by Erin Trejo
“No fries back here but I’d still eat it.”
Nine
Wolf
“That’s bullshit and you know it!” I roar as I look at the fucker in front of me. He stands with a smirk on his face that I’m about to permanently remove for him. He just doesn’t know it yet.
“No, it’s business.” I got his business in the form of a six inch blade in the sheath around my waist.
“Yeah? Since when is it business to fuck my club over?” I growl as he takes a step back. There’s that fear. It’s not fully noticeable but I see it twinkle in those dark brown eyes of his.
“I didn’t fuck you over. I was offered more money!” Avery spits. Avery Duncan. Local PD. Slimy little piece of shit that I never actually liked to begin with. He was always a little greedier than the others. With that being said, I reach and pull my knife from the sheath quickly before stepping into his space. With the tip pressed firmly against his throat he swallows hard.
“More money? They offer you more money and your little punk ass jumps huh? What about safety? Did they offer your bitch ass safety too? Because last time I checked, they didn’t want to deal with your bullshit,” I ask keeping my eyes trained on his. Sly laughs behind me, Shaft egging me on. I can hear the fucker chanting cut him back there.
“I don’t need their protection with the money they are offering,” he says quickly. Wrong answer.
I glance over my shoulder and smirk at Sly, “You hear that? They are offerin’ him so much money he doesn’t need protection.”
“Damn shame, that lack of protection,” Sly adds motioning to Gauge. The back door of the truck opens, and Gauge pulls out Avery’s son. His only son.
“Let him go!”
“Fuck you. Stop bein’ so goddamn cliché. You know damn good and well we ain’t lettin’ his ass go anywhere,” I say, nearly rolling my eyes. I hate when they act like this. So fucking stupid. Gauge drags his kid over which isn’t really a kid. The man is about thirty or so. That doesn’t mean shit in the grand scheme of things.
“Now. You wanna tell me why you took that deal again?” Sly asks, moving closer this time. Avery watches everyone before pulling his gaze back to Sly’s.
“More money. I told you that!”
“You’re lyin’. I can smell a fuckin’ liar just like I can a pig and you my friend, are both.” Avery’s eyes grow larger just as his son cries out in pain. I smirk knowing Gauge has a knife of his own. I can’t turn to enjoy the view though since I need to keep my focus on this little bitch.
“Stop! Just fucking stop!”
“Don’t stop!” Sly roars, getting another cry out of his kid.
“They want the fucking coastline! That’s what the money is for!” And there’s the truth we knew to be hidden in there.
“And how were they goin’ to get it? We run the fuckin’ coastline, Avery,” I growl leaning in closer so I can smell the trickle of blood that leaks down his neck.
“Your…your chapter isn’t that big,” he says keeping his eyes on me now.
“It might not be but that doesn’t mean shit and you know it,” I warn him in a low tone before another howl comes from his kid.
“What happens when you aren’t in charge anymore, Avery?” Sly asks stepping into his space. Avery’s eyes move from mine to his.
“You can’t do that Sly. This isn’t a big town. They will know. Others will know what you’ve done,” he hisses.
“Others? No, they’ll think you fucked those Shell MC fuckers over and they took your ass out,” I add with a chuckle.
“A few know!”
“A few who?”
“Other cops. A few know about this,” he says as if that was gaining him any leverage. It isn’t. I don’t give a fuck who else knows and judging from the look in Sly’s eyes, neither does he.
“Kill them both,” Sly says before turning and walking away. Avery starts to scream when I grab his arm. Cutting in the perfect spot, he slides to the ground howling in pain. I step back and watch him.
“Hit the artery. You got about ninety seconds before you die,” I smirk as I tell him.
“What do you want from me?”
Looking over my shoulder, I call out to Gauge, “Hey bring him over here!” I look back down at Avery as he slowly bleeds out.
“I don’t want anything from you. I wanna watch you as you watch your son die for your fuck ups,” I say casually with a shrug.
“Sixty seconds.”
“You doin’ that whole make him bleed out thing?” Gauge asks with a chuckle.
“Damn right. Get to work,” I chuckle. The screams from his son pierce my ears and it amuses me a little more to watch Avery try to stand up and fail. He’s too weak. His blood loss is too much. Gauge carves him up pretty good before letting his body fall to the ground near his dad. Avery slowly drags himself over to him, tears building in his eyes. He’s too weak to even scream. His head lolls to the side before he finally falls over.
“Took long enough,” Gauge grumbles. I smirk as I look over at him.
“Could have drawn it out longer,” I tell him.
“Fuck that. I got shit to do.”
“You got a woman to do,” I mock.
“Don’t you?” He asks raising an eyebrow. “The question is, which one?”
“Are you shittin’ me?” I narrow my gaze at him.
“No. I saw that chick leavin’ your room, brother. What are you doin’ about Lauren?” That is the question of the day. I shrug and pull out a cigarette and light up.
“Haven’t thought much about it.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I motion for the prospects and when they walk over, I tell them, “Clean this shit up. Make sure he ain’t found.” They nod and get to work as I turn back to Gauge.
“Just what I said. I haven’t thought about it. She’s fuckin’ clingy, Gauge.” He laughs and turns to walk back toward where we parked the bikes as I follow.
“She’s been clingy since day one. You still asked her ass to marry you,” he reminds me.
“That was mistake number two.”
“What was one?” He glances over.
“Fuckin’ her. Now she’s hooked and won’t leave me alone. Do you know how many times I had to shut my goddamn phone off? If there was an emergency I would never know. That bitch just keeps callin’.” I take another long drag from my cigarette before stopping and leaning against a tree. Gauge turns to look at me, questions in his eyes. I can see them. I don’t want to answer them, but I know he’s going to ask anyway.
“Then break it off with her,” he says as if it’s nothing.
“You think she’d just go away?” I ask hopeful. Gauge laughs harder.
“Fuck no! That bitch is certifiable, brother. She’s gonna stalk you for the rest of your life.”
“Why do you say that shit?” He lifts his eyes and I follow his gaze when I see her storming toward me. “You gotta fuckin’ be kiddin’ me.”
“Not a chance in fuck,” Gauge says slapping a hand on my shoulder. He walks to his bike and climbs on just as Lauren stomps up in front of me, her hands on her hips.
“Why are you ignoring me?”
“I’m not,” I say gazing past her.
“You are! Now tell me why?” Sly, Gauge and Shaft all chuckle from their spots on their bikes. I flip them off with my free hand making them laugh harder. Lauren steps closer, her hands coming to rest on my chest. That spark that I have with Krista isn’t there with Lauren and that pisses me off for some unknown reason.
“We got church now! Get your asses back to the clubhouse!” Sly roars. I internally thank him but when I move toward my bike and Lauren follows, I groan.
“You can’t be there for that and you know it.”
“I’ll wait in your room,” she says confidently.
“Go home, Lauren.”
“No.”
“I mean it,” I warn her.
“I said no. I’m your fiancé damn it, Wolf!” Passing her the helmet
, she grabs it quickly while I climb on the bike. There is no sense in arguing with her. She won’t listen, she’s stubborn as fuck. She climbs on the bike behind me, wrapping her hands around my waist. Usually my cock will get hard feeling a woman wrapped around me but not this time. This time it pisses me off a little more than it should. I rev up my bike and pull out behind the guys. I wonder how she knew where we were. I didn’t tell her, and I know for sure she didn’t overhear it from the club since she hasn’t been there. My nerves are already on edge and she is making it worse for me.
As soon as we pull up at the clubhouse, I climb off and storm inside not even waiting for her to get off my bike. I’m at the bar in seconds when the others come in.
“Church! I meant it,” Sly calls out. Thank fuck for that. I take my bottle and head toward the door when she comes in. She smiles at me and walks off toward my room. As soon as I step into the room, the questions fire off.
“How the fuck did she know where we were?” Sly’s eyes are cold and full of anger. I can’t say that I blame him in this situation either.
“No fuckin’ idea. I was wonderin’ that the whole way back,” I tell him bringing the bottle to my lips and taking a long pull.
“She followin’ you?” I shrug. “Don’t she have a day job?”
“Yeah. She works with the department of family services. She gets off at like five or somethin’.”
“So, she could have followed us,” Sly grumbles under his breath.
“Suppose so. I’ll talk to her.”
“Yeah you will,” Gauge adds with a slight smirk.
“Fuck you.”
“Enough. We need to talk about what Avery said. Others in the PD know. We don’t have connections with all of them. That’s gonna pose a risk,” Sly says looking around the room. He’s right and that’s not a good thing. We have connections all over the state, but our local boys haven’t really been playing nice lately. We lost a lot of good guys when they moved up in rank and out to better areas. It’s put a fucking strain on our relationships with the rest of the locals.
“Take them all out,” I say leaning back in my chair. All eyes come to rest on me.
“The whole department?” Shaft chuckles.
“Why not? Ain’t none of them worth a fuck. If we don’t have any we trust in there, what’s the fuckin’ use in keepin’ them around?” It’s a valid question. Avery was about the only one that bent to our will and now that he’s dead, we don’t need the rest. A new group will be brought in and we can work our fucking magic with them when the time comes.
“That will take some plannin’. What are you thinkin’?” Sly asks looking to me.
“We blow it. Find out when they have meetin’s that everyone attends. Blow them to hell and wave,” I say with a shrug.
“How are we gonna get that information with Avery dead?” The guys look around before coming back to me. I already know the answer to that and she’s currently sitting in my fucking room more than likely naked and waiting.
“Lauren works closely with the cops. She’ll know,” I add.
“You think she’s just gonna give you that information?” Shaft asks not sounding too confident. Hell, after the way I’ve been treating her I’m not all that sure either. I scrub my hand over my face, tugging at my beard.
“Fuck if I know. She’s pissed at me for blowin’ her off. I’m not tryin’ to keep her around, Prez. I’m tryin’ to get rid of her.”
“For the other one?” Gauge asks.
“Not your fuckin’ business,” I growl.
“I don’t give two shits who you sink your cock in, Wolf! I care about this fuckin’ club! You need to climb back in that pussy of hers to get what we need, then you do it with a motherfuckin’ smile on your face. You get me?” His anger is loud and clear but forcing me to be with her? That’s pretty fucked up.
“Fuck you! I ain’t dealin’ with her shit just for some intel. I’ll find another way,” I huff. Sly rises from his chair, his hands braced on the table in front of him.
“You’re a part of this club, Wolf. You take fuckin’ orders just like the rest of them do. And I’m orderin’ your ass to deal with the fuckin’ bitch until we get what we damn well need from her.” His tone is deadly and clear. Looks like I’m stuck with this bitch for a while longer.
Ten
Krista
We jog for around an hour. Ester decided to stay for a while longer and I’m thankful for that. I’ve done all my workouts, keeping myself in shape. I learned to fight at an early age being on the street. Some of the best people I knew taught me. I left them all on the streets of Wisconsin when I heard that Tom found out my secret. I couldn’t leave her unprotected. He’s a monster and I know it.
“God, you are going to kill me one day with all this running.”
“It’s good for you. Besides you haven’t been working out with me in a month.” A month. It’s been a month since I’ve met Wolf. A month of random nights with him. A month of feeling things for him that I shouldn’t. It’s strange. I never felt like this with Tom, not even when I found out I was pregnant. I hated him. Hated what he’d done and how I had to deal with it.
“Because I hate working out,” she adds with a laugh. We walk back to the small apartment that we’re sharing while I’m here. Eva is at school right now, so I know she’s safe.
“Shut up and get changed. I’ll feed you,” I tell her. She claps her hands together and hurries toward the bathroom to shower. I drop onto the couch and grab my phone calling a friend back in Wisconsin.
“Hey baby!”
“Hey, Kerry. Tell me you have good news,” I say with a sigh. If she knew anything, I know she would have called me by now.
“No news is good news, right? He’s still in town. He’s been talking to a lawyer, but I don’t know what about. Nothing out of the normal around here to report, Krista.” I sigh thanking God that he hasn’t left the state.
“Thanks, Kerry.”
“Always. Are you holding up okay out there?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. It’s not that bad here actually.”
“You know you can’t stay there forever,” she reminds me softly. I know what she’s thinking and she’s wrong. I just want to make sure that Eva stays safe. Once I know that Tom isn’t a worry, I will go home. I will go back to the life I had once. I worked my ass off to save money to come out here and not have to work. The things I’ve done to earn that money were all illegal and I didn’t care. Not even a little. I still don’t. I did what I thought was right and now here I am.
“I know. I just need to know that he isn’t going to go after her. You know how he acted when he found out,” I remind her. Tom went crazy. Somehow an old friend of mine must have overheard a conversation at some point and he told Tom. I was pissed. I felt betrayed by the ones I trusted most but after that, I started hearing more and more rumors that Tom was going to track her down and take back what was his. I’d never let him do that. Ever. I don’t care what kind of money he has or who his family is. He’s a piece of shit human being just like the rest of his family.
“I know, I remember. Just be careful, Krista. I worry about you.”
“I know you do. And I love you for it. Call me if you hear anything. I’ll check in next week,” I tell her before the line goes dead. Ester comes out of the bathroom freshly bathed and fully clothed.
“Your turn,” she says motioning toward the bathroom. I shove off the couch and head in. The water is still running, nice and hot. Stripping out of my clothes, I climb in and lower my head. My heart sits heavy in my chest as thoughts of him rip through my memories. The pain of what he caused me. The fact that I had to give up on my little girl. Tears stream down my cheeks as I let it all out. Every pent-up emotion rushes me at once. I startle and nearly scream when I feel hands wrap around my waist.
“What the hell?” I ask, looking over my shoulder and straight into the eyes of the Wolf himself.
“You’re cryin’. What’s wrong?” His eyes look
sincere but the fact that he’s in my shower, in my apartment is making me nervous.
“What are you doing here? How did you get in?”
“Your roommate let me in. Said you were in the shower. Why are you cryin’?” he asks again. My heart falls in my chest as I shake my head. Wolf reaches for me, pulling me into his naked warm body. My head rests on his chest as I cry.
“I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to know. That’s why this is called life. We don’t know what the next day holds,” he whispers into the top of my hair.
“That’s the thing. I have to know what tomorrow brings, Wolf. I have to be a step ahead.” When I pull back and look up at him, my heart nearly stops. The look says he understands, but how could he? He doesn’t even know what the problem is. His hand comes up to the back of my hair, tugging it so I’m forced to tip my head back further.
“No, you don’t. When you’re a step ahead, you can miss the next move. When you try to see the future, you miss what’s in front of you. Don’t do that, Krista. Mistakes get made when you do that,” he says with so much compassion it kills me a little inside. He has no idea what I’m up against, but he understands. I push up and kiss him and he lets me. I can feel his cock getting harder as my mouth moves over his. I shove my tongue into his mouth and let it explore. His groans get trapped in his throat as he grinds against me. He doesn’t stop to ask questions, just lifts me in his arms. I pant before I pull away shaking my head. I wiggle in his arms trying to get him to release me.
“What’s wrong?”
“No condom.” He smirks and sets me down, reaching outside the shower curtain to grab one from his jeans. Once he has it rolled on, he grins at me before lifting me again. The water rains down over us as he slides inside of me.
