Bull couldn’t stop if he tried, so he didn’t even bother. He thrust inside her again, but this time he took his time. His thrusts were gentle but just as deep.
Charlie moaned and tightened her hold. Pain turned to pleasure and suddenly, she couldn’t get enough of him. “More,” she panted. “I need more.”
Bull increased his rhythm and then they were both lost. Pleasure was building as they gave into the act. Charlie could feel her body getting ready to explode. Bull wasn’t too far behind.
Sweat beaded and ran down their bodies and then Charlie arched her body and screamed out almost silently as she spun out of control. White lights burst behind her eyelids as she shattered inside.
Bull felt her body grip his cock hard and that was enough to push him over the edge. He couldn’t stop it if he tried. He gave one last thrust and held on for the ride.
It took them a moment to catch their breath. Finally, Bull moved to her side but he couldn’t let her go. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. Nuzzling her neck he whispered, “Are you okay?”
Charlie snuggled as close to him as she could. “I’m better than all right. I’m in heaven.”
Bull felt humbled by her words and his heart swelled in his chest. He didn’t know why he felt something for her he’d never felt before either, but he did.
“I’d like nothing more than to stay here all day but I suppose we can’t.” Charlie sighed. “Conrad Bane waits for no man.”
“Yeah, the guys are excited.” Bull told her as he reached for his clothes. “We finally have a path to follow to bring his empire down.”
Charlie didn’t say anything but her thoughts were racing as she got her clothes back on.
When she wouldn’t look at him, Bull watched her close.
Finally, he tipped her face to his and searched it for a moment before he asked, “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Conrad Bane had more than a few enemies. There are other people and groups waiting in the sidelines that would love to see him gone so they could take over his territory.”
“What are you saying?” Bull frowned.
Charlie gazed down at the fold of her shirt then raised her head to stare him in the eyes. “A few months ago someone tried to ambush the Ratz when they were making a run. Four men died and the other people got a truckload of the drugs they were transporting. The gang that staged it disappeared and the Ratz couldn’t find them again but they are still out there, waiting for the Ratz to fuck up again.”
“What do you mean fuck up again?”
“The Ratz think no one can touch them, they think with Bane’s backing they can’t be stopped. They never told Bane about the ambush or the fact the shipment was stolen. They like to brag about what they’re doing and word is spreading about them.”
“What does that mean?”
“The Ratz aren’t as good as they make themselves out to be.” She shrugged. “People take note and if you weren’t going to stop them someone else would. The thing is someone else is waiting to take over when they’re out of the way.”
“And who are these other people?” Bull frowned.
“A small MC called the Devils Minions.”
Bull growled and began to pace. After a few minutes, he turned to her to ask, “And you know this how?”
Charlie shrugged. “You hear whispers and rumors but in this case they are true. I’ve seen the Minions watching them too. The Ratz are dumb enough not to care about who could be in the shadows watching them.”
“Do you know anything about this MC?”
Charlie snorted. “They don’t impress me much. They are almost as lame as the Ratz. They aren’t that big, maybe a dozen or so, but boy are they arrogant. They act the act but they aren’t that tough, not yet but the thought of all that money makes them stupid. I’ve heard they have plans to get rid of the Ratz and take their place with Bane.”
Bull froze as her words washed over him. “Sonofabitch.” He swore. Running his fingers through his hair, he glared at the door. “I have to let the guys know about this.”
Charlie snorted. “Yeah good luck with that. Judge will love this news.”
Bull shook his head. “I know you don’t think much of him right now but he is a good man.”
“It’s not that I don’t think much of him but he hates me now. And he thinks his reasons are justified. He thinks I’m involved with Bane because we share the same blood. He thinks I’m tainted with the same brush as he is. But you know what? I didn’t ask to be his kid, I didn’t ask him to be the type of man he is. I didn’t ask him to kill my mother. Judge is putting all Bane’s sins on my shoulders and I hate that fucking man. He’s taken my whole life away from me and I never knew who the hell he was until last night.”
Bull pulled her into his arms and held her while she sobbed. There was nothing he could say. Everything she said was true. Judge had tarred her with the same brush as he painted Bane with. It wasn’t right but he was blaming her for something she had nothing to do with.
“Come on, we have to tell them about the Minions.” Bull urged her toward the door. When they opened it, it didn’t escape his notice that four of the five other men were sitting at the talk sipping coffee.
Tank met his eyes and he lifted his cup as if to salute him but didn’t say anything.
Hawk pushed his chair back and watched as Bull and Charlie approached the table. “There’s been some movement outside.” Hawk told them.
“Oh, what’s going on?” Bull asked.
“We’ve seen an uptake in cycles searching the city. Is that something we should be concerned about?”
“Are they wearing red leather jackets?’ Charlie asked.
Hawk turned his eyes to her and nodded slowly. “What do you know about them?”
Charlie sighed and sat down at the table. Bull went over and grabbed them both a cup of coffee. “They call themselves the Devil’s Minions. They are a small MC, only about a dozen members or so right now, but they’re not too bright. They have been watching the River Ratz for a while now and they want what the Ratz have. A couple of months ago, they hit a shipment the Ratz were transporting. They got four men killed and took a shitload of drugs that weren’t theirs to take. The Ratz are looking for them and I think if the Minions are here, there’s going to be a battle right here in the streets. The Ratz want revenge and they want the Minions gone and the Minions won’t go quietly. The Minions want to take over and they don’t care how they get it.” She shrugged. “Like I said, they aren’t too bright. Bane controls the Ratz and I don’t think the Minions want to be controlled. They are looking to get rich quick and they don’t care what they have to do to get it.”
“And you don’t think Bane will take them on?” Tank asked. “I mean if he loses the Ratz, he could control the Minions just as easy couldn’t he?”
Charlie shook her head. “Like I said the Minions don’t want to be controlled. They don’t take orders well.”
“Damn.” Hawk swore under his breath. “This might complicate things.”
“Yeah, this is gonna complicate things just a little.” Mustang swore as he got to his feet. “Judge needs to know about this.” His footsteps echoed as he went up the steps two at a time.
“Can anything else go wrong here?” Hawk muttered. Snapping his eyes to where Charlie sat he asked, “Is there anything else we need to know about that you haven’t shared?”
“Don’t think so.” Charlie shrugged.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Heavy footsteps clambered down the steps and one very angry Judge entered the kitchen area. “What the fuck is going on now? Did you know about this MC in the background? What the hell are you playing at?” He screamed at her.
Charlie stiffened but wouldn’t look at the screaming man. Instead, she calmly lifted her cup to her mouth but before she could take a sip the cup was knocked out of her hand.
“Whoa, Judge,” Bull protested as he rushed to his feet beside her. “That wasn’t neces
sary.”
Judge glared at him then turned back to Charlie. “What else haven’t you told us?”
Charlie stood and turned to face the irate man. Crossing her arms over her chest she sneered, “Nothing. You know everything that I do now. Yes I knew about the MC, they’ve been watching the Ratz for a while now and other than the ambush a few months ago they’ve done nothing but they have been watching. But all I know is what I hear on the streets. And what you hear on the streets ain’t gospel it’s rumors. The Minions are about a dozen strong but they aren’t too smart. The Ratz never told Bane about that but I have a feeling he found out about it.” She shrugged. “I didn’t tell you about the Minions because I didn’t think about it. They are a bunch of wanna be tough guys.”
“And how do you know all this?” Judge frowned. “Were you there?”
Charlie gave a short nod. “Yeah, I was following from a distance. I didn’t get close enough to get caught in the crossfire but I saw what happened.”
“Why were you following them?” Hawk wanted to know.
“That’s nobody’s business but mine,” Charlie told them.
“Oh, I think it is our business now.” Judge growled.
“No it really isn’t.” Charlie shrugged.
Judge stomped over to where she stood but Charlie never gave an inch. Bull could see the panic in her body language but she never stepped back or cowered. Judge intimidated a great number of people when he was pissed. He was pissed at the moment but she didn’t give him an inch. “I’ll ask you again, why were you following them?” he growled in her face.
“Not for the reason you’re thinking so hard on.”
“How the hell do you know what I’m thinking?” he snarled as his fingers curled into fists.
Charlie shook her head. “Because every fiber of your being is shaking in rage. It isn’t hard to see that, but you know what? I don’t give a rat’s ass what you’re thinking. You have no fucking clue and you don’t really care if you’re right or wrong, you just want to blame me for something I didn’t do. Fine, you can do that but in the end, it’s gonna bite you in the ass. So you can go to hell as far as I’m concerned.”
Bull wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back to him.
The rage pulsed off Judge but he didn’t strike her, instead he took a step back. Without saying a word, he turned and went back upstairs.
Tank whistled softly but no one said a word.
Charlie pushed out of Bull’s arms and grabbing her cup, she walked over to the counter and poured herself another cup of coffee. With her back to the men, she spoke softly, “I have a friend who belongs to the Ratz. He went in to find out which on the bastards raped his sister. I watch over the club to keep an eye on him, not for any other reason. He’s the only friend I’ve ever had besides his sister and she’s dead now.” Then she turned and took her coffee back to the room she and Bull just came out of. When the door closed softly, everyone in the kitchen heard the lock snap shut.
“Well, Jesus fucking Christ.” Hawk swore. “What a cluster fuck.”
“Judge needs to dial it down,” Bull stated briefly. “She can’t take anymore and neither will I.”
“You gotta see where he’s coming from don’t you?” Mustang argued. “He never got over losing Pony and Blue and then we all get the boot out of the military due to our supposed PTSD. He’s still burning from that. We’ve been working toward finding and shutting down this bastard and getting nowhere fast. Now we finally get what we need with her help and then he finds out she’s Bane own daughter? On top of all that, she’s keeping secrets about the players in this mess?”
“You think he’s the only one that’s hurting because of Pony and Blue or getting kicked out?” Bull snarled. “I took two bullets and a year and a half to come back, but I did it. I had no clue you guys were working on this but when she found out, she helped and this is how he thanks her? That’s just wrong. She didn’t know who the hell he was until last night. She didn’t know he killed her mother. You all heard her nightmare, she didn’t remember that until last night. I’m sure if anyone had thought to ask her she would have told us about the MC but no one did, so don’t be blaming her for not saying anything until now. She isn’t hiding shit from you guys or him. Don’t forget she doesn’t owe us shit.”
“You’re right. She doesn’t owe us shit,” Hawk stated. Shrugging he continued, “She could have been upfront with us on everything she knew, but this might have escaped her notice. Unfortunately, this was one thing we would have found interesting.”
“Get your asses up here,” Judge shouted from the top floor. “There’s something going down right now.”
Five men scrambled to get to the monitors overseeing the town. When they got there, they saw several areas of trouble going down around the town. One places of interest was a diner on the outskirt of the town. Several bikes were parked but as they watched, a couple of loaded cars pulled up and began shooting at the bikes. More shots could be seen coming from inside the diner and then they watched as the cars took off. As they did, several bikers came outside shooting.
Another area of trouble was a drive by just outside the building that held Conrad Bane’s office. Several motorcycles roaring down the street then all of a sudden, they saw window shattering and people on the street and in front of the building diving behind anything that would give the shelter. Then some of the same people pointing weapons were shooting back at the bikers driving away.
A third area that concerned them was taking place in the supermarket parking lot. One biker was down, his bike a crumbled mess but his friends were hiding behind a couple of parked cars shooting back against three members of the Ratz. Several other people were down or hiding behind cars in the lot while several of the huge picture windows were shattered. Glass was everywhere and as they watched two police cars pulled into the lot behind the bikers. Blue and red lights flashing lent a surreal quality to the scene.
“Holy hell,” Hawk whispered as they watched the monitors. “Shit’s about to hit the fan.”
“I think it already has,” Tank commented softly as they watched the scene unfold.
“Maybe they’ll just kill each other and save us the trouble of taking them out,” Judge suggested.
Hawk turned his head and glared at the other man, then he turned and glanced at Mustang who shook his head. They both turned back to the monitors as more police cars pulled into the supermarket parking lot. They were from a town near Mount Pleasant and they realized it wouldn’t take long for the police to step in and contain the River Ratz or the Minions.
“This could work to our advantage,” Wild Child commented.
“It could,” Tank agreed. “It could also blow up in our faces. If the Ratz pull back and decide to fight another day, we’ll have to track them down. That will take away our advantage and cost us time we don’t have.”
Judge turned to look at Bull. “You live in this town, where would the Ratz go to hide from the law?”
Bull shook his head. “I have no idea.”
“Charlie would know.” Tank pointed out.
“So go ask her.” Judge snarled.
Bull growled without voicing his thoughts. Then he turned and went to the steps.
While he was gone, Hawk leaned back in his chair and addressed the elephant in the room, “Judge you need to let it go. Or at least give her the benefit of the doubt until she actually betrays us.”
“Fuck that.” Judge swore. “She’s a Malik whether she knew it her whole life or not. She’s got his blood in her veins and the only one they are true to is themselves. You don’t think she’ll turn on us? Just watch her. Then again, you won’t have to by the time she’s done we’ll all be dead and Bane will be the one walking away.”
“You don’t know that,” Mustang argued.
“Are you willing to risk your life to find out? Because I’m not. Our aim to shut down this bastard and take down his empire, hopefully without dying in the process. That we do
by being smart and not taking chances.” Judge glared at his men.
“Then why can’t you give her the benefit of the doubt? You heard her last night, you heard her call out for her mother to wake up. Are you really that heartless?” Wild Child asked.
“What I think or feel is nobody’s business.” Judge swore. “It’s not my job to give her approval or pat her on the head. It’s my job and yours to bust up this empire and bring justice for those who lost the war.”
“Yeah well, you don’t dial it back a bit we’ll lose Bull and Charlie’s help,” Hawk told him. “I want to bust up this little empire as badly as you do but we’ll lose more than we’ve gained, if we lose Bull over this shit.”
“Bull belongs to our brotherhood and he always will. He may have left us for a while but he’ll come back to us.” Judge assured them. “He isn’t about to let a woman he barely knows come between us.”
“You might just be wrong about that.” Mustang shrugged. “He trusts his gut and his gut is telling him to protect this woman, whether it’s against her enemies or us, he will do what he has to do to protect her. That’s just the type of man he is. You know him, you know what he’s capable of doing when he feels someone under his protection is in danger.”
“Yeah,” Judge ran his fingers through his hair. “I do know. But I’m not the one he needs to watch. Bane is the one he should be wary of. Bane is the one he has to stop.”
“All we’re saying is dial down the hostility toward Charlie,” Hawk interjected. “Your attitude is beginning to piss him off.”
“Can we all get over the kumbaya bullshit and deal with this situation now?” Judge asked.
No one said anything until they heard Bull’s footsteps coming back up the stairs. He was alone. He went over to where the town’s map was and showed them a rural area. “Charlie said there was an old barn out here somewhere but the Ratz are using it as a warehouse. She said it looks abandoned but it isn’t. The Ratz keep eyes on the place where they’re over here or know they’re going to be in the area.”
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