Checkmate With Bishop: A Hellions MC Novel

by J. A. Hornbuckle

  J.R. stroked a hand down, catching on the patch that announced one side of his parentage, before he raised his face back to his father’s. “Thank you. This is…gosh. Thank you!”

  In an effort to dispel the emotions of the moment, Bishop looked to Dory, seeing her face soften as she watched as J.R. continued to delight in his cut. “I’ll take good care of him, babe. But for now, you need to get with the Honeys as I take our boy and have him greet the men.”

  She didn’t raise her chin, but her eyes lifted and yet remained gentle as they met his own. “Yeah, Stan. Just keep him safe, okay?”

  “Always, babe.” And with that, Bishop used a hand on the skinny back, steering his kid to the group of bikers that were crowded around the place where flames were just then flaring.

  And as Bishop cast an eye behind him, he saw Dory stridently yanking at the hem of her top even as she pulled it up over her pretty tits. A sight that had his dick both tingling and throbbing by turns. Which only proved his dick had a mind of its own since his mind still churned with fury at how she’d kept J.R. from him.

  He only hoped he’d survive the coming hours, at having both his past and his present pound against him, each taking their own measure of flesh by turns.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “So you’re like, fuckin’ Bishop’s ex, right?”

  Shit, it hadn’t taken long before word had spread over the group of Honeys and the Hellion’s bits of ‘treats’ as they’d been called back in the day, to start their attack. “Yeah, that’s me.”

  “The one that went and had his kid without any of us knowing?”

  Double shit!

  I’d thought I’d been prepared for this, the twenty freaking questions that had always been a part of anything the Honey’s thought were important. But even I had to admit, my and J.R.’s situation was probably new. “Yeah, that’s me. I’m the guilty party.”

  I wasn’t even trying to name which Honey was whom or who they had shown up with as I poured two fingers of Patron into a plastic cup before filling another with water. All I knew was that I needed to keep my shit in check even as I watched Stan drape an arm over our kid’s shoulders as his mouth moved.

  I’d already figured I wasn’t one of the ones that would be welcome but I’d never been to a Hellion party that hadn’t included more than a few feminine outcasts. Ones the Honeys had, each in their own way, decided didn’t belong. There were those girls that were watched, tolerated and those that were given the boot, sometimes without the girl in question ever uttering a sentence.

  “But because I have his kid, I’m almost guaranteed a place at your table, right?” I was just old enough and had just enough confidence to override the cat-calls of the girls who were posing around the picnic area. And I made use of that knowledge as I took a place on the bench opposite Dallas, Trey’s lady.

  “Are you gonna spew shit my way, too?” I asked her, knowing that I was confronting the queen of the Honey hive since Trey, or the Stephen of my youth, was her man.

  “Naw, Dory. In fact, I owe you an apology,” she mumbled from around the brim of her cup that she had poised at her lips. “At the hospital, I wasn’t sure about you and my guy. Trey explained it and to my mind, it’s all good.” I saw her gaze roam over both tables, going through both sides. “But it’s been hard trying to figure who’s a friend and who isn’t since he claimed me.”

  I felt the skin at the back of my neck crawl as I tried to imagine myself in her position. I’d known Trey as a teenager and had seen him with more than his fair share of skanky chicks. But even I had to admit that someone like Dallas, someone both without pretense or subterfuge, suited him perfectly.

  Although the bit about her being ‘claimed’ by Trey bothered me. “As the queen, you gotta know you have enemies. Of girls that are willing to almost commit murder to take your place.”

  She smiled and took another deep drink of whatever was in her cup. “You think I don’t fucking know it? Every week it seems there’s another ho’ trying to entice him.” I watched her shoulders lift then release with her shrug. “I don’t get why he’s with me although I’m grateful. Not by the fan-fare or all the Hellion attention and shit. Just at, you know, having him in my life.”

  Oh. My. God.

  A Honey queen bee that wasn’t so up in her own shit that she didn’t lord it over the rest of us? Not freaking possible, in my opinion!

  “Hey, ain’t you Bishop’s chick? The one that had his kid without him knowing?” The auburn-haired girl who dropped into the miniscule space beside me didn’t waste any time in either squeezing out the other Honey or hanger-on away as she wiggled her pretty hips in order to create room on the bench next to where I sat.

  “Yeah, that’s me,” I breathed as I emptied my cup of Patron before reaching for my cup of water. The booze was just starting to permeate my brain, creating the soft glow I remembered so well and I turned my eyes back to where Stan stood, to where J.R. sat next to his dad, reveling in how both their gorgeous faces played in the firelight of the huge grille.

  “Carly,” the beautiful woman replied, shooting out a hand in greeting, something that the younger girls hadn’t done when I’d met them. “Pleased to meet you. So, how’s this going to go? Am I supposed to hate you or give you a hug?”

  “I think that’s still up for grabs. Wanna get in on the bet? It’s already four to one against me,” I offered, immediately liking the way Carly just grabbed the bull by the horns and addressed the emotions we could all feel but weren’t acknowledging.

  Carly tilted her head, her leaf-green eyes sparkling. “Since I’m into underdogs, put me down for twenty on you, sugar.”

  “But I’m not, by any stretch of the imagination, behind, girlie,” I offered with a chin-jut. Oh, yeah. Carly reminded me of Joy, of a woman that could both push a friend yet be of the most loyal of anyone you could envision. “As a betting girl, you’re smart to put your money on this piece.”

  She smiled and it was like heaven opened up with the beauty that she revealed in just the widening of her mouth. “Piece of pink, you mean? Shit, you really have ridden with the Hellions if you look all stuck-up and shit but spew that particular brand of nasty. Welcome, Dory.”

  It was the first I’d felt a part of the group since I’d joined the feminine side of the Hellion yard. But I’d not only heard but saw how, even when faces turned away from mine, that all of them, each and every one of those bitches, were quiet.

  Were listening.

  I saw two other women, older yet wearing their years well, step up behind Dallas.

  “You didn’t look like that before,” said the petite Asian woman, as she crossed her arms over her chest in challenge, while flipping her long, long hair over her shoulder with only a head toss.

  There was a smacking of lips and I turned my eyes to the other lady. Unlike the Asian girl, she seemed more…tired. Worn out and world weary in her appearance.

  But her eyes were sharp as they hit mine. “You used to have hair down to your waist,” she spat as her hands reached for the table edge, the girl in front of her sliding away. “So what the fuck happened between you and Bish anyway?”

  My eyes went between them, the two older ones and finally dredged up the memory of how they used to look, used to be.

  And my heart did a double thump as I remembered.

  Teeny and Lily. Two of the meanest Honeys in the club were glaring straight at me.

  Two of the biggest bitches in Dee’s circle, of those that had lived within the hive of Hellion Honeys. Without even thinking twice, my head started moving from side to side, looking for the former Queen of all that ruled on the girl-side of the Hellions.

  But I saw no trace of Dee anywhere.

  Especially not when Dallas raised her hand. “That’s not how this is gonna be played, ladies,” she said firmly and I could again see what Ste…shit, Trey, thought in making her Queen even without them exchanging vows. “She’s a guest. With long-time ties to the Hellions. I think
we need to listen to what she has to say.”

  I glanced around the table and saw more than a few frowns were present but those were about equal in their inquiring gazes. And after realizing that, I acknowledged Dallas’s words with a shrug. “I’m not here to create problems. Stan…ah, I mean, Bishop invited me and J.R. to hang out.” I pointed a shaking thumb in the direction of the grill. “J.R. is our kid.”

  “So why’re we just finding out about the kid’s ass tonight?” Lily braved, so tiny, but so goddamn fervent in her question. “I mean, you ain’t been around for more than an age, bitch.”

  “That’s true.” In my experience it was always best to acknowledge your mistakes by agreeing before offering your excuse. So I again went through my story—of leaving Stan, finding out I was pregnant just after I’d filed for divorce and moving to Casper. “Bi-bishop never knew. He does now. End of story.”

  “So you think you can just fuckin’ waltz right the hell back in here and be accepted?” Teeny’s eyes were narrowed and her gaze was as sharp as her words.

  I glanced around the grounds before trying to stop the swallow my throat so wanted to do. “Oh hell, no. I’m not here to get all up in the Hellion Honey bidness,” I affirmed, adopting the slang I knew they all used to use. “Jay-sus. Once was more than enough for me. I just tagged along when Stan…ah, Bishop invited my kid. Old home evening, you know?”

  Yeah. That swallow came roaring back as soon as I stopped to take a breath. And I watched as a number of Honeys noticed my involuntary move. “I’ll be gone…,” I started and realized that those words wouldn’t mean shit to the ladies who were huddled around the table.

  So I corrected myself as I tried to speak as plainly as possible.

  “We’re only here…” I began again but soon stopped again when a dark-haired girl with the most amazing aqua eyes took a place right smack-dab next to the diminutive Dallas.

  “Hey, pretty girl,” the other woman, the new one at the table murmured as she nodded towards the girls that were hovering around the Honey’s idea of a bar. “A rum and coke, please.”

  Her amazing gaze hit mine and she smiled. “I’m Ryley and am married to Dare. Who, I’ve heard, you call ‘Josh’.”

  Holy hell!

  Josh was married? That was shocking enough in and by itself. But that he was tied to one of the most striking women I’d ever seen and who epitomized the very essence of a beautiful biker-babe? Wow!

  “That’s how I remember him,” I offered with a shrug before shooting out a palm. “I’m Dory. I used to be with Stan…who you guys call Bishop.”

  Her head tilted even as her warm palm met mine for a one-hitch, up and down kind of movement. “I’ve heard.” She glanced at the women standing behind the picnic bench and increased the volume of her voice as she released my hand. “Boy, have I heard!” Her voice held the edge of laughter as she tilted her head before she continued. “Funny, though. You don’t look like a psycho bitch from hell!”

  I was smiling as I opened my mouth to reply, but before I had a chance to speak, Lily let loose. “She fuckin’ acts like one! Hiding a Hellion kid from the club? For fuckin’ years?! If that ain’t the act of a sick, civilian, psycho bitch then I don’t know what is!”

  “Yeah,” Teeny jumped in. “You always were a stuck-up fucking, stupid, clueless piece of ass!” Her gaze took in the other women who were no longer even trying to hide their interest in the conversation. “All of us wanted you gone. We were all fucking thrilled when you quit the club without us having to throw your skanky ass out!”

  Jay-sus. Seriously?

  There was so much hate in Teeny’s voice and Lily’s face that I found myself leaning away from where they still stood behind Dallas.

  “What were the charges?” Dallas asked into the quiet that fell over the Honeys and by doing so took all the other women’s eyes off of me. “I mean, according to what I’ve learned about how the club now runs, you have to have a reason to run off a Honey, especially if she’s damn-well married to a Hellion. So what did you have on Dory here to throw her, ah…what did you call it?”

  “Skanky ass, I think,” Carly advised.

  “Oh yeah, skanky ass. Thanks, Carl.” Dallas’s eyes as they held mine were twinkling and I could see the corners of her mouth tighten. Was she trying to hold back a laugh? “So what the hell did Dory do that was so goddamn awful?”

  Teeny and Lily shared a glance before Lily answered. “She beat another Honey bloody!”

  “Yeah! This bitch took down Stormy and broke her nose!” Teeny’s face held high spots of color as she pointed at me. If memory served, Stormy had been Teeny’s niece. “She threatened the rest of us too!”

  Dallas brought her cup back to her mouth as she canted an eyebrow my way in question.

  “Yep, I did. Told all of you that my man was off-limits, and I’d give a beat down to any Honey that wanted to challenge my claim,” I agreed with a nod. “But since we’re divorced and have been for a long, long time…if you want Bishop all that bad, then go for it. I sure as hell won’t stop you.”

  “Wow!” Carly breathed from my side. “All sorts of drama from way back when. Damn girl, you don’t look the type.”

  I shrugged, hoping the shaking in my body wasn’t noticed as I struggled to remain calm. “I was young and full of myself. I blamed Stormy when I should’ve lit into Stan.” I turned my gaze to the two older women. “I knew you hated me, that you were always looking for a reason to push me out of the club. Like when I said I didn’t want any club members at my mom’s funeral. That really pissed you off, didn’t it?”

  “It wasn’t fucking right! When the parent of a HMC member dies, they need to be sent off in the Hellion tradition!” Teeny was practically crowing with self-righteousness.

  I shook my head, turning my face away. “No. My mother wasn’t a Hellion parent. She was a good woman but set in her ways, her ideas. She never had a clue that Stan was in a club, only that he rode a motorcycle.” My eyes went back to the two older women. “What about when the Honeys jimmied the lock on our apartment and took all my clothes?”

  There were more than a couple of gasps as all the other Honeys turned to watch the reaction to my accusation. The looks of shock on Dallas, Carly and even Ryley’s face were satisfying.

  Lily had the grace to look abashed while Teeny glared at me. “You fuckin’ thought you were better than the rest of us! Wouldn’t dress as a proper Honey should, so yeah. We cleaned you out in the hopes you’d get with the program.”

  The thud of Dallas’s cup on the plastic picnic bench seemed loud in the quiet. “Are you freaking kidding me? You broke into a brother’s home and stole another Honey’s clothes because she didn’t dress the way you think a Honey is supposed to?” The smaller woman twisted in her seat to look behind her. “Tell me you gave them back.”

  The tension around the table was almost thick enough to touch.

  “Erm…” Lily started on a swallow.

  But Teeny had no trouble answering. “We fucking burned them. Burned every last goddamn scrap and danced around the fire!”

  I know it was water well and truly under the bridge but Teeny’s words, offered without a shred of apology, pissed me right the hell off. “Okay, then what about how most Honeys made a point of yanking my hair every time you got near me, no matter what was going on or where we were? What the freak was that about?” I don’t even remember when it had started, when it first happened. But my heart held the memory of a scalp so sore from being jerked around by my hair that I couldn’t sleep. Nights that I’d lie next to Stan in bed and allow the tears to silently flow.

  “Fucking served you right! Lording that rat’s nest around the rest of us, calling attention to yourself not only with the goddamn color but the length! You were always combing it, shaking your head just to get attention from the brothers. Shit, girl. You’re fuckin’ lucky we didn’t do what we wanted and shave that motherfucking crap right the fuck off!” Even Lily looked shocked by Teeny’s
words and her zealous tone.

  I was confused and needed clarification. “So you wanted me to dress like a slut but didn’t want your men to be tempted by my hair? I don’t get it.”

  “Fucking Christ,” I heard Ryley mumble as she too twisted to look at the older Honeys.

  “That is fucking whacked as shit,” Carly announced angrily. “What? You want to go through my closet? Dallas’s?” She slammed a hand down on the tabletop. “How about my hair? You want to crop mine, too? Have a go at Dallas’s curls or Ryley’s head? How about Jilly’s locks? Are they too much for you?”

  “Come near my hair and I’ll cut you from cunt to neck,” one of the pretty blonde girls warned through tight lips. “And do it without batting an eye, bitch!”

  Teeny’s eyes widened and I watched as both she and Lily finally realized that they were bearing the full scrutiny of the other Honeys as well as the other women’s censure at their antics and attitudes from the past.

  “If I were you, ladies, and I do use that term loosely,” Ryley started, her voice holding a note of caution that was impossible to ignore. “I’d grab my man, plant my ass on their ride and get while the getting’s good.”

  Dallas’s dark curls bounced as she nodded even though I couldn’t see her face since she was still looking directly at Teeny and Lily. “It’s time for you two to leave. And just to let you know? Trey will be getting an earful about past doings.” She turned back around and our eyes caught and held. “That kind of shit, that sort of mean doesn’t fly in the hive anymore.”

  “But…” Understanding of just exactly what she’d admitted to was fully shown in Teeny’s face as her tone changed from challenging to wheedling in less than a heartbeat. “It wasn’t us! She’s the bitch that did it! Dory’s the one at fault!”