by Shyla Colt
“You know nothing, biker,” she growled the words out.
“I know bullshit when I hear it and smell it. Go tell your boss to fuck herself.”
“No!” Gia cried.
“If you think I’d let you do this, you’re out of your fucking mind.”
Gia glanced up.
Lefty ground his teeth together. His eyes burned her with their intensity.
“You don’t tell me what to do.”
“I do when your head is fucked up and you’re trying to make a life-altering choice. Don’t
think I won’t throw your ass over my shoulder and drag you out of here.”
“This is my decision to make.” Gia gripped his arm, digging her nails into his flesh.
Lefty stared at Taffy, ignoring Gia’s nails digging into his skin. “Listen, Laughy Taffy, you tell your boss the offer is unacceptable and if she knows what’s good for her, she’ll return to earth and start talking reasonably. She doesn’t run Newson or New Mexico. Dueling Devils have a long reach.”
Taffy snickered. “I should’ve known. Even after all this time, you’re still being controlled by a man. Independent and self-reliant…what a joke.”
The words gutted Gia on the spot. She lowered her head, ashamed.
“Everything that happens next is on you. I want you to know that,” Taffy warned.
“Get the fuck out of here while I’m letting you walk away on your own two legs.” Lefty
snarled. His muscles tensed. Like a snake coiled and ready to strike, he watched Taffy’s every move as she left the room.
“We’ll be seeing you real soon, Jalissa,” Taffy whispered, disappearing and leaving a road of ruin behind her. The door shut with a click that echoed through the room.
Gia pulled out of Lefty’s death grip. “How could you do that? You didn’t have the right!”
“When it comes to you, I have every right.”
“Oh, bullshit! You don’t understand. I can’t live with this on my chest. I left her! I left her for dead, and because of it, she’s suffered in ways I can’t even begin to wrap my head around.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“How can you say that?”
“Things happen all the time that are out of our control and the best thing we can do is deal with it.”
“Easy for you to say.”
“It’s not!” His words were full of despair and anguish.
She glanced at him, stunned to silence.
“Every day I get up knowing my mother is dead because I’m a coward.”
“Wait—what?” she whispered.
“I come from a small village in Ireland. My mother stayed at home with me and my dad
worked at the local factory. He liked to drink and sometimes. He liked to use his fist. Usually, his tongue was the worst weapon. It left no outward scars, but my God did it make you feel like you were shit on the bottom of his shoes.”
“Lefty—”
“No, it was Colm. This was the man before he’d grown into a badass biker with an
impenetrable shell. It’s not uncommon in towns like mine, where you’re stretching every dime and the only relief from your situation is a bit of whiskey.”
“Colm…”
“No.” He held up his hand. “Don’t say anything until I’m finished or I won’t be able to get it all out. I don’t like talking about it.” He took a shaky breath. “He’d gotten into the whiskey again…bad. Every word out of his mouth was a condemnation and I could barely see out of my eye. My lip was swollen, and when he went to start in on my Ma, I lost it. I shoved him hard and he lost his balance, fell ass over kettle, and slammed his head into the iron stove. Blood was oozing from his head onto the stone floor and he looked so still. His face was becoming paler by the minute. I panicked and ran for it. I stayed on the streets all night, terrified of what would happen to me if I went home…” He paused.
Gia placed her hands over her mouth as her eyes filled with tears.
“Of course, like any mother worth her salt, she came looking for me. Ireland is a beautiful place, but parts of it are ravaged by skirmishes. That day, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The bombs were starting to go off. Smoke was everywhere and people were yelling.
My ears were ringing after the third explosion. People were running everywhere.” He shook his head. “I saw her. Our eyes met. We started toward one another. The next thing I remember is heat, smoke, impact, then nothing. It was the last time I ever saw her alive.”
“Oh my God.” Gia dropped her hands, horrified by the weight he must’ve carried on his
shoulders. “Colm, how old were you?”
“Seven.”
“You can’t believe it was your fault.”
“If it wasn’t for me, she wouldn’t have been out there. That’s a fact I’ll have to live with. I know I didn’t throw the bombs, but it doesn’t take away from that gut-gnawing guilt. So, when I tell you I understand, I’m not blowing smoke up your ass. Shit happens we have no control over.
After that I got shipped here because my father couldn’t stand the sight of me. I spent a lot of time trying to hurt myself. But it never got me anywhere and I knew in my heart, it’s not what my mom would’ve wanted. The Taffy you knew is gone now, Gia. But if she could speak with
her old frame of mind, she’d tell you exactly the same shit I am.”
His words cut through her mania, siphoning off some of the borderline hysteria clouding her thoughts. “What do we do, Colm?”
“We call the pres and move up the time table.”
“How?”
“By shutting her ass down. You don’t come onto someone else’s turf and piss off the locals.
We could make it damn hard for her supplier to keep dealing. He’ll cut her off before he risks that.”
“And Taffy?” Gia whispered.
Colm shook his head. “I know you want to save her, but sometimes, you can’t save people.”
“I refuse to accept that. I can’t let her continue to be tortured.”
“I’ll see what we can do. Best I can offer you, ‘cause I promised I wouldn’t lie.”
Gia nodded. “I’ll pay whatever she wants.”
He wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “I know you would, so does she. Which is why
we’re going to do the negotiating. Come on, let’s go. We need to go piss off Demon.”
“Thank you for telling me.”
“Now, you’ve seen all of me, Gia.”
“Only fair, since you’ve seen all of me.”
“I want to make this shit official.”
Gia bit her bottom lip, warring with the part of her that wondered if Taffy had been right.
“Your silence isn’t reassuring.”
“It’s hard for me, Colm.”
“You’re making it hard, Gia.”
“I just had my head thoroughly fucked and you want to pile more shit on me?”
“No. I want to ground you. I want to be the anchor that keeps you from getting lost in your head again so deep that I can’t reach you. There’s no room for regression here.”
“Why do you even care so much?” she snapped. The minute the harsh question left her
mouth, she regretted it.
His gaze grew shuttered and he pulled back, physically taking a step away from her. “That’s a good question. Let’s go.” He stalked ahead of her
Her heart sank into her shoes. I just fucked up.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Pres, can I talk to you for a minute?” Lefty asked, stealing him away from Ardy.
“You’re about to fuck up my night, aren’t you?” Demon said.
“Yeah.”
“Ardy, why don’t we get ready to make our grand exit? You want to say your goodbyes to
your people?”
“Yeah, I’ll do that now,” Ardy replied, slipping away.
“Talk to me,” Demon prompted as they walked out of the tent.
“Mylan
dra made her move,” Lefty announced, quickly giving Demon a rundown of what
had happened.
“Oh, this bitch is ballsy.”
“Extremely so,” Lefty agreed.
“It’ll be my pleasure to knock her down a few rungs and shut her outta the state. We know
people. This shit all works on treaties and friendly dealings. She can’t come in and fuck with that.” Demon shook his head. “Little fish in a big pond and she’s too fucking conceited to see that.”
“Did we ever hear back about the skin trading?” Lefty asked.
“If she’s doing that, it’s not with an M.C. or she hasn’t started recruiting yet. Might be something she planned on hiding,” Demon said.
“What do you want me to do to get the ball rolling?”
“Start making calls and setting up meetings. What I can’t get to myself, you need to. I want this done by the time the sun goes down tomorrow. If she issued an ultimatum, I know she must have her next move already planned.”
“I’m on it.”
“Good, let me wrap up this wedding shit, dick Ardy down, and I’ll be ready to ride.”
Lefty gaped at him.
“What?” Demon shrugged. “I can’t leave her high and dry on our wedding night. She’d
never forget that shit.”
Lefty laughed. “Alright, I’ll start making plans and get Gia settled at the house with a few prospects.”
They went their separate ways and Lefty steeled himself to keep shit between him and Gia
neutral. He found her talking to Ardy and a few other old ladies. “Hey, you ready? I talked to P.”
“Yes.” She nodded her head and eyed him curiously.
He ignored her eye probing. “Ladies, good to see you.”
“You too, Lefty,” they chorused.
He nodded his head toward the exit and turned, trusting Gia to follow. He heard the sound of her footsteps hurrying over the ground to keep up with him.
“Are you mad at me?” she asked.
“I’m not mad, I’m just done. When you decide you’re ready to do this, you can let me know.
Until then, I’m through with chasing you down. I laid out my terms, you don’t want to accept them. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve had plenty of time to adjust.”
“Lefty, it’s not like that.”
He continued his silence as they returned to her cage.
“Colm.” She pressed her hand to his shoulder.
He stilled in front of the driver’s side door.
“It’s got nothing to do with you and everything to do with my head. I know it may seem to
be taking forever, but I am working on it.”
“I’m not so sure you are. One word from Taffy and you’re looking at me like I’m Satan.”
“I’m not. I—”
“Okay, so why are we having this conversation?”
“Because, I don’t want to give up everything I worked for.”
“And you think being with me would do all that? How? I don’t want or need shit from you.”
“You want everything. Being in my body isn’t enough. You want to be in my head.” She
tapped her temples. “And my heart.” She lay her palm flat down on her chest. “And I don’t know how to deal with that. I can’t even fathom it. No one has ever cared about me. No one. Not like this, and I don’t think…” She glanced up at the evening sky studded with stars. “I don’t think I’m worth it. I’m not sure I can give you what you need. That I’m capable of it.”
His anger faded and he cupped her face, forcing her to look at him. “Don’t you get it, babe, you already do. There’s everything I need right in front of me. You’re one step away from the finish line and stalling out.”
“What do you want me to do—Colm?” Her voice warbled. Tears made her eyes shimmer
like jewels.
“Look me in the eye and tell me we’re actually going to do this together.”
“The way I feel about you scares me shitless, Colm. I’m in love with you and I don’t know
how to handle that. I don’t know if it’s good for either of us—”
He smashed their lips together and stole her air, preventing her from saying another word.
Her body relaxed against his and his heart filled. For the first time since his mother, he allowed himself to take on full responsibility for another female. She loved him. Whether she wore the title of old lady now or later didn’t matter. She curled her arms around his neck and, for a moment, it was only them beneath a velvet sky dotted with stars. He tilted his head. Is it possible for her to taste even sweeter?
They broke apart, breathing heavily as they sucked air down into starved lungs.
“I’m going to get you settled in with some prospects.” He kissed her forehead. “I love you too, Gia. I wouldn’t go through so much trouble if I didn’t. You already knew that, though, didn’t you?”
She smiled. “I think deep down I did. It was never about you. It was about taking a chance.
Risks go against the code I set for myself.”
“And now?”
“The thought of being without you is far scarier.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Gia. But you have to stop trying to push me away and shutting
down. You have an issue and we talk through the shit. Understand?”
“Yeah, I hear you.”
“Good, now get your sexy ass inside the car. The sooner I get this done, the sooner I get
back home.”
* * * *
Lefty drove up to the gates of the Concrete Angels and waited as it was pulled back by
prospects. He rolled inside and parked near the entrance. They had a friendly alliance with the smaller M.C. who made their money mostly moving drugs, though were always careful to keep it out of Dueling Devils territory. He walked into the clubhouse.
The VP, Throttle, met him. “Hey, man, you been a busy bee. The grapevine is buzzing.”
“Yeah. We want to shut this shit down before it’s a problem,” Lefty said.
“I hear you. Come on back,” Throttle said, leading him to the back of the club.
Music pounded a steady rhythm as he stepped into the room with a stage. On the platform, a slender blonde wound her way down a pole.
Rev sat in the center of the room with a few beers and a couple of bitches at his side. He glanced up as they approached and snapped his fingers. “Time to go.”
The two brunettes rose and clacked their way out of the room on too high heels. Their short skirts rode up the back of their thighs while their obviously fake racks threatened to spill out of their bikini tops.
“Lefty, sit. Enjoy the show while we talk business,” Rev said, gesturing to the recently
vacated chair.
“Good to see you too, Rev. Wish it was under better circumstances.”
“Agreed. You know C.A. has never had beef with Dueling Devils. We want to keep it that
way. Tell me what you need.”
“We want to freeze out a Jamaican client trying to come into Newson. She’s threatening my
old lady, trying to strong arm us, and looking to deal in skin.”
“You sure about that?”
“One-hundred percent, it’s her M.O. She gets them hooked, turns them into mindless
zombies, and starts selling them off to the highest bidder. Worst part, she likes them young. She looks for at-risk youth, comes in, and pretends to be their savior.”
“That’s fucked up. And they say bikers are bad,” Rev sneered.
“Tell me about it. If she comes in, she’ll spread like poison, get her hooks into the business, and stage a takeover. Last dynasty she won over went something like that.”
Rev’s brow wrinkled and his lips curled up. The scar on the side of his face moved as his
jaw ticked. “Best show her how we roll. She won’t be getting any of my business anymore.”
“Thanks, Rev. You were my last stop.
I’m glad I have good news for the pres.”
“Let him know he’s got our support.”
“I will. Thank you, Rev. The Devils won’t forget the favor.”
* * * *
Gia sat up on the couch the minute she heard a key turn in the lock. Colm had been gone for almost two days. He’d checked in occasionally, but shared nothing more than the phrase, we’re working on it. She pushed off the couch and stumbled. Her legs protested with pins and needles.
She pushed through it and met him at the door.
His face looked drawn and there were crescents forming under his eyes.
“Colm?”
He managed a smile. “We got her backed in a corner. She’s agreed to a meeting later on
today.”
Gia gulped. “Today?”
He nodded. “I’m about to keel over, so I want to grab a few hours before we go. She
requested you be there.”
“What?”
“Pres felt you could take it and we want to get it over with. No one’s going to deal to her anymore. She has no choice but to go home. This is only happening to give you a chance to
bargain for Taffy.”
She gripped his vest and buried her face in his neck. His rich scent anchored her.
“I need you to keep it together for me, G. I don’t know what her game is, but I know she’s going to try to take you down with her. She’s furious that we shut her down, but she’s not stupid.
She won’t start a war she knows she’ll lose.”
“Which has her even more determined to take it out of my hide,” Gia whispered.
“Yes, do you trust me?”
“Always.”
“Then know we have your back. Stay strong for me, Gia.”
She swallowed. “I can do that.”
“I want you to look into my eyes and promise me if it comes down to it, you’ll walk away.”
“I can’t, Colm.”
He gripped her shoulders and gave her a quick shake. “Promise…or I’ll call the whole thing off.”
She dropped her head. “I promise.”
“No.” He gripped her face and forced her to meet his gaze. “Look me in the eyes and say it.”
“I promise,” she whispered.
“Better.” He frowned and released her. “I have to get some sleep. Wake me in three hours?”
