by K. J. Dahlen
I sat back down and she plopped her ass back down onto my lap. I growled and wanted to push her off my lap, but she just wouldn’t take a hint.
“What do you make of my outfit? Too much?” She paused for several beats. “Or too little,” she said. I could tell she’d used that line before. She reached her right hand around to her back and unclipped her bra. “Give me a hand, will ya?” she asked, pulling a sweet face.
When I didn’t comply, she turned her body to face me completely and flung the bra behind her then straddled my thighs on her knees. She sat up on her knees and her tit touched my top lip. I’m ashamed to admit that it sent a surge of heat through my cock. Dammit! I sat back in my seat looking at her.
There was a defiant grin on her face as if she enjoyed her power over me.
I reached out to finally disentangle her from my body. Enough was fucking enough.
“Jax?” Bruno’s firm voice sounded from behind the girl.
I craned my head around her body and looked at Bruno – wide eyed with mild embarrassment as my hands gripped her arms. I shoved the girl off of my lap as Viper and Bruno stared at her topless body.
She seemed rather embarrassed considering that she was a stripper. Crestfallen and humiliated, she made a hasty exit toward the bathroom; she gave me the middle finger after she was safely behind Viper.
“We’re leaving,” I said, just as the music started to flare up again and I shot the musicians a glare.
Bruno nodded, hurriedly. “Yep. We’re leaving. Viper’s driver will take me back in her car.” Bruno looked more breathless and flushed than I was ‒ sweating through his shirt.
“You have my number;” Viper said to Bruno, “Call me, anytime.” She spoke in a way that was far too desperate. Clearly, she wanted Bruno and herself to be something more than just casual friends. Something a lot more sexual.
Bruno had drunk one too many tonight ‒ he looked head over heels for that bitch. Just as it started to look like a stomach turning blossoming romance between them, Bruno caught sight of me noticing him and his face turned serious. “Thanks, we’ll be in touch,” he told the woman. He shook her hand before proceeding toward the exit.
The volume of the music simmered down as the door drew to a close behind us.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Jax,” Bruno remarked, a little sheepishly.
Embarrassed too, I responded with a short, “Yep, tomorrow.” With a final curt nod, I pivoted my body and strode toward my bike. Fuck knows what time it is. I pulled out my keys and watched Bruno steep his great body into the back of the SUV. The door slammed shut. I swung my leg over my Harley, straddling it as the SUV exited the parking lot.
Right before I was about to turn my key in the ignition, something stopped me. I paused and let out a short breath. Guilt rushed through my veins for having allowed Sasha to dance for me while Chloe slept at home. It was the first time I’d felt the Jax I wasn’t proud of swell up inside of me since I’d been with Chloe. She was different from all the other girls I’d been with. I’d thought that since making Chloe mine, I was different too.
DING.
The sound of my cell alerting me to a text message cut through my moment of silent remorse. When I slid my cell out of my jacket pocket, I discovered that it wasn’t a text I was being notified of. Eleven missed calls from Dino flashed onto the display.
I called Dino on my speed dial. No answer. Twice more I called Dino’s mobile, and then the home phone, but nobody picked up. Only then, did my eyes shift to the time at the top of the screen and I realized that it was past three in the morning. I instantly felt a second round of regret, and fired up the engine of my motorcycle to get home to them as quickly as I could.
On the ride, I hoped that at least everything was all right with Chloe and Sheila, because for Devil’s everything was far from okay. My mind churned at the thought of trafficking drugs into Coronado, let alone at the thought of working with Viper’s team. I’d heard enough about them to know they were very bad people, merciless and without honor. The cartel could turn on the Devils without warning, and take us for everything we held dear. So much about this foolish arrangement was inherently high risk, and completely out of my control.
I needed a plan. Somehow, I had to talk Bruno out of this foolishness or my club would be fucked.
Chapter Eight
Chloe
“You shouldn’t be here, Chloe,” a very serious voice stated in a deep accented tone.
How did this stranger know my name? Heart pounding. Sweat percolating, I stood nervously and scanned this hulking man with my eyes. I could hardly see him. The scary looking figure had a haunting presence; his face masked by the darkness. All I had to go by was his voice. Was it Central American, Italian or Mexican?
The intimidating spectra breathed heavy as though forcing oxygen into his lungs.
I was breathing heavy too –with pure terror. My eyes fixed on the man as I awaited his next move. At this point, I could only infer one thing for certain – mom and I were in some deep shit.
Should I run away and hope he wouldn’t chase me? Or, do I force my way inside and see if mom was ok? My mind couldn’t decide but my body chose for me – do nothing…every muscle in my body felt stiff with fear. I shivered, breathed in, and then gave the shadowed hulk a small smile as though it would somehow impact my fate.
Slowly, he stepped backward indicating that I come inside.
When I didn’t move he said, “I’m not going to hurt you.” His voice firm but soft. Stepping closer toward me until the toes of our shoes were touching, he locked his hands around my upper arms. His grip was so tight that his fingernails dug into my tense, contracted muscles.
He bent down to meet my face until I could feel his breath over my brow. He held me there for a long time—long enough to frighten the hell out of me. He was staring at my face, studying it. I still couldn’t see him but I felt like he saw me perfectly even in the darkness.
Finally, I spoke, “You’re right. I shouldn’t be here,” I said through my frightened, labored breaths. I still couldn’t see the man’s face but I’d seen enough. I tried to step backward out of the doorway, but my scared shitless body wouldn’t let me. His hands restraining me wouldn’t let me either.
Overwhelmed, I snapped, “What the fuck do you want with my mother? She doesn’t owe you anything. Roy’s debts are his alone. What don’t you people understand about that?” I blurted out in an intense panic.
I could make out that the man shook his head slowly. He seemed genuinely confused. “Nobody said anything to me about any debt,” he said, loosening his grip on me and turning around as though he had an accomplice with him.
“Don’t bullshit me. Why the fuck would you be here if it wasn’t for that reason? What have you done to her?” I said, trying to sound like somebody he didn’t want to mess with. I craned my head around the man frantically, but I couldn’t see a damn thing.
Screw it. I hadn’t come all this way to leave without knowing whether she was ok. “Mom? Mom!” I called into the house.
Nothing.
“MOM!” I yelled again, my voice echoed over the street and a dog barked from a house behind me, startling me.
“Shhh,” the man hushed me.
“What? You scared somebody will call the cops on you? That’s what you deserve,” I snapped, fidgeting in his grasp, trying to break free.
Suddenly, the light in the hall turned on and a female voice whispered loudly from the stairs, “No, what are you doing? I told you not to answer the door to anybody. Get back in here and close it now.”
The person’s body was blocked by the stranger in the doorway, but it had to be my mom. I didn’t know what this man had done to her yet, but at least, she was still alive.
In the same moment, the stranger’s face was revealed in the light and I was stunned. Something told me I knew this man. I had a gut feeling about the look of his face and eyes but it couldn’t be possible. I reasoned that I was simply tired and emot
ional. I shook off my feelings about the man; he couldn’t be who I thought he was.
The stranger let go of my body with one hand and stroked my hair as though trying to soothe me into submission.
Not. Fucking. Happening.
“Mom? Mom, are you all right?” I called inside, again. I knew she was in there. But for some reason, she didn’t respond.
The man stopped stroking my hair, and in a burst of courage, or foolishness, I broke free from his grasp just as he went to grab my arm again. I used both hands to break free from his other hand then barged past and across the threshold into the house. Although, I was well aware that once inside, there was no way I’d be able to fight the huge man if he attacked me or blocked my exit. But I had to make sure mom was ok. Hell, nobody else was going to if I didn’t.
My mom was sat halfway down the stairs. She looked very slight as though she hadn’t eaten in a week, but from what I could see there wasn’t a scratch on her. Even more bizarrely, she looked dolled up; dressed up to the nines – hair curled and makeup still on even at this late hour, and a bright, rosy complexion to her cheeks.
“Chloe? It’s really you!” She shot up, ran down the stairs, and threw her arms around me.
As she did, I heard the front door click shut behind me and I got the sinking feeling this would probably be the last moment of relief I was going to have this evening.
After a brief embrace, she tore her body from mine and looked me in the eyes. “We should talk, Pumpkin,” she whispered with a streak in her eye that was all business.
I narrowed my eyes at her. Pumpkin? She hadn’t called me that in years. “Mom, what’s going on?” I could feel the man’s eyes on me from behind and I spun around to face him “Get. Out. Am I making myself clear?” I warned, my voice firm and aggressive.
“Chloe, you’re safe. I’m not going to hurt you. Let’s sit down for a minute.” He moved toward me again.
I forced my way past him and yanked the door open. “I told you to get out. Now!” I yelled, my voice a severe warning. When he grabbed hold of my hand from behind me, I crushed my elbow back into his stomach. To my dismay, as my elbow struck his body I realized he was solid as a rock – as though his muscles were impenetrable without a knife or a bullet.
“Chloe, No!” my mother cried out.
She hadn’t moved. Why was she choosing to stay here? The intruder still had a firm grip of my hand.
Nobody said a word until Mom’s frightened, cracked voice interrupted the silence, “It’s Jesse. Chloe. He’s your Dad.”
The two of us stood there and stared at each other for a second.
I shook my head rapidly. “You’ve lost it mom. You’ve lost it!” I yelled at her, wrestling in his grip and shoving the man toward the front door. I glared at him. I refused to believe what she was saying. No. It couldn’t be. My dad had been dead ten years. “What the fuck don’t you understand? My mom doesn’t have your money, so stop wasting your time! Don’t you see what you’ve done to her, you bastard? She’s all mixed up. You’ve already put her though hell!”
“I don’t know about any money,” the man said, squinting his eyes at me. “How much are we talking about here?”
I didn’t answer him. Instead, I studied his face for a long while. It suddenly stuck me as odd that the intruder wasn’t wearing a mask… a very brazen thing to do for a criminal. He wore very tasteful black combat trousers and a black button-up shirt. His face was cold, but he looked strangely comfortable with me being here. His expression showed that he knew me.
Suddenly, my breath hitched. My heart began to pound.
My eyes widened and my jaw dropped in a profound moment of realization. I knew who I thought this man was but how could it be possible? Not unless he were back from the dead. The man looked like my father. Unless I was looking at a ghost or something, it had to be one of his close relatives. I eyed the man’s body and face; unsure of my feelings. Confusion, panic and rage battled within me. How could this be true? It couldn’t be. This man was playing some kind of game. I needed to protect my mom at all costs.
I’d been about to threaten to walk out of the door unless mom came with me but a sudden reality stopped me in my tracks. “You are my dad. Aren’t you?” I asked, hoping to get an honest answer.
He nodded and glanced over at my mother who gave him a knowing smile back of equal measure. I was beginning to see that the pair was apparently in on the secret together and obviously an item.
His admission dropped like a bomb on my heart. My fear instantly transformed into a rage. “You son of a bitch, you were alive and you never told me!” I glared at him in disgust. “You left us, left mom to struggle for ten years.”
“Chloe!” Mom exclaimed.
“And you!” I said, turning to my mother. “You knew he was alive all this time and you never told me? I risked my life coming over here because I thought you were in trouble, and for what? To watch you two playing happy families together?”
Mom quickly shook her head. “No, I didn’t. I just found out a day ago,” she said softly.
I took my time thinking about what to say next. What was I supposed to say?
Dad took a cigarette out of his pocket, lit it, and had a moment of calm flood over his face. He exhaled a long, deep breath.
“You’ll set off the fire alarm,” I said with a roll of my eyes as I passed him and went down the hallway and into the kitchen. I didn’t care about smoking, Jax smoked. I just wanted to be as rude as I fucking could. How dare he just show up after all this time? I sat down at the kitchen table.
Seconds later, mom and…dad, appeared through the doorway, the cigarette gone from his mouth.
“You need to know that I’ve wanted to come and see you since I returned. But your mother convinced me that it wasn’t safe for me to do so. Ask me anything you want Chloe and I’ll answer it. Ok?”
Mom and Jesse looked at each other. Mom was visibly shaking. He leaned into her and gave her a caring kiss on the forehead.
My heart stuttered. How could she let him do that after what he’d done to her? She wasn’t his. She was my mom. The mom I’ve had to look out for while he’d been MIA for years on end. “You should be dead,” I said, tears welling in my eyes.
Jesse explained, “I know you thought I was dead. Everybody thought I was. But I never intended for it to be that way. I never wanted to fall down into that basement. But when I did, and managed to get out. I was hurt. I didn’t want anyone to know I was still alive so I hid out for a while to recover.” He gave a heavy sigh. “After a while, I realized that the two of you would be better off without me. I caught up with what Jumper had done, and I was watching the Bloods’ MC very carefully while I was working very hard to keep the cartel out of California.”
I stared at him, blankly. I didn’t want to know what he’d gotten into. I wanted to know why his conscience allowed him to abandon us all these years.
There was an awkward and weighty pause as dad decided how he would continue.
“What do you want from me and mom now? It’s too late to fix what you broke in our hearts ten years ago.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
Stubbornly, Dad continued to explain, “By then, enough time had passed that I didn’t want to come back into your lives. It would’ve been to your harm if I had. But I kept an eye on you. I thought your mom had gotten over me with Roy, I didn’t know what was really going on with Roy until recently.”
“Oh, yeah. A real good protector you were!” I blurted out, reprimanding him. “You didn’t even know what was going on all that time. So, as much as I’d like to play happy family like you two, I can’t have you back in my life after what you did. It’s been ten years! You abandoned us.”
He knew it was the truth. “I understand your frustration, Chloe. I really do. But the danger yourself and your mom are in is a pressing matter for us all. I’m going to help you Chloe, whether you want me to or not,” he declared.
This statement sat in the room for a lo
ng beat.
It was as though he didn’t even blame himself for what had happened. I stood up to leave, and then had another thought and sat back down. “One more thing…It was you. Wasn’t it? You killed Roy,” my words hissed through my lips.
“Ok…let’s not overreact. I was just looking out for you and your mother’s best interest.”
Mom’s eyes welled with tears.
I stared at him, completely enraged. Jax could have gone down for what my father had done. “Admit it. I need to hear you say it,” I yelled.
“Hell yeah, I took care of that bastard. You want me to apologize or something?”
Anger swept through me again. “No!” I yelled, tears streaming down my cheeks. I shifted my gaze over to my mother and her tears were flowing too. We gazed at each other intensely but said nothing. “I still don’t get it.” I looked up at him. “Why now? Roy’s been a shithead bastard for the past seven years. Why did you decide to come back, now of all times?” I asked, rubbing my eyes to clear them of tears. I scooted my chair forward toward the table and sat there – numb ‒ my head resting on my hands. I didn’t really want to leave and yet, I didn’t really want to stay either. I didn’t know what I wanted to do.
“Pumpkin, give him a chance,” mom added.
It was sweet that she thought dad and I could overcome the problems we had but she didn’t understand. I’d only just forgiven him for his obsession with bikes and his MC that had caused our family so much pain.
I glanced up at him.
His lips parted a little as though he was about to say something but he didn’t. He looked like he wanted to word what he had to say carefully. A minute later, he spoke, “I saw you that night at the gravesite. I heard what you had to say and it touched my heart, ok? Is that what you wanted to hear? Happy? That’s when I decided to risk my neck to come and save you.”
I stared at him for a long time, remembering what I said the night I had Dino drive me to the graveyard… “Dad, I want you to know that I am sorry. I am sorry for bitterness I felt in my heart towards you over the years. I know I’ve said to mom that I found it selfish how you pursued your passion for bikes to the extreme and left mom and me to pay a heavy price. I guess I want you to know that I don’t blame you for being in a coffin in the ground anymore. I know you tried to save Jax. You stepped into a death trap nearing its inevitable collapse just to save a stranger. Now I know what a good man you were, just like mom always told me. I know she loved you very much, and I do too.”
