by Bijou Hunter
I throw up my hand, and she slaps hers against it. “I knew you were fast.”
“I don’t have homework. Mom already helped me with it.”
Ruby remains near the door, having shut it but refusing to embrace the apartment fully.
“Can you watch TV while I talk to your mom for a minute?”
Chevelle looks at her mother, and Ruby looks at her daughter. They share a silent conversation. I don’t know what they say, but I think Chevelle wins. My girl skips to the couch and turns on the TV while Ruby inches closer.
“I have a load of laundry,” she awkwardly says.
“Why are you acting weird?”
“How am I supposed to act?”
“I don’t know.”
Ruby looks at my lips and then her gaze darts upward. Smiling, I take a step toward her and erase the pesky space between us.
“I’ve missed you,” I whisper and lean down to kiss her.
Ruby pulls away before suddenly lifting her lips. She shows as much uncertainty when I kiss her. One moment, her body tenses. The next, she wraps her arms around my waist and melts against me.
I’m forced to end the kiss when my erection threatens to tear through my jeans followed by her jeans until my dick finds its way inside her.
“You taste like sex,” I mumble and mentally order my dick to kneel.
Ruby steps back and shakes her head. “I will never forgive you,” she spits out even though her eyes are begging me to kiss her again.
“Well, what I’m about to say won’t make you like me more.”
Her lust-filled eyes narrow, and I see anger awakening in her. “What?”
“Let me help you with your laundry.”
Ruby gives me a side frown before walking away. I follow her to the laundry room, my gaze focused on her clingy pair of leggings.
“Stop looking at my butt,” she mutters without glancing back at me.
“If only I could.”
Shaking her head, I suspect Ruby smiles, but she refuses to let me see. I watch her hide behind her hair as she dumps her dirty clothes into the washer and turns it on.
“So, what’s the bad news?” she finally asks, crossing her arms and scowling at me.
“Not bad news. More like a business opportunity.”
“If this is about your stripping job, I don’t want to hear it.”
“Nope, but thanks for reminding me of my crap job every chance you get.”
“You’re welcome,” she mumbles, now struggling to keep her lips from curling into a smile.
Blurting out my news makes more sense than working up to it. “Hayes is willing to let me run Common Bend for him if I can convince the leader of the Reapers Motorcycle Club in Kentucky to sell the territory.”
“No,” Ruby says instantly.
“You haven’t heard the details.”
“You need to stop before this goes too far.”
“Stop what?”
“Making deals with men who will murder you for failing. What are you even thinking?” she says, breathing too fast.
“Ruby, every night I lie awake thinking about how I want to do right by Chevelle. By you too, but what can I accomplish with my skills? I’m not great at construction. I nearly flooded a house trying to install plumbing. There’s no way I could get through college. While I could ask to work for the Brotherhood and play nice with my dad, I don’t want to owe that jackass.”
“No, you want to piss off the jackass by working for another jackass he hates.”
“Hayes runs White Horse like a business. He gets things done and then goes home to his wife and kids. Why can’t I have that? Why does everything have to be long nights of drinking and bar hoes? That’s the Brotherhood’s way, but Hayes acts like a businessman and I could too. I know Common Bend, and I can organize shit. I’m better at that than fixing roofs.”
“You make it sound simple, but I know this is about wanting to screw over Howler.”
“This isn’t about him. It’s about you and Chevelle and me too. Do you think I enjoy shaking my ass for screaming women? It’s fucking gross having them touching me and shoving dollar bills in my pants. I do it because I need to make enough money to do right by Chevelle. Construction can’t get me a decent place to live or money in the bank for her college. If I can make this work with Hayes and Common Bend, I can offer her security, and I’ll do it with my clothes on.”
Ruby runs her hands through her hair, pulling at it in frustration. “If you’re looking for my approval, that ain’t happening. Your big idea could leave Elle fatherless, and she’d be destroyed without you.”
“If this works out, can you imagine us living in Common Bend?”
“Us?” she balks as if the thought of us together had never crossed her mind.
“There are new two-unit townhomes coming up in Common Bend. I thought if you and I couldn’t work together, we could still be friends and live next to each other.”
“That is never going to happen.”
“Can you imagine Chevelle walking back and forth between her two homes?”
Shaking her head, Ruby doesn’t want to hear my ideas, but I notice interest lingering in her eyes.
“The neighborhood I’m talking about is close to White Horse where the schools are better. In fact, we might have enough money to send Chevelle to a Catholic school. She’d get a better education than here in Hickory.”
“I like living close to my mom and Harmony,” Ruby defiantly states, her jaw rigid now.
“The trailer park is changing. The old timers are dying off and the new people moving in are rougher. It’s not how things were when we were kids.”
“I don’t want to live next to you.”
“Down the road or wherever you want. If this job works out, I’ll be able to help you find a good place. You wouldn’t have to worry about money. You could find a job you like better than waitressing.”
“I don’t mind my job.”
Resting my hands on my hips, I frown. “You’ll disagree with everything because I’m saying it.”
“I can’t agree to anything involving Angus Hayes.”
“Didn’t he help you out a few years back when the Common Bend sheriff was after you?”
Ruby’s frown is momentarily replaced by her surprise. “How did you know about that?”
“The twins knew, and they have big mouths.”
“Yes, he helped me, but only because it benefited him. Hayes is a shrewd man and will cut you loose if you aren’t living up to his standards. And by ‘cut you loose,’ I mean dump your body somewhere.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not reckless, and I’ll never promise him anything I can’t deliver.”
“This won’t end well.”
“Or it'll end with us having everything we need.”
“Life doesn’t work like that.”
“Don’t get started on life. I mean, how many people said we were too young to be good parents? Well, fuck them because we’ve done a great job with Chevelle. She always feels loved, and that’s because we put in the work to make sure she feels that way. When we focus and work hard, we can take from life whatever we want.”
“And if you’re wrong?”
I take her hands in mine. To my surprise, she lets me hold them.
“This is my chance to do something big, and I don’t think I’ll get another one. I’m not a kid anymore, and I see no other way to make a move in life. This is it, and I’ll always regret not trying.”
Ruby stares into my eyes, and I’m taken aback by the fear in her gaze.
“What if your big chance ends you?”
“Then help me make it work.”
“How?”
“I need to go to Kentucky to meet with the Reapers’ leader. If I leave town, it’ll look weird since I never go anywhere. If you and Chevelle come with me, then the Brotherhood won’t think a damn thing about us taking a trip.”
&n
bsp; “You want to take our daughter to meet these people?”
“They won’t hurt her. Or me. These aren’t low-level junkie losers we’re talking about. They run their club like a business, and I’m coming to them with Hayes’s backing.”
“No.”
“It’s a small town in Kentucky. You and Chevelle can stay at a hotel. I found one with an indoor pool. Think of it as a little vacation while I work.”
“No.”
“Please, Ruby, help me with this,” I nearly beg.
“No.”
“That refusal sounded a little less certain,” I say, nudging her with my knee. “You could take off a few days from work and hang out with Chevelle. How much would she love swimming?”
Ruby closes her eyes, fighting against her urge to tell me no again. She’s right to be nervous. I’m nervous too, but we both know I won’t be able to afford this apartment in a few years when I’m nearing thirty, and the sheen has worn off my good looks.
Opening her eyes, Ruby crosses her arms and stares hard at me. “Promise if things go south that you’ll bail on the entire thing.”
“I’m doing this to improve things for us, not to make them worse. I’ll bail before I let anything happen to you or Chevelle.”
Ruby’s gaze softens, and she nods. “I’m fucking stupid to agree, but I know the Brotherhood’s been tense lately.”
“Tense about what?”
“I don’t know. Whenever the members come into the restaurant, they’re on edge. I avoid working their tables at the restaurant because they make me nervous.”
“Well, they’ll be pissed if Hayes takes over Common Bend.”
“You’ll put a target on your back,” she says, her voice cracking.
“They won’t kill me. You know that, and I know that. The twins will eventually run the club, and they’ll never sign off on my death. I can’t see Mojo agreeing either. My father wouldn’t give two shits, but his sisters would. They like to pretend family means something around here.”
“You better be right,” Ruby says, poking my chest, “because you’re about to piss off very dangerous men.”
“And align with other dangerous men. I know it sounds crazy,” I say, taking her poking hand and caressing the palm with my thumb, “but the payoff for us is worth it.”
“There’s no us, Bonn.”
“Even if you never let me back into your heart, there’ll always be an us.”
Ruby says nothing, yet the emotion in her gaze betrays her silence. My plan terrifies her. My love scares her even more. But she agrees to the first and longs for the second. Now I need to put everything together and prove her fears are worth the prize.
Twenty - Ruby
Few things piss me off more than keeping secrets from my family. We share everything, always knowing our information is safe. Now with Daisy married to Camden and Bonn ready to screw over the Brotherhood, I’m forced to hide something big from my sister. Worse still, I need to decide whether I can even share with Harmony without forcing her to lie to Daisy.
Since visiting Bonn, I’ve quietly packed two small bags for the trip. Now I’ve made it my mission to clean up the trailer. My theory is the hotel will be clean and organized and returning to a messy home will depress the crap out of me. Finished inside, I sweep around my porch because nothing says obsessive behavior like organizing a gravel driveway.
“What’s wrong?” my youngest sister asks the moment she arrives home from work.
“Nothing,” I lie, still sweeping like a mad woman.
“Did Bonn do something? Do you need ice cream?” she asks and then whispers, “Or a mojito?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Harmony leaves me long enough to walk over to pick up Keanu from Charlie’s trailer. Returning with her son, she keeps her gaze on me. I know she’ll change her clothes and make Keanu a snack. She’ll get things in order and then she’ll pounce on me until I give up my secrets. Harmony plays the laidback hippy chick, but she’s relentless when she wants something.
I hide in the trailer when I know she’s done with her evening routine. Elle watches me intently. She saw the suitcases but doesn’t dare ask a question when she isn’t ready for the answer. Even at eight, my baby knows when to hold back and survey a situation. I’ve taught her well, but Harmony is having none of my silent bullshit.
“Elle, go hang with Nana Sally. She’s playing with Keanu by the pond.”
My daughter immediately agrees, having caught onto how Harmony will dig up whatever I’m hiding. Once she leaves the trailer, I walk into the kitchen where my pint of ice cream beckons to me.
“We can make this hard or we can make this easy,” Harmony says, blocking my exit. “What’s it going to be, Ruby Whiskey Bauer?”
“If you want to know, you’ll have to pry it out of me. I remain silent for your benefit.”
Stepping closer, Harmony stretches. I don’t know what her plan is, but it might involve wrestling. She’s really loosening up her muscles.
“You’re going to tell me, or I’m going to tell Mom a delicious lie. She’ll tell Betty and Charlie the delicious lie. They’ll tell others the delicious lie. Soon, the delicious lie will become an undeniable fact.”
“What’s the lie?”
“I haven’t decided, but I suspect it’ll involve you and Bonn and public sex.”
“Don’t even say such a thing,” I growl, even though my hormones very much approve of sex of any kind with Bonn.
“I imagine a scenario where two fuck as the car goes through the wash. In the end, the towel guys applaud. Of course, you're worried because pictures were taken.”
“You are not a good sister.”
Harmony gives me an evil smile. “If you don’t share your secret with me, I’ll claim he did you in the butt to ensure you didn’t get pregnant. Now fess up.”
“Bad Harmony,” I admonish, but she only stretches.
“Why are you moving around like that if you’re planning to tell lies?”
“I pulled a few muscles today at work. Not everything is about you, Ruby.”
“Fine,” I say, giving into my need for sugar. I take out the pint of coconut-pineapple ice cream and find two spoons. “But if I tell you then you can’t tell anyone else. Do you really want to keep a secret from Mom and Daisy?”
“I keep lots of secrets from you guys.”
“Like what?”
“Wouldn’t be much of a secret if I told you. Especially now that I know how easily you give up yours.”
“Fine,” I mutter, digging into the ice cream. “Bonn made a deal with Angus Hayes to take over Common Bend, and he needs to go to Kentucky to meet with some bikers, and he asked me to come with him, so the twins and the Brotherhood won’t think anything is up. I agreed, but now I’m having second thoughts even though I’ll still probably go since Bonn painted a nice picture of what life could be if this deal goes through. For one thing, he’d no longer strip, and you know how I hate chicks looking at him almost naked. But this deal will make him an enemy of the Brotherhood, and I can’t tell Daisy anything because she’ll tell Camden. Or she won’t tell him, and I’ll be responsible for her keeping secrets from her husband.”
Harmony dips her spoon into the ice cream and takes a bite. “Why would Bonn want to work with Hayes instead of with the Brotherhood?”
“Because Howler is an asshole.”
“But Howler and Mojo won’t be in charge for much longer.”
“Who told you that?”
“Everyone knows that.”
“Was it Dayton?”
“No. He says his dad will never retire and Camden will die an old man waiting for his chance.”
“Well, there you go.”
“Do you think Camden will wait? He has the backing of the Hallsteads, and I think the club gets backing from people in Memphis. I doubt a bunch of goons in Elvis town will want Mojo and Howler hanging on forever.”
“You know a lot.”
Harmony shrugs. “D
ayton got drunk and told me stuff. He was probably bullshitting about half of it, but I think some of it must have been true.”
“Why can’t it all be true?”
“Dayton always lies. He says he can’t trust himself to tell the truth.”
“He’s an idiot.”
“No, not really, but he’s lazy and acting like an idiot keeps people from expecting too much. Now let’s get back to Bonn. So, if he works with Hayes, he’ll do what in Common Bend?”
“Run it for Hayes.”
“How does that make him the Brotherhood’s enemy?”
“They want Common Bend.”
“Why?”
“Didn’t Dayton tell you that?”
“That might have been part of what I thought he was lying about. I don’t know. He talked a lot that night, and he was drunk, so I had trouble following it all. I just wanted to make out, but he was a frigging chatter bug.”
“I’m sure his father would love knowing that.”
“Mojo only cares about Camden who was too stupid to act stupid, and now everyone expects him to be smart.”
“Wise words.”
“Not really.”
“I feel like either Bonn is making a huge mistake, or he’ll succeed like a fucking boss. I’m leaning toward the first one.”
“If he fails, it’s not so bad. The Brotherhood won’t mess with him in a real way. The twins are close to him, and the Hallsteads won’t like anything happening to Bonn. They might not care the way we do, but they still protect their family.”
“I don’t know,” I say, jamming a big bite of ice cream into my mouth and immediately suffering a brain freeze.
Harmony smiles at my expression. “A weekend away will be fun.”
“I saw something hopeful in Bonn’s eyes when he was telling me his plan, and I got excited in a way I haven’t felt in so long. I could get on board with the idea of not living paycheck to paycheck and having some savings. Living somewhere nicer too. It sometimes bothers me how Elle goes to his nice condo and then comes back to this dump.”
“The trailer isn’t a dump. Mine is quite nice.”
“Damn, hippy.”
Harmony grins. “Let me ask you something, and you need to be square with me. No bullshit safe answer. Be super honest with yourself. Is the real reason you’re freaking about this trip because you know you and Bonn will bone?”
