Jaded: (Beautiful Biker MC Romance Series), page 54
“I’m so humiliated.”
“Don’t be. Skip’s the asshole and he’s shown more of his true colors lately. He’s diggin’ his own grave.”
***
I was in the garage early, before Deacon or Rider. I hadn’t slept much. Neither did my girl. She was fidgety as fuck all night. Though even if she wasn’t, I’m sure I still wouldn’t have slept well. I was writing up some paperwork when Deke popped his head in.
“Mornin’ Jesse.”
“Prez.”
“Got five?” he asked. “My office in The Roadhouse?”
“Need you to wait until Deacon or Ride comes in. There are customers here.”
“All right. Come see me as soon as one of them’s in.”
“Will do.”
Ten minutes later, Deacon strolled in, asking me how I was doing.
“Lookin’ forward to tonight,” was my answer, knowing his woman would’ve filled him in.
The grunt and exchange of looks told me he understood my position and supported it.
I asked Deacon to man the fort for a few minutes and went to Deke’s office.
He had his #1 Dad mug to his lips when I stepped in. He put it down.
“Want a coffee?”
“Nah, all juiced up already. What’s up?”
“Grab a seat.”
I sat.
“Heard about last night,” he said. And then he flexed his jaw, looking pissed off.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Brady and the prospects are setting the ring up for nine tonight.”
“Good,” I replied.
“Heard Skip gave your girl a date rape drug a few years ago, got her pregnant, she got rid, and he’s been harassing her ever since.”
“Pretty much.”
“Why didn’t you call him into the ring sooner?”
“Been close a few times but didn’t realize those details until I overheard them last night.”
He gave his head a shake, looking pissed.
“It’s not gonna end at the ring, Prez. I want kangaroo court after that. I know I’m not gonna be all right workin’ with him. If you don’t want it goin’ that far, I’ll-”
He raised his hand. “It’s within your rights to call kangaroo court, Jesse. I’m callin’ him in this afternoon when he’s back from work. He’s getting’ stripped of his road captain patch. That’s all I’ve got authority to do without bringin’ it to the table. So I’m doin’ that for starters. I’ve already called Rudy suggesting he fire him from Dominion Moving and Storage. He thinks since the guy just lost his wife it’d be a bad call to take everything from him. I disagree. But if you weren’t already plannin’ on calling him into the ring and then doin’ the kangaroo court, I’d bring it to the table to vote on kickin’ him out tonight. Told Rudy that and he said if it comes to that he’d prefer a transfer back to the falls with probation. Dunno I agree with that, to be honest. Still processing.”
I breathed out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Deke Valentine is the man I thought he was. And that was a relief.
“I’d like to punch his teeth in myself,” he snarled. “And I know Rudy feels the same. But he’s a stickler for doing everything possible to help a member keep their patch. Talked about the fact that Skip earned it and maybe the brotherhood could steer him to a better path. I disagree with him on that front. We’re all here in this club because we all want dominion over our own lives, yeah, but when a brother thinks he’s got the right to abuse women, I take personal offense. That’s not the kinda club we are. At least not this chapter. If your girl had come to me when he date raped her I like to think I would’ve tackled it then. Maybe I wouldn’t have believed her. Don’t know now. It’s true a lotta the brothers don’t take the bunnies seriously. And some chapter presidents prefer not to wade in to love life drama, but fuck… if that girl hadn’t come to us despite bein’ banned from our clubhouses last year, my daughter would’ve gotten taken by the Jackals.”
“Yep,” I agreed.
“Fuckin’ sickens me to think that if Gia were a different sort of girl, she might not have bothered to tell us that after the way she was treated by our club.”
“Yep.”
He sighed before asking, “You doin’ all right?”
“No. I held back because of protocol, and I wish now I’d fuckin’ beat the snot out of him months ago when he kept sniffin’ around her. He pushed but not far enough that I felt I could do something. Played it safe around me. But the deeper I got with G, the more I wanted to do something about it. And that was only with knowin’ he pushed the boundaries with her and that she suspected date rape drugs when he swore she was just drunk but consenting. Now that I know the whole story, I’m taking my shot at doin’ somethin’ about it and I’m glad to know you’re the man I believed you to be.”
I got up. So did Deke.
And then he threw his arms around me and slapped my back. “See you at nine. Same place as Scooter and Nico had their time in the ring. Bring your girl.”
“I thought it was members only at these things.”
“Bring your girl,” he repeated.
He was sending a message. Good.
***
“You do know Skip’s civilian name is Allen Ford,” Gigi said, sitting on the end of my bed. It was nearly seven o’clock and I’d grabbed a shower so we could go to The Roadhouse and eat, then head to the ring.
“Yeah? So?”
“It was a guy named Ford who double-crossed and shot Jesse James in the wild west.”
I laughed. “I’m not a train robber.”
“No, but still.”
“You bein’ superstitious? You think he can kick my ass? You think he’s gonna bring a gun to a fist fight?”
“I think the idea of a planned fist fight inside a ring without a referee has my belly churning.”
“This’ll be over in a few hours, then we can go to bed and get you a good night’s sleep so you can be ready for your first day at your new job tomorrow. Then… I’m calling for kangaroo court so he can get kicked outta the club.”
“Am I going to have to testify?” she asked.
“Dunno. Never seen one of those, so I’m murky on the process. You got a problem testifying if it’s part of it?”
She looked a little green.
“Don’t worry for now,” I said quickly. “Cross one bridge at a time. Yeah?”
She nodded.
“Let’s get some food.” I shrugged my cut on and grabbed her hand.
***
Not only was the area where the ring was set up filled with people, a couple dozen folding chairs set up being an extra shocker, also… they were filling up with club members and their women.
My gaze skimmed the crowd and landed on Sara Ford, ringside. She had her eyes on us. Then again, all eyes were on us. And I watched multiple sets of eyes shoot dirty looks Skip’s way.
Sara’s eyes hit me then skated to Gigi. She approached. I got in front of my girl without letting go of her hand.
“No,” I snapped, pointing at her face. “You, back the fuck off.”
“I’m not here for him,” she said, gesturing behind her where Skip stood in the corner, alone, also watching us, his expression hard.
“This is bullshit!” Skip called out. “All your women in here gunning me? I’ve been in this club for a decade and those of you who believe this shit are letting a club whore brainwash you.”
Sara had been looking over her shoulder at him. When he stopped speaking, she turned back to me. “I’m here to watch you kick the shit out of him,” Sara jerked her thumb behind her. “And I’d like to apologize,” Sara added softly. “Apologize to Gia.”
I looked her in the eye and detected no bullshit. I still did not move, but felt G’s hand tighten around mine.
“We had a babysitter,” Sara said. “College freshman. Babysat while I was away for a girls’ weekend, and I come home and she says she thinks he did something to her. He was supposed to be gone all weekend, but she told me he came back Saturday night and poured her a Pepsi. She didn’t remember anything after that until waking up in the morning nude and bloody between her legs. Said she thinks he did something to her; she’d never been with a man. He told me he hadn’t come back early. Swore she was making it all up and said she’d regularly flirted with him whenever she watched the kids. Blow even backed him up with an alibi. Not to speak ill of the dead, but turns out Blow was also a lying cheater, so…”
Gia stepped around me to face Sara.
Sara looked contrite as she spoke. Not loud but not whispers either. Skip wouldn’t be able to hear from where he was, especially not with the white noise of multiple conversations happening. But Deke, Laura, and Jojo were sitting five feet away and they would definitely hear.
Sara swallowed and said, “I’m sorry for the hassles I’ve put you through. I now know it was all him. I was bein’ stupid, in denial, blaming the both of you to be honest, and I was a bitch about it. I’ve got some work to do on myself and… I apologize for the way I treated you.”
Gigi nodded, lips pulled tight.
Sara took a breath and continued, “I’m leavin’ town and I’m filing for divorce.”
Gigi nodded again. “I never planned to be a… club whore. I met him and he acted like he wanted a relationship. The minute you showed up in the clubhouse and dragged me out of his room by the hair, I ended it. Didn’t know he was married until then. But he wouldn’t let it just be over.”
Sara sighed. “I’m sorry for not believing you. I know differently now. Good luck. Looks like you traded up, anyway. Got yourself a good one.”
Sara turned, then went and sat back down beside Speedy’s woman.
“All right folks,” Brady called out. He pushed aside one of the posts and gestured for me to come inside the ring.
I handed her my cut.
“Love you so much,” she said and got on her tiptoes and kissed me. And then she put her nose to the collar of my leather and gave me a shaky smile.
“Love you, baby,” I said, tucking her hair behind her ear.
Deke sat in the front row, eyes on us but a face like stone. His woman sat on one side, his daughter on the other. Jojo patted the empty seat beside her for Gigi.
Deke had lifted the ‘no women’ rule for this for good reason. He was sending a message to everybody.
I stepped into the ring and threw my shirt toward my girl. She caught it.
Skip stepped in, too. He did not take his shirt off.
“Before this starts, I’m sayin’ something,” he stated.
The space quieted.
“Sara? Sweetheart? I wanna fix shit with us. I mean it. I’ll go back to counseling. Take it seriously this time. Do whatever it takes to get my family back. I fucked up and that’s done. You punished me for it, and I’ve learned my lesson. This is me, heart in hand.” He put his palm against his chest.
“Fuck you,” Sara said. “We’re done.”
He continued. “I’m here in front of the club sayin’ I’ve been an asshole who don’t deserve you, and I wanna fix this. But Jesse…” he turned to me. “Shit that happened with me and her was before. I get you’re protective of your girlfriend but brother, she’s not being straight with you about the past. I didn’t do what she’s sayin’ I did. We fucked. That’s it. She wanted it.” He looked at his wife. “I’m sorry, Sara, I’ve said it and I mean it, but regardless of how many times I’ve fucked around, I love you and the kids. You know I’ve just got a sex addiction. It’s an illness. It doesn’t mean I love you any less.”
Sara rolled her eyes and used a hand-puppet gesture before she folded her arms. “I’m just here to watch Jesse beat the shit out of you. I got nothin’ more to say to you. The rest will be said through lawyers.”
Jojo put her arm around my girl and said something softly to her.
Skip kept talking like she hadn’t even spoken. “We fucked and then Gianna changed the story. Found out later on she had an abortion and didn’t tell me about it. I was pissed off. A man should have a say. Am I right, brothers?”
Nobody answered at first.
And then Jojo shouted, “A woman should have a say about who she has sex with, asshole.”
A bunch of women clapped.
So he kept going. “I might’ve been aggressive about the abortion, but just verbally. I’ve never laid a finger on her that she didn’t want and didn’t want her spreading vicious rumors around, so yeah, I kept trying to get her aside to tell her she’d better not fuck my life. Honestly, I wondered if she came around and hooked up with Jesse just to fuck with my life because she was a woman scorned.”
“Then how come,” Scott hollered from the back, “We’ve all heard you when you’re tanked going on about tryin’ to get back to Sioux Falls to tap Gia’s ass?”
Skip looked dumbfounded. “Don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, man.”
“I’ve heard it, too,” Bront said, loud.
Skip flinched. “Huh? You’re bent.”
“Enough of this shit,” Deke hollered. “This isn’t a trial. This is Jesse calling Skip into the ring. You’re both in the ring, where’s the bell?”
Brady held up his phone. “I’ll hit the sound when we’re ready.”
“Just sayin’, man,” Skip said, obviously addressing me but still looking to the bystanders. “She was a club bunny who fucked around with a bunch of bikers. Just like that Kailey cunt lied about what Rider, Edge, Lick, and Scoot did. You three know what this feels like, being falsely accused.”
“Only this time, these accusations aren’t false,” Scott shouted.
Edge and Rider said nothing. They both looked on with expressions much the same as Prez.
“But they are!” Skip insisted. “This bitch,” he gestured to my girl, “Kailey’s stepsister, lied about me.” He thumped his chest.
“Ding ding,” I said and then I lunged.
When my fist connected with his nose, the sickening thud and sound of his nose cracking was very fucking satisfying.
He stumbled back and landed against the velvet ropes, knocking two posts over.
He looked up at me, dazed.
Brady stepped out of the ring and belatedly hit the sound of the bell on his phone before lifting the fallen posts back up.
Skip got to his feet, growled, and lunged for me.
I spun, roundhouse kicking, catching him in the jaw.
But it was barely the toe of my boot and he recovered quickly and punched me in the cheek, sending my head backwards and making me see blotchy white and red spots for a few seconds.
I breathed through the pain. The pain was like a shot of go-juice because then I punched him in the face with my right, then my left, then my right again, sending him backwards again. That pain reminded me of what my girl had been through with this shithead, and I felt stronger. Angrier.
He was half worried about hitting me, half worried about protecting his face. I was only worried about beating him to a pulp, so I was getting the better of him. He got his hits in. A couple kicks. But then he tried to get me in the gut with a power kick and I caught his ankle and twisted, flipping him until he landed with a grunt.
When he was down on his knees, I kneed him in the face and then leaned down and punched him twice in the throat, which sent him to his belly.
“Yeah, you fuckin’ snake. On that belly,” I chirped, then rose.
All I could see was the hunk of waste in front of me who’d repeatedly hurt my girl.
I cracked my neck while bouncing on my feet, giving him a chance to get up.
“C’mon, Skippy. I got more for you.”
He got to his knees slowly, then finally to his feet before he moved in, faked me out with a right and got me with a left. But there wasn’t much force behind it, and he was winded.
“You come near me or my girl again, this is gonna seem like a walk in the park. I will fucking kill you if you pull any further bullshit,” I told him.
He laughed and pulled his fist back. I pointed to my jaw.
“Go for it,” I invited. “The pain feels fuckin’ great. I could do this all night.”
“You’re a fuckin’ psycho,” he breathed, absolutely winded, then got a good hit in, which sent me backwards almost tumbling, but as I stumbled back, I jerked up my elbow and caught him in the teeth. Hard. As he stumbled back, I grabbed the length of hair at the back of his head and slammed his face off my knee before hitting him in the temple with my left.
I caught sight of my girl in the front row, hands covering her mouth as she watched.
I hated the look on her face. This needed to be over.
Skip came at me again and I smiled wide, wiggling my fingers, inviting him to come closer.
When he lunged, fist out, I blocked it and then pummeled his face at least five times alternating left and right until he hit the floor like timber.
I stared down at him until he blinked a couple times.
“More?” I asked.
He slapped the floor twice, hard.
I turned to the crowd.
“Any other fuckers here want at me? Because I’m tellin’ you all right now, this girl is mine. She’s mine and I do not give a fuck who thinks they know her, who thinks they know anything about her. Whether you’ve kissed her, put your hands on her, I don’t give a shit. That’s done. Forget it happened. All you fuckers need to know is that if anyone mistreats her or even looks at her the wrong way, they answer to me. If your women can’t keep their bitchiness in check around Gigi, keep them the fuck away from her or you’ll answer –” I thumped my chest with my fist “to me.” I pushed the post over to get to my girl, who ran for me, then I lifted her up and wrapped her legs around me.
Her lips came to mine, and I knew one thing for damn sure. She was home. Not Bismarck. Not Aberdeen. If this club didn’t support a vote to get Skip gone, I would be.
There was clapping. A lot of it. I paid no mind to it or to anything, but Gigi until Brady was in my space, handing me an ice bag and a towel. I looked over and saw Speedy and Little John seeing to Skip.
I set my girl on her feet and as she dabbed at my face with the wet towel Brady had handed over, I had eyes for nobody but her.
“Water?” Nolan offered.
