Loved by the MC

by Devyn Douglas

  I righted my dress after kissing him again. He chuckled and zipped his jeans. With a head shake, he pulled the vehicle into drive and we were rolling into town. We'd stopped a mile out. I'd been too oblivious to notice whether anyone had driven past.

  It was mid-afternoon. Soap opera time for the gossip mill and happy hour for the early bird drinking crew.

  “What if they saw what we did just now?”

  “Harmony, the Texas Rangers aren't skulking in the bushes watching me fuck my woman, okay? And fuck them if they saw. I don't give a shit.”

  “Your woman?”

  “Jesus, what the hell do you think we're doing here? Yeah, you're my woman. I'm pretty sure I made that quite clear last night.”

  Okay, so that answered one question rattling in my head. The whole slave thing did have arms and legs in the daylight, outside where people could see. I'd be his woman to everyone in the Grove. A smile spread across my face.

  I was Chief's woman.

  Yay.

  “Jesus, you're a nut.” He shook his head and grinned. “I'll clarify so we're clear. The Grove will know you're mine. The lines between you and me and the MC are grayed out, meaning we decide who knows that. What we do in the bedroom or behind closed doors isn't anyone's business, so I'm a mind to keep the fact you're my slave and service the guys private.”

  “Private's good. The Grove's gotten enough gossip to chew on about me.”

  “And you're gonna have to stop worrying about the bitches nosing around in everyone's business,” he said. “Let's talk about what's about to happen.”

  “Do we have to?”

  “We're almost there.”

  “Okay.” Nervousness coiled in me. Running still sounded like an excellent idea. “I just don't understand why they want to talk to me. They have my statement, right?”

  “They likely have some follow up questions. People in town have probably filled in more than a few blanks and the side margins of the story with their thoughts on everything. The questions might get personal real quick.”

  Great. Just what I wanted.

  Not.

  “You get nervous, or if something doesn't feel right, you ask for an attorney, even if they maintain it's only a conversation, okay? You have the right to counsel in any situation, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “They'll ask about that night. Be as honest as you can, but don't offer details, just like we talked about. Do you remember your statement?”

  “Ray gave me a copy before he left last night. I read through it,” I whispered. “He told me not to say anything to you.”

  Chief's jaw twitched. “His gray area's always bigger than mine.”

  “I wish I knew what everyone else said that night.”

  “You only worry about what you said. Everything's going to sort itself out. This is a formality, nothing more.” Chief pulled up outside the courthouse, but across the street. “Call me as soon as you get out. If something goes down and you can't get ahold of me, Ray, Max and the rest of the MC are on call. Okay? He said Squirrel would be hanging around, just in case.”

  “It'll be okay,” I lied.

  Chatting with the Texas Rangers about the night Mom died was never going to be okay. I exited the vehicle before I lost my nerve and headed across the empty two lane highway. My sandals tapped against the tiled entry as I made my way down the hall and turned into the Grove's central office, where the Texas Rangers had taken up an office in the corner. Or so I heard when they phoned my cell this morning and asked me to come in.

  “Harmony, thanks for coming in. I'm Chet. Please, come this way.”

  Uh, okay. I was a bit put off by the whole first name thing. I'd expected a Miss XXXXX and a Detective something or Ranger whatever. What did Rangers call themselves anyway?

  I followed the man into a small conference room, where another man sat. Both were in the middle forties, best I could figure. Tall and on the leaner side.

  “This is Will. We're down from Austin looking into a few things. Do you mind if we ask you a couple of questions?”

  “Go ahead. I'm not sure what I could possibly help with.”

  “First of all, we're real sorry to hear about your mom. No one should ever lose a loved one in such a tragic way. We're working hard to put all the pieces from that night together so you can get the closure you need to move on.” Chet motioned toward the coffeepot on the table in the corner. “Do you want some?”

  “I'm good.” I sat near the door and across the table from them.

  “We're keeping this very informal, so please just relax,” Will suggested.

  Yeah, sure. No problem.

  “Can you tell us what happened that night?”

  “I'm afraid everything's a bit hazy. It all happened so fast. I remember waking up and being in an abandoned house somewhere.”

  “Did you know anyone there?”

  “They'd tried to take me once before, they'd been looking for Mom.” I put my hands in my lap and held my breath.

  “Do you know who they were?”

  “They never offered names. Mom had something they said was theirs.”

  “And you don't remember any of them calling each other something?”

  “I'd been kidnapped. Remembering details isn't something I'm good at on a good day. That was far from a good day.”

  “Yet you walked out, unharmed. No other survivors.”

  “Is there a question in there?”

  “You tell me,” Will said. “Should there be?”

  “Here's where we're confused. Chief Tony Reyes received an anonymous tip indicating your location and went to investigate.” Chet glanced at the papers in front of him. “How did one man take out everyone there?”

  “You'd have to ask him.” I shrugged. “He was in the service, right? A war hero.”

  “Still a bit confused, ma'am.” Will spread photos out in front of me. Blood. So much blood.

  My stomach roiled. My mind blanked, fled to the night I'd escaped. No other survivors.

  “Tell me how a war hero armed with a gun can kill a man like this,” Chet said.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  “They had a knife. I remember it against my throat.” I touched myself, recalling Blade's weapon grazing my skin. “It cut me.”

  “So he used that?”

  “I don't know. How would I know?”

  “You were there,” Will replied.

  “Don't.”

  “Don't what, ma'am?” Chet asked.

  “Whatever this is, it's over. I'm out of here. Next time you want to chat, call my attorney.” I got up. “I don't know who called you in for this witch hunt, but Chief Reyes is a hero. He deserves an accommodation, not an investigation. Take your innuendos and very informal interrogations and shove them up your ass. Oh, wait. I know. Let's kidnap you, throw you in a room with a bunch of armed strangers. Then, for grins we'll toss your dead, gutted mom in the corner so you don't see her until you've been there a good, long while terrified out of your fucking mind. Then we'll see how many details you recall.”

  “Harmony.” The voice startled me from the rage overtaking my tongue. Jolie powered into the room, grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the door. “You're done with her. This is her attorney, Walter Prescott.”

  Jolie's Uncle Walter? I looked at the man in shock as he walked into the room sporting his thousand-dollar suit and briefcase. A young man raced in after him, files in his hands.

  Uncle Walter was from Austin, too. He charged thousands an hour to sit and glare over his glasses. The infamous look was a hit at Jolie's house over the holidays. Whoever did the best impression got the wishbone. I watched him toss the requisite glare at the two men and the advantage in the room shifted. The two Rangers sat up and glanced at me, then Walter.

  I didn't have thousands an hour for Uncle Walter to stare. I hoped he charged by the minute. If I went back to Ramen dinners, I could afford a couple cold stares. Okay, shit. He just did another. Was it a buy one get one kind
of thing?

  Shit. I was losing it.

  “You boys are a bit off the reservation on this one,” Walter commented. “Driving all the way down here because of an anonymous tip? Investigating a war hero who returned home to serve as Sheriff of his small hometown. Wow, that's a new low. He saves a young woman from the clutches of a Mexican drug cartel while miraculously securing her despite the severe emotional trauma of just discovering her mother's body. I can read the headlines now.”

  “Details aren't adding up, Mister Prescott. We need some more information only Miss Griggs can answer, seeing how she was the only one to survive.”

  Now I got a Miss Griggs. Bastard.

  “Come on, let Uncle Walter deal with this,” Jolie said as she tugged on my arm.

  No. I wanted to see the harm I'd done—whatever it was—handled. I needed to know Chief was safe. The MC was covered. Blade was the ghost they'd worked hard to make him after that night. The man saved my life. Yeah, it was a real shit way to do it, but sometimes things got messy.

  “Ah, yes. The knife situation.” Walter looked at the photos that'd caused my stomach to heave. “I'm sure the media will love to hear how Texas's finest subjected a lovely young woman to seeing her mom's brutal, bloody death in color photos a couple days after the memorial service.”

  He scooped up the photos and filed them in his briefcase. “You don't mind if I keep these copies, do you? Sometimes they need photos to accompany stories. Newspapers run just about anything these days if the headlines are big enough.”

  “We have a right to question her,” Chet argued.

  “Of course. My client will answer whatever reasonable questions you may have, but let's be clear. Photos are not questions, nor are they necessary. Any gratuitous attempt to traumatize my client will be dealt with harshly. Furthermore, any questions meant to incite or create a heightened response you can turn to your advantage will be grounds for severe repercussions, gentlemen. We already know exactly how the knife situation went down. Chief Reyes didn't kill all the men. The one with the throat slit was killed by a friendly, who wanted to keep Miss Griggs as a sex slave rather than kill her. The Sheriff told you that. My client said as much in the excited utterances to the emergency personnel who arrived to assist. They have sworn affidavits to that effect. What more can we do for you?”

  I let Jolie drag me out of the room as the men chatted amongst themselves. Uncle Walter had the situation under control. She double-timed it out of the building, clicked the locks on a fancy Benz—probably Uncle Walters—and shoved me into the passenger's seat.

  I blinked as she buckled me in, slammed the door and motored to the driver's seat. The vehicle peeled away from the curb with a spin of tires more my driving style than hers. She tapped her phone. It rang on the overhead.

  “Yeah.”

  My gut tightened. The gravelly voice offered no warmth. Why would it? Jolie was persona non grata in my world as far as Ray thought. “I got your girl out of the Rangers’ line of fire. Where do I bring her? Because she's in too much shock to be alone and once she snaps out of it, I doubt I'll be the one she wants.”

  “Fuck, they've got eyes on the compound,” he replied.

  “I'm okay. Take me home.”

  “Harmony,” he warned.

  “I'm okay,” I repeated, knowing I totally wasn't okay and he'd never believe I was. Even if my voice wasn't watery and an octave higher than normal. If I said it enough maybe it'd come true. “I'm okay.”

  “Dawg and Amber have a cabin on the southwest end of the lake, the old Mattison place. You know it?”

  “Yeah,” Jolie replied. “And?”

  “Take her there. Amber will be out to meet you.”

  “Right. Uh huh. Whatever.” Jolie clicked off and turned the car around. “Okay, girlfriend, I'm on your shit list, but I need words. What the hell is going on?”

  The drive to the cabin took longer than I expected, what with the awkward silence and all. Jolie knew the silent treatment got her way farther than poking, prodding and beating the verbal shit out of me ever would. I broke a mile out. I was weak where my former BFF was concerned.

  Plus, I remembered what Ray said back at the Dairy Queen. He was right. She deserved another shot. I took a deep breath and started rattling off what my filter didn't catch. I kept what really went down at the cabin to myself. I didn't want her being an accessory after the fact, or whatever the hell her knowing would mean.

  I wasn't even sure anything illegal happened. Okay, Blade killed a man in cold blood. That was in the gray area as far as I was concerned because the dude deserved it. He killed Mom. Kidnapped me. Shot at me. Yeah, I wouldn't lose much sleep because of his loss. I doubted anyone else would.

  I didn't mention Chief. I wasn't ready to share him with her. All I really said was that I met Amber through Dawg and she was cool. I didn't mention the whole eating her out because I figured that'd make her meeting Amber a bit awkward.

  We pulled up to the cabin as a Harley rolled in behind us. I looked over my shoulder and watched Amber slide off with a practiced ease which came from being an old lady. One with her own bike. Sweet. I hoped Chief had one because I seriously loved riding. Ray or one of the guys would take me, but I wanted to share it with Chief.

  I got out. Amber grabbed me and gave me a hard hug. “Fuck, you scared ten years off me. I should beat your ass.”

  “Erm, Amber, this is Jolie.”

  “Jolie, Jolie. Like as in the Jolie who said our club wasn't good enough for you to associate with. That Jolie?” Amber put a hand on her hip and waited for an answer.

  Whoops.

  “That'd be me. I've apologized to Ray for the shit I said. I had my reasons, some haven't gone away. But he's been good to Harmony, so we're square.” Jolie looked around. “Nice place.”

  “It's quiet. Off the books, what our girl needs. Come on in. I need a drink, even if it’s virgin. No liquor past these lips until the little one’s past my hips, you know what I’m saying?”

  I had about ten million questions for Amber, but wasn't sure how much I should ask around Jolie. She'd cut me deep when she'd judged me before. Things had gone further into the dark than ever and she was so light it damn near hurt my eyes.

  “You tell her about everything?”

  “No.”

  “What? I thought that's what we did on the way over.” Jolie moved in front of me, one hundred and twelve pounds of pissed off woman. “What the hell did you not share?”

  “You tell her about Chief?”

  “What about Chief?” Jolie asked. “Wait, that's Tony, right?”

  “Yeah, her man,” Amber offered.

  Welp, there went that secret. I took a deep breath and waited for the fireworks. Jolie's jaw dropped.

  “I thought Ray was her man. Or Max. One of them.”

  “Wow, you don't know a damn thing do you, girl?” Amber chuckled and settled her arm around Jolie. “Let's take a few shots, then I'll fill you in.”

  Chapter Six

  “No way!”

  “Oh, girl. Even I heard about that one. Dawg came home hornier than hell. We went two rounds cause of that bathroom scene.” Amber took another shot of tequila. “I’ve gotta admit I’m all shades of jealous. I never got to take Clutch for a spin before me and my man went exclusive.”

  The over-sharing session had gone straight into red line territory after the second shot. Jolie and I were shit at holding tequila, and it seemed Amber wasn't much better. She'd done a briefing of my sex life up until current—including my night with Ray, Max and Chief (minus the details, thank God).

  “Jesus, those boys gossip worse than the Grove,” I muttered as I inhaled a gulp of tequila.

  I'd lost my shot glass a long time ago and opted for straight from the bottle action. Jolie was blinking about a thousand times an hour, so I knew we needed an extract ASAP. My newfound BFF and my new second bestest were more trashed than I was, and that was saying a lot seeing how I lost my legs from the knees down a
bout an hour ago.

  Seriously, I couldn't even feel the fuckers.

  “Here's what I don't get. Why the fuck would guys that...hot and dominant want to share me? I mean, they have truckloads of whores in waiting at the compound. I've seen those bitches. Hell, I would've done some of those bitches if I had enough shots in me.”

  “Don't go giving the guys any ideas, I'm just saying,” Amber suggested. “Here's the thing. Those boys went through some intense shit together before the club even started up. And given their kink streak is wider than even their love of bikes, the Penetrators don't run like most MC clubs. Sharing is their thing, what makes them who they are.”

  “How the hell is Tony tied up with them anyway?” Jolie asked on a burp.

  I laughed when she belched again. Oh, she was gonna be so fucked up in the morning. She hated tequila. God, I'd missed her.

  “Chief served with them,” I answered.

  “I didn't even know that,” Amber said. “Before Dawg and I got exclusive, I was like you, but Chief stayed away. He's kept his distance from the club, but he stepped up when you became topic numero uno.”

  Wow.

  “He's going to get my nipples pierced,” I blurted. “And he wants me marked.”

  “You made a decision then?” Amber asked. “You his?”

  “Yeah, but he shares.”

  “Good, Dawg's already requested a night, just so you know.”

  “Wait. Wait. Wait a cotton-picking minute.” Jolie held her hands up in a T above her head. “Are you telling me your man requested a night with my girl here and you're totally okay with it?”

  “Dawg has more hang-ups about exclusivity than I do. I'm okay with us enjoying someone together,” Amber replied.

  Jolie blinked a thousand more times. She grabbed the tequila and took a big gulp. Her unfocused gaze shot to me, then back to Amber. “Holy shit. No way!”

  No way was her favorite phrase since we'd arrived. I glanced at my phone and willed the extract to happen soon. Amber had another whole bottle of tequila. Our livers wouldn't survive much more.

  “Wow.” Jolie's voice lowered to a whisper though no one was around. “So, like who did what? With you two.”