by London Casey
Jim backed away from the table and shook Duke’s grip away. He then stood up and slid his plate of food out of the way.
“Is this your version of an intervention?” he asked. Then he looked at me.
“Duke is right,” I said.
“Duke is right?” Jim asked. Jim looked at Duke again. “Since we’re clearing the air, brother, let’s get things straight. You bailed on me. You pulled my ass out of that truck over there before I could get to Bill. Then you were gone. Like you died or something. You left her” - Jim pointed right at me - “to sit and suffer. She waited. Days when I wasn’t strong enough you weren’t there for anyone. So fuck you, Duke. I’ll say this once to you… if you come around here just to take shots at me and fuck my sister I’m going to take you out back and make sure you never get to fuck anything again.”
I couldn’t remember a time seeing Jim so raw and angry. Especially when he was sober.
The pain he and Duke traded in their stare terrified me.
Jim then turned and started to walk away.
“Jim,” I yelled. “Breakfast.”
“I’ll make my own,” he called out.
When he was gone, Duke just stood there, nodding. He looked at me. He swallowed hard.
He reached for my hand and squeezed it. “Shit, sweetie. Maybe you need to get some help around here. Or find someone to understand this.”
I wasn’t sure what the hell Duke meant by that but then he stormed out of the kitchen. Worse than that, he went out the front door. I heard the heavy thud of the door and my mouth fell open.
What the hell had just happened?
**
Duke stood at the top step of the porch with his arms crossed and stared out beyond the driveway. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what those eyes had seen in their lifetime so far. Even beyond the military stuff and being at war, just all the things I had heard about the motorcycle club.
I didn’t expect to see Duke standing on the porch. I thought he was going to be on his ride, ready to take off.
“Duke.”
“I didn’t fucking take off on anyone,” he said. “I made a decision. It might have seemed bad at the time, I get that, but in the long run…” He looked at me. “You don’t want this life, sweetie.”
“See, that’s the problem,” I said. “Everyone telling me what I want and don’t want. I’m tired of it.”
“Belle…”
“I waited a year,” I said. “More than that, waiting for you, Duke. Before that I had a comfortable distraction. It was all going to work out. I had a reason to forget you. But he left me. He didn’t want to deal with the crippled brother and the dead father.”
“Christ,” Duke said. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t deal with sorry,” I said. “What Jim said…”
“Was exactly what he needed to say,” Duke said. “He needed to get that off his chest. He holds a lot of guilt that one of the guys died. I saved my best friend, sweetie. Maybe I was being selfish. I try not to go too far back there because if you get stuck, you’re screwed. Jim wanted to save people. He had a greater sense of pride than I ever did. When that shit got detonated, it was a split second reaction he had to save lives. All I could think about was saving his. That’s what makes him the greater man in all of this. I hope he sees that sooner than later.”
Duke took the first step and I jumped at him.
I grabbed his leather cut as he hit the second step. He turned around and was almost eye level to me. My hands held his leather cut tight. Then I let go and slowly lifted my hands to touch his face.
I wasn’t going to do the dumb cliche thing and tell Duke he was a great man or anything like that.
In fact, I had no idea what to say. Half of me wanted to hate him. The other half wanted to love him.
“Thank you for coming here again,” I said. “I need to stop doing that though. Bothering you.”
“No, sweetie, that’s where you’re really wrong here. You can bother me anytime you fucking want. I owe you years. But you know who I am now and what I do. At least you think you know what I do.”
“Maybe you can tell me someday,” I said.
“Maybe you can tell me about the person you were fucking while waiting for me,” he said.
“Maybe I will.”
Duke put his hands to my waist. It was the same way he held me last night. When we were both naked. When he was thrusting at me. Fucking me. When he was…
“In my mind you were better off,” he said. “That’s all I can say. But I would never leave you hanging to suffer. What you have here is bullshit, sweetie. I’m not leaving you again. But I have to go right now.”
“Club stuff?” I asked.
“Exactly.”
“Duke, do you ever worry about getting caught? Getting into trouble? Going to jail?”
“Every day,” he said. “But this is my life, Belle. This is my brotherhood. It’s all I know.”
He leaned forward and kissed me.
I pulled at his steel jaw, demanding more of him. I actually wanted him to lift me up and take me back inside. We could walk right up the steps and let the day waste by.
We kept kissing and I could sense I was just seconds away from my wish coming true.
Then I heard the sound of a car and tires hitting the rocks in the driveway.
That broke the kiss as Duke turned, blocking me.
It was sort of romantic, but truthfully, scary. His hand reaching back, grabbing at his gun.
Was this how he lived? A target on his back? Would someone try to hurt him here, with me? Did that make me a target?
Those were questions that would remain unanswered.
It was Maggie.
Shit.
I forgot about Maggie coming.
She got out of her car and stood there, her face in shock.
As she walked forward, she pointed at Duke. “Tell me I’m dreaming right now.”
“Jim is inside,” I said.
Maggie couldn’t stop smiling. “I never thought I’d see you again, Duke.”
“Maggie,” he said.
“I like the look,” she said.
“Thanks. I see you’re still fighting to win prom queen.”
I grinned, taking note that Maggie had gotten herself all dressed up to come here. Little did Duke know that Maggie was there to clean and help out with Jim’s house.
“I’m going inside,” Maggie said.
“I’ll be right behind you,” I said.
“I won’t,” Duke said.
“Don’t stare at my ass when I walk by,” Maggie said. She touched Duke’s arm. “Don’t hurt Belle again.”
That was a total cheap shot.
I saw Duke’s lip curl.
Maggie shut the door behind her.
“Sorry about that,” I said. “She’s…”
“Bitter,” Duke said.
“No. Just a bitch.”
Duke touched my face. He gently kissed me again. “Sweetie, she’s bitter and jealous. That time we all went camping in the woods? Right after you turned eighteen. She was in my tent. She was not wearing any clothes. She confessed her love to me, willing to do anything to get with me. I zipped up my sleeping bag and picked her up, carrying her out of the tent. I made her hop away just like that.”
“What?”
Duke winked. “True story.”
“That’s why you only had one sleeping bag that night,” I said. “I thought that was your cheap attempt at getting me to sleep in the same sleeping bag with you.”
Duke backed away. “Sweetie, I don’t do cheap attempts. I go all in. Never forget that.”
Duke left those words lingering in the air as he walked to his motorcycle.
Just like that I had found out a piece of our history I never knew.
I watched Duke ride away… and within seconds I felt lonely and missed him.
**
“What the fuck is this?” Jim asked as I pressed the lid on all the eggs nobody freaking
ate.
I turned and jammed the container against Jim’s gut. “Eggs. You have breakfast for the week. You’re welcome.”
Jim chased me down as I exited the kitchen. “Belle, stop this. What is Maggie doing here?”
I paused. “She owns a cleaning business. She offered to help here.”
“Tell her to stay on your side of the damn house.”
I pointed to the kitchen. “My house is clean, Jim. Yours is disgusting. What did you want me to do? I’m not cleaning your house.”
Jim showed his teeth. “This is a setup.”
“Yes, it is. I set up for Maggie to clean your house.”
“I didn’t ask for help.”
“I know that, Jim,” I said. “But the house is disgusting. And you could do me a favor here.”
“What’s that?”
“Maggie’s coming off a bad break up. She keeps going back to the guy. Well, the guy keeps bothering her. One of those. He calls. She lets him over. They fuck…”
I saw the color on Jim’s face. He definitely had a thing for Maggie and the look of jealousy was awesome.
“Stop,” Jim said. “Just stop, Belle.”
“She’s here. She’s going to keep coming here. My advice? Take a shower. Clean up a little. Talk to her. Maybe you could be her saving grace.”
“The one legged wonder?” Jim asked.
“You know, you’re the only one who seems to give a shit that you have one leg,” I said. “And it’s not like you did something stupid to get hurt. You’re a hero, Jim. Whether you feel that way or not, or like it or not, it’s the truth.”
I walked away, feeling good that I actually got the last word for once.
I went outside and saw Maggie at her car having a smoke break. One habit all the cool kids picked up in school but I was able to give it up. Maggie swore she only smoked when she was stressed out.
I didn’t even bother asking what was stressing her out that day.
“So… your brother…”
“He didn’t know you were coming,” I said. “Sorry.”
“I don’t care. He’s grumpy.”
“Welcome to the world of Jim.”
“Enough about him. Tell me about Duke. Where did that come from?”
Maggie had a sly smile on her face. I thought about bringing up the story Duke told me but I let it slide.
“I called him for help,” I said. “Jim was in a bad spot. Still is. I just…”
“Look at you all flustered. Wait, you called him this morning?”
“No. Last night.”
The words slipped out of my mouth a second before I realized what Maggie was doing to me.
I then felt my cheeks turn red.
“Right,” she said. “Do you need me to change your sheets?” She giggled. “Or do you want to savor that amazing sex smell?”
I opened my mouth to lie and say I didn’t sleep with Duke.
But what use was that?
I just grinned.
At least I got to sleep with him, Maggie.
“Look at that grin,” she said. She took one more deep drag and put her smoke out. “Just don’t go getting yourself into trouble with him. Believe me. There is nothing good about those guys. Other than their bedside manner, I’m sure.”
Maggie shut her car door and walked away, bouncing her hip off mine.
I stood there alone, thinking.
Duke had always been a wild fantasy of mine. The ultimate bad boy now turned outlaw.
There is nothing good about those guys.
I shook my head. They were rough and tough guys, yeah. But if they were that bad they’d all be in jail, right?
I turned to go back inside and my mind asked itself one last thing: Is Duke really that bad of a guy?
chapter fifteen.
(duke)
I cruised down the back roads for a little bit, letting the night really sink in. I tried to ignore the lashing I took from Jim but I could only hope it would help the son of a bitch. Sadly, there was only so much you could do for a person before they either took control, or just went off the rails completely.
I wasn’t all that far from the house when I realized I had to take a piss. I thought about going back to see Belle again but I knew where that would end up. Shit, I had club business to take care of. I couldn’t disappear for days at a time. Not with the delicate situation we were in.
Pulling over to the side of the road, I climbed off my ride and stepped into the woods. It was thick as fuck as I stood there, taking my dick out, picking out what plants to piss on. As I pissed, I heard a voice straight ahead. Not an animal, but a voice. I finished up, zipped up, and stepped deep into the thick brush. It only lasted a few more feet before opening up to a large piece of open land. Gathering up my sense of direction, I could figure out right where the land began and ended.
That wasn’t the concern to me though. The concern was what I saw.
Hell Five.
I picked up on Durango and Jop standing there with two men in suits. Behind them were another two guys. I could easily tell those two pricks were prospects.
What the fuck was the Hell Five doing out here?
My mind raced and my fingers were aching to pull out my gun and start going wild. But I knew better. I was outnumbered and I couldn’t fuck anything up to give the Hell Five leverage over Back Down Devil MC.
So I had to hold back and wait.
I didn’t do the waiting thing. I was an action guy.
I saw Durango shake hands with one of the guys in a suit. Then the guy opened his arms and did a little turn. It was like he was welcoming Durango to the land.
Something big was happening. And it was right outside of town. A perfect spot to hideout and cause some serious trouble.
Too close to Belle.
The land probably ended right where her land began. It was all vast up there and houses were few and far between.
The men in suits walked away.
Durango and Jop then faced each other. They slapped their hands together and pulled each other in for a hug. The prospects did the same thing only to have Jop turn and grab one by the shirt. He shouted something - by the time it hit me it was all muffled - and then pointed. Durango handed a phone to the other prospect and pointed in a different direction.
They were splitting up.
That was good.
If they were coming back into town, they’d have to take the road I was pulled over at.
I rushed back to my ride and opened the case on the back. I always traveled well prepared for anything. That meant I had everything I would need to do a little hunting.
Well, better put: a little catching.
**
I had my motorcycle on its side in the middle of the road. Shit, if a car or truck came by, I was in big trouble. If the Hell Five ended up sticking together and coming my way, I was in even bigger trouble. This was a one chance thing.
Funny how crazy my day changed in just a few minutes. I had been making out with Belle on her porch and a short time later I was getting ready to cause some serious trouble. I stood with my gun in my hand, dropped back into the brush, hidden.
When I heard the sound of the motorcycle engine in the distance, I tensed up. I loved the thrill of it all. Even if it did bring back some bad shit. My memory tried to churn and normally I could control it, but after seeing Jim…
I heard the sound of the tires crunching the rocks. The bouncing feeling. Looking at the other soldiers I was riding with. Wires dangling from up front, swaying back and forth. Riding through another small town, trying to find out who the fuck was killing people. Looking down at my weapon, knowing that in any given second, all hell could break loose.
Then it did.
The explosion… turning my head to see Jim’s convoy…
The motorcycle engine got louder. I caught myself shaking when I caught sight of the motorcycle.
It was the fucking prospect and nobody else.
He quickly slowed at the s
ight of my motorcycle on its side. He came to an almost complete stop and looked around. When he turned his head to the left again, I ran out from the woods.
The fucking guy had no chance.
I was there a second later, my arm around his throat, pulling him from the ride. I killed the engine on the motorcycle and let it fall to the road. He tried to scream but my hold was tight. Any tighter and he would have been choked out and died.
I dragged him into the woods where I had the rope waiting. I had a tree already picked out and threw him into it. The son of a bitch quickly turned and tried to punch me. I cracked with a hard right to the jaw and that dropped him for good. I fought with him to sit him up as I tied him to the tree. I then wrapped a few pieces of tape around his mouth and then around his mouth and the tree.
He was secured. Nothing would hear him or see him.
Unless a hungry animal got to him before I could come back with some of the guys.
I dumped his motorcycle off the side of the road and then called Jasper.
“Bro, I have something big,” I said to him.
“Like what?”
“One of the Hell Five prospects. Tied to a tree.”
“Say what?”
“Something big is happening up here. Get up here now. Bring Trev. We can break this guy down and figure out what’s up.”
“Where are you?”
When I told him, he was obviously surprised. When guys like me disappeared for a day or two it was usually on a wicked bender to a few strip clubs or holed up in a hotel with lots of booze and some women. Being up in the mountains really wasn’t our style unless we were all together on a ride or something.
I knew it was only a matter of time before the rest of the Hell Five guys came through the area. And the same could be said for when they got back to their clubhouse to find a prospect missing.
It took all of thirty minutes to meet up with Jasper, Trev, and Kye. I then led the way to the captured prospect up in the woods. We all pulled off the road and walked our motorcycles into the brush to keep ourselves hidden.
Trev took off his sunglasses and looked at the prospect tied to the tree. Then he looked back at me. “Nice work.”
