by Harlow Brown
The mood was heavy, everyone was unsure of what to say or how to act. None of us had ever been through this. Losing Chief had turned our worlds upside down.
"Well, no sense in standing out in the heat. Let's go inside, and I will show everyone to their rooms. There is food and beer inside, too."
"Beer sounds amazing," Magnum said.
When I entered the house, I was taken aback. It was massive and grand, but rustic, like a log cabin. It had huge wooden beams and vintage chandeliers. The stairs were a combination of wrought iron and cedar.
"Yall's rooms are this way." Charlie stated as she led us up the stairs, and showed us to different rooms.
"Fury, you can stay here." She pointed to a room adjacent to another room that had women’s clothes laid on the bed and bags on the floor.
"Yes, that is where Rumor is staying," she said as she winked and walked away to show the others their rooms. Clearly, it was written all over my face.
Once we were all downstairs, we all had a few beers and began to settle in from the trip.
"How was the ride?" Whiskey asked.
"Fuckin' long." Magnum stated in a less than pleased tone. “My ass hurts from sitting so long. This douche wouldn’t let us stop very often." He said as he pointed at me.
"Look, I needed to be here yesterday. I didn't have time to stop so you could powder your nose and stretch your legs, princess. I’ve got shit to deal with and Whiskey told me to hurry because Rumor might need me."
About that time, Rumor appeared from the kitchen holding two beers.
"Yeah I remember, alright. You have to open pandora’s secret box that you won’t open in front of anyone."
"Mag, drop it. I said if it had to deal with the club I would bring it to the club. Do you trust me?"
"Yeah, but he was our pres, too. I think we all have a right to know what he kept in that box."
"Well, you thought wrong. Leave it."
Magnum sulled up and pouted like a toddler. He would have to get over it. I meant what I said. If it pertained to the club, I would bring it to the club’s attention.
"Rumor, do you want to come outside with me?" I asked her.
"Uh, Yeah. I'd like that."
I followed her out to the gazebo. We silently stared at the woods that surrounded us.
"Fury, I have something to tell you. It's bizarre and insane and throws a huge wrench in my plans, but you have a right to know."
"Go on."
"My ex, the one that disappeared is back. He is here and wanting to pick up right where we left off."
"Is that what you want?"
"No, of course not." She replied in a snap.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"You."
I looked at her and let the words sink in. She wanted me. She is choosing me over the love of her life. None of this made sense. She waited for this for two years and now he’s at her feet and she is stepping away from it?
"Are you sure?" I asked. I needed the confirmation.
"Yeah, what do you want?"
"I told you in PCB that I wanted to give us a chance. I meant it. I will stop at nothing to make sure that you are happy and safe. Is this guy a threat to you?"
"Not that I am aware of, but that doesn't mean anything. I clearly don’t know him anymore."
"Come here."
I opened my arms and she quickly closed the gap between us. I reached down and cupped her face with my hands and stared in her clear blue eyes and said, "If you don’t want him around, then he wont be around. If you want me here, then that’s what you will have. This is entirely up to you. Either way I am stuck here at Acres indefinitely. I hope that you’ll make my stay a little easier and better, but I do understand that you had a life before I came along."
"Fury, you need to know that we were engaged. I was going to marry him."
"Do you still want to marry him?"
"No, not even a little. I wonder what might have been, but that is all. He has broken my trust, and that can’t be gotten back. I need to start over. You haven’t given me any reason to distrust you. I know that you have something you aren't comfortable confiding in me, and that is okay. I hope that you will feel comfortable to at some point, but even with your secret between us, I at least know that you have one. That is more trust than I have with Creed , engaged or not. He forefited his right to be in my life when he went off to training and left me in the dust."
"If he does't matter to you, why did you tell me that you were engaged?"
"I don’t want secrets between us. I know you aren’t comfortable telling me whatever it is you aren’t telling me, but you were honest with me from the beginning. I don’t like it, but I respect it. It doesn’t change who you are or what I think of you."
Oh but it should, Rumor. Oh but it should. I thought to myself.
"Why the look?"
I hadn't realized that I had a look, but my facial expression had to be one of uncertainty.
"Mainly I am wondering, how he left you, and I have figured out why. You are too good for your own good. You are too trusting and good hearted. People take advantage of you. You really should be more distrusting of people."
I could tell she was thinking about my statement, because her face shifted to a very puzzled look.
"I think you are right. I trusted Crosby, then I trusted Creed." She chuckled and shook her head.
"What is the laugh for?" I asked.
"Maybe the third time is a charm? Maybe you will be the one that doesn’t break my heart. Here's to hoping."
"Rumor, I would never purposely hurt you. I can’t change what those others did, but I can promise that I won’t let you down. I'm not going to disappear for long periods of time and not tell you why. If I was going to kill myself…Well," I paused.
"Well what?"
"I'd have done it a long time ago. Before I found the club. Those fuckers get on my nerves and piss me off something fierce, but they are the most loyal people I have ever met, and without them, I wouldn't be here."
"How are you doing, you know, since Chief is gone?"
"It's hard, ya know? He is the one that got me in the club life, and the one that helped me in one of my hardest times. He was the dad I didn’t have. It was only four years, but in those years, he made me a man. I owe him my fuckin' life. Retaliation is coming and it’s going to be bloody. You need to know that. Can you handle this?"
"It looks like I don’t have a choice."
I cut her off, "Yes, you do. You always do."
"I mean, if I want to give us a go, then I have no choice. I would want justice for my loved ones, too. The way I figure it, you went out of your comfort zone for us, I can get out of mine for you. I need a life change anyway. My life has been boring for so long. You do you, and I will be right here. Just promise me you will come back."
"If I don’t come back its because I’m in a body bag. Either way, you will know what is up with me. I won’t leave you like those other dopes left you."
She smiled her sweet smile and hugged me tight. It felt nice, and I needed the comfort she brought to my life. I bent down to kiss her and was interrupted by Charlie.
"There you two are. I think we are going to eat. Y’all going to join us? It's nothing fancy tonight. Either pizza or sandwhiches. I'll get Rumor to cook for us tomorrow night," she said with a wink.
"Looks like we have been summoned. To be continued?"
"Yes."
"Yeah we’re coming, be right there."
We walked into the house and a different feeling came over me. Home. It felt like home. How though? I had just gotten here. Rumor was smiling and carrying on conversations with everyone. She seemed happy.
I have to figure out if there is a way that her ex could find out I am not actually Legend Morrow. I thought about it for a while and became more pissed off by the minute. Surely, the WITSEC people were legit and didn’t leave any gaps in covering me.
We were all in the living room talking and catching up when
I stood and said, "I'm beat. I'm going to hit the sack. Catch you all tomorrow." I bent down and gave Rumor a kiss on the head and before I headed to my room I whispered, “You can come too, if you want.”
I stripped down to my boxers, and got into bed. I wanted to sleep, but I laid there awake. I stayed awake for what seemed like ages, thinking about everything from retaliation on Jay and Sully, to the lock box I had yet to open. I would talk to the guys tomorrow about how to handle those two bastards. I know Sax gets dibs on Jay, but I am going to tell him that I’m getting a beating in on him first. I want to feel his bones crack under the force of my fists. I want to make it slow and painful for him.
Rumor knocked on the door and said simultaneously, “You still want company?”
“You don’t have to knock. Come in. I’m just laying here in bed thinking.”
“She walked over to the bed and sat down. She turned to me and those clear eyes looked deep into mine and asked, “Are you sure you are okay? It’s okay to not be okay, you know?”
“I’m honestly better now that you’re in here with me.”
She walked to me and bent down close to my face, “That’s real good to hear, Fury, because I feel better knowing you’re here.” She put her lips on mine. A sense of urgency took over for her and her hands were quickly in my hair. She was pulling me closer to her, like she was trying to wear me. It was like she needed me to cover her. She had control of the situation and I gladly let her have it, I needed the distraction. She stopped after a long kiss. She was short of breath and frazzled as she pulled away.
“Sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”
“I don’t mind. You can finish if you want.”
“Let’s think about things.”
“I don’t need to think about anything. I want you to come here and be with me. I want you to take my mind off the shit that has gone down over the last 72 hours. I want you, Rumor. I want you.”
She bent back down and kissed me again, only this time I didn’t let her have control. I deepened the kiss to suit me. I gripped her hair and pulled her face as close to mine as I could get. I kissed her like she was never going to be kissed again. She pulled away and gasped for air. I let her catch her breath and then I pulled her down to me. I needed her closer.
“Take your clothes off and stay a while. I want to feel you next to me. I’ve decided I like it better when you are beside me.”
She nodded in agreement. I undressed her in a frenzy as lips clashed, tounges dueled, and our bodies connected.
“Rumor. Are you ready?”
“Yes.” She said to me with desire in her eyes.
“I can’t wait any longer. I have to have you.”
I lowered her onto my length and felt my eyes roll back in my head. The feel of her around me was almost more than I could stand. Almost. She started moving at her own fast pace. As she chased her pleasure, mine was coming like a freight train that couldn’t be derailed.
“Rumor, hold on.” I grabbed her hips and worked her up and down, and backward and forward until she was lost in the moment. I never slowed my pace. I kept going, chasing away all the bad that happened, until I it was gone. I pushed down on her hips and held her down on me, clearly hitting a nerve with her as she lost herself again. That’s all it took to send me over the edge. She bent down and kissed me, and I kissed her back and held her. It felt good just to hold her, to have her back in my arms.
“Rumor, I’m so glad you crashed at my house for a week. As shitty as this week has been, you have made it bearable. Thank you for just being here.”
At some point I fell asleep, because the next thing I knew, I heard birds chirping and felt the light shining bright in my eyes. I guess my physical and mental fatigue had gotten the best of me. It's not like I had been put through the mental wringer or anything.
I got up and went outside to smoke. It was seven thirty. Surely I wasn’t the only one up. Whiskey was always up early in PCB, so I hoped he was an early riser here, too. I walked through threshold of the sliding door to the backyard and lit my cigarette. I looked around and saw Whiskey starring out into the woods from the gazebo.
"Hey, I am taking your man card if you tell me you are into peace and quiet in the woods, surrounded by beautiful trees and colorful flowers." I kidded with him. "You okay?"
"Yeah, why?" He asked.
"This ain't like you."
I blew smoke out and let that sink in. He was kind of right. I had never cut up like this with him.
"It was just funny to see you in your cut out here in the Country Living gazebo. Imagine the cover of a magazine with a big flowery gazebo that is so nice, light, and pretty. Now put a biker in a cut in the middle. That mental image is why I was kidding around with you."
"Just thinkin'. That’s all." Whiskey said, not engaging in my banter.
Sucking in on my smoke, I took in a lung full and exhaled slowly.
"We’ve got some thinking to do. I say we call church today and discuss what happens from here." I said in a serious tone.
"What do you want to happen?"
"I thought about seeing if your Rudy charter wants to merge. We would eventually get our shine business going around here. You can’t tell me some of these redneck people in the woods don’t want some good shine. Also, we need to open a resturant."
"Why the hell do we need to do that? That’s the most random thing you’ve said."
"I know it will be voted on, but when I was giving my statement to Officer Canon, I told him that we were coming here to handle some club business and he asked what kind. This isn’t going to go away anytime soon so we need to at least get some plans drawn up or something to make it look like we are trying to get into the restaurant business. If nothing ever comes of it, we can say it fell through and we decided against it."
"Damn dude, you’ve thought this through, yeah?"
"Yes. I have. I am up for the merge of the two charters. Yours is little, anyhow. Let's bring it to the table to discuss later. I’m sure there will be more to talk about."
"You’re probably right, Fury. Shit is going to be busy around here for a bit with the fire, Chief, the merger, Rumor and her situation. This is liable to be a chaotic nightmare for us for a while."
"That’s fine. We have no choice but to handle it."
"There you are." A sleepy sweet voice said.
"Babes. What are you doing up so early? It isn't nine yet." Whiskey said.
"Magnum is snoring so loud it woke me up. I opened the door to see who was running a damned chainsaw at eight in the morning, and saw sleeping beauty."
"He was hitting the liquor pretty hard last night Charlie girl. Let him sleep it off. It’s been a rough few days for him."
"Its been rough for all of you, not just him. It’s okay to say you are struggling. If you need anything you can just ask. I will help in any way I can. Chances are, if I can’t, I know someone who can. I'll leave you two to finish your discussion. Would you like coffee?" She asked us both.
"Yes." I accepted.
"Sure, babes. He will want his black as well."
"Be back in a bit." She went inside. Whiskey's eyes followed her every move.
"If anything ever happened to her I don’t know what I would do. She is to be protected at all times."
"Man, Hensley is dead. There isn’t anything else to worry about."
"Sully, Jay, anyone else that we might have pissed off, there is always something to worry about. I know it sounds insane. Since we have been together, I have a primal need to keep her away from any other shitty or unsafe situations. I just think of all the ways I can protect her," he admitted.
"You’re right. You sound insane," I blurted. He really did sound like a psychopath. "There isn't going to be anything else that goes wrong. No one knows we are here, and the security here is like Fort Knox."
"Fuck you. One day you will feel the way I do. Speaking of, how are things with you and Rumor?"
"New. Weird. She says she wants nothing
to do with Creed. How do you just get over a fiance?"
"Well, that is something you have to ask her. I can assure you that she wants nothing to do with him. You should’ve seen the way she shut him down."
"Oh, I can imagine. She put me in my place and called me out when I acted like an ass to her. I know she can stand her ground."
"Rumor left no room for him to misunderstand her intent. If he didn’t understand, then it’s because he's a dumbass. That isn’t to say he won’t try again. By the look on his face, I would say he isn't quite over her."
"He has to come through me to get her."
"Whiskey, Fury, coffee's ready." Charlie yelled.
"We better go before she wakes up the whole house.”
After everyone finished the breakfast that Rumor fixed, I called the guys into the living room. We needed to discuss things and see where everyone stood.
"We need to vote on some things. Meet in the shed in the back. Charlie has agreed to let us use that for club business. I’ve called in the others." Whiskey instructed as plates were cleared from the table.
I walked to Rumor and slid my hands around her waist. I pulled her to me and kissed the top of her head.
"Thank you. You didn’t have to do that."
"I'm a guest here and feel like I need to help, too. Cooking breakfast and doing dishes is nothing. Go, go do your thing."
I begrudgingly walked away from her. I could have stayed right there and held her for a while longer. She was right, I did have business to handle.
"Sax, stay close. As soon as we get done with the club business we are going to need you to come and discuss some business," I sternly said. My tone was a command, not a question.
I walked out the door to be with the rest of my club.
"We have some big things we need to vote on, and the vote has to be unanimous. If one nay is said, then it's off. Since the clubhouse burned in Panama City and Chief isn’t here with us anymore, Fury and I discussed the possibility of merging the two charters." Whiskey announced.
