by D. A. Young
Ransom’s fist slammed into his brother’s nose, and the satisfying crack upon connection was music to his ears. Harley staggered back, and a livid Ransom rushed him. He slammed him against the side of the building and landed two body blows, making Harley doubled over.
“Disloyal?!” Ransom roared, unable to believe the fuckery he was hearing. “Bitch! Fuck you!”
The thing he coveted most in the world wasn’t the title of Prez. It was Billy’s love, and Ransom couldn’t claim it because this dipshit refused to get his act together. If he was being disloyal to anyone, it was himself, but of course, his MC was first.
Shakes came out of nowhere and grabbed Harley. Rage appeared as well, grabbing a struggling Ransom. He pulled him into the alley next to Inferno while Shakes yanked Harley toward Lawson’s Automotive.
“Calm down, son. You throwing blows isn’t gonna help the situation,” Marcus wisely advised the furious biker. “Like my mama used to say, “You can lead a horse to the water, but you can’t make it drink.”.”
“I don’t care if I have to pour the water down his damn throat until he fucking chokes on it! He’s gonna get this shit one way or another,” Ransom seethed. He leaned back against the brick wall and stared up at the cloudless sky, inhaling and exhaling deeply, harshly, fighting for control. All he wanted right now was to be with his girl. To hear Billy’s sweet laughter and those sexy, breathy moans she blessed him with, letting him know he was doing shit right.
Except for last night.
She’d surrendered herself to him, and the turbulent storm of their lovemaking as usual, but the playfulness had been glaringly absent. Ransom knew he’d made a grave mistake by not expressing his feelings. He needed to make it up to her. Fuck that. He needed to let her know straight up how he felt about her. Only a fool would let a girl like Billy go willingly. Last night, he’d been just that but no longer. They belonged together. He’d never been more certain of that, and he wasn’t going to leave her alone and vulnerable for fucking opportunists like her little friend back home.
“Anything I can do to help? Vargas and his crew looked pretty upset, and shit looks tense in there between your prez and Thrasher. I think your brother really struck a nerve,” Rage observed, searching Ransom’s face for any signs he was on the right track.
“Doesn’t it always look like that when you get a bunch of bikers who’ve fucked each other’s mamas together?” Ransom joked, hoping to deflect him. Club business was exactly that. Club business.
“Thanks for the talk, but I need to go. I promised I’d take your daughter to Carlsbad today. She’s really looking forward to it,” he finished with a grin.
“What’s in Carlsbad, babe? Let me know, so I can dress accordingly.”
“We’re going to the beach.”
Billy’s eyes lit up. “I didn’t know New Mexico had a beach! Good thing I brought my bikini. Don’t get me wrong; the hot springs in Ojo Caliente were dope, but I can’t wait to see what your beach is like.”
Ransom gave her an indulgent smile. “I hate to disappoint you, fancypants, but Whitesands National Monument is two-hundred-seventy-five miles of water-free, gypsum sand dunes.”
She cocked her head and squinted at him. “Even your beach is desert?! Did I hear that right? What are we supposed to do there?”
“Yeah, it’s the largest dunefield in the world, and I planned on taking you sledding. The gypsum is as fine and powdery as snow in certain places. We’re also going to explore the caverns and take in the Bat Flight and Return program, too.”
“A water-free beach and bats hardly sounds romantic…”
Ransom gave Billy a persuasive kiss. “With the right person, everything is romantic. Trust me, wildthing. I haven’t steered you wrong yet.”
Ransom noticed the older man’s discomfited expression. “What’s the matter?”
“I just assumed you spoke to Billy today,” Rage’s replied sympathetically and kicked at a rock, his frustration evident. “Shit! I should have known. I’m sorry, Ransom, but she’s gone for good. Went home earlier with her grandfather.”
Sorry, Ransom, but she’s gone.
Went home earlier.
Gone for good.
The words echoed in his brain as pain, white-hot and crackling, erupted in Ransom’s chest. Rage was speaking, but he couldn’t hear a damn thing other than Billy had left him. They’d known she would have to go. That the good times would come to an end when school started. With no warning to prepare him, Willamina “Billy” Stanton had blown into his life, and Ransom had fallen hard and fast for her.
Now, she’d left in the exact same manner. Except, this time, she’d left a burning, gaping hole where she’d ripped his fucking heart out, devastating and bringing Ransom to his knees in the process.
Two weeks later
Shakes found Ransom at Club Flex, sitting at a table, nursing a beer and ignoring two strippers vying for his attention.
“Scram, ladies. Can’t you see your talents are being wasted on my friend here?” He squeezed the purple-haired one’s ass cheeks and gently moved her off Ransom’s lap. “Come back in twenty minutes. I’ll give you all the attention you need.”
“We’ll hold you to it, Shakes,” she purred and tapped the shoulder of the blonde hugged up on Ransom from behind. “Let’s go, babe. See ya, Ransom.”
“Later.” Ransom frowned at Shakes. “What’d you do that for? I was trying to decide which one I was fucking tonight.”
“Right now, you got bigger decisions to make. Word is Prez wants to talk to you. He’s pissed about the way you been acting up.”
“I haven’t been doing shit! I’ve been handling all my business at work and for the club, so what are we really talking about?” Ransom drawled laconically.
Shakes laughed at him. “Brother, you know I’m talking about the way you’ve been getting shitfaced and fucking anything with a pulse! This ain’t you and we know it.”
“Things change, Shakes. Just making up for lost time. What’s your problem? Scared I’ll catch up?” Ransom taunted. He scowled at the concern on his friend’s face and looked away.
Awww, fuck.
Not this shit again.
“I’m honestly worried you will,” Shakes replied seriously. “Right now, you’re fucking like a jackrabbit around the clock trying to forget her. You’re gonna wind up breaking your dick if it doesn’t fall off first from the places you’ve been sticking it.”
“Don’t.”
The tight lid Ransom kept on the cauldron of his boiling emotions shifted. He didn’t want to think about her ever again. Like shit wasn’t bad enough that Billy still lived inside of him, haunting him. Ransom could still feel and smell her everywhere. Except in bed. The girls were supposed to be replacements but instead were constant reminders to him of who they weren’t. They couldn’t satisfy the aching hunger and loneliness that plagued Ransom. It grew stronger with each passing day and that realization filled him with despair. No one was going to replace Billy. So, he tried harder, determined to push past this. Ransom was confident that he’d get there in time.
He had to.
Before anything else was said, they were joined by Slade.
Wisely, Shakes took himself off for a lap dance as their prez pulled up a chair.
“You here to finish off what he started, old man?”
“Depends. Was he talking about you plowing through pussy left and right?”
Slade surveyed the mess that was his son. His hair was matted, the beard, growing out of control, and his eyes were hardened from his experience. In Slade’s opinion, life was more than good. The young woman’s leaving had made Ransom even more ruthless when punishing those who trespassed against their MC.
“Hey, Prez, you mind me asking why you care so much? I’m curious because you got a good woman, but that doesn’t stop you from fucking around,” Ransom sneered. “Why should it stop me when I’m single? Who am I really hurting here?”
“We ain’t talking about
me, Ransom,” Slade growled. “You think I don’t know how shitty I can be?! How your mama deserves better? I do, so fuck you! I love her, and I try to be the man she needs me to be. It’s damned hard, and sometimes I fall short. I get that I lack in the “Daddy Dearest” category, too, but if you like, I can put you on my lap and we can hug shit out? Hell, boy, I’ll even dry your tears and wipe your snotty nose! Would you settle for that?”
“Fuck you.” Ransom snatched up his drink and finished it. He wasn’t even with Billy and all other women paled in comparison. Together, he’d been like a man with blinders on, seeing no one except her. To him, cheating was a choice, plain and simple. Skeptically, he regarded his father. “That’s the shittiest, sorriest excuse I’ve ever heard. Do better.”
Unconcerned by the judgment being passed on him, Slade shrugged. “I didn’t say it was pretty, but it’s all I got. I ain’t here to talk about me, though. I wanted you to know that a vote’s been taken, and I’ve contacted Mitchell at the Mother Chapter.”
The Mother Chapter was the original chapter of a club, and Mitchell was the President of the Immortals. Ransom had met him on several occasions and liked and respected the elder. He was tough but fair, honest, and hardworking for the club.
“A vote on what?”
“On you being my successor. You and I both know that Harley can’t do it. He’s too hot-headed and emotional. Look at this shit he’s got us in with the Aztecs! We got innocent blood on our hands because of him. Not to mention, he approves of human trafficking.” Slade cracked his knuckles, his face twisted with disgust. “Where did I go wrong with that boy?”
“Maybe when you killed our rabbit?” Ransom snapped. “You think something like that doesn’t fuck with your psyche? Especially a kid’s? What about the way you come down on him? You’re always fucking busting his balls!”
“I raised you boys the best way I knew how! When I was growing up, my father hung my dog from a tree because according to him, I was getting too soft, and he didn’t raise no sissies,” Slade replied evenly. “Maybe you should ask yourself if it’s really me or not? You were both brought up in the same household and given the same treatment. You just happened to not buckle under pressure. The weak aren’t meant to inherit this position, son.”
“And if I say no?” Ransom tested, hating that he’d been put in this predicament. He already knew how Harley would feel but honestly couldn’t care less. They’d barely spoken since that day outside of Inferno, and even though this was the worst they’d ever been at odds with each other, Ransom was all good with their situation. His brother had cost him the only woman he’d ever loved. He wasn’t feeling particularly charitable toward his twin right about now.
Good news delivered and confident in his choice, Slade drew himself up. “You won’t. This is what you were meant to do, boy. We both know that.”
“Have you told him yet?”
“I did. He didn’t take it well, but I expected nothing less. Ran off like a little sissy on his bike. Pitch and Digger went with him. Now, I’ll leave you to wetting your dick. I got an Old Lady I need to make shit right with.”
Claudia still hadn’t forgiven him for his transgression or his treatment of Harley. She was freezing him out and refusing to talk to him, much less fuck him. Slade was concerned by the changes in her. His usual passionate lover had been replaced with an ice queen that rebuffed all attempts at reconciliation. She also didn’t seem worried that he might take his affections elsewhere. Or that his balls might shrivel up and fall off. Now that Claudia had turned him away, her attention was the only thing Slade desired.
Women.
You were damned if you kept your shit zipped up and damned if you didn’t.
Claudia stared long and hard at the slender baton in her hand before finally closing it and shoving it back in her purse. From the alley across the street, she watched the waitress closing down the diner. She watched her smile with those horrendous fluorescent-pink painted lips and waited to feel something. Anything. Even on the drive into town, Claudia had expected to feel an adrenaline rush for the ass whupping she was about to administer for the humiliating transgression. But nope, she felt nothing. It seemed that she was finally immune to Slade’s bullshit.
However, Claudia’s anger hadn’t diminished completely. It had just been redirected to the little bitch that had shredded her baby’s heart. If she ever saw Billy again, that ass was getting a severe beatdown. Claudia’s heart was broken for Ransom. The pain she saw in his eyes when he thought no one was watching, devastated her. He rarely smiled or laughed anymore. This experience had forever changed him. That her baby was suffering and there wasn’t a damned thing she could do about it enraged Claudia.
Her family had fallen apart.
Her children were no longer speaking to each other. Harley was gone doing God knows what with Pitch, and Claudia had a husband she was no longer sure she loved. Exhausted from worrying about her babies, angry, helpless and frustrated with her personal situation, she’d channeled those feelings into avenging Ransom. Claudia couldn’t get to the hoity-toity bitch, however, there was one person who would make sure she got the message and that her feelings were perfectly conveyed.
Marcus was watching television when the pounding on the door commenced. He wondered if Lorelai had forgotten her key but then remembered that she wasn’t due back from an ATF conference in D.C. until tomorrow.
“I know you’re in there!”
“Don’t start that shit!” Marcus warned, glowering down at his dick that was now standing at attention. “We ain’t doing this with her crazy ass!”
He yanked the door open to find her standing on the other side with her fist raised to further abuse his door. The fiery beauty’s face was twisted in anger. “Woman, why the hell are you pounding on my door like a fucking fool?!”
Dios, he was just as fine as she’d remembered, Claudia thought dismally. With his flashing dark eyes in that chiseled face and those arms bulging with muscles. And the motherfucker had the nerve to smell all good and shit, too.
“I need you to give your daughter a message for me,” she hissed. This was such a bad idea, she was now realizing. Her emotions were on edge and another emotion was swiftly overcoming her animosity.
Lust.
Marcus laughed scornfully in her face, angering her further. “Whatchu really want, Claudia? This a new ploy for you to get some dick? You don’t have to do all that, mamacita. Just ask. I’ll give you what you need.”
Claudia slapped him so hard, his head hit the door and his ears rang.
With a furious snarl, Marcus jerked her toward him, applying enough pressure to his hold that she winced. “Bitch! Are you out your—”
Claudia yanked his head down to hers, and her soft lips silenced him. Her tongue curled around his, and all thought of bouncing her rude, ignorant ass down the stairs fled Marcus’ mind.
“Now, gimme some dick,” she demanded huskily when they broke apart, daring him to deny them what they both really wanted.
Marcus hoisted her into his arms and kicked the door shut as Claudia wrapped her legs around his waist and began unbuttoning his shirt.
“Alright, mamacita,” he chuckled darkly and bit her chin. “I’ll give you what you been begging for. Your ass better not try to run from it either.”
“Promises, promises,” Claudia whispered and covered his lips with hers.
Four Months Later
Somewhere in the Southwest
The handsome young man awkwardly juggling numerous books sat down at an empty table in the library, next to a table with a trio of college girls whispering and laughing. Immediately, they took notice of his clean-shaven good looks and preppy look that attended to them. The Colgate-white smile he flashed made them draw a collective breath.
“How are you lovely ladies doing?”
“Has anyone ever told you that your smile is similar to Tom Cruise’s?” the redhead of the group boldly asked, and her friends cosigned with eager nods.
They giggled when he blushed and ducked his head away bashfully. “Oh look, he’s shy!”
“Gosh, I’ve never heard that!” he exclaimed softly, his green eyes filled with pleasure at the compliment.
“Heard what?” A blonde man with cropped, sandy curls and friendly blue eyes joined them.
“We told your friend he resembles Tom Cruise!” a blonde chimed in. “You know, the famous actor!”
“Who?” the man asked, perplexed. “You’ll have to excuse me, I’ve been doing missionary work with my family for most of my life in Africa. We didn’t have a television.”
“No way!” The redhead leaned over her friend to talk to him. “I plan to do my mission next year. I’m Dana, by the way and the three of us attend Summit, the womens Catholic college down the road.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Dana. I’m Kevin.” He flashed a charming smile. “This is my cousin, Harley. He’s going on his mission next week.”
“It’s such a pleasure to meet God-fearing men who are ready and willing to spread His word,” the first blonde declared reverently. “My name is Maggie, and this is my younger sister, Linda.”
The other blonde gave a friendly wave as a shadow fell over the group. It was a younger man with nondescript features wearing glasses, a polo shirt, and blue dress slacks. The badge on his shirt indicated that he worked there. “I’m afraid I need to ask you to leave as you’re being too loud.”
“But there’s no one in this area we’re disturbing. There never is. We come here every day, and it’s always the same!” Dana protested stubbornly.
“Oops, guess this is goodbye then!” Kevin announced, and the girls looked disappointed. He hesitated and glanced at Harley who shyly nodded. “Not unless the three of you would like to grab a bite to eat with us?”
“We’d love to!” Linda squealed, earning her a censorious scowl from the librarian.
He stiffly marched over to a side door with an exit sign over it. “Please go now!”