Renegade Reject (Renegade Sons MC)

by Emily Minton

  As soon as he started talking, I knew it had to have been Leah who said that shit. I should have seen it coming. She has been trying to cause trouble for me ever since Ice went and bitched her out. I’ve put up with it so far, but I’m done. I hate to be a rat, but if she doesn’t stop her shit, I’m gonna have to go to Ice. I’ve got enough going on with my life right now, and I can’t deal with her crap too.

  The sound of a car pulling into the driveway draws me away from my thoughts. When I hear the sounds of Bad Girlfriend by Theory Of A Dead Man blaring from the car stereo, I don’t even have to look out the window to know it’s Ice. When Preach told me what was said, I knew it was only a matter of time before Ice would come over to bitch me out for Leah’s bullshit.

  I don’t even give Ice a chance to knock before I door open. “I knew you’d show up sooner or later.”

  She barely controls her smile before responding, “Well, someone had to come over here and straighten you out.”

  I narrow my eyes before stepping back and motioning for her to come inside. “Don’t tell me you believed Kandy’s bullshit too?”

  Yeah, Leah told me that Kandy is the one that called the clubhouse. I don’t really care who made the call. I know Leah is the one that that started the crap.

  “What do you mean her bullshit?” she asks, taking a seat on my couch.

  “Preach came over here earlier, giving me seven kinds of hell,” I say, blowing out a frustrated breath and sitting down beside her. “Can you believe he honestly thinks that I shoved an orange up my hoo-hah just to get his attention?”

  “You didn’t?”

  Does everyone think I’m really that stupid? I can feel my cheeks heat up as I start to shake my head. “No way! I’m not an idiot, no matter what everyone else thinks.”

  “Well, then what the hell happened? I know Skittles took you to the hospital.”

  “Yes, because I had an allergic reaction to the new body glitter you bought last week.”

  “Where the hell did the orange story come from?”

  I jerk my purse from the coffee table and pull out a jar full of orange glitter gel. “The glitter is orange.”

  “You stuck the glitter up your pussy?” she asks, confusion lacing through her voice.

  “No!” I shout, angry that Ice would think I was that ignorant. “I would never do something as stupid as that. I just rubbed the glitter around my G-string. I thought it would look cool on the stage.”

  “Then why the hell did Skittles have to take you the hospital?”

  I know there is only one way to prove what I say is true, so I stand up and jerk down my shorts. There is a deep red rash running from mid-thigh to my lower stomach. It itches like crazy and hurts like hell. “The doctor said there’s something in the new glitter that I’m allergic to.”

  “So why the hell was I told that you stuck an orange up your snatch?”

  I pull my shorts up and plop back down on the couch. “Leah,” I say with a hiss. “She walked in when I was showing the rash to some of the other girls. Next thing I know, she’s telling everyone that stupid story. You know how the girls are, anything for a laugh, especially that bitch.”

  “She’s jealous of you.”

  “There’s not one damn thing about me that anyone would be jealous of,” I reply, cringing when I hear the poor-pitiful-me tone in my voice. That’s not me. I’ve never felt sorry for myself before. This shit’s gotta stop. I’ve survived living with Lula for all these years. I’ll survive Leah’s bullshit too.

  She shakes her head, looking me up and down. “You’re a beautiful girl, Daisy.”

  I may be beautiful, but there’s something about me that makes everyone turn away. My dad is never sober enough to notice me, and Mom has never hid her hatred. Then there’s Preach, the first person other than my grandparents and Uncle Holt to ever claim to love me. His love sure didn’t last very long.

  I shrug and do my best to change the subject. “Enough about me, let’s talk about you. What’s this I hear about you and Kidd? Did he really make you his old lady?”

  Word at The Kitty Kat is that Kidd claimed her, and he didn’t give her the choice of whether she wanted to be claimed or not. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing, but she’s sober, and that’s an improvement. For the last two weeks, she’d been in a downward spiral. I’m not sure what happened, but I know something bad went down at the club.

  She shrugs back. “You know how the boys work. When they want something, they take it. For some reason, Kidd wants me now. I’m sure he’ll get tired of me before too long.”

  “I don’t know, Ice. I don’t think Kidd will ever get tired of you. He loves you too much.” She’s wrong. I’ve never seen a man more in love than Kidd. Sometimes, I watch him watching her and wish that Preach would look at me like that just once.

  “He doesn’t love me. He just likes playing games with me.”

  I shake my head at her words. “I don’t know Kidd all that well. You know Mom kept me away from the guys in the club when I was growing up, but I know he loves you something fierce. Shit, girl, everyone knows he loves you. He’s never tried to hide it.”

  “What are you talking about? If he loves me, then why was he with a different girl every night? Why did he treat me like shit when he got his chance with me?”

  I hate hearing the pain in her voice. It mirrors my own. She’s been through so much and deserves to find a bit of happiness. At least, she’s not pregnant and alone. For a moment, I consider telling her about the baby, but I quickly realize that now is not the time. She needs a friend, not a friend with a boatload of problems. “I can’t answer that for you. No one but Kidd can. I will say that I think you should give the two of you a second chance. Not for Kidd, but for yourself.”

  “For myself? Why the hell would I do that?”

  How the hell can I give her advice when I can’t even get my own life straight? “Because you love him. If you don’t give it a chance, you’ll spend the rest of your life wondering what if...”

  “I’m not talking about this shit anymore.”

  I roll my eyes at her bluntness. “Fine, then what do you want to do?”

  A smile spreads across her face as she says, “Let’s go get drunk.”

  A half hour later, we’re sitting at the clubhouse bar. She’s downing shots of tequila, while I sip on my soda. Thankfully, she hasn’t commented on my sober status. That’s a conversation I don’t want to have right now.

  The room goes quiet when the door to the common room opens. I turn just in time to see Timber walk inside. I can feel my heart rate speed up as I take him in. His golden brown hair is nearly to his shoulders, and my fingers long to touch the silky waves. He’s still sporting his trademark mustache. It frames his mouth, ending right at his jaw line, just a shade darker than his hair. When he lifts his shades, his bright green eyes cut in my direction. The whole package nearly takes my breath away.

  A huge smile spreads across my face as Ice shouts out, “Finally home, huh?”

  His head jerks toward her, and he smiles. He doesn’t respond, but instead rushes toward Ice and pulls her into his body. As soon as he has her in her arms, he devours her lips.

  “It’s good to be home, pretty girl.”

  “Be a damn shame for you to die as soon as you get here, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen if you don’t take your hands off my old lady,” Kidd says, walking toward them.

  Oh shit! This is not good.

  “He didn’t know that you claimed me, so you better not lay a damn hand on him, Kidd. I mean it!” Ice says as she pulls away from Timber.

  Within seconds, Kidd has her tossed over his shoulder and is walking toward his room. I watch them, a smile playing on my lips, so engrossed in their display that I don’t notice Timber coming toward me until he has his mouth near my ear. “Missed you, Little Flower.”

  The next second, I’m in his arms, and he’s kissing me. I know he just kissed Ice, and I should probably be offended
that I’m his second choice, but I’m not. Instead, I return the kiss with everything I have, hoping to feel even a little of what I felt when Preach’s lips were on mine. It’s not the same, not even close, but it’s still amazing. It comes to an end all too soon when I am jerked out of his arms.

  “Keep your fuckin’ hands off her,” Preach shouts as he pushes me behind him.

  A slow smile spreads across Timber’s face as he looks between Preach and me. “Damn, all the good ones are claimed.”

  His words cause me to flinch. I step away from Preach and move toward Timber. “I’m not claimed, especially not by him.”

  Timber looks confused as Preach growls out, “Daisy, stay the fuck away from him.”

  I ignore him and walk toward Timber. “I know you just got home, and you are probably more than ready to party, but could you take me home?”

  I see a flash of pity in his eyes, the same pity I saw in Ice’s earlier. Finally, he grabs my hand. “Yeah, Little Flower. I’ll take you home.”

  It’s probably a bad move on my part. Ice told me about how she used him to escape Kidd before he went to prison, and now I’m using him to escape Preach. I don’t really have a choice though. I just don’t think I can take any more of Preach tonight.

  As Timber and I walk toward the door, I can feel the hostility radiating from behind us. When I glance back, I see Preach with his fists clenched at his side and his face masked in rage. Before we’re out the door, I see Leah prance over to him and wrap her arms around his neck. When she leans in for a kiss, I feel my stomach drop to the floor.

  A nasty smile covers his face as his fists unclench and his arms go around her waist. Hand roaming down her body, he cups her ass. Even though I’m holding Timber’s hand, I still stiffen at the sight of his hands on her.

  “Come on, Little Flower. You don’t need to be watching that fucker make an idiot of himself,” Timber says and continues pulling me through the club doors.

  Chapter Twelve

  PREACH

  The boys and I are sitting around our normal table at The Kitty Kat, but I know we’re not here for the entertainment. Kidd has something on his mind, and I’m sure it has something to do with that fucker, Timmons. Ever since that bitch showed up a few days ago, shit has been heating up at the clubhouse. Something’s going down with the Mateland charter of the Renegade Sons, but I’m not sure what. I do know that it has something to do with Ice and what happened to her when she was just a kid.

  “Any news?” Kidd asks Reese.

  He shakes his head. “Nah, man. It’s like the motherfucker disappeared overnight. Not one brother or any of the girls has seen him. Timmons is a ghost, man.”

  Timber leans into the table, placing his palms on top of it. “I got an idea. Don’t know if it’ll work, but it’s worth a try.”

  Kidd looks toward him. “Tell me.”

  “I think we should consider sending Preach to Mateland,” Timber says, lifting a hand toward me. “You all know that he’s got a talent for getting information. He’s got a way of getting a guy to talk, and you never even realize you’re telling him all your fuckin’ secrets until it’s too late. If they know where Timmons is, he’ll find out.”

  I picked up that talent in Prison. Being eighteen inside is not easy. You have to learn a way to survive, and I did that by becoming a good listener. People trusted me, told me shit they would never tell anyone else. I used the information to save my ass more than once. “I don’t know if it’ll work, but I’m willing do anything to keep Ice safe.”

  Kidd nods. “Sounds like a plan to me, but I don’t want him going out on his own.”

  “I’ll ride with him,” Reese adds.

  “As much as I’d like to get your ass away from Jenna, I think it’d be better if you stayed here. I’ll need all the help I can get if Timmons goes after my old lady,” Kidd says, not at all happy to admit that he needs help protecting Ice.

  I take a minute to think about the situation. I can’t go to Mateland alone, but I have to be careful of who I take with me. “I think you should send Maker with me. He’s a good brother, but he’s dumb as fuck. You send him with me, and it’ll help get their guard down. There’s no way the Mateland crew will think I’m searching for information with Maker around.”

  Chipper clears his throat. “That’s a good plan. The only hitch is that Kidd already called Brew. They know we’re on the warpath, but they don’t why. It doesn’t matter though. They’ll be keeping shit tight until they find out.”

  “If that’s true, why don’t you just ask Brew? He hates Timmons. If he knows anything, he’ll give it up,” I ask, not understanding why we would risk going to Mateland if we could handle it from here. Yeah, I learned shit while I was in Mateland, and what I learned was not good. That chapter needs a serious clean up. They have way too fuckin’ many internal issues.

  Reese shakes his head. “No he won’t. He’s protecting Timmons, so that Timmons will keep protecting him. Brew doesn’t want his secret getting out.”

  Kidd looks toward Reese. “You know about Brew and Ice?”

  He nods. “I’ve known since the day Chipper took her out of that shithole.”

  “What in the hell are you two talking about?” Chipper asks, looking between Reese and Kidd.

  Kidd looks to Chipper with regret. “Brew is Jenna’s father.”

  Chipper’s body grows tight. “No, he’s fucking not. Her father’s name is David.”

  “Her father’s name is Peter David Brewster,” Kidd says.

  Chipper slams his fist onto the table. “She fuckin’ lied to me. I took care of her ass for years, and she fuckin’ lied to me.”

  He starts to get up, but Reese grabs his arm and pushes him back down. “She was a scared kid. All she knew about the club was what her dad and Timmons told her. Timmons had her convinced that no one could take her away from him. She was afraid you’d be forced to take her back to him.”

  “Why the fuck would I do that?” Chipper asks, anger radiating from him.

  Reese reluctantly says, “He claimed her, made her his old lady. Her dad and Timmons told Jenna that no one can take an old lady away.”

  “What?” Chipper and Kidd shout at the same time.

  Reese looks between the two of them. “I’m not sure of everything that happened when she was there. She refuses to talk about it, but I do know he claimed her. I also knew she was Brew’s daughter the moment she told me her name was Jenna. I wasn’t in Mateland long before I came here, but long enough to know that Timmons had claimed Brew’s daughter, Jenna. I was also told that she didn’t get a choice in the claiming.”

  Oh, shit. Jenna’s the daughter of the Mateland VP and was claimed by the President’s son. This shit keeps getting worse and worse.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Chipper shouts out. At the same time, Kidd asks, “Why the hell didn’t you help her?”

  “I never saw her. I didn’t know she was just a kid. Didn’t have any fuckin’ idea what he was doing to her, or that she was being abused either. Do you honestly think I would just stand around and let her be hurt?” Reese asks, angry at the accusation.

  Kidd shakes his head. “No, I don’t. I know you better than that. I shouldn’t have even asked that shit.”

  Reese looks toward Chipper. “As for you, I didn’t know you well enough at first. By the time I did, you and your father had made me swear not to tell anyone about Timmons. If I remember correctly, your father threatened to cut my fuckin’ balls off if I did. I figured if I had to keep one secret, it was best to keep them all.”

  Chipper buries his face in his hands, his pain is obvious. “She never trusted me. All this time and she never trusted me.”

  I can hear the heartbreak in his voice. To him, Ice is his daughter. To learn that she has been keeping secrets all this time has to be killing him.

  “That’s not true,” I say. “She trusted you with everything but her father’s name. If I understand right, she even gave you part of that.” />
  Chipper shakes his head and again says, “She never trusted me.”

  “She trusted you enough to run to you when she was in trouble,” Kidd says to him. “I was sitting a few feet from the door when she came in the clubhouse after finding out Timmons was in Big Clifty. She ran right past me to get to you. When she needed somebody the most, she went to you. If that’s not trust, I don’t know what in the hell is.”

  After a long pause, Chipper finally nods. “You’re right. Even if you’re not, it’s my fault. I listened to Pop when I should have taken Timmons down.”

  I can’t imagine what he’s feeling right now. He let Timmons live, and now, the motherfucker is after Ice again. This time, the bastard won’t be walking away.

  Timber slaps Chipper on his back. “Well, you’ll have your chance to take him out soon.”

  We get quiet as the sound of Heaven on Fire by Kiss floats across the club. I look toward the stage and am relieved to see that Daisy isn’t the one up there taking off her clothes. Instead, she’s serving drinks. She’s been to our table twice tonight, neither time sparing me a single glance. It takes every bit of my willpower not to grab her when she gets near me.

  I feel like a fuckin’ caveman, wanting to throw her over my shoulder and shout that she’s mine. It’s tearing my heart out to restrain myself. I still can’t believe I fucked everything up so bad.

  I hear voices behind me and turn my head to see the new bitch crawling onto Kidd’s lap. I watch as he tries to get her off, but she clings to him like a fuckin’ vine. Turning away from them, knowing that Kidd will handle his own shit, I see Daisy walking toward our table. Her eyes aren’t on me but instead are locked on Kidd and the slut mauling him.

  I watch as shock crosses her face, and the drinks she’s holding slip from her hands. Before I can even get out of my seat, she is running out the door. A second later, I hear a crash behind me. Jerking my head to look, I see Kidd staring daggers at the door. Fuck, please don’t let Daisy be stupid enough to tell Ice what she saw.

  ****

  Leaving The Kitty Kat, I see Daisy’s old Toyota Camry sitting a few miles down the road. The hood is up, and she’s leaning against the driver’s side with a phone in her hand. Pulling in behind her car, I cut my bike off and slide to the ground. “What are you doing?”