by Erin Trejo
“To sick to go on the run today but not too sick to stuff food down your throat?” I growl in his face. He looks at me confused before he looks to Smokey.
“I had a message on my cell I was off that run. Chugger was on,” He says. I narrow my eyes at him before glancing over my shoulder at Smokey. He looks as confused as I am.
“Where’s your phone?” Smokey roars. Jumbo points to the table. Smokey moves to get it but I hold Jumbo in place until I know otherwise because right now, it looks like he set them up to go down. At least in my eyes it does. Smokey scrolls through the phone before nodding at me. I release Jumbo and walk over to Smokey. Fire races its way through my veins.
“From Chugger. Says he was told that I said to take him off,” Smokey says. His tone is even but the rage is palpable.
“Who the fuck told Chugger then?” I ask more to myself.
“He didn’t say. Told me to lay low at home today,” Jumbo says, passing us both a beer. I take a long pull of mine but Smokey doesn’t touch his. He eyes that phone like it holds some kind of poison that he wants to get his hands on.
“I’m tired of this shit. Get the boys in church, would ya?” Smokey says. I nod once and head out the front door. As I go I hear Smokey yelling and glass breaking behind me. I’m sure Jumbo will be getting his ass handed to him pretty soon. He should never take the word of another brother like that. Orders come from the top and that’s that. As I’m lost in thought, I don’t pay attention to anything around me.
“Hey.” Her little voice sends jolts through my body. How the hell does a woman’s voice do that? My heart races as I turn to look at her. Her eye is bruised and her lip is cut. Not much different from when I asked Shay to get information from her. In three short strides, I’m in front of her, gripping her face in my hands, “What the fuck happened to you?” Lia takes a step away from me causing my hand to fall.
“I can’t keep messing with you, Draven. I’m sorry,” She says softly. What the hell? She can’t say that shit to me. Who the fuck does she think she is?
“Like fuck you can’t.” I step toward her but she holds her hand up, coming to rest on my chest.
“I’m sorry. It’s not like you really liked me or anything. It was just something to do.” Is she kidding me? Or is she right? Do I like her? I don’t fucking know what I like anymore but I know how I feel when I’m with her. It feels right. The world feels right. But I don’t know her. I don’t know why she’s here or what she’s doing with Ratt. I know nothing. I open my mouth to say something but what? What the fuck do you say to that?
“That’s how it is?” I ask her seriously. I have other business to handle but this came as a shock to me.
“It’s better this way.”
“Is it cause of Ratt? He threaten you again?” The thought alone pisses me off. I’ve hated Ratt from the day he stepped foot on this compound.
“Maybe. It doesn’t matter. I can’t be with you,” She says softly. I don’t miss the tear in her eye. I see it. Why is it there after only knowing me for a few months though? That’s as long as she’s been here but we’ve been together most of it.
I take another step into her space, forcing her hand to fall away from me and I hate it. That loss.
“You know where I am. Ratt will be dealt with one day. There’s bigger things I have to contend with right now than just him but you know how to find me, Lia.” I swipe the tear that trickles down her cheek before walking away from her.
Why is my life a fuck up? I knew she wasn’t more than a fuck. I knew I was only fucking her for information although I’ve never actually gotten any. Or is that really what the fuck I was doing?
Chapter 16
“Hawk’s bein’ held. Chugger and Mason are bein’ released as we speak. Ruger’s over there pickin’ them up but here’s the problem. Someone told Chugger that I okay’d Jumbo bein’ off the run. It was never ok with me. I never said shit! You see the issue?” Smokey asks looking around the room. I glance over at Crow, watching the way his eyes darken.
“We have a rat or we have more than one?” He asks. Smokey shakes his head, running his hand through his hair.
“Hard to say at this point. I wouldn’t think there would be more but there is a lot of shit comin’ our way. They are spacin’ it out too. I called off the shipment pickup this weekend. I rescheduled it and there are only a few that know about it. I wanna keep it that way,” Smokey says, blowing out a breath. I sit back in my chair and let it all sink in. How did we get to this point? How are we housing a rat and not know who it is? This is something that weighs heavy on everyone’s mind. I know it does. It’s like a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. You know something’s there but you can’t place it.
“While we’re on shit. We need someone to go over and handle Bee’s and his brother. Easy take out. Don’t care who it is, it just needs done,” Smokey adds. Thoughts of Lia flash behind my eyes, only pissing me off more. She doesn’t want to see me anymore. What kind of shit is that? I think I’ve been relatively good to her considering I know shit about her.
“I got it,” I say quickly, taking those kills. I need to do something before my head actually explodes.
“Fine. You got it. Take whoever you want,” Smokey adds as I shake my head.
“Fuck that. I need the air.” I see Smokey open his mouth to protest but one look at my face, he doesn’t say a word. They all know me. I know them. We’re very much alike in a sense. When we need to be alone, it isn’t negotiable. We need it. We have to have it or we’ll lose our minds. Alone time for people like us is a way to unwind and sort through shit that eats through our minds. Without it, we’d kill for no reason.
“The rest of you keep your fuckin’ eyes open. Crow, I need you to check out the ammo we have down below. Make sure we ain’t runnin’ short before we move that shipment next week.” Crow nods his head before Smokey slams down the gavel. We all stand and head out when Crow stops me.
“What’s goin’ on in that head of yours?” He asks as he lights up a joint. He takes a few drags before passing it to me.
“I don’t like any of this shit. There’s too much all at once. It has to be inside work, yeah?” I look to him to see if he agrees. Crow shrugs before blowing out a ring of smoke and says, “Hard to say at this point. Not much as far as new people in here. Your guess is as good as mine, brother. Be careful on that ride.” I nod my head as he walks away. He’s right. The only new thing around here is Lia. Yet the thought of pinning it all on her is making me uneasy. It’s not a feeling I like to have.
I head out of the clubhouse and see Mona walking toward the houses. She glances around as though looking for something. I stay my distance but follow her never the less. Where the hell is she going? The further down the road I watch her go, it all clicks. She takes the last left and walks right up on Ratt’s porch like she owns it. She walks in much the same right before I hear yelling. I move closer trying to hear what’s being said but all I can hear is muffled voices. When I get even closer, my heart nearly drops.
“They can’t know anything, Lia!” Mona screams.
“I can’t do this, Mona. I fucking can’t. I don’t care what happens to me anymore.” Lia’s voice sounds pained. She sounds like she’s hurting but why?
“We don’t have a choice. We can’t let that shit get pinned on us. We didn’t do anything wrong,” Mona snaps at her. The world goes silent around me. My heart hammers in my chest. What the hell is going on with those two? What are they in the middle of?
“How much longer?” Lia asks, grabbing my interests.
“A few more months. Once I have enough, we can slip past Burgess easily,” Mona says. Who the fuck is Burgess?
“I don’t know if I can do it, Mona. I don’t know if I have a few more months in me. This is fucking killing me. He is killing me,” Lia cries loudly.
“Stay away from Draven. You are letting your feelings get in the way of what needs to be done. He’s just a bystander.” My hands clench at m
y sides. I knew something was going on but I had no fucking clue that Mona was involved in it. Why does Lia need to stay away from me? That right there gives me all the ammo I need. I will pursue Lia. I will take what I want from her and get any information that she has along with her body. She won’t know what hit her. The feeling in the pit of my stomach is raw. I can’t say that it’s those two girls that are setting shit up but they are for sure up to something. Now it’s just a matter of time until I figure it out and bring their whole little scheme crashing to the ground.
Chapter 17
Their words replay over and over in my mind. The longer I sit here waiting on Bee’s and his guys, the more it pisses me off. What are they up to? What does it have to do with the club, if anything? I don’t like the unknown. There’s never anything good there. Surprises are the worst thing in the world. I hear the rumble of the bikes and judging from the sound, there’s at least four. That works for me. Any more and I might have been outnumbered. I take one last drag of my cigarette and toss it to the ground. Pulling my gun from the back of my jeans, I shove myself off the cinder block I’d been sitting on. The bikes noise silences as I walk closer. Just as I suspected there are four guys. Bee is the first one I spot. I raise my gun and pull the trigger twice. Bee drops to the ground with a scream. I took out both his knees.
“The rest of you bitches put the guns down,” I say as I wave my gun between them. They all look to Bee. He nods and all the guns hit the dusty pavement in front of them.
“What the fuck is this about, Draven?” Bee howls as he holds his legs in his hands. I cock my head to the side and look at him as the pain filters into his vision.
“Oh, you know. Didn’t have much else to do with my night,” I tell him with a smirk on my face.
“Fuck you!” He spits. His guys laugh but I don’t know why. I’m the one with the gun here.
“Nah. I’m not Ruger. I don’t like it like that. You boys have a good ride?” I ask looking between his pricks. They are nothing. I know that but it’s the thrill of the game that gets me going.
“Why don’t you just tell me what you want,” Bee growls. I shrug my shoulders and walk a little closer, kneeling in front of him. I tap his chin with the barrel of my gun before I say, “I don’t think you have what I want.” His eyes widen before I stand back up.
“Thing is, I need information that nobody seems to be able to get. Ain’t that some shit? No one can find it. No one knows a goddamn thing! How fuckin’ ironic is that, Bee?” I ask feeling my emotions overload my senses.
“What information are you talkin’ about?” He asks as if he was really going to be helpful. There is no way that he can help me now.
“Rats, Bee. You ever had a rat?” I ask him as I pace back and forth in front of him.
“Once.”
“Oh yeah? How did you find out?” I ask calmly. He isn’t going to live as much as he thinks he is. I’m in a mood. I want to play with my prey. I want to watch the way he relaxes before I take out his boys in front of his eyes.
“He told on himself. Talked too much to the wrong people,” Bee says glaring up at me.
“What about when they don’t want to talk? What then?” I ask clearly fucking with his head. I don’t give one shit about what he has to say. His words mean nothing to me. Nothing he can say hasn’t already been tried and done by me.
“Threaten them all. Show them who the boss is,” I chuckle when he says that. I look down at the boss himself as he lies in a pool of his own blood. Who the hell is he showing?
“Ironic, isn’t it? You on the ground at your men’s feet. Grovelin’ like a bitch,” I say as his eyes snap to mine.
“Fuck you, Draven. You fuckin’ coward.” Coward? There’s one I haven’t been called before.
“Coward, huh? I prefer bastard. Executioner. Fucker. Coward is just somethin’ I will never be.” And as I raise the gun and place it between his eyes, those words ring true. I pull the trigger and watch his lifeless body fall to the ground before rapidly shooting the rest of his boys. The all drop like fucking flies without so much as a little fight. I knew they wouldn’t. That’s just how low they are on the food chain of life. They didn’t have a backbone.
“Coward. Maybe if I didn’t plan on goin’ back and fuckin’ Lia into my mattress I would be,” I grumble under my breath as I turn and head back to my bike. A new-found plan works its way through me. She might have a plan of her own but that is shit compared to mine. I will take what the fuck I want when I want. Just like I always have. She will do as she’s told if she wants to live to see another day. Climbing on my bike, I grin as I let that sink in. I’m going to make her wish she told the truth from the beginning. I’m going to make her suffer at my hands until she crumbles and falls. She won’t need to worry about life outside of those compound walls. She will fear every breath she takes. She will walk and feel the anger that I will instill in her body with every step she takes.
Yeah, I will ruin that girl and break down every wall she’s hiding behind. She doesn’t know it yet, but she just let her guard down and I’m stepping inside before she can pull it back up.
Chapter 18
“Nice to see you, motherfucker,” I tell Chugger as I throw my leg over my bike. He nods not looking all that thrilled. “What’s the look?” I ask the closer I walk to him. Chugger pulls the cigarette from his lips and glares at me.
“You think this shit is coincidental?” The anger in tone is warranted. I don’t like this shit any more than he does.
“Couldn’t say at this point. We’re still lookin’ brother. I know shit’s out of hand but let’s get Hawk out and put shit together.” Chugger nods his head not daring go against me. Ruger grunts next to him.
“Hawk’s pissed, man. I mean, fuckin’ damn near punched the guard pissed.” Mason chuckles making me laugh.
“I bet he is. He don’t need any more charges on him though. Smokey will get this shit handled,” I say. The guys nod before they look at the blood splattered on my shirt. I follow their gaze and shrug.
“All part of the job,” I smirk.
“Who?” Ruger asks.
“Bee’s and his boys. Little shit thought we were friendly. Told him that’s your gig.” We all chuckle as Ruger shrugs and walks away.
“He’s been on one, Draven. Not like normal. This motherfucker is gonna blow soon,” Mason says watching Ruger walk away.
“I know. There’s a lot goin’ on that needs to be figured out. You good, brother?” I look to him, slapping a hand on his shoulder.
“Yeah, I’m straight.”
“Good. Got somethin’ in handle. Tell Smokey I’m back but takin’ care of some other business.” Mason nods as I walk away. The moon is starting to fade into the light of day. I hadn’t planned on being out as late as I was. I hadn’t planned on sleeping through another fucking day of sunshine either but I suppose this is the life I chose. I walk down the road as my house comes into view. It’s not what peeks my interest though. It’s the faint light of the tip of a cigarette. I cock my head trying to see who it is. Making my way closer, I see it’s her and I wonder what the fuck she’s doing out here at this hour.
“It’s damn near five in the mornin’,” I say with a voice thick with sleep. Lia jolts, her head snapping around to look at me. Her eyes are tired. I can see the need for sleep in them but when my eyes travel over her body, I can’t think of anything but getting inside of her.
“Couldn’t sleep,” She says softly, moving her gaze from mine.
“Couldn’t sleep,” I say mimicking her. “Didn’t know you smoked,” I say, stepping closer to pluck the cancer stick out of her fingers. Bringing it to my lips, Lia watches intently. Her focus is on my lips and my dick seems to like that.
“I quit,” She says softly. I nod my head as I suck in the nicotine.
“We all do at some point.” I narrow my eyes at her. I want her to say something. I want to know what her plans with Mona are. Fuck, I want to know how they even know each othe
r.
“I’m going to go.” Lia points over her shoulder and starts to walk away when I stop her.
“Ratt’s house is the other way,” I tell her. Lia stops, her body instantly freezing. I watch her take a breath before she turns back to me.
“We aren’t on the best terms and I couldn’t get out of the compound earlier,” She says. I look into her eyes, trying to gauge if she’s telling me the truth.
“Why would you want out? Thought Ratt wanted you here?” I ask. Her nostrils flare as she looks at me. Anger dances in her eyes although I have no idea why that is.
“Ratt wants what Ratt wants regardless of if anyone else wants it,” She says fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt. I take a few steps toward her, dropping the cigarette to the ground.
“What is it he wants?” I ask reaching my hand out, hooking it around her hip. I pull her little body closer to mine, watching how she sucks in a breath.
“Me. He wants me,” She says nearly breathlessly.
“And what do you want, Lia?” I ask, leaning down, my lips grazing her ear. Her body shudders under my touch. “Tell me what you want.” I nip her earlobe before sucking it into my mouth. Her moans go straight to my dick.
“You, Draven. I want you.” I’m surprised that those words left her mouth. I growl against her neck before pulling back and looking in her eyes. My free hand wraps around the back of her neck, forcing her to focus on me and only me.
“I don’t know what the hell you’re hidin’ from me, Lia but I will find out. It’s easier on us both if you just tell me,” I inform her. She looks in my eyes and there is something on the tip of her tongue. She wants to say it. She wants to tell me but at the last second, she holds back.
“I want you to fuck me, Draven. I want to forget that my life ever existed.” The tear that slides down her cheek should make me stop this. It should make me press harder for the truth but at this very moment, I know how she feels. I know what it feels like to not want the reminders of a life that was taken from you.
