Bash's Hurricane (Black Crows MC)

by EA Hunt

  “I’m going to check on Melly,” Celise replied, reaching for Willa. As of right now, it seemed she was safe, but she was sure that could change. Before she could remove her daughter from the other man’s arms, she smelled her cake. Rounding Bash and Willa, she headed for the oven.

  “That smells wonderful, Babygirl,” Trigger said. He’d had the cookies Celise had sent to the club and, like everyone else, was eager to get his hands on more of them. He knew Celise could bake, but those cookies she’d sent out were addictive and the cake he was seeing her with looked just as delicious.

  “Thanks,” Celise smiled at him. “It’s a double fudge chocolate cake.”

  “Hmm,” Trigger licked his lips. “You have to cut me a piece,” he begged. He loved a good chocolate cake.

  “I would love to, but it has to cool before I decorate it,” Celise replied.

  “Well, damn,” Trigger chuckled. “I do want the first piece though. Even if Bash would like a piece – the first chunk is mine!” he told her.

  “I’ll remember that,” Celise’s happy voice replied.

  “If you’re done begging for sweets from my woman,” Bash looked at Trigger. “What brings you here? When I left the club, you were at the bar with Rene.” Trigger had been on the woman’s case for the last year about her whereabouts and where she’d disappear to every few weeks. Trigger didn’t like the fact that Rene wouldn’t tell him where she was going nor where she’d been the morning that he, Bash, hurt Celise. Rene had disappeared only to reappear two and a half months later, asking if the bartending position was still open.

  “I was, but then Pierre showed up asking for you,” Trigger replied. He hadn’t liked leaving Rene alone, but Danish was there with her and he wouldn’t let the woman disappear like she’d done before.

  What could Pierre want? They didn’t have any runs for the man coming up. “I’m coming,” Bash replied, walking the short distance to the playpen and placing a now sleeping Willa inside. He faced his woman. “When I get back, we’re going to have a very long conversation.”

  Celise wanted to protest but there was no reason to. She and Bash needed to talk. She needed to beg for her life and he… she had no clue what he needed but she had to hear him out. She gave him a nod.

  “Ace and Deuce,” Trigger started, gaining the room’s attention. “Came with me and are positioned out front.”

  “I don’t –”

  “Thanks,” Bash said, cutting Celise off. He wasn’t going to take any chances with their safety especially since he didn’t know why Pierre was in town. He walked over to his woman as she was standing at the head of the steel table, close to the door leading to the main bakery floor. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he told her, kissing her temple.

  “Ok,” Celise replied, enjoying the feel of Bash’s lips against her temple. “What should I tell Melly?” she asked, looking from Trigger to Bash.

  “She knows when she sees Ace or Deuce that I’ve gone and she is to stay where she is until told otherwise,” Bash replied with a raised eyebrow.

  “Bastion I’m –”

  “The Black Crows President’s woman,” he informed her. “And until I know what’s going on at the club, you and my little bugs will be where I know you are safe. And if you have to move, you move with the men I’ve placed on you.”

  Celise folded her arms under her breasts, pushing them up higher in her dress. “I don’t remember agreeing to be your woman.”

  “You’ve been my woman since the day I met you. And though we’ve had a brief separation where you assumed you were no longer mine. Once we talk, you will know you’ve been mine and will always be mine,” he told her, bending to kiss her lips. “Stay put, Babygirl,” Bash kissed her once more before walking back down the small kitchen aisle and following Trigger out of the back door.

  Touching her lips with the tips of her fingers, Celise knew her fate had been sealed – but not in the way she’d thought only moments before.

  With his woman’s taste still on his lips, Bash walked into the clubhouse, acknowledging several brothers as they called out to him on his way to his office. He hadn’t been enthused to leave his girls at the bakery, but with Ace and Deuce there he knew they would be protected his girls at all cost. He was known for his temper when he’d given an order, even if it was through Trigger or Danish, and it wasn’t followed. Ace and Deuce could expect a wrath like they had never seen before if anything happened to his Babygirl and his daugthers. Walking into his office, he gives a little nod to Danish who’s standing behind his desk, leaning against the wall with arms crossed, and staring at Pierre who’s sitting in the chair before Bash’s desk, scrolling through his phone like he doesn’t have a care in the world. And in a way, life was easy for Pierre. He jetted all over the world, making deals that netted him millions of dollars. “Pierre,” Bash acknowledged as he came to stand before the man.

  “Bash,” Pierre acknowledged, standing. He reached out his hand to Bash. “It’s been too long,” he said, releasing Bash’s hand once the other hand had shaken it.

  “Hmm,” Bash replied, sitting on the edge of his desk as Trigger closed the office door, standing before it with his legs spread apart and his arms folded. His eyes stayed on Pierre just as Danish’s did. Bash could understand the men’s stance – whenever Pierre needed to meet with him, he usually sent a third party. It was very rare they met in person and when they did, it was always at one of the swanky hotels in downtown Atlanta. And those meetings would only last about half an hour due to the fact Bash would be dressed in jeans, a t-shirt and his cut. He would get odd looks and security would often make an appearance.

  “Silent as usual,” Pierre chuckled as he retook his seat. He placed his phone into the inside pocket of his jacket. Since going into business with Bash, his profits had almost tripled – which was why he paid the price Bash set. The man was good at what he did and he knew his business well.

  “Pierre,” Bash started. He wasn’t in the mood for chit chat with Pierre. His woman was at the bakery waiting for him and the longer he left her there, the more she would think he was plotting her demise. Which wasn’t ever going to happen. His woman was going to live a nice long life with him, their girls and the dozen boys he hoped to have with her because his daughters were already beautiful, and they would need brothers to help protect them.

  “I know,” Pierre held up his hands, palms up. “I know. Right to the point, as always.”

  Bash nodded. He still needed to wrap up a few things here that Trigger had advised him of before they’d walked into the club. Then he needed to go to his place and grab himself and Melly a change of clothes because his conversation with Celise was going to take a while. He could send a Sweetheart to his house to pick up what he needed, but no woman, not even Rene, had been inside his home. And the first woman to cross his threshold was not going to be a Sweetheart – it was going to be his Babygirl. And when she crossed into his home, it was going to be to live there with him and their girls. “That would be nice,” Bash replied.

  “Manners look good on you,” Pierre said. Usually, Bash was straight to the point. Little conversation. And manners certainly didn’t exist. “Should I ask which one of the lovely women I saw when I entered the bar has you using your manners?”

  He could ask, but Bash would never tell. This wasn’t Celise’s world and if he could keep her as insulated from it as possible, he would. “Pierre, you and I have an understanding.”

  “That we do,” Pierre replied, opting to leave Bash’s personal life alone. He’d seen what the man could do when someone pissed him off. And Pierre liked living. “I’m in need of your immediate services.”

  “Are you?” Bash questioned with a raised eyebrow. Usually, a run they did for Pierre was planned at least six weeks in advance. With the extra planning, they were able to find new safe houses, rendezvous points, and monitor local law enforcement.

  “I am,” Pierre sighed. “I have a new client who is in need of product. An
d they are willing to pay quite handsomely if I can get it to them within a week.”

  “A week?” Bash laughed. “There is no way I, or anyone in this club, is delivering anything within a week.” That would mean no time with his Babygirl and he needed time with her. He’d hurt his woman. Caused her to mistrust him and think that, because of what happened with Claire, that she was due a bullet. He had some begging to do. Then, when she hopefully forgave him, they had some fucking to do. He had five years to make up for with his woman and he was not about to delay that because of a shipment.

  “I had the same reaction,” Pierre replied. Though the money was tempting, he didn’t have product. It was caught in Customs at the Canadian border – well one shipment was. His other had made it across the border through Vancouver and was on its way to Georgia. It would arrive in a week but before he released it to Bash and the Black Crows for delivery, he needed to inspect it, which would take time. “My client is willing to wait, but not long. And since this client can led to several others, I’m willing to accommodate him to an extent.”

  “Why do I have the feeling I’m not going to like where this is going?” Bash questioned.

  “Because the client wants to set the meet place,” Pierre replied.

  “Fuck no!”

  “Not happening.”

  Danish and Trigger shouted jointly. There was no way they were allowing anyone else to set the met place.

  Bash shook his head. “We set all meet places,” he replied, echoing his friends. Meet places were rotated every run. It kept anyone spying on them unable to predict when and where they were going to be. It kept everyone safe and the Black Crows known for keeping everyone involved from being detected or suspected. And it didn’t hurt that their meeting locale was a different area of thirty acres of land that the club owned under a shell company linked to several other shell companies.

  “I know and I appreciate that fact.” Pierre advised. Meeting in the same place allowed people to know who you were. Allowed you to be traced and imprisoned – something no one wanted. “Which was why I informed him that it wasn’t going to happen.”

  “Let me guess, he offered more if you could accommodate his suggested location?” Bash replied, folding his arms over his chest. With Pierre’s small nod, Bash continued. “And you’ve agreed?”

  “The money he’s offering will triple your take and my bottom line,” Pierre replied.

  “It could also cost us all our freedom,” Bash countered. The activities the club was into carried a hefty prison sentence. One no one was eager to accept. Which was why he kept a small law firm, criminal and family, in Atlanta, on retainer for the club. “I’m not putting my club in that predicament.”

  “I knew you would say that,” Pierre replied, standing. “Which was why I told my client that the meet would be set by me,” he pointed to himself. “Through you,” he pointed at Bash before lowering his hand. “And if he wants my product as much as he says he does, then he will agree.” Pierre reached out, placing a hand on Bash’s shoulder and finished, “As I’m sure you will agree.”

  Bash moved his shoulder back, allowing Pierre’s hand to fall. Undeterred, Pierre straightened his jacket. “It’s because of me that you have all this,” he gestured around them as he turned and walked towards the door “remember that” he said before walking out of the door Trigger held open for him.

  “I hate working with him,” Trigger snarled, almost slamming the door behind Pierre.

  Bash wasn’t a fan either. The man had been the reason Bash had gotten control of the club but he was starting to rethink their association with him. “Trust me, Trig, the feeling is mutual but –”

  “I know what you’re going to say, Bash.” Trigger interrupted. “But we have enough contacts now that we can ditch Pierre.”

  Trigger was right and Bash knew it. He’d actually been contemplating ending their association with Pierre himself. Completing one more run for the man, then walking away. Reaching up, he rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “Reach out discreetly to our contacts in the cartels and the other arms runners” Bash started, looking at Trigger. “Let them know we are severing our ties with Pierre and are open to those who need couriers. Only couriers.” Looking over his shoulder at Danish, he asked, “Are Ace and Deuce ready?”

  Danish nodded. “They are.” He had never seen two men take to the SAA positions like Ace and Deuce. Each man brought strengths the other didn’t have. Which was why they’d achieved the names they had.

  “Good, I’m taking them with me on this run for Pierre,” Bash replied, standing. He walked around his desk, pulling his cell out of his pocket. Seeing a ‘Babygirl is closing up,’ message from Ace, he tossed his phone on his desk. Then he looked at his brothers who were both now standing before his desk. “I need you two to stay here.”

  “Like hell!” came Trigger’s reply.

  “The fuck we are!” came Danish’s.

  Bash held up his hands to stop their protests. Usually, one of the men before him would accompany him on any runs they did. Or each would lead a run while he stayed behind for one reason or the other. But never were the two men at the compound when there was a run to complete. Especially a run which involved Pierre. “If this goes sideways, my girls will need looking after and I don’t trust anyone else to do it but the two of you,” Bash told them, hoping to alleviate their protests.

  “Babygirl and the young’uns would like their Daddy with them more than they would like him in a jail cell or under the Earth,” Danish told him. They weren’t liking how soon this new client of Pierre’s wanted his goods and the fact that this mysterious buyer wanted to set the meet location. “Trigger and I can take this run or one of us can do this and leave you here.”

  “I like Danish’s plan better. You’re needed here to negotiate any new contracts with our contacts if they want to use us more,” Trigger sighed. “You’re better at negotiations than either of us are.”

  “I’ve heard both of your arguments but I’m doing this and I’m taking Ace and Deuce with me as a final act before being patched in. I want them to understand exactly what is expected of them.”

  “Done, but know I don’t like this,” Danish replied. “And if you get hurt or die, I won’t stop Babygirl from cursing your name.”

  “Noted,” Bash chuckled. He picked up his phone, sliding it into his pocket “I’m heading to my place to grab a change of clothes for myself and Melly.”

  “Optimistic about Babygirl taking you back?” Trigger questioned. Celise was receptive to Bash but that was just because of the shock of the man coming back into her life. Now that she’d had some time away from Bash to think, Trigger was sure his brother would have a fight on his hands when it came to getting forgiveness from Celise.

  “Very,” Bash rounded his desk and brothers as he headed for the door. Reaching for the door, he stilled, looking over his shoulder to the men. “Do either of you know about an incident at the café between Celise and Claire?” Bash watched as the men exchanged looks before facing him again. “Never mind,” he told them before heading out of the office. He needed to talk to his woman.

  Chapter Six

  “It’s been five hours, twelve minutes and thirty-six seconds since the man learned you were in town and already you have two Prospects placed on you and your business. I have to say he moves faster than I thought he would.”

  Celise chuckled as Rene walked into the bakery kitchen. “Prospects I have tried to get to leave, only to be informed that they’re following their Prez’s orders,” she informed the woman.

  “Bash was even more of a hard ass once you left,” Rene said as she walked over to the woman she still considered a friend. “He missed you and so did the rest of us,” Rene told her as she embraced Celise.

  “If he missed me so much, why did he let me go?” Celise replied, returning Rene’s embrace before releasing her. She stepped back and said, “He hurt me, Rene. And now…”

  “He thinks he can come
in here and act like nothing has changed. All he has to do is kiss you and it will be as it was before,” Rene finished for her.

  “Basically,” Celise sighed as she admired the cake she’d been decorating. Picking up the knife, she sliced the cake, placing a piece on a small plate for Rene and another on a plate for herself. “I don’t know why he thinks all he has to do is come in here, kiss my temple, hold me and my child, and think everything is going to be all right,” she said as she sat down on the stool behind her.

  “Because if you were honest with yourself, that’s what you want,” Rene replied as she sat on the stool at kitty-corner to her.

  “Rene –”

  “Don’t try and lie to me, Celise. I was there, remember?” she told her friend while taking a bite of cake. “Girl, this is so very good,” Rene hummed around her piece of cake. “I’ve missed your baking so much!”

  “Compliments and insults all in the span of three minutes, I’m impressed!” Celise chuckled. Though she couldn’t really call Rene’s comments an insult. It was true when she was pissed at Bash, all he had to do was wrap his arms around her, kiss her temple and she would melt into him. Forgiving him. But she couldn’t do that now.

  “I’m not trying to insult you, Celise,” Rene replied. “I’m really not,” she sighed. “If I’d been there when Bash caused that scene I would have beat his ass for what he did.” She gave her friend a sad smile. “And I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I was out of town dealing with a family matter when this all went down and when I got back, your number had changed, and no one knew where you were.” Though Rene had the sinking suspicion Danish, and possibly Trigger, had always known but hadn’t told Bash or anyone else.

  Celise told her about the incident with Claire and how she’d been treated by the woman once the whole scene at the club had played out. “I hightailed it out of town that day, not telling anyone where I was going – not even my grandmother,” she said, pushing the cake on her plate around.