by Jenika Snow
He pulled the truck to stop hard enough that he heard the tires squeal on the pavement. The two guys looked over at him, but Lucien was already out of the truck and storming over to where Callie sat. She was leaning over the side of the bench, and he could see she had been sick. “You two, get the fuck out of here before I beat your assess,” Lucien growled out, feeling like a beast was bursting forth from him at the thought that Callie was being hurt. They might have been trying to help for all he knew, but he wasn’t a damn fool enough to think that they had been trying to do anything more than take advantage of her.
The guys stood, and these scowls covered their faces in identical expressions. One of them, the bigger of the two, pulled out a switchblade and pointed it at Lucien. “Old man, you better get out of here. This isn’t your business, and people around here know when to keep driving.”
“Dude, he’s a fuckin’ beast,” the smaller of the two, and clearly the smarter one, muttered to his buddy. The guy with the blade cursed at his friend.
Lucien stopped, feeling a twinge of amusement move through him, but his rage was far more powerful. He had been in such a hurry that he hadn’t even put his cut on, and clearly these boys didn’t know who they were messing with. He didn’t respond, just reached behind him and pulled out the gun he had tucked in the waistband at the small of his back right. He moved toward them and pointed it at them. The way their eyes widened and the clear fear that masked their expressions, pleased Lucien immensely. “How about this, you keep moving, mind your own fucking business, and I won’t put a bullet in both of your dicks.” He lowered the gun and pointed it at the crotch of the bigger guy that had spoken. “Because I don’t think you two know who the fuck you’re dealing with right now.”
Both guys held their hands up in surrender and took off like the pussies they were. He tucked his gun in the back of his waistband once more, and quickly made his way toward Callie. Crouching in front of her, he pushed some of her dark hair away from her face and looked at her.
“Hey, you okay?”
She closed her eyes tightly and moaned. “No, but I feel better now that I don’t have anything left in my stomach.”
“Those motherfuckers didn’t hurt you, did they?”
She shook her head. “No. They had just shown up a couple minutes before you came. They were trying to get me to go with them to their place.”
Lucien curled his free hand into a tight fist and clenched his jaw hard enough he was surprised his teeth didn’t crack. She slowly straightened, groaned out something about never drinking again, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. “Honey, everyone says that when they feel like shit from getting drunk, but they always go back.” He’d make sure she didn’t though, because although he had been young once, and had been sicker than a damn dog more times than he could even count, he sure as hell didn’t want her put in this situation ever again. “We need to tell your dad though, because if he finds out about this and it didn’t come from one of us…” He shook his head and stared into her blue eyes. “Honey, he’ll fuckin’ lose it.”
She shook her head, closed her eyes and groaned, and then slowly opened them again. “Please don’t tell him. I don’t think he needs anymore crap thrown his way. He’s already stressed over my mom and the custody thing, and this will just piss him off more.”
Yeah, she had a point, but this was the VP of the club, and a man Lucien considered as close as a brother. “Come on, let’s just get you in the truck and we can worry about the rest of this later.” Before she could stand he had her in his arms and was striding toward the passenger side door of his truck. Once he had her in the seat with the seatbelt over her, he reached in the back and rummaged around for a bag. He set it on her lap, pushed her hair away from her face again, and looked at her. Her eyes were closed, and she was pale and clammy looking. Yeah, she’d be feeling this in the morning. “If you feel like upchucking, do it in the bag.”
She nodded and mumbled something, and clutched the bag closer. He moved back, saw the outfit she was wearing, and growled low in his throat. She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him.
“Your mom let you out of the house dressed like a club whore?” He hadn’t meant to be so crass with her, but why in the hell would Sarah let her wear a mini skirt and tank top that showed way too much of her chest?
Callie looked down at herself and then glanced at him with narrowed yes. “Did you seriously just compare my clothes with those skanks’ that walk around your club?”
She was young, but had a mouth on her that rivaled the members of his MC.
“Besides, my clothes are fine, and my mom doesn’t give a shit about what happens to me once I leave the house,” she said while still staring at him. “She just likes giving my dad a hard time and being a mega bitch.”
He chuckled at that. Lucien should get his ass in the car and take her to Kink’s, but after yesterday and talking with the other man and the bullshit he had tried to pull, Kink had been on a binge of booze, fights at the barn, and taking women back to his room at the clubhouse. In fact, Lucien had seen Kink doing just that right before he left for his own place with an easy woman in tow. Taking her to Kink’s was not an option, and no way in hell was he taking her back to the clubhouse where there was shit going down that a seventeen-year-old didn’t need to see. “Kink would bust your ass if he saw his little girl like this.”
She didn’t respond right away, but finally licked her lips and exhaled roughly. “I’m not a little girl anymore, Lucien, and I don’t think my dad needs to know about everything I do.”
The way she said his name had this strange sensation moving through him, and he didn’t much care for it.
“Can I just crash at your place tonight?”
He opened his mouth to tell her fuck no, but she surprised him by grabbing his hand and squeezing it in an almost pleading manner.
“Please, Lucien, just for tonight. I don’t want my mom finding out I totally got this shitfaced, and have to hear her bitch, and I really don’t have anywhere else to stay.”
Even though he should have taken her to her mom’s regardless of what she said, he knew how Sarah was.
“I know I shouldn’t have been so irresponsible and reckless, and believe me it won’t happen again, but I also know you, as well as my dad, have probably been in this situation more times than you can count.” She slurred out her words and looked like she was fading fast.
“Fuck.” He was cursing more in the last hour than he had in the past week, and that was saying something. “Kink is going to kill me.” He shut the door and hurried around to the driver’s side door. Once he was in and had the engine started, he headed to his place. This was a bad idea all around, but at the moment it seemed like the best, and only, choice he had.
He made it to his place in about half an hour, because now that he had Callie with him he didn’t need to speed like the devil. He pulled his truck into his driveway, and cut the engine. The street he lived on was pretty quiet, and the house that he owned used to be his old man’s until he’d passed away a year ago. Lucien looked over at Callie. She had passed out shortly after he had gotten on the road. As he skimmed over her, he realized she had changed a hell of a lot in the last year. It had been that long since he had seen her, but she wasn’t the little girl that used to run around when the guys would get together. He hadn’t meant to say she was dressed like a club whore, because in all honesty she wasn’t. But that didn’t mean he liked her wearing such revealing clothing.
He scrubbed a hand over his face, feeling like some sick pervert for even noticing her curves, and that she was showing too much skin. He cursed internally and opened his door before climbing out. Once he was on the passenger side and had the door open he lifted her easily. She mumbled something in her stupor, but actually curled into him. Despite her curves she was a tiny thing compared to him. She may have Kink’s eye and hair color, and attitude to match, but she was built like her mom.
He carried her inside,
and once he was in the spare bedroom, he laid her on the mattress. She smelled like booze, but no way was he about to get her out of her clothes that had vomit and alcohol on them. He took off her shoes and covered her with a blanket, and then he headed to the kitchen for a stiff drink. Setting his cell on the counter, and staring at it for a moment, he did contemplate calling Kink. But no doubt the brother was drunk and getting his dick wet. He grabbed a glass and a bottle of Crown, and poured himself a hefty amount. This wasn’t the best idea he had ever had, and he knew that most likely it would backfire. He glanced over his shoulder and down the hallway, and this tightening in his chest intensified at the thought he had Kink’s daughter in his spare room. Yeah, he was totally fucking screwed, and he knew that for a fact as he grabbed his cell, pocketed it, and took the bottle of whiskey to his room. He wasn’t just pissed at himself for not telling Kink, but he was also pissed at himself because he was seeing Callie as a woman now, and that was wrong on every damn level. She might be turning eighteen soon, but even if she was legal right now he wouldn’t have touched her. He was too old for her, her father was like family to him, and getting involved with her would only mean a lot of blood would be spilled once Kink found out.
He shut his bedroom door and locked it, and then proceeded to drink away all the shit he had just got himself into.
****
As soon as Callie woke up she knew she had screwed up big time. She may have been drunk, but she remembered every damn thing. She pushed herself up on the small twin sized bed, and looked around. The feeling of nausea, dizziness, and an overall sense of feeling like shit washed through her. She also smelled like liquor and vomit, and humiliation filled her that Lucien had seen her like this. It had been a horrendous mistake to call him, but that had been what it was … a mistake. She moved so she was sitting on the edge of the bed, and waited until she was pretty sure she wouldn’t throw up everywhere. She glanced around the room. Yeah, she was in Lucien’s place, and not because the décor gave anything away. It was bikerish, if that made any sense. It was barren of anything that wasn’t functional. It also smelled of him. It was a dark, slightly sweet and musky scent that she had always associated with him.
She needed to get out of here, because the last thing she wanted was to confront him sober, and have to explain what in the hell happened back there at the party. She stood, prayed there was a bathroom attached to this room, and cursed inwardly that of course there wasn’t. She grabbed her phone that was still tucked in her pocket, and although she knew it had died, she hoped she could power it up long enough to try calling Ian, or another one of her guy friends. It powered up, but just as she was about to dial Ian’s number the damn thing went dead.
She moved over to the door, listened for any sign of life on the other side, and only when it was silent did she open it. But as soon as she stepped out into the hallway the door directly in front her opened. And there stood Lucien, in nothing but a pair of jeans that weren’t even buttoned. Beads of water dripped off his chest, and he ran a small towel over his short hair. He froze, as did she, and they stared at each other for a moment.
“You’re up early.” He lowered his arm, and all of his muscles contracted and flexed from the act.
God, he was a big guy, with muscles layered upon muscles, and this strength that came from him like a punch right to the face. She didn’t know what time it was, but what she did know was that she needed to get out of here before she made an even bigger fool of herself. She lowered her gaze to the center of his chest, saw the massive tattoo of the patch for The Brothers of Menace, and swallowed roughly. She knew all the members had a patch tattoo somewhere on their body. Her father had one on his pectoral muscle, and she had seen a few of the other guys’ ink that were in the club when they had been working on their bikes shirtless. But seeing Lucien’s ink, that big, round tattoo that showed this rising phoenix, right in the center of his chest, had this heat filling her. She swallowed, licked her lips that had gotten so dry when she had seen him, and opened her mouth to say something … anything.
“Mornin’. You ready to go home? Call your old man?” he asked.
She nodded, but not to the latter. “I’m ready to go home, but calling my dad,” she gave this awkward, nervous laugh. “I don’t think that’s going to happen.” She cleared her throat and looked at the ground. “Can I use your phone? I’ll call one of my friends to come get me.” When he didn’t respond she glanced up at him. He had his brows knitted.
“What the fuck are you talking about? I’ll take you home. Just let me get a shirt on.” He stared at her for a moment and then turned and headed back in his room. He was covered in tattoos, from his chest and arms, to ink peeking out from under the waistband of his jeans.
She closed her eyes, leaned against the wall, and told herself to get under control. She had enough to worry about with the move to California, and her father, and she sure as hell didn’t need to worry about this attraction to a man that would never see her as more than the kid of his VP.
Chapter Five
One week later
The flames were hot as fuck, and so damn bright and high that it looked like they were touching the sky. Kink stood around with the rest of The Brothers of Menace MC, and although the police had made everyone leave the surrounding area where the bomb had gone off, they hadn’t gone away too far. They needed to work this out, find out where the fucking church cult was located, and deliver some hardcore retaliation.
“I want these motherfuckers dead,” Lucien ground out. “I want to get the Fairview charter out here, want to hunt down these bastards, and hurt them as badly as they hurt us.” Lucien was pacing back and forth now, and running his hand through his short dark hair. “I want to get Malcolm in on this.” He stopped and looked at each of them. “I want him to hack the fuck out of their website, find out where they are, and then we are going to go there and take down every last one of those pricks.”
Kink scrubbed a hand over his face and exhaled. He looked up, watched as the flames and black smoke filled the sky, and knew that was the best route. They couldn’t stand by and let some church cult come into their town and hurt the ones they loved. Just thinking about the cult that had given their Fairview charter issues because they had prostitutes working with them, and had pulled this stunt, meant war.
“What if the girls had been inside, or one of our men in the cabin?”
They all turned and stared at Malice. He had been at the site when everything went down, as had Pierce, who was sporting a nasty cut on his temple. Malice pulled Adrianna close to him, and leaned down to kiss her on the crown of the head. His old lady looked a little rattled, but she also had this hard look on her face. She was a survivor, that was for sure, but being so close to an explosion like that, right in the next building, would have had any of them scared shitless.
“I want blood for this. I want to see them pay,” Malice gritted out.
“For sure, brother. We all want them to hurt,” Kink said and turned away from Malice and his old lady.
“We need to put the club on lockdown,” Lucien said, and they all grunted in agreement.
This was bad, and Kink had a feeling it was only going to get worse before it got better. If the cult started this on their own turf, Kink knew that they wouldn’t stop until whatever point they were making was made. Hell, he didn’t even know this cult, not really. He knew they had some kind of religious mindset that anything that they didn’t approve of was wrong. Aside from the few flyers with information about their warped beliefs that were mysteriously dropped off at the clubhouse, he didn’t knew what their ulterior motive was. Sure, they were fucked in the head, but going around hurting people they didn’t even know, solely because they didn’t agree with their practices was so twisted and demented that they needed to be put down.
“Call in your loved ones for the lockdown.” Lucien looked over at Kink. “You have Callie this weekend?” He nodded. “Yeah. I planned on going to get her tomorrow evening, but
I’m thinking of heading over there now, although Sarah will bitch for sure.”
Lucien ran a hand over his jaw. “We need everyone at the clubhouse tonight. We don’t know if these fuckers will strike again soon, so we need to keep everyone safe until they are taken down.”
“Agreed.” Fuck, he didn’t want his kid in the middle of this, and although chances were that she would be safe since she was in another town, he wasn’t about to risk Callie’s life. Then again he’d have to sweet talk her mom since he’d be picking her up a day early. But Kink wasn’t about to let that bitch walk all over him. He’d let her do it in the past because he didn’t want Callie in the middle of their shit, but his daughter was nearly an adult in age, and even more so in maturity. Sarah would have to deal with it because they were in a dangerous situation right now.
They all headed away from the fire and back to the clubhouse. When he had heard about what had happened he’d come out with them. The women who stayed in the cabin that hadn’t been bombed were safe at the club. He couldn’t help but think about what would have happened if they had been home, and if the cult hadn’t bombed the cabin the Brothers stayed in. But it didn’t matter that they hadn’t hurt any of their people, and although he was fucking thankful for it, that didn’t mean The Brothers of Menace weren’t going to take out as many of those fucking pricks as they could. This cult had messed with the wrong club, and they were about to realize that the hard way.
****
Cookie folded a blanket and set it on the spare bed. She had already been at the clubhouse when the rest of the girls had been brought in. There had been a lot of curses, some crying from the weaker and emotionally drained girls, and of course a lot of talk about the bloodshed The Brothers of Menace were going to deliver on the ones that had dared screwed with them—their words not hers. She grabbed a few more blankets and some sheets from the basket she had carried in. There were three cots that had been brought into this room alone and another three placed in the room beside it. There were pallets that were made up on the floor, because as far as she heard they were bringing in family of the MC because they were locking everyone down at the clubhouse.