White Knuckles

by Autumn Jones Lake

  Christ, I don’t know what to say. This touchy-feely stuff is Rock’s domain. Not mine. I’m supposed to be the one the guys come to for an ass-kicking.

  “I get it, Teller. I do. But you need to keep pushing yourself, so when we find that fuck you’re the one who ends him.”

  Some of his attitude evaporates. “I’m tryin’.”

  “You got Alexa. She needs you.”

  Finally, something I said cheers him up. He forces a quick smile. “Yeah. Don’t know what I’d do without her.”

  “Maybe you should try spending time with someone else?”

  He rolls his eyes at me. “Are you suggesting I fuck my troubles away?”

  My smirk answers that question. What the hell else am I going to suggest?

  “I’m not only fucked up in the head.” He taps his fist against his thigh. “I’m a fuckin’ mess down here.”

  The tilt of my head makes him snort. “My dick’s fine. I’m still scarred as fuck though.”

  “Don’t let that stop you. Chicks dig scars. Just makes them want to take care of you and shit.”

  I get another eye-roll for that one. “I’ve had enough let-me-heal-you pussy thrown at me since I got out of the hospital to make me swear off sex forever.”

  “There’s something I never thought I’d hear you say.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” he continues, ignoring my comment. “I ain’t interested in turning into some mild, suburban house-husband like you and Rock.” He glances into the gym and screws his face into a scowl. “Or dad of the year like Murphy’s apparently turned into.”

  When I finish laughing over the “house-husband” dig, I lean in closer. “You still got so much to learn, welterweight. Think acting like you don’t need a woman makes you a real man?”

  “I don’t want any old chick—” He snaps his mouth shut, but no way am I letting that go.

  “You sound like you have someone specific in mind.”

  His eyes widen. “Not Trinity. Not anyone. Someone—not involved in the club.”

  I definitely need to dig into that again at some point. “Find the woman whose demons play nice with yours. That’s what it’s all about, brother.”

  He cocks his head and hesitates before asking, “That what happened with you and Trinity?”

  “Yes,” I answer without taking my eyes off him.

  He nods and stares off into space for a few seconds. “If I…if we get justice for Mariella…”

  Jesus, if that doesn’t stab me right in the chest. “I understand. We nailed Killa. We’ll find Ransom.”

  His hands open and close a few times, and he stares at them as if he’s picturing snuffing Ransom’s useless life out. “No one’s seen that fucker in months.”

  “I know.”

  “He’s probably dead.”

  “Doubt it. Ransom’s sturdier than a cockroach.”

  Murphy taps on my door and wiggles his eyebrows at Teller. “One of the ladies wants to know if you’re available.”

  Teller doesn’t smile. Only his disgusted snort indicates he heard Murphy.

  Twitch slides in behind Murphy, and I seriously consider nailing a “Do Not Enter” sign to my office door. “You need me to put those sandbags out?” Twitch asks.

  It’s a reasonable question, but Murphy scowls at him.

  “Christ, let it go, brother.” I laugh. “Heidi ain’t interested in him.”

  “Thanks a lot.” Twitch’s gaze darts between Murphy and me. “Don’t be mad at me, Murphy.” He points a bony finger my way. “I’m only nice to Heidi because he told me I had to ‘show the old ladies respect’ or he’d gut me. You can’t be mad at me for following orders.”

  Murphy glances at me with a barely-controlled smirk. He loves fuckin’ with Twitch.

  And because I take my role as shit-stirrer seriously, I lift my shoulders in a careless shrug. “Sounds like something I could’ve said.”

  “He did,” Twitch insists.

  “Get back to work, prospect,” Murphy snaps.

  Twitch swings his pleading eyes my way. “Can he really boss me around like that at the gym?”

  I stroke my hand over my beard and pretend to think about it for a second. “Sure.”

  After Twitch stomps out of my office, Murphy snickers. “He’s so easy to rile up.”

  “Getting even for all the shit we gave you when you were a prospect?” I joke.

  “Fuck yeah, it’s my right as a full-patch,” he answers, tapping his chest where his Road Captain patch would be if he were in his cut. “He needs a thicker skin if he’s ever gonna patch-in.”

  “Did my sister cause more trouble?” Teller asks.

  “No,” Murphy says, shutting Teller down quick before lifting his chin my way. “Just warning you now, Rock called and mentioned having a quick meeting tonight.”

  Teller shoots a hopeful look my way. “Think it’s about Ransom?”

  The eagerness in Teller’s voice makes it hard to form an answer. “Could be.”

  Heidi and Trinity return with lunch, ending our conversation. Talking about the former president of the Vipers MC leaves me tense. Rock and I need to have a one-on-one before Trinity and I leave.

  “Here, let me have her,” Teller says, grabbing Alexa. All the grumpy bastard seems to flow out of him once he has his niece in his arms.

  Murphy takes the lunch bags from Trinity. “You coming?” he asks Heidi.

  “I’ll meet you in the lunch room,” she mumbles as she carefully watches her brother leave my office.

  Curious why Heidi’s staying behind, I focus on her.

  “Oh, geez, I think about a dozen ovaries just exploded out there,” Trinity says, snickering while she watches Teller and Alexa out on the gym floor.

  Heidi chuckles, then turns my way. “I hope you’re not mad at me for stopping by, Uncle Wrath.” She glances out the door and in a softer voice adds, “I really came to check up on my brother. I’m worried about him.”

  “We all are, sweetheart. I had a talk with him.” Mostly about club business and butting out of her life, but of course I don’t share that with her.

  “Good. He’ll listen to you.”

  I’m not sure about that, but I nod and smile to reassure her. “He’ll be okay.”

  “I hope so. Thank you for letting him work here for a few days.”

  After she leaves, I pull Trinity into my lap and bury my face against her neck. “When did I turn into a fucking life coach? That’s Rock’s job. Not mine.”

  “Aww.” She shifts against me, wrapping her arms around my neck and holding on tight.

  “This is better,” I mumble against her hair. Inhaling her sweet scent, listening to her breathe, the weight of her in my lap—everything about her pushes my doubts and irritation away.

  “Better?” she asks.

  “Yes. I love holding you.”

  She runs the back of her hand over my cheek. “Hungry?” Leaning back, she snags the bag of food off my desk.

  The answer to that is yes, but not for food. “Yeah. I wanna lay you out on my desk and eat you.”

  “You think that’s a good idea with a full house?”

  “No,” I grumble.

  “Tomorrow.” Her voice lowers. “Tomorrow, I’m all yours. You can do whatever you want to me for three whole days.” Her words, the wicked grin, her husky voice—none of it helps what’s going on in my shorts, so I nudge her off my lap.

  “Go sit over there.” I prod her toward the chair on the other side of my desk. “Otherwise, I’m going to fuck you no matter who’s out there.”

  “Patience. It will be so much better if you wait for it.”

  “You’re going to regret those words, Angel Face.”

  Wyatt’s deep, sexy voice should be outlawed.

  I’m this close to jumping up on his desk and letting him have his way with me. But I take a seat across from him instead.

  I can be patient.

  He takes a few papers out of his desk and hands th
em to me.

  For once, I’m feeling useful. Every bit of him radiated tension when I came in here. Now, he’s more relaxed as we talk about the next steps for the gym expansion.

  “Am I interrupting?” Jake asks, pushing Wyatt’s door wide open.

  “You know you are,” I tease.

  “What do you want?” Wyatt snaps.

  Jake ignores Wyatt’s tone—I suppose he’s gotten used to it over the years.

  “I wanted to ask Trinity if any of her hot friends will be at the wedding.”

  “All my hot friends are taken.”

  “Okay, your ugly friends, then.”

  “Jerk.” I wad up my napkin and throw it at him. He catches it and grins.

  Whisper stops by and glares at Jake. “Kissing her ass again?” he asks, nodding at me. His gaze skips to Wyatt as if I’m not even in the room, which isn’t unusual and doesn’t bother me one bit.

  Jake rolls his eyes but doesn’t have a chance to respond before Whisper starts badgering Wyatt. “You got another one of your brothers here?” he asks.

  “Yeah, just for a couple days.” Wyatt’s face remains passive, but I sense his annoyance at being questioned.

  Fiancée or not, Furious Fitness is Wrath’s business and not something I’d stick my nose in—no matter what he said earlier. But I’ve always wondered how long his partnership with the Wolf Knights MC’s Sergeant-at-Arms would last. Especially since Ulfric was dethroned and Merlin took over as president. From the little I know of their club, Ulfric was the only thing keeping them on the right side of civil.

  As an ol’ lady, I may not butt into MC business, but I damn sure pay attention to what’s going on in my man’s world.

  “Fucker can barely walk. What’s he supposed to do here?”

  Wyatt’s eyes narrow at Whisper’s tone. “Whatever the fuck I need him to do. What’s your problem?”

  “Nothing. Just feelin’ outnumbered. Maybe I oughta bring some of my crew in.”

  They stare at each other for a few seconds, Jake shifts uncomfortably and stuffs his hands in his pockets. I decide to intervene. “Are you bringing Melanie to the wedding, Whisper?”

  He slowly drags his gaze to me, as if it annoys the shit out of him to acknowledge my presence. I paste a sweet smile on my face, while mentally, I’m flipping him off.

  “You still gonna be hanging around here so much after you wrap your ball and chain ’round his neck?”

  I’d love to answer, “Yes, asshole, I’ll be right next door in the studio my ol’ man bought me.” But I’m not sure if anyone else knows about Wrath’s plan for me.

  “Wrath showed me around next door. Looks like it’ll be great, Whisper,” I say instead. My cheeks ache from the fake-ass smile I keep in place.

  Like the jackass Whisper is, he pretends I didn’t say a word and walks out.

  “Shit, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything,” I mumble.

  Wyatt reaches across the table and rubs his fingers over the back of my hand. “It’s fine.”

  “What the fuck’s his issue lately?” Jake asks, closing the door behind him.

  “He’s not really on board with the expansion.” Wyatt sits back in his chair, keeping his eye on Jake. “You know this.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s gettin’ old.”

  “You sure you’re okay with me leaving for a few days?” Wyatt asks. My heart stops. I’ve been looking forward to this brief trip ever since Wyatt set it up.

  Jake’s face smooths into a mask of seriousness. “Bro, how long have I known you?”

  Wyatt gestures toward the door. “Come on, you know this place is my baby.”

  Jake snorts. “I’ll guard it with my life.”

  “Bullshit. You’re cheating on me with Sully’s gym.”

  “Fuck you. You know I’m just helping him out. Same as he’s doing here.” Jake turns serious again. “We got this. Known you a long time and can’t remember you taking a real vacation that wasn’t “club business.” He smirks. “Even when you broke your fuckin’ leg you were in here every day.” He glances at me and smiles. “Take your girl away. She’s certainly earned it for putting up with your grumpy ass.”

  I cover my mouth with my hand to muffle the laughter spilling out.

  Wrath chuckles, then lifts his chin at the door. “Having Teller help out wasn’t because I don’t trust you—”

  “Didn’t think it was. I’ll catch you two later.”

  “He’s a good friend.” I say after Jake leaves. “What’s up with Whisper, though?”

  “Don’t know. I keep hoping he’ll ask me to buy him out.”

  “Can you do it? I mean with everything else going on? Our house has been way over-budget, the expansion—”

  The corner of his mouth turns up. “You worried I can’t take care of you, angel?”

  “No. Not at all. That’s not what I meant.”

  His grin widens. “I’m not worried. You’re gonna be a famous photographer and take care of me pretty soon.”

  Once again, his faith in me leaves me speechless for a second. “Somehow, I don’t see you playing house-husband.”

  He throws his head back and laughs. “Not according to Teller. He thinks Rock and I have been de-balled by our women.”

  Now I’m the one laughing. “He’s probably jealous of you two.” I cock my head. “What were you talking about for so long, anyway?”

  “He needed a few life lessons.”

  “That doesn’t sound ominous or anything,” I tease. The smile dies on my lips. “He’s still having a hard time about Mariella, isn’t he?”

  “That’s part of it.”

  My eyes water and I glance down at my hands. “I think about her all the time. I hope he doesn’t blame himself.”

  “Of course he does. He’s an overprotective meathead like the rest of us.”

  I let out a soft snort and swipe at my damp cheeks.

  “We can’t bring her back, but we’ll get justice for her, Trin,” he says in a low, earnest voice.

  Finally, I’m able to glance up and meet his ocean-blue eyes. “I believe you.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  It ends up being a long day at the gym. Thank fuck Trinity stuck around. She was the only one holding me back from punching someone.

  As Murphy predicted, Rock’s determined to annoy me further tonight, insisting we sit down at the table for an informal church.

  “What?”

  His expression says a bunch of things, including “I’m not in the mood for your bullshit.”

  Z’s already in his seat and holds out his fist. “Shocked you’re still around,” I say. “You’ve been a ghost lately.”

  He lifts his shoulders but doesn’t give me an answer. Not even a joke or a middle finger. So unlike Z.

  Teller looks downright exhausted as he drops into his chair. I should’ve told him to go home earlier. I get that Murphy wants to keep Teller occupied, but Murphy should know better than anyone that Teller won’t ever admit he’s tired or needs to rest.

  After our usual bullshitting and catching up with each other, Rock silences us and points at Sparky who requests help for packaging up some weed.

  “Who’s making the delivery to Loco tomorrow?” Rock asks.

  Dex holds up his hand. “I gotta be over that way tomorrow anyway. Can I drop it at the house?”

  “Aw, you in need of some lovin’, bro?” Ravage asks.

  Dex’s face screws into a scowl, making it obvious the last thing he’s interested in is getting serviced by one of Loco’s working girls. “You offering?”

  “Loco’s girls are gonna get a complex if you keep sending Dex,” Ravage says to Rock. “Waste of free pussy.”

  Rock sits back and pins Ravage with a stare that wipes the smile off his face. “The last thing I need is you getting lost in Loco’s whorehouse.” He nods at Dex again. “Loco has some intel on the MC pushing in from Vermont, so I need you to meet up with him at some point,” Rock says.

  “You
sure he’ll be okay meetin’ with me?” Dex asks. Smart question. Loco loves dragging Rock to meet-ups, just for the hell of it.

  “Yeah. Already spoke to the fucker twenty fuckin’ times today.” He turns my way next. “How’s Dylan doing?”

  Not the question I’d been expecting. “Fine. Why?”

  “Chaser was lookin’ for an update.”

  “Chaser and Stump are coming for the wedding, right? We still sending them home with a package?” Murphy asks.

  “Yeah.”

  Rock picks up a bunch of papers in front of him and shuffles through them without seeming to read them. Silence falls over the table while we wait for whatever’s next on his agenda. “Grinder’s getting moved to Pine Correctional at the end of the week.”

  “No shit,” Z and I end up saying at the same time.

  “You think he might have a chance of gettin’ released some day?” Teller asks.

  “Maybe.”

  “Yeah, since he hasn’t had anyone asking him to shank other inmates for the last ten years, maybe he’s finally earned some goodwill,” Murphy points out.

  “Let me know when he’s transferred. I’d like to go see him,” I tell Rock.

  He raises an eyebrow.

  “I’ll tell him I’m gettin’ married. Make him happy knowing he won that bet.”

  Finally, Rock’s mouth twitches into a smile. “Yeah, okay.”

  We run through some more minor business, and Rock finally dismisses everyone.

  Everyone except me. He doesn’t even have to say anything. By the way Rock keeps his eyes on me, it’s clear I shouldn’t bother gettin’ out of my chair. Z sticks around, too.

  “What’s on your mind?” I ask as soon as everyone’s gone.

  As usual, Rock gets right to the point. “How’d Teller do today?”

  There’s no sense in lying to Rock. “Rough start, but he held it together.”

  “I figured.”

  “I had a talk with him. The only thing he needs is justice for Mariella.”

  He blows out a frustrated breath. “I’m trying. Sway’s been pressuring the Viper’s New Jersey charter, but they claim Ransom’s out bad. They swear they have no plans to re-establish a charter up here and don’t know where the fuck Ransom’s hiding.”