by Smith, T. O.
Black Skulls
Bloody Royals Book II
No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either a product or the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover design: CreateSpace
Editing: T.O. Smith
Proofreading: T.O. Smith
ISBN-13: 978-1545241981
ISBN-10: 1545241988
“Such an amazing start, Amelia and Katie are so similar, their attitudes and stuff; normally (I) don’t ever bother with sequels but this is so interesting, can’t wait for more. :D” -xomisha, a Wattpad reader
“Love this book <3 so good!” -Melsue258, a Wattpad reader
“Thanks for the story. Wonderful read.” -MsKrizkelly, a Wattpad reader
“Great book . . . Loved it!” BetsyGuerrero, a Wattpad reader
For Riley – my reason for everything that I do. I love you.
One
I took a sip from the beer that one of the prospects had just set in front of me. We were having a party to welcome Katie back home. We had parties here at the club house all of the time, but this one was bigger since the Bloody Royals’ president was coming home from prison.
Katie had just spent nine years inside for murder, arson, and assault of a police officer. The only reason she got out after only nine years is because of her 'good behavior'. There was no doubt in my mind though, that she had managed to find some way to bribe the judge into letting her out early. Katie was a hell of a work of art, but she was a damn good president, and an even better briber.
"Katie's back!" I heard one of the prospects holler out.
Everyone started whooping and hollering, becoming excited over Katie’s return to the Bloody Royals and the Black Skulls. We had all missed her, especially Travis – her husband. He had been a real dick since she had gotten shoved into the back of that cop car nine years ago. Katie’s time inside had twisted her family in all kinds of ways.
Heather – their youngest child who was now sixteen – could pretty much just be labeled as a club whore. Travis had given up on trying to get her back in line, but there was no doubt in my mind that Katie would straighten her out quickly. She had that effect on people, especially her children.
Clayton – their middle child who was now twenty – was a no-good, piece-of-scum. Normally, family of the president would be someone with a title, but Clayton was so strung out on drugs that no one knew what to do with him besides stick him in the garage to work on cars all day.
Then there’s Colton, their oldest. He was another story entirely. At fourteen, he'd watched his mom get wrestled into the backseat of a cop car. We all thought he was doing okay. Hell, most of the time, we still do. However, Cole lets his emotions out through retaliation against other clubs and club women. At sixteen, I was 'lucky' enough to be one of those women that he used to get his emotions out. Don't get me wrong; the sex was great, but he was out of my bed right after it happened, and he never spoke of it again. Cole was a real dick, and most of the time, I wanted to punch him in his face. However, there were times that I wanted to be sixteen again and feel him inside of me with his body pressing mine into his soft mattress.
When the crowd cleared out from around Katie and her family, I walked over to where they were standing. I wasn’t planning on holding a lengthy conversation with any of them. I wasn’t much of a person for long conversations to begin with. I found it to be a waste of breath and time. I would rather spend my time doing something that requires action, whether that be good sex, getting involved in retaliation against other clubs and people, or getting my hands greasy in the garage. Tonight, I was planning on drinking and getting laid.
I smiled at Katie as I walked up and hugged her. I had to be nice to her, no matter how much we clashed heads. Katie got shit done, but her and I had our differences sometimes. She was a hard person to argue with, but I managed to find myself in some kind of heated conversation with her most of the time.
Instead of ruining my night, I figured I would just be kind to her. "It's good to have you back." I said, plastering a smile on my face.
She smiled, looking around her. I knew she was happy to be home. Hell, five months inside was a lot for me, too. I’d only been out three weeks, and I was still ecstatic to be back here. I never wanted to go back to that hell hole they called jail.
"It's good to be back.” She told me, bringing her attention back to me. “Nine years inside is damn boring, especially when everyone there is too damn afraid to start any shit with you. There was the occasional stupid person who tried me, but they quickly learned their lesson.” She cocked her head to the side. “Say, didn't you just get out a few weeks ago?"
I cursed, refusing to meet Cole’s eyes, knowing he was going to be pissed about not knowing. Cole believed in protecting family, and the clubs were family. Keeping secrets was a big ‘NO’.
No one but my mom, dad, and Travis knew about me going inside, and now I guess Katie knew, too. I had gone inside for arson and got out on good behavior. I was blowing up another’s club’s warehouse and some girl had saw me and ratted me out to the cops. I had told Travis not to retaliate, and that I would just suffer the consequences of getting my ass caught. He hadn’t been happy, but I knew it was better for the clubs.
"I thought you were visiting your aunt and uncle during that time to take a break from the club?" Cole asked me, making me look up at him.
Oh, boy, he was pissed.
Anger was swirling in his eyes, and I knew he felt like I was betraying the club by keeping this a secret. It was for the best, though. I knew the girl that ratted me out was attached to some dangerous people that wanted to hurt the clubs, and I wouldn’t allow that to happen.
The ATL could suck a fat one before I’d let them start a war.
"The club doesn't need to know everything that goes on in my life, Cole.” I told him, not letting my eyes give anything away. “The less people that knew about my time spent inside, the better. They were trying to take the whole club down with me." I looked back at Katie, taking my eyes off of Cole’s seething form. "Yeah, my time inside wasn't great. I had to make some alliances, but there were a lot of enemies. A lot of people inside have a problem with the Black Skulls, and a really big problem with me."
Since I was such a ruthless bitch, and was always the one picked to do a lot of the dirty work around here, people knew my name and hated me. Even if they didn’t have a problem with the Black Skulls, they most likely had a problem with me.
Katie tapped my shoulder where my knife wound was and I winced a little. It was still healing even though I'd been out of jail for a minute. My time in jail hadn't been kind. There were some enemies of the Black Skulls and the Bloody Royals in there, and there was one girl in particular that wanted the clubs to go down, and wanted me to suffer. I'd gotten in my share of fights with her, but she always had the upper hand.
"Oops, sorry.” Katie said, not at all sounding sorry, though. “I didn't know it still hurt."
Like hell, you didn’t.
"Yeah." I muttered, figuring I needed to shut this conversation down now while I still had a chance and before I punched Katie in her face on her first day home for prodding my shoulder like that. "I’ve got to go. There’s drinks to drink and people to lay." I didn't wan
t to stand around and dwell on my time in jail. Let's just say I don't ever want to return there. Besides, Katie was already pissing me off.
Katie laughed the fakest fucking laugh I’d ever heard in my life. I ignored her, turned around, and walked off. When I got to the bar, I sat back down on my stool and ordered a prospect to get me a beer, watching Cole as he hugged his mom and walked off to one of the club whores.
I sighed. It sucked for these women. They allowed themselves to be treated like dirt just to try to become one of these guys's old ladies. I didn’t understand why anyone would want to be an old lady, though. All you did was whatever your boyfriend/ fiancé/ husband told you to do. Personally, I enjoyed my freedom to do and say as I pleased.
Clayton walked over to me, sat his ass on the stool next to mine, and ordered two fingers of Vodka. "Are you still looking to get laid?" He asked me in a voice that I thought was supposed to be seductive, but he failed at it.
I cocked my head at him and smirked a little. I decided to just let him think he accomplished what he was trying to do. I didn't want to hurt his feelings. Besides, even though he was fucked in the head from his drug abuse issue, he was still a decent looking guy.
"Obviously, since I'm still sitting here.” I told him. “You don't want to spend more time with your mom?"
He rolled his eyes, knocking back a shot as they were set in front of him. "I'm trying to postpone the inevitable while I still can. So, want to go find a room?"
I set my beer down, getting ready to take him up on his offer when a hand clamped over my wrist. "Clayton, she's not going anywhere with you."
I glanced up at Cole and snatched my wrist away from him. I wasn't too keen on being held in a compromising position like that, not after being put in thousands of compromising positions for five months in jail. "I'll catch up with you later, Clay." I murmured, my body very aware of how close Cole was to me, and the desire curling in my stomach at his close proximity.
Clay nodded and walked off. Cole took the seat Clayton had been sitting in just moments before. "I should have known you were in jail, Amelia.” Cole said, cutting straight to what was bothering him. I sighed, not wanting to have this conversation. “That's both of the clubs’ business. I had a right to know considering I'm in line to become president of the Black Skulls and the Bloody Royals."
I rolled my eyes, picking my beer back up and taking a sip. "You guys would have done something stupid to the person who ratted me out.” I told him bluntly. “I talked to Travis as soon as I was able to get my hands on a phone, and we decided that keeping my time in jail a secret was the best decision for everyone. If you guys had retaliated, the whole club would have gone down and that's just what the sheriff wanted.” Not to mention, the bitch inside who made my life hell, and the ATL fuckers who wanted a war.
This is the thing with the clubs. If there was a rat anywhere, in or out of the club, the rat would no longer live. Sometimes, the members of the club tended to do stupid shit when they were angry. I wouldn’t let the club go down for this. I had a job; I did it, and there happened to be a witness who ratted me out. My problem; not the Black Skulls or the Bloody Royals. I would take any beating, any day, to protect this club, this family.
"Amelia, you're family.” Cole said. “We wouldn't have done anything to put the club in any kind of situation we couldn’t handle, and you know that."
I rolled my eyes at him. "Right, because everyone wasn't still all wound up about Katie being gone.” I told him. Nine years later, and the club was still pissed about her being locked up. “You sons of bitches went after the cop who fucking put her in cuffs and killed him. You almost ruined the club then, and it was hell. I wasn't willing to risk that again. It was only five months inside anyways; it wasn't a big deal."
Well, it was, but I wouldn’t let him know that.
He clenched his jaw and I knew from experience that he was working hard to control his anger. Since Katie had went inside, Cole had gotten a serious anger problem. He liked to break things, beat the hell out of people, things like that. He wasn't one to make angry, but I never learnt my lesson. We all knew that if he put a hand on a woman, bad shit would happen to him. Cole had enough respect for women, though, to never put his hands on them. That much I did know.
Besides, I couldn’t ever picture Cole hurting me, anyway.
"Who stabbed you?" He asked after a moment, nodding towards my shoulder that was hidden under my cut.
I smirked at him, loving the fact that I could still make him worry about me. I knew he tried so hard to hide what he felt for me, but it was there. He just had to give in to it.
"Cole, give up.” I told him. “I'm not telling you anything. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to find Clay or someone. I'm in need of a good lay."
Like I said, tonight I just wanted to shit-faced and get laid. Dwelling on and reminiscing the past would only ruin my mood, and then my plans were going to go down the drain like water. I wasn’t planning on sitting at this bar all night drinking away my problems.
I slid off of the stool and Cole grabbed my wrist, pulling me to him and wrapping an arm around me. "Why don't we go find a room?" He murmured huskily.
I kissed him, ignoring the pull in my belly that was practically demanding me to take him to a bedroom instead of someone else. Kissing Cole made my head spin and made me want to strip him bare. I smirked when I pulled back from his lips, and patted his cheek. "Maybe some other time, Cole."
I walked away and went to go find Clay.
~*~*~
Cole's POV
I stormed into the meeting room the next morning, shoving the doors open with so much force they crashed against the walls loudly. I was pissed. I hadn't gotten any sleep last night because of what I had found out about Amelia.
For fuck's sake, she had spent five months inside and only three – well four – fucking people knew about it before last night. She had been stabbed, and who the fuck else knew what had happened to her in there.
Amelia was club family and we took care of what was ours. Were we fucking losing sight of that all of a damn sudden? This wasn't dad and Amelia's call; the club should have known. We should have retaliated and we would if it was the last fucking thing we did.
Amelia was the only goddamn woman that wasn't blood that I truly cared about – besides my Aunt Amy, of course. I knew I had feelings for Amelia, but I wasn't willing to let any feelings for her grow any stronger. If I did, I'd want to be closer to her and being closer to her meant putting her in a lot of danger considering all of the people that wanted me dead. Besides, I had a pretty bad past and Amelia wouldn't be able to handle it.
Though, that didn’t mean I wouldn’t do everything in my fucking power to hurt whoever hurt her, and to protect her to the best of my ability.
My dad and mom looked up as did all of the other members at my loud entrance. "You’re a few minutes late, aren't you, Cole?" My dad asked.
I glared at him, my temper only flaring more at his audacity to lecture me on time. "Don't you fucking lecture me on time.” I snarled. “You're five months and three weeks too late to be lecturing someone on fucking time. Why in the hell wasn't the club informed about Amelia being locked up?!" I roared.
My mom glared at my dad. Good, at least someone fucking agreed with me. "Travis, are fucking kidding me?” She yelled, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. “You kept this a secret from the club?! The club should have fucking known!"
My dad slammed his palms on the table, standing up from his seat at the head of the table. "There's more to the fucking story than anyone knows, even me!” He hollered at us both, losing his cool. Hell, it didn’t take much these days for him to get angry. “Amelia is the only damn person that holds the fucking secrets, therefore there was no fucking need to tell someone if we didn't know the whole fucking story behind her time inside and how she fucking got there!"
Amelia came into the room. She looked fucking amazing with her dark hair cascading around her should
ers. Her long legs were hidden underneath a pair of blue jeans that disappeared into combat boots. She had on a leather jacket over a white t-shirt, with her cut over the jacket. I felt myself get hard at the sight of her standing in the room like she owned the place, but I forced myself to stay calm.
Besides, I was still pissed at her for keeping secrets from the clubs.
"I was called here?" She asked, her eyes flickering to me, and then back to Travis.
Whatever reason she had been called in here for was no longer on anyone's mind since everyone in the room had just been slapped with the news of her time in jail.
My mom walked over to her, glaring. Amelia didn't back down like other people would have. My mom can intimidate anyone but Amelia, and that drove my mom insane. She felt like she had no control when she couldn't intimidate someone.
"You better fucking tell us what in the hell is going on in your life that's stopping this club from retaliating on the fucking rat that got you sent inside." She spat at Amelia.
Amelia smirked. I hated that fucking smirk on her lips. She looked cold and sadistic.
"Back down, Katie. I'm a Black Skull, not a Bloody Royal.” She reminded her. “You and Travis may be married, and we all may work closely with one another, but we haven't joined the clubs together yet, so I don't have to listen to you." She stepped closer to my mom so their chests were touching. I knew Amelia was intimidating my mom, but I knew my mom wouldn’t show her that. "And I'm not telling you or anyone else in this room a goddamn thing about my enemies or my time inside. I don't need the club to handle my dirty work. If that was all that I was called in here for, then I'm leaving. I've got shit to do."
I was seething. My hands were shaking because I was so pissed. I wanted to break something. She couldn't keep fucking secrets from the club like this! It ruined the whole fucking meaning of family! We protect what was ours, especially our women. She was going to get herself hurt sooner rather than later if she didn't fess up on everything and let us help her.
