Owned (Grave Diggers MC Book 1)

by Michelle Woods

  It took her a little over three hours to find the town where the house was located and another fifteen minutes to find the street she was looking for. When she finally pulled into the driveway in front of a little blue bungalow, Tessa climbed out of the car and stood in front of the house with a smile curling her lips as she took in the one story structure with white shutters and a grey shingled roof. It didn’t have concrete walls or a fifteen-foot high fence enclosing it. Instead it had a little garden which had seen better days and shrubs that needed to be trimmed and—it was perfect.

  Grabbing her duffle, she locked up the Honda and headed inside to discover a bare house with little more than two beds to sleep on but that didn’t matter; it was hers and it wasn’t underground so it was better than her last home had been.

  Tessa was beyond desperate when she walked into Hambone’s, a small bar that looked sketchy and frankly like they’d be desperate enough for help that they may hire someone without any experience because she’d bet not many waitresses applied here. Unlike the Denny’s or the Longhorn she’d applied at.

  She stood in the doorway allowing her eyes to adjust to the dim interior of the bar. Tessa could see that the place was actually in better shape than she would have expected from the exterior of the place. A tall reedy woman with bushy brown hair stood near the bar wearing a leather vest with a logo of some local biker group on it. Several bikers were littered around sitting on stools or in booths along with several other men. Tessa wasn’t frightened by the large rough-looking men because she knew she could handle them if they got out of line. After all she’d taken Thomas down without trouble on more than one occasion. Thomas was larger than most of the men in this bar, even the large bouncer. Speaking of the bouncer, he was staring at her with a raised brow as he looked at her from his perch near the door.

  “You lost, sugar?” the beefy six two man asked, eyeing her like a kid looked at candy.

  His eyes traveled from her head to her toes before settling on her breasts. Tessa let out a little sigh. It still annoyed her that men outside the compound couldn’t seem to focus on anything except her breasts and it wasn’t because they were large and impressive, it was just that out here men were pigs.

  “No,” Tessa said stepping further inside, intending to ask the bartender for an application for the waitress job. The bouncer’s arm shot out in front of her and she raised her eyes to look at him when he stood.

  “I think you might be lost. This isn’t the place you want to be looking like that,” the man said, nodding to her khaki pants and green sweater.

  Tessa wanted to tell the idiot to mind his own business but she didn’t know if he was the person she would end up interviewing with so she bit her tongue. Taking a deep breath, she smiled sweetly at him, her teeth showing as she gripped the strap on her messenger bag tightly to remind herself not to knock the son-of-a-bitch’s teeth down his throat.

  “Is there something wrong with what I’m wearing? I didn’t realize that there was a dress code to enter a bar.” Tessa managed to keep her tone light and almost ditzy when she was really being snarky and a little bitchy.

  “There isn’t. Just don’t think you realize that this isn’t the place for you,” he said, his arms now crossed over his large chest. She was sure that scowl on his face was meant to be intimidating but Tessa didn’t find it so because her uncles had this guy beat any day of the week. They were all big beefy men with bushy beards and sour dispositions and she was the one on the receiving end of their dark glowers and rude comments for years.

  “Well that’s good, you had me worried. I’m here to apply for the waitress job,” Tessa informed him, still with the huge smile on her face. It almost hurt and wasn’t in any way an expression she wore often. She wasn’t a very friendly person and acting like she was didn’t come naturally.

  “You can’t be serious,” the man said, a loud snort of laughter escaping him as he stared at her in surprise, his expression disbelieving.

  “I am,” Tessa said, her smile slipping because she was gritting her teeth as she said it.

  “Hey Patty, this girl wants to apply,” the bouncer said after a moment of studying her, his voice and look amused now. Tessa didn’t appreciate the laughter in his voice or the almost gleeful look in his eye as he spoke.

  The woman at the bar turned around and walked towards them, her expression unreadable as she neared. Her eyes took in Tessa’s clothing and her smile before she stopped in front of her. Tessa waited for her to speak but the woman only stared at her for a long moment making her feel like a bug under a microscope.

  “You ever worked a bar before?” Patty finally barked, her voice a husky cracked sound that grated a bit when she spoke.

  “No,” Tessa replied, her hand gripping the strap tightly. “But I am a hard worker and willing to learn,” she added, hoping that maybe this interview would fare better than the last three had. They’d all wanted waitressing experience and she didn’t have any. As soon as she’d said that to the managers at Denny’s and Longhorn, they’d shut down and the questions they’d asked had been a mere formality.

  “Waitressing?” she barked and Tessa felt her heart sink because she knew this wasn’t going any better than the last three interviews had.

  “No,” she replied.

  Patty studied her again her head titled slightly to the right, an assessing look on her face. “So you’re applying to be a waitress without any experience?”

  “Yes, like I said I’m a hard worker and I learn fast. I could be an effective employee,” Tessa said, trying not to allow her desperation show.

  “I don’t think we are the right fit for you. Why don’t you apply at the Denny’s right down the street?” Patty said, her hands on her hips.

  “I did,” Tessa growled, her hopes of finding a job here dashed by the woman’s words.

  “Sorry, hon. But I don’t really think you realize that I’m doing you a favor by saying no, this isn’t the place for your type. This is a biker bar,” Patty explained, a pained expression on her face.

  “I’m aware this is a biker bar, ma’am,” Tessa muttered, her anger at being rejected again by a prospective employer without a chance making her tone snarly.

  “But I don’t think you really understand what that means,” Patty said, making a little motion with her hand as she stepped back and turned to move away. Tessa wanted to throw a temper tantrum but knew it would do her no good. She was about to turn around and storm out of the bar when hard male hands landed on her hips, grabbing her. She didn’t think, she just reacted, likely because she was pissed off. Before she knew what she’d done, she was staring at the large bouncer lying on the floor at her feet blinking up at her in surprise that she’d just put him there.

  Patty turned around at the man’s loud grunt of surprised pain as he’d hit the floor hard and stared in shock at her six-foot-two employee. Laughter could be heard from several of the bar’s patrons. Tessa felt her cheeks heat because it was obvious that they’d intended to remove her from the building.

  “You all right, Devil?” Patty asked, an amused smile on her face as she watched him slowly get to his feet still looking shocked.

  “Yeah,” he grumbled, a dark glare directed at Tessa.

  “Sorry. I don’t like to be grabbed,” Tessa muttered.

  “Well then. When can you start?” Patty asked her, coming to stand beside her.

  “What?” Tessa asked, her heart suddenly pounding in her chest.

  “When can you start working?” she asked again, her brow raised as she watched Tessa, who was still surprised to be offered the job because she’d thrown a man on the floor when he’d grabbed her.

  “You mean I can have the job because I tossed your bouncer on the floor?” Tessa couldn’t help but ask, a little shocked that assaulting someone had gotten her the job she’d been refused.

  “Yep, if you can toss Devil then you’re more than capable of handling the men who frequent this place.” Patty laughed, a husky alm
ost hoarse sound that brushed along the senses like a knife’s blade. “Now how soon can you start?”

  Tessa felt a real smile touch her lips as she spoke. “I can start today if you want.”

  “All right. Well my other waitress will be in at one. Why don’t you come back then? I’m Patty by the way. I’m Hambone’s old lady and the manager of the bar while he’s in the big house,” Patty explained.

  “Oh, all right,” Tessa said, unsure what she meant by big house but assumed she must mean prison.

  “See you at one and don’t wear that,” Patty said, making a face as she motioned to Tessa’s outfit. Tessa frowned, unsure what they thought was wrong with what she was wearing. It was a professional looking outfit that she’d worn to all of her interviews. Dismissing the thought, she shrugged asking, “Jeans okay to wear?”

  “Yeah, jeans are fine,” Patty said, looking relieved.

  Tessa spent another five minutes talking with Patty before she left the bar, her excitement over finally getting a job making her almost giddy. She’d been over the constant search and she’d needed a job before the end of the month or she was going to start running out of money. Of course the pay wasn’t great but Patty had said that tips on most nights would make it almost fifteen dollars an hour, which wasn’t bad. At least it was something and with the small amount she still had squirreled away from the money her grandmother had left her, she would be fine.

  Tessa climbed into the small beat-up Honda. She pushed the key into the ignition and heard the loud squeal it made as she started the piece of junk. Damn, how long would she be able to use this damned thing before it decided to die on her? A month? Two? She didn’t know but she hoped it was more than that because fixing it wasn’t going to be easy and would likely wipe out her small nest egg. She pulled out of the parking lot heading back to her house.

  Fifteen minutes later she was unlocking the door and entering her home. She tossed her keys on the little table she’d bought last week from a thrift shop. The house wasn’t filled with much more furniture than it had been when she’d arrived three months ago but it was clean, even if it was bare. She walked through the empty living room to the bedroom, which was the only fully furnished room at the moment. She’d purchased the basics, a headboard for the bed, a small dresser and night stand, and a 20” TV that sat across from the bed, all of which she’d gotten from a second-hand furniture store. The only other pieces she’d bought were two barstools for the small built-in bar. She’d found that she enjoyed working in the small garden and it was filled with flowers and cleanly trimmed hedges, which made it feel like home.

  Over the past few months she’d discovered that the world was much bigger than she’d first realized. It wasn’t that she hadn’t known how large the world outside her community was, it was just that she’d never really been a part of it. The world had seemed so much smaller when she’d been safely enclosed by the fences of her family’s compound. Life outside of the compound had opened her eyes in ways she’d never expected and she wasn’t ever going back to being penned up in that place again. She refused. Tessa wasn’t stupid; her uncles and her father would track her down, but she wouldn’t be going back with them.

  Grabbing a pair of jeans and a pink v-neck shirt from her dresser, she changed her clothes and headed into the kitchen to see what she had in the fridge for lunch. She hadn’t gone food shopping this week yet but she’d ordered a few takeout meals. She would have to go shopping soon, she knew, or she’d starve. She liked going to the little market down the street instead of the large chain grocery that was closer because the food was mostly organic.

  Grabbing the pizza box, she opened it to find two slices left. She smiled and placed them on a pan and set them in the oven to warm. She loved pizza. It was one of the things she’d never eaten because no one in the compound made it often or as well as the New York style pizza place she’d discovered did.

  She turned on the TV in the bedroom and sat down with her pizza to watch Supernatural reruns with a little sigh. She smiled because she was doing better than she had been when she’d started her day today. She had a job so she wouldn’t run out of money for utilities or food by the end of the month. She was relieved to finally have some income and she just hoped she didn’t lose this job.

  Chapter Five

  Buck climbed off his bike in the parking lot of Hambones with a groan.

  “Still hurts like a bitch, huh?” Crank asked as Buck rolled his shoulder, trying to relieve the pain.

  “Fuck yeah. Damn that little bastard,” Buck grunted, still pissed at the fucker who’d ripped his shoulder out of its socket trying to escape his punishment for fucking with the club. Little fucker should have known better.

  “Yeah, I thought you were going to kill him before Choke got a chance to talk to him about it,” Crank said with a little laugh.

  “Fuck, I almost did. Whatever, let’s just get some beers for fuck’s sake.” Buck headed towards the bar, pulling open the door and shuffling inside. He nodded to Devil at the door as he headed towards their table. Dice and Tweak were already sitting there when he plopped down.

  “How’d it go?” Dice asked.

  “Taken care of in under twenty minutes. Little fucker sang like a canary the second he was sat down in the chair,” Buck grumbled, eyeing the beer in front of Dice with envy.

  “Yeah, that little weasel never had any balls. I can’t understand how he thought he was gonna get away with stealing from us,” Tweak muttered, shaking his head as he took a swig of his beer, his eyes tracking someone near the bar. Buck turned, looking to see what had Tweak’s attention. It took him a second but he finally found the heart-shaped ass of a woman that made his teeth ache and his cock hard.

  “New waitress?” Buck asked, wondering if his night might not be a little better than it was a minute ago because that was one fine ass and he was good with women. They loved him and he never had much trouble getting them in his bed.

  “Yep,” Tweak said, a smile curling his lips. “But don’t get your hopes up. That one’s not like the normal ones.”

  “She will be just as easy as they always are,” Buck said, his eyes trained on the tight ass of the woman. The jeans she wore were molded to her like a second skin and his cock throbbed. She was short, about five foot, with dark hair that flowed over her shoulders in thick curls that made his fingers itch to tug at them while he fucked her. She finally turned around and he got a good look at the front of her. Buck shifted in the seat, a little growl coming from his lips as she leaned forward more, exposing a slight bit of skin when she reached across the table to wipe it down.

  Damn, she had nice tits too and that little view of olive-colored globes twisted him up in knots for some reason. It was ridiculous how turned on he was by the sweet piece of ass he was watching. The short glimpses of skin and hints of cleavage as she went about cleaning the tables were driving him insane.

  Tweak waved her over and she nodded. After she finished cleaning off the table, she set the rag she’d been using on the counter and grabbed a tray. When she was standing next to the table she smiled and Buck knew why Tweak had warned him away. There was an innocence about her smile that said she wasn’t anywhere near his type. Well that sucked, didn’t it, because this woman screamed good girl, which meant he and every other man who frequented this bar shouldn’t even be in the room with her, much less a bed.

  “Hello, beautiful. Why don’t you bring another round of lagers for me and the boys and have them put it on Buck’s tab,” Tweak said with a knowing grin. Buck glared at him but he kept his mouth shut because she didn’t need to hear him cuss Tweak out.

  “Sure thing,” she said, taking all the empty beer bottles and shot glasses from the table.

  “A double shot of whiskey too,” Buck added.

  When she moved away with the tray headed to the bar, he leaned back into the booth still watching her wiggle and shake that ass as she walked away. The sad part was he’d bet his last dollar that she had no i
dea how enticing her movements were and that made him want to put his fist through the wall. What was a girl like her doing in a place like this?

  He tried to puzzle out why she was working here, not to mention why he was so drawn to the little bit of fluff. He watched her throw the bottles into the recycling bins at the bar while he tried to figure out what to do about this because she couldn’t work here. She’d end up getting hurt and Patty should have known better.

  She was returning with the beers when Gator told her she had a sexy ass, making her turn red. Buck shook his head trying to clear the jumble of his thoughts as he listened to bullshit about the fight Vice had bet on which was tomorrow night. The girl would have to go after her shift tonight; he would handle getting rid of her. Patty shouldn’t have hired her in the first damned place and he would have to handle it before it became a problem. She needed a job that would be more suited to a woman like her. Something like a receptionist or a dog walker or some other less dangerous shit.

  Buck didn’t fucking know what kind of job she should get—and frankly he didn’t give a fuck. She wouldn’t be able to handle working on a rowdy night when the drinks were heavy and the boys were wound up. He was unsure why Patty, who normally had a good head on her shoulders, had hired her. She wasn’t worldly and she would likely end up getting raped or worse if she stayed here. This was a biker bar, for fuck’s sake.

  She sashayed up to the table with their drinks, setting the two shots down in front of him. Buck didn’t hesitate, he just downed them back-to-back, setting the empty glasses on her tray before waving her away. She frowned a little but shrugged and walked away. Maybe she was smarter than he thought. She could work till it was time to close and then he’d take care of getting her pay and seeing her on her way—for good. Buck knew that Patty wouldn’t argue because her old man was part of the club and that meant when he said little miss innocent had to go, Patty would have her out of this bar so fast her head would spin. She was done working here.