Inflamed: A Shadow Riders MC

by Kiki Leach

I groaned. "Great."

  "If I could help you out with more than this shit, I would."

  "Yeah," I told him. "Thanks."

  "Now we should really get back up in there and get your shit out of your bedroom. Pack whatever clothes you can in a few bags and we'll get the furniture hitched up and on its way to the garage with the other pieces."

  "Okay, thanks. But, the toys," I said, "and all of that stuff for Avery, where did it come from?"

  "River, darlin'. Gave us the money before he left and told us to go buck wild with it without going too overboard. Said he wanted your girl to be as comfortable as possible at the club and thought surrounding her with all that shit might help." He smiled and pat me on the shoulder, then moved around me and headed up the stairs and back into my apartment along with the others.

  Before heading back up for myself, I stared down at the phone in my hand and wrapped my fingers around it.

  What if all of this is for nothing? What if I'm giving up my entire life and everything my child and I have ever known for a life and a man who may not even be able to protect us from what's to come like he claims?

  I might've felt safe with him, but it sure as hell didn't mean that I was.

  I turned back to my apartment and inhaled. I knew that once we were gone from Tampa that nothing would ever be the same for us again. I didn't know what the hell was coming next, but I was certain that whatever it was would be entirely unforgettable. And maybe not so much in the best possible way ever.

  Chapter Seven

  Everyone sat in complete silence around that hand carved table in the small chamber where they held church at the clubhouse, after River informed his brothers of what had gone down with Mia earlier that day, and why. Some of them were openly surprised he had agreed so quickly in allowing her to stay, while others like Tiny, were just downright pissed the hell off that they hadn't been informed about it prior to his agreement with her. Or at the very least, given a goddamn heads up before he decided to ship her shit from her own place to theirs, courtesy of the remaining and newbie prospects.

  "I know this might still be a foreign concept to you, motherfucker," stated an incensed and red-faced Tiny, "even after all these goddamn years of your unworthy ass continuin' to sit in that chair at Prez's side. But bein' ‘VP’ of this club don't mean that you just get to do whatever the fuck you want like some kinda dick waggin' asshole lookin' to impress some bitch you may never fuck, without lettin' other folks know about that shit first." He tossed his long, thick braid over his shoulder and stroked his shaggy, grey beard down to the center of his chest. "Wearin' that patch on your chest and havin' all those goddamn tattoos on your back and arms don't mean that you can just let these bitches stay within our goddamn clubhouse and not have a single goddamn reasonable explanation for it--!"

  "What the fuck are you talkin' about?!" spat River, opening his hands in question. "I just gave you a list of goddamn reasons for it, Old Man."

  Tiny adjusted in his chair as fury sparked in his eyes. The one thing he hated being called in front of the other seven brothers more than any other thing in the world, was 'old'. The man was old, as a matter of fact, he was just a few years older than Wolf, who himself was pushing sixty at best, which made him the oldest member to date of the Crescent Beach charter. But it wasn't something he liked being reminded of on a daily basis, and certainly not by motherfuckers he was currently looking to throttle.

  "You been too goddamn comfortable in that spot for too motherfuckin' long, Young Buck. Throwin' all that goddamn weight around in places you shouldn't and ignorin’ all the places you should..." Tiny stopped to swallow and locked his jaw. He eyed Wolf, who sighed heavily and shook his head. "If we go along with this shit, and have this bitch stay here twenty-four hours of every goddamn day we've got, she's gotta do somethin' other than hide the fuck out from this asshole," he said, pointing at the table. "Cook. Clean. Get on her fuckin' goddamn knees and suck cock 'til she turns purple in the fuckin' face. Bitch's mouth oughta be good for somethin' other than tellin' your weak ass what to fuckin' do."

  River crossed his arms over his chest and breathed in deep to keep from speaking out of turn again or doing what he really wanted, which was flying across the table and putting Tiny out on his ass for only the second time in either of their lives. To say that these two men merely didn't get along unless they were piss drunk or fighting outside battles against the club, would be the understatement of the goddamn century.

  Their hatred ran long and deep, and had from the moment River first slid on his official cut, and not long after donned that highly coveted VP patch sewn in just above the pocket on the right side; a patch Tiny had been sure for years should've belonged to him instead.

  In all his years of being a member and standing at Wolf's side the minute he was sworn in by his own father, Tiny never banked on the next heir apparent to the Shadow Riders throne being the bastard son of some bitch his former best friend found on the side of the goddamn road and took in as ... what? A lover? A pet? Somebody he just wanted to look at once Verna started sagging in all the wrong places? He didn't fucking know it then, and until one drunken night spent with that same bitch inside the club during an unofficial lockdown, he never thought he would find out.

  He bent over the table and kept his eyes focused on his nemesis. Goading him was the best he knew he could do since laying his hands on him again was liable to get him tossed out of not only church, but the club as a whole, and for good this time.

  "This bitch can't just hang around here showin' her goddamn tits all fuckin' day," he said, "just 'cause maybe you wanna be the only motherfucker to sit around and look at 'em, hopin' she'll whip one out and let you suck--"

  "I'm sorry if this bitch ain't young enough for you to fuck with that shriveled up cock, motherfucker," snapped River. "Maybe if you patrolled anywhere but the fuckin' playgrounds and parks for fresh pussy, you'd find a bitch willin' to stick with your ass longer than a goddamn day. Sick fuck."

  Tiny waved him off and slumped back in his chair. "After hearin' about you layin' pipe to that nineteen year old bitch who sure does seem to like screamin' her ass off when you give it to her good in every fuckin' hole she's got, you don't have a goddamn thing to say to me anymore about young pussy, motherfucker."

  "At least the bitches I fuck are legal, asshole--"

  "Yeah, well, maybe I'll sop up this bitch you're bringin' in here like a goddamn biscuit soaked in a plate of brown gravy." He brought a hand up to his mouth to suck on every finger and winked at him. "She's legal pussy too, right?” He grinned. “You know I’ve had my fair share of bitches just like her, tasty fuckin’ bitches too. They know how to work the shit they’ve got real fuckin’ well.”

  River nearly boiled over like a pot of water steaming on the stove and dropped his hands on the table it nearly broke. He leaned forward in his chair as if preparing to stand, but Wolf threw a fist into his chest and forced him back. Then he reached for the gavel and slammed it down twice.

  "Alright, that's enough," he said, watching as Tiny continued to appear smug. He turned back to River, whose eyes and face were growing redder with fury. “Hey." River turned to him and flared his nostrils like an enraged bull. Wolf frowned. "You got a thing for this bitch, son?” he asked.

  His shoulders dropped and he peered. "You've known me for thirty-eight goddamn years of my entire fuckin' life now. In all that time, have you ever known me to give a flyin' fuck about a bitch like this before?"

  "I've never known you to give a fuck about any bitch, no matter where she came from or what she looked like, 'cept for your child and your mother. But you're actin' a certain way about this bitch and damn near comin’ for Tiny like that makes me think you might care all the same. I know you and Blue bein' the ones to find her out there back then makes this shit mean more to you than the others in here, but--"

  "It don't mean a goddamn thing in the way you’re thinkin’ it might, Prez," he said.

  "Okay," replied Wolf in
a casual, but disbelieving tone. "So you tell us you don't give a shit, but like they say, there's a first time in life for everything."

  “Jesus fuckin’ Christ--"

  "All I'm sayin' is if you've got a real thing for this bitch, son, she's off limits to the rest of us. We know that. The way you covet shit around here, from your bike to your knife and glocks, and even your own goddamn daughter, I can't even imagine the kinda damage you'd do to the club if one of these motherfuckers got their hands on this bitch first."

  "And she's one real sweet piece of ass too," Blue mentioned. "Looks like she'd just melt inside your goddamn mouth if you ever got a fuckin' taste of her. Like a motherfuckin’ box of candy."

  River's eyes shot straight across to his best friend. He knew what game he was playing and wasn't angling to be a willing participant. He glared as Blue picked up his cigarette and took a long drag from it.

  "I remember what the fuck she looked like," said Wolf, nodding his head and tapping the head of the gavel inside his other hand. "Pretty brown skin and the face of a goddamn angel. She could only look better as she got older, that was clear to me back then. But that's not the point I'm makin'." He turned back to River and shoved his brows together. "If you're not lookin' to claim this bitch, or slap a patch on her ass, why the fuck are you goin' out of your way to help her out again with this Fontaine shit? Motherfucker's got nothin' to do with us anymore."

  "That motherfucker's got every goddamn thing to do with us, Wolf!" River growled. Wolf leaned back in his chair and narrowed his eyes. River swallowed hard, attempting to keep what little of his cool he had left. "This shit, keepin' this bitch here for the time bein', is for the sake of the club, not for the sake of my goddamn cock. Plenty of pussy strollin' through here for me if I just wanted that, and this bitch ain't got the kind I'm lookin' for." He glanced over at Blue, who continued to make faces and shook his head. "If we wanna rise up like a goddamn Phoenix from the ashes," he said to Wolf, "we need this bitch here in order to get to Ricky, put him to ground for good and get the other charters and our former contacts back on our side. We get our boys back who went nomad when that fuckin' fire broke out, we get this place up and runnin' again and makin' the kinda money that made us kings amongst the regular motherfuckers of this city. With her help, we start thrivin' again, flourishin' in the way we did before shit went to fuckin' hell and never came back up."

  "How do we even fuckin' know that this bitch ain't full of bull fuckin' shit?!" hollered Tiny. "She wants to stay here, she wants us to keep her safe from this fucked up son of a bitch and in exchange, she'll give you a fuckin' piece of some goddamn cloth?! To prove WHAT, asshole?! You keep tellin' us all this shit 'bout how her bein' here's supposed to fuckin' get us out of the goddamn hole we dug ourselves into years ago, but you haven't said shit else about how true any of this shit she told you even is! Not a single motherfucker in this goddamn room has heard shit about Fontaine or any of his lowlife, spic lookin' motherfuckin' ingrate family members since before he got put away for sellin' crack to those kids out in Tampa. Now all of a sudden, he's on his way out and after this bitch just 'cause she's got his fuckin' kid? Lil piss she shit out doesn't even have a goddamn dick!"

  "HEY!" Wolf hollered out, his voice sending a vibrant chill throughout the entire room. He pointed the head of the gavel in Tiny's direction and sneered. "What she is doesn't fuckin' matter. Family's important to that sick bastard, asshole. We all know what the fuck that shit means around here, blood or not. When your kids are sick, every Old Lady around here does what they can to make sure they're feelin' better, yeah? Every random bitch you ever knocked up over the last twenty fuckin’ years is taken care of by who, motherfucker? US. These women get together and even get some of the club bitches to help out when they can't all be in the same place at the same goddamn time with each other, right?" he asked.

  Tiny groaned and reluctantly bobbed his head. "Yeah, Prez, right." The club was his family, it was all of their family, which made them no different than Ricky and his, despite coming from two separate, yet very familiar, worlds.

  Wolf placed his gavel flat on the table and wrapped one hand inside the other. He cracked his knuckles and bent forward, resting his elbows on the edge. "I believe every goddamn word comin' outta this motherfucker's mouth," he said, using a single finger to point at River. "And if I believe him about this bitch and why he thinks she oughta stay here, it means he's worthy of believin'. Which means she's worthy of believin', no matter how you might fuckin' feel about the shit goin' down today like it did. Fontaine may not be comin' out this week, or maybe even the next. I'll have to put in some calls where I can to find out for sure the exact date he plans to make himself known to the streets again." He dropped his eyes to the table for less than a second, then scanned the room. "But either way, once he's loose, we'll be fuckin' ready for him."

  "How?" asked another member. All eyes turned to the back of the room and honed in on Shiver. The youngest and often one of the more quiet members of the club during their regular church meetings, he only spoke out when he felt not enough questions were being asked about something he deemed more important than the others. He wrinkled his nose, arched his brows and lifted his shoulders to add emphasis to his question. "We haven't dealt with that crazy motherfucker in years, and since being locked up for eight of 'em, who's to say he isn't any crazier than he was before he went in? And I'm talking about crazier than a shit house rat, Prez? Not to mention all the motherfucking connections he made while being locked up. For all we know, he could have every single goddamn member of every fucking club on his side and working against us. Even some motherfuckers within our own goddamn charters."

  The other members, sans River, Wolf and Blue, murmured in agreement and nodded their heads.

  "We haven't had shit for contacts in years, Prez," said Tiny. "Fuckin'. Years. After that goddamn fire broke out, no other motherfucker wanted to touch us cause they knew what it meant in doin' so. And the motherfuckers we do have on payroll are only good for scopin' out bitches that don't shoot up on a daily fuckin' basis so we don't take a dirty dick back home."

  River looked to his president and folded his arms.

  Tiny kept his eyes on River and grimaced. "You didn't think this shit through," he told him. "It's clear to every motherfucker in this room that you had your goddamn cock on the brain when it came to this black bitch whether you wanna sit there and fuckin' admit to that shit or not. And now we ALL might get fucked up by this asshole and his crew because of it--!"

  "LOOK!" hollered Blue. He pounded his hand on the table, forcing every man in the room to sit back and fall quiet as their eyes roamed over to their current Sergeant-At-Arms. "Maybe River wants to fuck this bitch, even if he says he doesn't. So fuckin' what? The minute you get a good look at her, you tell me you won't want the fuckin' same. My cock sure as fuck lost its goddamn mind when I thought about her pussy wrapped around it." He glanced at River, who remained stoic in his expression. "But I also believed him when he said that her bein' here could help us out. The shit that she knows about Fontaine is almost better than gettin' your goddamn hands on a pile of fuckin' gold. We're not the only motherfuckers who have wanted to put this sick son of a bitch to ground for years, we're just one of many. If we take him out, the kinda respect we'll get from every motherfucker inside this community and beyond it will put us even higher than we were before that goddamn fire broke out and damn near ruined us for good." He dropped back. "Yeah, I get it, you don't want the bitch here unless she's cookin' your food or suckin' your cock. I don't know, maybe she'll be down with both considerin' she's lookin' to bring her kid along to a shit hole full of angry bikers. But the fact of the matter is, VP's right. We need this bitch in order to gain back what we fuckin' lost because of that asshole. She's the key to unlockin' a door that's been shut to us for far too fuckin' long now and if lettin' her stay here means we get to finally put him where he fuckin' belongs? I don't see the goddamn problem with that."

  "All
this for just a fuckin' piece of cloth," said Tiny.

  "It's more than just the goddamn cloth, fucker," shouted River. "Bitch has got info, eye witness shit from bein' with him. If you actually listened to every fuckin' word I said the minute we walked in here and sat the fuck down, you'd know that shit. We don't only blow him outta the water, we bust up that motherfucker's entire goddamn corporation before it grows another fuckin' head on its shoulders. We might even get some of those assholes on our side once all is said and done. We wanna be bigger and better than the goddamn rest, this is the only fuckin’ way to make that shit happen. We don’t let her stay here, we lose every goddamn opportunity we’ve got in doin’ so.”

  Tiny gave him the dirtiest look he could as the other brothers sat back contemplating. Wolf reached for the gavel with one hand and skimmed his mouth and down his beard with the other. Blue eyed River and nodded at him. River nodded back as a way of telling his brother that he was thankful for him having his back. He never had much doubt in his friendship with Blue in all the years they had known each other, but this proved just how much love and respect he truly had for him. And he appreciated that more than even he thought he would know.

  "Every single one of us has heard all sides by now," said Wolf. "In between all the unnecessary bullshit that's gone on in here, there's been some damn good arguments made about whether or not this bitch should actually stay. As well as some damn good questions asked regardin' the same. That said, I see no damn good reason as to why we should pass up the opportunity to get the club back to where it was once before. My mistakes in the past fucked us up and fucked us up good. I don't want this shit to be another one. So we'll vote on it, as a way to show that every opinion in this room and amongst these brothers matter to each other, 'cause it's what we've always fuckin' done. But the final vote stands, which is mine." He lifted his other hand and raised the gavel. "All those in favor of Mia Sullivan takin' up space within the clubhouse with her daughter as a way to get the club back on its feet, raise up and say 'I'."