When I'm With You (Little Hollow #2)

by Danielle Dickson

  I look down at the huge pile in front of me like that’s a dumb question.

  “Well I can see you’re doing this now, but what’s your plans after?” He asks with a hopeful look on his face.

  “I’ve got the vacuuming to do then I’m just going to catch up on Breaking Bad.” I shrug my shoulders. “Nothing exciting.”

  “So no chance of stealing Cinderella away tonight?”

  I shake my head. “Not tonight, H. I just wanna get all this done and be lazy for the rest of the day.”

  He smiles. “Can we be lazy together?”

  I chuckle and shake my head, picking the laundry up off the floor that I threw at him. “To be honest, I just want to veg alone tonight. I’ve had no time off in a while.”

  He looks disappointed but covers it up with a cheeky wink. “Another time then.”

  He gives me a quick wave and I cringe at the song that blasts over the speakers next. He spins around, mouth wide open as Avril Lavigne, Complicated, blares out and I scramble to turn it off.

  I hear his deep laughter over the song. “You have fuckin’ terrible taste in music!”

  I manage to turn it off, dousing the room in deathly silence apart from Hunter’s sarcastic comments about my playlist.

  “Alright, out!” I command.

  He holds up his hands. “Alright, teeny bopper, don’t hit me with your skateboard.”

  I hold back the embarrassed laugh that bubbles it’s way up my throat.

  I punch him in his arm. “Shut up, Hunter. You used to listen to her. Now get out.”

  “Prove it.” He winks then walks out the front door, leaving me red faced.

  I press my back against the door and laugh at myself, it’s just music, why am I so bothered by what he thinks?

  I push off the door and turn my playlist back on, skipping Avril and putting on Smells like teen spirit by Nirvana. My foot taps along to the beat again as I get back into the rhythm of folding.

  I huff as I hear footsteps come from behind me.

  “What, don’t approve of this song either?” I laugh out.

  “Oh, the songs just fine,” a voice says close behind me, and I stiffen as a shiver rolls through me.

  “What do you want, Merl?” I spit out, not bothering to turn around.

  He clicks his tongue three times. “Well, that’s no way to speak to your favorite uncle.”

  My grip on the jeans I’m holding tightens as the closeness of him is evident by the heat coming from his body, interrupted momentarily as the cold brush of leather hits the back of my arms. I’ve always felt uncomfortable around him, and my reaction to the smell of liquor coming off him like he’s bathed in it makes my stomach roil.

  I flinch when his fingertip runs across the crook of my shoulder and down my arm. “I think you’ve been avoiding me.”

  “I’ve been busy, plus I don’t have anything to do with the club, so why would I see you?” I retort.

  “That so? I could’ve sworn I just saw brother Bear ride on out of your driveway.”

  His grip tightens on my arm.

  I shrug him off. “HUNTER, has always been a friend. That’s different.”

  He shakes his head with a short laugh. “And I’m family, you should want to spend time with me, Keeley.”

  His temper is flaring up and I swallow against the lump in my throat. I’m no stranger to his threats, but something about this situation doesn’t feel right. I wish I hadn’t sent Hunter away.

  I continue folding the laundry, not saying anything back. If I ignore him, maybe he’ll go away?

  He grabs my hand. “Acknowledge me when I speak to you, girl! You need to learn some respect.”

  I scoff. “Respect? You wouldn’t know what that was if it hit you in the face.”

  His grip around my hand tightens. “You’ll learn your place. Now, let’s go spend some time as a family.”

  I can’t hold my tongue any longer. “You’re not family! You drove my mom away from us, you ruined my childhood. I don’t want anything to do with you, I won’t have you ruin my adulthood too. I’ve kept quiet long enough, as soon as dad gets home tonight, I’m telling him everything I ever saw as a kid. Then he’ll know how sick you are!”

  He let’s go of my hand as his face twists with rage. “Sick? No. Twisted? Perhaps. Sick would imply there’s a cure for what’s going through my head.”

  I back away from his taunts and run out of the utility room into the kitchen before I’m grabbed by my wrist and flung against one of the counters. My hip collides with it and I cry out in pain before dropping to the floor.

  I feel a heavy boot push into my back and I’m pressed against the tiles, hip throbbing from the connection with the countertop.

  “You think he’s going to believe the slutty little biker brat over his brother?” He cackles.

  I ignore him and try to get up before I’m stepped on again and pushed to the floor. This time, he bends down really slowly and whispers in my ear. “We’re going to have a little fun. I wonder if you’ll like it as much as your mom did?”

  My eyes widen and I shout, hoping to get the attention of the neighbors but I have my music so loud they probably won’t hear me over it. I panic as he flips me over and rips open my jeans. I hit out at him and connect with his jaw, he growls but doesn’t stop his advances.

  “You’ve got more fight in you than she did,” he says nonchalantly. “I like it.”

  I gag and claw at his face, not able to get a proper grip of anything. I’m aiming for his eyes as he slides my jeans off.

  “No!” I shout over and over again, kicking out at him.

  His eyes widen and he slumps down. “Fuckin’ bitch! You kicked me in the balls!”

  I stumble up but he grabs my ankle from the floor and I make a grab for the counter, desperately looking to anchor myself. I miss my mark and knock items off the counter as I thud to the floor.

  He grabs my thighs and flips me around onto my back. I try to thrash out but he’s stronger and pulls open my hips so he can slot himself between them.

  I feel around my head for something, anything to help me get away from my deranged Uncle. I feel something sharp dig into my fingertips and I close my hand around it and don’t hesitate in swinging my arm around, slashing at his face. I realize that I’m holding a knife and push myself back from him as I watch the blood ooze from the deep gash I’ve just made on his cheek.

  He curses and reaches for a dishcloth. “You’ll fuckin’ pay for that!” He screams.

  I hold the knife out toward him. “Get out!” I shout, but he just looks up at me with crazed eyes. “I said get out! Or I’ll calling the cops!”

  I watch as my hand holding out the knife shakes as he slowly gets to his feet. “And don’t ever set foot in this house again, do you hear me?”

  He points at me with a bloody hand. “You’ve just dug your own grave, girl.”

  His voice is low and calm and I find this more sinister than if he were to shout. He doesn’t wait for me to reply, he turns and walks through the house and as I hear the front door slam, the tears fall down my cheeks as the hand with the knife lets go. I’d watched it happen to my mom, but somehow I didn’t quite believe he could be so evil, until now. He just tried to rape me.

  I lay there, staring at the ceiling feeling dead inside as I feel his body weight lifts off me and he tucks himself away. “I always get my way, sweet girl.”

  It’s been two days since the incident with Merl locking himself in the clubhouse and it’s made everyone act edgy around him, well, more so than usual. He’s a fuckin’ nutcase at the best of times. This is exactly what I wanted though, most people voted against him anyway, now that he’s gone off the rails over the past week, well let’s just say it ain’t gonna help his case when we have church.

  He hasn’t been at the clubhouse much since he went away, but when he has been here, he’s been a bigger asshole than usual, and I don’t think it’s just the vote that has his panties in a twist. There mus
t be something in the liquor at the clubhouse though because not only is he acting strange, but so is my brother.

  Jacques still hasn’t opened up to me about whatever is going on with him and he seems to be drinking more and more. Every night I’ve had to watch him so he doesn’t choke on his own puke in his sleep. He won’t go home to my pop, won’t even talk to him or anyone really unless he’s doing his duties, and even then that’s bare minimum. After his duties, he sits in the corner of the common area with a bottle of whatever he can get his hands on first, glugging it down until he passes out. But even though he’s been drunk off his ass, there’s no mistaking the weary sorry-for-himself look he has in his eyes, and I’m getting sick of his shit. If he doesn’t tell me what’s up soon, I’m going to beat it out of him!

  I twirl the wrench in my hand before packing away my tools for the day. I can’t wait to get home. I’ve not been all that invested in work today which is so unlike me, I love bikes, but I’ve had Jacques and issues at the club on my mind. Now I’d call myself an observant person, so it doesn’t escape me that a pair of eyes have been boring into me for the past ten minutes or so.

  I turn around slowly to see Tessa stood hips wide, hands on her tiny waist where the top of her extremely tight pencil skirt starts, eyes raking over my body.

  “Hunter, can I borrow you for a minute please? My computer just doesn’t seem to be playing ball.”

  I scoff. “You’re asking the wrong person, Tess. I don’t know much about ‘em.”

  She pouts. “Humor me? I’ve been trying to finish the accounts for the last hour and I’m dying to go home.”

  I sigh and walk after her toward her office. As soon as we get there she shuts the door and bends over her desk, clicking the keyboard with her perfectly manicured fingers.

  “I just can’t work out what’s wrong with it, it was working fine earlier.”

  I move over to her and look at the screen, it’s completely blank. “Don’t wanna point out the obvious, but have you tried turning it on?” I say sarcastically, pressing the on button.

  It fires to life.

  “Oh, silly me! But now that I have you here…,” she trails off, and steps in front of me, pressing me against her desk.

  I can feel the swell of her breasts pushed up against my chest and fuck if it doesn’t make my pants go tighter. I haven’t been laid in over two years but I don’t want this reaction, not with her. She walks her fingers down my chest to the bulge and looks up at me through seductive eyes. “I knew you wanted me.”

  I groan and curse myself out at what I’m about to do. “Yeah, this ain’t happenin’.” I grab her hand and pull it out my pants before she has a chance to protest. “You’re hot as hell, but I won’t go there, not with you. We work together and-”

  Her face turns angry and she opens her mouth, releasing a high-pitched shriek, and she pulls her shirt open making the buttons pop everywhere. “Get off me!” She screams with a devilish look in her eyes.

  Shit! I try to make a run for the door but it opens before I get to it, three of the other wrenches bursting into the room.

  “Tessa?”

  They look over her and back to me with rage on their faces.

  “Hell, I know what it looks like, but she’s set me up!” I shout, not taking my eyes off of them incase they make a move.

  She cowers in the corner, a scared expression on her face as she tries to cover herself up with the ripped material of her shirt.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” One of the guys says menacingly.

  I raise to my full height. “I ain’t doin’ shit! This bitch set me up when I wouldn’t give her what she wanted.”

  “I knew it was a shitty idea to hire a Crow!” One of the others shouts.

  Tessa runs up to them. “Please don’t leave me with him, he was trying to hurt me.”

  “The hell I was! I don’t hurt women, and I certainly don’t rape them!” My deep, booming voice attracts the rest of my colleagues attention and to my dismay, my boss walks in. He just so happens to be her pop and takes one look at Tessa, then his eyes zone in on me. I’m not scared of him, but I need this job.

  He storms forward, grabbing at my cut. “You Crows not have enough whores to play around with at that club of yours? You wanna turn my daughter into one too!” He shouts in my face and I push him away.

  I’m not dealing with this shit. “Like I said before, I haven’t done shit! Your daughter just can’t handle not getting her own way, ain’t that right, Tessa?”

  She narrow her eyes at me with a smirk then recovers quickly. “Daddy, he came in here and just ripped my shirt clean open. He said I was his!” She breathes out, acting scared.

  His head turns back to me and my fists twitch at my side, the hell with this! I point toward her. “You did this! Own it!”

  She jumps as my voice gets louder, and my boss throws the first punch. I hardly react apart from the sinister smile that slowly works its way onto my face.

  His face pales as I walk toward him. “You hit like a girl.”

  We’re nose to nose now, and I can see all the guys ready to try to stop me if I go off like a firework, it seems my temper precedes me. “Fuck you, fuck your slut of a daughter, and fuck this job! I’m out!”

  I let that sink in for a couple of seconds before storming out of the room to collect my things.

  “You’ll never work again! I’ll make sure of that, Kingsley.”

  I grit my teeth at the use of my last name and walk back toward him. “And how you gonna do that? I’m the best at what I do, good luck replacing me.”

  He glares at me and I give a salute and jump on my bike before I blow my top. I needed that job, loved it in fact. Working on cars and bikes calms me, makes me feel like I’m actually worth something. Plus I’m good at it, so good that I’m sought after for bike customizations. But no way in hell am I sticking around.

  I slam open the clubhouse door ready to shoot the shit with the guys and heads turn to greet me.

  Smokey walks over to me, a frown marring his face. “Who happened to you?”

  He’s looking at my jaw and I guess my boss hit me harder than I thought. “Broad at work threw herself at me, and when I wouldn’t give her none she called rape. Her pop just happens to be my fuckin’ boss.”

  He straightens up and Grim comes over and sneers, “You need us to go teach someone a lesson?” He has an evil glint in his eyes.

  I wave him off. “Nah, he ain’t worth it.”

  I motion to the prospect behind the bar for a drink, and tell him to keep them coming. I shoot back the first and second ones, feeling the burn down my throat has me relaxing slightly.

  “What’s goin’ on around here? Where is everyone?”

  Smokey shrugs. “Hell if I know.”

  I lean back against the bar and look around the near empty room, apart from Smokey, Grim and myself, there’s only the prospect behind the bar and YamYam sitting with his feet up, chewing on a toothpick.

  There’s a roar of engines moving toward us and I raise my brow in question to Smokey. He shrugs again.

  “For real? You’re the fuckin’ road captain and you don’t know where everybody’s been?”

  He holds up his hands. “Beats me, I never got told nothin’.”

  Pres walks into the common area. “What the fuck’s that?” He looks around. “Where is everyone?”

  “You didn’t know either?” I ask, puzzled.

  He stares me down. “I wouldn’t be askin’ if I knew.”

  I smirk. “Looks like you need to find out then, Pres.” I knock back the rest of my glass and motion for another.

  He ignores me and watches as all the brothers file in, laughing and high-fiving. “Someone wanna explain why we seem to be the only ones not in the know?” His voice booms out over everyone, and they all stop what they’re doing.

  “Couldn’t find ya’ll,” a voice says from the back.

  I see that it’s Taz making his way through the crowd t
oward his brother, a shit eating grin on his face.

  “What the fuck, Taz. You said Pres and Smokey knew about this!” Jojo shouts, and all the other brothers nod in agreement, tempers starting to flare up.

  He just stands there and shrugs, looking each of us over. “I’m the VP, don’t need permission to go out on a ride with my brothers,” he states.

  He’s acting different today, an underlying bout of confidence just brimming on the surface. He’s not as twitchy as he’s been lately either, but he’s still hiding something, and he sure as shit knows that the road captain and Pres need to be on all rides unless they’re on club business. I can tell he’s trying to get a bite out of Pres and by the look on Pres’ face, he’s gonna get one.

  Pres squares up to him. “And watch me fuckin’ rip your VP patch from your chest, you disrespectful motherfucker!”

  And he does, he literally rips it from his chest and throws it at me. “You want VP? Have it, show me something I haven’t already seen.”

  Everyone hollers and whoops and it adds to Taz’s rage. His face turns the color of beets and he eyes both me and Pres up, wondering who to direct his rage at first. I steel myself as they land on me and I wait, challenging him with the look in my eyes.

  Please give me a reason to-

  He flies at me, knocking me off the stool I’m sitting on onto the floor, raining punches down at me. The whole room breaks out into shouts and growls as they watch us beat on each other. Taz is a big guy, but he still doesn’t rival me. I’ve been trained by my pop from a young age to protect myself by any means necessary.

  I grab his head and push my thumbs into his eyes, he growls and gets a kidney punch in, making me let go. And that’s when my pop and Jojo intervene.

  “Enough!” My pop hollers over the raucous excitement of all the brothers. “You’re fighting like a bunch of fuckin’ teenagers! We’re all supposed to be brothers.”

  I laugh and wipe at my bloodied lip. “Brothers? He will never be my brother. I have what I want from him, he’s dead to me. Always has been and always will be. Useless fuck!”