WOLF - Prequel

by Jessie Cooke

  In the shop he found Dinky—the head mechanic—and a couple of the guys working on stripping down a car they’d boosted recently. “Hey, Boss!” Dinky said, pulling his head out from under the car hood. “What’s up?”

  “What do we have that’s running?”

  Dinky thought about it. “A car, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Got a fairly new Ford Focus in the back. That would be a good one to keep and drive since we ain’t gonna get shit on the parts.”

  “Okay, I need it gassed up, and make sure all the fluids are good to go by tonight. Have it parked in front of my house before the meet and greet is over.”

  “Sure, Boss. Anything else?”

  “Yes. There will be a couple of bags on my porch. I want those loaded in the trunk of the car. Leave the key in the ignition and any paperwork we have on it in the glove compartment.” Dinky agreed, and Wolf left there and went up to the clubhouse. He stopped in the great room and pulled up his personal banking app on his phone. For the purposes of the IRS, his official job was listed as “Manager” of the Westside Skulls mechanic’s shop. He supposedly took a salary of about three grand a month. He used that account to pay for anything personal he needed and fed Amara’s personal account out of it. His balance was just under four grand. He checked Amara’s next. Hers had about two hundred dollars in it. He transferred money so that her balance was just over five hundred and then he went into the kitchen, ignoring the old-timers’ greetings from the bar.

  A handful of the club girls and old ladies were working on getting the food prepared for the party that night. Wolf found a lady named Tricia. She was one of the oldest club girls. At forty, most of the younger guys thought of her more like a mother figure than a good lay. Wolf knew differently. Tricia was the woman he’d given his virginity to fourteen years earlier. She was his Mrs. Robinson even though she was only twenty-five or six the first time they were together. She had taught him everything he needed to know to become the player he was up until he met Amara. Since then, he hadn’t been with her, and she hadn’t been anything but appropriate and respectful toward him. But, out of all of them, he still felt the most emotionally connected to Trish.

  “Can you get away for a couple hours?”

  “For you, absolutely. What do you need?”

  Wolf gave her Amara’s card and said, “The PIN number is 1356. I need you to take five hundred dollars out of this account.”

  “Okay,” she said. There were questions in her eyes, but she didn’t ask them.

  He handed her his card and said, “Take another five hundred off this one. The PIN number is the same. Text me as soon as you’re finished taking the money out.” When Wolf got that text, he would be canceling Amara’s card. It was the only debit card she had, but she had multiple credit cards. He waited for Trish to leave and then went down the hall to his office.

  Closing himself inside, he took out his wallet and all of his cards, picked up the phone, and began canceling every one of them. He didn’t realize how many he had, and dealing with the salespeople took quite a bit of time, and a lot out of him, especially since he was already emotionally drained. When he finished with that, he called his cell phone provider and arranged for Amara’s phone to be disconnected at exactly midnight. It took some doing to get them to agree to midnight, but after talking to three people and threatening to cancel the service he had for the entire club, they agreed. By the time he finished all of that, it was noon. He made one more phone call then to Amara’s friend, Clara.

  “Wolf, what a surprise,” Clara said. Was that anxiety he could hear in her voice? He took a second to swallow the anger in his and said:

  “Hey, Clara! A surprise is what I’m hoping for. My beauty has been feeling neglected lately and bored now with the club on lockdown. We’re having a meet and greet tonight with the Southies and some fighters from down in Vegas. Amara will be there on my arm, of course, but you know she doesn’t care for any of the ladies in the club. I can’t imagine she’ll like any of the Southies’ ladies either. So, I was wondering if you could come to the party? That way while I’m networking, she’ll have a friendly face to hang out with.” A friendly face Clara might have, but she was a homely woman. For the first time, now that Wolf was beginning to allow negative thoughts about his old lady seep into his brain, he wondered if that’s why Amara had been friends with her for so long. She wasn’t threatened by Clara at all. She was always the pretty one...always the desirable one. He had always told himself that Amara was confident and secure...but he wondered if the right words should have been insecure and narcissistic all along.

  “I’d love that, Wolf, thank you. I haven’t had a chance to catch up with her in a while.” Except for those pesky messages about killing him, he thought.

  “Good. I’ll see you tonight, Clara, thanks.” Wolf hung up and called the front gates.

  “This is Rock.”

  “Hey, Rock, it’s Wolf.”

  “Hey, Boss. I was just getting the list of guests in order for tonight so that I know who to let in.”

  “Good, and Rock, don’t let anyone out without my okay...that includes my old lady.”

  There was a pause and then Rock said, “Of course, Boss.” Wolf told him to add Clara to his list before hanging up and calling Manson next.

  “We need an emergency executive meeting.”

  “Sure, when?”

  “Now.”

  “I’ll start calling them.” Wolf finally put the phone down and then he put his head down on top of the desk, resting it on his arms. His body was tired. His mind was tired, and his soul ached so badly that he wasn’t sure he’d ever be whole again.

  15

  Bruf was standing near the door of the clubhouse, watching as the Southside Skulls filed in. The fighters had already arrived and were gathered around the three tables of food that the club girls had spread out. They had outdone themselves, and if there wasn’t so much other crap going on, he was sure Wolf would be proud of them. But Wolf wasn’t a happy man tonight, and Bruf didn’t blame him. He knew his president’s heart was broken...and he couldn’t do a fucking thing to help him...other than follow his orders to the letter and be there for him if he needed a friend when this was all over.

  Wolf had shocked them all earlier when he called the emergency meeting. They’d arrived one or two at a time, eleven of them in total, all thinking that the meeting had something to do with the meet and greet that was happening that night. Some of them were annoyed that they’d been pulled from their Saturday off, and others were laughing and joking, excited for the party that night. Smoke, as usual, sat alone quietly in a corner. Bruf knew he’d had a busy night the night before, but even if he hadn’t, he still wouldn’t have much to say, he was sure.

  Manson looked serious, and Wolf was conspicuously absent when they all filed into the room and took their seats around the executive table with the Westside Skulls emblem painted in the center of it. A few of the guys had tried to get out of Manson what the meeting was about...but if he had cracked, which he didn’t, none of them would have believed him.

  When Wolf came in and took his seat at the head of the table, the men had fallen silent. Once he started talking, stunned silence was the only way to describe the room. A black cloud had settled down over them, and Bruf knew that as bad as what Wolf was saying made them all feel, their boss was feeling it a thousand times worse. Not for the first time was Bruf glad to be single, although he’d been thinking a hell of a lot about Sabrina lately. He was thinking about her way too much, actually. She was a kid...his president’s sister...and the only place anything was ever going to happen between them was in his head.

  “Hey, Bruf.” The radio that he was using tonight to communicate with the front gate came to life and Rock’s deep voice came across the waves.

  Bruf pulled the mouthpiece up to his lips and said, “Yep?”

  “There’s someone here at the gates, a girl, not on the list.”

  “A girl?
Get rid of her. No one comes in tonight without an invitation from the boss.”

  “Well, I was gonna do that, but this girl is claiming that the boss is her brother.”

  Fuck. What’s she doing here? Bruf looked around the club. It was packed full of bikers and fighters, and the ones that didn’t have an old lady, or hadn’t brought one, were already eyeing the club girls like kids in a candy shop. This was no place for Sabrina. “Tell her to go home,” he tried.

  “She says she ain’t going nowhere until she sees the boss, or you. I don’t want to put my hands on the boss’s sister, brother.”

  “No!” Bruf realized he had snapped. He calmed his tone and said, “No. Don’t put hands on her. Keep her there. I’ll be right out.” Mumbling another curse under his breath, he let the other SA on duty know he was headed out to the gate and for him to keep his eyes open. He had to stop and say hello to at least ten people, and it was a good ten minutes before he got out front. It was cold, and he was glad to see that Rock had given Sabrina a blanket to wrap around her shoulders. He looked at her feet and was surprised to see that she was wearing heels. He could see about two inches of stocking-covered leg underneath the blanket as well. What the fuck was she wearing? He looked at her face when he got closer. She had makeup on and her hair was curled in soft waves that hung around her shoulders. It all made her look older...slightly...and for a second he almost forgot she wasn’t...and who she was. She smiled when she saw him, a bright smile that wasn’t supposed to be sexy...but Bruf thought pretty much everything about her was sexy and as proof of that, his cock responded.

  “Hi.”

  “Sabrina, what are you doing here?” He looked around for a car even though she’d told him she didn’t have one. “How did you get here?”

  “I took an Uber.”

  He shook his head. “Why? What are you doing here?” When he took another step toward her, that was when he smelled the alcohol...it was strong. “Are you drunk?”

  “No. I’m just feeling good. I have a lot to feel good about. Did you hear about the explosion Thursday night?” Bruf looked over at Rock, who looked like he was trying to pretend he wasn’t listening while straining his ears to hear every word. He took Sabrina by the arm and led her away from the guard shack.

  “Don’t talk about that to me or anyone else, do you understand?”

  Her smile fell. “Sorry, I was just letting you know what I was celebrating. Well, that and that my mother is out of jail.”

  “Why aren’t you home with your mother?”

  “Jeez, someone is in a pissy mood.” She was slurring her speech and he wondered how much she’d had to drink. “Mom is fine. Her best friend came over and I got out of their way so they could have a girlfriend night.”

  “And where have you been? You of all people should know how dangerous it is to go out drinking alone.”

  He didn’t realize how that sounded until it showed on her face. It looked like he’d hit her in it. “Me of all people? You mean the girl who got drunk and got herself gang-raped?”

  “Sabrina, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just worried about you. A girl shouldn’t be out running around alone in this city, drinking.”

  “First of all...I wasn’t alone. I was with my mother’s friend’s daughter. But she’s a slut and as soon as we got to the club, she disappeared into the bathroom to fuck some guy. She’d set the whole thing up just to meet him there. So, I had a few drinks and when I realized she was going to ignore me all night, I called an Uber like a responsible adult and left.”

  “And came here.”

  “Why the fuck shouldn’t I come here?” she said, slurring even more than she had been. “My brother is the president of this club.”

  “And he hasn’t made that announcement yet, or laid down the ground rules for your coming and going. There’s a big party going on here tonight and the last place you, or any girl your age, needs to be is in there on display.”

  “My age? Why are you so hung up on my age? I’m an adult, the same as you!”

  “You’re a teenager, Sabrina. You have no business around a bunch of hard-assed bikers and MMA fighters looking for pussy.”

  She took a step toward him and let the blanket fall off her shoulders. Bruf’s heart nearly stopped. She was wearing a dress, a lavender one that came down to mid-thigh. She had stockings on, but they were light and he could see her legs...her long, sexy legs. The dress was relatively conservative, but on her it looked fucking amazing and all he could think about was peeling it off. It took every ounce of willpower in his body to say:

  “I’m going to have one of the prospects drive you home.”

  She surprised him with a smile. “I can see it when you look at me, Bruf. You want me.”

  “Ain’t gonna happen. Put the blanket back on your shoulders, I’m calling for a ride for you.”

  “You take me.”

  “Sabrina, fuck...no, I’m not taking you. You’ll get in the van with the prospect and he’ll take you home and you’ll stay there.”

  “Or what?”

  “You really don’t want to fucking test me. You go home now, or I fucking lock your ass in the basement until this place is cleaned out in the morning.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. God, he wanted to touch her. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “You don’t want to try me, little girl.”

  “Stop calling me that! I’m not a little girl. I’m a woman...let me show you...”

  Fuck, fuck, fuck. She reached up and touched his face. Her hands were cold, but all he felt was warmth, a trail of fire from where she touched him that ended in an explosion deep in his core. He pulled out his phone with one hand and kept the other one in a fist at his side. He pressed in a number and when it was answered he said, “Benny, you sober?”

  “Yep. Not drinking tonight—DD.”

  “Good. Bring the van to the front gates, now. I’ve got someone I need you to drive home.” He didn’t take his eyes off Sabrina’s face as he talked. She dropped her hand and her mouth turned down in a frown. He put the phone in his pocket, picked up the blanket on the ground, and wrapped it back around her shoulders. “You want people to think of you as an adult? Act like one. You’re drunk and you’re playing with fire. I know all of this is probably a culmination of the shit you’ve been through, but it’s exactly why home is where you need to be right now. If you really want to see Wolf, give him a call in a few days and ask his permission to come out.”

  “His permission?” she said, indignantly. “That’s how this works?”

  Bruf nodded. “Yeah, that’s how everything works here. It’s why you and I aren’t ever going to happen and when you sober up, I’m sure that’ll sink in...but for now, I need you as far away from here, and me, as you can get.”

  “Because you want me too,” she said, almost in a whisper. Bruf didn’t answer her. There was no need. They both knew she was right.

  16

  Wolf had never had a longer, harder night in his life. First, he’d had to convince Amara that they were okay and get her to agree to go to the party. That had been tricky because he was afraid if she had any inkling that he knew what was up, she’d try to run...and if she tried to run, he’d have to stop her.

  After his meeting with his executives...the worst meeting of his life...he’d gone back to the house. Amara had come out while he was gone and cleaned up the kitchen, then locked herself back in the bedroom again. “Baby, let me in so we can talk,” he’d said, knocking on the door.

  “Go away! You don’t trust me, so what’s the point in us talking?”

  “Baby, you know how much I love you. I want to trust you, I do. But you have to admit that you’ve given me reason for pause here.” She was quiet, and he knew her well enough to know that she was contemplating her next move...the one that would leave her gaining the most. He waited, all the while wanting to break the door down, grab her up in his arms, and shake her until he got the truth out of her. Why? Why would she want me dea
d? At last he heard the lock disengage and the door was pulled open a crack. One dark eye looked out at him. She had put on her makeup. Was she planning on going to the party, or leaving? “Let me in,” he said. “Please.” Amara knew he wouldn’t ask her again. At least there was that. She stepped back and pulled the door all the way open. Wolf stepped inside their bedroom and looked around with the lump once again developing in his throat. This was their private place. This was where he showed his woman how much he loved her. This was where he thought they shared something that neither of them would ever share with anyone else again.

  “I’m sorry I lied to you about going out,” she said. “But I’m hurt that you think there is more to it than that.”

  “I’m sorry you’re hurt,” he said, trying to sound like he meant it. Hurting her had never so much as crossed his mind before today. “But baby, you have to understand where my thoughts were coming from. We don’t lie to each other, right?”

  “You don’t tell me everything.”

  Wolf raised an eyebrow. She was trying to turn it around and make him the bad guy. It was another tactic she used well. “I tell you more than I should,” he said, “and I never lie to you.”

  The tears began to well up again. She thought she was tugging at his heart, but in truth, the fact that she called them up so easily only made him angrier. “I’m sorry! I said I was sorry so many times. What do I have to do to convince you?”

  “Look me in the eye, baby, and tell me no other man has touched you.”

  “Wolf, that you could even need me to tell you that...”

  “Tell me!” he growled. He almost wished that she wouldn’t. Somehow in his grief-stricken mind, it would make it just a little better if she couldn’t tell him that lie.

  She tipped her chin up, almost defiantly...looked him in the eye...and said, “No man has touched me since the day I met you.”