"We gotta talk, Pops," I started as soon as he let me into his room. A room that was a disaster of scattered clothes, empty bottles and take-out boxes. I cleared off one of the chairs and sat down.
"Ain't got much time, girl. Trey's fuckin' called an emergency meeting at the clubhouse." Something I already knew because Dare had received a text message to that effect earlier.
I'd hoped to build up to the subject but if my old man was going to play the no-time card, I needed to jump in with both feet. "What happened to our letters?"
His hands, which had been searching through a pile of shirts, stopped moving and I caught sight of a fleeting expression that flashed over his face. One I couldn't read. "What letters and who is the other part of this 'our' shit?"
"The letters Dare sent me and the ones I wrote to him." I kept my voice even and as calm as I could. I'd wanted to accuse him, point the blame right where I knew it belonged but I'd decided on a different tactic after seeing his mellow mood.
"Don't know nothing about no fucking letters," he said but his tone was…off. Was there a guilty note in there someplace?
"Okay. Then what about when he called me?"
"Fuck, Ryley!" he bellowed abruptly. "That was almost ten years ago. I don't fucking remember any letters or phone calls from some goddamn punk that far back!"
Too much emotion made it glaringly obvious he did remember and he'd done exactly what Dare and I had worked out. "Rather than let us communicate, you left us both hurting, Pops. Hurting so bad I had to go to a shrink!"
"You were too fucking young, girl! There's no way you two could've connected in such short a time and with a boy like that! No fucking way in hell!" It had taken him less than three minutes to work himself up to the point where he was spitting as he yelled. "How'd you find out about the phone calls? Huh, Ryley? You've been sneaking around with that fucker while we've been here? Is that it? A little pillow talk between the two of you after I'd already told you to stay away from him?"
I stared at him trying to think of answer that wasn't going to infuriate him further but couldn't come up with anything. "I'm no longer a little girl, Pops, but an adult woman who loves Dare. You can't tell me not to see him."
He pulled on a t-shirt, yanking it roughly into place and I wondered what his next words might be. "You'd pick that low-life over your own family?" Somehow I knew he was going to bring his ultimatum into play.
"I shouldn't have to," I countered, pulling Dee's assurances around me as protection. "You're the one making that rule. Not me and definitely not Dare."
He glared at me, planting his feet and crossing his arms on his chest. "When he leaves you, and he sure as shit will, you'll have nothing. No club, no family and no goddamn job. Is that what you want?"
I sighed, upset that he thought Dare and I were just a flash in the pan. It was no different than his attitude had been when I was fifteen, for god's sake. "I don't think anyone gets a guarantee of 'forever' in any relationship. Dare could leave me or I could leave him whether by our own two feet or through death tomorrow. But, I don't need those kind of assurances. I just need to be with Dare, Pops."
"Better get your fill then because we're back to Spokane tomorrow," he announced with a chin lift. I wasn't sure if he was serious or just announcing he was cutting our run short for shock value. Either way, I ignored it.
But I couldn't close my eyes to the other. That my own father had deliberately kept us apart, had single-handedly made sure we had no contact in order to make sure Dare and I never got together in any way, shape or form. And in doing so had sent me in a downward spiral which had taken a professional to help me crawl out of. "Why, Pops? Why can't you understand?" Even though I'd kept my voice low, my questions still echoed around the small room.
But he never answered, never even acknowledged I'd spoken.
I saw him glance at the clock on the nightstand. "Great! Now I'm fucking late!"
"Can I catch a ride with you?" I asked hesitantly, standing and draping my purse strap over my shoulder. I knew we were nowhere near done, but it seemed, at that moment, our discussion was well and truly over.
At his nod, I moved to the door but was stopped from opening it by his hand on my arm. I looked up only to see him frowning.
"Just don't want you hurt again, Ryley," he mumbled, his eyes soft, so very soft as my father looked at me. "Couldn't stand to go through that shit again."
Then he did something he hadn't done and I'd missed for freaking years.
He bent and placed a careful kiss on my forehead.
"Thanks, Pop," I whispered with a wonky grin and got the same in return.
Chapter Twenty Eight
Dare had known that he was expected to attend the sit-down in Deer Lodge. His presence was a given as one of Trey's council members. But he hadn't realized that some of the Spokane brothers would have a beef with him being a part of it and them not.
He'd heard their mutterings as he'd left the clubhouse after Trey had called an emergency meeting to let the members of both chapters know of what was going to go down. There were little bits of grumbles, the narrowed eyes as he'd pushed his way through the lingering men in order to get to the HC conference room to hear the full strategy.
He hadn't been the one who compiled the roster of those-that-would-attend and those-that-wouldn't but from the vibes, he knew were directed towards him, that fact didn't seem to fuckin' matter in the least. Or the reaction could've been from the brothers under Gus's influence. The man had been glaring at him throughout most of the meeting.
Did he fuckin' care?
Not at fuckin' all. Those fuckers could mutter and shoot him the evil eye until the fuckin' cows came home and it wouldn't bother him in the least.
He was riding a high that was so high, nothing was gonna bring him down.
Ryley had agreed to be his wife.
His wife.
He and Ryley were getting married and would never fuckin' have to be apart again.
Ever.
He was gonna have her in his bed when he laid down at night and she would still damn-well be there when he woke up. She would be there to share in his laughter and hold him during the bad times just as he would do with her.
That was all that mattered.
Everything else, he decided, was complete and utter bullshit.
"Then Dare is with Leif," Trey announced as his finger slid over the list he and Gus had spent an hour putting together of who was to ride next to whom as the group traveled to Deer Lodge.
Dare let his gaze take in all twenty men in the conference room, some in chairs with the others, like him, pressed against the walls. Everyone's eyes were on Trey as he gave out the assignments.
It had to do with ranking and with respect within the group so Dare was surprised that Gus would allow him to ride next to Leif (his future bro'-in-law, his heart sang). Unless, of course, Trey had insisted.
One thing that Dare had seen since his and Gus's tussle was that the older man was now beginning to defer to Trey on things. Maybe it was that Gus still carried the cane showing his aging body's frailty or that Leif seemed to seek out Trey's leadership in matters even doing with the Spokane club, but the old man seemed…down. Beaten somehow. Even though he tried to cover it with that bad-ass temper he wore so proudly.
"That's it," Trey said, tapping the clipboard in his hands. "Any questions?"
"So if this shit goes south, how we gonna play it?" Pagan asked. Only twenty Hellions were going and their ranks included only the brothers that held 'CC', the license to carry concealed weapons.
"We're sitting with five total Chaos members inside. Five Hellions go in and there will be the same amount outside in plain view with the other ten scattered but within twenty yards out and around the building," Trey explained. "If shit goes south, Pagan, then it's all hands in play. You get me?"
Every head in the room nodded at the president's explanation.
"And should it go that way, take your brother's back, do whate
ver shit needs doing then get your ass back on Hellion property as fast as fuckin' possible." Bishop was always the one to do the add-on instructions and never hesitated to do it then.
"We ain't lookin' for no trouble," Gus began. "But we're Hellions so we don't back our asses down from it, either. Have a care, keep an eye out and protect one another."
There were another round of head nods before Trey spoke again in a refrain that he'd used before and that Dare knew he'd use again as the occasion warranted.
"Hellion Rule and Justice!" Trey roared and shoved his fist out. There was a flurry of movement and the creak as many asses left many chairs in order for the others to bring their fists to their President's.
And the very air rang with their echo of his cry.
"Hellion Rule and Justice!"
All those that were taking the meeting in Deer Lodge piled out into the forecourt and as they did, the clubhouse emptied to see the group off. Dare was happy to see his Ryley (his fiancée, his heart sang) was one of them.
While his original trajectory was for his bike, his steps veered away in order to get to her, his girl, who began to move toward him as well.
"Come see me off, gorgeous," he said, tagging her hand and bringing her close to his side without changing his pace. He tilted his head down and caught the look of love her face held. A look that sent his heartbeat soaring and caused his mouth to again move without thought. "Love you, Ryley."
"Love you, Dare," came her reply as he guided them to his ride. Glancing at the other brothers who were already straddling their machines, he quickly threw a leg over and used his key.
"You spend the day planning our shit all out, sugar." He was yelling to be heard over the sounds of many pipes filling the space between the two buildings with their deep, rumbling roars. "I'll be back and then we get to start our lives."
He caught her nod, the eye flare before she leaned in and down, pressing her lips against his but he wasn't leaving without being able to have the taste of her on his tongue. He used a hand to hold her head to his as he slanted his mouth and savored. And their kiss would've lasted a fuck of a lot longer if Trey hadn't revved his own ride to signal they were moving out.
"Later, cowboy. Stay safe," she whispered against his mouth.
"Late, gorgeous," he whispered back and realized he was throbbing with only the bit of mouth play they'd shared. "See you when I get back."
"You can count on it," she yelled before stepping back and out of the way.
Dare used his feet to walk his machine into place next to Leif and saw March sneer from the sidelines. Ryley's ex hadn't been one of the men chosen to go, which Dare considered a good thing since the man was already swaying on his feet. Not even noon and the man was bombed.
Yeah, motherfucker, Dare thought as he directed a huge smile March's way when he passed. I'm higher up in the club and I got the girl. Eat my shit, you drunk-ass fuckwad!
Leif was glaring and shaking his head as he pulled on a pair of fingerless gloves when Dare slid into place beside him. Dare directed a full-watt smile to the other man as well as a chin-lift. But out of the corner of his eye, he saw Trey raise a fist and they were off.
Deer Lodge was only an hour and fifteen away from their clubhouse, just long enough to break the cobwebs from a biker's mind and allow him to concentrate and prepare for the meeting ahead. A sit-down that would determine the future of the Hellions, both by club and by business.
It was some serious shit they were going in to negotiate.
By the strategy Trey had laid out, Dare wouldn't be going inside to participate but would be one of the brothers that would be immediately outside of the bar the Czar's had suggested. Bishop had run the particulars on the business and found, as the shithead had said, the place was neutral. The bar owner rode but wasn't affiliated with any club and was only acting as host. The rules as the Czar president had laid out was that any damages to the bar would be paid by whichever club inflicted said destruction which everyone agreed to abide by.
The bitch of it was, under Montana laws, the brothers going into the bar had to go in bare. The way the law read, the bar owner could have a weapon but anyone entering the premises (where liquor was being sold, dispensed or consumed) could not. This included both guns and knives that had a blade over four inches long.
So if shit did go south, then all his fuckin' brothers could legally do were to use their fists or something along the lines of defending themselves and their men with a fuckin' pocket knife. Dare knew Trey wouldn't fuckin' put up with that shit which meant the men were packing weapons in boots and hidden pockets. No brother that carried and attended a meet would ever go in naked.
Especially not if the meet was with a rival club that had more balls than sense.
At Trey's signal, they exited the 94 to take the 90 and led them into Deer Lodge's only hospital's parking lot. A place that had a helluva lot more parking spaces than cars. And a complement of twenty huge machines pulling into the driveway had more than one civilian rubber-necking in a slack-jawed fashion.
Trey pushed off his bike and Dare saw him rooting around in his panniers, the big black leather cases that bracketed both sides of the rear tire. Pulling out headsets and small receivers, he went down the line, giving one set to every other team. After distributing, he stood in the middle of the pack and raised his voice to be heard over the wicked Montana wind.
"We're doing this military style so fucking set your receivers to channel fourteen," he instructed. "Need all you fuckers to communicate with one another. Gus is wired with something similar, so you'll be able to hear and he'll hear you. No surprises, yeah?"
Dare could feel the first sizzle of his adrenaline begin at Trey's words. His body's tension had been revved sky-high over the doings of the last few days and was finally going to have an outlet.
Oh fuck to the yeah!
"You see shit, you react and let Gus know of the fucking doings as the teams resolve it. Keep sharp, focused. But keep it in all in fucking check," he continued and his laser-like gaze swept over each and every Hellion in the group. As Trey's eyes met Dare's, the sizzle flared and went bone deep. "We're here to get what we want, what the Hellions fucking need. We'll try nice-nice but if it ain't working, we'll go with Plan B."
"And Plan B is…?" Dare didn't know who asked and didn't care because no Plan B had been discussed in the conference room earlier.
Trey's gaze did another sweep of the men before him before bellowing, "No fucking club owns a fucking freeway! Nor do they stop a Hellion from getting where he wants to go!"
Oh hell, yeah!
That was all Dare needed.
The Hellions would get exactly what they wanted or there would be hell to pay.
Plain and simple.
Real and true.
While Trey stormed back to his ride, Dare felt his blood begin to resonate from someplace deep inside.
As Bishop would say, it was time to dance.
*.*.*.*.*
"Okay, so what are they doing and why are they doing it?" Lock's whisper was loud enough to carry throughout the kitchen but not loud enough for the brothers still hanging in the big room of the clubhouse to overhear.
"I got nothing," Carly admitted. "Huff wouldn't give up anything and I even tried it with my mouth working him."
"I know, right?" Jilly chimed in. "I kept after Snake until he finally told me to either ride him hard or to shut the fuck up."
Reese's eyes came up from the veggies she was mangling with her knife. "My Brand wouldn't let me near him, saying he had to 'get his head in the game' which means shit-all to me."
"Dare would only say it was club business," I added and then could've bitten my tongue off with what I admitted. Feeling my face heat, I looked around the room and saw a number of small smiles on a number of pretty faces but they weren't looking at me. When my eyes caught Vegas's, I saw the softness in her visage.
"March said the same, about it being club business, which I'm taking as code fo
r no-Honeys-allowed," she said, her eyes still on mine. I couldn't help my smile and got the same in return giving me hope that things between her and I would eventually be good.
"And what up with that shit anyway?" Lock groused from her place at the stove. "Why is it we never get to know anything in advance?"
"But our asses are supposed to be in the hospital waiting room when shit goes bad?" Carmi asked, a frown marring her pretty face. "Sometimes I feel more like a cheerleader than a Honey."
God, she had that right!
"Back in the day, it wasn't like this," Dee explained in a normal voice. I wasn't even sure if the older Honey could whisper. "They used to pull us in, tell us what was going on. But sure as shit, all it took was one Honey to fuck it all up."
I glanced at Lock and saw the same question in her eyes as what I was thinking. Turning to Carly, I saw her frowning. "Who, how and why?" the tall auburn beauty asked.
"You wanna answer that one, Rye?" Dee asked, turning her carefully made-up face my way.
"Me? I don't know shit," I sputtered. Why would she think I knew this crap? I was, as a princess, so out of the loop I could've been in Denmark, for god's sake.
Dee's eyebrows almost met her hairline, they went up so far. "Your mom? The shit with the BKC's back in the late nineties?"
I shook my head even as I scrolled through family memories for a clue as to what Dee meant. My parents had always had a tumultuous relationship. Lots of loud words, hateful words sometimes, but both Leif and I had known that our parents loved each other and us in spite of the almost daily bickering. But there was that one week…
"Gus wasn't even on the council then but as one of the brothers, he was supposed to ride out against the BKC's in the war that had erupted over turf," Dee muttered, her eyes holding mine and bringing me back to the there and then. "He told Maggie and allegedly she went off. Citing he was a father and had more of a responsibility to his family than he did to a club embroiled in some kind of a whacked-ass turf war."
Taking a Dare Page 22
