The Princess and the Prospect

by Christine Michelle

  Double-D had come through the doors just in time to hear her. “Let us find out what’s going on before we go upsetting Gretchen, okay? No point telling her we have that bitch here when we don’t have answers ourselves yet. Can you just wait until we know what’s going on?”

  “Fine,” Anna huffed as Lucy and Tiger Lily came barreling through the door and headed straight for Anna and Ever.

  Double-D and I made our way down to the interrogation room the club had made out of an old, defunct swimming pool that had been covered over years ago. The deepest end was left for any wet work that the club might need done. The shallow end had been dug out more to accommodate the height of a bunch of bikers who got really tired of bending over practically in half when they needed use of the place. There was a smaller tunnel extending off the back that led to hidden stairs under a shed on the property, which was how we entered the space. The minute we had made our way down the stairs we could hear the yelling.

  “You killed my best fucking friend, my brother! You think you can just go waltzing around our town free as you please?” J-Bird’s words were spat out at the woman with enough venom that words alone should have been her end. Merc nodded to us, appearing thankful for our arrival. Deck was already there trying to pull J-Bird, and the knife he wielded, away from the frightened woman.

  “I t-t-told you,” she insisted even with the slight stutter that was no doubt brought on by her sheer terror. “My name is Clem. Seneca is my sister. My twin. She is still in jail. That’s why I came here to tell her goodbye once and for all. This was the last straw with our family. My parents refused to come.” She babbled the words out and while every person in the room could taste the fear in every single one spoken, she did not cry or blubber as she spoke. “You can check. It’s not like the jail could keep it a secret if my evil twin managed to spring herself from their clutches.”

  “Kane!” Merc called out. “Head on over to the jail. Do not leave until you can get eyes on Seneca and let us know.” Kane didn’t even respond. He simply turned and left the underground facility. It was somewhat damp down here as Charleston wasn’t exactly the best place to have an underground anything. The city was less than 20 feet above sea level and the humidity in the area far too high.

  “I need your full name, darlin’.” Merc was putting on the friendly, charming persona he often used with women that had them eating out of his hand when necessary. The woman sighed, her shoulders drooping as she did. She must have felt like someone finally believed her.

  “You can check my wallet in my back pocket,” she stated as she stood from the chair she’d been seated in. Her hands were tied in front of her with a zip tie so she cocked her hip to the side to show that the wallet she spoke of was in her back pocket. J-Bird didn’t hesitate and moved in to snatch the wallet out. It was a worn down leather wallet with a snap closure, one a man would normally use. J-Bird, shirking protocol, opened the thing up and rifled through it until he found the woman’s driver’s license.

  “Clemson Holly Davis,” he read off the license and then gave the woman an odd look. “Who the fuck names their daughter Clemson?”

  “A mother who named the first born twin after the town we were made in and the second after the place we were born,” she answered snidely as she plopped back down in the chair. Clearly, she knew leaving wasn’t going to be an option until we had eyes on her sister. “Listen, I get it. I won’t tell anyone about what happened here today. I’d have probably done the same damn thing if I were you and saw me wandering around town.” She shook her head and then let it hang loosely there on her shoulders. “I still can’t believe she did what they’ve accused her of. I don’t doubt she’s capable, but I never thought she’d…” The woman glanced up, avoiding J-Bird, and set her eyes on Double-D and myself. “I’m so sorry for the loss of your man.”

  “My son,” Double-D corrected and was rewarded for the two words by the woman’s wince. “Their club brother, best friend, nephew,” he pointed in turn at J-Bird and Merc. “My girls are upstairs waiting to know why the cunt who killed their brother is walking free. His woman, who lost their baby during Seneca Davis’s rampage, will also want to know.”

  The girl furrowed her brow. “His woman? He had a woman who was pregnant? I thought my sister was dating the man. She told us she saw him with another woman, and lost it.”

  “Your sister,” he spat the words, showing he wasn’t so certain he believed her story yet despite the state issued identification with a different name. She was a club whore, available to any of the men for them to use for sex. My son said he only went there once and she had been following him around for months afterward. We caught her creeping around outside of our own home just a couple days prior to her taking my son from us.”

  “Oh God,” the woman panted out. She was just now starting to see the trouble she might be in. Even if she turned out to be who she claimed to be, we were the big bad bikers who had her held captive in an underground facility. We were also the bikers who were probably looking for retribution for what her sister had taken from us. “I always knew that bitch would get me killed,” she muttered. No one spoke after that. We watched as J-Bird paced the floor. Merc just stood with his back to one of the walls and watched his son’s movements. Double-D never took his eyes off the woman seated before us, and I was watchful of all of them. We waited an hour for Kane to return.

  He didn’t say a word as he moved directly to Merc and handed him a cell phone. Merc took it and tapped and scrolled on the screen. “Thanks,” he told Kane as he handed the phone back and nodded to Double-D who was next to go through whatever Kane was showing them. J-Bird’s curiosity got the better of him and he went to look to.

  “Fuck!” He hissed out before glancing back over his shoulder toward the woman. “We can’t just let her go now.”

  “We can, and we will. She’s not going to say a word because she understands why and what we thought,” Merc stated coolly as he glared at her.

  “I do understand. You don’t have to worry about that.”

  “We’re not in the habit of killing women,” he went on, seemingly ignoring her words. “Make no mistake, if we find out you spoke one fucking word about what happened here today, to anyone, I will rescind that rule and we will bury you beside your sister.”

  “She’s in jail, not dead,” Clem announced.

  “For now,” J-Bird finished and eyed the woman with meaning.

  “I see.” She paled, but managed to keep herself together. “I just came to town to watch the trial and say goodbye. It didn’t sit right with me that she had killed her man in a fit of a jealousy. She doesn’t get jealous. I don’t think my sister has any real emotions anymore,” the woman spilled her family’s secrets.

  “She tried to kill herself twice now,” I put in. “Someone who is suicidal usually has some emotions.”

  Clem laughed. “You would think, but I guarantee her little attempts were very calculated. She was buying time. A trial should have already happened by now. It’s been the better part of a year. Do not doubt for a minute that my sister has some devious plan cooked up. She’s been a little off our whole lives, but it got a lot worse during our teen years.” She shook her head again as if willing the memories away. “You know how people joke about having an evil twin out there somewhere? I grew up with everyone who knew us understanding just how true that statement could be. This isn’t the first time I suffered because I look like her either,” she proclaimed and we could all see how she visibly shuddered. “At least you guys actually checked to make sure you had the right person before it got…” she breathed out and then added one more word. “Personal.”

  Damn, but I was curious about her story. I didn’t think it was something we were going to end up privy to though. “Jay, give the lady a ride back to where you found her,” Merc ordered before turning back to the woman in question. “One word is all it will take and this won’t have a happy ending for you. I’m sorry your sister got you into this mess, but k
eeping that in mind, maybe once you see her you need to be on your way out of town.”

  She nodded and stood to follow J-Bird out of the building. He stopped her before they got to the end of the tunnel and placed something around her head so she couldn’t see where she was coming from when they left. Once they were topside, Kane spoke up. “I need to go let Gretchen know in case she accidentally runs into her. The woman wasn’t too far from her sister’s photography studio when we grabbed her.

  “Do us a favor, and just go pick her up and bring her here, yeah?” Double-D asked. At first it seemed as though Kane would deny the request, but thinking better of it, he nodded his head before he left to go do just that.

  “You think it’s wise bringing her in on this?” Merc asked my father-in-law.

  “Toby would want us to make sure she knows and that she’s protected. We don’t know how tight those sisters actually are. Her good twin bullshit could have just been an act. Until we know for sure, I’d like to keep a man on her.”

  “Kane seems to be the best for the job since he’s a prospect and works with her over at Permanent Marks,” Merc suggested.

  “He also seems a little too interested in her,” Double-D spat out while eyeing the tunnel Kane had gone down only moments ago.

  “He’s been gone a while now. She can’t grieve forever, D. You’re going to have to be okay with seeing her move on, even if it is with a brother.”

  “Fuck!” Double-D yelled as he lashed out and kicked the chair that Clem had been sitting in so hard it broke into pieces on impact with the concrete wall. “I want eyes on the twin until we know for sure she’s out of town,” Double-D ordered, not giving one fuck that he wasn’t Prez here. We all knew he was lashing out because this was bringing on a world of pain where his dead son, grandbaby, and the woman they left behind were concerned. I finally understood why Kane had asked the questions he did when we were on our run to Jacksonville though. It wasn’t Ever he was interested in at all. It had been Gretchen this whole time.

  “Already handled,” Merc explained as he tucked his cell back into the front pocket of his jeans.

  Chapter 16

  It took two months for the dust to settle after the Davis twin had been discovered. She stuck around town for a little more than a week, but after realizing she would have a crazed J-Bird following her everywhere, she finally left town. After all the initial delays due to her multiple suicide attempts and her lawyers delaying for various reasons, Seneca’s trial was finally able to move forward, despite the fact that her attorneys tried to forestall the proceedings again one final time, stating that their client was not of sound mind to stand trial. The claim was that she suffered multiple personality disorder, and believed that she was her twin sister locked up unfairly. No doubt, she had gotten the idea when her sister visited. It didn’t work though. The trial went on, and within a month, she was convicted and sentenced to thirty years in prison with no option for parole.

  Thirty years didn’t seem like a long enough time considering all the years we would now lose out on with my brother and the entire lifetime his baby lost out on. Somehow though, I didn’t think the club would allow her to serve out those thirty years in peace, so that was at least something.

  Watching the trial commence and having to testify about Seneca stalking Toby as well as the day everything happened, took a toll on Gretchen. The bit of healing she had done slipped away and she was back to her sullen grief-filled existence. Ever and I worked with Beth to make sure she was never alone for too long, but with me moving further along in my pregnancy, it was becoming difficult to hold up my end so Kane and Zeke started taking turns too.

  Evan and I also had a chance to grow closer over the last two months of living in the same house. We weren’t lovers again by any stretch of the imagination. He hadn’t even kissed me again since that one moment just after the ultrasound. I was so torn about everything going on between us. I wanted him to kiss me. I actually needed him to kiss me again, and I wasn’t really sure what was holding him back at this point. I had forgiven him. I was pretty sure I had. Now, I had started to worry that maybe he just wasn’t attracted to me anymore. I was seven months along in my pregnancy, and my body had changed so much. I had a nearly D-cup breast for the first time in my life, my butt could be the envy of any Kardashian fan. Those were the good attributes in a man’s eyes, I supposed. Then again, there was the giant belly with the stretch marks, and the weird brown line that ran from my belly button to my pubic region. I wasn’t exactly sure if it went all the way to my girl parts because I could no longer see past my belly to shave very well down there. I managed to keep the sides trimmed up, but straight beneath my belly was a lost world to me now.

  Maybe he had seen at some point and was turned off by the fact that my lady garden now looked like an overrun forest? I didn’t know, but that was possible. I missed being intimate with Evan. For the past two months, instead of waking to dreams of us together before, I woke to dreams of that day outside of the doctor’s office. In some of my dreams, I never saw Seneca’s twin sister and we went straight home and made love together. I woke up just two mornings ago having had such a vivid version of that dream that I actually woke to myself climaxing. My body was feverish, I was so wet between my legs, I worried momentarily that my water had broken, and my poor belly was having weird contractions going hard as stone and then softening up. The pleasure piercing through my nerve endings was the thing that tipped me off as to what happened. I didn’t even know it was possible to have an orgasm without touching yourself.

  Still, Evan wouldn’t touch me anymore beyond a hug or hand holding, so I was left with the worries that started to flood my brain whenever he was gone from the house. If he wasn’t attracted to me anymore, would he stray? Would he find someone he was attracted to? I was in the midst of wandering thoughts just like those when the door opened at just before 11 pm. Our normal routine had been that if I was awake when he came home, he would immediately come to me and touch my belly and talk to our baby. As he moved closer to do just that I smelled it. A cloying sweetness clung to him and turned my stomach with each step that drew him closer and made the smell more prominent.

  I sidestepped him when he got close enough to attempt to reach out for my belly. “You smell like skank,” I informed him.

  He laughed at my response as I stood there glaring at him. He soon realized he better start explaining why he smelled like skank. “I was at the club with the Deck to see Double-D.”

  “So you got a lap dance or a private room show?” I asked accusingly.

  “Neither. Two of the fucking dancers broke out in a biting, nail-scratching, hair-pulling brawl. Deck grabbed one and I took the other and pulled her off to the side for the staff to deal with. Your dad and Deck were there the whole time, beautiful. They can tell you. Now, get over here and let me have my baby belly time,” he demanded.

  I shook my head back and forth. “Nope. Go shower first. You stink,” I told him as I wrinkled my nose and started rubbing my temples with my fingers. The smell really was incredibly strong.

  His face dropped, but he turned and moved to do as I had asked while I plopped my big butt down on the sofa to wait. My whole body was vibrating with pent up emotion. I couldn’t stop those images I’d conjured just moments before he came through the door from filtering in as the scent of stripper floated in the air. Those same worries and insecurities came flooding back to me. With a strange woman’s scent in the air – even though I had been given a reason for it – my brain decided that my fears were true. It might not have happened tonight, but Evan had already proven that the only interest he still had in my body – even after seeing a stripper throw down – was to say hello to my baby bump.

  When she told me to go get a shower before touching her, I knew there was more to the request than the nasty, sickly-sweet perfume left clinging to my clothing from the bitch I had pulled off of Roxy – the newest star of the recently opened strip club. It was modeled after a club
we had in South Dakota called Renegade Rosy’s, and seemed to already be drawing a larger crowd than the others.

  I stood under the hot water of the shower, scrubbing vigorously at my skin to free it of that scent when I laughed at the fact that the smell wasn’t the only thing I had to get rid of. There was glitter falling down, probably from my hair or neck somewhere, that must have been transferred from the stripper I’d picked up. That shit was like a disease you couldn’t get rid of. For every shiny fleck I washed away, there seemed to be two more bright and shiny spots that would spawn in its place.

  It wasn’t until I finished up in the shower and made my way back to the living room that my suspicions had been confirmed. Anna was sitting there on the couch staring off into space, not even realizing I was back in the room and there were fresh tears tracking down her face. I suddenly felt like the world’s biggest asshole. I should have showered at the clubhouse so that I didn’t come home looking or smelling like that. More importantly though, I knew this was about our wedding night all over again. She tried to tell herself that she had forgiven me for that, but it was obvious that even if she had forgiven, she would never forget. Deck’s words from that day when I woke up with the wrong woman in my arms came back to haunt me.

  “This shit you pulled on that girl’s wedding night? She will never be able to forget this.” His words rang truer in my head now than they had at the time. It had been so many months, and still my actions hung between us and weighed her down. I turned my focus back toward Anna instead of memories of the past too. No use in us both getting lost there.

  “It’s okay, you know?” Anna finally said, making me realize she had, in fact, realized I was there.

  “What’s okay?”

  “That you’re with other women instead of me. I understand you’re not attracted to me like that anymore. It just took me a while to get it.”