“Seamus, I can smell your BS from here!” Michelle belts out with a laugh. “You have a crush on Daisy.” Seamus puts his head down and walks away with several of the women heckling him along the way. I catch a slight blush on Daisy’s cheeks as she turns around and goes back to work, wiping down the bar and getting everyone else their drink orders. What’s that all about?
I didn’t have much time to think about it as I feel warm arms embrace me from behind. I turn around in my seat to see Reed, my number one man standing there with a smile on his face. The first thing he does is give me a kiss that would have made me fall to my knees if I had been standing. It has only been a few days that we’ve spent apart, but it felt like a century. Who knew a bad ass FBI chick like me would fall so hard for a man again so soon after being played by my asshole fiancé? It felt like I had won a contest to get Reed, though.
“I’m so proud of you, babe,’ he whispers in my ear before ordering a round of drinks for everyone. “I want you all to raise your fuckin’ glasses for my bad ass Ol’ Lady here!” he calls out, raising his beer high in the air so that it splashes out a little onto his hand and jacket.
Everyone raises their glasses and cheers before downing their drinks. Then, Reed hauls me over his shoulder and takes me into the bedroom, throwing me down and locking the door behind us.
CHAPTER 13
Reed
I slowly get dressed, being as quiet as possible not to wake Elena. I wanted to be able to come back to her when I was through seeing what the hell was going on so damn early in the morning in my bar. I could hear breaking glass and screaming through the closed door and quickly headed in that direction.
I should have fuckin’ known who was responsible for the racket as I approached Daisy’s bedroom door. The only person who could get her that pissed off was my asshole, evil twin brother, Kyle. He has been in and out of the bar for a while now, and I still had no fuckin’ clue what he was around for. The guy straight up abandoned his post as Prez of Skulls Renegade MC and dumped the shit in my lap to fix after my father retired. He had been grooming Kyle to take over for years until he was done and just left, leaving us a fuckin’ note. Haven’t even seen the Ol’ Man in years.
I loved to ride my motorcycle and look like a badass for the ladies. Hell, I had even gotten into a fight or two where I beat the shit out of a few deserving assholes, but I had never been for this lifestyle of fucking people over for money and getting into illegal shit. The moment I got my hands on the operation, we went legit and never looked back. I made these people my family and was damn sure that Kyle would never walk back into mine or Daisy’s life.
I wanted to kill him when Daisy finally made it back to us and told me what happened. I was one of the only ones who knew just what the two of them went through. She hadn’t even revealed everything to Elena yet, who was clearly her best friend in the house.
I remember the state Daisy came back in; bloodied and bruised with a warning to never cross the damn loan shark my stupid brother got involved with again. I was lucky to be able to redo the bar and pick this shithole back up off its feet and get the MC running again. It came as second nature now.
I bang on the door with my fist. “You better fuckin’ open up and quit the racket before you wake up my Ol’ Lady. She’s not a morning person!” I warn, which is the truth. If she finds out Kyle and Daisy are goin’ at it again, she’d probably knock him out despite him being twice her size. She didn’t let anyone mess with the people she loved, which is one of my favorite things about that Siren of mine.
Kyle bursts through the door, looking furious; his face all red like a fire. Did I look like that when I got mad? “What the fuck is going on here, Kyle? I told you if you were going to be here I didn’t want any fuckin’ trouble going on. You were to lay low and fix shit with Daisy, and here you guys go waking me up at the rack of fuckin’ dawn with your yelling and throwing shit.”
I push him back into the bedroom and shut the door. I wanted this solved once and for all. Daisy looks like she’s been crying and exerting herself letting me know she was the one throwing things around. At least I wouldn’t have to take my own brother out for being violent with a lady. “One of you better start fuckin’ talking before I beat it out of you,” I threaten, I didn’t want any of this nonsense going on at my club, especially with the FBI watching us. Not that anyone but Elena and I knew that. But it’s a big deal. She could trust a piece of paper all day long, but I sure as hell didn’t. I knew we were walking a thin line with the law here.
“I’m trying to do what Irish told me to do and settle things with Daisy here. I know I have shit to make up for, and I know I’m an ass whose hard to swallow. But this damn woman won’t even hear me out at all. I can’t make up with something like that. So, what am I supposed to fuckin’ do? Disappear again?” I sigh and put my head in my hands. I didn’t know how to handle this shit. I wasn’t a mediator; just a Prez of an MC. I could talk business and fight all day long, but not this emotional stuff. I didn’t have these problems with Siren. She’s my everything, and I wasn’t about to disappoint her. So, how was I to see where my brother is coming from.
“She didn’t tell you to come in here and get back with me, you pig!” Daisy yells at him with her arms crossed over her chest. “You wanna apologize, you wanna make it up to me? Well, you sure as hell can try, but I doubt it’s going to work. But I am not some damsel who’s going to fall back into your arms just because you burst through those doors again after leaving us all high and dry. I’m too damn strong for that.”
“Can the two of you give me just five minutes?” I ask, and they nod their head simultaneously. The only way this was going to get solved is by putting my head together with someone who had a higher emotional intelligence than myself, especially when it comes to women.
“Siren,” I whisper, leaning down to her ear and kissing her forehead a few times. “I know it’s early, but Daisy and Kyle need our help.” I watch as the goddess that had somehow become my Ol’ Lady stretched her naked body out on my bed and smiles up at me. It didn’t matter if she had bed head or someone’s blood on her or if she was wearing the most expensive damn lingerie money could buy, she was the sexiest woman I’d ever been allowed to lay my hands on. I felt damn lucky every time she let me look in those eyes of hers and touch the most intimate parts of her.
“Can’t we just go back to bed?” she teases with her signature pout. I always get mad at her for that because it killed me and made my dick wiggle to life every fuckin’ time. She knew just how to drive me nuts.
“No, I’m sorry, babe. It’s bad this time.” She sits up with concern and gets into action, slipping on jeans and a tee-shirt before brushing her beautiful long hair that made her look so much like a siren rather than an average human woman.
“I’ll take Kyle into my office, alright? I think you and Daisy have some things to talk about, and then maybe we can come up with a solution for this. They woke me up with their fight this morning.” Elena nods, looking determined as we head to Daisy’s room.
“Morning, Irish.” Kyle apparently couldn’t help himself, and one of these days it was going to get him shot. Elena gracefully ignored it, though, and goes to sit on the bed next to Daisy as I pull my brother by the arm into my office. I needed to get to the bottom of this.
“Kyle, I don’t wanna play games anymore. Daisy is an important part of the Skulls, and I can’t have you messing with her head all the time. It’s time, to be honest about why you’re here.” I lay it to him straight. I don’t have the patience for it anymore.
“I came back for two reasons, brother. The first was to check on the responsibility that I just dropped on you. I wanted to make sure no one was suffering because of that decision. Regardless of how I left or why, I do care about some of the people here.” I try to take what he says in stride without automatically reacting in frustration. It was hard to believe that he cared for the people he just up and walked out on like that.
�
�What’s the second reason?” I ask him, point blank.
“I came to get Daisy back.”
***
Elena
“Dais, what’s going on with Kyle? I asked him to fix things with you so he could stay here, but I’m worried about the both you at this point. Reed and I both are,” I say softly, placing my hand on her shoulder.
“Oh, Elena, I was so sure all of it was in the past, and I would never have to talk about it again. But here he is, showing his sorry face around here like he’s gunna win me back. It’s makes all those memories come back to me. I just wanna punch him for thinkin’ everything’s going to be that simple. I don’t think my heart can be won back after everything that went down here.”
I shake my head and give her a quick embrace. “Dais, it must be hard to talk about, but maybe if you tell me what happened, other than him leaving, then I could help you out here. You know I’ve been through some tough shit too. I mean, I just shot my father dead less than three weeks ago. You can tell me anything.”
“Oh, I believe you, Elena. If Reed trusts you, I trust you. It’s just hard to talk about when I’ve tried to put it in the past. You see, things were bad once Kyle took over. He and his old man got into a lot of arguments over how to handle the MC, and we were hemorrhaging money like crazy. Once his old man left, all we had was Kyle. Reed wasn’t around. He wasn’t that interested in this kinda life. So, Kyle was runnin’ us into the ground. I tried to keep him sane. I loved that man so much, but he got in with a nasty loan shark he couldn’t pay back. The only way the loan shark saw fit to get back at him was to take someone he loved…”
Daisy trails off and puts her head in her hands. It’s the second time I have seen her cry since I’d met her. This tough chick really has been through hell and back. I could only imagine how closely her tale, after this point, related with some of the things the girls I had just brought home with me, had been through. Loan sharks were nasty business. You didn’t fuck with ‘em unless you could walk the walk, and Kyle didn’t strike me as the type who could.
“They took you, didn’t they?” I ask her, rubbing her back as a mother might. Kyle really left her to that?
Daisy nods her head once. “Yeah, and they did things to me,” she admits. She didn’t need to clarify. “They had me for a good month before Reed came for me with the news that Kyle had just up and fuckin left bot me and the MC. So, he got me kidnapped and tortured and just ran off, leaving me for dead. They only let me go because Reed promised them the money and because Kyle clearly didn’t care about me enough anymore to make it worth it for them.”
By the end of her story, I’m absolutely fuming. I don’t know how in the world I was ever going to be able to look Kyle in the eyes again. I had known he was a self-righteous ass, but this was more than that. “I want you to take the day off. I’ll see if Michelle can handle the bar for you today, okay? You go and pamper yourself, and we’ll deal with Kyle.”
Daisy just bows her head, gets up and goes off to get dressed while I take my leave to see what that heart-to-heart looked like between Reed and Kyle because I was damn well expecting it to turn into a fist-to-fist situation. But when I knock on the door of Reed’s office and walk in, I find a very different scene from what I imagined I would. Kyle has the hint of tears in his eyes and instantly storms out as I come into the room. “What the hell?” I ask, pointing in the direction he went. Reed pats his lap, and I sit on it. He gives me a sweet peck on the cheek.
“I really hate to say this, but I think my brother has better intentions of begin here than I thought. Though, he did make mention of a few pieces of business we’re doing that he doesn’t like. I made sure to give him the ‘what for’ on that,” Reed tells me, pretending to look tough. It makes me laugh.
“Reed, you know what happened to Daisy because of him, right?” I ask softly, running my fingers against his scratchy facial hair.
“So, she told you then?” I nod. “I knew she would at some point. I’m one of the only people here who knows the extent of the situation. She was in an awful state; I know that. But he’s explained some things to me, and you’re just going to have to trust me on this one for now.”
“Just please don’t let him keep coming around here, making her hurt,” I beg.
“We came to an understanding. He’s gunna be around but only as a legitimate member, under my direction, and he is to leave Daisy alone unless she approaches him first. I got this.” I smile and kiss his cheek.
“My man always has things handled.”
CHAPTER 14
Elena
“Hello, is this Miriam Lauten?” I ask into the receiver. I had made it my mission for the past few days to figure out where Kimberley’s family was. She had told me she was from Denver, and so that’s where I had started my research. There had to be a family out there searching for their missing daughter and a missing person’s case to go along with it in both Cabo and Denver. I had been right about that, and once I had identified myself, the officers on the case were thrilled to give me the name and number of her mother and let me take it from there.
“Yes, this is she,” the woman says. Her tone polite, but I could hear her exhaustion and sadness clear as day. The woman was trying to care for a first grader while her teenage daughter was missing, and she had no answers and no hope. I was so happy to be able to give her great news. “May I ask who is speaking?”
“My name is Elena, and I’d like you to hear me out because I have a crazy story to tell you about your daughter, Kimberley.”
“Kimberley! You know where Kimberley is?” The woman sounded like she might faint from shock. I could hear her calling her family members to the phone in the background. “We’re all here, listening. Please, tell us if our sweet Kimberley is okay,” she begs me through tears.
“I’m not going to lie, Kimberley has had a rough time of it, but we were able to actually buy her from one of the men that took her in Mexico. She’s in Tennessee right now with us. We’ve been feeding her we got her some clothes, trying to make her as comfortable as possible. She’s really shaken, but she’s alive and asking me to find you guys. So, I’m glad I was able to do that for her. Is there any way that one of you can come and get her? I don’t think she should be sent on a plane or bus alone right now.” Kimberley’s going to need a lot of help. She cries herself to sleep at night and often wakes up with blood-curdling screams from horrible nightmares, but she was healthier and happier knowing that she was safe. I hoped that seeing her family would put another spark back into her that I could barely see a hint of right now.
As I revealed the news to her family, I could hear all arrays of reactions; cheering, clapping, howling with tears of joy… I’m so happy that at least one of these girls has a real family to go back to. I was beginning to understand why Reed was so forgiving with Kyle. Not a whole lot of people on Earth could replace your actual family.
Miriam was obviously overwhelmed, and a male picked up the phone. “This is Kimberley’s father. We’re going to try and catch a flight tonight. Thank you so much for getting our Kimberley back.”
As soon as I get off the phone, I move straight for Jenna’s room and knock on the door. I find Kimberley on her belly in the bed, reading a book Jenna had bought for her about overcoming abuse. She doesn’t smile when I come into the room, but she did sit up and acknowledge my presence. It had been hard to explain to her that they were a motorcycle club that bought her from the cartel and yet they were good people. She only trusted Jenna, and just really didn’t understand their motive. I guessed that she had lost her faith in most people during the abuse she suffered at the hands of Juan and his cohorts.
“I have some good news for you,” I tell her with a smile. I was careful not to touch her because she was still very sensitive about that.
“You found my parents?” she asks, cocking her head to the side.
“I did. And I just got off the phone with them. Your mother and father will be on a plane tonight to come a
nd get you. They sounded so happy.” Kimberley reaches out and hugs Jenna with a happy squeal and then approaches me, doing the same. A hug is defiantly a start to overcoming all the things she had gone through.
“Thank you for saving me.”
***
The bar is pumping with loud, lively music, and everyone’s in party mode. Kimberley’s parents picked her up, things were going well with the Vipers MC, and things were beginning to run smoothly. I had gotten a report that Dmitri had gotten a small group together to make a film and that one of the members was able to get a grower’s silence for weed in Colorado. He would run it out of a house the MC bought for him along with a couple of other members. Things feel so good; I almost forgot I was on an assignment and not just living life.
I walk up to Daisy with a smile on my face. She had come back from a spa day looking beautiful and refreshed, and I could see that Kyle was keeping his distance. She and Michelle were taking it upon themselves to take Maria, the 19-year-old we’d bought from the cartel, under their wings and teach her how to cook and serve. She was doing a pretty decent job, and it gave me an idea.
“You know, Daisy, this is a real nice bar,” I tell her. “But don’t you think it could be even better?”
“Oh no, Elena, I know that look. You’ve got some idea in that big brain of yours. Where do they all come from anyway?” she teases, sounding more like her playful self. “So, what did ya have in mind?”
I tap my nails against the counter thoughtfully. I have idly been thinking on it for a while. The women that decided to stay with us after we rescued them would need an occupation of some kind. It would be best for them to earn their keep and have something to occupy their mind after all the trauma they have been through. Seeing how well Maria’s doing as a server just made me think the answer was in the bar, right in front of me. “Well, let’s face it, these women will need somewhere to work. What if we just expanded the bar a little more? We could have a real dance floor and a mechanical bull. We could serve some real food, maybe even a full menu some nights like sports bars do. I mean, it’s a small town. People could use a more fun place to come to after work.”
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