by Erin Trejo
“We got cops! Ten minutes out!” Hawk roars through the speakers. My body becomes taut with anger. Crow releases his grip on Lia and the room explodes into chaos. We all have a play in this game. We all have moves to make to ensure there is nothing illegal lying around when a raid rolls through. That doesn’t mean shit to me this time. I grab Lia and toss her over my shoulder, stalking toward the door.
“Put me down! What the fuck is wrong with you!” She screams. I chuckle as I stalk toward my house. If this raid is going to do anything, it will hopefully let me see how many of those pigs look to Lia for information.
“You’re about to learn why they call us Soulless Bastards, darlin’. You might want to calm down before it gets that far,” I tell her walking up on my porch. I set Lia on her feet and open the door, ushering her inside. My house was decorated by the club bitches from a long time ago. They made it look like a fucking magazine cover. At first, I hated it. Then it sort of grew on me. It was like a home that was outside the rough and violent world I live in. It was calmer, safe even.
“You live here?” Lia asks sounding a bit unsure. I can’t say that I blame her there. I don’t fit in here.
“Yeah. You like it?” I ask not really giving a shit what she has to say. “Sit right there. You move, I’ll shoot,” I warn her. Lia moves to sit on the couch as I race down the hallway. I check my room to be sure I didn’t leave anything around that may have my ass on the firing line. I pull my gun from the back of my jeans, moving into the bathroom and drop to the floor. I lift the panel under the rug in front of the sink and slide my gun into place. Straightening the rug back into position I walk back into the living room to find Lia sitting with her head in her hands.
“Worried about somethin’?” I ask her. She jolts lifting her head. Her eyes are full of tears but I can see the fear behind them. But what is it she’s afraid of?
“No,” She states, swallowing hard.
“Play nicely now when your friends show up,” I tell her as I grab the remote and turn on the TV. I flick through the channels like this is a normal night before dropping onto the couch next to her.
“Come here,” I tell her. She looks over at me and I can see her debating that idea out of the corner of my eye. “Now!” She jumps this time, scooting closer to me. I throw my arm around her shoulders and hold her like I would a woman, my woman. Not some stranger that Ratt drug in. What the hell is wrong with me? How can I even think that?
“Play your part and you’ll be fine,” I tell her in a calmer tone. She nods her head and relaxes into me a little. I can’t say that I don’t like it either. I take a deep breath, catching the scent of her perfume before the front door is kicked open and all hell breaks loose.
Chapter 9
“Get on the ground!” The cop yells as I laugh. Lia sits still at my side. Not like I was giving her the option of moving. No, I want to see the look in their eyes when they see her with me. I want to see if I see any sign of recognition in them.
“Why so hostel?” I ask as more guys rush the room.
“On the ground! Now!” The man in front screams. I nod my head and give Lia a little push when I don’t see the look I was wanting. I don’t know if that pisses me off or makes me grateful. I climb down on the floor next to her when I catch her gaze. She’s scared shitless. The men move through my house while three stay with guns on us.
“Hey,” I say softly. Her eyes come to meet mine and that fear is wild in her. Tears fill her eyes and she looks so damn pale. “It’s ok. They won’t hurt you,” I tell her. Why the fuck I decided to be so nice to her is beyond me but she nods her head as though she understands.
“Get up!” The cop roars once they’ve finished ripping me house apart. I climb up and grab Lia, pulling her to her feet next to me.
“Get your ass to the clubhouse,” The cop grunts. I smile and shake my head, leading Lia out the front door. There are fucking cops everywhere on the compound. They won’t find shit. We aren’t that stupid.
“Calm down. They see you shakin’ they will pick you out of the crowd,” I tell Lia as I walk with my arm around her tiny waist. I don’t know why I like it so much. The feel of my hand wrapped around her curves. It reminds me of the past. A past I can’t escape from. As soon as we step into the clubhouse, another cop shoves us against the wall.
“Hey, pig. Don’t manhandle the lady,” I say with a smirk, nodding toward Lia. He pushes her against the wall next to me a little rougher. “Prick,” I grumble. Lia’s eyes are on mine but I have to tear my gaze away from her. I don’t know what she sees in me. I don’t know what the hell she’s looking for either.
“You Bastards think you’re smart. You think you can get one over on us. This time maybe. Next time, I will bring this whole fucking place to the ground and that includes your little whores!” The cop in the middle of the room yells. Half of us chuckle but when his eyes fall on Lia, something inside of me wants to snap.
“Maybe we should have a round with a few of them. Make you boys believe what we say.” Lia’s hands shake causing one to bump into mine. I shift myself a little closer to her, grabbing her hand in mine and giving it a squeeze.
The asshole walks through the room grabbing girls off the wall and throwing them to the floor on the center of the room. When he grabs Lia, I lose it. My fist balls as our hands are ripped apart. He throws her like a rag doll down into the floor with the rest of them. I share a glance with Ratt before dragging my gaze to Hawk’s. He knows what’s about to happen. He knows I’m on edge anyway. He gives me a subtle no head shake. The corner of my lip tugs up as he closes his eyes. He knows me. The room is extremely silent except for the cries of the girls in the middle. Shay isn’t crying though, she looks pissed which makes me grin. Such a fighter, she is.
“What do you think boys? You think that this club pussy is as good as they seem to think it is?” The asshole in the middle asks, holding his gun firmly in his hand. A few of his guys laugh but a few look disgusted. Welcome to the world of dirty cops.
“You might wanna rethink that,” Hawk says loudly pulling the man’s attention. Thank you Prez! I take a few steps forward, a few of the guys smirking when they see me move. I draw my fist back and tap the asshole on the shoulder with the other hand. As soon as he turns to look at me, I unleash on him. My fist connects with his eye first before moving for his gun. I’ll be damned if I get shot today. I knock the gun to the floor as the room explodes in madness. Guys are moving in on the assholes, girls screaming like crazy. It’s not until the rapid firing of a gun, do we stop.
“Get the fuck on the ground or I will blow her head off!” The cop roars as he holds Lia around the neck, a gun at her temple. My heart races, blood whooshing in my ears. All I can see is red. I want to kill someone but I don’t know why. I slowly lower to the ground, my eyes never leaving hers. She’s so scared right now. If she is the one behind all this, she is a damn good actress.
“You made a mistake,” The cop I jumped yells before kicking me in the ribs. The guys all grunt as they are handed an ass beating too. The bastards unleash all their fury on us before we’re cuffed and slammed against the concrete wall.
“I got the lawyer on it,” Hawk hollers across the room. We know when shit goes down not all of us can react. There has to be some left behind to handle the lawyers and business. I nod my head before a punch lands on my jaw. I shake my head and spit the blood out of my mouth as the cop grins. I read his tag.
“Officer Thomson. I look forward to killin’ you one day,” I tell him. His eyes dart around my face, no doubt trying to gauge me. He won’t.
“Did you threaten me?” He steps closer. I shake my head with a smirk and say, “No. I promised you and you know how much I hate to break promises.”
Thomson backs off quickly. I didn’t doubt he would. He knows us. He knows our reputation and he knows the way we leave bodies around town for him. Fear is something real that he should hold onto. I will come for him. I’m pulled from my thoughts when I hear a
cry. I look over and some of the assholes still have the girls in their grasps.
“You might wanna rethink touchin’ any of them!” Crow roars from a little way down from me. I cock my head to the side to see him. He’s livid. If he wasn’t cuffed, someone would be dead. I track the room and find that me, Crow, Smokey and some of our soldiers are all in cuffs. Thank fuck they didn’t get Ruger. He needs to be here to fix this shit and get intel.
“Let’s move out boys!” Thomson says, grinning at me like a fucking fool. I just grin back.
Chapter 10
“What a load of shit,” I mumble as Crow paces the cell. It isn’t like it’s the first time we’ve been here. It sure as hell won’t be the last.
“They are some dumb fucks,” Smokey adds. “I’ll fuck them all up. They fuckin’ tossed Sabrina’s crib like it was shit.” He growls this time.
“Fuckin’ pricks. They should know blowback on this is gonna be hell. I will fuckin’ rain it down myself,” I tell him. Smokey nods, his eyes gone elsewhere. We may be bastards to our women at times but you don’t fuck with the kids.
“What do you think this shit was about?” Crow turns to face us and asks Smokey. Smokey blows out a breath before looking up at him.
“Not sure. We’ve kept pretty silent lately. Not a hell of a lot of action comin’ from us. Maybe what that kid said is true. We have a fuckin’ rat, boys.” Smokey looks pissed. I can see the rage simmering in him. I’m not far behind.
“Can’t pinpoint it either. You see them look at anyone?” I ask. The guys all shake their heads. I had expected to see some kind of recognition from them with Lia but there was none. Nothing. Not even a second glance like she was more than a club whore. It threw me off my game a little. I drop on the bench next to Smokey and let my mind run. It has to be someone new. None of the older guys would turn. Even if they did, what the fuck are they after? What was the purpose of bringing the cops in when they know we have shit locked down. There are very few that don’t know where we keep shit.
“Six guys,” I say to myself. Smokey turns to look at me like I’ve lost my goddamn mind.
“Six guys what?” He asks.
“They raided us. There’s only six guys that don’t know shit.” I won’t say the words out loud. You never know when these bastards might be listening in. Six guys that don’t know about the dungeon. Six guys that don’t know about the underground storage. There’s a reason for that. And this situation we’re in is one of them. If you aren’t a part of the club for at least five years, you know shit of the underground operation. My fingers twitch. My heart beats a little faster.
“We talk about this when we’re home,” Smokey says, eyeing us all.
“Talk? Shit, Hawk’s gonna lose his shit,” Crow adds.
“I’m sure he’s already losin’ it,” I say.
“No fuckin’ doubt about that. It was an inside job. Now we narrow it down and find out who it was. It’s gonna take time. We don’t rush this shit no matter how much we want it. We work our way through the motherfuckers until we find the one. When we get home, the underground stays locked down for the time bein’. We have enough shit out there to run a while. We move what we need when we need to and that’s it,” Smokey says looking between Crow and me. He made sure the others were far enough away to not hear us talking. We don’t know who it is that set this little shit storm into action but we will find out. I hear the clinking of keys coming down the hallway. We’ve been here for around ten hours. I’m piss ass tired and my mood is shit.
“Looks like you assholes made bail,” The guard says. We all stand with shit eating grins on our faces. We already knew we would.
“Did you doubt us, sweetheart?” I fuck with the cop a little. He doesn’t answer me as Crow laughs behind me. We walk the hall and up to the front before the doors are opened. After going through two more sets, I see Ruger with a grin on his face.
“Any of you drop the soap?” He asks as we walk toward him. The motherfucker laughs hysterically.
“Hell no. We don’t roll your way, brother,” I tell him. Ruger is crazy. Probably crazier than all of us. If he needs to shove a dick in an ass, he will without hesitation. Son of a bitch is lost.
“Glad to see you fuckers,” He says as we walk out the front doors. The sun is coming and the air is starting to get hotter. I just want to get the fuck home, shower and sleep for half the day after we talk to Hawk.
“What’s goin’ on at home?” Smokey asks as we all pile into the truck.
“Not much. Got shit cleaned up. Hawk bought the baby a new bed so don’t worry. Bray’s ok too. Shaken up but she’s good,” Ruger tells him. I know that’s a relief for Smokey. He doesn’t need to say it but you could see it in his eyes that he was worried about her.
“We have a few theories to run wild with,” Crow says.
“Yeah? Hawk wants church when we get back,” Ruger says as he drives us home.
“Then I’m passin’ the fuck out,” I announce as I yawn.
“Don’t know about that. That little piece of ass has been lookin’ for you all night. Askin’ the girls if they heard anything about you,” Ruger says looking at me in the rear-view mirror.
“Fuck that. That little piece of ass is on my inspect list,” I tell them all.
“You think she’s in on it?” Smokey asks not sounding too sure of that.
“Can’t say. Records clean. Too clean. I don’t like the look of her, you know? It’s off.” The guys all grunt.
“If you think she’s worth lookin’ into more, do it. Don’t matter how you have to get the information,” Smokey says. Giving me the ok as VP means something. He trusts me.
Chapter 11
“Who do you want eyes on?” Hawk asks as we sit around the table.
“Ratt, Timmy, Vance, Rory, Jumbo and Lisp,” I tell him. I’m very sure in my choice of men.
“That all?” He asks narrowing his eyes at me.
“I got Lia covered. She’s the only new bitch in here. I’ll get her to crack if it’s her,” I say. Hawk nods running his hand over his tired face.
“Ok. We watch these motherfuckers. We don’t open up about shit unless it’s in this room. All dealin’s are here. Nothin’ leaves here. Got it?” Hawk is pissed. It means a lot that he’d take my word though. That he would listen to the guys that I don’t trust and take it to heart.
“Got it.” We all say at once.
“Go get some rest. I’ll get the girls to cook up somethin’ good for dinner,” He says as he yawns. We all grunt as we make our way to the door. I’m happy as fuck that the rest of the compound is silent. Any fucking noise right now would piss my already bad mood off worse.
I trudge toward my house when Crow says, “You know he trusts your gut.” I glance over my shoulder and stop walking.
“Yeah. I respect the hell outta him for that too,” I tell him. Crow nods and pulls a cigarette out, lighting it up.
“If I was to put money on shit, I’d go with Ratt or Jumbo. Those two just don’t work for me,” Crow says with sureness.
“I don’t like any of the six,” I shrug. Crow chuckles before he nods.
“Yeah, you’re probably right about that. See you later.” I flick him a half wave before stomping up my steps. I pull my cut off my shoulders and toss it onto the couch as soon as I walk in the door. I kick my boots off in the hallway along with my pants and boxers. The shirt comes off next landing right inside my door. I’m headed straight to my bed when I see her. Lia. Curled up under my blanket, her long dark hair splayed over my pillow. My dick jerks just thinking about her being in my bed but what the fuck is she really doing here? I clear my throat as I stand here. She hears me. She stirs before sitting up slightly. Her mouth falls open as her eyes take in my entire six-foot three frame. I can’t say that I don’t like the way she’s looking at me either because honestly, I do.
“What are you doin’ here?” I growl as her eyes keep moving.
“I…I wanted to talk to you. Shay said
I could wait here,” She stutters half words. I tilt my head to the side, watching her intently.
“The same Shay that fucked you up not so long ago?” I ask being a bit of an ass.
“Yeah. I asked her anyway. She said to come over and wait.” She scoots up the bed a little further as I watch her. She must feel the penetration of my gaze. I want to read her. I want to know what the hell she’s doing here and why she keeps looking at me the way she does. The way Taby did.
“In my bed? She mention that part too?” I ask. Her cheeks turn pink from embarrassment. That wasn’t what I was trying to do but my dick sure as hell likes it. The fucker jerks drawing her attention once more.
“Look, I just wanted to say thank you for helping me out when the cops came,” She says quickly, throwing the blanket back. My eyes scan her little body. She’s wearing nothing but a tank top and a pair of tiny shorts. I groan as I take in her tanned skin and those long legs. Scrubbing my hand over my face, I try to focus but having her in my room is setting off a million warning signals. Don’t touch her, Draven. That repeats a million times over in my head. Lia stands and slides on her sandals walking toward the bedroom door. She’s a mere foot from me when I do something I shouldn’t. I reach out, my hand coming to rest on her stomach.
“You know more than you’re tellin’ me. I don’t like lies and I don’t do secrets,” I warn her. I turn my head and look down at her. Her face is passive like she’s made of stone.
“My personal life is just that. I don’t have to tell you anything,” She says strongly. I push her back a step and move to stand in front of her, blocking the door. I lean down so that I’m eye level with her when I say, “When you bring your life into my club, it’s my business. You made it my business.”
Lia’s eyes are full of the same thing I always see. Fear. But from what? Me? What might happen? Or is there more that I don’t know about?