by Nina Levine
“Jesus, the shit you get yourself into. How the hell am I supposed to get stuff done without you?”
“I can work from anywhere, Billy. What do you need?”
“I could protect you, you realise. You don’t need to do what Storm say.”
“I don’t think they’re gonna let me go.”
He was silent for a moment. “We’ll see. But until then, I need you to work on Graham’s defence. They formally charged him last night.” Graham was one of Billy’s security guys who’d managed to get himself into some trouble over a fight between club patrons. He’d punched one of the guys a few times too many and the cops had been brought into it.
“Shit. Okay, can you email whatever you have and I’ll work on that today. Is Jensen taking the case?” One of the lawyers Billy used.
“Yeah.”
“Good. I like working with him.”
“I’ll send the file when I get back to the office. And Tatum, I’m getting you out of there.” He hung up before I could respond.
Dammit.
This was going to get messy.
Turning my face to the window, I counted to ten slowly and took a few deep breaths while focusing my thoughts.
“You still do law work even though you were disbarred?”
Looking back at Nitro, I said, “I don’t practice law anymore, but I advise the lawyers that Billy hires.”
“As in, they’re puppets doing whatever you tell them to?”
“That’s one way to put it.”
He stopped at a red light and stared at me. “You must be good.”
“I am. I dig for the shit that can’t be found easily, and put in the hours most don’t want to. And I figure out how to make whatever I find work for us.”
“You win every case for him?”
I nodded. “I haven’t lost a case in years.”
You’re so full of shit, Tatum. You even believe your own lies. Lying to win doesn’t really count as winning.
My stomach knotted with guilt and self-hate.
Not wanting to talk anymore, I said, “Your niece seems like a good kid.”
“She is,” he said before we fell into silence again. Exactly the path I’d hoped the conversation would take.
It was the truth about Renee. After Nitro took me back to his house last night, they’d discussed some family stuff they had going on. I’d deduced her mother was in hospital due to her current mental health, and it appeared that Renee was perhaps more able to care for herself than her mother was. It also seemed to me that she got away with a bit where Nitro was concerned. She’d given him hell for a few things and he’d let her. That had both surprised me and impressed me. It was another side to Nitro I wouldn’t have expected.
And then he’d grunted at me about my sleeping choice and gone to bed after I reiterated that I would not be sleeping there with him. Renee had set me up with a pillow and blankets. She’d also apologised that there was only one couch and she had taken it.
I stared at the rain streaming down the front windscreen of the car and thought about Nitro. He was turning out to be a contradiction, but then, I should never have doubted that. If there was one thing I’d learnt in my line of work, people always were. Especially the troubled ones.
We reached our destination and, after making his way through the two security checkpoints, he pulled the car into a car park that was miles from the front door of the clubhouse. The reason being, that there were a lot of bikes there that morning.
I met Nitro at the front of the ute. “You having a meeting here today?” I asked, glancing at all the bikes as we walked towards the clubhouse.
“You could say that.” He jerked his chin at a biker who we passed on the way. “Slider.”
The guy nodded in response. “Nitro.”
“You boys are big on conversation.”
He stared down at me and ignored my sarcasm. “We get the job done.”
Another sarcastic comment died as it left my mouth when a loud bang sounded from behind us. Shock rippled through me as confusion set in, and Nitro’s arm came around my shoulders right before he pushed me to the ground.
My ears rang with the sound of an explosion and the vibrations of it slammed into me. A scream tore from my mouth, but I couldn’t hear it and I couldn’t feel it. Numbness set in as I tried like hell to process what was happening.
Nitro’s body covered mine, his strong arms sheltering me from the terror of what was happening.
I was suffocating.
Couldn’t breathe.
My chest is going to explode.
And then—“Vegas, you breathing?” Nitro’s heavy body moved off mine and he pulled me up.
I stared into his concerned eyes, surprised to see worry there. It was all I could focus on. Even the pain ricocheting through me didn’t register. Why is he bothering to check on me?
“Tatum!” he barked, shaking me. “You good?”
Men ran past us.
Yelling.
Bodies colliding.
Confusion.
Anger.
And all the while, Nitro stayed with me, making sure I was all right.
I blinked. Nodding, I croaked, “Yeah, I’m good.”
His chest heaved with a heavy breath. “Go inside and wait for me.”
He let me go, and when I didn’t move, he yelled, “Now!”
My attention drifted beyond him and I took in the car that had exploded. As the realisation settled in my bones that we’d been that close to danger, I turned and ran towards the clubhouse.
What the fuck had I gotten myself into?
13
Nitro
“Live And Let Die” by Guns N’ Roses
King barked orders like he was running World War III. It felt like he was. The bomb in Slider’s car had killed him and injured three more members who had been entering the grounds on their bikes. They’d been lucky to escape death.
A hand landed on my shoulder and I turned to find Hyde behind me. “You and I are gonna round up some boys and go take a look at Silver Hell’s clubhouse. I have a feeling they’re not gonna be there, and wanna confirm it before we set new plans in play.”
“We also need to sort out what we’re gonna do with our families, Hyde. Our resources will be spread thin now, too thin to allocate a watch over everyone.” Ever since we’d realised Silver Hell’s agenda to harm club members’ families, we’d stationed men to watch over them. We needed those men back after this and I’d be fucked if I was gonna leave Renee and Dustin out there on their own with this kind of threat hanging over us. I wanted them at the clubhouse, safe.
“Yeah. You round up the boys while I discuss that with King,” he agreed and left me to go talk with King.
* * *
Two hours later, Hyde, Devil, Kick and I entered our clubhouse after verifying that Silver Hell were nowhere to be found. We’d checked their clubhouse, as well as the bars and clubs we knew they frequented. After that, we called around to see if anyone knew where they were, and were met with silence. Either no one knew or they weren’t talking.
Chaos had broken out while we were gone. We returned to find the clubhouse packed with men, women and kids. The noise was deafening, the tension visible.
Pushing our way through to the office, the four of us relayed what we’d discovered to King.
“This had to be Silver Hell,” he said.
Hyde nodded. “Seems that way.”
King’s face hardened. “I want them flushed out, and I don’t care how we do it. Visit all their strip clubs, all their friends, anyone and everyone, and find out where they are.”
His phone sounded with a call and he dismissed us as he pressed it to his ear.
I was halfway down the hallway outside of his office when he called me back. “You look like you wanna kill me,” I said when I stood in front of him again.
“That blonde is proving to be a fucking headache, Nitro.”
“Why?”
He held his phone up. �
�That was Billy. He’s outside and wants her to leave with him. Says he’ll reconsider our new agreement for him to supply weapons and ammo if we don’t allow her to leave.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Make sure you take care of it so that it never causes me another headache.”
I lifted my chin at him signalling I would and then stalked out of his office to find Tatum.
I found her sitting in the clubhouse bar talking to a woman behind the bar who I’d never met. “Vegas,” I barked, cutting in on their conversation.
Her head whipped around and I was met with a glare. “I’m in the middle of a conversation.”
Ignoring that, I said, “I need you to come with me.”
She remained silent for a good few moments. I figured she was weighing her options, but there were none to be had and she figured that out fast. Sliding off her stool, she said goodbye to the woman and followed me out of the bar.
I led her outside to the front gate where Billy waited. The expression on his face was pure rage. “What the fuck, Nitro? I’m not good enough to enter your fucking clubhouse?”
Before I could answer, Tatum cut in. “What are you doing here, Billy? I told you I couldn’t leave.”
His eyes darted between the two of us before settling on her. “And I told you I could protect you. You don’t need to stay with him.” The contempt was clear in his voice. Billy and I had a hard history.
I spoke up. “She’s not going anywhere, Billy. Silver Hell has her on their radar. They get to her, you’ll come after us, and that’s not something we need.”
He stepped closer to me. “I don’t think you understand that if you don’t allow her to come, I’m pulling our deal.”
I held my ground. “No, you’re not.”
His lip curled up. “Get King here. I’m sick of talking to an idiot who doesn’t know what’s good for his club.”
Fury punched through me, and not just for this conversation, but for the shit he’d put Marilyn through in the past. Gripping his shirt, I snarled, “King’s busy. You’ll deal with me—”
“I’m not leaving,” Tatum cut in.
We both faced her.
“What the fuck?” Billy snapped.
She pushed her shoulders back. “I said, I’m not leaving.”
“Jesus, Tatum,” he muttered, and I sensed the kind of irritation that sounded like it was common between them. “Why do you always have to argue with me over shit?”
“Why do you always have to try to control me?”
He scrubbed his hand over his face, pissed off. “You stay with him, I can’t guarantee your safety.”
“I’m not asking you to, Billy. I’m asking you to trust that I know what I’m doing.”
“I do trust you. I’m just wondering why the hell you’re choosing a biker you’ve just met over me who you’ve known for years?”
“I have my reasons.” Tatum projected an image of strength but somewhere in those words I heard that waver. And like Billy, I had to wonder why she willingly chose Storm over him.
Stepping away from him, I said, “I’ll be by tomorrow to pick up our supplies.”
His eyes bored into mine, full of hatred and venom. “I’m not sure I want to supply you anymore.”
I didn’t have a chance to reply before Tatum went to battle. “Billy, whatever you’ve got going on with Storm has nothing to do with me. They saved me from that asshole and now they’re looking out for me again. If I really wanted to leave, there’s not a damn thing Nitro could do to keep me. It’s my choice to stay. Don’t base your business decisions on this.”
Billy’s hate-filled expression didn’t alter as he took a step back, but he listened to everything she said. “Send someone else tomorrow, Nitro. I don’t ever want to see you again.”
As he strode away from us, Tatum said, “What the hell happened between you two?”
“A lotta shit a long time ago,” I muttered before stalking back inside the clubhouse.
Shit I’d never forget. And if I was the kind of man who forgave, I’d never forgive it either.
* * *
After I dealt with Billy, I searched for Renee and Dustin in the clubhouse. I’d called them earlier to let them know it wasn’t safe to stay at the house. They’d both promised to be at the clubhouse by the time I returned. However, I couldn’t find either of them anywhere. Instead, I found Tatum.
“Vegas, you seen Renee or Dustin?”
She glanced up at me from the table she sat at in the bar. “No, should they be here?”
“Yeah. It’s not safe for them to be out there on their own.” I pulled out my phone and sent both a text.
“Do you want me to go get them? Like, if you have other stuff to do, I could take your ute and find them.”
I paused as her words settled over me. It was an offer I wasn’t used to people making. In my world, help didn’t often come from those outside my family or the club. And I didn’t much trust anyone else. But whichever way I looked at it, I couldn’t see what Tatum would be angling for by making the offer.
When I didn’t reply, she pursed her lips and said, “Or not. If you don’t want my help, that’s fine, too.”
I pulled out the seat across from her and sat down. Tension rolled across my shoulders as unease punched its way through my body. “Why did you choose to stay here rather than go with Billy?”
“You were hardly going to let me go.”
“Billy went into bat for you. I would’ve thought you’d have let him try harder.”
“I’m not dumb, Nitro, I could see a problem ahead for you if I hadn’t chosen to stay. Billy would never have let it go.”
“Since when do you care about my problems?”
Her eyes searched mine as silence hung between us. She sat back in her seat and crossed her arms. “I wouldn’t exactly say I care about your problems. I just didn’t want any part of Billy losing his shit with you.”
I turned that over in my mind. Something still didn’t gel for me. “I’d imagine you see Billy lose his shit often.”
“I do.”
I leaned forward. “So why did you care about that happening between us?”
“Why do you care why I care?”
“My job is to keep you safe. I don’t need any surprises catching me off guard, so I want to know the shit running through your mind.”
“Bullshit. What’s running through my mind has nothing do with your ability to keep me safe.”
I slid my chair closer to her, taking note of the way her whole body tensed. “Maybe I just wanna know why you chose to stay here with me.”
Her breathing slowed a fraction and she remained silent for a beat. She lowered her voice when she finally answered my question. “You’ve saved my life twice now. Both times you didn’t have to. I don’t know why I chose to stay with you, but if someone helps me when they get nothing out of it, it means something to me.”
Not the answer I expected.
Not by a long shot.
I stood and reached for her phone. After I sent myself a text so I had her number, I said, “I’ll text you when I’m ready. You can come with me to find them. It’ll give you a break from the noise here. Turning to leave, I paused and added, “I did get something out of it, Vegas. I kept Billy on side.”
Her voice filtered through the crowd as I walked away. “Not the first time.”
14
Tatum
“Voodoo Child” by Rogue Traders
The silence in Nitro’s ute was bliss. After a morning of being cooped up in the clubhouse with rowdy bikers and their family members, I craved the peace and quiet. Nitro had taken forty minutes or so to text after he left me in the bar, and I hadn’t hesitated to meet him out the front when the message came through.
“You waiting on a call?” he asked after about fifteen minutes of us keeping to ourselves.
I looked up from my phone that I held in my hands. “Yeah, from my cousin. One of my girls is staying with her at th
e moment and I just want to make sure she’s doing okay. Her boyfriend is an ass and it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s gotten in her head and convinced her to go home.”
“Does she usually take this long to return your calls?”
“No.” And that had me worried.
He nodded but didn’t say anything further. We drove the rest of the way to his house in silence, but instead of my mind being focused on Monroe for that time, my thoughts were completely fixated on Nitro. I wondered what had happened to him in life that made him so closed off? I’d met a lot of men who didn’t do much talking, but none quite as detached as Nitro. As much as I didn’t want it to be the case, the man fascinated me. Because while he appeared to be a moody asshole, I’d become convinced there was a lot more to him under all that. It was probably buried deeper than most people would be willing to search, but I wasn’t most people.
He pulled his ute into the driveway of his house and jumped out. I followed him inside as fast as I could in an effort to escape the rain. Nitro’s home was as cold as he was and I shivered as I entered it. Following him down the hallway, it struck me again how bare his home was. Each room had the absolute necessities in it; actually, some rooms didn’t even have that. Two out of the three bedrooms were completely empty of furniture, the lounge room had only a couch and a television, and besides those rooms, there was only a kitchen, dining room, bathroom and laundry.
“How long have you lived here?” The words were out before I could stop them.
Nitro didn’t slow down to answer me, he simply called over his shoulder, “Fifteen years.”
“Fifteen years?”
He finished searching the bedrooms and turned to face me. Frowning, he replied, “Yes, fifteen years.”
“Why don’t you have any furniture if you’ve lived here that long?”
Staring at me like I’d asked the world’s most redundant question, he said, “I gave it to my sister when she and Renee moved out.”
