“It took you long enough to join us.” Fist muttered lowly into my ear when I accompanied his side. “I take it you heard the news.”
I gave him a shrug as we listened to the other men talk.
“Dixon’s back which means our regular schedule is set to sail. What else is new?”
Fist pursed his mouth, “I’m not talking about that.”
My eyes came back to his and the soberness was back in our conversation.
“If you’re talking about my boy there’s nothing to worry about.” I finally respond. “Dex is with a friend. Won’t be picking him up till eight”
“Ah. Well, Ashley doesn’t know about this…that they’re here.”
That didn’t come off as a surprise to me.
“No need to bring her into this.” I told him.
“Not yet anyway.”
“Fist..” I gave him a look.
He put his heavy hand on my shoulder, “Boy, I don’t want it to come to that either. At this rate, it might be unavoidable.”
“Just what do you mean by that?” I whisper, anger building in the back of my throat. “Get yourself a lawyer, have him draw up the papers, hand the two of them a pen and they’re divorced. What’s so hard about that?”
“Blackjack!” A voice called.
I looked up from Fist to where the sound originated from only to have met eyes with the son of a bitch himself. Jack “Grizzly” Jones.
“My, my…” He drawls out, the intensity of his eyes widening at the sight of me. “Been a while since I’ve seen you out of the woods. Or should I say, out of Afghanistan?”
It wasn’t a secret that I enlisted into the military as trained medic. Despite that, I didn’t like Jack using that fact to put aside his bullshit and start small talk.
“Not long enough. You’ve grown old.” I respond cooly.
The remark caught him by surprise.
“Yeah well…” He continues, laughing to himself. “It’ll take more than age to knock this Bear down.”
“What’s all of this about then?” I cut him off, sick of the bullshit.
“Blackjack” Cracker says lowly.
“Well, it’s about time someone asked!” Grizzly roared in amusement, “Why is it that we decided to visit these parts on a Sunday afternoon instead of fucking our women until they scream?”
“Because my woman just so happened to run away from home.” Another voice joined him.
A figure approached the group, rustling right up from behind Jack himself. I’d put betting money any day that Fist would skin the man and send his hide to his sorry mother if he tried anything.
Grizzly may have been sly enough to avoid conflict up until now, but one thing was guaranteed. He was a coward anytime he was challenged by Fist to a hand on hand fight. Ever since his youth, nothing would change his mind to this day.
As Grizzly stood before Fist, the man of the voice finally revealed himself among the faces. Once I got close enough view to put two and two together, I realized Harry had joined this meeting as well.
“Harry.” I mutter under my breath.
“That’s right…” Grizzly chuckles lowly, “Years back, Harry and I came here to celebrate the wedding of his newly anointed bride.”
“After one little marital spat, she came running back home to her daddy.” Harry nods, “Can’t say I blame her.”
“Son of a––” I curse hard, kicking the dirt below me when my body lunged forward to grab him.
The man’s eyes widened as soon as I drew my arm under his jaw to snatch his collar. His hand came up to hold me back, but it was too late. A set of fingers clutched at his shirt and pulled hard till his head was forced to look up at me. My brothers around me saw it coming too soon and were already on me before I could draw up my opposite arm to punch the greasy smirk from his face.
He laughs nervously, “You’re a fucking animal, Blackjack!”
“Control your man, Fist.” Grizzly ordered.
Fist didn’t say a word, but I certainly did.
“Wipe that smile off your face before I tear it off here and now.”
The men were holding me back, but I was still forcing my arm up above their heads. Like the anger of a building volcano, my arm was reddening from the strain and inching up to the sky with every draw of my heavy breath. Harry’s eyes followed its clenched fist, his doubt growing within the expression of his face. Here and now, I could kill the man.
I wouldn’t have any regrets wiping his scum off the face of the planet.
“BLACKJACK.” Fist’s voice shot through the crowd like a bullet.
He blew up my focus and just like that, my arm wavered for a brief second only for Cracker to grapple it back down to my shoulder.
“Calm down” The man insisted beside me. “Not now. Not today.”
My breathing came down so heavy that it nearly washed away my anger. There was enough of that left in me to look down at Harry and let the rest speak.
“Come anywhere near her again, and I’ll fucking kill you.”
The man’s pulse was practically hitting my knuckles where they pressed into his throat. He didn’t move, but I knew he believed every word I said. The grip Cracker had on my arm lessened more and more and slowly, I put my arm down to hide with the rest of them.
I didn’t have anything left to say before I released Harry’s shirt and shoved him into the men watching behind him. He gave out a thick cough, trying his lungs to come back up for air.
“You have balls to come here, Harry Vale.” Fist spoke roughly.
After what felt like a long pause, Grizzly snorted.
“He didn’t come alone, obviously.”
“Good point.” Fist acknowledged before turning his attention back to him, “What is this really about then, Bear?”
“We’re here to collect the Bear’s property.”
“See that’s where you’re wrong.”
Fist automatically spat at the man’s feet.
“Ashley isn’t going nowhere. Her place is with her family.”
Grizzly grew impatient.
“It doesn’t matter if she’s your daughter, Fist. She belongs with her husband.”
“Oh, Panda. Your ears are stuffed with shit if you don’t understand a word coming out of my mouth. Ashley’s getting a divorce.”
I waited for the reaction from Grizzly with Fist’s insult, when it didn’t happen, I took an easy breath.
“Hah!” The man throws his hands up to the air, “Any lawyer you send isn’t going to do shit if Harry doesn’t sign.”
“Doesn’t have to sign.” I retorted.
Grizzly’s eyes narrow back to me.
“What did you just say, boy?”
“With the amount of abuse coming out of that house, do you honestly think anyone is going to believe that woman can’t walk away from an unhealthy marriage?” I mock him, averting my attention back to Harry. “Not to mention, she was never branded as his wife. She’s her own woman by the MC bylaws.”
Grizzly’s lips thinned right then and there. He looks down at Harry with all the humor gone from his voice.
“Is this true.”
Harry bit down on the inside of his cheek, unable to look him in the eye.
“This was before I’d joined the Bears, Prez.”
“Shouldn’t matter either way. The two of you are still married and––”
“She’s already been branded.” I lied, straight through my teeth.
Silence emerged from the crowd just then. Any unsureness sparking in the Reapers was completely put aside when they recognized the approach I had taken. It was evident that the Bears wouldn’t quit fighting the issue at hand unless we cutthroat them with something out of the box. I didn’t think to check with Fist regarding the matter but if I had mentioned it any later, it would have looked like I was trying to save her, and I am, but they don’t know that.
“Ah.” Grizzly nods, taking time to think. “Well, that speaks for the entire problem itself.” The
man turned his head back to Fist, offering his hand between them. Fist’s eyes searched the hand for answers but remained skeptical. Grizzly explains briefly. “The Bears follow a code of conduct regarding their marital arrangements, as I know the Reapers do as well. You’d understand that yourself, wouldn’t you Fist.”
“I suppose I could.” He shed with caution.
“I really do apologize for this, Fist.” Grizzly confessed, shaking his head. “It was a mistake on my part not to clear the details with that idiot.” At this, Fist acknowledged and let it be known when his hand came up to take the opposing Prez’s. I’d come up to the gates expecting a war, right now – in this moment, it looked like we may avoid any bloodshed.
“No harm done, Grizzly” He affirmed before adding, “So long as you and your pack away from my daughter. All of them.”
“Of course.” He agrees.
In the back of my head, I knew it couldn’t have been that simple. Ashley had made it more than clear that the Bears had intended to use her as a bargaining chip. In this sort of gamble, it was difficult to call them out on that. Not to mention, we didn’t have proof that they were responsible for stealing the drugs. Calling out a club for theft was as big of a crime as spitting on their cuts so it had to be avoided. Regardless, this wasn’t something that could have been easily washed over.
I knew this even before Fist had taken the man’s hand.
Fist turned his back to the man to catch eyes with Roach behind the window. With a wave of his hand, the signal was sent to open the gates. We waited until the thick “bzzzzz” told us he’d flipped the switch and sent the gates retreating to opposite ends of the entrance.
As I’d started walking away, Cracker had already swooped his arm back over my shoulder to pull me close to his side. “You did well, boy.”
I couldn’t say much. Despite the end of the conversation, something just didn’t feel right.
“Oh! One last thing before we wrap this up entirely!” Grizzly’s voice came back up.
Fist turned around, his brows furrowing in frustration.
“The topic is already off the table, Jack. Give it a rest.”
The Bear’s president shook his head, his smile remaining intact.
“I want to see it.”
“See what?” I turned my head around, fist’s clenched at my side.
Cracker’s arm slipped off my shoulder to face his attention back to the Bear’s Prez. The air was brewing with a kind of tension you just couldn’t cut through. Grizzly looks up from the floor, his smile ripping from ear to ear.
“I want to see your daughter’s brand.”
Chapter 10
Ashley
Thank God for Crisco.
Over thirty minutes went into making the perfect apple pie from scratch and I wouldn't have been able to do it without the Crisco shortening. I was no good at making crust thin without the pie getting too soft and runny, so I used an extra fourth of all-vegetable on top of the half I already filled in. Double the crust was just how I liked too. This called for extra effort when I spent a good majority of my time flattening the crust with my mother’s spare roller, but it did the trick in making everything nice, smooth, and even. I had to admit it, even I was impressed.
Staying in the kitchen to prep dinner for the guys was something I’d missed back at Harry’s. Back when I was a newlywed bride, I had so much pride in my cooking that I’d jump at the neighbors to join us for dinner. Harry’s excuse not to help was that he’d be working every afternoon up until he joins us for the last hour of dessert until the guests left. Our usual were Ruth and Ned Bunsen, the neighbors from across the street. Just like Harry and I, Ruth and Ned were faced with a choice as to whether they would stay in Texas or move to Ned’s hometown. It was a dedicated romance—one that didn’t burn out easily even if all the sparks that made it happen were gone. Talking to them about their life together had almost made me forget that my life was so dysfunctional.
It caught up to me soon enough, though. I never felt so alone in my life every time they left the house. Harry usually arrived half-drunk and challenged Ned to binge of shots until Ned politely refused. After a couple of jibes and jokes about my cooking, Ned caught on that Harry wasn’t alright and something was going on. Things got physical, I accidentally tore a gaping hole in the sleeve of my blouse. To this day, I could never forget the look on their faces when they saw the bruises on my arm that night. Whether they judged me or not, the spell was broken, and it hit me right then and there. It was impossible to fix this marriage to come close to perfect as theirs.
It didn’t matter now. I refuse to let my past impair me from fixing myself back up. Returning to my family made me sure of that. If it hadn’t been for my father and my brothers, I don’t know what I would’ve done after losing the baby. And despite all that, I owe most of my regained support to Blackjack. He really pulled through for me which is why I invited him to join us for dinner. Although I can say I’m determined to win everyone over with my apple cinnamon pie, I can’t deny that I’m nervous to see him face to face again. We have so much to talk about. I’ve been thinking about it a lot over the past few days and after dinner he and I are going to have a much-needed conversation. After all, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.
In this case, the way called for the best ingredients: All-purpose flour, a little pinch of salt, Crisco naturally, cinnamon, nutmeg, margarine, and the town’s famous tart apples. What it didn’t call for, however, was a slam of the door that nearly made me drop my bowl of filling.
“Jesus!” I yelp.
“Ashley!” He barked at the kitchen entrance. “Where are you, sweetheart?”
He swaggers inside, the pressure of his boots causing the floors to creak beneath us.
“Dad!” I hiss, waving a wooden spoon at him, “You nearly scared me out of my skin! What is going on with y––!?”
Following my father were my two brothers, both happening to be wearing the sternest expressions I’d ever seen them carrying. They stumbled inside with Zane still clutching the door till his knuckles went white. His eyes were filled with so much anger that I couldn’t possibly understand. I just knew one thing, whatever this was, it wasn’t good.
“Ash...thank God.” Kade takes his mouth in his hand, shaking his head. “We didn’t know where you were.”
“What do you mean? I’ve been here the entire time.” I furrow my brows, confused.
“You weren’t here this morning, darling.” My father steps forward, putting his hands on my shoulders. “We thought you left the club around the time they...”
He stops dead in his tracks, mouth unable to utter the remaining words. The same concern that Zane wore on his expression was now filling up my Dad’s entire face. Panic struck in my gut and I knew that whatever was going on had to have been serious. A Prez never shows weakness, not even my own father.
“Slow down.” I take his wrists, coaxing him to breathe.
“You don’t understand, baby.” He purses his lips, eyes growing dark. “They were at the entrance gate. Like they were waiting for you to come to them.”
I close my eyes, unable for the life of me to understand how this was happening so fast.
“Baby, just tell me.” His voice insists, “Where were you?”
“I went to the farmers market this morning to pick up some things for dinner.” I explain, pulling his hands down from my shoulders.
My eyes found his, sureness come back to me.
“When I came back, there was no one at the gates. The prospect let me in and that was that.”
“Jesus…” Kade sighs.
My father’s expression stills for a moment, trying to absorb all the information in chronological order. At last, his shoulders fall to a slump and he exhales slowly. Over his shoulders, I saw my brothers still carrying such unsure expressions. It was almost as if their conscience was shaken by an angry dog that caught them by surprise.
It was unavoidable however. The Bear
s had caught us by surprise in more ways than one and we hadn’t made our next move yet. There was still so much to do before we could finally strike back.
“I’ve had enough.” My father mutters under his breath.
My eyes return to him, puzzled.
“What?”
“Ash.” He gives me a look before taking my hand tightly. “We’re having church, right now.”
Before I could even respond, the twins were already starting out the door. A pull to my hand sent me forward and we all left the house as if dinner could wait till the next day. Down the patio stairs, we were holding ourselves together in the rush. My father pulled me so fast that I had to jump off the stairs to avoid tripping. When our feet met the pathway, we were on the move and I had to speak out.
“I don’t understand, Dad!”
“You will soon enough, sweetheart.” He assures me without even looking back.
“Soon enough isn’t enough! I protest, my voice losing its breath. “Tell me what the hell is going on!”
“We’re going to take care of you, Ashley.” Zane hollers behind his shoulder.
“What?” I blurt out.
They were going to what? Take care of me? Take care of what exactly!
There was no room for questions. The twins were ahead of us and the shadows were growing more apparent in the lines of the overgrown path. Every beat of my pulse was crashing into my chest and it wouldn’t leave even if I tried to swallow down my doubt. I had to be strong no matter what.
When I looked down at the club I almost gasped. I have never, in all my life seen this many bikes here. There had to be a hundred at least, and that’s not including all the trucks I see parked in the fields either. A few of them were still running with their headlights on as men stood beside them. Every light in sight made the club look like a beast with many eyes glowing in the darkness––a reclusive tarantula under the sanctuary of the moon.
I looked up as we reached the club’s front entrance. When we were in plain sight, the men guarding the bikes became more apparent to me and I could feel my breath start to hitch up to the back of my throat.
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