Wrecker

by Winter Travers

  My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I picked it up to see Wrecker had texted me.

  Be back to you tonight. Just a couple of things I need to do before I get to you.

  I mass ya. Ugh. That's what I got when I typed too fast. I miss you. “There, much better,” I mumbled.

  Goof. He texted back.

  I was never going to stop embarrassing myself in front of Wrecker. It was my destiny in life to be weird, crazy, and apparently, now a goof.

  Ignore that first message.

  No can do, babe. Gotta go. I’ll see you tonight.

  I shoved my phone back in my pocket and sighed. He was on the way home to me, but I wouldn’t feel completely at ease until he was standing in front of me and I could pet his beard.

  *

  Wrecker

  “This is the building that we have in mind for you guys.” I pointed to a plot of land off the highway on the map. “It’s still in the Weston township, but it’s out of town a bit to where no one would be actively watching who was coming and going.”

  “But what about the police? It took me three years to get them used to my way of thinking here,” Oakley questioned.

  “The police won’t be a problem as long you have the Lords behind you. You never noticed how we didn’t get busted on any of those runs we went on for you?”

  He nodded. “I didn’t know if it was skill or luck. I’m assuming it was skill by the way you’re not worried about the police.”

  “You’re correct. The three deputies that patrol Weston are related to members of the club. As long as you guys don’t go building your guns in the middle of the street in town, you won’t have a problem from them.”

  Oakley sat back, pleased. “I have to say, Wrecker, you are much more organized than your counterpart in Riverton. I’m surprised you aren’t the head of The Fallen Lords.”

  “Unfortunately, Jenkins was groomed by his father who was part of the original seven that formed the Fallen Lords.”

  “Ahh, family politics. Fucking over the hard-working ones who started from the bottom for years.” He looked around his office. “That is why I started The Ultra. I worked for many men before I decided to go on my own. Each time, I got so close to being on the top only to be knocked down by a son, brother, or cousin that thought they had a right to my job just because of blood.” He tapped his finger on the desk. “This was built off of sweat, not blood. Blood in my family is thinner than water.”

  “My sister is all that I have when it comes to family.”

  “But you have your woman,” he pointed out.

  “I do, as long you decide not to mess with her.”

  He held his hands up. “I feel much better about the agreement you and I have than the mess that Jenkins and I had going. Your woman is safe as long as you stick to our agreement. One, may I point out, that you brought to me.”

  He was right. This had all been my idea, but I knew the type of man Oakley was. If our deal became something he didn’t like, he would manipulate it into something that he did like. “Nothing changes. You release Raven to me, get Jenkins off my back, and we help you.”

  “We’ve already shook on it, Wrecker. I may be a man that always tries to get what I want, but I do abide by deals. The reason I am terminating Jenkins is because he agreed to it. He was an idiot to agree to it, but he was so sure of the fact that he was indispensable.” He leaned forward. “No one is that indispensable. One must learn how to move and grow. I think our agreement leaves room for both of those things to happen. Jenkins was stagnant. You and I will not be that.”

  I pushed the map toward him and stood up. “I think it’s time for me to get out of here.”

  Oakley motioned to a guy to his right. “Bring Miss Raven up.” The guy nodded and talked into a walkie-talkie attached to his shirt. “I hope she is returned to you acceptably. I was told that she was rather resistant when she was invited here.”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “Invited?” I chuckled.

  He splayed his hands out. “We never intended to keep her. She was just a way that I was able to get your attention.”

  “You think you can keep your hands above the equator there, slimeball?”

  “Ah, here is your charming sister now.” Oakley stood up and nodded toward the back of the room.

  “My brother is going to kick your ass when he finds out you guys took me.” She was sassy as hell. Raven was the only chick I knew who would get kidnapped and three days later still be throwing sass around like it was confetti. Although, if it were Alice, she would be throwing jokes around like they were going out of style.

  “He knows, Miss Raven.”

  Raven stopped trying to kick the guy who was holding her and looked up. “Well, what in the hell are you waiting for? Start kicking ass,” she demanded.

  I rolled my eyes and motioned to the guy to let her go. As soon as he released her arm, Raven threw an uppercut to his nose and stomped on his foot. “You take the guy behind the desk, I’ll get the two by the door,” she hollered.

  I glanced over my shoulder to see Oakley shaking his head, and thankfully, he had a smile on his face. “Raven,” I called. “Knock it the hell off before you get us killed.”

  She had her fist raised to clock the guy by the door in the head and turned her to look at me. “Uh, what?” she asked. “Why aren’t you kicking ass?” She lowered her arm and frowned. “It’s cause you’re old, isn’t it? Did you pull a hammy getting off of your bike to come rescue me?”

  I looked back over at Oakley. “I can see why you guys grabbed her. I really didn’t take into account the fact that Raven can’t keep her mouth shut.”

  “Live and learn,” Oakley replied quietly. “Now get her out of here before she hurts any more of my men. Milton’s bleeding all over my new carpet thanks to her.”

  I grabbed Raven by the arm and pulled her out the door of Oakley’s office.

  “What are we doing?” she insisted as she struggled to get out of my hold. “We should be in there kicking their asses because they kidnapped me, Wrecker.”

  “They kidnapped you because you don’t keep your mouth shut. I thought with age you would have figured that out, but obviously you haven’t.” One of Oakley’s men guided us out of the house and over to my bike. I nodded to him, and he took a few steps back but didn’t leave. Oakley and I might be in business together now, but he still didn’t trust me.

  The feeling was mutual.

  “I’m only twenty-three, Wrecker.”

  I looked down at her. “And when I was twenty-three, I was the vice president of a motorcycle club. What the hell are you doing with your life besides getting covered in tattoos and getting kidnapped?”

  “You told me to get intel,” she spat. “How was I supposed to do that without asking questions?”

  “Get on the bike,” I barked. I wasn’t going to go around with her about this right now.

  “You better be taking me back to my house.”

  I shook my head. “No, your ass is coming back to the clubhouse. I think you need a little lesson on how to behave, Raven.”

  “You’re not my father, Wrecker,” she hissed.

  “No shit, Raven.”

  She glared at me and crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t want to go back to your clubhouse.”

  “You don’t have a choice.” I pointed to the bike. “I’m getting on the bike and your ass better be planted on it two-point-five seconds after I sit down. Clear?”

  She curled her lip and growled. “Yes, sir.”

  I threw my leg over the bike, sat down, and felt her move behind me. I slid my glasses over my eyes and started the bike. “I got a full tank of gas so we aren’t stopping until we get to the club. Hold the fuck on.”

  She grabbed the bars under her seat and glared at me.

  I kicked the bike up and drove down the winding driveway to the main road.

  I had accomplished the two things I had set out to do. Though only one had gone the way I had planned. I had boun
d myself to The Ultra much more than I had hoped to. Brinks had given me the intel that Oakley was getting into guns, and I used it to our advantage. The club was going to have to understand that I didn’t have much choice. That was the only way for me to get Raven back and to get out from under Jenkins.

  Though I may have traded one evil for another kind.

  Now, I had my bratty ass sister on the back of my bike and I was headed back to the club to tell them about the deal I had made and to finally see Alice.

  It had been a long three days, and I missed her more than anything I ever had before.

  *

  Chapter 22

  Alice

  “Oh, my God, it looks amazing.”

  I fluffed my hair and looked in the mirror again. “Really? Are you sure I don’t look like Barney in drag?” My hair was purple. I’m talking purple with a capital P.

  “It looks amazing, although I’m not sure why you are wearing a cow onesie when your man is on his way home after being gone for three days.”

  I looked down at my pajamas and laughed. “This was what Wrecker saw me in when he came over that night.”

  “Which night?” Karmen asked.

  “The night of my mom’s fun—” Fuuuuuck. That had come out of my mouth without even thinking about it.

  Nikki and Karmen looked at each other and then at me. “Alice, what were you about to say?” Nikki asked.

  “Um, my mom’s fun night of fun.” I cringed, praying to God they would buy what I had just said.

  Karmen shifted Cole in her arms and leaned against the bathroom sink, blocking my view of the mirror. “Babe, did something happen to your mom? Is that why you went MIA for a while?”

  I looked to the side and gulped. Did I really need to keep this secret from them anymore? I wasn’t okay with my mom being gone, but it had gotten easier remembering her and not being sad too much. “Uh, my mom passed away a little bit ago.”

  “Oh, my God,” Nikki gasped. “Why in the world didn’t you tell us? We would have been there in a heartbeat.” She wrapped her arms around me and laid her head on my shoulder.

  I felt the tears coming, but I didn’t want to give into them. “I…just…I didn’t know how to say it.”

  “You say it by calling us up and telling us to get our asses there now.” Karmen joined in on the hug and put the arm that wasn’t holding Cole around Nikki and me. “You must have went through hell all by yourself,” she mused.

  “Um, Wrecker was there right after the funeral,” I confessed.

  Nikki raised her head and looked offended. “He knew and he didn’t tell us,” she exclaimed.

  “Don’t be mad at him,” I said quickly. “I told him not to tell anyone. I didn’t want to bother you guys with it.”

  “Jesus Christ,” Karmen whispered. “Girl, do we need to go over the rules of the Girl Gang? I thought you of all people would know how to activate the stress call.”

  “We have a stress call?” Nikki asked.

  “I think you guys mean a distress call.”

  Karmen shook her head. “No, that means you’re fine. Stress call means you’re in stress.” She tilted her head to the side. “At least, that’s what I think.” She swatted her hand. “Oh, who the hell knows. You should have put up the Girl Gang signal and we would have come running.”

  “Is that like the bat signal, because I am down for getting a big ol’ light and shining it into your guys’ windows when I need you.” I was so going to piss off Nickel and Pipe with that thing if we decided to get one. “Can it be in the shape of a penis?”

  Karmen snapped her fingers in my face. “Woman, focus. We’re trying to comfort you about your mom.”

  I grabbed her hand. “I’m okay, Karmen.” And I was. It still hurt, but I knew that I was going to be okay. “I didn’t know how to deal with it, but Wrecker helped me.”

  “Well, what in the hell did he do?” Nikki demanded.

  My head tipped to the side, and I smiled. “He didn’t do anything,” I laughed. “Well, he let me be me. That’s all he did.”

  “Well, hell, we let you be you, too,” Karmen insisted.

  Nikki elbowed her in the side. “It’s not the same, dumb-dumb.”

  “Well, it should be. We’ve known you longer than he has.”

  “Yeah, but I see her a hell of a lot better than you two do.”

  Karmen and Nikki both jumped and spun around. “My God!” Nikki screeched.

  “Just call me Wrecker, darlin’.”

  Nikki flipped him off.

  “You could have given me a heart attack. I’m holding Cole, and I might have dropped him if my heart went down!” Karmen scolded him.

  Wrecker held his hands up. “My apologies, ladies. I just heard Alice was in my room and I came to find her.”

  “Well, next time, knock over a lamp or something.” Nikki clutched a hand to her chest and sighed. “You should really put a bell on your vest. You’re way to stealthy.” She looked over her shoulder at me. “We’ll leave you to your man, but you better believe we’re not done yelling at you for not telling us everything that is going on in your life.”

  “Is that part of the Girl Gang code?” I quipped.

  Karmen pointed at me. “It sure the hell is.” She glared at Wrecker as she ducked past him. “Could you seriously not have such big shoulders. I mean really,” she mumbled. She turned sideways to make it out of the doorway and still bumped against him.

  Nikki patted him on the shoulder. “I think you can skip a couple of days in the gym there, big guy.”

  Wrecker turned to the side and let her pass easier than he had Karmen.

  “Your chicks are just as crazy as you are.” He stepped into his room and shut the door behind him. I was still standing in the bathroom, but I was now grasping the sink. He was back, and he was in one piece. I didn’t realize how much I had missed him ‘til he had texted me to say he was on the way home.

  “Uh, yeah.” Crazies stuck together. And then they made up a Girl Gang.

  “You gonna stay over there, or am I going to have to come and get you?”

  “You might have to come and get me. Some weird shit is going on right now.”

  “Weird shit?” He quirked an eyebrow, and I swear to Christ, my panties went up in flames.

  “Stop that,” I scolded. “Can you not see I can barely stand? You do that thing with your eye, and I’m ready to melt into a puddle on the floor.”

  “My girl missed me,” he muttered.

  “If you could sound less smug about that, I would appreciate it. I can’t even crack a joke right now because you’ve completely scrambled my brain. I don’t know whether to jump your bones or tell you that I love you.” I slapped a hand over my mouth and wheezed.

  “That sounded even better than I imagined it would.”

  I closed my eyes and turned to face the mirror. “Would you just shut up, Alice?” I whispered.

  “Are you talking to yourself, babe?”

  I glanced over to see him bent over, untying his boots. “Yes. You’re interrupting.”

  “Why don’t you talk to me?” He stood up and kicked off his boots. He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on the floor. “I’m always willing to listen, babe.”

  “You know how Nikki said you could skip a couple of days at the gym?” He nodded. “Don’t listen to a word she said. I fully appreciate the time you put in and would like to touch your hard-earned muscles. All over.”

  He held his arms out wide. “I’m all yours, babe. Just get your ass over here.”

  I let go of the sink, sprinted from the bathroom, and launched myself into his arms. “That was an offer I couldn’t refuse.” His arms wrapped tight around me, and his lips claimed mine.

  I could kiss Wrecker forever and never get enough of him. His lips were soft and tender yet they demanded more and more from me with each kiss. “Bed,” I whispered against his lips.

  He took three large steps backward and fell onto the bed with me on to
p of him. “How much did you miss me?”

  I reached up and stroked his beard. “You were gone?” I teased.

  He slapped my ass and growled deep. “Maybe you missed my beard and not me.”

  “Hmm, that might not be entirely true. There are other things about you that I missed.” I ran my hand down his chest and rested it against his tattooed skin.

  “And what would those things be?”

  “I’m kind of a fan of your shoulders. Your chest ah-mazing, and well,” my eyes darted down between us, “your Mega Weiner.”

  He chuckled, and his body rumbled underneath me. “I’ve never laughed so much in my life before you, babe.”

  I shrugged one shoulder. “It’s a skill.”

  He brushed my hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ear. “Rewind to when you said you loved me. I need to hear it again.”

  Yeah, that was going to be a no. “I think you’re hearing things, Wrecker. You should totally get that checked out.”

  “Is that how it’s going to be?” His hands moved to my ribs. “Admit you love me, or you’re going to endure my wrath.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Pfft, what are you going to do? Tick—”

  His fingers lightly moved over my sides, and I couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled from my lips. “That’s not fair,” I squealed. He was tickling the hell out of me, and I couldn’t get away from him. I rolled off to the side, and he followed me. He tangled his legs with mine and held me in place with his weight. “You can’t do this to me,” I wheezed.

  “Admit you love me,” he insisted.

  “Goonies never surrender,” I laughed.

  “You’re hardly a goonie, babe,” he chuckled.

  “Stop, stop,” I pleaded.

  His hands stopped moving, but he didn’t move them away from my sides. “Do you have something else to say?”

  “I love your beard,” I admitted.

  He quirked an eyebrow.

  I closed my eyes and shook my head. “Would you stop doing that?”

  “Doing what?”

  “That eye thing, and, well, just breathing in general because no matter what you do, it drives me crazy,” I mumbled.