by Kim Jones
“Baby,” Regg said, regret filling his voice. He knew he had cut her deep. Apparently this was a recurring thing with these two. Regg didn’t have time to finish what he was saying before Red stomped out of the room and toward the back, leaving him trudging behind her like a whooped puppy.
“I tried to tell him,” Luke said, shaking his head still eyeing the papers on the bar.
“Red misses dancing,” Maddie said, from beside me. “She loved to dance and Regg has been known to make her feel like shit about it. The problem with Red is that she gets lost in the moment and Regg is afraid that she will relapse like-”
“Shut up, Maddie. That’s not your story to tell,” Marty said, standing before us, and glaring at Maddie.
“What? That’s her sister. She can know,” Maddie said in defense.
“If Red wants her to know she will tell her. You need to keep your fucking mouth shut.” I had never seen Marty be so demanding. It was kinda sexy and he was hella scary, causing me to shrink at his words, and they were not even directed at me.
“You are such a fucking asshole,” Maddie said to him, and again I felt as if her words were referring to another time and another place. There was so much malice in her voice that there was no mistaking her anger. She was not joking, and everyone knew it.
“Maddie!” Luke roared from across the room. Maddie’s face turned ashen, as Luke stalked toward us. Oh fuck. Maddie had screwed up this time. Red could talk to Regg that way, because he was her husband. I could talk to Luke that way, because he was my lover, but Maddie and Marty were nothing, as far as Luke knew. Here she was, a little sister to the club, being disrespectful to a patch-holder. “What the fuck is your problem? Don’t you ever speak to another member of this club like that again.” Luke was so mad he was shaking. His finger was in Maddie’s face, and although I felt the need to protect her, I remained quiet. This was the LLC they had warned me about-the one who didn’t tolerate bullshit or disrespect from any bitch when it came to his brothers or his club. As bad as I felt for Maddie, I felt even worse for Marty who stood behind Luke wanting so bad to say something, but couldn’t. Or I thought he couldn’t.
“Luke, that’s enough brother,” he said to him, his voice coming out strong and confident. Maddie and I both nearly died at the exchange.
“No, it’s not enough. She fucking knows better,” Luke seethed, still keeping his eyes on Maddie. “Maddie, I’m warning you,” Luke started, but stopped as his eyes fell to the hand on his shoulder. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to rein in his anger. “Marty.”
“Luke,” Marty said, cutting Luke off once again. If a banner had fallen from the sky along with a stream of confetti and balloons, Luke wouldn’t have gotten the message any clearer. When the realization of what was going on slapped him in the face, I lost my ability to breathe. Luke’s eyes darkened and he turned ferocious. He walked away from Maddie, shrugging off Marty’s hand as he left. The nearest thing that wasn’t nailed down was the round table we had played cards at. Luke grabbed it with his hands, slinging it across the room, with a deafening snarl. I jumped, as the table clattered to the floor, leaving Luke in search of something else to throw. Next came chairs, which he sent flying across the room, yelling and cursing, before turning back to face Marty who now stood between us and Luke. Regg came running into the room, assessing the situation and staying neutral, but I knew when he found out what was going on, he would side with Luke.
“How long?” Luke growled, shooting daggers at Marty. I held my breath, praying that Marty would think of a good lie to save him.
“Long enough,” Marty replied, without the slightest hint of worry or regret in his voice. I felt Maddie melt next to me, and I was sure if I looked at her, she would just be a big pile of mush.
“Did you not think that was something I would want to know?” Luke asked, his voice thick with sarcasm.
“With all due respect Luke, it’s none of your business who I see,” Marty replied. Regg jerked his head to Marty, in surprise.
“Oh fuck,” he said, rubbing his hands down his face. Yeah, Regg. Shit just got real. Luke laughed without humor, as he shook his head at Marty’s response.
“None of my business, huh?” Luke said, still smiling in disbelief. “She is my fucking business!” He suddenly yelled, causing me to jump. Maybe I should say something. Maybe Maddie should. I looked at Maddie as she chewed on her lip, clearly thinking the same thing I was. I nudged her, and that was all the encouragement she needed.
“Don’t I get a say in this?” she asked, jumping down from the table, and standing next to Marty.
“Sit the fuck down Maddie and stay outta this,” Luke snapped, and this time it was Marty who sent chills down my back with just the tone of his voice.
“Watch how you speak to her, brother. I won’t tell you again.” I knew Luke. I knew Luke like I knew myself. I recognized shit that a lot of people didn’t, so when that sparkle of recognition formed in his eye, I knew he was impressed with Marty’s boldness. I just hoped it worked in Marty’s favor.
“Tell me what that 13 on your cut stands for, brother.” Luke demanded, his hands fisting at his sides. I figured he would find something else to throw any minute. Marty must have been thinking the same thing, because he stuck his arm out in front of Maddie, pushing her behind him. Luke’s nostrils flared at the exchange, and I wondered if it was because he touched her, or because Marty thought Luke would actually hurt her. Either way, it pissed him off even more.
“M is the 13th letter of the alphabet,” Marty replied simply, and Regg actually smiled a little. I didn’t get it, but apparently the answer was what Marty had been trained to say in front of other ears. It held a different meaning inside the club.
“I helped you sew that motherfucker on!” Luke yelled from across the room. He was angry, but he was also hurting. He felt betrayed, and he had been. This time when Marty spoke, it was a plea for Luke to understand. He realized, just as I had, that Luke felt as if he had been cut deep.
“Luke, I never lied to you. I love her, man. I was just waiting for all this shit to be finished before I told you.” Luke was getting antsy. He was moving around too much, and I was afraid it was fixing to come to blows between him and Marty.
“You should have told me. I fucking told you she was off limits,” Luke said, his lip curled up, as he breathed deep through his nostrils. He looked like a raging fucking bull ready to attack. I had seen that look once before, right before he bent me over my desk and beat the shit outta me.
“You can’t run my life, Luke,” Maddie said, her voice soothing, begging Luke to understand. Luke pointed his finger, fixing to lay into Maddie, when Regg interceded. He knew, just like I knew that if Luke said something to Maddie, Marty was going to say something to him, and there wouldn’t be enough time for us to get out of the way before the fighting commenced.
“Luke, let’s take a walk,” Regg suggested, holding his hands up to Luke in surrender. He should have just taken off his white shirt and used it as a flag.
“I don’t want to take a walk,” Luke said, looking over Regg’s shoulder at Marty.
“I’m telling you that we’re going to take a walk,” Regg demanded, getting directly in front of Luke’s face, and blocking our view of him. Oh shit, now Regg and Luke would fight. Then Marty would jump in. Then me, Red, and Maddie would be the only ones that would try and get them to stop. But that didn’t happen. Surprisingly, Luke listened to Regg, and turned to walk out the side door into the alley.
“Cat’s outta the bag now,” Red said, walking in and taking a seat next to me on the pool table.
“I’m so sorry,” Maddie said, looking up at Marty with tears in her eyes.
“Don’t be. It was time he knew,” Marty said, taking Maddie’s face in his hands and kissing her so lovingly that Red and I both sighed as we leaned against one another. “I’m gonna go get a shower. Don’t worry, he will cool off. He just wants the best for you.”
�
�I’m gonna go talk to him,” Maddie announced, as soon as Marty left the room.
“Oh, no,” Red said, jumping up and blocking Maddie’s retreat. “Just leave him alone. He’s pissed, Maddie.”
“I think she should go talk to him,” I said, standing next to Maddie in her defense.
“You two,” Red said, swinging her finger between the two of us, “are suicidal idiots.” I rolled my eyes at Red’s remark and walked with Maddie outside to find Luke lifting weights, while Regg stood beside the door.
“How is he?” I asked, watching Luke bench press the heavy bar filled with weights as if it held feathers instead of metal.
“Pissed. But he is just mad at himself. He told me if he wasn’t careful you two would end up falling for each other,” he said, addressing Maddie. “It was bound to happen as much time as y’all have been spending together. Don’t be hard on him,” Regg said, looking at Luke protectively. “He just wants what’s best for you, Maddie.” I smiled, but Maddie rolled her eyes, these words having been said to her twice in a matter of minutes. My guess was she would be hearing them again very soon. I walked with Maddie over to Luke, not really feeling as if it was my place, but my sister needed me. I would tune out the conversation once it started. Or at least that’s what I told myself. Hell, I wanted to hear it just as bad as Red, who I knew was listening through a window somewhere.
“Luke,” Maddie said cautiously, as we approached a sweaty, shirtless, still-pissed Luke. I was glad I had come. While Maddie fidgeted with her hands, trying to find the right words to say, I used mine to wipe the drool that was running down my face at the sight of him. “I know you don’t like it, and I know it’s because you felt like we lied to you, but that’s not the case.” Maddie paused, waiting on some acknowledgement from Luke that he had heard her, but he continued lifting as if we weren’t even there. Maddie swallowed hard and looked at me. I gave her a reassuring smile and nod, and she stared at her feet as she continued. “He’s so good to me,” she said with a smile, her eyes becoming dreamy, as they had when she had first told me about him. “For so long, I looked at him as just a friend. But after Texas, I came home and he was there. He listened to me and understood me. I’ve always had you for things like that, but with everything going on, I didn’t want to bother you. Luke he makes me feel like I’m important. He makes me feel like you did, but we have that connection, ya know? I know you want more for me, but he is my more.” At this, Luke stopped, replacing the bar, but keeping his hands on it as he stared at them. I watched his stomach, as it retracted with his deep breaths. I pulled my eyes to his face to see it looking impassive as Maddie’s words continued. I knew he was listening, but he didn’t want to. “He loves me and he loves Logan. I know this like I know you would give your life to save me from another disaster like Brett. Luke, I wouldn’t take the risk of losing you if I wasn’t sure that this was what I wanted. I love him.” Luke’s eyes swung to Maddie for the first time since she had begun speaking. Maddie continued, ignoring Luke’s stare and lost in her own little world, as if the words she had just spoken made her realize how true they were. “I love him more than anything. I don’t care that he’s not a doctor or a lawyer, or that he probably loves his Harley more than he could ever love me. All that matters is that I love him and for a long time, I didn’t even know it, but now I do. I love him, Luke. I love him.” I smiled at Maddie, whose look of elation caused my stomach to swarm with butterflies, and my heart to swell with pride. My little sister had finally found happiness. I would kill Luke if he fucked this up, but when I turned to him, he was sitting up, eyeing Maddie with a smirk.
“That much, huh?” he asked, as she nodded her head vigorously while her tears streamed down her face. Maddie squatted between Luke’s knees, taking his hands in hers.
“I can’t do this without your blessing. Please don’t make me choose, because I would be lost without either one of you.” Just like I did, Luke knew that the girl who sat before him was a girl in love, and she would leave Luke and this life for a shot at her own happiness.
“I won’t let you go Maddie,” Luke said, tucking a strand of hair behind Maddie’s ear. “And I won’t stand in the way of your happiness. I’m not saying I like it, but if it’s what you really want, I’ll try to deal with it. If you love him, then love him fiercely. That man deserves that kind of love, and so do you, my Maddie.” Luke leaned forward, taking Maddie’s face in his hands as he kissed her forehead, leaving me a crying fucking mess as the scene unfolded. I heard a sniffle and turned to see Red standing outside the door to mine and Luke’s room. I knew she would be watching. Nosey bitch. She just couldn’t help it. I was glad we were staying in tonight. A chick flick was in order.
Chapter 20
Dallas
The three of us, Maddie, Red and myself, were lying in mine and Luke’s bed, sniffling and snorting at one of the sappiest chick flicks I had ever seen. Nicholas Sparks definitely knew how to make a girl cry. The guys had left around five, and no sooner had they left, than we had jumped into bed to begin our movie marathon. Luke had yet to speak to Marty, but he didn’t kill him either, and that was progress. Regg expressed his relief that the fight was out of Luke by grabbing a bottle of Jack and turning it up, not even bothering with a glass. I got out of bed, choosing another movie for us as, my stomach grumbled in complaint.
“Y’all hungry?” I asked the two saps lying in bed covered with tissues.
“Starving,” Red said, which wasn’t unusual. She was always hungry.
“Yeah, me too,” Maddie added, her permanent smile still as fresh as it had been when she’d uttered the words, “I love him.”
“I’ll order pizza.” I walked into the main room, flipping on lights as I did, and found the number for a local pizza joint behind the bar. I ordered a large pepperoni and cheese pizza for delivery, and they let me know they would be here in thirty minutes. I skipped back to the bedroom, where the pajama party looked more like an ICU waiting room, with snot rags, covers, and red, crying eyes. Everyone wore their significant other’s t-shirt instead of pajama tops with their pajama shorts, leaving our tanned legs exposed and a topic of conversation. I looked at Maddie’s legs, which were considerably darker than mine and Red’s. “Maddie, do you tan every day?” I asked, causing all six eyes in the room to fall on Maddie’s legs.
“Not every day, but most. I have a tanning bed at home. Luke bought it for me for Christmas last year,” Maddie said, propped up on her elbows, while she turned her leg examining it.
“He bought you a tanning bed?” Was she serious?
“Yeah, I had been wanting one so he got it for me,” she answered, with a shrug. I would have thrown a jealousy fit had she and Marty not confirmed their love for one another earlier.
“I want a tanning bed,” Red said with a pout, holding her leg up to Maddie’s in comparison.
“Why? It ain’t like you’re ever home to use it,” Maddie said, with a laugh. “Albino,” she added, and I laughed too, making sure to shield my legs from Maddie’s eyes. If Red were an albino, then so was I.
“Don’t be trying to hide, Dallas. Your tan is shit too. For November, we all have pretty good tans.” Red said, and I had to agree. Maddie was an exception, but when we were forty, she would look like leather, and Red and I would still look youthful… and very white. A bang on the door sounded, and I took off to get the pizza. As I ran through the main room, a thought hit me. It had not been anywhere near thirty minutes. I did a one-eighty, and high-tailed it back to my room, to find Maddie and Red still talking tanned legs, when I entered.
“That’s not the pizza. Can’t be,” I said, my breathing coming fast from my sprint and my sudden nervousness.
“Well, let’s go see who it is,” Red said, clambering off the bed. I turned leaving her searching for something, as Maddie and I made our way back to the door. “I’m coming, wait!” Red said in a whisper, as we slowed for her to catch up. I made it to the door first, making sure the light outside was on as I
unlocked the deadbolt and cracked it open, but Red grabbed it, pulling it open wide and glaring at the man who stood there. He looked nervous and fidgety, and I knew he was up to no good.
“Can I help you?” I asked, stunning him with my million-dollar smile. He took the three of us in, nothing but t-shirts and legs.
“Yeah, I was looking for directions,” he said, looking around nervously.
“No you fucking ain’t. Tell whoever that is down the street that if he wants to send a lookout, he needs to send someone who isn’t an idiot,” Maddie snapped, causing the guy’s face to whiten. I stood between Maddie and Red, wondering how in the hell they were staying so cool about the situation. What if he had someone with him? It wouldn’t take much for them to push their way inside.
“I-I don’t know what you are talking about,” the guy said, with a nervous laugh. He reached up to run his hands through his greasy hair and I noticed the track marks on his arms. He was doing this for dope.
“Look, tell your informant that there are three women alone in the Devil’s Renegades clubhouse, so if they want to ambush it, now is the time.” I wanted to look at Red and mouth to her, “are you fucking crazy”, but I kept my eyes forward and my face impassive, although I was anything but.
“You’re a brave little bitch,” the guy said, his lip curling, revealing a set of rotten teeth.
“Do I have something to be scared of?” Red asked, holding the door open wider, as if she were inviting him in.
“Yeah, me,” he said, looking like he wanted to take a step inside, but thinking better of it. “And my friends,” he said, with a smug smile.
“Really? Well I have two sisters and a nine with ten shots that says I’m the baddest motherfucker on this block. You want to test that theory?” Red asked, staring the guy down while I fought hard to control my laughter. There was absolutely nothing funny about what was taking place, but just hearing Red talk like she was in some action movie had me nearly dying.
