by Jamie Begley
Stud steadied her, not removing his hand, either to balance her or hold her back from Penni.
“Want me to get you another beer?” Penni taunted the one named Killyama who had apparently set off World War III.
It was only when Shade and Knox arrived in the midst of the brawl that the men were able to get the women back under control. Jackal managed to get Penni to Shade’s front porch as the men ordered the women to clean up the mess they had made. He forced her to sit down on the swing, trying to give her time to gather her control. He didn’t want to take her inside. He was afraid she would scare the children.
“Want to tell me what happened?”
“No.” Penni used her foot to move the swing. “Lily didn’t tell me I wasn’t the only one who wanted Train.” She’d had a crush on Train for so long she didn’t know how to handle it now that she had found out another woman might have the same feelings.
“Why not?”
“She said she thought they hated each other.”
“I can see that.”
Train and Killyama were yelling at one another right this minute.
“Those women should take anger management classes.”
Penni sighed. “To be honest, I started it.”
“Because you were jealous over Train?”
“Because I wasn’t.”
Jackal tensed.
“I don’t know why I …” Penni looked away.
“Sucked my dick?”
Penni looked up at the porch ceiling. “Yes.”
“Anytime you want to do it again, I’m ready, willing, and able.”
“I’m not going to do that again.”
“Yes, you will.” Jackal stuck out his foot to stop the swing. He expected her to argue, but she was watching Train and Killyama disappear into the gazebo.
“He’s never going to love me, is he?”
“No.” No, he wouldn’t. Jackal himself would make damn sure of that. Train had years to make a move had he wanted to. Jackal was just glad he hadn’t. “He’s being deployed in two weeks.”
She turned to look at him. “How long?”
“I don’t know.”
“Oh.” Penni stood up. “I guess there isn’t any need for us to pretend any longer.” She started to move toward the door, but Jackal reached out, grabbing her arm.
“You weren’t pretending when you kissed me, and you weren’t pretending when you went down on me.”
“Don’t be a jerk.” She tried to yank away from him.
“How does me telling you the truth make me a jerk? I’m the one being taken advantage of here.”
“What?” Penni asked incredulously.
“Did we have an audience in the basement I didn’t know about?”
“No.”
“I was real with you when I kissed you. You’re the one who doesn’t want to admit we have something going on.”
“Like what?” she snapped.
“I don’t know. If you ever get your head out of your ass and quit worrying about Train, we could find out.”
“I don’t want to know.”
“Why not? Am I not rich enough for you?”
“Money doesn’t matter to me!”
“It matters a hell of lot to me. I might not be rich, but I work for Henry as head of security and a bouncer, and I’ve saved up every dime I’ve earned off the Predators.”
“Selling drugs and God knows what else,” she scoffed.
“He does know, and I’m cool with that. We don’t sell on the streets. As a matter of fact, the ones we do sell to know what they get is clean and won’t get them sent to the ER. And we don’t finance cartel or gangbangers. What they do with it after we sell to them is on them. None of us takes that shit, and none of us bring it into the club.”
“You’re honestly telling me you have a clear conscious?” She gaped at him, no longer trying to pull away.
“I didn’t say that. I’ve done things for the club, but I gave my oath as the enforcer, and I won’t break it.”
“Whatever it takes?”
“Yes.”
“Kidnapping wasn’t the worst thing you’ve ever done, was it?”
“No.”
“Have you ever killed someone?”
“Yes.”
Each question, she became paler.
“Do you sleep with …?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever raped a woman?”
“No.” With that answer, he had a clear conscious. “How do you think Shade would answer the same questions you asked me?”
“Shut up. I’m not talking about him; I’m talking about you.”
“You can’t excuse Shade for the same offenses and then use them to not have a relationship with me. Are you going to walk away from Shade?”
“No,” Penni answered.
“Then don’t walk away from me.”
“I love Shade.” Her eyes met his, and the love he saw within them for her brother was unmistakable.
“How do you feel about me?”
“I don’t know.” The gaze became troubled, showing her confusion.
“Then let’s find out.” Jackal rose to his feet, taking her into his arms. “It’s good, Penni, really good.”
He wanted to slide underneath her defenses until there was no getting away from him. If that meant giving Penni time, he could do that.
She bit her lip, staring up at him. “Can you at least try to not be so bad?”
“I can try.”
“Will you try to get along with Shade?”
That took effort to answer. “I’ll try.”
“There’s going to be one deal breaker.” She pressed her hands flat on his chest.
“What is it?”
“If I ever find out you’re messing around on me, whatever this is between us is over.”
“I can live with that.” He smiled down at her. He tried to place a kiss on her mouth, but she stopped him.
“I’m serious, Jackal. I hate men who cheat.”
Thank God Lily had never complained about that to her. She didn’t think she could get past that as much as she loved Shade.
Jackal raised two fingers on his hand. “I promise.”
Penni melted against him, her face clearing. “We’re going to have to get home before we can seal this deal. I can’t … you know … do it in Shade’s house.”
Jackal straightened. “That could be a couple of weeks. There’s a hotel in town.”
“I’m not going to lose my virginity in a sleazy hotel.”
“Babe, I don’t think you can still be a virgin with the size of the dildo you had in your nightstand at home.”
Penni began hitting him on his shoulders. “I never used it! I was waiting to … use it for a toy when I was involved with someone.”
Jackal dodged her blows. “Damn, I wish I had known that.”
“Why?”
“Because I cut it up and threw it away.”
“You’re joking.”
“Nope. Babe, all you need is my dick.”
“I thought you saw it? Clearly, you didn’t see how big it was.”
Penni’s giggles stopped when Jackal ran a thumb over her bottom lip.
“I’ll tell you what; if you can buy a rubber dick as big as mine that feels as good as mine, I’ll buy it for you.”
Jackal squashed another bug that came too close. “How the hell can you handle these bugs?”
Mag smashed one on the banister with a bright purple fly swatter. “It’s so bad tonight because it’s getting dark, and it just rained.” She picked up her glass jar, taking a big drink.
It was his turn to watch the front door. He could easily see down the road from where the house had been built. Viper had made it impossible for anyone to attack the front without being seen. He needed to tell Ice he needed to step up his game.
“You don’t want to go inside and play cards?”
Since Cash and Rachel had brought her here, Cash’s grandmother had spent mos
t of her time playing cards and sitting on the front porch. Usually, there were two men posted on duty, but one would invariably make an excuse to leave when she was wheeled out.
“You gonna marry that little girl?”
“She’s not little.”
She made him a sound like he was a dirty old man. “You know what I meant,” she snapped. “Well, are you?”
“Couples don’t get married; they live together.”
“If a man ever told me that when I was younger, I’d have cut off his balls.”
“You know, I found out something interesting about women. They all threaten to cut a man’s dick off.”
“It’s because a man will sit up and take notice when their dick is threatened. A woman cares more about how much a man carries in his back pocket than what’s behind his zipper.” The old woman sniffed. “Believe me; sex isn’t all that.”
“Then you’ve never done it with the right person.”
“You offering?”
Jackal discreetly backed up a step or two. “God, no.”
Mag cackled. “You’re lucky I’m not twenty years younger.”
“How did your husband die?” Jackal wondered if it had been with the helping hand of Cash’s grandmother.
“God took him with a heart attack.”
Jackal sat down on the banister, setting down the glass jar beside him. “You sure it wasn’t poisoning?”
Mag was still cackling when Penni and Rachel came outside.
“You behaving, Mag?” Rachel asked.
“What do you think? It’s not like I can do shit stuck in this wheelchair.”
Penni moved closer to Jackal. Slipping his arm around her waist, he pulled her back against him.
Penni wrinkled her nose up at him. “Is that smell what I think is?”
“No.” Mag pressed the glass jar between the side of her wheelchair and her thigh.
“You ready to go inside?” Rachel asked, gripping the back of Mag’s wheelchair.
“Might as well. The good Lord might come tonight.”
Jackal buried his head between Penni’s shoulder blades as Rachel and Mag went inside.
“Did you get Mag drunk?”
“Don’t blame me. Greer dropped it off when he passed through on his way to Genny’s house.”
“Well, if God does come, she won’t feel it.”
“Rider was supposed to take over an hour ago. Want to sneak me into your bedroom? Or do you want to go upstairs to my room? He can have watch duty for the rest of the night.”
“I’m not going to lose my virginity when twenty men could hear it.”
Jackal picked up his glass, taking a swig. He would make damn sure they wouldn’t hear a thing. The shape he was in, it would take him longer to get it out of his jeans than to actually fuck her.
“Are you drinking moonshine?”
“The whole it’s burning in my stomach takes my mind off my dick.” Jackal teased the back of her neck.
“Ah … You’re so romantic. Uh … Jackal?”
“What?” He crossed his arms over her breasts, pulling her back to his chest.
“Do you see the fire coming from town?”
27
The dark sky was filled with red flames that could be seen over the trees. Penni moved to the edge of the porch, terrified for Genny. The flames were coming from the direction her house was located.
Jackal’s cell phone began ringing, but before he could answer it, Viper, Shade, Ice, and Max ran out the front door.
“Genny’s house is on fire,” Viper announced, halting as the other men ran down the steps toward their motorcycles. “We’re going to check it out. No one other than us gets in or out.”
Rider came out the door, taking a position next to Jackal. “Is Genny okay?”
“Yes. Greer and Tate took her to the police station to make sure she was safe while the fire station puts out the fire.” With that, Viper ran down the steps, not taking any longer to answer their questions.
“Go inside,” Jackal told Penni.
She didn’t argue, wanting to be with Lily and John. However, Penni did stop and grab his T-shirt, telling him, “Be careful,” trying to tell him she was worried without being all girly.
It was hard for her to know how to react. She had considered him the enemy for so long the new feelings he had roused in her made it difficult to respond to him normally.
Jackal didn’t have that problem, though. “Go take care of Lily. I’ll be fine.”
Penni nodded, reaching toward the sky and trying to pull down any good Karma she could, worried about Genny.
Seeing the room full of men tightened the fear in her chest. They were located at every window, two at the door. The women had been ushered upstairs where Cruz, Hennessy, and Crash stood with guns. The large one in Crash’s hands had her rushing through the room and into the kitchen.
“Holy Shit.” There were almost as many men in the kitchen as in the living room. Lucky and Train were guarding the back door.
“Where are you going?” Train asked as she drew close.
“Shade’s house.”
“They’re down in the basement with Beth.”
Penni nodded before going downstairs.
She steadied her nerves, not wanting Lily to see she was worried.
Bliss, Diamond, Willa, and Winter sat stoically on the couch, Lily held a sleeping John, and Beth paced back and forth, watching their children play. Cash, Razer, Drake, and Stump stood by the door that led to the outside. There were more men upstairs than there were down here to protect the children.
Cash saw her staring at the door with a worried expression and assured her, “The door is steel, and the window is bulletproof. If I hit the button, the door at the top of the steps closes, and no one can get in or out.”
“Is it steel, too?” Penni asked, reaching down to pick up the pretty, little girl who had wrapped her arms around her legs.
“Yes.” Cash’s stony countenance wasn’t what she was used.
Penni was surprised that he had been willing to be left behind at the house, but now she knew. He would die to protect every woman and child in the room. All of the men would.
Bliss rose to take the beautiful child in her arms. “Sorry. When Darcy gets tired, she wants to be held.”
“I didn’t mind.”
Penni had met Bliss several times when she had visited Shade, but she had never become friends with her.
The love she held for the little girl she and Drake had adopted as she sat back down, singing softly to her, showed how content Bliss was in her new life.
“Does anyone know what’s going on?” Willa murmured, not wanting to wake Darcy who was beginning to fall asleep. “Lucky just told me to stay down here and then went upstairs.”
The men hadn’t told any of them what was going on, but they had come down here, anyway. It was a testament to the love these women felt toward their husbands—respecting and trusting that it was for their own good.
Unfortunately for them, Penni thought they deserved to know.
“There’s a fire at Genny’s home.” When Willa seemed about to jump off the couch, Penni reassured her, “She’s at the sheriff’s office; she’s fine.”
“Thank God.” Willa and the women didn’t want to alarm the children, so they talked softly.
Willa and Beth carried the children to Lucky’s bedroom, settling them so they could sleep as they waited.
“Chance and Noah think it’s a sleepover.” Beth had given up her pacing to sit down next to Lily, running her head over John’s hair. “He gets more beautiful every day. Women aren’t going to stand a chance from falling in love with him.”
“If he takes after his mama, it will be love at first sight.”
“That’s not exactly how I remember it.” Penni snorted. “You were afraid of your own shadow then. I had to drag you out of the dorm room to go to a party, and you hugged the wall the whole time.”
Lily laughed. “I may have been e
xaggerating a little bit.”
“A little?” Penni and the rest of the women laughed with her.
Diamond turned the television on, starting the third movie in the series, I’m Having a Baby with a Zombie.
“Uh … Diamond, do you think it’s a good idea to watch this now?” Penni really didn’t want to watch a zombie movie when the clubhouse was under attack. She personally didn’t think that a blood and guts movie would take their mind off their fears.
“If I die, when will I get to watch it again?” she retorted.
Cash, Razer, Drake, and Stump didn’t look like they appreciated her humor.
“You’re not going to die, but it will take our mind off being worried about Genny.” Penni settled down on the other side of Lily. She wanted to call Jackal to see what was going on, but she didn’t want to interrupt him.
Once the movie ended, they were about to start another one when Cash stopped them.
“They’re back.”
Penni followed the women upstairs, anxious to find out what had happened.
The living room was crowded, so Penni stood in the open doorway. She could barely see Genny shivering beneath a blanket.
“I’ll make some coffee,” Penni said to no one in particular, turning toward the kitchen and filling the empty pot.
Viper led Genny to the kitchen table, telling everyone, “Go to bed. The fire is out. Train, Rider, and Max will keep an eye on the house.”
The crowd began to dissipate.
Willa sat down next to Genny, taking her hands in her own. “What happened?”
“Greer took Genny to the grocery store. When he came back, he saw someone had been in the house. He got her out as the house exploded. Knox said the fire department thinks it was a gas leak.” Viper put an arm around Winter’s shoulder.
Penni stared at Genny in horror. She knew how much the woman had loved her new home.
“Was it intentional?”
“Yes,” Viper revealed the answer everyone had been waiting for.
Genny buried her face in her hands, which were shaking.
Hennessy, who was standing by the kitchen door, slammed his fist into the door, making it swing madly. The wood splintered as the door parted from the doorjamb then leaned drunkenly to one side.
