by Karen Renee
Cal twisted his face to the side as he blew out a hard breath. Turning back to Volt and Vamp he said, “That guy is a textbook sociopath, isn’t he?”
“Should probably check Jackie’s psych textbooks, but yeah, pretty much. You two got a plan?”
Neither brother said anything, but each one moved his head just enough to indicate an affirmative answer.
Volt focused on Vamp. “I know you want your pound of flesh, brother, but this ought to be your day. Plus, anything goes wrong with this, I don’t want you without an alibi. For all we know, Fowler’s a damn pawn for a bigger set-up that targets you specifically. Cal, Blood, and Yak can handle this. I told that bastard I took my time with my wet work, but I’m not feeling it. Besides, it isn’t like he’ll be ’round to tell anyone else about it. Cal, if you want, Mallory is welcome to our guest bedroom. Your call.”
Vamp had his marching orders, so he wasn’t going to stick around very long, but he did say to Cal, “Or she can ride back with Pop, Jim and Marnie. Jim’s bike is at my complex, Pop and Marnie are staying at my apartment and Mal’s house is on the way. Just let Pop know before you cut out.”
Rainey was hanging in the kitchen, still. Vamp didn’t know how long he’d been out there with Fowler, his brothers and the various phone calls; but he was amazed that she hadn’t decided to put on any other clothes over her bikini. She was hotter than an award-winning Bike Week girl in Daytona. Feeling his dick stirring to life, Vamp thought about brake-lines and brake-fluid for his bike in order to keep the status quo in his boxer briefs.
Rainey caught sight of him and her entire face lit up with a smile and bright eyes. He wasn’t sure if she knew that she did that every damn time she saw him, but hell if he was going to point it out to her. He knew her contrary ass would find any and every way to school her features so she wore her best poker face when he entered a room. Nope, he would never give her an inkling that her feelings for him were always written on her face. He smiled back at her and saw the red-headed prospect Jim move toward him.
“Got your truck parked on the corner, man. It was low on gas, so I filled it up and you’re good to go. Your dad told me I’m ridin’ with him back to my bike. Everything’s set.”
Prospects could be colossal pains in the ass or colossal helpers depending on the circumstances. They were all the time trying too hard and being overly perfectionistic, but in this instance Vamp couldn’t have been happier with this prospect.
Vamp patted Jim’s bicep, “Thanks, man. I really appreciate it, and I’ll keep it in mind when the vote comes up.”
CHAPTER 28
Sitting at the traffic light for the intersection of Kingsley and Blanding on Monday afternoon, I was doing my best to keep my excitement to a simmer instead of a full-out boil-over. My meeting with Jacob Tines couldn’t have gone any better. Based on everything he told me, it was a no-brainer to make the switch to the Tri-County credit union. I knew a handful of our processors had jumped ship six months ago to become loan officers there. Jacob had told me they were good, but they needed to be better. Since he couldn’t lure Roxanne away, he wanted me to give it a go at training them to be better. If that went well, in ninety days when my probationary period was done, I’d be promoted to a small-market manager with ten loan officers under me.
I hadn’t considered moving into management before, mainly because I wasn’t certain I could handle the headaches inherent in managing a department. Between the shortened commute and the potential for an exorbitant pay increase, I had to give it a shot. Vamp had pointed out to me last night that the way my company was handling a bogus claim against me didn’t bode well for me in the future. It’s one thing to say the customer is always right, but at what point do the employee’s rights take hold? That had occurred to me also, but I loved my coworkers and my boss, and a great boss was harder to come by than a winning lottery ticket. I would have to get my resume together and email it to Tri-County’s HR department. Tines was going to give them the heads-up to be on the look-out for it.
The traffic light turned green and I motored north toward Oakleaf, and Vamp’s apartment. He was hanging with his family while I met with Tines. I missed driving my SUV with its fancy hands-free features, but Diana’s Malibu had plenty of pick-up. I just missed the turn signal at Argyle Forrest Boulevard, so while I waited for the next signal, I called Vamp.
“How’d it go?” he asked in greeting.
“It went really well. I’m at Blanding and Argyle right now. I should get to your place in ten minutes.”
“Excellent. We were just talking about lunch, so we’ll wait until you get here.”
“Sounds good, hon.”
“Later, baby.”
Thirty minutes later, we were all seated at Brewer’s Pizza. I had never been here before, but had heard good things about it from coworkers who lived on this side of town. The small restaurant was well known for brewing their own beer and carrying a variety of craft beers on draft. Our server brought me a sample of two different beers because I was undecided. Both were golden Pilsners, but the ‘Magnolia’ brew was much smoother going down, so I decided to go with that. As I handed the small sample glass back to the waitress, my cell phone rang.
Pulling it out of my purse, I saw it was Reggie calling.
“Sorry, but I should probably take this,” I said to everyone at the table.
“Forgetaboutit,” Warren said, like he was from New Jersey.
“Hello,” I said.
Reggie’s voice was excited and loud in my ear, “Girl! Tell me you have access to a television right now!”
I looked around the restaurant. There was one television on our side and it was tuned to a sports station.
“Well, not exactly. We’re at Brewer’s –”
“Tell them to put it on CBS. You gotta watch the news, babe.”
With a smile, I asked, “Why do I have to watch the news, Reg?”
Suddenly Tucker was talking to me instead of Reggie, “He’s all about the drama. There’s footage of three men who were all arrested for assaulting two gay men outside the Waffle House at the beach last night. There’s also footage of an attack at the Roosevelt Waffle House, but well, you know what happened there. Anyway, Bradley’s been arrested and both of his asshole friends, too.”
“You can’t be serious!”
I turned to tell Vamp, not realizing he had left his seat. I saw him standing with a remote control in front of the television set a few feet from our table. I stood up and sidled up to where he stood just as he found the right station. Grainy black-and-white surveillance film filled the screen, showing three men ganging up on two thin men who were exiting the Waffle House. Then a graphic with the headline “Hate Crime” came up, with mug-shots of the attackers and their names beneath their pictures. Like most mug-shots, Bradley looked rough and dirty.
“My God,” I whispered.
“Yeah. I’m just glad they got what they had comin’ to ‘em. Jail won’t be much fun for them,” Tucker said.
“Well, thank you, and tell Reggie I said thank you for the heads-up. I’m just ashamed that I dated such a prejudiced prick.”
“You wound up with the right man in the end, dear. That’s all that matters. Enjoy your lunch,” Tucker said.
EPILOGUE
Two months later
I carried four longneck beers out for Vamp, Reggie, Tucker, and myself. We were sitting in the forecourt of the Riot compound with other Riot MC brothers. I had no idea why we were all sitting outside in the ninety-degree heat with eight-five-percent humidity at three in the afternoon, but I was not in charge of this shindig, so I kept my trap shut. I handed out the beers and planted my butt in a white plastic lawn chair.
Vamp swallowed a swig of beer, turned to me and said, “You’re going to start paying Diana for using the Malibu.”
I looked off to the side for a moment and then focused my gaze on Vamp, “She and Duane both have flat refused me. Besides, this rock on my finger is payment enough. You
did buy it from Diana, right?”
I admired the two-carat engagement ring Vamp had put on my finger just two weeks ago. The ring was white gold and the diamond was cushion-cut in a raised setting with two round diamonds on either side of it. It was gorgeous as hell and I couldn’t have picked out a better ring myself. The only drawback to it was how utterly gaudy it was on my petite hand.
“Yeah, but that ain’t the same as compensating them for allowing you to use one of their cars.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I told you not to get me a big diamond, and you didn’t listen to me. I know this ring cost you a good five figures, which means Di got a hefty-ass commission because of it. Why did you have to go so big?”
Vamp gave me a disbelieving look. “You make good money as a loan officer and have a reputation with the local brokers, right?”
“Yeah, but so what? That doesn’t matter with my ring.”
“Those brokers you work with, how many are female?”
I looked away and blew out a sigh. I turned back to him and said, “That doesn’t matter either.”
Vamp’s eyebrow arched. “Yeah it does. I want those bastards to know you’re not just taken, you are claimed.”
Both of my eyebrows furrowed. “Because I’m a piece of luggage, and not a woman who’s committed to you in every way she can be.”
Vamp grinned. “I know that, but they need to know that, too. This saves you the hassle of dealing with some numbnut who thinks he can push his way in with you.”
“You’re paranoid,” I said.
Shaking his head Vamp said, “Nope, but you tried to change the subject. You pay Di on Monday. Got it?”
Vamp and I had settled in with one another over the past two-months, and things were great except for when he tried to be too bossy. That shit didn’t sit well with me, and I was beginning to think it never would.
I smiled sweetly at him. “You know, I just got the insurance check for my burnt-up SUV, so I’ll line up my financing this week and get a new SUV. Then I won’t have to have this asinine argument with you and then again with Diana and Duane.”
Vamp leaned from his chair into my space. “No SUVs for you.”
“Fine. I’ll get a sports car. That’ll be fun.”
Vamp’s lips thinned, but then he said, “You’re getting a sedan, with a six-cylinder engine at a minimum. Got it?”
I squinted at him. “Why a sedan? What is the deal?”
“We gonna have a family?” he asked.
“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa, Nelly! We haven’t even gotten married yet.”
Vamp reached out and wrapped a hand around the back of my neck, pulling me toward him, “I know that, Rain. Why go through the ball-busting bullshit process of buyin’ a cage twice though? Ain’t no way you’re totin’ my kid around in the back of a sports car. And if I don’t want you in a vehicle that could roll, then you can bet your ass I don’t want my son in an SUV.”
I closed my eyes, took a breath and held it for a moment before I responded to all of that.
I opened my eyes and said, “You’re really getting ahead of yourself, you know.”
“What are you talkin’ about? You don’t want kids?”
My eyes danced over his face. “I don’t know. I can’t say I’ve given it that much thought. I…I mean…I don’t know.”
His hand behind my neck pulled me further toward his face, and he kissed me tenderly, just barely touching his tongue to mine before he released me. He said, “I get that you don’t know. You plan on waitin’ more than six years to decide on kids?”
I tilted my head in confusion, “What do you mean?”
Vamp’s lips tipped up at the sides, “Honey, you’re twenty-eight, soon to be twenty-nine. Financing on a decent ride is typically five to six years, and you’ll be thirty-six by then. I’ll be forty-one. I want to get started before then, but it’s not a deal breaker. Just sayin’ to you, be practical. We’re getting’ married, I want a family, and I don’t want to go haggle about a fuckin’ car unless I absolutely have to. You gotta have wheels, I get that; so get wheels that make the most sense for the next ten years or so. Is that so outlandish?”
I rolled my eyes. Now that he’d put it that way, it made perfect sense. I decided to concede the point, “No, it’s not outlandish. I’ll start looking for sedans, but –”
“No ‘buts,’ woman.”
I quietly growled at him, and said, “But I want you to come with me when I’m ready to buy. Have my back, and all that.”
Vamp smiled and gave me a chin-lift. “That I can do, baby.”
I wasn’t sure if Tucker and Reggie were quietly eavesdropping on us or not, but they had kept well to themselves during our exchange. I took a big slug of my beer and saw Tucker looking at me with a smile on his face. Great.
Tucker slanted his head a little and asked, “Did you ever have to talk to that chick and her sister about the attack?”
I set my beer on the ground by my feet and said, “No. I thought you knew? The Wednesday after Memorial Day, I resigned, and as I was taking my box of personal items home, they were walking into the building.”
Vamp nodded his head and said, “Those two thought Stillman had cost her that job.”
“Yeah. I didn’t tell them all his bullshit ultimately made my life better. I mean the wife was already dealing with a husband in jail who had no qualms hiring a goon to beat her sister to within an inch of her life. Plus, she had an infant with no husband to help her. Heavens!”
“Funny how things work out, isn’t it?” Mallory asked, as she sat down in a folding-chair she set up next to Vamp.
I looked at her and said, “Yeah. I wound up with the love of my life, a new job with better pay and possibly a move into management. Thanks to his lunatic sister, I’ve got an insurance check good toward another vehicle. I wouldn’t go through that shit again, but it’s nice that it seems to be working out in the end.”
“Damn straight,” Blood said, as he handed Mallory a red solo cup and set up another canvas folding chair next to her.
I looked over to Blood. “Wait a minute! I thought Cal would be sitting there, but obviously not. Where is Cal anyway?”
Blood sat down, while saying, “Had some unexpected business to take care of. Left ’bout an hour ago. He should be back soon.”
Reggie gave my left hand a pointed look and asked, “Did you tell your mother about your ring?”
I gave him a closed-lip smile. “I did.”
“And?” he prodded.
“‘And’ what? She said, ‘That’s nice dear, but I wouldn’t get too attached if I were you. Men don’t commit.’ I had to hang up at that point. That kind of thinking is toxic.”
Mallory gasped and then asked, “So, like, she’s not even gonna help you plan a wedding? Seriously?”
I scoffed at her, “I’ll be lucky if she shows up.”
“No! You can’t mean that!”
I chuckled. “But, I do. If this doesn’t fit with her schedule, she’ll stay home.”
“Might be for the best,” Vamp said.
“What?” Mallory asked, sounding almost offended.
Vamp gave her a hard look, “She just said the woman’s ‘thinking is toxic.’ I don’t need my woman dealin’ with bullshit drama cause of her mama, who blames Rainey for all the shit in her own life. Besides, she couldn’t handle the truth me, my Pop, Brock, Gabe and my Riot brothers would put down on her.”
I envisioned my mother seeing Henry “Volt” Adler again after fifteen years, and I knew Vamp was right; my mother wouldn’t be able to handle the Riot MC family of mine. Vamp was working himself up, so I said, “Stop it!”
Vamp’s hard gaze came to me, “Stop what? She’s got a brilliant daughter and that’s a precious gift she’s squandered away and nearly fucked you up in the process. Total bullshit!”
I put a hand on Vamp’s bicep, “Okay, okay!”
With a sudden clap of his hands, Reggie declared, “Yes! Topic change.”
&
nbsp; Mallory giggled and opened her mouth to say something, but Cal’s Mustang roared into the forecourt of the compound and every member of Riot got to their feet. Any of them who were standing, suddenly stood more stiffly. Cal parked his car perpendicular to the row of bikes in the front of the court, and he knifed out of the car.
“Blood! Major! Gonna need some help here!” he shouted as he rounded the hood and opened the passenger door. I caught a glimpse of dark hair as someone tried to unfold from the car. Cal helped the man to his feet, and his eyes looked like slits, although it was hard for me to tell from such a distance. Blood was on the other side of the man and the two were helping him trudge toward the clubhouse. Mallory’s happiness abruptly shifted to startled concern.
“What the hell happened to him? Oh, my God!” she cried.
Vamp looked over to her. “What are you talkin’ about?”
“That’s Razor,” she said, while shaking her head as though Vamp should have known who it was.
As Cal and Blood walked with Razor, Cal said something low to him and Razor barely moved his head. Volt and Jackie had been inside, but both of them came out when the Mustang roared into the compound.
Volt said something in Jackie’s ear, and she scurried back inside the clubhouse. Volt opened the door for Cal, Blood, and Razor. Major quickly followed the men inside. Mallory shot out of her chair, but Vamp grabbed her arm.
“Not right now, Mal. Let Cal deal with it.”
Mallory’s eyes were bugging out. “He’s hurt! He called me at the beginning of the month and said he was going to ground. Obviously, something bad has happened.”
Vamp moved into her space a little, “Heard about that call, and the day that call was placed. Right now though, you let your man handle it.”
