Skylar (The Club Girl Diaries Book 7)

by Addison Jane

  He’d just made it glaringly apparent that I was second class.

  I knew that in a few weeks, I would be walking away from these people who had come to mean so fucking much to me, so I could support my little sister and give her a better life and future that neither of us had imagined possible when we were little.

  But it wasn’t just that though. I was confused about my feelings for Eagle, how intense they were growing and how I was beginning to resent my position in the club.

  I couldn’t stay here and hope to make it through the next month or more, always on edge about whether there would be another brother knock on my door that wasn’t him. That feeling was twisting my stomach, it made me want to throw up because just the idea was already making me feel like I was betraying him, it didn’t even matter that I felt like he’d done just that to me.

  I groaned loudly, grabbing my sneakers before sitting down at the edge and pulling them on. I reached for the duffle bag in the bottom of my closet and began filling it up with whatever I could find.

  How does one fall for someone so easily?

  Just a few weeks and I found myself doing the one thing I promised myself years ago when I joined the club that I would never do.

  There was a hard knock on the door.

  “Go away!” I called out, my voice cracking as I slipped my hands through the soft cotton sleeves of my sweatshirt and zipped it up to my neck.

  The door pushed open, and Eagle stepped inside, softly closing it behind him.

  “Oh right! Yeah, I’m a club girl. I’m not allowed to tell you guys to go away,” I sniped, trying to avoid looking him in the eye. I made a dive for the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

  “If this were any other time, I would have happily walked away and left you,” Eagle replied, and I heard him take a seat on the edge of my bed. “But I have an apology to make and some things we need to talk about.”

  I just wanted him to leave. I didn’t want him to see me this way, didn’t want to see the look on his face when I told him I was walking away from the club because I’d developed some stupid crush.

  I knew how this world worked.

  The boys saw something they wanted, they stole it with both hands, they claimed their women without a second thought. God, Kit had claimed Harmony without even telling her, and once Leo got his hands on Hadley, he knew there was no way he was sharing. Yet, I was still a club girl, and no matter how much time he and I spent getting to know each other, sharing not just our bodies but our stories, he still hadn’t decided that he wanted me for himself.

  Was there something between Eagle and me?

  For me, yes, there was no doubt.

  Eagle was sexy, and he was intimidating. He was the quiet one who stood in the corner watching what was going on, unapproachable and dangerous. The difference between him and the other men around us—I’d seen him break.

  I can’t explain how in my fucked up mind, seeing a man completely and utterly destroyed was somehow attractive. Maybe it’s that vulnerability, knowing that he’s just like every other person out there, that he has moments where he’s not in control. Growing up around so many men, who on the outside came off as so perfect, so untainted and unbreakable, to see Eagle—who is ten times the man that any of them could ever be, have a moment where he was so damaged—it made my heart skip a beat.

  I wasn’t one of those girls who was drawn to men because I thought I could fix them. But I was finding that I was someone who could appreciate and was drawn to imperfections and cracked exteriors.

  They were real, they told the truth.

  I’d heard his story, I’d felt his pain, and I knew I wanted to be the one who was there when he needed someone to lean on. I knew that I wanted to crack jokes and throw sass as he called it, every single day to make him smile. I wanted to protect him from the people who didn’t understand his PTSD. I wanted him to know I would take him exactly the way he was.

  The door flung open, causing me to jump. My hand went to my heart when Eagle appeared in the doorway, his hands on the doorframe, looking at me beneath a thick brow.

  “Why are you packing?” he growled.

  I tried to steal my spine, swiping at the tears on my cheeks and shoving at his chest in an attempt to make him move. He stepped to the side, and I took the opportunity.

  “Sky…” I stormed out of the room, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back toward him, turning our bodies, so my back was pressed against the wall. His eyes flashed in irritation. “Will you just stop for a minute, damn it, and tell me what the hell is going on?”

  He braced one hand on the wall beside my head, and the other held me tight, the serious look on his face made me think that running was a bad idea. He took a deep breath, and I squeezed my legs together as I watched him swallow, his beard short enough that I could see the muscles in his throat move and his Adam’s apple bob up and down.

  How did I find something like that so fucking erotic? I had no damn idea, but I was suddenly acutely aware of my nipples tightening and the dull throb of my pussy as it begged to be satisfied.

  “Fine, you don’t wanna talk, I’ll go first. I know you’re upset ‘cause I didn’t say shit when my idiot brother opened his damn mouth and spewed shit everywhere,” Eagle tried to explain, growling deep in his throat when I attempted to look away. “I did it because when my brother is called out, sometimes he likes to make a complete asshole of himself. And to have him already say that shit, fuck, if he’d have carried on, I would have given you my gun to shoot the sorry bastard.”

  Maybe I was being dramatic. Perhaps Eagle was right, and it was better that I left, and he dealt with his brother alone, but I couldn’t help but feel that ache in my chest. Eagle had stood with me against my brother, he’d risked being arrested just so he could give Abel what he deserved for laying a hand on me that day. So to see him not fight for me, it fucking hurt. It hurt more than I expected it to, and I knew it was because I was developing feelings for this man in front of me. I’d tried to play them off, pretend like we weren’t getting in deeper and deeper every single day because it scared me, it honestly scared the crap out of me.

  I wanted Eagle so badly, that my body was vibrating with need and I was finding it hard to breathe. He stepped in closer, and I swore in that moment that my heart leaped out of my chest and landed on the carpet at our feet.

  His breath brushed across my bare neck as his nose traced lightly along my jawline to my ear. His beard tickled against my skin, delighting my senses. The dull ache between my legs had now started to throb with need and want. He was pushing me without taking what he wanted, but I wasn’t sure why.

  “Now tell me why the hell you’ve packed a damn bag and look like you’re about to do a runner,” he demanded, his voice low and scary as his lips drew down my neck, his body holding me captive.

  I swallowed my fucking pride and decided to just lay it all out there. “I told myself I’d never fall for a member of the club. I’d seen girls do it before, think that one of the boys will be their knight in shining armor and all he sees her as is a friend who he occasionally fucks,” I tried not to let my voice crack.

  “So you were leaving because you like me?” he asked, pulling back with a frown. I pushed at his chest, but he didn’t move, which made me more frustrated.

  “Yes! Okay.”

  “Thank fuck for that,” he said with a grin before pressing his lips to mine.

  I was confused, but I couldn’t do anything but melt into his arms, my hands instinctually wrapping around his waist. We devoured each other, and I loved every fucking minute of it even though I didn’t really understand why. His body was warm, it was comforting, right when I needed him he was there. When he finally pulled back, I was struggling to breathe, and he had a wicked grin on his face.

  “I don’t know what just happened,” I said, my breathing heavy.

  “I’ve spent the last fucking three weeks getting to know your past, your mind, your heart and your fucking body. I
want you that much I know. I don’t want to have to worry about whether one of my brothers might come to you, today, tomorrow, next week, and touch you because I want you to be mine and only mine.”

  “I… I… ” I couldn’t help but stutter. My heart skipped, and my mouth fell open. “We’ve only really known each other for three weeks?”

  He laughed and reached out, brushing a stray hair behind my ear. “I’m not trying to freak you out, I know the whole idea of having a man own you or claim you isn’t exactly your idea of a relationship,” he said gently, and my heart expanded in my chest at the fact he knew that it would make me apprehensive. “I’m just asking you to give it a go, to see where this might lead without the both of us worried that I’m gonna walk in here one day and have to shoot one of my brothers.”

  I already knew what my answer was.

  Yes, I wanted to see where this could lead.

  Yes, I was over freaking out every time I heard someone walk outside my door.

  Yes.

  But before I could say the actual words, the roar of a shit load of motorcycles filled the room and shook the walls.

  Eagle’s smug face quickly turned into something far more serious, and he jogged to the door. “Stay here!” he ordered, before rushing down the hall, the footsteps of others like a chorus through the building.

  Typical, right on my moment.

  “What the hell is going on?” I asked as I stepped into the main room.

  Op rushed down the stairs holding his hands up. “Don’t worry, I’m expecting visitors,” he told us simply as he passed by and headed for the front door.

  The low rev of engines was slowly coming to a stop, and I had to wonder just how many fucking bikes were out there. As I stood up, I heard two babies begin to cry upstairs, and Hadley was quick to leap out of her chair.

  “Whoever it is, better have a good reason for showing up at the twins bedtime,” Hadley muttered as she rushed away to help.

  I looked at Leo who was getting up from his seat. “I’m expecting visitors?” I mimicked our president as we walked side by side toward the door.

  “I try not to be surprised by things he does, but no shit,” he replied, rolling his eyes.

  As we stepped outside, I saw Op shaking hands with someone I recognized. They turned and walked toward us while the other twenty bikers who had filled the compound parking area climbed off their bikes and began to stretch their legs.

  “Eagle,” Rivet said in greeting as he held his hand out to me. I shook it firmly but with a raised eyebrow. He just chuckled. “Sorry for invading your space, we won’t stay long, just needed to have a chat with you boys for a few minutes, and we were passing through, so thought I’d do it in person.”

  “Let’s go to the meeting room,” Op instructed as we filed inside. Everyone in the club stared at us in curiosity and confusion as we passed through. Op stopped beside Jess who was standing behind the bar. “Anyone outside need anything, let them know where to find it.”

  Jess nodded. “Sure.”

  Blizzard was the only one who got up to follow us into the meeting room, shutting the door behind us as we took a seat at the table.

  “Sorry to show up at such short notice,” Rivet apologized, pulling the bandana from around his neck and placing it on the table. “We have quite a few military men in the club, so we were heading to Nashville for a United Service Organization Ride when I got a phone call that you might be interested in.”

  The way his eyes were fixed on me, I knew this had something to do with Skylar. “What’s her idiot brother done now?”

  Rivet grinned. “You done the right thing by that girl and claimed her yet?”

  I screwed up my nose. “I was actually about three seconds away from doing just that before you noisy bastards pulled in.”

  His laugh was deep and right from the belly. Rivet was older, if I had to guess, probably in his early forties, but I swear the guy could probably bench press me without breaking a sweat. He was fit and ripped, and it was honestly a little intimidating.

  “We had the DEA swarming around down there a couple days ago,” Rivet started, instantly making me sit a little straighter. “Called a friend of mine on the inside to see what the hell was going on. Turns out, they managed to get a search warrant for some of the buildings and homes owned by the Colony.”

  Op sat back in his seat, tapping his fingers on the table. “Wrench said he looked into it and they’d been trying for years to get something like that.”

  Rivet nodded, his face serious. “They have, far too fucking long if you ask me with all the shit those bastards do down there. But that wasn’t the part I found interesting.”

  My gut sunk, and I was already making plans in my head about how I could protect Sky if these assholes came at us.

  “My buddy said, that the info they got had come from the prophet’s daughter.” He let his words hang there so they could sink in. I was immediately off my feet and heading for the door.

  I stepped out into the main room and quickly scanned it, finding Sky standing with Jess at the bar. “Sky!” I called, my voice a little on the sharp side, making her almost leap out of her skin before she turned to me with her hand over her heart. “Come here.”

  She slowly walked over, I could see the trepidation on her face as she took in the seriousness of my body language and the tone of my voice. “What’s going on?” she asked as I pressed my hand against her lower back and guided her into the meeting room before throwing the door shut behind me. She tilted her head to the side. “Rivet?”

  Rivet grinned, standing from his seat like a real gentleman. “Nice to see you well, darlin’.”

  I put her in the seat next to Op while I stood beside her. She looked up at me and frowned before turning back to Optimus. “Okay, what did Abel do now?” she asked nervously.

  “We’ll talk about him in a minute,” Op said, sitting forward. “Some places at the Colony were raided with search warrants. Rivet here has a source that told him the warrants came about because of the daughter of the prophet speaking with the DEA.”

  I could tell that Op was trying to give Sky the benefit of the doubt, but at the same time letting her know that this was fucking serious. No one in the club was permitted to talk to any government groups or law enforcement without speaking with Op first.

  Sky looked between each of us with her eyebrow raised. I could tell by how casual she was acting, that it wasn’t her. “Are you guys seriously forgetting that my father had six wives?” she asked, then sat calmly and waited for the rest of us to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

  “That fucking asshole,” I snapped, slamming my palm down on the table.

  “Woah, what the hell man?” Leo questioned, looking at me like I’d grown two heads.

  I could see the point in where it clicked in Op’s eyes, and he was ready to fucking put a hole in Deacon’s ass. “Deacon used to work for the DEA, remember? He showed up here, trying to get into Chelsea, trying to get information on the club…” They were all getting it now. “Then he just jumps at the chance to take in Emerald, acting like he’s her knight in shining armor.”

  I had a feeling my suspicions I’d raised about Deacon having an ulterior motive were on fucking point.

  Op was already out of his seat and heading for the door before I was done talking. “Where are you going?” Blizzard called worriedly.

  “Going to talk to my woman about how she’s gonna have one less friend in about twenty minutes,” Op threw back.

  “There’s more!” Rivet yelled, and Op froze in the doorway, clenching the doorframe tightly in his hand. “First, tell me who this Deacon guy is.”

  “When Sky’s sister Emerald showed up after doing a runner from the Colony, Deacon, our friendly local policeman offered to home her until Sky could find them a place they could afford and leave the club,” I explained quickly before Op lost his shit. “Deacon worked for the DEA before he moved here. He’s had our back on a few things, but I’m
pretty sure he’s just pushed his canoe into shit creek and left the paddles on the shore.”

  “No shit,” Rivet said, shaking his head. “Turns out they found the Colony has been running illegal arms, buying them in from overseas, putting them together in a workshop and selling them off to groups like the white supremacists and the street gangs. Basically inciting a race war.”

  “And what does that mean for us?” Blizzard asked.

  I knew by the way Rivet was looking at me that this shit was about to get crazy. “There were a fair amount of guns missing according to the records they recovered, and Abel and his buddies were gone too.”

  “Fucking fantastic,” Leo groaned, laying his head back against the chair. “So basically you think we could have a whole lot of crazy coming at us attached to a seriously large amount of stupid.”

  “Members said that Abel and his men left to seek revenge and purity for the Colony,” Rivet responded saying all he needed to say.

  Skylar had pissed them the fuck off, embarrassed them, and proved that you can live a happy life on the outside of the Colony, but her brother was never going to let her get away with it.

  She reached up and grabbed my hand. “My brother is the leader of what they call The King’s Militia,” she grimaced, and I instantly got this sinking feeling in my gut as all the eyes in the room turned to her. “They don’t mess around. They train, like the freaking armed forces and they have the numbers and the weapons.”

  “Why the hell do these guys need a militia?” I asked, my eyes wide and my hand gripping tightly to the chair.

  “They say it’s to fight the government if they ever came for us. But really, it’s to keep people in line, make them fearful of running away, punishing people for their sins.” Skylar shuddered. “They all think they are invincible, that they are following the Lord’s word or whatever and protecting our path to heaven.”