by Jade Kuzma
I looked away from him. If he were a patch, I would’ve slugged him right there. But I humored Needle and listened to his philosophy.
“Today it’s Steph,” he said. “Tomorrow, it might be some other hot young girl who digs leather and tattoos. The day after that, someone new.”
“I’m not interested. I only fucked Steph because it’s been awhile.”
“Fair enough. But you’re single. You’ve got no obligation to Stephanie or any of these other whores sitting around trying to be an old lady. I say you get your fill. If I was single—”
“Does Katrina know?”
Needle stopped smirking as soon as I mentioned his bride to be.
“That’s just it,” he said as the smirk quickly returned to his face. “I’ve only been with Katrina ever since I got with her. Never cheated on her. Never have, never will. You, on the other hand, my friend…”
Needle put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed.
“…You need to get as much pussy as you can get.”
“Stop trying to live vicariously through me. Just because your old lady isn’t giving it to you—”
“Whoa, whoa!”
He put his hands up and started snickering like a schoolboy.
“Don’t get the wrong idea,” he said. “Katrina’s the best pussy I ever had. And I get more than my fair share, even with the kid around.”
“I’m still waiting for you to make your point.”
“My point is you’re a man. You’re a Reaper. You gotta get as much pussy as you can get before your time’s up.”
“Thanks,” I said, rolling my eyes again. “I’m glad that I have your approval on who to fuck.”
“Glad to give you my advice,” he said, that annoying sarcasm in his voice.
I was a few years older than Needle but even if I wasn’t, the thought of him giving me advice on anything was laughable. Needle was as rash and impulsive as anybody. Even settling down with an old lady hadn’t changed his attitude.
He didn’t leave me though. He just stayed leaning up against the bar next to me.
“Is there something else you wanted?” I said.
“Garnet called a meeting. He said to get you into the chapel as soon as you were done with your little fuck session with the whore.”
“The president called a meeting and you’re just now telling me?”
“Hey, talking about the slut was a priority. I just wanted to see where your head was at—”
“Shut the hell up.”
“Ha!”
I got up from my seat and made my way over to the chapel. Just then, Garnet stepped out of his office.
“Let’s go!” he announced to the rest of the club.
The rest of the club members filed into the meeting room. I closed the door behind us and took a seat next to Garnet at the head of the table.
Garnet wasn’t that much older than me. Dark hair. Goatee and a beard as thick as ever. Tan skin and club ink displayed proudly on his arms. He carried himself like the club president that he was. Serious when he needed to be but always willing to be democratic about shit. I’d heard about other clubs. I was glad I didn’t have to deal with all of the club politics that they had to deal with.
I looked around the table at all of the club members.
Sully. The youngest member but wise beyond his years. His haircut made him look like he was in a boy-band but I didn’t hold it against him. He was a good kid and everybody in town looked up to him. Probably the most upstanding citizen in the club.
Brawn. Every club needed an enforcer. Brawn was all that and more. Nobody ever crossed us when the big man was around.
Petey. He was quiet. Messy hair. An innocent look in his eyes. He had smarts to make up for his meekness though. He wasn’t a big man like Brawn but he knew how to take care of himself when it came down to it. I’d seen it more times than I could count.
And then there was Needle. Still a prick, leaning back in his seat without a care in the world.
BRIC. Black Reapers, Ivory Chapter.
“First order of business,” Garnet announced. “Numbers are getting a little thin. Got a few prospects lining up waiting to get patched in.”
“New patches are always good,” I said. “We could get a lot more work done.”
“Can’t just let anybody in though,” Needle said. “Even being a prospect is something we can’t fuck around with.”
“That’s the point of being a prospect,” I responded.
Everybody turned toward Garnet.
“First man I’m looking at is Nathan Hicks,” he said.
“Nathan?” Needle said.
“The red-haired kid who’s always around,” I said. “He’s a good kid. He deserves a chance to prove it. I know he’ll work hard.”
“Hard work is one thing,” Needle replied. “It takes more than that to be a Reaper.”
“He’s from Ivory. He knows what it means to be a Reaper. He respects the patch.”
Garnet looked around the table.
“Let Hicks be a prospect,” he said. “Yay or nay?”
“I’m a yes,” I said.
“Yay,” Petey said.
“Yay,” Sully said.
“I don’t see any reason why not,” Brawn added.
“Sure,” Needle said with a shrug. “If you guys think this kid is good enough, I’m with it.”
“I’m a yay, too,” Garnet. “The decision passes, six to zero.”
“It’d be nice to get some new blood around here,” Sully said. “I’m kinda tired of being the new guy.”
“You’ll always be the new guy to me,” Needle said, leaning over to pinch his cheek.
Sully rolled his eyes then knocked Needle’s hand away.
“If you ladies are done fucking around, we’ve got more important business to discuss,” Garnet interrupted them.
Garnet was serious most of the time. But I knew there was some real shit on his mind from the way he was looking at everybody.
“The Chinese are back in business in Ivory,” he said. “They wanna start pushing their shit through. Their man Lin got in touch with me.”
“No shit?” Needle said. “Even with the feds still in town?”
Garnet had made a deal with the Chinese Triads to move their product. Ivory was in a town in the middle of nowhere but it was between different big cities in every direction. The Triads used the Reapers to transport drugs between cities. It paid well.
But when the feds arrived, the Chinese pulled the plug on the whole operation, leaving the Reapers and every other MC with their thumbs up their asses.
“It’s costing the Chinese more money than they want,” he said. “Ivory is a direct line to the city up north. They figure it’s worth the risk.”
“Sounds pretty dangerous,” Petey said. “With the feds in town, we could get spotted a lot more easily.”
“Not to mention that someone could be working with the Triads for the feds,” Needle added.
“I don’t think so,” I said as I shook my head. “If Lin’s the kind of man I think he is, he runs a tight ship. Any rat working for the Triads would be dead before he realized it.”
“The question now is, do we wanna do this?” Garnet said.
He looked at the table and eyeballed every one of us.
“There’s more risk involved,” he continued. “More risk means more pay.”
“Any other MCs making this deal with the Chinese?” Needle asked.
“Not that I’m aware of. They wanna test it out first and see if it works then they’ll probably start talking to more MCs.”
“That’s great. We’re the fucking guinea pigs…”
There was some reservation on Needle’s face. He shook his head and looked away. Everybody else was calm, staring off into space as Garnet spoke.
“Make the deal with the Triads to move their product. Yay or nay?”
“I need the cash,” Brawn said. “Yay.”
“Yay,” Petey said.
&nbs
p; Sully sighed a deep breath through his nose.
“It’s too much of a risk,” he said. “But I trust you guys. Yay.
Everybody turned toward Needle.
“I don’t need the money,” he said. “I say you let the Chinese get some other MC to test it out then we jump in. No.”
“Three to one,” Garnet said.
The president looked at me. I looked into his eyes and already knew what he was thinking.
“Yay,” I said.
“Yay,” Garnet announced. “The motion passes.”
“You guys better know what the fuck you’re doing,” Needle said.
“Did you forget how to ride?” Sully said to him.
“Whatever… Is there anything else?”
“Yeah, I got something,” I said.
Everybody turned their attention toward me.
“Needle has a point,” I said.
“He does?” Brawn replied.
“Ever since Lieberman and her goons arrived, every MC in town has been sitting around not doing shit. We gotta do something.”
“Something like what?” Needle said. “Like take Lieberman out?”
“No, dummy. I mean, we have to do something for Ivory. We’re the only club in Ivory. The only one that matters. People come to us when they need help. The last time we did anything was for Amy’s Bakery when that shit got shut down.”
“I get what you’re saying,” Garnet said. “A little goodwill goes a long way.”
“What are you thinking then?” Sully said.
“We’re gonna be making some good money from this deal with the Chinese,” I said. “Donation. Charity. There are people in this town who still need help. I say we take some of this money and help ‘em out.”
“Spending money will seem suspicious,” Needle said. “The feds have got their eyes on us.”
“If they’ve got their eyes on us, doing some good around this town will only make them look bad. Let everybody see. We’re Reapers. This patch is something to be proud of.”
“All right,” Garnet said with a nod. “No motion to pass. I’ll leave that up to you, Ghost. Look into it.”
“Anything else?” Needle asked.
“Meeting adjourned.”
Everybody got up from the table and left the chapel. Needle and Sully bickered as they walked next to each other.
“You still owe me,” Sully said.
“Owe you? For what?”
“You said double or nothing. You owe me double.”
“Whatever. You saw my chips on the table.”
“Is that the kind of man you are? You’re just gonna bet money you don’t have and not pay up?”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head at their conversation. Business with the club was settled for the moment. Now it was just another average day in the clubhouse.
Chapter 3
ANNA
What the hell am I doing?
The Grindhouse wasn’t much different from most MC clubhouses. It wasn’t as rowdy as a place like Finn’s but it was no place for a single woman to be heading out to tonight.
Things were different for me though. I had experience. At one point, The Grindhouse was like a second home to me.
As I stood in front of it, I felt all of the memories wash over me. A strange feeling swirled around in my stomach. The bikers just outside the entrance smoking their cigs didn’t bother me. The sound of the drunken conversation inside wasn’t getting to me either.
It was one man that was making me more nervous than anything else.
I shouldn’t have been there. I should’ve just spent more time at the shelter then headed back home to get settled in. Yet here I was, a few days after arriving back in Ivory.
It was inevitable that I was going to run into him. It was like ripping off a band-aid. I might as well get it over with now.
It was a typical night in The Grindhouse. It had been more than five years but things hadn’t changed. The patrons kept to themselves but the conversations were still loud and boisterous. The music made the scene livelier than it already was. It was still early in the evening, so the alcohol was only going to amplify everything else.
I walked up to the bar and ordered myself a beer. The bartender gave me a smirk as he poured me a mug. I took a gulp as soon as he put it in front of me.
I guess I could’ve been confused with all of the groupies in the place. There was always some woman just dying to get into the pants of a club member. Even though I was dressed more modestly than the girls with the skimpy tops and micro skirts, just being alone was enough to attract the wrong kind of attention.
But the attention I drew wasn’t from some rough and tumble biker. The woman I saw standing right next to me was more threatening than any biker in the building.
Her eyes narrowed at me.
“Hey, Michelle…”
I smiled politely at her but that wasn’t nearly enough to get rid of her icy cold glare.
Michelle was with the president of the Black Reapers. If there was any old lady you had to respect, it was her. Dark hair. Tan skin. Brown eyes. She wasn’t the typical groupie you saw in a place like this. No, she carried herself with the maturity you would respect from a woman who was sleeping with the club president.
“Anna,” she said, a smirk forming on her lips. “It’s really you.”
“It’s really me.”
“I didn’t know you were back in Ivory.”
“I just got back a few days ago. Still settling in.”
“You just visiting?”
“No… Actually…”
I shook my head, failing at hiding the smile on my face.
“…I’m back.”
Michelle had been around the club before I even knew it existed. She knew all of the details, so there was no point in trying to hide anything from her.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she said.
“I just thought I’d stop by and say hello. That’s it.”
“Say hello—”
“Look, Michelle. That was a long time ago. I didn’t leave Ivory on bad terms. If I’m not welcome here, I’ll leave. But I don’t see the harm in me stopping by to say hello.”
Even though Michelle was my senior, I wasn’t about to back down from her. I stared at her and stood my ground, nonchalantly sipping on my beer. Michelle looked down her nose at me and observed me like she was trying to figure me out.
“He’s here,” she said. “Do you want me to go get him?”
“No,” I said. “I’m sure he’s busy. I know how club business is. I’ll see him when I see him.”
“Right…”
She leaned in close to me and whispered into my ear.
“Don’t mess this up.”
She was still smirking at me but I knew she meant it. She grabbed her drink and left me alone. I sighed a deep breath as soon as she was gone.
The anxiety I felt in my stomach just from seeing her was enough to make me take another big gulp of beer. I could already feel the tension just from the thought of seeing him.
Most of the other patrons in the club gave me my space. There were some bikers eyeballing me with obvious intentions but nobody walked up to me to say anything. It would be inevitable as the night went on. For now, they let me enjoy my beer in peace.
I was staring at the bar in front of me when I suddenly heard a loud voice next to me.
“I told you,” the man said. “When I’m playing for real, nobody can beat me.”
“You mean when you’re lucky nobody can beat you.”
“A good player knows when to make his own luck. You wanna talk about luck, you know about luck. Me? That’s pure skill.”
I turned to the side and saw three men. One of them was Blake cackling. They called him Needle. Fitting with his personality. No doubt he was talking about some card game that he just managed to screw the other two bikers out of.
I didn’t recognize the younger man next to him. But Blake had his arm around another man I never
thought I would see again. The man that stood out even in a sea of people.
It was him.
Jon.
Just a glance at him and all of the memories came flooding back to me.
The tattoos along his muscular arms. The leather vest that smelled like asphalt and oil. The boots. The way he slicked his brown hair back. His thick, groomed beard. The muscled physique I knew was underneath his kutte. And there were his eyes. Shimmering green. Hypnotizing enough to make you forget about everything else.
I stared at him in disbelief. I noticed them before they noticed me.
“I’m telling you,” Blake started. “You guys can’t beat me. I’m just—”
He cut himself off as soon as he spotted me. The other two men next to him stopped in their tracks. But I was only focused on Jon.
His eyes widened, unblinking as he looked right at me.
“Oh… Shit…” Blake muttered.
Blake pulled his arm away from Jon, who slowly stepped toward me.
“What’s going on?” the third man said in confusion.
Jon didn’t pay any attention to him as he kept creeping forward.
“Anna?” he said, his eyes narrowed. “Anna, is it really you?”
“Jon,” I said with a smile. “It’s good to see you again.”
He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, a smile formed on his mouth. I held back a sigh of relief seeing the pearly whites behind his lips.
“Ghost here has a past,” Blake started. “This girl Anna here has a history. Long before you were ever here, Sully. The thing is—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Jon said to Blake.
“All right, all right. Come on, Sully. Get some drinks and we’ll play a few more hands. I know you’re still hiding money from me.”
The other two bikers grabbed their drinks from the bar but I hardly noticed they were there. Jon stood in front of me, just staring at me with disbelief. As soon as they were gone, he reached forward and wrapped his arms around me.
Oh, God…
The way he hugged me brought back memories. His muscles pressing up against me. His masculine scent filling my nose. He had to crouch down a bit to hug me because he was about six-foot four, but it was still so comfortable. More comfortable than I was ever going to admit.
He pulled away from me and beamed at me. I smiled softly, putting my hand up to his head.
