You couldn’t say The Bastards didn’t help the local unemployment problem.
We went to the edge of the bar. A whole line of shouts came our way. I looked along the wall, seeing all of the framed pictures. They looked like memorable photos of the club’s accomplishments, most of them old, faded photographs of times gone by.
The rest of the place was furnished with leather and motorcycle parts. They even had a bike mounted near the ceiling with a bull’s skull placed on it, like a cult sacrifice.
“Where’s my brother?” Red asked.
A barrel-chested, staunch-looking man approached. He looked like he was still rocking Ozzy’s look with his long, black hair. I recognized him from earlier when they picked me up on the side of the road and from my research. Boots. He got his name because he always kept his boots clean. The only time he got them dirty was from, you guessed, a fight. He only let blood touch that fine leather.
“The boys?” Boots asked. “I think they’re in the back.”
A petite, slender girl with huge, fake breasts that looked like they were going to take her down grabbed Boot’s arm. She took a sip of her wine cooler and tried to stand on her toes to kiss him.
“Bootsy,” she started.
He dodged her kiss. With a snarl, he said, “I told you not to call me that.”
“But Bootsy—” she said.
Boots rolled his eyes at her. He turned his back to us. I didn’t want to know what he said to her after that.
Less than five minutes into our stay at The Bastard’s Backyard and Lee spotted us. He squeezed through the crowd to come up beside me. I think he stayed back for a moment so he could see me from behind. My skin crawled. Red was there to block him if he tried anything.
Lee clinked his beer bottle against Red’s. “Finally brought her around. What’s the rush?”
“Calm down, Lee,” Red replied.
“All I’m saying is it’s nice to see her.” Lee patted his Bastard brother on the shoulder. Red stiffened but relented, giving him a friendly slap on the back in return.
“You staying the night?”
“Lee, come on, man. She just got here.”
“Relax,” he said, leering back with that ratty smile. He parted his greased black hair. Out of everyone, he looked the roughest, like he spent his entire life in the gutter.
“I’m not trying to start nothing. All I’m saying is that if you’ve brought her around, and she’s staying, I expect to hear her screaming from upstairs. I expect the usual Red treatment.”
Violence flickered in Red’s glare.
“That’s enough, Lee. You’re lucky you’re a Bastard or I’d bust your face in.”
“I am a Bastard, Red, and that’s why I get to say whatever I want,” he said, laughing as he wandered off.
“The Red treatment,” I muttered under my breath.
“What?”
I didn’t know if he actually heard me or not as we lined up at the bar. Red had been checking out those taps ever since we walked in. I kind of felt like I drove him to drink. I could understand that. It was a wild night. He had thrown someone through glass.
My suspicions about the Red treatment were confirmed when the bartender arrived. She leaned over the bar to meet Red halfway. As she leaned over, she showed off her cleavage in her black, low-cut shirt. She had jet-black hair, looked like Joan Jett in fact, and had a tatted sleeve of koi fish, and she seemed very interested in Red.
“Red, didn’t know if you were stopping by tonight,” she said, flashing a smile, staying with him much longer than I liked.
I shouldn’t be shocked to find out that he might have many girls on the side. Red was a good looking guy, and I never bothered to ask. A classic mistake.
“I had some business to take care of. How you doing, Maxine?”
“Fine. Hope you didn’t beat yourself up with work. You look a little stressed.”
Red peered over at me. Stressed meant me.
“You going to introduce her?” Maxine asked.
I didn’t expect him to say “my old lady,” maybe he would say, “my property.” What was I to him? I figured I was in a trial period, kind of like those prospects outside. I would have to clean his bike, cook his meals, and suck his dick enough to prove I was worthy. None of that was going to happen at this point, yet I was still jealous as Maxine bent over the table and looked down at me.
“This is Ash,” Red said, jerking his thumb at me.
I didn’t say anything.
It was awkward.
He cut through the silence when asking for a beer. Before Maxine left, she gave him big eyes and a smoldering smile, all lit up and pretty and practically begging for the treatment. “Hope to see you later, Red.”
Another gaggle of girls, who looked even skimpier than Maxine—at least Maxine was working and she wore a top, not a bikini—flocked to Red’s other side. More. There were more?
“Red,” one blonde yelled, reaching for him.
He swatted at the air. She backed off.
“Not right now. I’m busy. Please, give us room,” he said.
Taking a hearty sip and walking from the bar, he spun around and asked, “You want anything?”
I thought about being difficult and saying “I want to leave,” but decided against it. Red probably had my life planned out for me already.
“I’ll have some water.”
“Water for the lady,” Red said. Maxine tossed him a bottle. He handed it over and we started to walk away from all of the commotion. I almost didn’t see the tables far away on the opposite side of the dance floor. A bunch of ladies sat around the table. All wearing leather jackets, from what I could see, they weren’t getting up and serving anyone.
They weren’t just any ladies. They were the old ladies.
Highly respected, some of them married to their men, some of them not, but all were untouchable, as untouchable as their male counterparts, the old ladies congregated in the corner, laughing and having a good time in heated conversation. I was kind of jealous. I missed having friends like that. They looked like they were having fun.
Before we could go to wherever he would take me next, someone came waving from the back room for Red. Hispanic, tall, dark, and handsome with medium-length black hair, he looked to be in his late twenties. My research hadn’t described him at all.
“Hey, Red, they want you for a meeting.”
“Meeting right now?” Red asked, the foam from his beer drenching his beautiful lips. My arousal stirred as I thought about him savoring me like that.
“Right now, they said it’s urgent.”
Where did that leave me? I reached out and glanced Red’s hand. He didn’t budge, but grumbled, “All right.” Not moving a muscle, he scanned the room. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who was confused by him. The suave Bastard standing there looked confused as well.
“I’ve got her with me.”
Her. He’s got her. I was just annoying property to him. A thing that can be tossed away when he gets bored.
I looked so miniscule and weak standing behind the giant biker. These strangers looked like a wild pack of dogs, hungry for new meat. As soon as my protection left, I would be ripped to shreds.
“She can stay with Rox. She’ll show her around.”
“That’d be great, Ramos.”
They started toward the back table. I froze. I was being introduced to the old ladies already? They would ask questions. Lots of questions. I would need to be vetted. Sometimes, especially when I was with Red, I forgot I was undercover. Now it hit me hard.
“Come on,” he said. When I still didn’t move, he took me by the hand. His touch was welcome. Why couldn’t he just be cool and not so demanding? I knew the answer. He was used to taking whatever he wanted. He wasn’t used to a woman who put up a fight.
They brought me over to the table, but I still stood behind Red, using his massive size for cover. Ramos waved at one of the women at the table.
“Rox.”
“Yeah?”
“Take care of—” Ramos looked to me.
“Ash,” Red interjected.
“Take care of Ash. Show her around, introduce her, we’ve got a meeting.”
Red pushed me softly ahead. He leaned down to my ear, giving me a shiver, and the naughty thought of him taking a bite of it and then doing more.
“Be good. I’ll be back soon. They’ll be nice if you are.”
Then, without a word, he was gone, into the back with Ramos. There was a pause as the old ladies looked me over, studying me. It was a tense moment. The next, they were beaming.
“Hey, name’s Roxy. Have a seat. You want something other than water?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, I suppose.”
“They make killer mixed drinks here. Or what do you drink...the heavy stuff? I don’t want to assume.” She tipped a hand onto her hip, looking ultra cool.
“One of the mixed drinks will be fine,” I said, taking a seat.
“Cool,” Roxy said. She walked right over, yelled for a drink, and then introduced the ladies, who seemed interested in meeting me, but I remained cautious. I knew these women had their mouths and ears to very powerful and dangerous men. One slip-up and I could be out on my ass.
Next to me was Joy, who made me even more worried, since she was King’s old lady. She was a busty, confident, and tough blonde. Your typical blonde bombshell. She wore her jacket with pride. When she was introduced, she seemed extremely nice, shaking my hand and telling me that she was glad Red finally brought a real girl to the club. A nice compliment, but I didn’t like the idea of Red bringing around anyone else.
I wasn’t sure what she meant by real girl, until I picked up on the scorn Joy held for some of the skimpy ones strutting around the club. A few began to gyrate to the jukebox. After senior members went to the late meeting, things were getting rowdier.
Next in line came Ema, who was Boot’s old lady. A no-nonsense Italian woman, she looked like Joy’s counterpart but with medium-length black hair. She told me, “Pleasure to meet you. You’ll be just fine here, hun,” with a deep, gravely voice.
Then there was Roxy, the spunky jewel of Ramos’s eye. I expected there to be more.
“Aren’t there more of you?” I asked, hoping I wouldn’t have to already bite my tongue.
“Yeah, plenty more,” Joy said. “We don’t go to this dump too much.”
“It’s not a dump,” Ema said.
Joy disagreed. “It is.”
“It’s not.”
“We don’t come here very often,” Joy finished. “A lot of the old ladies don’t like to associate with the hanger-ons. Things can get a little wild here. We like to have our wild times at other places, don’t we, girls?”
“That’s right,” Ema said.
One of the random girls brought my drink over to me. It was something pink in a fishbowl with a sugary watermelon slice on the top. Sugary sweetness with a kick of alcohol helped me relax.
“There’s bonuses of having them around, though,” Emma said, pointing to the waitress as she left.
“Yes, there is,” I said, taking another sip and groaning. It seemed like I was fitting in already, which was a strange thing, since I didn’t really get along with a lot of girls. I didn’t have many girl friends. I tended to stick to myself.
“What brings you here? Not to scare you with questions, but you seem like a sweet girl.” Joy took a sip from her equally sized fish bowl of liquor.
If they only knew. I didn’t know how to answer the question, but I tried my best.
“I suppose we all just sort of...fall into this sort of thing, huh? We see some guy who interests us, looks exciting, they hook us in, and we’ve got to see for ourselves.”
“Now you see,” Ema said in her sultry, rough voice that made her seem like the alpha female in any group. I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side. She could knock me out with those huge, mature breasts, never mind those huge fists of hers. Ema nodded to the girls in the corner rubbing up with one another, making a show for attention.
“You’re not like one of those girls, so what’s Red’s plan for you? He doesn’t bring your type around a lot.”
The other girls shot Ema a glare. Joy especially.
“Does he bring a lot of girls around?” I asked.
Of course I cared. I kissed him, almost let him deeper, had fantasies about this man, of him taking me, claiming me, using me like I’d never allowed another before. I needed to know how many girls he had lined up. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, a part of me wanted him. A part of me that was already taken.
The other girls couldn’t keep their drinks down when I asked.
Joy landed a hand on mine. The wise sage looked into my eyes and told me, “You’re fine. He likes you. Don’t you see that? Don’t be confused about what’s going on around you. Red’s always been a stand-up guy. I’ve been waiting for him to bring along someone like you.”
They knew nothing about me. Not really.
“All we really know about her is that she wears pants and t-shirt,” Roxy astutely added.
“That’s good enough here,” Ema replied, throwing her head back at the crowd behind her.
I laughed and took another long sip. The fruit masked the alcohol well. I could feel the lift, the alcohol coursing through me. I leaned back and scanned the room. This wasn’t that bad. At least I had these old ladies to comfort me. Red abandoned me, but these girls were more than accommodating.
“I don’t see how you girls can put up with all this. If my man was around this all day, I’d be pissed,” I said.
Roxy turned away and drank her beer. Even Joy, who seemed understanding, scowled at the implication.
“They don’t get involved with these girls. Our men know we’d have their balls hanging from the rafters if they actually did anything. We’d take that little bike down and string up their balls.”
“We’d do it with pleasure,” Roxy said, kicking her feet out and looking up at the ceiling, like she wanted to pull the bike down now. I imagined one night she might try.
“You become an old lady, you get certain privileges, certain rights over your man, whether they like to admit it or not. They’ll fight you tooth and nail and try to deny it, but it’s the truth. You’ve got power as an old lady.”
“Oh, stop grooming the girl,” Ema said. “She’ll be fine. Let’s just show her a good time right now.”
I wondered...how much power did they really have compared to how much power they thought they had? I wasn’t sure. I’m not sure if they understood completely themselves, but I could’ve been wrong.
After our round table chat, we went to the bar and did shots. In my slightly buzzed state, I gave Maxine the evil eye, but I don’t think she even gave me the time of day. Roxy kept screaming for pickle shots.
“Keep that for the bedroom, Roxy. Pickle shot, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Ema grunted.
We took a sweet shot instead, something with pineapple. It mixed well with the alcohol, burning and leaving me buzzed. I was officially drunk. They were right. It was like I was already part of the crew.
Another group of Bastards walked into the bar as we settled from the shots. Joy looked at her phone and said, “It’s getting late.”
“Yeah, how long are we staying here, Joy?”
Roxy bobbed and drank to the music. For being short and tiny, she could hold her alcohol. It was always a beer. Or a shot. Nothing sweet.
“Until they’re done with their big boy meeting.”
“Oh God,” Ema groaned. “That could take forever. Let’s not wait for that. I don’t want to stay here with all this. They’re starting to get me nervous.”
Freshman members of The Bastards lined up for shots. Once they were done, they headed into what Ema called the “sea of sluts.” They were having a good time, and if they weren’t flirting with Red, I was fine with whatever happened.
One young guy with spiky, gelled hair lifted the shirt of a girl grinding against him. His hands massaged her breasts, her bare back snaking its way over his chest. At this rate, they would be fucking on the dance floor in no time.
As Ema and Joy got more disgusted, I got more nervous. If they left, I would be alone. I wasn’t sure where I was sleeping. I couldn’t run away. I was under Red’s rules, but he was nowhere to be found.
Ema took a step toward Roxy. “Hey, Roxy, you staying here for a while?”
“Hmm?” She wasn’t paying attention, lost in her own world of dancing in place.
“You’ve got to wait for Ram, right?”
“Yeah, gotta wait,” she said, hardly paying attention. There were beats to groove to.
“Mind if you take care of the newbie for the rest of the night? Make sure she has somewhere to stay and she’s comfortable, because who knows how long those guys are going to be at it.”
“Yeah, that’s fine,” Roxy said. Not a care in the world.
“All right, let’s get the hell out of here,” Ema said.
“Calm down, Em, it’s not like it’s the first time you saw some dancing,” Joy said, then she got close to me in a motherly sort of way and told me that I’d be fine, that Roxy would take care of everything.
“No problem,” I said. Once again, I had no choice. The others left me with Roxy. Sensing my unease, she stopped bobbing in place.
“Sorry they asked you so many questions,” she said. “They were interested in you. I know Red and his brother Jackal, and they don’t seem like the type to be into, no offense, a girl like you.”
“People keep saying that. I’m not sure what that means.”
“You seem...stable. Anyway, my point was I felt like they were prying too much, and I don’t want to do that. So let’s just chill, yeah? Want a beer or something?”
“I’m good. I’m pretty tipsy from that fishbowl and the shot.”
Lucas (A Billionaire Bad Boy Novel) Page 24
