Death Dwellers Motorcycle Club:: Fifteen Bad Boy Biker Books

by Kathryn C. Kelly

  “Go ahead, son,” Johnnie encouraged, aware that Rory wouldn’t move without permission from either him or Kendall.

  Holding her hand out and making sure she didn’t lose any of her gifts, Fee allowed the little boy to lead her upstairs, vowing to do things completely opposite from Kendall when she had kids.

  When Outlaw killed Daphne, the number of Bobs dropped to twenty-three. It was Cash’s job to rectify the situation, but that meant testing the girls who passed the short interview. Testing meant cock sucks. While Cash had nothing against as many blowjobs as possible, he no longer had his heart into meaningless ones. If it wasn’t Stretch’s or Fee’s mouth on him, he wasn’t interested.

  He couldn’t continue to fuck around. Fee wanted more. Stretch wanted more. Cash wanted more. His intentions to win Fee’s brother, sister, and cousin over would be shot to hell thanks to the sea of blondes in the common room. In the weeks preceding Fee’s stabbing, he’d sent invitations via the girls already in his squad. Because Daphne had been a blonde, he’d specifically requested the same from the applicants.

  Now, interview day had arrived. In the wake of Fee’s stabbing, he’d forgotten about today, so he hadn’t canceled. His stupidity was hard to digest. True, they hadn’t been together at the time nor had he seen Fee since their painful breakup. He hadn’t seen either scenario changing. Had things gone as planned, however, Stretch would’ve been on premises.

  What the fuck had Cash been thinking? He would’ve broken one of Stretch’s friendship rules.

  Standing in the hallway, he leaned against the wall and shoved his hands through his hair. Stretch had been the one to let them in. He’d returned from Houston to find Stretch resuming his gate duty. He’d had some type of epiphany that Cash had forgotten to ask about. Fee, though, would’ve remembered.

  Fee.

  Cash had to win them back. He had to get as many people on his side as possible before going to Outlaw. That meant, he couldn’t alienate a single member of Fee’s family.

  It didn’t matter that Outlaw wasn’t at the clubhouse right now. Johnnie was. He’d see the girls applying to be a Bob. Zoann came everyday with Meggie, to help cook for the brothers. In exactly one hour, if Cash didn’t so something, the kindnesses those two women had shown him as they awaited word about Fee would change into loathing and disgust on Zoann’s part and a loss of Meggie’s support for his relationship with Fee.

  Peeking around the corner, he straightened and started pacing. At least thirty girls awaited him. Fuck. As the manager of the Bobs, it was Cash’s duty to see to their well-being, put out any fires that arose amongst them, and, most important, make sure they were versed in pleasuring the club members.

  If they didn’t have other jobs, Cash made sure they had money. He gave the college girls extra, whether or not they were employed elsewhere. He kept in contact with them and made sure they never felt threatened, pressured, or obligated. If they didn’t enjoy sucking cock, they were free to walk away at any time.

  For a while, the position had been the best fucking job in the world. He’d had his cock sucked at least once a day for months. He’d had his own private porn show when he got to watch the girls fucking each other.

  Outlaw’s office door opened and Johnnie stormed out, hellbent-for-leather, barreling past Cash without noticing him. When his presence registered, Johnnie halted.

  “McCall?” he called over his shoulder.

  “Yeah?” Cash kept his voice as neutral as possible, not wanting Johnnie to hear his turmoil.

  If Johnnie thought Cash was fucking over Fee, he’d kill him after a shitload of torture.

  “What the fuck are you doing in the hallway?”

  “Thinking.”

  Backtracking, Johnnie halted next to Cash and lifted a brow. “About?”

  His stupidity. That answer, however, would be another fucking giveaway to his feelings. Cash needed Johnnie’s support, but he had a plan on how to get it. “My savings account and the hit it took when I drained it to invest in my brother’s company,” he said, not a fucking lie. Just not the fucking truth in the scheme of things. “Sloane invested, so did my father.” Not that Parnell’s investment mattered.

  Concern replaced Johnnie’s confusion. “Talk to Val. We have some runs coming up. Let him schedule you on one of the big ones.”

  Drugs or guns. Even that didn’t thrill him, when the danger once would’ve had him over the moon. He nodded. “Thanks.”

  Sighing, Johnnie pulled out a cigarette. “Spit it out, Cash. What the fuck’s wrong with you? Does it have anything to do with Fee coming home from the hospital?”

  Cash wouldn’t admit that was part of his problem. “How do you do it, Johnnie?”

  “Do what?”

  “Be a biker and a family man?”

  He released a plume of smoke into the air. “It isn’t always easy. For instance, when it hit me you were here, I had to decide if I should keep walking as Rory’s father and Kendall’s husband or if I should be your vice president.”

  President, for the time being, but Cash wouldn’t point that out. No one wanted to think about why that was the case, since Outlaw should be out of jail, by now.

  “What made you decide to be my vice president?”

  Jamming the cigarette into the corner of his mouth, Johnnie shrugged. “I need to cool off before I see Kendall,” he admitted. “I just spoke to my son. The tears in his voice just about killed me. Kendall’s at it again.” Taking the cigarette in hand, he flicked the ashes onto the floor. “I’m thinking about getting a vasectomy like Christopher suggested. I can’t handle Kendall’s pregnancies much longer. When her bad behavior extends to my son, I draw the fucking line. I want to shake her until her fucking teeth rattle.” Drawing on the cigarette again, he leaned next to Cash. “I love her so much, but I’m so fucking sorry she’s pregnant, Cash. She says she’s on her medicine, but her behavior suggests otherwise.”

  Maybe, he should get Kendall the abortion pills. She didn’t want the kid and she was making everyone miserable.

  “What about an abortion?” he fished.

  “I told her to get one, then felt guilty as hell for wanting to destroy my kid because Kendall won’t listen. My anger fuels her bad behavior. Unless I do something drastic, I can’t handle her on my own when she’s like this. Zoann’s talking about burying her and Megan’s past fed up. If she isn’t on my side, then I’m completely fucked.”

  Johnnie’s explanation made sense. It wasn’t the kid’s fault he’d been made. Hopefully, by now, Kendall realized that. Cash wouldn’t care what she did if her actions didn’t affect Johnnie.

  “Meggie is Kendall’s verbal punching bag, brother,” he said, his mind whirling. “Everyone gets tired of that shit.”

  “I’m tired of it. I can only imagine how Megan feels. Without her pretense of being Kendall’s BFF, Christopher will pick up on the troubles.”

  Kendall would be fucked, then. The way she’d fucked over Fee would be vindicated, a punishment she deserved.

  Cash remembered his mother’s words. “For every problem, there’s a solution. You just have to take a moment to forget the bullshit and focus on solving.” Wise words to remember. “I have a question for you, but you have to promise me you won’t fuck me up for asking.”

  Throwing the cigarette stump to the concrete, Johnnie stomped it out. “Ask.”

  “Promise.”

  “If this is about Kendall, the floor is open, Cash. I’m willing to listen to anything to help her. Help us.”

  “Do you love her or are you just substituting her for Megan?”

  Cash expected outrage or indignation, not the bleak look Johnnie turned to him.

  “I love her more than any of you will ever know, but she makes it so fucking hard to be her husband. What will it take for her to do as she’s supposed to do? Christopher’s already shot me once. If he gets to the point where he has to do it again, he’ll kill me. I won’t get shot in the fucking shoulder. It’ll be my head
.”

  For the first time, Cash heard Johnnie’s smidgeon of fear toward Outlaw. Fuck. Anytime Johnnie feared their president, Cash stood no chance.

  Johnnie was too close to the situation to find an objective solution, so Cash thought of one.

  “Send Kendall away until after this baby is born.”

  “I might have to, especially if she’s taking out her hatred for Christopher on my son.”

  That statement lost Cash. He’d think her feelings toward her husband would guide her treatment of their kid. “How can she do that?”

  “Don’t repeat this to anyone, but Kendall hates CJ. Fucking despises a small boy. Who in their right mind feels that way about a kid? In CJ, she sees a mini Christopher. When I heard Rory crying and Megan so focused on me coming there, on Rory playing, I knew. Kendall must be taking out her dislike on my child. Her child. She’s either making him stand straight or not letting him play with the other kids, or some other fucked up thing, in her quest to stop him from being…” He shook his head. “From being a barbarian.”

  Her favorite word to describe Outlaw. The woman was obsessed.

  “She hates Christopher so much because she wants to fuck him so bad.”

  Had he heard right? Seeing Johnnie’s rising anger, Cash knew that he had and he blinked. Johnnie knew this and hadn’t walked away? Only love would make him stay. However… “She hates Outlaw.”

  “She’s attracted to him,” Johnnie corrected. “Her fucking pride is also hurt that he knocked her on her ass when she came to seduce him. She’s damn lucky she didn’t end up with him. He would’ve shot her ass off a long time ago.”

  “Outlaw wouldn’t have hurt her. He would’ve let her go.”

  “No, Cash,” Johnnie said without humor. “I feel like killing her sometimes and there’s no woman I love more than Kendall. I’d give my life to protect her. Fuck, I’d give my life if I knew she’d be happy for the rest of her life. There’s no woman whose as beautiful or as witty as she is. But she has a dark side. A side that makes me want to wrap my hands around her fucking throat and watch her die when she hurts Rory.” He closed his eyes. “If she ever physically hurts him, I will kill her and mourn her loss for the rest of my life. I can’t fucking get through to her how much I love her. How wrong it is the way she treats our son. How she’ll never get her fucking job back with Brooks. I’m considering killing him. I don’t know if I want to get it done quick or torture him for hours. Kendall wouldn’t be so bad off about her job, if not for that motherfucker.”

  More than one issue with Kendall was at work. Killing Brooks wasn’t the answer and it would cross a line. “He’s a club attorney. Wouldn’t Outlaw have to sanction it?”

  “He’d understand.”

  Maybe. Maybe not. Outlaw still had a club to run. The attorney had already proven himself loyal.

  “Brooks has been at our side for a lot. I’m sure we’ll find another attorney, but it’ll be a process.”

  “Then, I’ll kill Charlotte. That bitch hates me.”

  Johnnie needed to kill to calm the beast inside of him. The one he hid with his charm.

  “Killing Charlotte’s an option,” Cash agreed. “I suggest you wait until after Outlaw’s released. Otherwise, Brooks will be too torn up.”

  “He loves her as much as I love Kendall. Kendall,” Johnnie repeated, as if saying her name calmed him. “Kendall can tell me anything, but she won’t talk. If she’d admit her attraction to Christopher, I’d tell her I understand. She’s human. Of course, she’ll notice other people.”

  “John Boy, what the fuck all those bitches doing in the main room?” Val asked, coming into the hallway and interrupting the conversation.

  “For Cash, I suppose,” he said with a shrug. Whether Potter had called him and alerted him or if he was just too wrapped up in his Kendall problems, he sounded quite unconcerned. “Daphne hasn’t been replaced yet.”

  Val narrowed his eyes at Cash. “Interesting.”

  “What?” Johnnie asked, hearing the sarcasm in Val’s voice.

  So Val knew about him and Fee. That had to be the reason he looked as if he wanted to fuck Cash up. Cash imagined him running to Zoann with the news.

  “It isn’t what you think, Val.”

  “It’s exactly as I think, motherfucker.”

  “What are you two talking about?” Johnnie asked in confusion.

  That was the difference between him and Outlaw. Johnnie was lost in his personal dilemma, so he couldn’t see Cash’s problem revolved around Fee. Somehow, Outlaw doted on Meggie but still kept a pulse on the club. He would’ve known immediately what bothered Cash.

  “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about giving up my position with the Bobs,” he said, skirting around the issue of Fee. “Stretch and I are going to give it another go. I want to do right by him.”

  A half-truth. He also wanted to do right by Fee.

  “Do you have a replacement in mind?” Johnnie questioned.

  No, he didn’t. All his friends were happily married, so he couldn’t ask them to do the interviews. They’d decline. They knew how to balance their families with their club lives. Something that took compromise on everyone’s part.

  “What about Potter?” Val threw out into the silence. “He’ll patch in in a couple of months.”

  A couple of months wasn’t good enough. Cash needed a solution now. He hadn’t even been able to be at the house to greet Fee upon her release because he had to be at the club. To have his cock sucked. The flowers he’d had delivered to the house wouldn’t be good enough. Not only would she insist on him and Stretch being together without her, the knowledge of why he hadn’t visited would disgust her.

  Johnnie’s phone rang again. Glowering, he answered on the second ring. “What, Megan? Oh, hey, son. Yeah, I’m on my way. Sure, we can talk until I get there like Aunt Meggie suggested.” He moved the phone from his ear. “My son needs me. I have to go.”

  “Keep your cool,” Cash advised, not truly understanding Johnnie’s turmoil until today. He’d been too wrapped up in himself to notice anything halfway serious. “You love her.”

  Nodding, Johnnie walked off. “Do whatever you need to with the Bobs, Cash,” he called.

  “Don’t tell Zoann,” Cash said the moment he and Val were alone.

  Val huffed out a breath. “Don’t fuck over Fee.”

  “I won’t.” A promise he meant to keep.

  “You don’t even want to, do you?”

  Cash shook his head.

  “I’ll take over bartending duties for the rest of the afternoon from Potter, and tell him to prepare to have his cock sucked raw. Does a man good to return to his roots. I started out as a bartender here.”

  Cash hadn’t expected Val’s help, but appreciated it. “Thanks, brother.”

  “Outlaw not clued in because he not around. Johnnie can’t see past Kendall. All the rest of us know. That mean Meggie going to start working on Outlaw as soon as he released. We all putting our asses on the line for you. Don’t fuck it up.”

  “I won’t,” Cash promised again, knowing Outlaw would only forgive Meggie and Zoann for keeping the secret. The rest of them? Not so much. “Thank you.”

  “Another word of advice.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You fucking with Puff baby sister. Outlaw won’t have to do you a fucking thing if you fuck over Fee. Zoann will get to you and have you screaming like a bitch.”

  “You know this how?” Cash was fucking with Val. Zoann had knocked the fuck out of Johnnie a time or two.

  Val flushed. “That’s not important, motherfucker. Take my fucking advice or not,” he growled and stomped off, flipping Cash the finger when he guffawed in laughter.

  Stretch glanced at the time, anxious to leave Meggie and get upstairs to Fee. He’d spent yesterday afternoon with her in her room, admiring the bouquets of flowers she’d received from Georgie and Sloane Mason, Josh McCall, and Cash. He and Fee had laughed and talked, just enjoying each
other’s company. Later, Cash had shown up. The three of them had eaten dinner together.

  Fee had fallen asleep after taking pain pills. Stretch and Cash had intended to thank Meggie for looking the other way and allowing them to be with Fee. But they’d found her curled up in the den, in one of Outlaw’s T-shirts, asleep. Stretch knew she hadn’t been asleep for long because her tears hadn’t completely dried.

  Now, at ten in the morning, he still had a couple of hours before Meggie settled in for the routine she’d adopted in Outlaw’s absence.

  Nursing Ryder. Greeting CJ, Rebel and Rule as Bunny set them up for breakfast. Seeing Diesel off to whatever activity he involved himself in during summer break, and then heading to the club to feed whoever was on premises. Members now stopped in at some point every day to get an Outlaw update and to check on her.

  She kept a smile on her face. In private, she cried. Many times, Stretch found her at her desk unable to do her duties for the home healthcare business she had with Zoann because of her tears.

  Today, one week after Outlaw’s arrest, the rainy day added to the gloomy mood. “Do you need anything?” he asked her as she sat at the kitchen counter.

  She held a check out to him. “Can you cash this for me and give the money to Bob Rose?”

  Stretch grabbed the check and saw it written out for five thousand dollars. “One of the Bobs?” he asked for clarification.

  “Yes. Christopher mentioned her to me when the detectives called me in to talk to him,” she explained, rubbing her eyes. “After explaining the situation, one of the girls will go along with the story for a fee.”

  Was that so? This girl was under club protection. She needed to do whatever it took to protect the president without charging his old lady.

  He pocketed the check. “I’ll handle it,” he promised.

  “Meggie!”

  At the sound of Kendall’s screech, Meggie groaned.

  “I can get rid of her,” Stretch whispered.

  “Meggie!” Kendall stormed into the kitchen and stopped inches from where Meggie sat, her eyes narrowed. “How dare you!”