by Lake, Rae B.
"Oh, Siren, no. No one is going to hurt you. You're safe here. Mack would never. None of us would ever let anything happen to you."
I know that’s a lie. I take a chance knowing it could hurt them, but as women in the outlaw lifestyle, they have to know the truth. "That's not true," I say, and they all turn to me. "Not that anyone here would let anything happen to you, but that nothing will ever happen to you. This world is full of people like Vale and those dickless bastards who abused you. Your men are people in power, and there will always be someone who wants to take them down. To say nothing is ever guaranteed to happen is a lie. It might, and you will fight. Just like you made it through this time, you will not let them break you. You're strong, and you're smart. Hell, this is probably the largest group of badass women I've seen in a long time. You are all worried about your men when it's you they should be concerned about. After all, even in chess, it's always the queen they all go for. They know who really holds all the power.”
"Fuck yes!" Maven throws her hands up, my little speech empowering her.
"I'm that bitch and always have been!" She claps her hands.
"That's what I'm fucking talking about. Who the fuck do they think they are?" I egg her on.
"They don't know," Jazmine answers and laughs as she pushes against Maven.
"Look who's talking. Here is the daughter of a drug kingpin. She probably knows more shit about how to kill a motherfucker than anyone in this room." Maven laughs, and Jazmine puts her nails up to her mouth, blows on her hand, and then buffs her nails against her chest. We all start to laugh at the silliness of it.
The heavy part of the conversation is over. The fears were spilled on the floor. There would always be fears, and they will always remember, but I’m hoping I let them know they don't have to give up who they were because of it. They would take it and roll it into a big part of who they are now.
It’s the same for me. I spent the entire time we were on the run fighting how I was feeling for Storm. I knew from the day I first saw him in the bar he would change my fucking life. The events that happened between then and now don't change how I feel about him, even if they should have.
We wrap our arms around each other’s necks and hold onto each other. I don't know these women very well, but I think I just found my home.
Storm's POV
I wake up in a cold sweat, my hand immediately jumping up to my gun, only to see Duo standing right over me. She must have had a nightmare too.
"What's wrong?" When I look up at her, I can see she’s still shaken.
"I couldn't see the side of your face. I woke up and thought you were him." Her voice is only a whisper. I thought for sure she was ok, but every once in a while, I’d catch her looking at me like she wants to kill me or scared of me. It's because I look like Vale. If I could rip my face off and put someone else’s on, I would.
"It's going to happen, Duo. He's my identical twin brother." I stand up and wrap my arms around her, but she’s stiff and doesn't return my embrace. I kiss the side of her face gently and rub her arms with the backs of my fingers. I pull her face up so I can let her eyes hypnotize me. She smiles when I do.
"You are such a weirdo. You act like my eyes get you high or something. I swear you sigh every time I stare at you." Slowly she pushes her arms around my back as far as she can get them.
"They do. I think I could stare at you all fucking day long. You're absolutely gorgeous." When she raises up on her tippy toes and kisses me, I let her lead the show for all of five seconds before I grab her ass and press her hard against me. If she wants to fuck, I’m down for it.
She pulls away a little, “You think anyone else is awake? I have too much energy to go back to bed.”
When I look at my watch, it's only eleven at night. Parties used to go way into the morning, so it’s surprising not to hear a peep.
"I don't know. I guess we could go out and check." I open the door, and Red the prospect, is standing right there. They still have an escort on me wherever I am.
"They up?" I ask, and he nods his head.
I walk over to the balcony and see everyone in the main area, but no one is talking. Clean is just sitting in one of the chairs, looking out the back window. The man looks tired as fuck.
Ink is having a drink. Mack is cleaning his gun. Pope is rearranging the bar. All in the same space but all separate.
"You sure you want to go down into that?" I ask, and she nods her head.
"You want your family back, don't you? Then we have to show them what it means to be a family again. Let's do this." Duo puts her hand out, and it takes me a second to figure out what she is doing.
"Oh, you little nerd." I give her a high five and follow her downstairs.
I go toward the bar, but she pulls in the opposite direction.
She leans up to kiss me, "Ima get the girls. You go thaw them out a bit. If they come here with this vibe, they’ll go back to their rooms."
"You want me to thaw out a bunch of hardened bikers? That's what you want me to do? What the fuck do I look like? A magician?"
"You can do it. I know it."
I watch her dash off toward Ink's room to find Jazmine, I assume.
I make my way over to the bar and pull a bottle of Jack.
Pope grabs my arm just as I place the bottle down on the bar top, "You think we like you well enough for you to be stealing our liquor?”
"I think this bottle of liquor has probably been here longer than you. This place is dead. We used to have the best fucking parties. Seems like once I left, everyone forgot how to have a good time."
Ink turns angrily in his seat and glares at me, "No, when you left, we were attacked by those same people we used to have the best parties with. Seemed like a good time to fucking stop them."
I knew this was going to be a sore spot, but I can't let it fucking get to me. Shit happened, and they need to get over it and be ready for the next thing. If they don't, they’d just be setting themselves up for another failure.
"Nah, I don't think so. You got them all weeded out. I think now is the perfect time to party it up. You know those you have with you are the ones you can trust."
"We can trunk you?" Mack asks.
"Trust me?" I ask, and he nods his head, "You can, even if you don't believe you can. The same loyalty I had for Vale, I have for you. Besides, you got me on a fucking leash anyway. What can I do? Where can I go?" I shrug, and Mack cracks a bit of a smile. I'm like the fucking mascot that just will not go away. I have no place, but they can't let me leave. At least not yet.
"Whatever, I'm not in the mood for partying." Ink turns back in his chair.
"Nope, looks like you in the mood to eat. You getting fat, bro." I raise an eyebrow toward him and open my booze to take a drink.
"Oh fuck you! I'm not fucking fat."
"You ain't little Ink no more. If I didn't know any better, that would look like a fucking gut to me. Hell, I don't even think you're as fucking strong as you used to be. I mean, unless you just sit on motherfuckers now."
"Yeah?" Ink stands up and pulls his shirt off, showing everyone he’s still in tip-top shape. His abs contract as he flexes his muscles. "Fuck you. I'll beat anyone of you bastards to shit any day. Fat? Who the hell you think you’re trying to play?"
"Yeah, close combat, brawling, you got it. I'm not dumb enough to go up against you there."
"Any type of combat." Ink replies.
"I’d have to disagree, on some stealth kills, I would take Mack any day." I hook my finger over my shoulder and point to my cousin.
"Bullshit. I'm better at that shit too." Ink declares loudly.
"Fuck that, Ink. You walk like a fucking gorilla," Clean says and makes his way to the bar.
"Bro, a gorilla sounds like a fucking mouse compared to Ink." I laugh.
"Fuck the both of you. Out of everyone here, I'm the quietest one. Can't no one ..."
Mack presses the neck of his beer bottle against Ink's neck, completely catching
him off guard. "You sure?" He asks, and Ink's entire face falls.
Clean laughs loudly, seeing his enforcer get tricked. I turn, trying not to focus on the fact it’s the first time I’ve heard him laugh since I’ve been here. It is a great sound.
"You motherfucking ghost. When the hell did you fucking move?" Ink shakes his head and pushes the bottle away.
Mack shrugs his head and stands in front of us, so now we are all in a bit of a circle instead of so far away from each other.
"I'm glad I figured you’d stay up here. That shit would have been scary as fuck if I thought you would come for me in Louisiana." I say, looking to the new VP. "That shit is the stuff of fucking nightmares. You're like the fucking boogeyman." I make fun.
"Not that it would’ve done any fucking good with your crazy ass." Clean says, "Pirate told me you jumped off a fucking building to get away from him."
"Uh, yes sir, I sure the fuck did." I think back to that day. I'm so fucking lucky to be alive.
"You jumped off a building?" Duo's voice speaks up behind me.
I turn, and she has all the women with her walking toward us.
"Yes, yes I did." I put my hand out, so she comes to me, and the rest of the women go to their men and stand near them. Siren seems to be the only person who’s even the least bit comfortable with her man. Everyone else is either standing off to the side or just barely touching their men.
"What the hell did you do that for?" Duo laughs and sits on the very edge of the stool with me.
"If you’d have seen Pirate, you would know why the hell I did that. I'm not messing with that man."
Everyone laughs before Clean continues. "Man, I’m not jumping off a building for anyone. I'm way too old for that shit."
"Who you telling?" Maven speaks up, a little smile on her face.
"Uh, last I checked, you aren’t a young whippersnapper yourself." He jokes, but his face falls as the words leave his mouth. Like he thinks she's going to be upset with him.
"I bet her body is still younger than yours." Duo pushes the conversation forward.
"Uh, yeah, I'm not jumping off any buildings either. You can forget that shit."
"Fine, no jumping off buildings, but I bet you can move better than he can. I'm willing to bet you’re just as limber as you've always been. He might need to do some stretches or some shit."
"Hey, I'm limber." Clean takes slight offense, but I can see he’s still playing along.
"Not as limber as her. I'd put money on it." Duo pulls out a ten spot from her pocket.
My ten spot, but I’m not going to say anything.
"Show me then," Clean says, and Maven takes the ten dollars from Duo's hand, lifts the heel of her foot with her hand straight up into a split, and lets it fall directly on Clean's shoulder.
"Holy shit." Duo says before she turns to look at me, "I can't fucking do that shit, so don't even look in this direction."
"Oh, we can get you there. Come on, let's go practice." I grab onto her and pull her away, and she fights her way back to the crowd.
"You’re so damn nasty." She tsks and shakes her head at me.
Suddenly, the music is on, and Jazmine is holding the remote. When she puts it down, even I can see how uneasy she is. She's trying, but she doesn't know what to do now. Ink hasn't moved, just as fucking clueless. He looks over to Duo and me, who shimmies around a bit to show him she wants to dance. It's like teaching a bunch of prepubescent kids how to flirt. Ink gets up right away and wraps his hands around his woman's waist. Soon everyone is dancing with everyone else. Laughter echoes through the bare space, and the liquor bottles that were just sitting on the shelves collecting dust are finally getting some use.
I corner Duo against the bar and enclose her in my arms. "What the hell did you do to them?"
"Nothing. Just let them know that the women they were before is the same as who they are now. Being a victim doesn't mean you have to stay a victim."
When I turn my head in the direction of the small makeshift party, I see Maven and Clean going at it against the bar. It is like he’s about to lose his virginity all over again.
A loud squeal followed by laughter echoes in the air as Ink throws Jazmine over his shoulder and runs toward his room. "Oh my god, you savage!" She laughs, and I don't hear Ink say anything, but I swear he growls.
Siren and Mack are already gone, and now the only ones left with us are Maven and Clean, along with the single folks in the club.
Maven pushes Clean away, and he pouts as his back hits the bar.
Maven looks over her shoulder, "I thought I taught you better than that? Do we have to go over the rules again, Barry? I think you need a refresher." She turns and starts walking toward church while slowly pulling her shirt off. Her back is to us, and she drops the shirt before she opens the door and walks in.
"Oh fuck. Oh, fuck yes."
Clean is stuck, just looking at the shirt on the floor.
"Clean," I call out to him, and his head bounces up and focuses on me.
"Hmm?" He asks.
"Your woman is waiting. Don't walk, run, brother."
"Oh fuck. Yup." He takes off, bending only slightly to pick the shirt off the floor.
I pull on Duo's hand, and we head back to my room. I'd rather get behind closed doors before the rest of the club starts to have their fun. It's going to be an eventful night.
Today is the day. Duo’s father and his henchmen are all set to come and see Duo today, making sure to get all this cleared up.
“Storm, let me talk to you for a minute,” Clean says as he walks by me toward church. I follow him but stand by the door. There’s no way I’m supposed to be let back in there. Not after what I put them through.
“Go.” Mack stands behind me and pushes me into the room.
“I figured you’d let me get Duo to her father before you killed me,” I say, half-joking and half honestly. Just because I’d helped them with their women doesn’t mean I’m off the hook.
“I’m not going to fucking kill you. It’s always been your fucking brother we wanted. Vale is the enemy of this club. When you chose him over us, yeah, it fucking stung, but I’m not stupid. He’s your brother. There’s bound to be some pushback. That doesn’t change the problem we have now.” Clean sits in his chair and continues to address me. “Storm, when we see Vale, we are going to kill him. If you stand in the way, we will kill you too. There is no other option.” He stares at me, and though I want to tell him I understand, I still can’t just sit by and let him shoot Vale.
“You can leaf. Go down to Archer. Stay there while we hanger this business.” Mack closes his eyes but immediately erases the frustration. He must be getting better with his speech.
“He will follow me,” I reply, not understanding what that will do. “He will come for Duo first.”
The pieces started to fall in place in my head. They wanted me to leave Duo here as bait. “No, fuck no. Wherever she goes, I go.”
“Then that brings us back to you being here when we kill Vale. I wouldn’t ask Mack to kill his sister. Or Maven to kill you because you are family blood, but Vale is going to die.” Clean repeats himself as if he’s trying to make sure I understand the words he’s saying.
“I’ll be fine. Let’s just get Duo safe, and then you can do whatever you need to do.”
I turn and try to walk out of church, but Pope is at the door and doesn’t let me leave.
“I haven’t called the meeting to end. Things are a little different than you remember, Storm.” Clean’s voice is deadly. He’s going to make sure I don’t forget he is the fucking president now.
I turn and face him.
“You abandoned your patch, but you were loyal to family, even if it wasn’t ours. You made it your business not to harm any of us and to keep Vale in check for as long as you could. You brought Duo here, a friend of our Croatian family, even if they are estranged right now. We can’t overlook you breaking your vow, but we can take everything that happened into
consideration. You want your kutte back?”
I couldn’t fucking believe my ears. “Yes, I want my kutte back.”
“You will need to be punished, and you won’t get the same status you had before.” Clean continues. “You’ll be dropped back down to prospect, and you will stay there until I believe beyond a shadow of a fucking doubt that you know what the fuck it means to be a Wing. If that’s five years or five decades, so be it.”
“I accept that.” I nod my head and do my best not to show how excited I really am. It’s been so long since I’ve had any hope of being welcomed back into my family, and here they are, taking me back like the prodigal son.
“Your punishment will be brutal.” Clean cocks his head to the side.
“What is it?” Usually, when someone does the patch wrong, they just beat them down, but it must be something new if he’s itemizing it like this.
“Thirty lashes, no pain relief or aftercare. They will scar, and it will take forever to heal.” Ink says from his seat at the side of the table. As enforcer, he would carry out this punishment.
Thirty lashes. That shit is going to be fucking extreme. I will take it if it means I could come home.
“Fine. Let’s do it.” I pull my shirt over my head.
“Wait, wait. Now?” Pope asks, looking from me to them.
I turn to look at the newest member to my brothers. “I deserve this and worse. If they want to cut part of my heart out as a sacrifice, I will let them. That’s how much this second chance means to me.”
“Hmm, Lay it on thick,” Mack said as he walks out the room, clapping me on the back as he does.
He might think I’m trying to play it up for everyone there, but I mean every single word.
“Alright, you want to get this shit done. Let’s go.” Ink takes his kutte off and lays it over to the side.
I follow Ink and the rest of the boys into Ink’s chamber. I remember when it used to be Wire’s domain. I guess I should be happy it’s Ink handing out the punishments and not Wire. At least I’m hoping I’m lucky.
