I heard a half-choke half-laugh come from Slider, who was sitting at the next table. He beat his fist on his chest to clear it before he grinned over at us. “Bro, that’s why I don’t have one of them.”
“You just wait,” Op grumbled under his breath. “Fine, go help.”
I leaned down and kissed his cheek. “I’ll come find you when I’m done and we can go back to bed.”
His sour face turned into a smile and he tapped me on the butt as I walked away. I couldn’t help but grin as I walked through into the kitchen.
I was an Old Lady.
It wasn’t just that, though, I was Optimus’ Old Lady. I was his woman. And while I hadn’t come here searching to belong to someone, the feeling that I had right now was overwhelming. My heart was piecing itself back together. I finally had the man I loved, finally found the place I belonged.
And after all the heartache and pain I’d been through in my life, I could finally say it was worth it. It was worth fighting another day, week, month, year. It was worth it all.
I hummed to myself as I stacked the dishes and began scrubbing them in the hot water. I didn’t mind helping out. I’d done it for so long now, I felt like it was just a part of my routine. Just because Op had taken me and claimed me as his, didn’t make me feel like I was any better than the other girls who stayed here.
I didn’t feel like I had moved up and was worthy of more than they were. I knew what it felt like to be looked down on because of what I did for the club, and I refused to gain that mentality. We all took steps in life to better ourselves, for some girls this was it and that was okay.
I was about halfway through the massive pile of breakfast dishes when I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket, the sound of a popular rock band Ashes and Embers echoing in the room. Harmony had introduced me to the band’s music as her mom was their publicist. I fell in love with them. Hopefully, one day I’d be able to meet them too. I wiped my hands on a dish cloth and wiggled the phone from my tight jeans, hoping I could get it out before it stopped.
I saw Rose’s name on the screen and frantically hit the answer button. “Oh my gosh, Rose. I’ve been worried about you! Where are you?”
“Hey, Chel. I’m sorry. I just…I had to go see my family.” Her voice was soft and disjointed.
“Are you okay?”
She cleared her throat. “Yeah, um…I’m actually just outside the clubhouse. I need to talk to you, can you come out?”
“I’ll call the guards, they can let you in,” I told her, trying to remember who was on duty today.
“No. I…I can’t see him. I need to see you. Please, Chelsea,” she pleaded. I could hear the strain and the tears.
I threw the dishcloth on the counter and headed for the door. “Okay, okay. I’ll be there in a minute.”
I heard a relieved sigh. “Okay, I’m sitting under the trees just up the road.”
“Okay, I’ll be there soon.”
I looked around the main room as I walked through, Ham was at the bar, but there were no other brothers around. “Hey Ham, I’m just walking out to the gate.”
He raised an eyebrow, it almost looked comical. “Why?”
“Rose is there, I’m gonna try talk her into coming in, but she doesn’t want to see Blizzard.” I rolled my eyes. Those two needed to sort shit out, it was obvious something had gone on between them, but she wouldn’t tell me what the deal was whenever I asked.
Ham chuckled. “Geez, always so much drama with you women.”
I pointed at him and smiled. “I’ll remember that.”
He just winked and turned back to his duties, filling the fridges with alcohol. Since Ham had pulled me off the edge of crazy that morning in the apartment, we’ve gotten closer. Ham is relaxed and fun, but I just have this feeling that he knows what it’s like to feel like you’re broken and have lost everything.
Maybe one day I’ll figure out why.
I strolled past the bikes that were lined up outside. I wasn’t sure where Optimus had gone, probably to sit with his brothers while they figured all this shit out. Optimus wasn’t the type of leader to delegate and expect not to be involved. He didn’t make his men do all the dirty work, he was always right there with them doing what he could to help. I guess it was just another reason why they respected him so much.
I smiled as I walked up to the gate and found Neil and Kev. I wondered who was on Harlyn duty. Neil was used following Harlyn around like he was her shadow. But then, I hadn’t been back for like a week so things could have changed.
Kev gave me a kind smile. “What’s up, Chel?”
“I just need to step outside and talk to my friend Rose.” His face quickly changed, so I tried to explain before he shut me down. “Look, she needs to come in so we can watch out for her, but she’s a bit standoffish because of Blizzard. I just need a few minutes to convince her to come in.”
“Where is she?” Kev asked, still a little suspect. He twisted the handle of the automatic rifle he had hanging from his side.
We both stepped out the small gap in the gates and I pointed just down the road where I could see Rose’s small figure sitting under a tree hugging her knees. She was close enough that if the boys ran, they could get to us in less than five seconds. Kev looked concerned. He lifted his rifle and eyed the area.
“You’re gonna freak her out, pointing that thing at her.”
He scoffed. “She ain’t even looking this way.” He scanned for a moment. “Okay, I should have a clear shot if something happens, but I’m gonna stand right here and watch.”
“Thanks, Kev!” I yelled, jogging down the pavement to where my friend was located. I started to talk as I got closer, “Hey Rose, come inside. The boys are a little jumpy about us being—oh my God!”
I threw myself to my knees on the grass as she turned her head to face me. One of her eyes was swollen completely shut and was turning an unappealing shade of purple. Her cheekbone was also puffed up and the center of her lip was cut so bad, I thought it may need stitches. There was blood in her hair and down the side of her neck and face.
I felt tears pool in my eyes. “Oh, Rose. Babe, come on. Let’s get you inside.”
I held out my hand to her as I kneeled on the ground, praying she would take it. Fuck Blizzard and what she felt about the club. She needed help.
She shook her head and kept her knees pulled in tightly. One arm was cradled to her chest—the one she had burnt—but this time I knew it wasn’t a burnt. You could tell clearly that it was broken as a lump protruded from just below her wrist.
“Who did this to you?” I whispered, tears clogging my throat.
A small noise came from her mouth like it was meant to be a laugh. “I deserved it. I didn’t do well enough,” she croaked, sounding like a two-pack-a-day smoker.
“Rose, you do not deserve this. I don’t care if he’s your dad. He should care about you, he should love you no matter what.” I tried to move closer, feeling the need to wrap my arms around her and carry all her pain away.
That was the point in which my world stopped.
All I could hear in my head was the word, no. No, no, no, no, no.
The handgun sparkled in the small amount of sunlight that had broken through the shade of the tree as she raised it from beside her. It had been hidden by her body. Her finger was pressed to the trigger and the barrel was pointing directly at me. I stared down that dark black hole, mesmerized.
Was this it?
I pondered what it would feel like when the bullet hit me.
Would it hurt?
A thousand thoughts raced around my head until her sniffles finally pulled me from its trance. Tears streamed from her good eye and she attempted to blink them away as one hand was busy aiming the gun at my head and the other I assumed was too painful to move.
“Rose,” I cooed, not wanting to scare her. “Rose, what are you doing?” My heart was racing, but I fought to stay calm.
“I’m so sorry,” she sobbed quietly. �
�He’s making me, I don’t have a choice.”
I wanted to look over my shoulder and somehow signal Kev. I doubted that he could see what was going on as my body was sitting right in their eyeline, blocking Rose from their view.
“Who? You’re dad?” She nodded slowly. “Why?”
“To make me prove to him that I’m worthy of our family. You have to be worthy of wearing the name, DePalma.”
My heart stopped.
No. Not Rose.
She wasn’t one of them. She couldn’t be.
Rose was my friend. She’d helped me. She had supported me.
She sniffled. “If I don’t, they’ll throw me out and I don’t have anywhere else to go. I don’t have anyone else.”
“You have me,” I told her, holding my hand to my chest and fighting to keep the vomit at bay. “You have me. You have the club. We can protect you, we can give you family. Please, Rose. Don’t do this.”
A furious look came across her face. “No,” she snapped. “The club is evil! The club killed my granddad. They killed my family.”
“They what?” I asked confused, ready to defend them, but suddenly I heard the squeal of car tires.
“Chelsea!” Kev called, I heard heavy boots against the pavement.
“Stop! Or I’ll shoot her!” Rose yelled as she climbed to her feet, pointing the gun directly at me but staring over my head. A dark car pulled up at the curb and the back door flew open. “Move Chelsea!”
I slowly climbed to my feet, checking over my shoulder to see Kev standing a few feet away, his rifle raised and ready to shoot. I had no doubt that Neil was already running back to the clubhouse to get help. I could see two men in the front seat of the car, guns raised and pointing at Kev through the windscreen.
I had to go, or this was going to turn into a bloodbath.
Rose followed me with her gun as I slipped in the backseat of the car. She threw herself in after me and I was pushed back in the seat as we took off from the curb.
The clubhouse flew by and I shuddered.
I’d finally found my place and it was about to be ripped away from me all over again.
“I guess the puzzle is slowly beginning to make sense,” Blizzard observed, reclining in my office chair.
“Yeah, it’s all coming together but it ain’t making a fucking pretty picture,” Leo grumbled as he paced the room. Blizzard, Leo, Wrench and I had come together to try and come up with a plan, or at least try to understand what the fuck was going on.
“Let’s get this all straight,” I told my boys, leaning with my palms flat on the table in front of me. I couldn’t sit down, my body was too anxious. Leo had talked to Kit’s father, Oz and he’d been able to shed some light on a few things, including the significance of the dates and places that had been changed on Leo and Wrench’s records. Oz had been around for almost as long as our national president—a hard ass name Huntsman—and had gained just as much respect. If there was someone big within the crime world taken down, they knew about it. They had to because, with one more name out of the game, it meant there was money to be made.
“Romano DePalma was locked up in 1997. It’s not often a mob boss gets caught with his hand on the evidence, but apparently there were suspicions of a rat inside the family,” Leo explained, recalling what he had heard from Oz. “They scrambled for a while, Marco, the oldest brother had no idea what he was doing. During the mess, the Brothers by Blood ended up picking up some of their buyers—guns and ice I think.”
“So how did Anthony come to be in charge?” Wrench asked, finally taking a break from scanning his computer.
“When Romano saw that his eldest son couldn’t sort his shit out, he took back the reins and ran the family businesses from inside his prison cell. Not an easy task but not the first time it’s been done.” Leo stopped pacing and leaned against the door to my office, scrubbing his hand through his now short hair, a look I was still getting used to. “2005 is where this starts to get fucked up.”
Blizzard nodded. “So Romano finally decides to hand the family business over, but surprise, surprise, he gives it to his second eldest Anthony instead of Marco.”
“Ouch,” Wrench screwed up his face. “Bet that hurt the ego.”
“No shit. You’re ready to run one of the most powerful criminal rings in the USA and Daddy tells you no?” I shook my head. “Marco would’ve been pissed.”
“Right. So a couple months later—bam, Romano is killed in a small riot inside the prison.” Blizzard shakes his head. “Just around the time our boys here are apparently inside.”
I frowned. “So what the fuck does that mean? Someone is trying to set us up, say that it was the club that took him out?”
Leo snorted. “Seems that way. And they went through some trouble to provide that kind of proof.”
“This can’t be the DEA,” I said, picking up the falsified papers and scanning over them. “It would be far too easy for us to prove that you weren’t in prison at that time. The government may be stupid, but they ain’t that stupid.”
“So what was Target’s motive?” Wrench asked, closing the lid to his laptop.
“Someone in the family wanted Romano dead and I think they used us as the scapegoat.” I slammed the papers down on the table. This shit was getting dirty. Not only were they after my woman, but now we find out they were trying to pin some shit on us that we hadn’t even done.
Blizz tapped his fingers on my desk. “What was it that Harmony said that day? Target was the Trojan horse. He was sent in to destroy us from the inside out.”
“This shit happened ten fucking years ago. Target was barely around for half of that. Why did they wait?” Leo mused, but I knew the answer. Everything was coming together now, the pieces finally clear and slotting into place.
“He was too young. Marco didn’t have any kids and Target was Anthony’s eldest son. He came to us when he turned eighteen. They just bided their time until he was old enough to prospect,” I growled. “This shit is fucked up on so many God damn levels.”
“But wait, there’s more,” Blizzard said jokingly, but his face told a totally different story as his eyes connected with mine. “I found a newspaper article online about Romano’s arrest in 1997. Why don’t you read it and share with the class who was in charge of the operation that brought him down?” He handed it to me and I had to force my eyes to look down to read it.
I knew this wasn’t going to be good, I could tell just by the look on his face. I scanned the article. “Fuck me.” I looked up at Blizzard. “This is a fucking joke right?”
He slumped back in his chair. “Wish it fucking was.”
“Who is it?” Leo asked curiously, pushing off the door and standing straight.
“David Blackwell, DEA,” I groaned.
“Chelsea’s dad?” Wrench said in complete awe. “Well, this just went from a tad fucked up to being plowed straight in the ass.”
“Optimus!”
I jumped as I heard someone scream my name. We all looked at each other for a minute before Leo threw the door open and took off running, the three of us following suit.
“Optimus!” I made it to the main room just as Neil screamed my name again as he ran out from the club girls hall, obviously in search of me. He was breathing hard but managed to push out the words that I desperately did not want to hear. “Chelsea...Rose had a gun...forced her into a car.” I jabbed his finger toward the front gates and I didn’t even bother to stick around and ask any more questions.
I heard a revving engine as a black Mercedes took off full speed down the usually quiet street. By now more of my brothers had gathered, including a couple Old Ladies and Sugar holding a wide-eyed, Harlyn.
“Blizzard, Camo, Wrench, get your bikes, try catch up with them,” I yelled as I ran toward the front gates. Kev dragged them open, holding his rifle in one hand.
“What the fuck happened?” I roared.
A chorus of bikes started behind me and Kev waited until they shot out t
he gates, tires screeching, before he spoke, “Fuck man. She was just there.” He pointed at a tree that shaded the pavement less than fifty feet away. “Rose was sitting under the tree, Chelsea crouched down in front of her. I couldn’t see the gun until it was too late and there was a car coming. Fuck. I should have just shot the double crossing bitch.” The fact that they had let her walk out the gate at all wasn’t my biggest concern right now. And I knew until I found Chelsea, Kev would beat himself up enough for the both of us. He’d get his for being so fucking stupid but right now, all I wanted was to find my woman.
I stormed back to the clubhouse, my brothers—my family—just staring in awe of what just happened.
“Daddy!” I watched and Harlyn squirmed out of her mother’s arms and ran full force at me, launching her little body into my arms. I caught her, holding her tightly in my grasp and burying my face in her hair. My anger slowly dissipated and suddenly I was overcome with emotion. I felt Harlyn’s small hand patting my back like she knew exactly how I was feeling and what I needed.
“It’s okay, Daddy,” she whispered softly. “It’s okay.”
I nearly broke down. I wanted to scream and yell, break something or someone. But I didn’t. The little girl in my arms gave me strength.
“Yeah, baby girl,” I said closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. “Everything’s gonna be okay.”
She stared straight into my eyes and held up her hand, her pinkie finger sticking out. “Pinkie promise?”
I forced a smile, the innocence of this girl. “I pinkie promise,” my voice broke. I felt a soft hand on my arm and after a moment I finally withdrew my face from the comfort of Harlyn’s embrace. Sugar looked up at me, a sad smile crossed her face.
“Come on Harlyn,” she said softly, holding her arms out. “Daddy needs to work now.”
Harlyn nodded and I passed her over to Sugar, who hefted our girl onto her hip. They headed inside followed by the handful of old ladies and club girls who had come out during the commotion. I looked around at my brothers, their faces all telling me the same thing.
Chelsea (The Club Girl Diaries Book 2) Page 22
