Loving Crow (Unsaintly Kings MC Book 1)

by A. Lynn

  Reaching out and placing my hand on her shoulder, I say, “Ryan?”

  She screeches and jumps causing me to giggle a little.

  The first thing I see when her blanched face turns to look at me is a powdery residue under her nose. The second is a tiny fucking straw in one hand and a little baggie in the other. I can’t stop the repetitive bouncing of my eyes from her hands to her face. Surely she isn’t doing what I think she is doing? I mean, this has to be something else.

  Wide-eyed and stunned I ask, "Ryan?" She doesn't answer though, just stares at me with a deer caught in headlights look on her face. "Ryan!" Nothing. "What the fuck are you doing?!"

  “Rea, I can explain,” she says.

  “I’m all ears.”

  “It’s not what you think.”

  “How can it be anything else? Drugs, Ryan? Really? You know how I feel about that shit. What is it?”

  “I know and I’m sorry. Heroin, but I don’t do it all the time!”

  “I could care less how often you do it. I don't understand how you would do it, to begin with. I thought you wanted more for Jordan than you had? Did you forget how the drugs your parents were doing ruined shit for you?"

  “I didn’t forget.”

  “Then what?! You’d rather get high?”

  “No! I don’t know, okay?”

  “No, it’s not okay! How long has this been going on?”

  “A few months.”

  “Months?!”

  “Yeah,” she says.

  “Have you had this shit in our home? With Jordan?” She just nods. “Are you fucking serious right now?”

  “Yes,” she whispers.

  “What if something happened?”

  “What’s going to happen, Reagan?”

  “What if Jordan somehow got into it?”

  “I know what I’m doing! I’m not stupid,” she says indignantly. “It’s not like it’s left out where he could get it.”

  “Your stupidity is debatable. I cannot believe that you brought this shit in here,” I fume. “You need to leave. I can’t look at you right now.”

  “What? Reagan? Be serious.”

  “Oh, I am. I can’t continue to talk to you about this right now. I need to cool down. So call your boyfriend or dealer or whoever the fuck he is and we can talk about this tomorrow; when I don’t feel like every time I look at you, I want to drive my fist through your face.”

  “Whatever you want, Rea.”

  “Whatever I want? Seems like it’s whatever you fucking want!”

  She rolls her eyes and goes to grab her phone.

  “Are you hooked?”

  “No!”

  “You been using every day?" She nods. “Then why did you just tell me that you didn’t do it all the time?”

  “I didn’t want to make you madder than you already are,” she shrugs.

  “So you thought the best course of action was to lie? Good idea,” I mock. “That will just make things all the better.”

  “Why are you being so mean? I get it, I fucked up, but do you have to be so fucking condescending? Not all of us can be a perfect as Reagan Leigh Marks,” she snaps.

  Ignoring her pointed jab, I ask, “So what are you going to do now that your secret is out? Rehab or something?”

  “I don’t need rehab.”

  “You just told me that you've been using heroin every day."

  “And? I can quit whenever I want.”

  “Said by every drug addict in America,” I say. “But please… tell me when do you suppose that is going to happen?

  “I don’t know,” she mumbles, breaking my heart a little bit more.

  “Why don’t you tell me something that you do know,” I say rudely as her phone starts ringing.

  “Hey, baby!” Pause. “Yeah, I’m ready.” Another pause. “Okay, I’ll be waiting for you.” One more pause. “I love you, too, baby,” she says and then hangs up.

  “You love him? I’m pretty sure you have lost your damn mind,” I say angrily.

  “Is this conversation done? He’s on his way,” she says like I give a fuck about where he is.

  “Is he who you started using with?”

  “It doesn’t matter who it was,” she says evasively, only confirming my suspicion.

  “Yeah, we’re done for now, but we will continue to talk about this tomorrow.”

  “Sure, whatever," she says walking out of the room, down the stairs, and out the front door without a backward glance at me or Jordan. Fucking bitch.

  I walk to the living room and say, “Come on, Baby. How about we go to get a pizza and watch The Incredibles 2.”

  “I’s woves peeta!”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, I love you!” I say tickling him.

  “I’s woves you, Wea!” He giggles as I take his hand on the way to the car. Once he is strapped into his car seat he says, “Go’s fast, Wea. I’s stawbin’!”

  “Me, too, baby," I say as I back out of the driveway to go and get my baby his 'peeta'.

  She didn't come home on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday. This fucking bitch didn't come home until Wednesday night, and when she walked in the living room like she hasn't been MIA, she had a black eye and bruises around her neck. I'm glad it was so late or else J would have been upset by the way she looked. She looks likes she's lost weight, too, so I guess she hasn't stopped using.

  “You staying or on your way out again?”

  "Cooper is waiting in the truck," she says, making me roll my eyes.

  “Is Jordan asleep?”

  "Of course he is, it's ten-thirty."

  “Oh, yeah. I didn’t think it was that late,” she says.

  “You clean?”

  “No,” she says. “I’m working on it though.”

  “How?”

  “Just by not using. It’s hard, though.”

  “Do you want help?”

  “Cooper is helping me.”

  “Sure he is,” I scoff.

  “Just don’t, Rea.”

  “Don’t what?”

  “Talk down about Cooper. Please,” she pleads. “Because he’s not going anywhere.”

  “We’ll see,” I mumble.

  “Do you and Jordan have any plans for tomorrow?”

  “No plans. Jordan has school and I have to open the salon, but I get off at five.”

  “Would you and Jordan meet me at the park tomorrow," she asks. "I miss him."

  “He misses you, too. Asks about you constantly.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

  “We will be there.”

  Shocker? She didn’t show up for that shit either.

  Chapter 3

  Crow

  RING...RING...RING...

  “Crow, baby, your phone,” a voice says while pushing on my shoulder.

  I jerk my head back wondering who the hell is in my bed—which was a bad idea seeing as it made the room flip upside down and having me swallow back puke. Dealing with the voice that’s in my bed will have to wait because the phone is ringing again. I frown at the voice as I reach for my phone and say, “What?”

  “There she is,” Tex says with a smile in his voice.

  “Ha-ha. What the fuck you calling me so early in the morning for?”

  “Well, Church is calling, sunshine,” he says.

  “Church isn’t until two.” We always have Church at the same time every Thursday.

  “And what time do you think it is right now?”

  “Fuck, I don’t know. Why don’t you just tell me and stop acting like you want me to kick your ass.”

  “That would be entertaining as fuck, but seriously, what’s your fascination with my ass?” he asks at the same time I hear someone in the background say, “tell him to get his ass here. NOW!”

  That has me pulling my phone from my ear to check the time myself. Two forty-two. "Fuck," I groan, causing the asshole who is supposed to be my best friend to start laughing again as the line goe
s dead. Dickhead. I must have slept through my alarm. Great, now I get to pay the fine. “Fuck!”

  I throw on the clothes by my bed and charge into the bathroom to brush my teeth and swallow some aspirin. When I am walking out of the bathroom, Cleo pokes her head up and says, “You coming back to bed, baby?”

  “I ain’t your baby,” and say and watch her face promptly fall. “The fuck you doing in my bed, Cleo?”

  “I thought you might have wanted some company last night.”

  “What was it exactly that gave you that impression? When I only let you suck me off? Or maybe when I told you to get gone when you tried to follow me here last night?” I try to be respectful to the club pussy, but that is all they are: pussy. Sometimes you have to be rude to get your point across, especially with this bitch. She has it in her head that I’m going to claim her—which I never will—I don't want my Ol' Lady to be someone that has been run through by all my brothers.

  “I didn’t think you were being serious, Crow.”

  “So you thought you would wait until I was asleep and surprise me? The fuck, Cleo?” She doesn’t answer, so I say, “Out. Don’t come back. It’s been a month since I have let you do anything other than suck me off, but now that is done.”

  “Don’t say that, Crow. Please,” she whispers as the first tear rolls down her make-up smudged cheek. “Is there someone else?”

  “Not that it is any of your business, but no.” There was only a fleeting moment with Reagan, nothing substantial to warrant the space she has taken up in my head, but there sure as fuck will be when I see her again. “Go, Cleo. Don’t make this out to be more than what it was.”

  Following her out, I lock the door and head to the chapel. When I get to the bar, I tell Killy—one of the prospects—to get me a coffee and bring it to Church. I walk into Church, meeting Gunner's gaze, and say, "Sorry, Prez."

  “Don’t be sorry, just don’t do it again,” he says, as understanding as always. “And don’t forget to pay your fine for being late.” I nod and reach into my back pocket to pull out my wallet and toss the hundred into Tex's cheesing ass face. “Now, where were we?”

  “The protection run,” Rhys offers.

  “Yes,” he says, looking at me. “Crow, Jacob Fitzgerald called about setting up recurring protection details from the docks in Chula Vista to Santa Cruz. They have been having some trouble with an MC that has taken up residence in Yuma."

  “They are called the Rippers and from what I have found so far is that they have been around here for the last six months or so. They’re a new club so it may take me a little bit to have a clear picture. I will let you know when I have more,” Einstein supplies.

  “Sounds good,” Gunner says.

  “When is the shipment coming in?” I ask.

  “Next Monday night. They’ll get the address for where you are to meet them on Friday.”

  “How many brothers do you want me to take?”

  “I want you and Rhys there, maybe an additional ten brothers. I want a list of names and a game plan by Tuesday.”

  “You got it, Gunner.”

  “Do you want me to go, too, Gun?” Mase is the second road captain, but I don’t want us both away.

  “With all due respect, Gunner,” I interrupt before he can answer. “I would prefer for Mase to stay here in case something comes up and you need his brains.”

  “None taken, Crow, I agree. Matteo will be coming in on Sunday, Mase, and I would like for you to accompany him from the Nevada border to us and then back."

  “You got it, Gun,” he says happy to have something to do.

  As Gunner continues down the list of club business, I find myself dazing out, and just like every other time—I find myself thinking about a certain blond. I have taken myself back to Fallen many times over the last month to try and catch her there, I even asked Harley to let me know when she has seen her there, which only caused me to be a laughing stock to her and my sister, Skylar. Bitches.

  I asked Sky to give me something… anything, but she refuses to help me. She said and I quote, “Reagan is a good girl who doesn’t need to get caught up in the likes of you just because you want to get your dick wet with someone new. Find someone else.” I understand where she is coming from, but I don’t know what she wants me to say. I don’t know what I want from Reagan yet, but how can I ever figure it out if I can’t find her?

  I’ll admit that when I saw her at Fallen I did want to fuck her, but then there was the conversation, too. It wasn’t like I was just placating her until she let me fuck, only to walk away, I was enjoying talking to her. I have never had that before outside of my family, it has always been about the fuck. Until now. Until her. From the moment I made skin-to-skin contact with her, I knew she was different. Mine. All I need is a chance to prove it.

  That’s not to say I don’t want to fuck her. I do. Again and again. Just thinking about all the ways I intend to have her is making my cock twitch and thicken. Not an ideal predicament when sitting in a room with a bunch of dudes.

  “CROW!” I look up to see Tex with an irritated look on his face.

  “What?”

  “You going to sit your ass there all day or we going' to get some food?"

  I look around the conference room for the first time noticing the empty room. “Yeah, man. Let’s go,” I say as I stand and head to the door.

  The first sight I see when I walk into the bar is a tearful Cleo. The only effect her tears have is to make my cock deflate—which is nice because riding a motorcycle with an erection is painful as fuck—and with no fucks to give her, I turn my head and walk towards the front door with Tex’s laughter following me.

  “That wasn’t awkward at all,” laughing, Tex points out the obvious.

  “Her ass was in my bed when you called to wake me up,” I growled.

  “You didn’t invite her?”

  “Hell no! I quit messing with her a while ago.”

  “I saw her blowing you last night, you know?”

  “And that is the first time I have let her—or anyone else, for that matter—since Skylar’s birthday celebration at Fallen.”

  “Since her party?”

  “Yeah,” I say.

  “Why? That was a month ago.”

  “I know, I just haven’t been interested in any of the pussy around,” I say as I fire up my bike and put on my helmet. I look over to see him slack-jawed as I chuckle and pull away from the clubhouse.

  Suzi’s Diner isn’t that busy this time of day so we were able to get a booth pretty easily. There is still a good amount of customers in here and I hope the wait isn’t too long. I would kill for a cup of coffee right now and a smile spreads across my face when I see Kali coming our way with a pot in her hand.

  "Hey, guys! Y'all doing okay this afternoon?"

  "We're doing pretty good." Tex says, "How about yourself?"

  “Can’t complain too much,” she says, but she looks exhausted.

  “How is your Moma doing?” I ask.

  “She is in an off week for Chemo, so she is feeling a bit better. I really thought the mastectomy would have taken care of it, but her last scans show it's only getting marginally better. She is wanting to get the other one removed and be done with it,” she shrugs sadly.

  “I hate to hear that,” I say. “If you need anything, just let me know. If I’m not around go over and have my mom get a hold of me for you.”

  “Same goes for me, darlin’,” adds Tex.

  “Thanks, guys,” she smiles. “Now, enough about me... what can I get for y’all?”

  “Steak and eggs,” we say in unison.

  “Men,” she giggles.

  As soon as she leaves to put our order in my phone rings. Pulling it out of my pocket, I look at the ID and say, “Hey, Ma.”

  “Hey, Mijo. What are you doing?”

  “Nothing much,” I say. “Just getting some food with Tex over at Suzi’s.”

  “Oh, good,” she says. “Can you come by the salon be
fore you head back to the clubhouse?”

  “Yeah. We just ordered, could you give me about an hour, or do you need me before that?”

  “No, Mijo. Just come by here when you are done.”

  “Okay, I’ll be over there in about an hour.”

  “Thanks,” she says before hanging up.

  “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” I tell him. “Ma just wants me to come over to the salon before we head back to the club.”

  “I’m coming, too,” he says. “Your Ma just had to hire some more people after Creed, Bob, Juice, and Unit caused all her other workers to quit. I'm all for some strange, but I have never been the type to hit it and quit it. Especially if the pussy is good. I will never understand why some people ghost good pussy.”

  “Can I get y’all anything else?” Kali asks as she refills our coffee mugs.

  “We’re good here for right now, darlin’,” Tex says.

  “Okay, just let me know,” she says walking to another table.

  “Those assholes give bikers a bad name. Granted we are all a bunch of man-whores, but there's always new pussy showing up at the club. It left your Ma in a bind for a few weeks, but from what the club pussy says, she is happy with a few of the new hires, though.”

  “Yup,” I say as I tuck into my breakfast because… what can I say to that without sounding like I’m talking out of the side of my neck? I may be a lot of things, but a hypocrite is not one of them. I have never actively come on to the people my mom employs, but to each their own, right?

  Twenty minutes later, I'm throwing a couple of hundreds on the table for Kali and walking out to my bike, making a mental note to talk to Gunner about doing a fun-run to raise some money for Kali’s mom’s hospital bills that are drowning her. Kali’s a good girl. Her Moma got diagnosed with Stage Three breast cancer about a year ago when Kali was in her second year of college somewhere in Nevada. She dropped out of college to get a job to help her pay the household bills and the hospital bills that continue to pour in. I hope her Moma starts getting better soon. Fucking cancer.