“No, but we don’t usually see her. Is something wrong?”
I shook my head. “Nah, she probably got busy and lost track of time.” Savior gave me an incredulous look but didn’t comment. I couldn’t blame him; I didn’t believe what I’d just said either.
“I’m gonna go see what she’s up to. I’ll catch ya later, man,” I said as I headed out the back door.
I reached for the door and twisted the knob, pleased to find it locked. “Tatum!” I called as I knocked on the back door. An uneasy feeling started to form in the pit of my stomach. “Tatum!” I yelled again.
Slowly, I turned around and cursed when I realized her truck wasn’t parked in its usual spot. Just as I reached the back door to the gym, her door swung open and there stood Tatum, heaving in breath after breath. “Sorry! I was in the backroom stacking boxes.”
I grimaced. “I wish you’d let me help you with that.”
“So you’ve said. Many times.”
“You ready to go?” I asked.
She glanced at her phone and gasped. “I didn’t realize it was so late. Yeah, let me grab my keys and lock up.”
“Where’s your truck?” I asked.
“Oh, when I came back from picking up lunch, a delivery truck was blocking the spaces in the back, so I parked out front.”
I walked through the gym and waited for her in front of her store. When she came out, she was holding her laptop and a notebook in her arms, making it difficult for her to lock the door.
“Would you like some help?” I asked and reached for the computer.
She tightened her hold on it and shook her keys at me. “Would you lock the door for me?”
“Sure,” I said and plucked the keys from her fingers. Once the door was secured, I started to walk her to her truck, but she stopped me.
“Will this fit in your saddlebags?” she asked and held up her computer. “I’d really like to go for a ride before going home.”
“You okay?”
“Yep,” she said quickly. Then, her shoulders sagged, and she sighed. “Maybe not. I’ve had a lot on my mind today.”
I took the items from her hands and carefully placed them in my saddlebags. She climbed on right behind me and snuggled close to my back. “Hold on tight, baby, and let the wind take it all away.”
We rode for over an hour before she asked me to take her home. I wasn’t keen on the idea of letting her spend the rest of the evening alone, but I knew she’d argue if I said as much. So, I kept my mouth shut and drove us to the clubhouse. Regardless of who was there, Friday nights at the clubhouse were always fun.
“What are we doing here?” she asked when I shut off the engine.
“We’re going inside to have some fun,” I said and walked to the front door before she had a chance to protest.
As expected, she followed along behind me. “Tatum!” River shouted from across the room as she waved her hand in the air.
Tatum grinned. “Oh yes, this was a great idea.” However, her grin disappeared when Kennedy came around the corner and took a seat beside River.
I slid my arm around Tatum’s waist and pulled her close to my side. “She’s not a threat to you, and you know it.”
“Yes, but if she doesn’t keep her tits off of your arm, I will most certainly be a threat to her.”
I couldn’t hold back my laugh. “What?”
Tatum rolled her eyes and scoffed. Then, she proceeded to demonstrate exactly what she meant by thrusting her tits on either side of my arm. “Is she only capable of talking to you from the side?”
“I doubt she even realizes she’s doing it, but I’ll make sure to stay in front of her during any conversations,” I promised.
“You do that,” she snapped.
“Do you want to leave?” I asked.
“No, I want her to leave,” she said flatly.
I sighed. “She’s River’s friend and coworker. If you’d give her a chance, you’d see that she’s a nice person.”
“Please, continue to explain to me how I should be friends with your ex-girlfriend.”
Wrapping my hand around her neck, I pulled her close to me and kissed the skin beneath her ear. “You need me to fuck that bad attitude out of you?”
Kissing down her neck, I lightly bit the sensitive spot where her neck and shoulder met. “Maybe making your cunt come a few times will put a smile on your face.”
Using my other hand to grab a handful of her firm ass, I pressed her against my hard dick. “Say the word, baby, and I’ll fuck you so hard you won’t be able to walk tomorrow.”
She groaned and climbed my body like a tree, wrapping her legs around my waist. Digging her fingers into my short hair, she held on and buried her face in my neck. “Yes, please.”
24
Trey wasn’t exaggerating. I could barely walk when I snuck out of bed to call Luke. He was going to be furious with me, but I didn’t have the time or patience to drop hints and let him figure it out on his own.
“Johnson,” he answered sleepily.
“Cross,” I snapped. “Get up. I have information.”
Material rustled in the background, followed by the unmistakable sound of flowing urine. “Are you seriously pissing right now?”
“Fuck. I thought I hit mute. Give me a second.”
The line was filled with dead air as I assumed he finished his morning ablutions. When he finally came back on the line, I was well and truly irritated.
“All right, Cross, what’s so important?”
“Don’t be mad. Well, don’t be too mad.”
“What did you do?” he growled.
Clearing my throat, I gave it to him straight. “I went to speak with Luca Peccati.”
“You did what?” he roared.
“I won’t apologize for it. He had what we needed.”
“You’re telling me you walked into Luca Peccati’s house, and he just handed over the information we’ve been trying to get our hands on for months? At what cost, Tatum?”
“If you’ll shut up for two seconds, I’ll tell you exactly what happened.”
“By all means, go right ahead.”
While I filled him in on my visit with Luca Peccati, he huffed and puffed the entire time, but he didn’t utter a single word when I finished. Pulling the phone away from my ear, I glanced at the screen to make sure the call was still connected.
“Luke?” I asked.
“I’m here. Just…hold on. I’m processing.”
As I had hoped, he didn’t sound as pissed as he previously did once he heard what I had to say.
“I’m looking through everything right now. Simon has one daughter named Clarise, not Adrianna. We don’t have any record of any property belonging to Simon Barrington in or around the Caribbean.”
“It’s not in his name. Are you new?” I snapped.
“Connect the dots, Tatum.”
“Clarise Barrington was supposed to marry Nolan Sheldon Morgan II. Run the name Clarise Morgan.”
I waited quietly while listening to the keyboard clicking in the background. “And there it is,” he almost whispered.
“The yachts are registered to her, too. I didn’t have time to run a full check, but I found a few other properties under her name; all are on the coast, too.”
“Listen, Tatum, while you did come up with some very useful information, you cannot, absolutely cannot, go off on your own and do shit like this again. Understood?”
“I mean, yeah, I hear you and all, but I won’t make a promise unless I’m one-hundred-percent sure I can keep it.”
“Damn it, Tatum.”
“Sorry, not sorry, boss man,” I retorted.
“I would’ve rather you lied to me,” he grumbled.
“I do enough lying because of this job as it is. I won’t add more to the pile.” It was the one thing I hated about my job—the constant lying, especially when we were undercover.
He sighed. “I know how you feel about that, but it is a necessity.”
“Blah, blah, blah. Spare me the pep talk and get busy with the info I just handed you. I’m beyond ready for this to be over.”
“Me too, but the original plan hasn’t changed. This information will help, tremendously, but we’re going to have to catch them in the act if we want to be absolutely certain they can’t get out of it.”
“Well, then, that’s what we’ll do.”
“Tatum—” he started, but I ended the call before he could start lecturing me. I knew the importance of handling an investigation properly, especially when high-profile, wealthy suspects were involved. One wrong move and the whole case would be blown.
25
As soon as the clock struck five o’clock, I packed up my shit and flew out the door. As much as I complained about it in the beginning, I really did like setting up the bookstore, but it was much more fun when Josie was around. I knew Trey was helping out at the bar his club owned, so I decided to pop into the gym for a workout before heading back to the safe house.
When I walked through the front doors, Bronze was standing in front of a little girl looking like a deer in headlights. I started to laugh, which drew his attention to me. “Tay!” he shouted, and the relief in his voice was evident.
“Yes, broody biker?”
“Uh,” he shifted uncomfortably. “This is Jenna,” he said and gestured to the little girl. “She’s eight years old and is here for her self-defense class.”
“Okay…”
He leaned closer and quickly whispered, “We don’t have a self-defense class. We don’t have any classes.”
I smirked and crossed my arms over my chest. “You’re going to have to ask.”
To my surprise, he didn’t hesitate. “Will you help me teach her some self-defense moves?”
“Say please.”
“Don’t push it,” he grumbled.
I reached out to pat his chest but remembered his wound at the last second and placed my hand on his shoulder. “Just checking to make sure you still had your balls.”
“Of course I do,” he snorted and started to grab his crotch but stopped when I jerked my head to Jenna.
“So, you’re just scared of kids? Interesting,” I mused. He opened his mouth to argue, but I didn’t give him the opportunity. “Get one of your employees and show me where an empty room is.”
“Grant!” Bronze shouted. “Need you to get suited up downstairs.”
“Hi, Jenna. I’m Tay. Are you ready to learn how to kick some butt?”
“Yes, ma’am,” she said quietly, never making eye contact with me.
I dropped to a squat in front of her. “Jenna,” I said softly. “Look at me.” When she did, I smiled and tried to make her feel more comfortable. “This is going to be fun. We’re going to go downstairs, and I’m going to show you how to defend yourself if you ever need to. I’ll go first, okay?”
She finally met my eyes, and my heart melted at the worry filling hers. “Okay,” she whispered.
I knew, just from my brief interaction with her, something had happened to her, and I was going to make damn sure she could prevent anything else from happening.
“Bronze, would it be possible for Riley to join our class?” I asked quietly, but little ears still heard me.
“Mommy told me Riley would be here,” Jenna mumbled.
Right on cue, Savior burst through the front doors with Riley in his arms. “Sorry we’re late! I thought it was scheduled for tomorrow night.” He paused and glanced around. “Where’s Batta?”
“Working security for Precious Metals,” Bronze said.
Savior chuckled and placed Riley on her feet. “I think Jenna’s mom got the date wrong, not us. Batta was supposed to show them self-defense moves.”
“May I ask why a seven-year-old and eight-year-old need to be taught self-defense by an MC enforcer?”
Savior sighed. “There’s an older girl in the neighborhood who we think is bullying the younger kids. It’s not your typical schoolyard bullying; it’s hard to put into words how she does it. It’s like she manipulates them into doing things that she knows they shouldn’t do. We don’t let Riley play with her, but she still shows up at the playground and is all over the neighborhood. Anyway, Riley came inside screaming and crying because that girl had pushed Jenna into the mud and kicked her. Jenna’s mom wasn’t home, so I went up to the house to speak to the parents. They weren’t receptive at all. So, now our little girls are going to learn how to whoop some bully ass.”
His words infuriated me. “Let’s go.”
“What?” Savior asked.
“She’s going to teach them since Batta’s working tonight,” Bronze explained.
Savior gave me a quick once over and nodded. “That’s probably better. I was worried we’d have two Harley Quinns running around our neighborhood after Batta was finished with them.”
Bronze led us downstairs to what I thought was going to be a private classroom but ended up being a large, open area with a boxing ring in the middle of the room. “It’s what you think it is, or it was, so just leave it at that,” Bronze said before I could ask.
“As long as it’s not anymore, I’m good.”
“All right, little princesses, let’s get this party started. Where’s my bad guy?”
Grant came out of the equipment room dressed in head-to-toe protective gear and climbed into the ring. “Take off your helmet so the girls can see it’s really you,” I whispered.
He did as I asked and waved to Riley and Jenna. “Hey there,” he waved and smiled. Jenna returned his wave excitedly while Riley swooned.
“Oh, hell,” I mumbled.
“Yeah, she’s got a little crush on me.”
“Shit. She might not be able to do this. She won’t want to hurt you.”
Grant threw his head back and laughed. “Have you met her?”
“Touché.”
Turning my attention to the girls, I asked, “Do you know how to make a fist?”
Both girls nodded and curled their hands into a proper fist. “Very good.” I wasn’t surprised that they already knew some basics considering their ties to the MC.
“Now, I’m sure you both know where you can kick a man to hurt him. I like to call that the reset button. It works like a charm, every time. But, tonight, we’re going to learn some ways to defend yourself against anyone, male or female. The first thing you want to do is get yourself into a good stance and keep your eyes on your attacker. A solid foundation will allow you to punch harder and keep you from toppling over. This is also when you want to yell ‘No’ or ‘Get back.’ Come on up here in the ring and let’s give it a try.”
I helped the girls position their feet and stabilize their center of gravity. “Now, we’re going to put our hands out in front of us with our palms open like we’re trying to stop someone from coming closer. This particular move will work well on someone who is close to the same height as you. It’s called a down slap, and you want to do exactly what the name says—down slap.” I turned to Grant, who’d replaced his helmet, and quickly slapped my hand over his face in a downward motion. “Just like that.”
Both girls stared at me with wide eyes. “Grant’s going to get down on his knees so you can try it. Jenna, let’s have you go first, and then Riley can show us her down slap.”
It took several tries before the girls really understood that they wouldn’t hurt Grant. Once they were sure of his safety, they let the slaps fly.
“Good job!” I cheered. “Ready for the next move?”
“Yes!!” they squealed.
“Okay, who’s seen the movie Hotel Transylvania?”
“Me!” they shouted in unison and raised their hands in the air.
“Good. You know how Dracula throws his cape up in front of his face? He does it super fast, and that’s exactly what I want you to do—pretend like you’re wearing a cape and throw your elbow up to cover your face. But, you’re going to do it when you’re close to your attacker so your elbow hits their nose. Now
, here’s the thing I want you both to understand. Grant is wearing protective gear that protects him and you. In a real situation, it might hurt a little to do this, but it will hurt the bad person much more and give you a chance to get away.”
“Daddy and I say, ‘Pain is temporary,’ whenever I get hurt,” Riley shared in a deep voice to sound like her dad causing me to laugh.
“That’s a good one. I’ll have to remember that,” I said and clapped my hands. “Okay, ladies, show me how you throw a cape.”
They took their turns throwing their capes at Grant. I clapped and cheered with each strike they made, genuinely proud of my little students.
“This next one is my personal favorite. It’s called a throat punch, and again, that’s exactly what it is. However, we aren’t going to throw a direct punch at their throat.”
“Like a jab?” Riley asked.
My eyebrows rose in surprise. “That’s correct. We’re not going to throw a jab at their throat, and here’s why.”
I threw a jab at Grant’s throat, and he immediately grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back before my fist made contact with him. “Instead, we want to throw what’s called a hammer fist. We’re going to make a fist and use the side of it to strike the throat. You can do this from the side or directly in front of the attacker. This is the universal reset button on anyone. A direct hit to the throat requires minimal force to incapacitate someone. And because of that, we’re going to practice this move on a dummy.”
Savior moved one of the body opponent bags, aka BOB, into the corner of the ring. The girls each took a few turns striking their target. In reality, they wouldn’t have hurt Grant, but I wanted to stress the effectiveness of the move.
“Last one, and then we’re going to practice actual scenarios. This one is kind of gross, but it works. What you’re going to do is slap both hands on the side of your attacker’s face like this. See how my thumbs automatically went to the eye area? Here’s the yucky part. You’re going to press your thumbs into their eyes. Hard. This part is important to remember; the moment you feel their hands let go of you, shove them as hard as you can and run away.”
Batta: Blackwings MC - Devil Springs - Book Four Page 14
