by Jayne Blue
“Please.” She was near tears now, and it shifted my aggression to something else. I didn’t want her to cry. I stepped back.
“Well, you worked me good Jules. I believed all your bullshit. I even thought I loved you. Nice work.” Then a tear did slide down her cheek.
“Get out.”
“My pleasure.” And I turned to her elevator and stepped in.
“If you ever get sick of fucking that old man. Give me a call. I’ll be in town for a few weeks. No strings attached now that I know what you’re really into.” The elevator doors shut.
She’d knifed me in the gut with that answer and the way she wanted me out of her space.
I’d been fooled by her damsel in distress bullshit. I’d been fooled into thinking I loved her.
Chapter Sixteen
Jules
I sunk to the floor. I don’t know how long I stayed there. Something in me had broken off and was careening through my chest and through my body. I guess it was my heart.
I wanted to tell Ryder I loved him. I wanted to do exactly what I did before, get on his bike and hold on tight. I wanted to thank him for showing me I could sell my designs.
But I couldn’t. The whole reason I was here, stuck, and ready to marry The Judge was because I wanted to save Ryder, his mom, shit, even Ross’s remaining eight fingers.
I had made a deal because I had no choice.
Ryder was here, he’d shown up, followed me, knew where I lived, and he wanted me still. I could feel it rolling off him to me.
It was why I had to lie. It was why I had to crush him. If I told him the truth, he’d try to rescue me. That’s the man he was. I knew it.
Saving him was going to keep taking a chunk out of my heart every time I had to push him away.
I was still a pool of raw nerves and in a puddle on the floor when The Judge showed up.
“Darling, what is it? Are you ill?” He put out a hand and helped me stand up. I quickly wiped my eyes.
“I’m okay. I’m sorry. Truly. Just a moment of stress.”
“I’m sure you’re stressed. All the planning and wedding details. It’s a lot of work.” The Judge saw me as a baby in a lot of ways. And I let him. It was to my advantage not to let him know what I really thought. He needed to believe that I was weak, and he was strong. He liked me relying on him. He liked thinking he was my rescuer not my jailer.
“Right. It really is.”
“Can I have my secretary help with some of the more mundane aspects?”
“No, no. I love it. I’m better. Sometimes a girl just needs a good cry.” I tried to pull myself together.
“Sure darling. Now you need to hurry up and get dressed. Your father’s coming over before we head out.”
“Head out?” It was coming back to me. I was going to escort The Judge to some function with a bunch of lawyers. Ugh. That was enough to make me collapse in a heap again. And Daddy. Here. I had avoided him since he’d sold me to The Judge. Now he was going to be here in my apartment. I hated the thought of it.
“The dress I sent you is in your closet. Let’s clean you up. We have about ninety minutes.”
The Judge's eyes glossed over from my tear stained face to my body. I knew what came next. We walked into my bathroom, a huge room actually, and it was set up with a comfortable chair in the corner. The shower itself had a clear glass door. The Judge sat in his chair. It was his chair really. Everything in here was his. Including me.
“Now get started, darling.” And I removed my blouse, bra, jeans, and panties. I was naked and stepped into the shower. The Judge sat in his chair and watched as the water ran over me. I was like an exotic animal he could view when he wanted.
He insisted my showers take ten or more minutes.
“So I can enjoy them to the fullest darling,” he said. It was a bizarre dance we did. But it was what it was. It was easy for me to forget he was watching. Though if I forgot to lather something he’d remind me.
I let the water run over me and pretended The Judge wasn’t there. I pretended I wasn’t there. I pretended that I didn’t want Ryder so much that it made every cell in my body ache.
I heard The Judge say my name, but ignored him, I blocked it out when he repeated, over and over again, “My darling baby.”
I really was an exotic bird he was going to keep in a cage.
He watched me dry off and kept his eyes on me as I put the dress on he’d bought. But, mercifully, he kept his hands to himself. I knew watching me tired him out and at the same time energized him.
I sat quietly on a kitchen stool as Daddy and The Judge met in my apartment. My mind was racing, but I was passive. I’d let them all think I was submissive and not to be worried about.
The two of them couldn’t look more different. Daddy, head to toe leather, iron gray hair taking over the black it used to be, and his tan skin. He was weathered from hard living and hard riding. His inner self and outer self-matched now. My mother had thought he was handsome and rugged back when she married him. I just thought he looked hard now.
It was no wonder she didn’t come near him or us really anymore. I wondered if I could talk The Judge into letting me travel to see her. A worry for later I supposed.
Richard, The Judge, there was nothing hard looking about him. Except for his eyes. He was twenty years older than Daddy. Where Daddy was weathered, he was withered. Any trace of youth was impossible to find on him. Except when he watched me. It was then that a spark appeared and it was that spark I was going to learn to control.
Daddy’s leather to The Judge’s ever present tailored business suit. Both men were in control of me and both, expected me to sit there, look pretty, and not interfere.
“Why in the world would you think that was a good idea, Sonny?”
“Great Wolves are trying to take this town. I’m not going to fucking let them.”
“So let me understand this, they’re repairing cars and offering, uh, protection?” The Judge said to Daddy. I pretended to care about my hair and makeup but the minute Daddy said Great Wolves I was listening. Closely.
“They’re soft. They’re trying to be legit. And they’re trying to expand here. I fucking won’t take it. They’re starting to send Grand City members here to Southwood.”
“So you spray painted the hardware store to retaliate?” The Judge’s sarcasm was clear.
“It was a message. Just the first. You know me.” Daddy got out a cigarette and lit it. No question of whether he was allowed to smoke in my apartment. I hated the smell.
“I do know you. Just don’t let any bloodshed spread to civilians. That makes it more difficult. So what do you want from me?” The Judge’s end of the bargain. In exchange for me, he did what Daddy needed. He was corrupt. I wondered about how many light sentences he doled out for the Devil’s Hawks. How many cases were thrown out due to lack of evidence?
And for the first time I wondered if there was a way I could find out. I felt ugly and dark about the universe listening to the two of them. I couldn’t go on this way. My mind raced.
“Blood goes where it goes. You’ll do what you always do. Get my guys off when I tell you. And tell your kid to divert the patrols away from downtown. I need access. Also, you’ve got three guys coming before you tomorrow morning. They walk. Evidence problems is my guess.”
“Three?”
“Yep. I’ve got work for them to do. We’re going to take care of the out-of-towners first.”
“Do I want to know?” the Judge asked.
“No. Don’t worry. We’ll leave it nice and clean.”
“Fine.”
“That will grind the new Great Wolves Southwood into dust. Without Grand City they got nothing. Easy to dismantle.” Daddy dropped his cigarette on my wood floor and turned to look at me. He ground it out with his boot. It was another little gesture to be sure I knew where I stood.
Then he turned back to The Judge after never saying a word to me.
“Keep a close eye on her too. She kn
ows one of those Grand City dildos. One I’ve got special plans for.” Terror seeped from my heart ran through my body. It settled in my stomach and left a sick feeling. Daddy walked out but not before letting me know he planned to hurt Ryder.
I replayed everything Daddy had just said. My mind raced.
It took me a minute to realize that The Judge was holding a hand out to me. He didn’t fire questions about Daddy’s last statement to me. That was something at least.
“Come on darling. I’ll have the floor repaired.” I stood up. We had his event to go to. How could I get out of it? How could I warn Ryder?
“Thank you. It’s okay.”
“How he is your father I’ll never understand.” Richard put a kiss on my cheek. When I set aside his creepy voyeurism and totally corrupt actions on the bench The Judge did treat me gently. He was offended by my father for me. But in the end, he was also afraid of him. I could see that. It was very clear that my father could and did murder people to maintain his power.
“I take after my mother.”
“She must be exquisite.” He said and his driver whisked us away to the dinner event.
I quietly did my duty as Richard’s fiancé at his event. All the while taking apart each sentence Daddy had said.
He was going to kill Ryder and some other member he was with.
He was going to do it soon.
I had to warn him. I had to get to him tonight.
Chapter Seventeen
Ryder
Jules had laid it out pretty clearly. She used me, and I’d let it happen. If I could turn a switch to cut off all I felt for her I would have done it gladly. Jules Maldonado was calculating, she was dangerous, and she was unfaithful.
And she was still the woman of my fucking dreams. I was so twisted up about that fact that it was screwing up my damn life.
I tried to focus on the garage. If I had Great Wolves Southwood Auto Body making cash, I’d be on my way. I’d be making cash from two operations, and I knew Sawyer would have me doing more in other cities. That ought to make me fucking happy and rich.
I should not worry about women. I should worry about my brothers and our concerns. Not the fucking princess of the Devil’s Hawks.
I thought about the Devil’s Hawks little stunt with the hardware store. That shit could not happen again, or Great Wolves Southwood would lose respect, security clients, and eventually their charter.
That night Ridge and I took patrols downtown. We would be visible and intimidating as shit.
While Ridge patrolled, I made myself a fixture in front of Do It Better Hardware. It was the middle of the night, and I wasn’t moving from the spot until sun up. Every once in a while, Ridge would drive by on his bike, and we’d check in.
All was well in Southwood and for the businesses we were hooked in with. We were making damn sure of it.
I had a lot of time to think about what Jules had said. The way she said it. And the way it felt to have her so close to me. I wanted to kiss her even while she was crushing my heart underneath her feet.
Standing guard gave me hours to pick at the fresh scab she’d left on my insides.
I heard the rumble of more than one engine, and it put me on alert. I was used to hearing Ridge’s engine this night but this time, there were at least three.
As I stood there Polk, Bret, Nero and Cruz drove up.
“You okay?” they asked me. All three looking on edge and scanning the streets.
“Yeah, what’s going on?”
Cruz spoke up.
“We had a visitor, a warning, a warning that The Hawks were headed to kill you tonight. We got out here for back up as soon as we could.”
“Well, I’m fine. There’s been no trouble all night here.”
I spoke too soon. We heard pops in the distance, and it was no mistaking the sound. Gunfire.
“Where’s Ridge?” Cruz asked.
“He’s doing ten block circles.”
“Let’s go,” Bret said, and she was right. If someone was trying to get me, getting Ridge was the next best thing.
We followed the direction of the gunfire, and it didn’t take long. There was Ridge’s bike, laid on the ground, Ridge was half under it, and the concrete was stained.
I got to him first.
“Ridge. Talk to me brother.”
“I’m okay. I think. Went through my side.” I lifted his leather and the t-shirt underneath it. The blood made it hard to see what had happened. Where exactly he’d been hit. I didn’t trust him to tell me he was okay.
“Shit, there it is.” It was his side. No way to know what it hit, but it also looked like it made its way out the back.
“I think it went straight through,” Ridge said.
“Like you’re a fucking medical doctor now?” I replied.
“We need to get him to the hospital,” Bret said. And she was right.
“Yeah, fine. Fine.” Ridge said, and he was looking as pale as the moon that lit the deserted street.
“Call an ambulance,” I said.
“Wait, you gotta listen,” Ridge said.
“They’re trying to find you. That’s what they asked me. I flipped the bird.”
“Who warned you guys to come find me?” I turned to Cruz and company.
“Sonny’s daughter,” Cruz said.
I looked at Bret.
“Jules, she said she needed to find you and that she knew her Daddy had plans for you tonight.”
“Where is she now?”
“We left her at the shop. We told her to stay there,” Cruz said.
“Oh my God,” Bret said almost at the same time I did.
“What?” Polk asked. All three of us were struggling to get Ridge and his bike out of the road. Ridge was barely conscious, but he got it too.
“They’re headed to the club. They have to be,” Ridge said.
“Fuck,” Cruz said.
“Ryder go,” Ridge said.
“I’ll stay here with him,” Bret said, “You guys need to move fast.”
I patted Ridge on the shoulder.
“I’m sorry man, I gotta.”
“It’s fine.” And I was back on my bike before the one syllable word, fine, finished leaving Ridge’s mouth.
Cruz and Polk trailed behind me. I hoped we were wrong. I hoped they were looking for me and were happy to settle the score with Ridge.
But I knew I was right. And Jules. I was right about her too.
The Great Wolves Auto Body Shop should have been closer to the club. I knew that. Damn it, I knew it in the beginning. It was too far from the main club, and that meant if the club would be at their Den while the shop stood alone and unprotected.
If Jules was there, alone, God knew what was going to happen. No one from The Den would see her or would know shit was going down.
We drove up to the shop. The door was wide open. The front window was shattered.
I raced into the shop and had to blink to process what I was seeing. The front waiting room was empty, the larger work bay was filling with black smoke. But through the smoke, I saw her.
There was Jules, in a fucking formal dress again, in three-inch heels, and covered in soot. She was wielding a garden hose.
“Ryder, I’m trying. But it’s spreading.” Flames were shooting from the floor and up the wall.
“What the hell are you doing here? You need to get out.” There were at least two-dozen things that could explode in that room.
“Daddy’s guys threw a Molotov Cocktail. I had to wait for them to drive off before I started.” I put an arm around her waist and took the hose.
Polk, Nero, and Cruz started to file in. They’d unlocked a few of the fire extinguishers and got to work on the line of flames. It actually looked like they were making headway. I didn’t want to lose the shop, but I wanted Jules out. Now.
“Here, here it’s crawling up here.” She had an iron grip on the little hose.
“They got this. You’re done.” I lifted her up and hoiste
d her up on my shoulder. I was getting her out of there.
I hauled out the front door and into the fresh air. She tried to head back in, and I put a handout.
“It’s almost out. I know I can help. I’m so sorry, my Daddy’s club did this. It’s all my fault.”
“Jules. JULES!”
I grabbed her by the shoulders. She looked from the shop to me.
“I came here to warn you. And I panicked when Bret said you weren’t here.” She looked afraid. I didn’t know of what. Me, the fire, her dad?
“I thought what we had was all an act. That’s a lot of trouble to go through for an act?” She pulled away from my grasp.
“Look, you’re okay, your shop’s okay. I’ve got to get out of here, my car’s around back. I can’t be seen.” She wanted the hell away from me that was clear. But she’d also risked God knows what to get here.
“Ryder, get in here a minute. We need you.” Cruz was calling me. I turned back to the shop to try to hold him off and in that instant, she pulled away.
“Jules!”
“Ryder, we’ve almost got it, help us out in here. I need to get the guys from the club to get over here.” Cruz was right. I needed to be in there. But I also needed more from Jules.
A white Jeep Wrangler peeled out of the parking lot. Dammit. She was out as fast as she was here. I had unfinished business with Jules, but I had a literal fire to put out in front of me.
I walked back into the shop, resigned that saving it was my immediate priority, but distracted as hell. I didn’t care what Jules said. I was going to get answers.
As soon as we cleaned up the mess that the Devil’s Hawks had caused.
After an hour it looked pretty clear that we may have saved the shop from a massive fire but not from damage. There would be no repairs to cars for a while, but the building was intact. The cars of our clients were also unscathed.
The idea that I needed them to get insurance was at the top of my responsible business advice list. If those cars would have been destroyed so would have any hope of this club moving forward.
