never been able to just hang back. My brother needs something to keep his hands busy at all times.

  "Look, you need to figure out what in the hell you want. Like I said don't be fucking around with Baby unless you want to brand her and put a ring on it. That's the only way you are getting near her panties again. And what about Aspen? She's stuck by you for a long ass time without demanding you put a ring on it." My brother is in a bigger fucking mess than I ever thought of being in when I was stuck between Baby and Rumor. Only there was no contest, Rumor will always be it for me. Striker has always played it safe. He knew Aspen wouldn't want to be an old lady in the club, he knew she'd want a different life and he'd let her go or wait for her to finally leave him. I know my brother, he won't walk away from his brothers and the life we were given for no woman, no matter how nice her titties might be, and believe me Aspen has a nice rack.