Screw

by Atlas, Lilly

  He’d gone commando that day.

  “Oh, Jesus, fuck, man. Cover that thing up.” Zach held one hand in front of his eyes and the other straight out to ward off the sight of Screw’s uncovered cock, as did most of the other guys.

  “Huh, pretty big dick you got there, Screwball,” LJ said as he also rose to his feet. “Can’t say it’s the biggest in the room though.” He began unbuckling his belt, a conceited fucking grin on his face.

  Motherfucker. It was well known throughout the club thanks to one mouthy Honey that LJ’s snake was of the anaconda variety.

  “Fuck, LJ, I don’t wanna see that thing,” Jigsaw said as he smacked LJ’s hands, disrupting his task. “Before we know it, you’re gonna be jerking each other off.”

  “Nah,” LJ said as he sat back down. “Holly took good care of me this morning. Sorry you had to crash on Jazz’s lonely couch last night, Screw.”

  If they only knew.

  He laughed as he tucked himself back in his jeans and sat.

  Mav leaned back, haughty satisfaction in his gaze. Asshole probably loved the fact he started this shit show.

  “All right.” Copper strode into the room, immediately shoving Maverick’s boots off the table. “You know the rules, fucker.”

  Screw laughed and Mav flipped him off.

  “Welcome back, by the way.” Copper took his spot at the head of the table. “Guessing you enjoyed yourself.”

  “Well, let’s see, there was sun, warmth, good fucking food, shit ton of booze, and my sexy as fuck wife who was naked for about ninety-six percent of the week, so yeah, it didn’t suck.” The haughty fucker practically glowed.

  “Well, sorry to call you in the second your ass hit American soil.” He shot a scowl Screw’s way. “Couldn’t be helped.”

  A smartass comment about hittin’ Mav’s ass tingled the tip of Screw’s tongue, but he scraped it across the back of his teeth instead of letting it fly free. He’d gotten himself in enough hot water. Copper’s disappointment in him felt like a noose around his neck, tightening with each passing minute. Normally, his go-to method for dealing with such emotions was to shit all over them with humor and snark.

  That morning, he’d dropped Jazz at the diner before heading to his own house for a shower and change of clothes. Sweetheart that she was, Jazzy hooked him up with a steaming cup of coffee and a muffin the size of his head. Since they were the only ones in the diner besides Thunder, who’d been taking a piss, Screw had paid for breakfast with a toe-curling kiss.

  Just before he walked away, she’d whispered six words in his ear. Six words that had been ping-ponging around his head ever since she’d uttered them.

  Your brothers trust you. Trust yourself.

  Trusting himself meant no jokes, no quips, no bullshit. He made his decision and had to own it as well as deal with the consequences.

  He had to be a fucking adult.

  And he could do that. He could be what his brothers needed in an enforcer, and he could make Jazzy proud.

  Wait...what? Make Jazz proud?

  What the hell did that matter?

  But it did. It mattered a lot for some insane reason. He wanted the next time he saw her to be with a smile on her face because he’d done well. He’d done what was right. He didn’t have much experience making people proud and fuck if he didn’t want Jazz to be pleased with him even when he had his clothes on.

  Fuck, what the hell was going on with him?

  “Screw you think you could actually pay attention since you’re the reason we’re all fucking here?” Copper said.

  “Yeah, of course. Sorry, just running through things in my head.”

  Copper blew out a long slow breath, and Screw’s nerves flared. Same damn feeling he’d had each and every time his mother had been called in for a meeting with his principal. Jesus, he was a twenty-six-year-old man feeling like the fourteen-year-old chump who’d pantsed his gym teacher.

  “All right,” Copper said. “Everyone here knows we got an SOS call from Screw last night. He was at a CDMC party with Gumby, who is Jazz’s friend from an MC in Arizona.” He looked at Mav as he said that last part. Catching the guy up.

  “Well, fuck me,” Mav said, eyes on Screw. “You’re a ballsy motherfucker, ain’t ya?”

  “Ballsy or stupid,” Jig added. “I mean what the fuck did you think was gonna happen besides getting your ass shot or fucking tortured?”

  His heart sank. He’d been hoping some of his brothers would have had his back without question. Looked like he’d be digging out of a hole for all of them.

  Copper lifted a hand. “Trust me, I’ve already ripped him a new one. Let’s hear him out because I was told he has some promising information for us.”

  “Come on, guys,” LJ said. “This is our brother. Give him the fucking benefit of the doubt. Screw may fuck around a lot, but he always acts in the club’s best interest.”

  Thank you. He and LJ had prospected together. The guy knew him better than anyone.

  “Except that time he fucked that girl who slashed my tires instead of his,” Mav said with a chuckle.

  The other guys laughed and much of the tension in the room dissolved, taking with it the brick in Screw’s gut.

  “Start talking then,” Copper said as he leaned back in his seat.

  “’Bout a week ago, I met Squirt, a CDMC prospect at the gas station where Jazzy ran into a bunch of their club members. I wasn’t in my cut and we started shooting the shit about bikes and his club. Told him I lived in Knoxville but came out here on weekends to get away from the grind. He invited me to their party.”

  “You met him on purpose,” Mav said.

  Screw nodded. “I needed to do something proactive. We can’t just sit around and wait for them to make the next move. You all know one is coming. After all they went through making Lindsey trick Shell and Toni, they’re not gonna fucking forget us.” The CDMC had used the thirteen-year-old girl to lure Toni and Shell into a trap that nearly got all three of them killed. Lindsey hadn’t wanted any part in it but had no choice in the matter. Thankfully, everyone survived with only minor injuries, but the incident had lasting negative effects on the girl.

  “Well, he’s right about that,” Zach said. “They want us out.” As he spoke, he rotated his shoulder. Was he even aware of the move? By now, it was mostly healed, but Zach had told him it ached like a motherfucker pretty frequently.

  “So, even though you told me not to go to the party, I’d planned to go.” Screw held up a hand. “I knew it could have been a trap. There was a chance Squirt knew exactly who I was and planned to fuck me up. It’s why I took Gumby. Backup they for sure wouldn’t recognize. We needed eyes inside there, Cop. We needed to see their dynamic. How they operate. Who’s at the top of their food chain. Hell, even what their whores are like. Any information could be useful because we had nothing.”

  “Bet you focused on the whores, huh?” Mav asked with a snort.

  Enough of this shit. He was being serious and they needed to see it that way. “No, Mav, I fucking didn’t. But I did learn how they’re shipping weapons, and I got invited to join their operation. I know exactly how and when they’re getting their guns out of here. And I have an idea of how we can fuck with their business. Make them lose tens of thousands. Maybe if we can make this area seem like a money suck, they’ll leave without fucking killing any of us.”

  The chapel fell silent as the gazes on him shifted from tolerant to respectful. Copper rubbed his beard. “Tell me.” His voice held a grudging admiration.

  “They work with a shipping company called Cranston based in Knoxville. Mondays and Thursdays, they take a supply of weapons to Knoxville where they’re all divided up between a number of trucks making deliveries up and down the east coast. They’re looking for a new shipping company. Squirt said this one has been unreliable and they’re losing money.”

  “He say where they get the guns?” Zach asked.

  Screw shook his head. “No. But if I had t
o make a guess, I’d say they’re pretty well stocked right now. I’m betting that they brought a shit ton of weapons back with them while they were gone those few weeks. Now they have product to unload and need to move it.”

  Jigsaw leaned forward, resting on his elbows, fully engaged. “So what’re you thinking? Intercept them on the way to Knoxville?”

  “We could, but then they’d know it was us, or at least highly suspect it. I’m thinking we fuck with the trucking company. Here me out.” He shifted forward as well, tapping a finger on the table as he spoke. “Weapons get loaded onto the trucks Monday and Thursday nights. They go out Tuesday and Friday mornings. We get our asses in there after the trucks are loaded. Steal the guns, maybe some other shit too so it doesn’t look so deliberate. It’s fucking Knoxville. A city. I doubt they’ll connect it back to us here in Townsend.”

  “Could work,” LJ piped up. “We fuck up their transport enough times, they’ll lose a shit ton of cash. Could crumble the club or drive ’em away.”

  “It’ll be hard to do more than once. They’ll beef up security after one hit.” Mav owned a PI company and was somewhat of a security expert. “I’m sure we’ll have to get around cameras, maybe a guard, or some fucking dogs.”

  “What if we get someone on the inside? Someone hired as a driver. They could discreetly fuck up some trucks. Another way to delay or miss a shipment.” Screw bounced his leg under the table.

  Jig pointed at him. “That could work. Tex grew up on a dairy farm. I know for a fact he’s got a commercial driver’s license. We could get him in there. He’s fucking foaming at the mouth to make up for his mistake.”

  Tex, a newer prospect, had been on protection detail for Toni and Shell a few weeks ago. He’d fucked up royally and dropped the ball the day they were kidnapped. Toni took the blame, swearing she’d been the one to convince him to hang out in the kitchen of the diner for a while, which allowed her and Shell to slip out unseen. Her story was the only reason the guy hadn’t had his cut shredded. He had something to prove and would love the chance to do it.

  “All right. Jig you move on getting him hired and working as soon as fucking possible. I want every single detail he could possibly provide us about the company. Set up, schedules, security, types of trucks, no detail is too small.”

  “Got it, boss.”

  “It’s a solid plan.” Finally, Rocket spoke up, drawing the attention of all the guys. He’d been a black ops asset for years. Having his approval would go a long fucking way with Copper. Add in the fact he didn’t voice his opinions often, and Screw felt validated.

  “We might want to bring Jazzy’s friend, Gumby in on this too,” Rocket added.

  Sounded like a good idea to him, but would the rest of the guys agree to let an outsider so deep into the fold?

  “What the fuck?” Zach asked.

  “The guy’s a mechanic. Might prove useful if we’re disabling trucks.”

  Rocket had a point. A good one. Most of the guys in the club knew their way around a bike, but most didn’t have the skill or knowledge to pull off this job properly. Gumby would be an asset on this job and after last night, Screw wanted to spend as much time with the guy as possible. While he wasn’t ready to admit that out loud or analyze the whys of it, he just knew he wanted Gumby at his back yet again.

  “Shit, we could use one of those in the club,” Copper said. “Someone get him in here later. I’ll talk to him. See where he’s at.”

  “He’ll do it,” Screw said. “If it helps protect Jazz, he’ll do it.”

  “I see one major flaw in this plan,” LJ said as he shot an apologetic look across the table.

  “What’s that?”

  Damn. Screw had known this was too smooth to work.

  “One of the Disciples told you all this shit, right?”

  With a nod Screw said, “Yeah, Squirt, the guy who gave me the invite.”

  “Okay, so I’m sure by now he’s told Blade or Crank all about what he squealed to you. Hell, they’ll probably be ready and waiting for an attack by us.”

  A heaviness settled on Screw’s shoulders. Logically, Squirt’s death wasn’t his fault. The guy chose to get mixed up in a vicious club. He also chose to run his mouth against Crank’s wishes. Still, the kid would still be alive had Screw not gone against his president’s wishes and gone to the party. Playing a role in the kid’s death went down like jagged shards of glass.

  “Um.” He cleared his throat and looked up at the ceiling. “He wasn’t supposed to tell me anything he did. Crank wanted to meet with me later in the night to test the waters. It’s possible Squirt fessed up to what he’d told me, but everything happened pretty damn fast after that and as Gumby drove away from their clubhouse, I saw Crank shoot Squirt in the head.”

  “Fuck,” Zach said as the full magnitude of what the club was capable of sank in. If Crank could shoot one of his own without blinking an eye, he wouldn’t hesitate to take out any of the Handlers.

  Or even their women.

  “How did you guys get busted?” Mav asked. “Sounds like you were home free.”

  “Jazz’s neighbor was there partying. He recognized me.”

  “Jeremy?” Mav asked and when Screw nodded, he added, “Man, I hate that fuckwad.”

  “Tell me about it,” Screw muttered. He’d known Jeremy since middle school. He’d been one of the kids who frequently snuck into the strip club where Screw’s mother worked, and the asshole took unending pleasure in tormenting Screw with lurid details. Hell, he was pretty sure the guy had fucked his mom at some point.

  And Jeremy wondered why he wasn’t voted to prospect with the club. Now the guy had his eye on Jazz? Wasn’t happening. Last thing she needed was a slimy weasel like Jeremy. She’d been through enough in her life.

  And great, now he was thinking about Paul. At some point he needed to have a chat with Gumby about locating and ending that asshole.

  “We need to keep an eye on his movements,” Copper said.

  “On it. I have a prospect tailing him today.”

  “Good. Thanks for being proactive about that.” Copper nodded his approval which made Screw’s chest puff. Finally, he’d done something right in his president’s eyes. “All right. Let’s get moving on this right away. Church tonight at six. We’ll fill in the rest of the club. Screw, stick around a minute.”

  Oh, fuck. Here’s where Copper said something along the lines of, “Thanks, but you’re still out as enforcer.”

  Well, it’d been fun—and stressful as fuck—while it lasted.

  As the room cleared, each and every one of his brothers slapped him on the back or squeezed his shoulder. Ugh, even they knew he was on the chopping block.

  Copper sat in his chair, rubbing his chin in what they’d all come to know as his thinking mode. None of them knew if he was even aware of it, but it was the guy’s biggest tell. So, Screw sat without speaking and waited for his president to formulate his thoughts.

  After a minute or so, Copper folded his giant hands on the table. His silver wedding ring still made Screw chuckle. It’d been no surprise to anyone that he’d locked down Shell fast once he’d finally pulled his head out of his ass and got with her.

  “I’ve worked with Zach as my enforcer for more than five years. His instincts were rock solid, and I trusted him to make most decisions without even running them by me.”

  Screw nodded. None of this was new information. Working under Zach, he’d seen the way the president valued him.

  “I should have trusted you more. Zach vouched for you and I agreed to make you enforcer, but I didn’t put my full trust in you. This won’t work if I don’t give you that.”

  “I get it Copper.” His shoulders sagged. “Now you feel like you can’t trust me. I’m sorry I didn’t do the position justice.”

  His prez held up a hand stopping him from offering the enforcer patch back before he had to hear the man actually ask for it. “No, Screw, I’m saying I do trust you and I should have at the very le
ast entertained the idea of someone attending the party when you came to me. Your instinct was dead on, and you brought us remarkably valuable intel we never would have gotten any other way.”

  “I—uh, shit, thanks, Copper.” His face heated. Fuck, praise wasn’t something he had much experience with. Maybe it was his own fault for always giving people a reason to roll their eyes at him instead of praise him. Regardless, felt damn good to be appreciated and valued by his president.

  The president apologized.

  Wait until he told Jazz and Gumby.

  Or not…because, why would he?

  “The club will pay to have your truck repaired too. If I’d entertained the idea, you’d have had back up and gotten out of there quicker. Hopefully with fewer bullet holes in your truck.”

  “Appreciate it, Cop.”

  “All right, get your ass outta here. I promised my woman I’d stop by the diner for breakfast.”

  With a lightness he hadn’t expected to experience today, Screw stood and extended his hand. “Copper, I love the fuck outta this club.”

  “I know you do, Screw.”

  With that, Copper shook his hand and Screw was on his way with only one thought on his mind.

  Heading to the diner to have a meal with Gumby while they watched Jazz work. He’d have much preferred for the three of them to lounge around in bed all morning, exploring each other. The hard-on he’d woken with nearly had him begging for relief, but Jazz had to be at work damn early and he’d had church. So he’d been forced to put his lust on the back burner. From the tent in Gumby’s boxer briefs, he hadn’t fared much better.

  Good thing they had all the time in the world later.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  “WELL, HEY THERE, sir, would you like to see a menu?” Jazz said as she greeted Gumby at the diner’s entrance. She flashed him a flirty grin. Damn, she looked cute in her short denim skirt, combat boots, and her diner T-shirt. Of course, she had a cardigan covering her arms, but hopefully, one day she’d feel confident enough to bare some of her scarred skin.