by K E Osborn
Damn! I want to hold her, have her arms wrap around me to take this anger away.
But I can’t.
Not yet.
My anger needs to reduce to a simmer before I speak to her again.
“I need to cool down, Zero. My head’s all over the place.”
“I know, brother, you do what you need to. I’m gonna put Texas in charge of the counterfeit printing so you have a reprieve.”
“Great.”
“Go for a ride, clear your head because for the next month, this club has work to do.” Walking off, Zero slaps my shoulder.
I turn, heading inside, and as I walk through, I spot Oakley. We lock eyes, so much being said to each other in a simple look, but not a single word passes between us as I walk straight past her. My heart races like a jackhammer, the tension so thick you can cut it with a knife. I finally pull my eyes from her and walk out the door, making my way to my ride, feeling heavy as hell as I slide on. I start my engine, revving her a few times and ride off, the burden weighing over me like the weight of the world bears down on my shoulders.
I found out where Bradford’s brother lives last night. Maybe I’ll go pay him a visit now and make sure he knows to stay away from Anna. Take some of my frustrations out on someone who deserves them.
I need to get all this shit out of my system.
Maybe unleashing some hell is the right way to do this.
OAKLEY
When his eyes left mine, a piece of my soul fractured and died. I waited for him to say something, anything, but the utter contempt and hurt in his eyes made everything abundantly clear.
He wanted nothing to do with me.
My eyes flooded with tears as I ran to my room.
Anna smirked at me when I fled.
Pain.
Despair.
Despondency flooded me everywhere I looked.
I made it to my bed and flopped down on the pillow, letting all my grief of this fucked-up situation flow into the pillow.
What had I gotten myself into?
Then over the next few weeks, I was kept crazy busy.
It’s all systems go with ‘Operation Counterfeit’ now. I showed the guys, especially Texas, how to make the money and teach them how to exchange it at the stores. The hardest part was convincing the suppliers to provide the required paper and other materials we needed. It made me glad the influence I possessed a few years ago helped me get this over the line. If you stay in with the right people and don’t cross them, it’s amazing what you can achieve in a short amount of time.
Zero brings in the Slavers and with the brothers from the club, they head out to various retail outlets and exchange the fake cash for real cash easily. We’ve already got quite the stockpile of money as they bring back ‘real’ cash to the club.
I can’t help but watch as Neon completely ignores me, avoiding everything I do. Our situation becomes precarious at best, but I work to keep busy and prove to Neon I’m the girl he fell for, and not the traitor he believes I am. Though, I guess, I still am, just not the one he thinks. In a way, karma’s biting me in the ass for telling Anna.
I most definitely deserve his cold shoulder.
Even though these past weeks I’ve been surrounded by Defiance brothers and Slavers all working with me to get the job done, I’ve never felt so lonely and unsettled because my dad remains in their hands, and Neon still avoids me. Though, I don’t understand why it seems Neon and Anna are back to talking and hanging out as if nothing has happened between them.
Was telling Anna worth it?
If Rage has kept my father this long, he’s probably going to keep him or kill him in the end anyway, and this was all for nothing.
Three and a half weeks flies by since the Baroness dropped by with her bombshell news I provided through Anna. Thunder rumbles in the sky above the clubhouse signaling the hint of another summer storm. It does nothing to quash the nerves running through my body as the guys come back from a day washing counterfeit money.
I peer up as Zero chats with Chains, who hands him four backpacks full of clean cash. Another day’s work done and dusted. Zero takes it into the chapel, then walks back out sending a whistle through the room. “Brother’s church!”
The guys all walk toward their sacred room, my eyes instinctively finding Neon as he moves toward Zero. He looks so fucking good—I miss him desperately. My chest aches as he strolls away from me, then I catch Zero eyeing me. “C’mon, Oakley, you, too.”
My eyes widen. “Huh?” I call out.
“This involves you, so get your ass in here.”
I stand quickly, rushing over to the sacred chapel. I admit, a small thrill rushes through me at the thought. Rage always called me into church before something far less appealing. I’m definitely not being called in for sexual favors. I’m sitting in a meeting, and that excites me. I rush in dodging Fox who holds the door open for me.
“Thank you,” I whisper to him, and he winks at me.
I move to the side of the door, standing back. I don’t want to go near the table because I know how sacred that is to the club. I’ll just hover until they need me.
Zero bangs his gavel on the desk.
My eyes shift to Neon, who’s purposely not looking at me. I bite down on my bottom lip, wrapping my arms around myself more for my own comfort than anything else.
“We’ve managed to wash 1.2 million dollars, thanks to Oakley and her methods with no interference from either the heat or the Heathens. Everything has gone smoothly.”
A sense of pride washes through me since I helped Neon, even though I left the Heathens so I wouldn’t be dragged into their messy business anymore. But being around Defiance and seeing how much smarter they handle things, I feel safer. They seem to know how to do this a lot cleaner and smoother than the Heathens, who ran it by the skin of their teeth.
“I’ll call in the Baroness early for the exchange now that we have enough cash. I’m going to make the swap and get this over and done with. We all in agreement?”
“Aye,” rings around the table.
Zero bangs his gavel and everyone stands.
That’s it?
Wow! I’m shocked at how well this ran. At the Heathens, these things usually ended in some kind of brawl. I gaze up as Neon tries to exit. I gave him the space he asked for these past few weeks, but honestly, I’m sick of it. So, I reach out touching his arm. “Neon, can we talk?”
He stops, letting the others pass. He looks dismissively at me, but his body faces mine inching closer.
He still cares, somewhere deep inside, I know it.
We step out the door and into the main room.
“Look, I’m just going to be honest here…” his head snaps up to me, “… I’m sick of you avoiding me.”
Neon exhales. “Thanks for doing this for me. But right now, as it stands, Nic, I don’t trust you. I’m sorry.” Then he turns walking away from me.
My bottom lip trembles as Anna slides in beside me casually. “It’s a sad thing, isn’t it? Knowing he hates you for telling the Baroness, but we both know it wasn’t you who told her.”
My muscles tense as I turn to Anna. “Why? Why are you doing this to him?”
Anna snorts. “To him? You’re so blind, Oakley, I’m doing this for him. I love my brother. All I want is for him to be happy, and that’s not with the likes of you.”
I roll my shoulders. “Anna, I have to ask, are you in love with Neon?”
Her eyes widen. “What are you? Sick or something? Or course not, he’s my brother, but he is also my best friend. He’s been there for me my entire life. He’s been the only person I can ever really rely on. He’s dependable.”
“So, you threaten to ruin his life? That makes no sense!”
“I knew the club would find a way out, but in the process, he would think you were the one who betrayed him. You would be pushed away, and he will focus on me. That’s how it should be.”
I jerk my head back. “So that’s what this is
all about? You were annoyed Neon was giving me attention instead of you, so you hatched a plan to make him hate me?”
She grins maniacally. “And hasn’t it worked perfectly?”
“You’re certifiable!”
Anna glares at me. “I’m not crazy, you bitch!”
“At some point… maybe not now, maybe not for fifty years, but at some point, this will all come out, Anna, and Neon will never forgive you.”
Anna smirks. “He will, even if it does because he has always taken care of me.”
“Some people you just can’t save, Anna.”
She turns up her lip, walking off, leaving me reeling.
I want to tell Neon so fucking bad, but with no news about my father, I can’t risk it.
But the very second I’m able to tell Neon everything, you bet your ass, I am letting everything rip.
NEON
Talking with Oakley hurt everywhere. Every fucking instinct inside me wants to lay everything out and just kiss the hell out of her.
I miss her.
But the evidence stands for itself.
A fucking lot rests on the line here, and me being the instigator of the Baron’s smear campaign can get me in a shit-ton of trouble. I hacked government official websites, I dug around in places I shouldn’t to glean that information, so if news of that leaks into official hands, I go away for a long fucking time. I don’t think Oakley understands the severity of this situation. What I did was so far into the illegal spectrum they will rip me a new asshole. It doesn’t just bring me into question, but also the club, and if they search hard enough, Finley too. Because the other person who helped me garner all the shit was the club attorney, Finely Knight, the Baron’s illegitimate daughter. Fellow loather of all things Tilman “Baron” Squires.
Sitting at the bar, I swivel on my stool, and something odd catches my line of sight. Oakley and Anna stand talking to each other by the chapel. The conversation between them not only comes off strained, but the whole thing is fucking strange. They’re not fans of each other, so to see them in the same space strikes me as downright weird.
Anna prances off like she enjoyed whatever just happened between them. My initial instinct says to go to Oakley, see what just happened, but I spin back around to grab my beer. Instead, right now, I want to just numb myself from all this shit.
The stool beside me pulls out and Fox sits, causing me to chuckle.
“Zero send you?”
“No, brother, I’m not the Wise One for no good reason. I know when a fellow brother is in need of a good talk. So, lay it on me. What’s on your mind?” Fox grips my shoulder. “Neon, I’ve been here longer than your balls have dropped. I’ve seen men flourish, men flounder, men die for this club. But I’ve never seen a man broken by it. You, brother, you look like you’re about to crack.”
I slump. “It’s not the club that’s the issue, Fox.”
“Then what’s got you lookin’ like a wet fish, boy?”
“Women.” I exhale, rubbing the back of my neck.
“Plural? As in more than one?”
“Oakley and Anna.”
Fox hums under his breath. “The problem there is you’ve made up your mind, but your heart tells you something completely different.”
“So, how do I get my heart to play catch-up?”
Fox tilts his head. “Maybe it’s your head that needs to catch up?”
“No, Oakley sold me out. She can’t come back from that.”
“Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t… did you even stop to ask her why? Maybe there’s a reason… if she did do it?”
“Because she’s working for Rage.”
Fox scoffs. “I don’t believe that! And deep down, brother, neither do you.”
I let the words sink in and take another sip of my beer.
“All I am saying is… don’t discount her so early on. You’re being impulsive, jumping the gun. Don’t let fear overrule you, Neon.”
“Fear? Fear of what?”
“Fear of losing the only people who care about you. Growing up, Anna and Zero were your backbone. Zero bringing you into the club was just as much for his benefit as it was yours, son. This club is your family. We’ll stick by you no matter what.”
I know exactly what he’s getting at here. “You think because I was bullied so much as a kid, I’m compensating by needing my brothers around me?”
“I think you need to know that Anna, Zero, and in a way the rest of us, will always be here to have your back, through every battle. Because deep down, you’re still that scared little kid who used to get into fights to protect his little sister. Always fighting for Anna. You and Zero were always protecting her and getting yourselves in the shit. I think you’re falling back on that habit. Wanting to protect Anna, using your brothers to protect you, but losing people who care about you in the process.”
“You mean Oakley.”
“She’s good for you.”
“She’s the complete opposite of that.”
“You’re so hardwired in your old habits you’re gonna lose someone who could be so fucking right for you. Don’t fight for the wrong person, Neon. It’s time Anna learned to fight for herself.”
“Why is everyone so… Team Oakley?”
Fox exhales. “Maybe because she’s done more for this club in this past month than Anna’s done since you joined. Even when she was an Old Lady, Anna never helped this club in any way other than to make trouble. Oakley is putting everything on the line for us, for you!”
“It’s a ploy, it’s got to be, so Rage can bring us down with the counterfeit.”
“That theory is flawed, Neon.”
“Why?”
“Because all the counterfeit money has been exchanged. We don’t have any more of it. If Rage was going to make a move, he’s missed his window. Either that or… Oakley simply isn’t working with him.”
“All the money is exchanged?”
“We got more than we were hoping for. Weren’t you listening in church?”
“I kinda zoned out. When it comes to this shit, I never listen. How is that even possible?”
“By slide of hand, some of the Slavers are known for their pickpocketing skills, so when the teller puts the counterfeit note in the till, one distracts the teller, the other takes the same counterfeit note back out of the till before they close it. Doesn’t work every time, but it worked enough.”
“So, we’re getting real cash twice for the same counterfeit note?”
“Pretty smart plan of River’s if you ask me. And they’re smart enough to get away with it because they target the small stores.”
“So, we have what we need?”
“Baroness is on her way.”
“And then this will be over?”
“Looks like it’s happening sooner than you think.”
I peer down to my device, an alert at the gate—the Baroness’ cavalry waits. “Thanks for the chat, Fox.”
“Anytime, son.”
I take off to find Zero. “She’s here.”
Zero lifts his chin in response. “Wraith, Texas, Chains, with us,” he calls out. “C’mon, Neon, let’s get this deal done.”
The five of us all walk out to the front gate while everyone else stays inside. I send the code through to the gate for it to open, the Baroness stands there in her usual white attire, looking pleased with herself. “Boys… what a lovely day, isn’t it?”
Zero scoffs. “There’s talk of strong winds and a fucking massive thunderstorm, so not sure what your definition of a lovely day is, but then again, you married Tilman, so I guess your version on what constitutes nice is a little skewed.”
“How I do love your humor, Zero. Shall we get down to business?”
“Follow us,” Zero offers.
“An escort inside, how wonderful. Boys!” she calls out to her suited minions. They scurry around her as we all make our way inside the clubhouse. “I hope you have a little something for me, Zero? Wouldn’t want to see Neon’s pre
tty face behind bars now, would we?”
Zero grunts. “We have what you want, Connie. But once we give it to you, you can’t hold this shit over our heads anymore.”
We stop in the middle of the clubroom, everyone watching the showdown taking place. “Oh, of course, Zero. A deal is a deal.”
“And to make sure you don’t go back on your word, we’re going to need a little insurance. A piece of dirt on you, so if you do renege and release any information, we will release the dirt on you.”
“Ah, Zero… there’s the president I’ve heard all about. I was wondering when he would grow some balls and show up. You drive a hard bargain, but fine. You show me the money, I’ll give y’all some dirt.”
Zero gestures to Chains, he slides over four giant duffle bags. He zips one open showing the clean cash. She signals to one of her men who walks over with a flashlight and a magnifying glass.
“We have to check it’s not dirty, you understand.”
“It’s all real, five hundred K in each bag. All yours, if you tell us something we deem worthy in exchange.”
Her man gives her the thumbs up, then a menacing expression crosses her face. “Fine… I’ve been dodging taxes for the last seven years. It equates to billions of dollars in tax fraud, but I have an incredibly talented financial team who bury everything… including biker clubs should the need arise.”
Zero scoffs. “Why am I not even surprised?”
“Because I’m not a good girl, Zero, and villains recognize their own kind.”
“I’m no villain, Connie.” Zero curls up his nose.
She tilts her head. “No? Really? What do you call Snow White, counterfeit money, washing said money to pay me? Sounds pretty villainous to me.”
Everyone widens their eyes at how she could possibly know we washed the money.
