Laughing, because she was shoving so hard but barely moving me, I told her, “There is a thing called a ladder, ya know?”
“Nobody wants little ol’ me. Stop worrying.”
At the open door, I faced her. “We want you, Saph.”
Her face contorted as she fought tears. “I know. You guys have been amazing to me.” She exhaled. “Now, stop trying to make me cry. I have a shift in the morning.”
I looked at Justice. “Wanna eat breakfast there tomorrow?”
She slipped on her aviator sunglasses. “I’m so down for some grub.”
I kissed Saph’s cheek. “Call if ya need me. I can be here in ten minutes.” Even though I didn’t want to leave her, she looked happy. I knew we had done right by her, so I turned to Justice and winked. “Let’s go get some Chinese, babe.”
Was it the leftover Lo Mein, or her tight jeans, or the fact it had been a few days? I’m not sure, but I was aching to get inside Justice. Not that our brothers gave a damn. As we both came running down the stairs, headed straight for the hallway, mentally already fucking each other, everyone else decided it was ‘chat’ time.
All the Officers were sitting at the bar, except Dagger, who was with Elle behind the bar. No one else was in the Barn.
“How is she?” asked Lynx, smoking a cigarette.
“Real good.” I rushed past the pool tables.
“Hey, does she look happy?” asked Dagger, his elbows leaned on the bar top.
“So happy,” answered a breathless Justice as we kept rushing.
“We want to know about the apartment,” said Torque. “You know, make sure Saph’s safe.”
My feet slowed. “Uh, now? Could it wait until morning?”
Vice shrugged. “If you think the safety of your kid can wait, sure. No skin off his nose.”
Fuck. “Uh, okay. Now’s good.”
Justice, following me to the bar, mumbled, “I’m about to start shooting people.”
Chuckling, I told her, “You and your brother are very trigger happy. Should I be concerned?” I faced brothers and Elle. Not wanting to sit, Justice and I stood there, hoping this would be over quickly. “Well, she’s on the second floor—”
“Have a seat!” said a far-too-happy Lynx.
“Actually, we had plans—”
“Let’s celebrate!” cheered an annoyingly chipper Dagger.
Justice tried, “I don’t think we’re drinking tonight. We planned on getting some rest—”
Crow teased, “Rest is for pussies.”
Meatball asked Justice, “Is that what you are now? Now that you’re an Old Lady, ya gone all soft?”
Justice snarled, “Whiskey.”
The Barn exploded in laughter and howls.
Dagger gestured to beyond the bar. “Hook us up, Giver.”
I just want to get laid! Walking back there, I complained, “I thought my shitty dues behind the bar were over.”
“Hey!” argued Elle as we switched places.
I grabbed a bottle of whiskey and mumbled, “Not that it’s a bad place to be.” Due to plenty of experience back there, I easily found my way around. I grabbed shot glasses and poured, offering Elle the first one as an apology. “Here ya go, gorgeous.”
Elle took the shot. “That’s much better.”
The rest of the clowns tried to get me in trouble as I delivered shots for all.
“Damn! Already trading Captain in?”
“The fuck he is! Elle’s my girl.”
Elle shrugged. “I don’t know, babe. I’ve heard Giver knows how to give.”
Justice slammed her shot. “Must we talk about how good of a lover he is?”
Elle busted out laughing. “See? That woman is about to hump the barstool she’s on just thinking about him.”
Nodding, Justice tapped her glass for me to refill.
Filling it with golden goodness, I grinned. “I feel ya, babe. I’m about to start humping Dagger’s leg.”
“The fuck?” Dagger darted away.
I slammed a shot, too. “Damn, Dagger, you sound like your brother more and more every day.”
Dagger held out his shot glass for more. “Sorry he couldn’t be here, kid.”
It didn’t bother me. I was very settled with my new family. Diesel had done right by me. “He can’t come runnin’ every time I hit a bump in the road. Besides, I got you crazy old coots to keep an eye on me.”
All loose items on the bar were thrown at me.
“We ain’t old!”
“Ya bastard!”
“You hear this kid?”
“And this is what we get.”
“A bunch of bullshit.”
Laughing, Lynx said, “Speaking of the young and dumb, another round for all, then to the Stalls.”
I filled every shot glass to the rim. “Lynx, I don’t mean to ‘doubt your smarts’,” I winked at Elle because she said that so often, “but—”
Meatball lifted his glass. “There’s always a but.”
I swallowed my beverage. “But stalls is plural, and there is only one room in there. Don’t make sense, if you’re askin’.”
He sneered. “Well, I’m not.” He got off his stool. “Let’s go, smartass.”
We all followed him, including Elle, which surprised me. Old Ladies weren’t permitted in the Stalls.
In the center of the room was a big wooden table. Carved in the wood was a herd of running horses. Beautiful artwork. It must have taken so many hours of dedication.
I sat at my chair in the corner, not at the table, like the Officers and longstanding members did. Dagger smiled. “Might want to move, kid.”
For no reason I could fathom, Justice gasped. Her eyes raced to mine, and they were full of such emotion I was concerned I was about to be shot by her trigger-happy brother. As I stood to relocate, I studied the floor around me. Torque chuckled, “What are you doing?”
I laughed. “Checking for plastic to catch my remains.” Justice, smiling like I’d never seen, ran to me, throwing her arms around my neck. I teased, “Is this a goodbye hug?” Then I got a whiff of her hair. My face burrowed into her neck. “Damn, you smell good.”
She was yanked from me. “Giver! Focus!” teased big ol’ Vice.
My eyes scanned Justice. “Not a problem.” But I did refocus when the large wooden table began to move. The men pushed it toward the wall where I was just sitting. Then Lynx pulled a small remote control from his front jean pocket. A piece of wood, about 5x5 across, started to slide by itself. The moving wood soon exposed a lit-up blue felt compartment.
The Stalls? Not one, after all.
Inside, there were three side-by-side black boxes, each a foot long.
Lynx gestured to the boxes. “Justice, he’s your boy now. Do the honors.”
Church Eyes, full of smiles, went to her knees and removed the lids. I grabbed my chest and fell back. “Jesus Christ.” Each box was full of more diamonds and stones than I had ever seen. I’m talkin’ even in the movies. The lights above us and the ones in the compartment were making these jewels, of all different sizes, glisten blue, red, green, white… I kept blinking to be sure I wasn’t dreaming. “There are so many.”
Lynx smiled. “And that’s only half of them.”
“You’re shitting me!” I blinked even more. “Where are the rest?”
When everyone stayed silent, staring at me as if I had to figure this one out on my own, my mind searched for clues. The gym? Buried in the yard? Behind the President’s chair, at the head of the table, was a huge painting of a pack of wolves. Ah, shit. “Redemption Ryders. The rest are in Georgia.”
Justice smiled at me, touching the tip of her delicate nose.
I was dumbfounded! “Holy shit. Who would guess there would be such wealth in such a small town! Wait. Where the hell did all this come from?”
To keep their secret, Vice and Torque re-covered the diamonds. As the wood started sliding back over the hidden treasure, Lynx asked, “Have you ever heard of a s
tring of heists about twenty years ago?”
Seeing how I was only eighteen, that was a negative. “Nah.”
“Well, a bunch of rich men decided to corner the market in jewels. We thought they were rich enough. The massive robberies that happened too close together to set off alarms were all over the news. Every known jewelry thief was drilled. Investigated. The FBI was positive it had to be highly experienced professionals, due to the unified ‘attack’.” He smirked. “Never did a group of ‘dumb outlaws who ride bikes’ ever cross their mind. It was the perfect crime, one of our best kept secrets.”
Damn. These bikers were naming things like “the Barn” and “the Stalls,” almost to make themselves sound dumb, yet were literally sitting on a fortune. They let cops believe what they wanted when they were actually brilliant. “Plain sight… Harder to see…”
Wait. “One of? There’s more?”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Again, there was so much to discuss with everything I had just been shown, but I wanted to get back to the basics. I craved the girl by my side like starved lungs crave oxygen. We had just buried a brother and moved the possible mother of my child into a place of her own. I needed to be with Justice—to calm me, to ground me, to remind me of what we were sharing and the roots we were growing.
So, with much poise, I asked, “Your place or mine?” I’m so smooth.
Smirking, Justice leaned a shoulder to the hallway where we were alone. “You are so smooth.”
“Dude! I was just thinking that!”
Palm to her face. “Got me a winner.”
Since I was clearly on a roll, I waltzed right up to my woman, spreading my hands across her chest, fingers sliding her vest apart, giving me access to what I wanted to play with the most. With both thumbs in the right spots, I caressed her pert nipples that were poking through her tight white t-shirt. “Need these in my mouth—”
“Giver!” boomed her brother’s voice.
Ah, shit! My hands got all twisted in her vest as I fought to not feel up the trigger-happy President’s sister right in front of him. It was hopeless. The damage was done. Even free of her vest, my hands were screaming, I just played with your sister’s titties!
Lynx smacked the back of my head as he walked past us. “When are you moving this idiot into your room?” He didn’t wait for an answer. He turned a corner and went on his way.
Justice pulled her vest wide. “Where were we?”
Made. For. My. Motherfucking. Soul!
Due to her room being far more decked out—surround system and badass TV and other amenities, since she had lived there for so many years—and Sapphire now having her own home, I moved into Justice’s room. There wasn’t much to move, but I had gained a surprising amount of clothes and biker boots. Every item I grabbed from a drawer or closet had me thinking of Sapphire. I hadn’t been to one store, yet here I was with plenty. I know she didn’t pay for it, but I never asked. She took good care of me.
Hanging a shirt in Justice’s closet, I teased, “I hope you’re prepared to fill big shoes. I think Saph ironed my underwear.”
Justice opened a drawer and arm-swiped my underwear sitting on her dresser. After stabbing her hand in there to squash all the items tight, her hip shut the door. “Those days are over.”
“So, polishing my boots is not up for discussion?”
“Only if you want me to key your bike.” Not bothering to remove her biker boots, she plopped down on her bed, grabbing her remote. “I hope you like the Golden Girls.”
“The who?” I plopped down on the bed next to her, smirking, reaching for the item that belongs to men.
Clearly not getting the memo, Justice yanked the remote from my reach. “Badass bitches. That’s who.”
Then a song about thanking someone for being their friend started echoing through her surround sound. Afraid, I peered around. “I’m moving the fuck out.”
“I sleep naked.”
“Okay. I’ll stay.”
A scream in the middle of the night had Justice and I jolting up in bed. We both leaped, grabbing our guns. I tossed her one of my t-shirts and slipped on boxers. She pulled it over her head while running into the hallway. No one had turned on the light, for security reasons, but there was just enough of a nightlight glow from the Barn so that we could all see familiar faces.
When another scream bellowed, we all ran toward the pitiful sound.
In Saint’s room, we found him on the floor, holding Jamie, who seemed to be lost in a night terror, or maybe recovering from one. The gut-wrenching sight had us all lowering our guns. Jamie, drenched in sweat, was wearing a little tank top and pink boxers. Up to this point, I had only seen her in long sleeves and pants, as many of us had. So, seeing her damaged skin—scars on her legs and arms—we didn’t even bother to ask if she was okay. The truth was there for us all to see.
Saint’s eyes were riddled with tears, but that strong motherfucker, he just kept rocking her. Holding her. Loving her. Begging her to open her eyes and see that she was safe.
Instantly, I felt drawn to this kindred spirit. Keeping my distance, to not scare her further, I sat on his bedroom floor. “We’re here, Jamie. We’re here.”
She was sobbing, clinging to the front of Saint’s t-shirt. “Make them stop!”
Justice came to sit next to me. “They can’t hurt you anymore.”
I was hoping that was true, whoever ‘they’ were. Was it the brothers Saint spoke of once?
As more bikers joined us, all sitting on the floor, sure not to touch the terrified young woman, Saint, in awe, stared at us, then touched his girl’s head with such love and kindness. “Look, baby. We’re not alone.”
Lynx’s deep voice came from the doorway. “Never again, Pretty Girl. Look at your family.”
We were a rough and tough lookin’ crew—long beards, barbells, gauges, and tats—and everyone was half-naked, not to forget guns in every hand, but family we were.
As if not sure what she would see, Jamie huddled against Saint’s chest even closer, drawing her legs in tighter. Finally, she opened her eyes. Terrified hazels looked around… and her body slowly eased, her fists loosening on Saint’s clothing. Her overworked lungs hiccupped as she tried to talk. “H-Hi, everyone.”
Silent tears streamed down Saint’s face as he leaned his head back against the wall behind him. His eyes were slammed shut, and he was biting his lip. I think he was at a breaking point, and we had joined the fight just in time.
“Giver,” called out Lynx. “You’re with me.” He walked away.
Calmly, so not to spook Jamie, I got to my feet, keeping my gun tucked from her sight. Turning to follow the direction he headed, my attention was caught by his back’s tat that read Steel Stallions. I was proud to already have my own halfway done. Lynx headed down the other direction in the hallway, opposite of the Barn, and I followed. He turned a corner to the left and then toward his bedroom on the right. He waved me to follow him into his room. “Secret two.”
His room was double the size of Justice’s bedroom. Way more spacious. It even had a kitchenette. Justice and I had a little mini-fridge, like the kind that’s popular with college kids. But I only noticed all that in a glance because, in the end, I had Captain, my Justice, so I was fucking fine.
Lynx walked to his open closet. “When anything goes down, she is to hide.” He gestured for me to peek. There was no one in the closet, so I shrugged. He spoke the words, “Stallion for life,” before I heard a creak, and then Elle appeared in a silk white robe, a gun at her side, looking like a deadly angel. He pointed to me. “Got it?”
It was wild that my Old Lady—far from an angel—was also with a gun, but would be by my side as shit went down. Prez had a secret hiding place for his, reminding me that my woman wasn’t the norm, whatsoever. I hoped I would never have to use this information about Elle, but replied, “Got it. And won’t forget her signal.”
Elle laid a hand to his naked chest that was full of tats. “Was it Jami
e?”
“Yeah, babe, but she’s okay now.” He kissed Elle as if thankful his true treasure was safe, then swatted her on the ass. “Get some sleep. I’ll be back.”
Grabbing a remote from his dresser, we left his room and headed toward a dead-end, to the right. I thumbed over my shoulder. “Nice pad, Prez.”
“You’ve never seen Elle’s suite before?”
“Nah, I try to mind my business.”
“That you do.”
“Her suite, eh?”
“Everything of mine is hers, kid.”
He stopped, and we stared at the dead-end—a wall where there was another Steel Stallions painting. This time, it had standing horses, staring out at us, with wolves laying at their hoofs. Despite their posture, the wolves didn’t appear submissive in the least. They too were staring at me, as if ready to pounce. There was no denying that these two MC clubs had a very powerful bond. I hoped to someday learn the history.
Lynx removed the man-sized painting, set it on the floor. He leaned it against the wall to the left, then again worked the remote in his pajama pants pocket. The whole narrow hallway wall slid to the left, disappearing like a pocket door. Beyond the opening was a very small lit room, the same width of the hallway. It resembled a security scanning area in some sort of secret area of a building, like what you would see in the movies.
Lynx walked in. Taking up most of the space, he faced the wall in front of us and waited. “Welcome to another secret, Giver. Come on.”
I followed him in. The door-wall slid shut behind me.
Like the first wall, this next one slid to the side, disappearing. Lynx walked into an identical room, then waited while facing yet another wall. “This is all done to control the odor. We get raided from time to time.”
Not saying a word, I followed, being closed in again. I wondered what the hell he was talking about, but when the next wall opened, I understood. An extensive, specially-lit room exposed rows and rows of tall marijuana plants. There had to be a hundred of them. “Holy. Shit.”
Bleed Me (Haunted Roads Book 3) Page 16