I felt my throat tighten a little. It was so beautiful to me. Something that was so close yet I never got the chance to take advantage of. The meaning was so much deeper though. My mother loved the coast. She loved to take random road trips to different parts. Or on a nice day she’d just drive the coast.
When I saw the ocean it made me feel closer to her. If there was such thing as heaven, for my mother it would be the coast.
“You okay?” Slam asked.
“Yeah. Just… tired. I need a drink.”
Slam opened the door and the pizza place was small and worn. An elderly woman saw Slam and almost did a cartwheel. She let out a cry and hurried from behind the counter right to him. She reached up for his face. Slam bent and the woman grabbed his cheeks and pulled him down.
“Spencer!” her voice cracked.
Spencer? Was that his real name?
I felt myself blush as Slam looked back at me, curling his lip.
I had a little piece of information on him now.
Spencer.
How proper of a name for a guy thick was muscles, tattoos, and a criminal record that went for miles.
“I haven’t seen you in a long time. Where have you been?”
“Working. You know that. Hey, Auntie Ang, meet my friend. This is Belle.”
The woman looked at me. She had blue eyes like mine.
“Oh my,” she whispered. “You are beautiful. So beautiful.” She looked at Slam. “I told you, stay out of trouble and find a beautiful woman to spend the rest of your life with.”
“Oh, I’m not…”
“Auntie Ang,” Slam said, cutting me off. “I just got out of prison again.”
The elderly woman looked at me. “Men, right?”
“I’m…”
Slam grabbed my hand. I flinched and wanted to rip my hand away. He gave a sideways glance that told me not to do anything stupid.
So I kept my mouth shut.
“Auntie Ang, how about a few slices?” Slam asked.
“You got it,” she said and snapped her fingers.
Slam tugged at my hand and mouthed come on.
I walked through the pizza place to the kitchen. It looked like a regular kitchen in a house. There was a small TV on the corner of the counter with the local news blaring. We then went through the back door and outside. There was a deck off to the right and two picnic tables down on a small yard. At the edge of the yard it dropped off down to the ocean. It was an amazing view.
“Figure we could kill some time here, babe,” Slam said. He jumped up and sat on the top of a picnic table and took out a cigarette. He lit up and took a drag like there was nothing wrong with the world.
I slowly crept to the edge of the yard. A nice breeze hit me in the face. The rushing of the water, crashing into the rocks, it was so soothing. When I was a baby my mother had some kind of sound machine thing and she would set it to the sound of the ocean for me.
I felt my throat tighten a little and my eyes flooded with tears.
I took a shaky breath and had to get control of myself. It had been a weird day so far and I didn’t need it to get out of hand.
I inched forward again, my toes going over the edge. The drop wasn’t all that far. The points of the rocks would be a problem… but I sort of wanted to touch the water. I knew this had to be a place on the coast my mother never got to.
In that exact moment I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I literally dangled my right foot over the edge.
I felt hands grab my waist and pull at me.
I let out a scream and thought I was going over the edge.
“What the hell are you doing, babe?”
I was spun around and I grabbed at Slam, my hands at his leather cut. My body pressed against his. I stared up at him, his eyes big, evil, yet concerned as he looked down at me.
He towered over me like no man ever.
“I… my…”
“Were you just trying to hurt yourself?” he asked.
I put my head forward for a moment and rested it against Slam’s steel like chest. I let out a long breath, trying to collect all my thoughts.
Then I moved my hands to Slam’s chest and pushed. I hurried to wiggle away from him.
“Don’t touch me,” I said.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he asked.
I made it two steps before Slam grabbed my arm and pulled at me. “What the fuck was that about?”
Anger rose up in me and I looked at Slam. “Nothing.”
“Bullshit. Nothing? Don’t lie to me, Belle.”
“What does it matter to you? We’re not friends. We’re nothing. Leave me alone.”
Slam let my arm go and I walked back to the picnic table. I tried to secretly wipe my eyes but there was no hiding it. Of course, right then, my fucking cell phone beeped. I took it out and saw it was Kyle, again. I threw the phone to the table and shook my head.
“Does it have something to do with your phone going crazy every ten minutes?” Slam asked.
I looked over my shoulder at him. “What?”
“You keep getting texts. Like crazy. What’s going on? Are you in trouble, babe?”
“Again, stop trying to be something to me,” I said. “I should have never gotten on the back of your motorcycle, Slam. I shouldn’t have come to your garage to apologize.”
Slam didn’t give up. He stepped toward me, his front inches from my back. Shit, the heat even with a little distance was intense.
“But you did come,” he said. “For whatever reason, you did. That’s why I offered you this ride, babe. Whatever you got going on, leave it on the road. That’s why I ride. You think we’re out there looking for trouble? Not a chance, Belle. We protect this town, this entire area.”
I swallowed hard. “I need to catch my breath. Is there a bathroom in there?”
“As soon as you walk in, go to the right. If Auntie Ang comes for you, just stand there and take it. She loves hugs and she’ll kiss your cheek fifty times. Just go with it.”
I opened my mouth to say something but I couldn’t. Right then I lost my breath. Just looking back at Slam did that to me.
Instead of saying anything else I walked away.
It wasn’t until halfway through freshening up did I realize I had made a huge mistake.
I left my cell on the picnic table… right where Slam could see it.
fifteen
(slam)
*THEN*
I leaned against the car and enjoyed my smoke. Belle stood next to me, fucking beautiful little thing she was. I could still hear her half-drunk voice giggling that night at the bar.
“So who did you beat up today?” she asked, probably trying to be cute.
I looked at her and grinned. “No fighting.” I opened my leather cut and showed her my gun. Then I winked.
I swore she was going to pass out right there.
Yeah, we had been on a little bit of a run dealing with some shit. Nothing major, but someone throwing words around that shouldn’t have been said. So we had to take a ride and put our foot down. You know, into some mouths, sides of the faces, crush up some ribs. I sadly had to use my weapon, but that was not my fault.
“It’s true about you,” Belle said. “Your people.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re bad.”
“So bad,” I said. “So bad that I stopped to help you so you wouldn’t get stranded. That’s a hell of a way to say thanks.”
I stared Belle down, enjoying the little bickering between us.
“I’m going to stand somewhere else,” she said.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll be right here waiting.”
It only took Ari about half an hour to come back with what I needed. Poor guy had to drive a fucking car because of the tools required to change the hose on Belle’s car. I had no fucking clue why I was doing it.
A while back, before Hammer was sent to prison an
d killed, I sat one night pounding beers with him. He told me the MC was designed as a way to create a brotherhood. Not to be rebel outlaws but to create their own path to survive. There were always fights and always would be, but when opportunity came to show a different side, we were all to take it. That didn’t mean favors and being upstanding citizens though. Maybe helping Belle was a mistake. To me, it was just one of those opportunities.
When I finished, I turned my head and saw Belle standing there. Her arms folded under her tits, pushing them up. Her blue eyes were fucking intense. Her blonde hair pulled back. Shit, it was about opportunity. The opportunity to bend Belle over the hood of the car and fuck her senseless.
I closed the hood.
I walked around and started the car. It fired right up, no issues at all.
I left the door open and stood in the way to make damn sure Belle wasn’t going to skate away from me.
As she approached, the sun was setting. The colors spread across the sky. It was just me and her standing there. I had sent Ari back to the clubhouse.
Belle stopped with just inches between us.
“You’re all set,” I said.
“Thanks,” she whispered. “I have some money…”
“No. No money, babe. Just remember who did this for you.”
“And that’s it?” she asked.
“That’s about it,” I said.
I stepped to the side and gave her a path. She stepped forward and I shot my right hand out, touching her waist. I leaned in close to her, so close I could smell the sweetness of her skin and the fruitiness of her shampoo.
I planted a kiss to her cheek and ran the tip of my nose to her ear and went up.
“See you around, babe,” I whispered.
I walked away without looking back. I didn’t need to, I knew her face was red and her jaw dropped. Shit, I could have ripped her apart right there on the hood of the car.
But I guess I was just planting seeds, yet again.
I got on my ride and took off, letting the wind rip at my face. But nothing was going to calm down what I had going on between my legs. I was hard as a rock.
All because of sweet and pretty Belle.
sixteen
(slam)
*NOW*
I put my foot up on the picnic table, almost dumbfounded.
What the fuck was that about?
Belle looked ready to jump down to the rocks. That was a pretty stupid thing to even consider, joking or not. Unless she actually wanted to hurt herself.
Goddamn, were things that bad for her?
Her old man must have overprotected her like crazy…
Her cell phone vibrated on the table again.
Or was it something more?
I leaned over and looked at the screen.
The message was from someone named Kyle.
I made fists and gritted my fucking teeth. I felt a surge go through me like goddamn poison. I knew what kind of poison it was - jealousy. Some other guy trying to get up on Belle bothered me. Eventually someone was going to grab that cherry and pluck it. Someone was going to get inside her. Shit, for all I knew, someone had already been staking their claim. Not that I gave a shit. I wasn’t as much of a settler as a Viking. I came, took what I want, fucked what looked good, and left.
Belle would be no different.
I tried really hard to mind my own business, but I knew the perils of that too. I lost a brother once by not snooping enough. I had let my mind settle and just fucking assumed the world was going to be okay when it wasn’t.
I wasn’t going to let that happen with Belle.
I reached across the table and grabbed her phone. One swipe and I was reading text messages from this Kyle guy that made my blood boil.
The last message he sent?
I just drove by your apartment. You’re not home. I need to see you. Right now.
Who the hell would send a message like that to a woman? My mind raced faster as I kept reading these messages that were all borderline psychotic. Was that why Belle had come to the garage and left with me on my ride? Was she trying to get away from this Kyle guy? Shit, why not tell her old man? Chief Richards would probably castrate someone for touching his precious daughter.
Well, I got that answer a few text messages back.
Your father gave his blessing, Belle. We are destined to be together. There’s nobody else but me.
“Christ,” I said and spun the phone back around.
I shook my head.
So her father approved of this psycho?
Of course he would.
So Belle was being tossed into this life of hers.
Shit, and I was there to fuck it up even more.
Before I could get one thought to myself she appeared from the back of Auntie Ang’s, with Auntie Ang behind her with two plates with pizza.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
“Here you go, Spencer,” Auntie Ang said. “I’d offer you a drink but there’s no way someone as beautiful as Belle is getting on the back of a motorcycle with you after a drink.”
“Agreed,” I said and eyed Belle.
She blushed.
“Thank you,” Belle said to Auntie Ang.
I grabbed a slice of pizza and downed it in three big bites. I was agitated and ready to explode.
Belle took a few bites and the awkward silence between us couldn’t last for long.
“Say something,” I said. “Because in about two minutes I’m going to ruin the rest of the day.”
“What…”
“Just do it, babe.”
“This place then,” Belle said. “That lady.”
“How do they connect to me?”
“Yeah.”
“Auntie Ang is not my aunt. I used to hide out here to avoid my father. My house was hell, always hell. So I would come here. When I’d have no money, Auntie Ang would put me to work. Her husband, Big Tony, was still alive then. He used to talk to me all the time. I’m pretty sure he was in the mafia so that’s where my love for the outlaw began. He died when I was eleven. It was devastating to me. Worse than when my father died. The last thing he ever told me… ‘anyone ever gets in your fucking way, kid, you fucking hit them as hard as you can… and if they hit you back, then you didn’t get them hard enough. And if anyone ever hits you first, kid, you get back up… and you keep getting back up until they fucking kill you. A real man dies with honor, not fucking memory.’ That always stuck with me. I started helping Auntie Ang here more and more. Then I started running outlaw. One night I got into something bad and came here to clean myself up. Auntie Ang was waiting for me. She let me hide out and lied to the cops for me. She took care of me. She was even there when I got patched into the Reap. Like a proud mother watching her kid graduate high school or some shit.”
I laughed, thinking back to those crazy fucking days.
“So your entire life you’ve been a villain?”
“Since birth,” I said. “What about you? Silver spoon fed from Daddy’s pistol and badge, huh?”
“Hardly,” Belle said.
“Look, I’m trying to connect some dots here, Belle,” I said. “You looked ready to try and hurt yourself on the ledge over there a little bit ago. Then your phone is going off like crazy. Who the hell is Kyle?”
Belle dropped her slice of pizza. “What?”
“I checked your phone. Get fucking pissed if you want. We’re not friends, right? You made that very clear. Why the fuck is he checking your apartment for you?”
Belle scrambled to grab her phone. I saw the look on her face when she read the last text message sent. She looked at me and I needed no other reply. She was terrified of this guy.
“Who is he?” I asked.
“Some guy,” she said.
“Handpicked by your father?”
“Something like that. Look, I have to go. I’ll call a cab or something.”
Belle got to her feet and s
tarted to walk away. I grabbed the pizza off the plates and took my life into my hands as I walked to the edge and threw them into the ocean. No lie there because if Auntie Ang saw me wasting her pizza she would have put a bullet in my head. She was little and old but she was a vicious woman. There were a lot of ghosts around the pizza place and yard if you know what that means.
I chased Belle down and grabbed her, stopping her.
“You can’t get a cab here,” I said. “Look at me right now.” I spun her around and there were tears in her eyes. “Christ, babe, what is it?”
“He’s just an obsessed guy. That’s it. He tried to come onto me the other night at a party too. I pushed him away and he’s mad at me.”
“So that gives him the right to text you like this? You need help, Belle. And, shit, you can’t go to your father either.”
My hands touched her arms. I stared into those blue eyes and realized how easy it was going to be to get what I wanted from her. She was so broken and vulnerable, it was perfect. Goddammit, I was a fucking monster for this shit. But it had to be done.
“Tell me where he lives and I’ll make sure he never bothers you again,” I said.
“Slam, no. It’s not your problem. Or your life. Just stop being tough.”
“I’m not being tough, I am tough, Belle. This guy is fucked in the head for you. And your father is okay with it?”
“Why are you so worried about my father?”
I swallowed hard. “Look, if this guy scares you at all, you need to call me. I’ll be there to help you. I promise. If something happens to you I’m going to feel guilty.”
“You have feelings?”
She offered a sly little smile and it was like a punch to gut.
From the corner of my eye I saw Auntie Ang come out of the back of the pizza place.
“Ah, fuck,” I whispered.
“What?” Belle asked.
“I have to do this… don’t push me away, okay?”
“Do what?”
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