by Kiki Leach
"You ain't gonna find 'em just like you didn't find the contracts, prick," he croaked.
Xavier balled his fist and slammed it into the center of Flex's chest, nearly cracking his ribs as a sharp, popping sound snapped with each strike. When he raised his fist for another blow, he received one of his own in the form of a six-inch knife to the left side of his stomach. Blood gushed around the blade and seeped through his shirt before pouring into his cut and melding with the dirt.
Flex shoved him back down to the ground as his hands weakened, as his skin colored and the whites of his eyes darkened with the fear of impending death. "Motherfucker." He rolled to his knees and snapped his fingers around the grip of the blade, jerking with the intention of pulling it free to stab him again, but dropped back as a fleet of roaring sirens blared in the distance. "FUCK!" While the Devils and Kings remained fighting, ignoring every sound that hadn't come from each other, Flex pointed at a rapidly blinking, barely conscious Xavier and violently gnashed his teeth. "This shit ain't fuckin' over between us, you stupid fuck. My shit with you and that black bitch is more personal than anything to ever do with your fuckin' club."
As the sirens continued to close in on their location, Flex took off into the night without another word or threat, leaving the fate of his club and cut bearing his current status as its president behind in the dirt.
Moments later, a string of police cars, fire trucks and two ambulances rolled into the lot, parking in scattered directions as the clubs continued their battle for power.
"XAVIER!" Mariah jumped off the back of Tech's bike as he came to a stop between cars and crashed through a wave of officers rushing toward the Devils and Kings in an attempt to pull them away from each other. "X!" Her tear-filled eyes searched the lot in a panic as her feet slammed into the ground; her arms swung with the attempt to keep pushing her forward until she found him lying too close to the building in a pool of his own blood. "X!"
His vision blurred as the sweet sound of his woman's anxious voice finally descended upon him in what felt like a dream come to life; his space lessened when she pushed her hands beneath his arms and used the strength of her legs to gently drag him as far from the building as her body would allow.
After collapsing to her knees near a tree behind the chaos and softly pulling his head into her lap, she wiped a layer of sweat from his face and dabbed the corner of his mouth. "Darlin'." A smile parted his lips as she brushed a spill of tears from her face with the sleeve of his hoodie. His hand lowered to his stomach; his fingers collided with the blade plunged into his belly before tumbling to the ground. "How are you here?" he asked her. "I'm fuckin' dead--"
"No," she muttered. "You're as alive as me right now, Xavier."
"Baby--"
"LapDog's prospect," she started, her hands shaking as she held onto his face. "I'll tell you everything, but who did this to you, Xavier -- Flex? Where the hell is he -- Where did he go?"
Xavier swallowed hard and slid his drying tongue against the blood filling his mouth as firefighters used an assortment of hoses to spray water across the fire.
"I can't feel shit right now," he said, turning his head aside to spit blood onto the ground. "Can't even see your fuckin' face."
"Xavier--"
"Shit's cold as fuck out here, baby... But Jesus, I'm sweatin' right now like a motherfucker."
"I NEED HELP OVER HERE," she cried out. "PLEASE!" Xavier shut his eyes for a few seconds and frowned as a chill rushed his now ashen skin, as blood continued to pour from his wound and mouth, dripping onto Mariah's clothes. "Hang on for me, Xavier, please."
His eyes reopened as a tear rolled from her cheek and splashed across his forehead. He grinned for a second time before refocusing his clouded gaze across the lot, gulping with righteous vengeance as Tractor, Boone and other members of his club were handcuffed and shoved into the back of police cars. "What... Darlin' -- what?"
She shushed him and brushed his hair from his face as his forehead wrinkled, then cried out for a second time as his weakened pulse suddenly stilled beneath her fingers.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Xavier
Xavier's body jolted against the railings of his bed as a quick shot of warm, red liquid coursed through his veins like a motherfucker. "Goddamn."
It had been 5 days. He thought he was still dead.
"You'll be fine." The nurse smirked and removed her needle from the inside of his arm, tossing it into the trash before marking his chart. "Do you know what day it is?" she asked him. "What time?"
"Nah." Xavier looked across the room in search of a familiar face, glowering when he realized they were the only two inside the room. "Where's my woman?" he questioned.
The nurse lifted her pen from a piece of paper and pointed behind herself. "She'll be back soon. A few members from your motorcycle club had shown up wanting to see you; she kicked them out to let you rest and asked if they would come back this afternoon."
"Shit." He wagged his head against his pillow and lifted his eyes to the bright lights hanging high above his head as a chuckle fell between his lips. "She did that shit and they listened?"
"Mm hm."
"Must've been Prez -- maybe VP. You know which motherfuckers came out here?"
"I'm not entirely sure, Mr. Davenport. You can ask her when she returns."
"I'll be doin' that..." He paused as she checked his pulse, then attempted to clear his throat despite the harsh flow of what tasted like battery acid filling the back of his throat. "You know how the fuck long I've been out?"
"Nearly a week since you were brought into the ER. That knife to your belly nicked your spleen and cost you a fair amount of blood." She stared into his eyes and gulped as a soft chill washed her skin. "Your heart stopped that night," she said. "It took the EMT's at least five minutes to revive you."
"Jesus Christ..." He frowned. "Mariah saw that shit?"
She nodded. "You were in her arms when it happened. She's been by your side since you came in -- has rarely eaten, never slept as she's been too afraid to close her eyes in case you didn't wake up again." Her eyes lowered as she refilled his cup with water and placed it on top of the table near his bed.
He swallowed hard and shifted his jaw. "Anything wrong with me beyond this sharp ass pain in my side?"
"No. The doctor will be in to speak with you shortly about full recovery, but beyond the wound to your belly, you're in much better shape than expected."
"Physically speakin', yeah? 'Cause my mind is another goddamn story. Listen, anybody else from my crew get tossed in here?"
"Not to this extent." She bent forward and tipped her head. "You were the only one."
"Hey -- Knock, knock." Mariah returned to the room and traipsed to the other side of Xavier's bed in a flash. "My God, X." With tears in her eyes, she combed her fingers through the wild curls of his hair and leaned into his face. "You're awake."
"Yeah, darlin', I am." His eyes closed as he gulped with excitement. "Told you I was comin' back to you, yeah? Kept my goddamn promise."
"Just barely."
"I kept that shit." He lifted his chin to kiss her as deeply as his tongue would allow and caressed her cheek and side of her throat with the tips of his fingers. "Fuck, I missed this shit. Fuckin' missed how you taste, missed you."
The nurse cleared her throat as they continued to ignore her presence, and stepped aside. "He just woke up a few minutes after you were gone," she said. "I told him that you would be back shortly to calm him down."
"My ass was calm in here," he muttered against Mariah's mouth. "What the fuck?" Mariah rested her hand against his chest and pulled away from their kiss. She licked her lips as her eyes lifted to the nurse, then bit the inside of her cheek to suppress a smile. "I was calm in here, darlin' -- I wasn't throwin' a goddamn fit--"
"I'll be back in with the doctor soon," she interjected before smiling between them and leaving the room.
As the door closed, Mariah lowered her eyes back down to Xavier's
face and shrugged. "What the hell was that about?"
"Fuck if I know," he replied. "She seemed nice enough, then started runnin' her mouth 'bout some bullshit... Told me 'bout you bein' here this whole goddamn time with me -- barely eatin', never sleepin'."
"I needed to make sure that you were going to be okay, Xavier... That night at ACE'S, your heart stopped while I was holding you." She gulped and reached for his hand. "You were all but dead until they brought you back to life."
"Must've seen your face tellin' me to come back or some shit, yeah? Maybe God said it wasn't my time yet with us finally gettin' our shit together with each other."
"Maybe..."
His eyes dipped as he tugged at the strings of her hoodie. "You never took it off?" he asked her.
"No... Well, I washed it once; the night after your surgery, but since then, I've been wearing it. The room stays cold -- it makes a nice extra blanket."
"Yeah?" She nodded as he leaned aside and lowered the blankets on his bed. "Think it might be warmer underneath these?"
"This bed is too small for the both of us," she said. "And you're still healing."
"On the left side, baby and this bed ain't no bigger than your couch, yeah? We made that shit work then." She grinned in remembering and removed her shoes, then climbed into the bed and rested her head on top of his chest as his arm snaked her waist. He pulled her close and pressed his lips against her forehead; he pushed his fingers beneath the hoodie and brushed his fingers across her stomach. "Which of the boys were tryin' to see me out here?" he asked.
"Coco and Rugger," she replied. "I told them to come back later because I wasn't sure when you would wake up."
"I remember watchin' the cops throw cuffs on 'em that night... all my brothers were gettin' thrown into the back of cars while the goddamn Kings were just standin' around talkin' to those motherfuckers. You know what the fuck happened with that shit?"
"I do..." She took in a breath and swallowed it back. "LapDog's prospect was supposed to be out there with the rest of the Kings as a lookout, but got spooked and took off after Flex told them what was going to happen with the Molotov cocktails. He called after finding a signal and when he felt safe enough."
"Christ."
"We tried to make it out there right after, but were stopped from leaving the compound when Pink PD showed up to tell us about an anonymous tip they had received from a woman in Duncan who witnessed the shooting of three people at the Hotel Lavender and pointed all fingers at the Devils."
He grinded his teeth as his arm tightened around her waist. "Did the shit actually turn out to be from Gabi?"
Her eyes lowered as she nodded. "Big Tech convinced one of them that's on your immediate payroll to play the tape for me to confirm that it was her; it was."
"Jesus -- Do we know why the fuck she turned?"
"No idea; Tech is still trying to track her down after rerouting evidence from the Devils to Flex alone -- even fixing T's death to make it look like it had come from within the Kings to keep me away from the police station."
"Good. That's real fuckin' good, but has Scooter talked to his bitch at all?"
"He claims that he hasn't heard from her since she took off for good."
"Does anybody actually believe his ass on that shit?"
"I'm not sure. But according to Kyla who was told by Cheddar, he's no longer allowed at your table."
"They tossin' him aside?"
"Not exactly," she answered. "He gets to keep his patches and cut, but he doesn't get to help make decisions about your club or otherwise. Tech is supposed to be officially patched in to take his place. It's why Coco and Rugger were here, they needed your proxy." He grunted. "How do you feel about Scooter no longer being at the table, Xavier? You two were patched in at the same time."
"Don't know yet, darlin'. Still too pissed as fuck at that asshole to feel bad for whatever the fuck he's goin' through right now, and I know he's goin' through shit. All that went down 'cause of this bitch didn't have to fuckin' happen."
"It's partly my fault too, X," she said. "When I should've seen through everything that she was and ever said to me."
"Nah, Mariah, don't go blamin' yourself for that shit when this bitch rolled up on you first goddamn thing with an agenda; she played on the kinda person you are, bein' too goddamn nice and all that shit; workin' for motherfuckers like T-Bone and Roc to get paid..." He deeply exhaled. "This shit was on her more than anyone else; Scooter by extension when he knew he shoulda spoke the fuck up 'fore all this shit spiraled the fuck outta control. And those goddamn contracts with your 2%?"
"They were legit."
"Does it matter if those assholes burned 'em up?"
"The Kings burned copies, Xavier."
His hand stilled against her. "What?"
"Pugh's attorney had copies made from the originals. It was all she had given to them."
"The originals were still inside that asshole's house?"
"Yes. Tech managed to find them after kicking his foot through every wall."
"And you're sure this shit's legit? You sure you own that 2%?"
She pulled her head away from his chest to stare into his face. "I made a deal with Boone and Tractor to keep it for myself while promising to stay put and help them find new talent for the club."
He snickered. "Trac is gonna love the fuck outta that. What'd they say 'bout that other 49% still bein' owned by the Kings?"
"They no longer own 49%," she replied.
He made a face. "How the fuck is that shit possible, Mariah?"
"When Flex took off, his club needed another president. LapDog helped to identify and personally remove T and Flex's loyalists, and made an open deal with Boone and Tractor that returned your coke and all profits back to the club while pushing him to the head of the Kings' table. Doing so allowed him to sign 30% of ACE'S back over to Devils, leavin the Kings with 19% for themselves."
"Why 19%?"
"Enough to keep him quiet about anything that could get you and the rest sent to jail," she said.
"Shit."
"But Boone thinks the returned profit is enough to help them rebuild. It's also been enough to help sustain my tuition for another semester."
"Is Tech lookin' into where Flex's ass might be right now too?"
"He's trying. But if he's found, that means your role in Rocka's death might come back with him, Xavier."
He leaned away from her and made a face. "What are you talkin' 'bout, darlin'?"
"After everything settled, Boone and LapDog searched for the tapes from the classroom and supposed recordings of conversations, but never found anything at the Kings compound or T-Bone's place. And Flex's trailer had burned to the ground right after he disappeared from your fight."
He swallowed hard and clinched his jaw while staring at the ceiling. "This asshole is just out there somewhere with shit to get me fucked is what you're sayin'."
"I'm saying that we need to be prepared for the worst everyday until he's found."
"We don't know when the fuck that's gonna be."
"We'll find out. Either way, we'll be together no matter the outcome, X." She turned aside and stared into his eyes as he took her face inside his hand. "I'm more than your partner in ACE'S for the rest of our lives together."
"If anybody beyond Boone and LapDog find out what the fuck I did, darlin', that shit ain't gonna matter. Motherfuckers gonna make you choose between me and the club."
"I'll always choose you, Xavier. I didn't spend the better part of my life trying to get you only to throw it away once I finally had you, out of fear."
"You'd need that 2% to stay in school," he said.
"I would cash out."
"You think Tractor would let that shit happen?"
"He wouldn't have a choice."
He grinned. "You sayin' that shit with a kinda confidence I ain't ever heard from you before."
"Because until this point, Xavier, I don't think I ever had it; maybe I did but was too afraid to e
xpress myself in the way that was needed. I'm not afraid anymore," she told him. "Not in that way. You dying on me before they brought you back changed everything. I can't waste another moment of my life in fear or rejecting what I want to please anyone else but myself. If ever a time comes for me to choose between you and your club, it will always be you, Xavier -- always."
He glided his thumb across her lips and bobbed his head. "I chose you through all this," he said. "I'd maybe tweak some shit that happened along the goddamn way, but don't ever wanna change how the fuck we got back here."
"How we're going to stay here."
"Yeah, baby, how we're gonna stay right fuckin' here."
As he leaned in to kiss her, as his hand scaled the length of her body before dipping between her legs; as her fingers pushed into the back of his hair and her chest expanded from a deep intake of air, they did.
Three years and a single tattoo later, the time had finally come.
One that would belong to no one else but them until the goddamn end.
Epilogue
One Month Later
Mariah
"It's smellin' real goddamn good in here, darlin'; just like always." Xavier stepped into the kitchen and slipped his arms around my waist, pulling me away from the oven and pressing his hands against my stomach; he brushed his mouth across the back of my neck and pulled me into his chest. "You feelin' real goddamn good up in here too." His tongue washed my skin as his fingers curled into the fabric of my shirt; he swayed us from side to side and pushed his face into my hair, grunting as he inhaled. "Jesus, you are so goddamn sweet."
I looked aside and grinned. "Is that because of how you think I taste at the moment, or because I volunteered to make the dessert for your brother's engagement party tonight?"
He snickered. "Could be both, yeah?"
"Did they send you in here to ask if it was ready yet?"
"You were the only one still left with somethin' to cook, darlin'."
"Because everyone else was hogging what I needed in here earlier, X."
