Grizzly grew impatient.
“It doesn’t matter if she’s your daughter, Fist. She belongs with her husband.”
“Oh, Panda. Your ears are stuffed with shit if you don’t understand a word coming out of my mouth. Ashley’s getting a divorce.”
I waited for the reaction from Grizzly with Fist’s insult, when it didn’t happen, I took an easy breath.
“Hah!” The man throws his hands up to the air, “Any lawyer you send isn’t going to do shit if Harry doesn’t sign.”
“Doesn’t have to sign.” I retorted.
Grizzly’s eyes narrow back to me.
“What did you just say, boy?”
“With the amount of abuse coming out of that house, do you honestly think anyone is going to believe that woman can’t walk away from an unhealthy marriage?” I mock him, averting my attention back to Harry. “Not to mention, she was never branded as his wife. She’s her own woman by the MC bylaws.”
Grizzly’s lips thinned right then and there. He looks down at Harry with all the humor gone from his voice.
“Is this true?”
Harry bit down on the inside of his cheek, unable to look him in the eye.
“This was before I’d joined the Bears, Prez.”
“Shouldn’t matter either way. The two of you are still married and––”
“She’s already been branded,” I lied, straight through my teeth.
Silence emerged from the crowd just then. Any unsureness sparking in the Reapers was completely put aside when they recognized the approach I had taken. It was evident that the Bears wouldn’t quit fighting the issue at hand unless we cutthroat them with something out of the box. I didn’t think to check with Fist regarding the matter but if I had mentioned it any later, it would have looked like I was trying to save her, and I am, but they don’t know that.
“Ah.” Grizzly nods, taking time to think. “Well, that speaks for the entire problem itself.” The man turned his head back to Fist, offering his hand between them. Fist’s eyes searched the hand for answers but remained skeptical.
Grizzly explains briefly, “The Bears follow a code of conduct regarding their marital arrangements, as I know the Reapers do as well. You’d understand that yourself, wouldn’t you Fist.”
“I suppose I could,” He said with caution.
“I really do apologize for this, Fist.” Grizzly confessed, shaking his head. “It was a mistake on my part not to clear the details with that idiot.” At this, Fist acknowledged and let it be known when his hand came up to take the opposing Prez’s. I’d come up to the gates expecting a war, right now – in this moment, it looked like we may avoid any bloodshed.
“No harm done, Grizzly” He affirmed before adding, “So long as you and your pack stays away from my daughter. All of them.”
“Of course,” He agrees.
In the back of my head, I knew it couldn’t have been that simple. Ashley had made it more than clear that the Bears had intended to use her as a bargaining chip. In this sort of gamble, it was difficult to call them out on that. Not to mention, we didn’t have proof that they were responsible for stealing the drugs. Calling out a club for theft was as big of a crime as spitting on their cuts so it had to be avoided. Regardless, this wasn’t something that could have been easily washed over.
I knew this even before Fist had taken the man’s hand.
Fist turned his back to the man to catch eyes with Roach behind the window. With a wave of his hand, the signal was sent to open the gates. We waited until the thick bzzzzz told us he’d flipped the switch and sent the gates retreating to opposite ends of the entrance.
As I’d started walking away, Cracker had already swooped his arm back over my shoulder to pull me close to his side. “You did well, boy.”
I couldn’t say much. Despite the end of the conversation, something just didn’t feel right.
“Oh! One last thing before we wrap this up entirely!” Grizzly’s voice came back up.
Fist turned around, his brows furrowing in frustration.
“The topic is already off the table, Jack. Give it a rest.”
The Bear’s president shook his head, his smile remaining intact.
“I want to see it.”
“See what?” I turned my head around, fist’s clenched at my side.
Cracker’s arm slipped off my shoulder to face his attention back to the Bear’s Prez. The air was brewing with a kind of tension you just couldn’t cut through. Grizzly looks up from the floor, his smile ripping from ear to ear.
“I want to see your daughter’s brand.”
Chapter 10
Ashley
Thank God for Crisco.
Over thirty minutes went into making the perfect apple pie from scratch and I wouldn't have been able to do it without the Crisco shortening. I was no good at making crust thin without the pie getting too soft and runny, so I used an extra fourth of all-vegetable on top of the half I already filled in. Double the crust was just how I liked too. This called for extra effort when I spent a good majority of my time flattening the crust with my mother’s spare roller, but it did the trick in making everything nice, smooth, and even. I had to admit it, even I was impressed.
Staying in the kitchen to prep dinner for the guys was something I’d missed back at Harry’s. Back when I was a newlywed bride, I had so much pride in my cooking that I’d jump at the neighbors to join us for dinner. Harry’s excuse not to help was that he’d be working every afternoon up until he joins us for the last hour of dessert until the guests left.
Our usual were Ruth and Ned Bunsen, the neighbors from across the street. Just like Harry and I, Ruth and Ned were faced with a choice as to whether they would stay in Texas or move to Ned’s hometown. It was a dedicated romance—one that didn’t burn out easily even if all the sparks that made it happen were gone. Talking to them about their life together had almost made me forget that my life was so dysfunctional.
It caught up to me soon enough, though. I never felt so alone in my life every time they left the house. Harry usually arrived half-drunk and challenged Ned to binge of shots until Ned politely refused. After a couple of jibes and jokes about my cooking, Ned caught on that Harry wasn’t alright and something was going on. Things got physical, I accidentally tore a gaping hole in the sleeve of my blouse.
To this day, I could never forget the look on their faces when they saw the bruises on my arm that night. Whether they judged me or not, the spell was broken, and it hit me right then and there. It was impossible to fix this marriage to come close to perfect as theirs.
It didn’t matter now. I refuse to let my past impair me from fixing myself back up. Returning to my family made me sure of that. If it hadn’t been for my father and my brothers, I don’t know what I would’ve done after losing the baby. And despite all that, I owe most of my regained support to Blackjack. He really pulled through for me which is why I invited him to join us for dinner. Although I can say I’m determined to win everyone over with my apple cinnamon pie, I can’t deny that I’m nervous to see him face to face again.
We have so much to talk about. I’ve been thinking about it a lot over the past few days and after dinner he and I are going to have a much-needed conversation. After all, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.
In this case, the way called for the best ingredients: all-purpose flour, a little pinch of salt, Crisco naturally, cinnamon, nutmeg, margarine, and the town’s famous tart apples. What it didn’t call for, however, was a slam of the door that nearly made me drop my bowl of filling.
“Jesus!” I yelp.
“Ashley!” He barked at the kitchen entrance. “Where are you, sweetheart?”
He swaggers inside, the pressure of his boots causing the floors to creak beneath us.
“Dad!” I hiss, waving a wooden spoon at him, “You nearly scared me out of my skin! What is going on with y––?”
Following my father were my two brothers, both happening to be wearin
g the sternest expressions I’d ever seen them carrying. They stumbled inside with Zane still clutching the door till his knuckles went white. His eyes were filled with so much anger that I couldn’t possibly understand. I just knew one thing, whatever this was, it wasn’t good.
“Ash, thank God,” Kade takes his mouth in his hand, shaking his head. “We didn’t know where you were.”
“What do you mean? I’ve been here the entire time.” I furrow my brows, confused.
“You weren’t here this morning, darling,” my father steps forward, putting his hands on my shoulders. “We thought you left the club around the time they...”
He stops dead in his tracks, mouth unable to utter the remaining words. The same concern that Zane wore on his expression was now filling up my Dad’s entire face. Panic struck in my gut and I knew that whatever was going on had to have been serious. A Prez never shows weakness, not even my own father.
“Slow down,” I take his wrists, coaxing him to breathe.
“You don’t understand, baby,” he wrinkles his lips, eyes growing dark. “They were at the entrance gate. Like they were waiting for you to come to them.”
I close my eyes, unable for the life of me to understand how this was happening so fast.
“Baby, just tell me,” his voice insists, “Where were you?”
“I went to the farmers market this morning to pick up some things for dinner,” I explain, pulling his hands down from my shoulders.
My eyes found his, sureness come back to me.
“When I came back, there was no one at the gates. The prospect let me in and that was that.”
“Jesus,” Kade sighs.
My father’s expression stills for a moment, trying to absorb all the information in chronological order. At last, his shoulders fall to a slump and he exhales slowly. Over his shoulders, I saw my brothers still carrying such unsure expressions. It was almost as if their conscience was shaken by an angry dog that caught them by surprise.
It was unavoidable however. The Bears had caught us by surprise in more ways than one and we hadn’t made our next move yet. There was still so much to do before we could finally strike back.
“I’ve had enough,” my father mutters under his breath.
My eyes return to him, puzzled.
“What?”
“Ash,” He says, taking my hand tightly. “We’re having church, right now.”
Before I could even respond, the twins were already starting out the door. A pull to my hand sent me forward and we all left the house as if dinner could wait till the next day. Down the patio stairs, we were holding ourselves together in the rush. My father pulled me so fast that I had to jump off the stairs to avoid tripping. When our feet met the pathway, we were on the move, and I had to speak out.
“I don’t understand, Dad!”
“You will soon enough, sweetheart,” He assures me without even looking back.
“Soon enough isn’t enough!” I protest, my voice losing its breath. “Tell me what the hell is going on!”
“We’re going to take care of you, Ashley,” Zane hollers behind his shoulder.
“What?” I blurt out.
They were going to what? Take care of me? Take care of what exactly!
There was no room for questions. The twins were ahead of us and the shadows were growing more apparent in the lines of the overgrown path. Every beat of my pulse was crashing into my chest and it wouldn’t leave even if I tried to swallow down my doubt. I had to be strong no matter what.
When I looked down at the club I almost gasped. I have never, in all my life seen this many bikes here. There had to be a hundred at least, and that’s not including all the trucks I see parked in the fields either. A few of them were still running with their headlights on as men stood beside them. Every light in sight made the club look like a beast with many eyes glowing in the darkness––a reclusive tarantula under the sanctuary of the moon.
I looked up as we reached the club’s front entrance. When we were in plain sight, the men guarding the bikes became more apparent to me and I could feel my breath start to hitch up to the back of my throat.
“Shit,” I curse under my breath.
Every single stray man surrounding the club was carrying an assault rifle strapped to their shoulders. They weren’t looking out for their bikes tonight. They were on duty to stand command like an army stands for a nation. I looked up to the back of my father’s head, fear pulling me closer to his footsteps.
There was no denying it; we were on full-lockdown.
“Evening, Prez,” One of the men greeted from the shadows.
I recognized that voice.
“Zoro,” My father nodded, slowing down his tread as we stopped at the entrance. “How are we doing on our numbers.”
Zoro, Road Captain of the Reaper’s, swept his fingers through his jet-black hair before stepping off the wall to come into the light. His rugged expression was just as I remembered––smug with sheer dumb luck that he’d been born with such a good face. He had a jawline for days with a five-o-clock shadow.
Every time he stepped into the club, the club whores could practically catch a whiff his cologne on spot. He carried a lot of cash, a lot of attitude, and a hell of a tongue. Nothing was sacred to him. The man knew how to sweet talk his way between a woman’s legs even if she were a signature Saint Mary.
Which is why I made it clear I wasn’t interested the second he had his eyes on me.
“Looking good, Prez,” He takes his belt in both hands, giving a nod my way. “Good to see you too, Ashley.”
I snorted before drawing my attention back to my father.
“Whatever this is, I’m not looking forward to it.”
The aggravation was making me squeeze my fists so tight that I could practically feel the sting of my nails digging into my flesh. I was growing sick of this secretive game playing between the Reapers and the Bears.
They call it war, but I dubbed it a new name, “Playing Charades with Ashley”.
I gathered my wits and clenched them in my fist before walking ahead of my father to join the twins. We lumbered inside the club until we walked towards the doors that held church. When I walked through the doors I noticed how almost every seat in the room was full.
Even though this was a private meeting, usually only with the head officers of the club, I couldn’t help but feel as if I was being watched by everyone. Now, more than ever, it was evident that each step I made from this conflict was going to be watched by either my father and everyone within the Reapers MC.
Zane and Kade refused to look at me in the meantime as I settled into my seat. My eyes were left to wander between men filling up the room, each of their faces grimmer than the man beside them. I tried not to stare for too long in my attempt to understand the reason for this sudden summoning into church. Their eyes followed my father’s footsteps up to his seat and there he was, taking the gavel in his hand. He was ready to start the meeting. Was I?
The gavel hit the wood hard and every man shut his mouth fast. There was a steep pause in the air before it was briefly ended by my father’s thunder of a voice, “Welcome, everyone.”
The men nodded, responding to him in humble acknowledgement. Without warning, my father's eyes turn away from his men and find me. Confused, I was left petrified in my seat until Kade gently nudged my side.
“Go to him,” He mutters softly.
I look to him and register what he says before gathering myself back up from my seat with a shallow creak from my chair. As I walked up to where he’s seated, the eyes returned to me and dug into the shoulder blades of my back.
It made every muscle in my body tense up the way a lamb would react to a pack of wolves. However, I was no lamb and I forced my body to believe it. And after all, these were no pack of wolves – this was my family.
Once I was alongside my father, I looked up to the men before him.
Zane and Kade were exactly where I left them in their seats. Beside th
em was Dixon and Zoro, two faces I rarely saw together in the same room. They have had disagreements in the past based on their taste in women but that was beside the point. They weren’t the only men watching us at the head of the table. Even Roach of all people had made it into church – I’m wondering why in the hell he’s even in here. Beside him there was Ericson, Owen, Sean, and Levi from the squad as well as my uncles, Cracker and Tex, who sat second closest to my father. The one person sitting beside him was someone I hadn’t expected to see so early in the night.
Blackjack.
“Gentlemen, there’s no denying that what happened today took us all by surprise,” my Dad starts, watching his men by the whites of their eyes. “Grizzly came to our gates with his pack of Bears, waiting for our girl––my daughter––to be handed over like some sacrificial ram.”
The men had sunk into a pit of silence, waiting for him to continue.
“Did they honestly think it’d be that easy?” Fist shook his head and the humor in his voice returned. The Reapers chuckled together in unison––all except for Blackjack.
“No, it wasn’t,” My father continues, “but that didn’t stop them from challenging us yet again.”
A tightness formed in the pit of my stomach and I looked away from the men for a moment to observe my father deliver his words. “Ashley, you were lucky enough not to have been branded at the day of your marriage.”
Being branded was a years-old MC tradition. I’m surprised that this is even coming up right now because when I married Harry it was a civil union. Why is he bringing a branding up?
“Naturally,” I respond without hesitation.
“However, this leaves you with only one option.”
“And that is?” I press him.
“The brand means more than some damn marriage certificate you and Harry signed” He emphasizes.
“I understand that Dad but what are you getting at?”
“We can’t lose you again, Ash. I won’t lose you again,” He insists, voice growing louder.
My voice stops in its tracks, waiting for him to elaborate. When he doesn’t, I was forced to take it upon myself to understand him even if I didn’t want to.
Havoc- Reapers MC Boxset Page 23