Adding talking to him to my mental list of things to do, I go into the bathroom. When I come out, Cyn’s disappeared. To get dressed I expect, in her own room.
My mind keeps whirling. She was in my bed. For company or protection? Had she been scared fucking Kid would go to hers?
By the time I’ve put on my prothesis, a clean pair of jeans and a fresh t-shirt, I’m in a foul mood. My brain’s in a mess about something I can do nothing about, so I’m channelling my anger into something I can. Getting more enraged by the second, I stomp down the stairs as I search for my target, my eyes zooming in when I find him.
“Prospect!” I yell, then have to send waves of stand down toward Connor and Curtis, and even Wrangler who’d jumped at the tone of my voice.
I point to my eyes, then to Kid. “You and me, Kid. Outside now.”
Kid’s expression is almost comical. He swallows hard, making his Adam’s apple bob. With a stiff posture but a steady gait, he goes to the door of the clubhouse and exits. I follow straight after.
Grabbing his shoulder, I swing him around and plant my fist in his face.
“What the fuck, Niran?” Dart’s voice sounds behind me, as ruefully, Kid rubs his jaw.
I toss a reply to the VP over my shoulder. “Prospect’s been making my sister uncomfortable, and I fuckin’ want to know why.”
“That true, Kid?” Dart growls as he comes up alongside me.
The prospect’s eyes are wild, flicking from me to Dart, and then back again. Another rapid swallow, then he opens his mouth. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t, huh?” As my fist clenches, Dart’s hand steadies my arm. I give him a sharp look, but recognising his warning, continue to use words. For now. “Cyn came to my room last night as she was too frightened to stay in hers. Was that because you threatened to fuckin’ visit?”
Loudly, Dart sucks in air and again, but this time more forcibly asks, “Is this true, Prospect?”
Kid holds his hands in a gesture of surrender and cries out, “No, I swear it’s not. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I only spoke to her for a moment.”
Taking a step closer, I crowd him. “What did you fuckin’ say to her?”
He looks past me to Dart, then his worried eyes come back to my face. He slumps in front of me as he admits, “I told her she needs to have some fuckin’ self-respect. She came on to me, man, not the other way around.”
She wouldn’t do that. She might be naïve as fuck, innocent for all that she’d lived with that fucker Hester, but she wouldn’t make a move on a member of the club.
“You fuckin’ liar.” I advance on him.
“Niran?” an anxious voice calls out, and Curtis, brave that he is, comes running up and steps between us. Prospect he may be, but like me, he’d been in the Marines. Showing that backbone that he needed to serve, he places one hand on my chest and pushes firmly, keeping in position between me and Kid.
“I was fuckin’ there,” he says, his voice full of scorn. “Kid’s right. She was flirting with him all night, trying to get him to give her a drink, then inviting him up to her room. Sounds to me like she had second thoughts and might have gotten worried he’d take her up on the offer. Kid did nothing to encourage her.”
“I wouldn’t, Niran.” Now Kid speaks for himself. “Even if I wasn’t after my patch, I wouldn’t go after a bitch like her.”
“Why the fuck not?” I find myself asking. “’Cos she’s Black?”
Curtis snorts and at the same time Kid’s eyes go wide.
“Because she’s too fuckin’ young—maybe not by the calendar, but fuck, Niran, hate saying this seeing as she’s your sister, but that girl would be hard work.”
“Man’s got a point, Niran,” Dart exclaims by my side.
Turning, I shoot him a look, still undecided as to who to believe. My sister, or the prospects. If she’d accused another member who’d already proved his loyalty to the club, I wouldn’t have hesitated for a moment. But these aren’t yet members. They both still need to earn our trust.
It’s hard to discount the word of Curtis, he’ll soon be patched in, and has proved his worth. But Kid? He’s too new and yet has to show his true colours.
And my problem is, if I believe him, and not her, it doesn’t bode well for her continuing to stay at the club. Pitting brother against brother, or even brother against prospect, isn’t going to go down well.
As Dart confirms with his next words. “A word, Brother?” When he jerks his head, I follow him a discreet distance away. He leans in and speaks quietly. “Kid’s got one thing right. Cyn’s been hard work. I know you’ve been tied up with Saffie, but that’s left her running wild around the club. I believe Kid, I’m afraid. I think she’s trying to stir up trouble.”
Pinching the brow of my nose, I take in a deep breath, wait for a second, then breathe it out. As I do, some of my rage and bad temper leaves me. “Why, Dart?”
I don’t expect him to have an answer, but he does. “Because she wants your undivided attention, which you can’t give, spending half your time at work, and the nights with your woman.”
I have an immense amount of respect for Dart. It was he who’d originally approached me three years back, and it was his suggestion I should join the Devils. At the time, I’d been wary of joining what was clearly an all-White club, but he’d read the situation correctly, and knew the brothers wouldn’t give a damn about the colour of my skin. I have tremendous respect for his judgement. Which leads me to wonder, is he right, now? I grimace, knowing I have to at least give his theory merit.
“You know what will happen if she does anything like this again, don’t you?” He poses it as a question, but I hear the unspoken threat within.
I nod, knowing only too well. No woman, family or not, can cause trouble amongst the members. Or prospective ones, come to that.
She’s apparently made an unfounded accusation. Surely, she knew I wouldn’t leave it like that? I’d already punched Kid, for fuck’s sake, and was prepared to do far worse to him.
Damn it!
“I’ll speak to her, Dart.” I start to turn away, then turn back. “For your information, I’ll be here more now. Saffie and I have decided to cool things for a while. Kid?” I call out to the prospect, gaining his wary attention. Nodding my head toward his face, I instruct, “Best get some ice on that.”
His sharp look is penetrating, but I don’t give him more. Instead, I stomp my way back into the clubhouse, roaring Cyn’s name.
“She left a while back with Salem,” Snips informs me. His head tilts. “Problems?”
I don’t waste my breath explaining, just turn on my heel and stride through the clubhouse, exiting through the kitchen and taking the fastest route to the second hangar where Salem has his customisation business.
Sure enough, Cyn’s seated at the front desk. She’s shuffling paperwork. Hearing me approach, she looks up.
Placing my hands on the desk, I loom over her. “Never, ever, fuckin’ lie to me again.”
She rears back, and her eyes go wide and innocent.
So close I know she can feel my heated breath on her face, I expand, “I’ve spoken to Kid. It was all you, not him.”
“He’s the liar,” she fires back, her cheeks reddening.
“Got a witness that says otherwise, Cyn.”
“You believe the prospects more than your sister?” Her wide-eyed look of pretend innocence doesn’t fool me at all.
Rolling my eyes when she all but admits she knew Curtis was there by her use of the plural, I tell her through gritted teeth, knowing now that I’m convinced and I mean it, “Yes.”
Her mouth snaps shut, she looks down, then to the side, anywhere it seems rather than to meet my eyes. Then she shrugs. “Maybe I misunderstood what he was saying.”
Just like that my rage is back with a vengeance. “You’re fuckin’ lucky you’re not packing your bags this morning. That shit won’t fly here, darlin’. You got that?
”
“Niran, I…” Her voice trails off.
Salem appears from the back. “You ordered those parts yet, Cyn?” He gives me a chin lift then narrows his eyes. “What the fuck is going on?”
Shaking my head, my accusing gaze still on my sister, I give him an honest reply. “I don’t have a fuckin’ clue, Brother. But you keep an eye on her. She’s fuckin’ trouble.”
I need to get out of here. Need to think on this shit. Think about what more Cyn expects from me. Do I owe her? Fuck no. I should I get her to pack up and leave.
Difficult? Mom didn’t tell me the half of it.
I’m not cut out to be a blood brother. And, after Saffie’s dismissal last night, I’m not qualified to be a friend.
Chapter Twenty-One
Niran
Time drags when you want it to pass. Like when you’re a kid waiting for Christmas which never seems to speed up and come. Four weeks feels like a fucking long time.
For the first few days, I’m hopeful Saffie will come around. Then I start accepting this time apart will only give her space to do what she needed to do, to come to terms with the tragedy that had happened to her, for her to learn how to wear the cloak of her sadness without it overwhelming her. By finding herself on her own, she might be learning how to cope. If I give her some time, she might accept me back in her life.
My missing leg will never heal, I still use a crutch from time to time. Saffie, though, she can mend and not need to be propped up anymore. While I would have stood beside her, there was too much between us that was wrong. And for her, already trying to deal with her grief, the differences were insurmountable.
On the other hand, leaving her alone might not make her miss me, it may only make her more determined to cut me out of her life. As time goes on, it’s this latter premise I settle on, and I start to have no expectation I’ll be hearing from her when the month is up.
I miss her more than I expected. My life which seemed so perfect before isn’t anymore. My brothers who once were my everything, can’t completely fill the hole that she left. But it’s all I have, because, if as I suspect, the weeks will pass with no contact from her, I’ll know her decision without having to ask her. I’ll have no place in her life.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow. She’d come to mean more to me than I’d anticipated.
I could wallow in misery, or, in preparation for the worst, throw myself back into the world that stops me from being a part of hers.
To that end, and no longer with a reason to be distracted, I look to deal with my other problem, Cyn.
After the stunt she pulled with Kid, I placed a call home. It wasn’t fair on my brothers for her to stay longer.
Instead of Mom, I got Grover. It was, to say the least, a strange phone call.
“It’s Niran. Mom there?”
“I’d like to talk to you myself, Niran.” There’s the sound of footsteps as though he’s moving to another room. My suspicion is confirmed when I hear a door firmly being closed. “How are you doing? You still with the club?”
Pulling my phone away from my ear, I stare at it in consternation. Not knowing how else to respond, I say simply, “Yeah.”
He chuckles. “I’ve known all along, Niran. For your mother’s sake, I’ve kept eyes on you. I kind of know why you hid it from us, and your mom still doesn’t have a clue. But, Niran, I’m ex-Army. One or two of my cohorts did the same as you—joined clubs when they got back.”
You could have knocked me down with a fucking feather. “And you still sent Cyn to me, knowing my life?”
“Could have done worse.” He sounds unrepentant. “You know Peg? He’s in Tucson.” I’ve heard of the man, and I tell him so. “Yeah, well, one of my friends who stayed in longer, he was in the same unit as Ron Rinter as he was known then. Was impressed as fuck with the man and kept up with him. He’s assured me the Satan’s Devils are an okay club.”
So blown away that he knows, and that he has no issue with it, it takes me a moment to remember the reason why I called. “Cyn’s stirring up trouble, Grover. She needs to go home.”
Another laugh, but this time there’s no mirth in it. “Rather she didn’t do that. Her, your mother, well, just let’s say, her mother and I don’t see eye to eye on some things.”
“Like what?” I tense at the suggestion there are issues in their marriage.
“Like whether Cyn should get back with Hester again.”
What the fuck? “You want her to go back to that abusive fucker?”
“No, no,” he refutes fast. “But your mom’s not quite of the same opinion.”
“Why the fuck would she even consider that?”
There’s quiet for a moment, then, “It’s complicated, Son.”
Once again, I move the phone from my ear and shake my head in confusion. It’s the first time in my life and far too late he’s indicated any relationship other than duty between us. I get suspicious why he’s now claiming it.
“Complicated is what’s at my end,” I rasp at him when I next speak.
“Please, Niran. Keep her with you a while longer. Until I can make sure Hester’s staying away.”
Flabbergasted by several elements of the call, still not understanding why in his view, Cyn’s in the best place, after a few more unsatisfactory exchanges, I find myself reluctantly agreeing.
Seeing as I’m stuck with her for the present, I determine to make the best of it. To that end, I’ve worked hard at cultivating a better relationship with Cyn. I’ve given her my time, both in the evenings and during the days at weekends. She’s never come to my room again, nor made any more accusations against any of my brothers or prospects.
I’ve taken her to the world-famous zoo in San Diego, spent a day with her at SeaWorld, driven across the Coronado Bridge, and had actually enjoyed being a tourist for a while as together we explored the Old Town and sought out new restaurants to try. I find out much about her, though not anything of importance. She likes creatures with fur, not so much those with scales and has a particular dislike for snakes. She loves ice cream and stuffing her face with junk food like hotdogs and burgers. She gasped when the view we had from Coronado showed the planes picking their way through the skyscrapers, and she giggled like an excited child when we watched the seals lazily basking on the beach at La Jolla. To my surprise, seeing old sights through her fresh eyes, our outings didn’t prove too much of a chore, even if I kept wishing it were another woman by my side.
The only blight in the new relationship between us is that the one thing I haven’t done is have her ride on my bike. Even when the club had a beach barbeque, she’d gone in the truck with the club girls when I’d resorted to using the excuse that with a prosthetic leg, I was worried her extra weight might unbalance the bike. I don’t think she accepted it, but to her credit, she didn’t complain too much.
Have I developed a love for my sister? The stark truth I have to admit is that I have not. I’ve come to a begrudging acceptance of her, and while I acknowledge the blood relationship, she wouldn’t be my friend out of choice. Our views are often one hundred and eighty degrees apart. For instance, however much I try to talk to her, she still believes she was the victim when Grover chased her boyfriend off.
“Hey, Cyn. Can you give us a moment? I want to talk to your brother.”
Looking up at Kink, Cyn pouts, waiting for me to tell her she can stay, but when I keep my mouth shut, she gets up and walks off in a huff.
Kink’s eyes follow her as she reaches the bar, then turns to me. “She’s cramping your style, Brother.”
I snort. “You noticed?”
“Yeah. Pretty damn obvious when you’re spending every moment with her. Don’t you think it’s time she went home?”
“I’m working on it,” I tell him. And I am. Trouble is, Cyn’s spun Grover and Mom a cock and bull story about having a great job and how she’s paying her way. Only fifty percent of that is correct, but she’s got them fooled. Mom’s over the moon thinking she�
�s taken responsibility for herself at last, and even congratulated me on the good job I was doing. Despite what Grover had said, she’d seemed in no hurry for her to get on a plane and return to Michigan. It seemed at odds with what Grover had been saying. I made a mental note to try to speak to him again soon.
“When was the last time you got your dick wet?”
Through lowered eyelashes, I raise my gaze. “What dick? Darn thing probably fell off.”
It’s his turn to snort. Lifting a hand, he signals to the bar, holding up two fingers. The prospect comes across, rather cautiously.
“Thanks,” I tell Kid, as he places my beer down. I’ve gone out of my way to go easy on him since I’d punched him for no reason.
Kid shrugs my thanks off, and sidles away again.
“He’s a good kid,” Kink observes, staring after him.
“Fuckin’ know that.” And for putting that doubt in my head, I’ve still not quite forgiven Cyn.
Kink raises his beer, swallows a few times, then puts it down. “You heard anything from Saffie? Your month’s almost up, isn’t it?”
My mouth twists. “It is. But I’m thinking I’ll leave it there. If she wants me, she’s got my number. She can get in touch.” I know she’s still in the land of the living. I’ve had Curtis go to the store where she works a few times, minus his cut, of course. When he reported he’d gotten a smile out of her, I knew she was on the mend.
“Yeah. She had a real thing about bikers.” Kink knows, this isn’t the first time we’ve had a chat. Those early days after she first banished me, he’d caught me off guard and extracted exactly what had gone down. A bottle of whisky may have been involved at the time.
But there was no reason to keep that a secret. When I’d returned from that final visit to Saffie, I came back vowing to move heaven and earth until I found the man who was responsible for stifling a relationship between us before it started.
None of my brothers like that she’d been raped, by anyone, let alone a biker.
Avenging Devil Part 1: Satan’s Devils MC - San Diego Chapter #3 Page 21
