“On it,” Tank said and hung up. Shark lowered his phone and slid it into his back pocket as the women came into the waiting room.
“What’s up?” Shady asked briskly. Shark needed to talk to Creed and Fork first, and he wasn’t going to hide it.
“Nothing yet, but I will let you know.”
Shady stared at him intently and then said, “Yeah okay, we are going to go in.”
Shark nodded, and Blade stepped into the waiting room and said quietly, “She is awake.”
Staring once more for a few extra seconds at Shark, Shady finally nodded and turned. “Come on, let’s go see our girl.”
She wasn’t going to cry, the doctor told her this could happen, she knew it, but still hearing it from the mouth of another doctor had sucked. Rebel wasn’t delusional, she just thought maybe it would disappear. It sucked. Leaning back, she stared out the window. The sun was shining, but she couldn’t feel happy like she normally would. Mostly because she would normally get on her bike and ride all day long if she were off.
This sucked, she thought, she really needed just to go somewhere and chill for a while. To just be. When this was all over, maybe she would finally do that. Just drive up the coast and hang out and just chill by herself. Get her head on straight and not do anything else. It had been a long time coming. She really had been carrying so much on her plate, she hadn’t taken care of herself.
“Yo bitch!” someone said as the door opened. Rebel turned and looked at the three Lady Riders in shock. What the hell were they doing here?
“Hey,” she said and pushed herself up and brushed her hair back to smooth it out. She looked like shit, she knew she looked like shit.
Freedom rolled her eyes. “Oh please, like we give a shit what you look like, which I have to tell you, you look like shit. Anyways, you don’t need to worry about that right now.”
Rebel looked at the women and sighed. “Yeah, well, it’s not like I’m holding court or anything.”
Harmony laughed and sat down on the side of her bed. “You do look like shit, though; damn, girl, that bruise on your cheek looks painful.”
Rebel shrugged. “Don’t really notice it, now my shoulder, that lets me know I am alive.”
Shady nodded and said, “Is that the only issue?”
Rebel looked at her and shrugged. “It is enough, right?”
Shady just stared at her and then Freedom stepped forward on the other side and sat down on the bed as well. Rebel moved a little, both of them sitting on the bed kinda had her stuck. She wasn’t able to move much, and neither of the women seemed to care too much.
“What were you doing up here?” Freedom asked softly, and Rebel stared at the gorgeous women. Hell, they were all gorgeous; it was kinda intimidating. But they each had separate personalities, Rebel realized. Freedom was the sweet one, you could tell by just looking at her. Harmony was a little scary, her eyes were extremely calculating, like she could see right through her. Then there was Shady, the woman was a walking, talking, and scariest bitch Rebel had ever encountered, which was saying a lot because honest to God, she had met a lot of bitches, but Shady, anyone would be crazy to think they could go up against her in anything and win. However, Rebel was no slouch in the bitch department, but she wasn’t stupid. Going against the head of the Lady Riders was just fucking stupid, and she was not stupid. Rebel also knew she couldn’t lie; the Lady Riders already knew why she was here. Sooo, it was best to make sure to come clean and get this shit over with.
Rebel moved her shoulders and pushed herself up a little then said, “I was looking for the man who killed my mother.”
Shady nodded and pulled her phone out of her pocket and said, “You are sure this is the man?”
Rebel looked at the picture and almost grabbed Shady’s phone and threw it across the room. It wasn’t the picture she had taken, it was a different one, one where the motherfucker was smiling and waving to someone. He carried on with his life, like nothing ever happened, like he had not snuffed out a life that meant everything to Rebel. No, he was alive and able to go about his pathetic life while her mom, her dad’s first and only love, was in the ground because of him. The anger swelled back inside her, she never knew when it would raise its ugly head, but after hearing that he had left another just as devastating present for Rebel, it pissed her off. She glared at the phone, finding it hard to actually look anywhere but the phone’s screen.
“Rebel,” Freedom said softly. “Babe, you need to answer Shady’s question.”
“Yeah,” Rebel said with a hard tone. “That is him.”
Shady dropped the phone to her side, and she nodded. “His name is Pete James Mentil AKA Sweet Pete. He is a lowlife who came from other low-lives somewhere in the south, no one knows since no one actually knows who his parents are. He was given every chance to make it in this life, adopted by a good family, who has not heard from him in years since they kicked him out. Seems Pete doesn’t understand the word no, although it was probably in the genes. Started his illustrious life in crime when he was fourteen, he attacked a girl from his school, almost killed the poor girl. After that, he moved on to bigger and better things. Namely, he just got more violent. He stepped up to armed robbery and assault of various women who were at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Rebel grimaced as Shady continued to list off the man’s record. He was a piece of shit, but she was lucky apparently, because he was a piece of shit who liked to rape women, and he hadn’t had a chance with Rebel or the rest of the women of the Blood Eagle. Motherfucker, she thought. If they thought this was deterring her, it wasn’t, it made her want to kill him even more. Society would be a much better place without him.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Shady said, and Rebel’s eyes snapped up to her, and she tilted her head. “Because I would feel the same way, hell, I do feel the same way. The man deserves every fucking thing you’re planning for him. However, it needs to be done the right way. There are things…things you don’t know about that it could affect. No matter how much I want to tell you, I can’t, but you need to trust us.”
Freedom leaned in. “And you can trust us, Rebel. We all know what it’s like to feel that type of hatred for someone. All of us. Still, you grew up in a club, you know the rules, you know how it has to be done, nothing can interfere.”
Harmony then said, “We want to help you make this clean of everything else because we all know for a fact until you are a member of the Lady Riders, you’re not going to understand. Now, we want you to become one of us, but we don’t want you to become one of us just so you can get information and fuck us over. We can’t afford that. So, we are prepared to offer you a prospecting position, like the other dancers, who have all accepted mind you. But that doesn’t mean you have to. It just means that they all understand what we are offering.”
Rebel looked at them and whispered, “What are you offering?”
Shady stared at her intently, and she finally said, “You have a club you can go back to, we know that. Your father has made it perfectly clear to us you will always be a part of his club because you grew up there and because of all the men. All of them have said you are family to them, so I need to point out that if you don’t like what we are offering or anything, you still have a home. First off, I can guarantee that while you are here, you will be protected by the club, whether you choose to stay or not. Now, if you want to join the Lady Riders, we are moving all of them into the compound. You will probably share a home with one or two of the other women until you have completed your prospecting. At that point, you will be offered a house there. Of course, if you want one off the compound, we would help you set it up, but we would ask that you find somewhere either close to the compound, or close to another member. The Ops Prospects patrol the houses off the compound, and we need to make sure they have time to check on everyone. As for Bitches 2, you can dance if you want, or we could find something else for you, we have a lot of shit that needs to be done. But one thing, the Lad
y Riders has their own business called Broken Wings, you will be required to work with us at least a few hours as well. We can explain more later, if you accept.”
Freedom nodded. “The point is, Rebel, you have been on your own since your mother died, we get it. Your father, of course he loves you, the Blood Eagle MC would do anything for you, anything. But the Lady Riders, it is something for you, and only for you. We give each other something we have always wanted, which is trust and family without question, love and support without asking, and the freedom to be who you need to be without apologizing to anyone. All of us, every single one of the Lady Riders will tell you, they love the Ops, but none of them can give us this part of what we need. The men, they are all alpha and have the growly shit down pat, like with every biker, they are ultra-protective. The difference is, though, that the Lady Riders give us the independence that we need as alpha women to kick ass and take names, and not think when we get home we will be locked in a closet, because the guys, they know us. They have our backs as well, which comes in handy, but they let us do what we need to do, period.”
Harmony laughed and leaned forward and continued, “Creed and Fork know what we are here talking about, they support it, and no, not because they think we are going to stop you. They know one of us well enough to know that would never happen. We are offering to show you another way to get what you want and need. Trust me, they know what we are doing, but they do not know what we are offering because until you accept, we would not do that to you. What we are suggesting, which I might add this was my part of the idea because we haven’t gotten to torture anyone for like a long fucking time, and you know, sometimes you just need to do that. Anyway, what we are suggesting, is we lure Asshole Pete out of whatever rock he has crawled under and take him alone. If we play it right, the Black Hearts won’t know it was us because we will leave a trail for someone else, and the Ops they will be good to go. Of course, shit could hit the fan, which is why there are Furies and a few Ops here as well, they are our backup.”
Rebel looked at the three women, and she said, “I need to get out of here, now.”
Shady nodded and said, “You are only here for observation, they will release you, but before that happens, we showed now you tell, what the fuck is really going on?”
Rebel leaned back, pushing herself into the pillows trying to distance herself from the women in the room. Everything they said sounded good, but Rebel hadn’t even told her father, not anyone. For the last few years, she had kept the possibility to herself. Never wanting to say it out loud because it would make it real, and Rebel was not ready to make it real. She stared at the women, who were just sitting and waiting for her. Their looks of determination made Rebel know there was no other option if she wanted to join them.
“Fine,” Rebel said tiredly and ran her hand down her face. “When the bastard shot me they did surgery, everything was cool, but there was a lot of scar tissue. The doctor at the time said because of where it was in my stomach, that it was possible the scar tissue would require another surgery. That didn’t bother me too much because I was thankful to be alive. I went in for check-ups, and they said it was cool, then about a year and a half ago I started having pains in my stomach. I went back to the doctor, and they ran tests. I had a mass in my stomach, it was the scar tissue, but it had webbed out to other organs, again, I knew this could happen. Then the doc told me that I had some other results, which pointed to part of the mass being cancerous. They explained I would need to do chemo before the surgery, and they explained what could happen.”
Shady, Freedom, and Harmony nodded, but none of them had that poor Rebel look on their face, which she greatly appreciated. When the doctor had told her, he looked sad, and the nurse, she had tried to hug her. Yeah, not cool.
“So, you didn’t have the surgery,” Shady said slowly, and Rebel looked up at her.
“No, I didn’t,” she said. “But I didn’t intend on not having it, I intended on having it after I was done with the asshole. I didn’t tell my dad, I knew he would make me feel guilty and stay so he could take care of me. I was just so fucking angry, I mean he took my mother, and he was going to take me as well if the surgery didn’t work. I couldn’t do that to my dad unless I killed that fucker. But the doctor came in, told me he checked with my doctor back home when he saw my results to confirm, and the mass is growing, I will need to have surgery sooner rather than later.”
“How long?” Shady asked.
Rebel sighed and said, “He wants to schedule it in two weeks.”
Shady nodded and then she pulled out her phone and hit a button. “It’s me, you need to find a doc in San Diego, check with Rebel’s doctor back home and get a referral. We will back to town in two days, make her appointment for then.”
She hung up the phone and Rebel frowned. “Don’t you need my doctor’s name?”
Shady grinned. “No, Boo has it, we do a complete background check, calling all of your old boyfriends and everything to make sure you won’t boil a bunny or anything. We had one of those, had to kill her. It was very sad.”
Rebel frowned, “Yeah, you look all broken up about it.”
Harmony rolled her eyes. “She deserved it, but moving on. Now, the plan is, we spring you from here, and yes you promise you are going to follow through with the surgery and we deal with it together. You will tell who you want to tell, but I gotta tell you, I think you should let Shark and Blade know before you get out of here or they are gonna freak out. Which they will, of course, be worried, but they are intelligent. If you tell them you’re going to do it, then they will help you get there.”
Rebel just stared at the three women. They were too much, literally too much. Rebel had been laying here feeling sorry for herself, and then they came. She was going to need to tell her dad and the rest of the Blood Eagles. And she would when they got here.
“I don’t really know them,” Rebel said quietly.
Freedom rolled her eyes and looked at her friends and then turned back and said, “Okay really? Come on, I know you’re not that blind. I mean, I get they aren’t fast or anything, but we’ve all noticed how they’re spending more time at Bitches 2, well, more than they normally would I mean. Because let’s face it, they are men. But when they heard about your accident, they were gone.”
Rebel frowned and opened her mouth. “They know me, so yeah, it would be normal.”
Harmony snapped, “Really? Avoidance? This is what we are down to, ‘cause I got to tell you it doesn’t work, like none of it. Let me explain the Ops, well, all of them are a little bit of Neanderthals, and by that, I mean when they want something they are all in, there is no shaking them. None of them, once they make up their mind, change it. That being said, you are in trouble if you think they are going to suddenly stop thinking about you and move on, they won’t.”
Shady shook her head and then she said, “Come on, ladies, let’s go get the release papers. We will send the guys in, it is up to you if you tell them. But if they find out afterward and realize you didn’t tell them, then it’s over, they will not forgive you. And trust me, you will never get that back.”
Rebel stared at the women as they smiled then turned and walked out the door.
Dammit.
Chapter Eight
Blade and Shark stood in the waiting room watching the door the Lady Riders went into. “Shit, we should have prepared her,” Blade groaned, and Shark shook his head.
“No, we shouldn’t have, something needed to break through. She shut down on us. Flat out denying our connection, that was bullshit. She knows what we wanted, she grew up in a club for fuck’s sake. Plus there isn’t a man with Ops that doesn’t know the deal. Every night she was on we were in the club, every night she was off, we were watching her apartment, which is in a shit neighborhood. She may not have known at first, but after the amount of time we talked, she should have gotten the idea,” Shark growled.
Blade nodded. “She should have, I agree.”
“Well wh
en they come out, we are going in. I am done with this dancing around shit she has going on. It is over. We are going in there, telling her we are claiming her and tying her ass to the bed until she admits it. If they release her, we are tying her ass to our bikes. This is bullshit. After a month of trying to show her our intentions and her dismissing them, today was the last straw, she no longer has a choice.”
Blade nodded and then said slowly, “I agree, but you do realize in some places they could consider what we’re planning to do as kidnapping.”
Shark turned to his best friend and said seriously, “Only if they catch us.”
Blade shrugged. “This is true; we do what it takes.”
“We’re not forcing her, I know she wants this, but something happened, and we are going to find out exactly what that is and deal with it,” Shark snapped.
They stood silently for a few minutes, both men lost in their own thoughts, watching the hallways, the nurses, and anyone else who wandered down the hallway.
“And another thing,” Shark ground out. Blade turned to his best friend and raised an eyebrow. “You know we never talked about this, it just kinda happened. How do you feel about sharing her? In the past, we have done so, but never anyone that mattered. I don’t know if this is going to affect the way you feel about it. For me, it doesn’t bother me, knowing you care about her and will take care of her exactly the same way I will makes it easier. I don’t think I could do this with any other man, but with you, it’s cool.”
Blade tilted his head and thought about it. “Nope, doesn’t matter, but no way in fuck am I ever sleeping in the wet spot.”
Shark grimaced. “Shit yeah, forgot about that, okay, me either, so maybe we have one bedroom to fuck in, and one bedroom to sleep in. That way if we want to have a night alone, which I think would be cool, then we have one already set up, so no one has to sleep on the couch or something.”
“Good idea, we also need to give her some kind of room that is all hers, you know, where she can do all those girly things. ‘Cause if she sprays perfume close to our cuts, we’re going to smell like roses or some shit,” Blade said, and Shark paused and then nodded.
Welcome to Hell (Ops Warriors Book 7) Page 7
