Jaded: (Beautiful Biker MC Romance Series), page 28
“She’s dead to me,” Rider said around the table that night. The full club wasn’t present; a few were getting shit done for the big plans we had for Friday. But there were a handful of us for a quick session after the day wound down.
Deke said nothing in reply, but looked like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. And it was no surprise. His ex had hurt every one of his kids repeatedly. Now not only fraternizing with but also partnering with the club’s biggest enemy?
“She was dead to me long ago,” Spencer stated coldly.
“I’m taking measures to make sure she’s unable to fuck with any of my kids or their significant others,” Deke stated. “She’ll go away for a while.”
“Good, because if I see her again, Dad…” Spence clipped.
“I know, son,” Deke stated.
“Still crazy the Jackals put a bullet in one of the women they sent in?” Pudge stated.
“Must’ve been Fork’s inside man,” Deacon said.
“That could draw attention to him and fuck tomorrow’s plans,” Pudge put in.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t,” Spence muttered.
That bullet pierced the back of a Sioux Falls sweet butt, one with a fixation on Spence. The stupid bitch was there to help the Jackals take out Pippa so she could have Spence for herself.
We were locked down, all family members accounted for, and bracing for just about anything.
And I wasn’t happy to crawl into cold, empty sheets that night. I phoned Gigi when I was in them. Needing her voice. Wanting her warmth. Wanting to smell that candy floss and citrus while feeling her tight heat ripple around me.
“Hello.”
“Gigi.”
“Jesse,” her voice seemed full of emotion. “How are you?”
“Shit. You?”
“Sorry, baby.”
“Rough one,” I muttered. “Wish you were here. How was your day?”
“Good. Um… really good, actually. The girls are here for the night and they’re so sweet. Your momma’s amazing with them.”
“Glad to hear that,” I said.
“Miss you,” she whispered.
“Good. I’m feelin’ the same, especially after today.”
“Why was today so shit?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just know that we’re closin’ in on the end of the bullshit.”
“That’s good,” she breathed.
“What’re you doin’?”
“I’m strumming. Journaling. Tryin’ to play quiet.”
“Ma sleeps like the dead.”
“She’d have to with how loud Archer snores.”
I snickered. “Yeah. What’re you journaling about? Using it as an outlet?”
“I had an idea for a song.”
“Hope you’ll play it for me.”
“I dunno.”
“You ever play your songs for anyone?”
“Not really. Used to dream about hearin’ them on the radio, but never me singing them. Sometimes when I write them, I write them with an artist in mind.”
“Like who?”
“I’m too embarrassed to tell you.”
“Will you play one for me now? Play quiet now for me.”
“I’m kinda shy about it.”
“I’d like to hear.”
“They’re probably not any good.”
“Still like to hear. Your voice is beautiful, baby.”
“That’s sweet to say.”
“The truth. Play some of your songs for me sometime.”
“How about I play the tune I’m tinkering with but not sing.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Do that.”
I listened to a soft melody that went on for thirty or forty seconds. And if she’d kept it up it might’ve put me to sleep. It was comforting.
“There.”
“That was nice,” I said. And then I yawned. “Biker lullaby.”
She laughed softly. “I should let you get some sleep.”
“Yeah. So, I’ll either be pickin’ you up at the crack of dawn Saturday or asking Arch to bring you.”
“Oh.”
“Want you here for the charity carwash. Bring all your gear. Settle into the swamp for now.”
“Um…”
“Gonna be a big day tomorrow. Lots happening and I might not get a chance to call. But you’re here Saturday whether you hear from me or not tomorrow. It’s important,” I pressed.
“Jesse?”
The way she posed my name had my back up.
“Baby, I want you by my side for that.”
The line was silent. Loaded silence.
“The page bein’ turned for the club, it’s the perfect time to bring you in and show everyone you’re in. You get me?”
“Okay,” she said softly.
“I’ll get you through it,” I promised.
She held the phone.
“You hear me?”
“Mm hm.” Her voice was small, and if I was hearing right – emotional.
“Believe me,” I ordered.
“Okay,” she said.
“See you Saturday when the sun comes up. Night baby.”
“Goodnight, baby,” she parroted.
I wanted her there with the rest of the club, where everyone would see her at my side. And taking Delia’s advice the day before, I asked Ma to ask her to get a Property of Jesse shirt made for Gigi on a rush order. Ma’s uniform supplier could make that happen, no problem.
That conversation was fun.
“Ma, how’s things?” I’d greeted.
“Things’re good. They’d be even better if you tell me you’ve gotten your head out of your ass about Gianna.”
“She not tell you?” I asked.
“Tell me what?”
“That we’re a thing.”
“Yeah, she did, JJ, but since I haven’t talked to you I don’t know how much of a thing.”
“A serious thing,” I stated.
“And that should’ve come from you. You message that you need us to look out for her a couple days and then you show up and you’re outta here and don’t call me like you’re supposed to, so I had no clue what was up.”
“What’s up is that she’s mine now and as she’s got a history with the club bein’ a sweet butt, which she never intended to be seen that way. But…”
“Circumstances,” Ma said like she totally got it.
“Yeah. And she’s uncomfortable being here right now, because bitches are bein’ bitches. I need her safe. I had a word with Arch before I left about makin’ sure he watches her.”
“Right. A word with him, not me. I’m a little put off.”
“Because you were at work.”
“Not my fault! And you didn’t call the next day like you were supposed to.”
I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “What can I do to make that right, Ma?” I asked.
She sighed. “Actually, nothing. I’m happy for you. I like her a lot, JJ.”
“Good. Can you do me another solid?”
When I said I wanted to bring her to the clubhouse Saturday with a Property of Jesse shirt on her, Ma loved the idea and readily agreed to get the shirt rushed in.
If things went right tomorrow, Saturday would be the beginning of life with a lot of bullshit behind us. I was ready to move forward. The entire club was. Forward, putting as many of the Wyld Jackals as possible out of their misery. And forward motion for me, with this girl.
14
It was Friday night, technically Saturday morning, and we were in the compound and about to head into the new chapel. A banner night like this needed to be marked and we were doing that by using our new chapel for the first time.
Between gathering intel, working with some cops, placement of some helpful evidence, and working with guys from a level of the underworld it was inadvisable to get tangled up with, we performed a patch-over, got some of them arrested, and we took some of them out.
We’d patched over three of their local members, one prospect for Aberdeen, but not only were they officially considered patched over by The Dominion Brotherhood overall, which was a coup to crow about, there were half a dozen fewer Jackals on the planet.
We owed some favors from some undesirables, but the common goal of wanting to take out the Wyld Jackals made it worthwhile, and we had a plan to get out from under that association quickly. For one thing, they wanted Gordino dead. The only thing they wanted more than that was to be able to do the killing themselves. We were hand-delivering him tonight.
They wanted Mantis too. But Deke told them when we found Mantis, the honor of disposal had to go to Edge.
But we were also working to help them get some of their property back.
Today involved some precision moves, timed delivery of illegal goods in view of the cops, and the effort culminated in getting to watch some asshole Jackals get arrested, too.
Not wiped out entirely, we knew drama might continue. But it was a big night and by all accounts, a successful one. And though we still had enemies, we’d rest our heads tonight with fewer of them than what the day started with, including knowing Gordino would not be a problem ever again.
I wasn’t the only man in the club to have fired a kill shot tonight. And I didn’t feel bad about it. It was the second time I’ve taken a life, the third Jackal I’d put a bullet in. And while I hoped it’d be my last kill shot, I knew without an iota of doubt I’d do it again.
Our club didn’t go looking for trouble, but we were men who’d stand up to it, stop it from putting what we gave a shit about at risk. And that’s why this was the club for me.
I fired that shot beside Bront from behind the half wall beyond the line of motorcycles in the parking lot of the little shithole bar they were meeting at after knowing some of them had been arrested. Bront shot two.
Another was about to get away, but Rider clipped him from his hidey hole across the road as the bugger tried to exit the parking lot. That wasn’t a kill shot, but it’d give him a permanent limp, not to mention the shit we had Pudge uncover from deletion on his hard drive would ensure that fucker would be tracked down by the cops and have to limp to his trial for his part in delivering innocent women to a life of hell on earth. Every man taken out tonight was involved in that human trafficking ring.
We made what happened in that bar’s parking lot look like a showdown between Jackals instead of a war between two MCs, planting doubts and fears for whoever remained. After that, Rider, me, and Bront rendezvoused in the garage of an abandoned house near Wetonka with Deacon, Fork, and Brady who had taken out some Jackals too.
Deke caught up with Scott, former Jackal Justice, and Spencer after their job was done near Ipswich at the house of Gordino’s side piece, strategically placing more of the evidence we’d uncovered of their involvement in guns, drugs, and trafficking. Skip got his hands on a large quantity of a date rape drug, which was planted there. And I had to work hard on the poker face to hide the fact that it made my blood boil. Because what Gigi had told me about the rape accusation and how Skip was watching me for a reaction around him having that drug made it real clear to me he was worried she’d share what she suspected about that night. I let him see nothing, was spitting mad about it, but with all this shit going on, I knew I had to put it aside temporarily.
Skip would be leaving with a stubborn Pudge who was part of all the action instead of being in bed recovering from his wipe-out. They had an important errand so they wouldn’t be at church.
We were about to file into the chapel in the new great hall slash clubhouse when we were directed to the back of the new compound’s parking lot because former Jackal Nico drove in and waved us over.
He invited Edge to come closer as he popped the trunk, and we all watched the slow smile spread across Edge’s face. After moving in to see why, we saw a bound, gagged, awake Mantis.
“Merry early Christmas, he’s all yours,” Nico said, tossing Edge the keys. And then he grinned at Mantis while there was a cackle of laughter from a bunch of us before he slammed the trunk.
Edge grabbed Nico’s hand and held on, giving him a look that was heavy with gratitude. And after a beat of looking like the emotion might get the better of him, he transformed to looking like a beast. Nostrils flaring, eyes fiery, I was sure he was more than fired up for time with that piece of shit.
“Thank you, man,” Edge ground out through clenched teeth. He looked like he wanted to howl out a war cry.
“My fuckin’ pleasure, brother, believe me,” Nico replied.
Skip and Pudge took that as their cue to go, getting keys from Justice to help them accomplish their goal.
Pudge and Skip would deliver an oblivious Gordino to the airport. Gordino thought Justice and Nico arranged for him to be dropped at the landing strip nearby to be picked up and hauled into a cruise ship. He was thinking he’d be let out by a ship employee who’d check him into a room where he could chill and enjoy the cruise taking him through the Caribbean where he’d undoubtedly choose a port to fuck off to so he could get away.
But instead, it’d be Dominion Moving and Storage picking him up to be taken to where he’d be transferred to the cargo hold of a different cruise ship. Not one sailing through the Caribbean. The container he was in was going to Belize and would be attended to by people who wanted his blood.
Justice and Nico were voted in conditionally, told they were on unofficial probation despite that Fork put his ass on the line vouching for them.
Deke made it clear to them that though he didn’t want Fork on probation, that he trusted Fork’s recommendation otherwise they wouldn’t be here, that the entire club voted for it, needed a trial period to make sure of a good fit.
Nobody disagreed on the Fork matter. Chris Forker spent months helping us gear up for this. He’d saved lives and he was directly responsible for the fact today was a success.
The table for our chapel had been delivered yesterday, part of the gear we unloaded from Skip’s rig, though there weren’t chairs yet, so we stood around it, Deke at the head, a pile of leather cuts in the middle. More than just the four cuts for the new brothers, though, so that said there was more to come.
The table was beautiful. Wood, glossy, with the outline of our patch burnt into the wood.
“Know what’s comin’, but as a formality, opening the floor. Any new business?” Prez invited.
“Yeah.”
That was Spencer. All eyes swung his way.
“I call for our two prospects, Ted Bronson and Scott Harrison to be up for a vote to become fully patched members. Know that leaves us with only the one new prospect, Bick, but we’ve got Nolan comin’ tomorrow from the mother charter to resume his prospect tour, so between the two of ‘em, we’ll be covered. I got yes votes from Pudge and Skip for both brothers before they left to run their errand.”
“Step forward, Scooter and Brontosaurus. We’ll address the dino first,” Deke said.
Bront looked thrown. Not only did he think he’d bought extended prospect duty, but Spence had been treating him like he was the plankton on the food chain for the club, so that it was Spence that put Bront’s name forward was clearly a surprise to him.
My gaze moved to Scott. His eyes weren’t right. They were so not right it caught me off guard. This should’ve been a happy moment for him. I knew he was itching to lose the prospect cut. Though prospects got to live in the clubhouse rent-free and had meal allowances at Deke’s Roadhouse, they didn’t get profit-sharing and Deke paid them a living allowance. He wanted to get a regular job and earn more. Get a share of the MC’s profits. Scott wanted to hit that milestone. He wasn’t an asshole about me getting mine first even though he started prospecting for the club before I did. That said, I knew he wanted to move forward, beyond the grunt status. So, he should’ve been smiling right now.
His expression was hard. Harder than I’d ever seen it. His gaze was aimed in the direction of our new members. If I wasn’t mistaken, that glare was aimed at Nico, the big, mean-looking former Jackal who’d just made Edge’s year.
Nico was their sharpshooter, and he was tight with Fork. Got brought in through his father just like Fork, only Nico’s father had been killed three years earlier in a turf war with a different MC. Nico got Justice on side, knowing Justice was gonna be easy. Bick, the prospect, was Justice’s cousin, had been brought into the Wyld Jackals almost a year back.
Fork and Nico had come up together in the Jackals, did prospect duty at the same time where Justice had earned his patch the year before, after two and a half years of prospect duty. Justice had worked closely with Nico, so Nico knew he wanted out, knew he'd regretted joining the club and couldn’t otherwise find the way out. Justice was apparently also pissed when Bick joined. Bick regretted his decision almost immediately and was only too happy to find this escape hatch. These guys would bring additional assets to the club.
Justice had a near photographic memory. Bick supposedly had talent with hacking, forgery. Though we weren’t looking for opportunities for forgery on a regular basis, it was a talent that’d be good to have. Both would make good additions to the club if they truly were decent guys who joined the wrong MC.
I was thinking that if Scott had been a fully patched member before the Nico vote happened, it might not have been unanimous. Then again, looking at Scott right now, I was surprised he hadn’t spoken up before the vote. No, prospects weren’t allowed to speak unless spoken to during a church vote, but by Scott’s face I was surprised he didn’t break that rule.
While it was plain to see that Edge was chomping at the bit to go have fun with his gift, Scott was trying to burn holes into Nico with his glare.
Bront stepped forward, then seemed to realize Scott was hanging back so muttered something to Scott.
Scott’s eyes stayed pointed at Nico and he muttered something in reply, so Bront moved forward.
“Brontosaurus was just put on extended probation,” Deke said, “So it’s a-typical to bring him forward for a vote this soon.”
