by Amy Cecil
She looked over to me and placed her hand on mine and said sadly, “I’ve missed you.”
Shit! I didn’t want to have that conversation with her now. I am not ready to tell her how I feel about her, nor did I want to expand on the fact that I had thought about her every day we’ve been apart. Did I miss her? You bet your fucking ass I did. But do I tell her that? No, now isn’t the time to bare my soul. I need her to accept the club first. I refuse to risk my heart if she can’t live this life. Instead of answering, I changed the subject. “What have you been doing the last eleven years?”
She chuckled and replied, “Well, not long after we last saw each other, I went off to college. That is where I met Brianne. She was my roommate, and we worked it out so that we roomed together all through college. Eventually I graduated, and now I work as a consultant for various companies as a reputation manager.”
“Reputation manager? What the hell is that?” I had never heard of a reputation manager.
“Well,” she said, “it’s a PR job. Companies hire me to fine-tune their online presence by strategically tweaking their website, social media platforms, and search results to make sure they have a positive image. It’s fun.”
“I assume you are paid well for that?”
“Yes, very well. And the best part is that I work from home. Speaking of which, I’ll need to get my laptop. I thought I would only be here for a day or two, and didn’t think I would need it. But I have a deadline coming up in two weeks and it would probably be best if I got it.”
I was proud of her. She had done well for herself. “Sure. We can send Tiny over there to get it.” I paused and added, “So, it sounds like you like your job.”
“I do,” she said excitedly. Then she added, “What do you do?”
“What do you think I do?” Her question surprised me. I would have thought it was obvious what I do.
“I don’t know … I mean, you are president of the club, but you have to make money somehow.”
Her naiveté of what we did here didn’t surprise me. She had a lot to learn and understand. “You got it right; I run this club – on the Chapter level and on the national level. The club owns several businesses in town, and it is my job to make sure everything runs smoothly. I’m a very busy man, Emma. I have a lot of responsibility, and many brothers, their old ladies, their children, and civilians depend on me.”
Embarrassed, she responded, “I didn’t realize. What do you mean by Chapter and national levels? Are there more of you?”
“Yes, we have Chapters in twenty-six states, as well as several Chapters in Europe.”
“And you are the president of all of them?” she asked, astonished.
“Yes, babe, I am.”
“And you like your job?”
“Do I like it? I fucking love it!” Maybe she will get it one of these days. Maybe she will understand this club is my life. Maybe she will even want to share it with me?
She was silent for a moment, then said, “Cade, you never explained to me what an old lady is.”
“No, you are right, I didn’t. I was hoping that you would have figured it out by now, but I guess I’ll need to explain.” I paused for a moment while she waited patiently. I continued, “Woman are not allowed to be members of the club. The only way women are permitted into the club is if they are an old lady or a sweetbutt.” She opened her mouth to speak, but I already knew that she was going to ask what a sweetbutt was. I held my hand up and continued, “Just hold tight. I’m sure my explanation will answer your questions. Old ladies are like club royalty. They have to be chosen by a member of the club. When the club member makes a woman an old lady, she becomes his property. She can’t be shared anymore. Sweetbutts, on the other hand, are shared. They service the boys’ needs, when and where any club member wants. They do as they’re told, and hope that a brother will make them an old lady. Some old ladies are wives and some are not, but even if they are not married, they are treated as if they are wives. The old lady is loyal to the club member and does not sleep around.”
When I finished, she didn’t say anything for several minutes. She just sat on the bed and looked down at her hands, fidgeting. Then she looked up to me and asked, “Is Honey your old lady?”
Surprised by her question, I wasn’t sure how to respond. Honey was not my old lady, but she had been my regular for some time now. I had been struggling with the decision to make her my old lady for the last couple of months now, but could never convince myself fully that it was the right thing to do. I looked over to Emma and said, “No, she isn’t. Why do you ask?”
“She just seems special to you. You call on her for help, she cooks dinner for the club … I just assumed that you were a couple. That’s all.”
I know I shouldn’t have asked this, but it came out anyway: “Would it bother you if she was?” I cannot believe that just came out of my mouth, but I really needed to know.
She didn’t say anything at first, and then she said quietly, “It would.”
Did she really say what I thought she did? Would it be so obvious if I asked her to repeat it? I needed to know that I heard her right, but I decided to refrain. It was probably best to just leave it to rest between us. “Well, I better head to bed. I have a long day tomorrow and need to get some rest.” I got up from the bed and started to head to the door. Hesitating, I turned and walked over to her and kissed her forehead. “Goodnight, princess. Sweet dreams.” She looked up at me in utter shock. She didn’t say anything; she just stared. Holy fuck, what did I just do? It just came so naturally that I didn’t even think about it before I acted.
She didn’t say anything at first, and I immediately turned toward the door to leave. Then I heard in almost a whisper, “Goodnight, Caden.”
I got back to my room, unable to believe what I had done. Emma didn’t seem to be fazed by my action, except for her silence. What’s up with that? Then, when she whispered goodnight to me … I wonder if she expected me to hear that? When we were kids, kissing her forehead was a very normal thing for me to do. However, we are definitely not kids anymore. We hardly know each other now. Oh, and we can’t forget about Mark, the fiancé. Oh, fuck it to hell! I’m too old to worry about this shit.
Emma
OH MY GOD! What just happened? Cade just took me back 20 years. He used to kiss my forehead all the time when he called me princess. Not in the sarcastic nasty way I might expect from him nowadays, but in a sweet and gentle way. As I got older, when he would do that, I began wanting more. I would always imagine what it would be like to kiss him, I mean really kiss him. And now, all these years later, I find myself still trying to imagine the same thing. Oh crap! I’m not going to get any sleep tonight knowing he is in the room right next door!
Chapter 8
Emma
I woke up the next day to the sound of my phone going off. When I checked to see who it was, I silenced it. Three missed calls and numerous texts from Mark. Great.
His voicemails and texts started out sweet and progressively got angrier. I knew I needed to talk to him, I owed him that much; I just didn’t have anything to say. He let me down. And then there is Caden, who has gotten his whole club involved to help me. I’m just not ready to talk to Mark right now. I’ll call him later.
I got up, showered, and got dressed. Now, I’m in need of some coffee. Hopefully they will have some downstairs. I left my room and headed that way. When I made it to the common area of the clubhouse, nobody was around except Honey, who was cleaning up around the bar. Now that I know that she isn’t Cade’s old lady, it should have been a little easier to talk to her, but I still felt awkward. I reached the bar and said shyly, “Good morning, Honey.”
“Morning,” she replied. Her short response told me exactly what she thought of me.
“Do you know where I could get a cup of coffee?”
“Coffee is in the kitchen. If you want cream or sugar you will have to find it; me and the boys drink our coffee bl
ack and strong.” Not the most welcoming response, but really, had I expected anything different? I nodded and headed into the kitchen, where I did find a pot – thankfully still warm – as well as some milk in the fridge.
After I got my coffee, I headed back to the main common room and plopped myself down at the bar. I thought about trying to make conversation with Honey – maybe we could get to know each other better? But in the end I thought better of it and just sat there quietly, drinking my coffee. I really wanted to know where Cade was, but I thought he was a subject that I definitely should not discuss with her.
After I had downed my second cup, Tiny and a couple other members came in. I had never met the other two men, but I knew they were brothers because they wore the same vest that Tiny had on.
“Good morning, Miss Emma,” Tiny said, then continued, “Have you met Dbag and Doc?”
“No, I haven’t.” I looked to the other two men and said, “Nice to meet you, I’m Emma.” They both eyed me up and down and smiled. They made me feel a little uncomfortable. “Are they seriously checking me out?” I thought to myself. They never said anything to me, just smiled and walked away. After they stepped away, I asked Tiny, “I was wondering – if you are not too busy, would you be able to take me to my apartment? I forgot to pick up my laptop and would really like to get it.”
At first, he looked a little nervous. Did I intimidate him that much? But, then he smiled and said, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Ice told us you were not to leave for any reason.”
“Oh, Tiny, it’s ok. I told Ice last night that I needed my laptop and he said fine. He knows that I was going to ask you to take me back to my apartment.”
Tiny shrugged, “Well, if Ice okayed it, just let me take care of a couple of things and then we can go.”
Relieved that I would have my laptop soon I said, “Great. Let me run upstairs to get my purse and I’ll be ready to go whenever you are.” He nodded and I took my cup to the kitchen and washed it, then went to my room to retrieve my purse and keys. Fifteen minutes later, we left.
We drove to my place in a black pickup truck. I’d wanted to take my car, but Tiny had insisted that that was probably not a good idea and that we should leave my car at the compound.
When we got to my apartment, which was almost 45 minutes away, Tiny waited in the car while I ran up to get my laptop. When I returned, Tiny was talking to another biker who had pulled up next to him on his bike. I recognized him from dinner, but couldn’t remember his name. I came down and looked at Tiny, saying, “Thanks, I’m ready to go now.” I then looked over to the other biker and said, “Hi, I’m Emma.”
He replied, “Nice to meet you, Emma. I’m Spike.”
Tiny said, “Prez sent Spike here to check up on you. I guess he isn’t too happy that we left the compound.” He looked at me with resentment. He hesitated for a moment and then added, “We should head back now. Got everything you need?”
I nodded. I was annoyed that Cade would be upset that I left, especially since he’d said it was ok. Hadn’t he? He had. When I get back I am going to make sure he understands that I am not his prisoner. I got in the truck and we headed out, Spike leading the way. We were on the road about 30 minutes when Tiny started to get anxious.
“Tiny, what’s wrong?” I asked. He was acting very strange, and he was making me nervous.
“Nothing to worry about, ma’am, Spike and I have this under control.” Suddenly I noticed that Spike was not leading the way anymore. He had fallen back and now was behind us. Directly behind him, following very closely, was a black SUV. It was riding really close to him, and I was worried that it would hit him.
“Tiny, what’s going on? Why is that SUV following Spike so closely?”
He didn’t answer, instead taking a really sharp right turn down a deserted road that was not part of our route back to the clubhouse. He picked up speed, driving rather recklessly, Spike staying close to our tail. At first I thought we had lost the SUV, but then I saw it turn down a side road that we had passed – it was gaining speed on Spike. We were being followed. But why? I thought it best to not engage Tiny in any more conversation and to just let him drive. I’m sure they will explain this all to me when we get back to the clubhouse. If we get back to the clubhouse, that is.
Tiny continued to make a series of twists and turns down the road, turning on various side streets. Soon the black SUV was not in sight, nor was Spike. We eventually came to an alley, and we turned down the alley and waited. We sat there for at least a half hour, just waiting. At this point, my nerves were all but shot. We did not speak, just sat there in silence as Tiny constantly looked out his rearview mirror. Then I heard the roar of a motorcycle and got really scared. But when I turned to see who it was and saw Spike, relief washed over me. Thank God!
Spike walked up to the truck and asked, “You ok, Miss Emma?”
“Yes, thank you. What was that all about?” I asked.
“Club business, ma’am. The less you know the better. The important thing is that you are safe now. Ice would have my ass if I let anything happen to you.” Well, that was comforting. He then added, speaking directly to Tiny, “Need to let the boss know. You want me to call him, or do you want to?”
Now even more nervous, Tiny said, “I’m the one that fucked up, I need to call him. If I ever want to get my patch, I need to own this.” He pulled out his cell phone and dialed.
“Hey, Ice.” He paused and then said, “Yes, I know, I fucked up. I never should have taken her from the compound.” Another pause. I could hear Cade yelling, but couldn’t make out what he was saying. “We are on our way back now. But, I need to tell you, we ran into some trouble. About thirty minutes from her apartment, we got a tail. I lost them and Spike kept them occupied for a while until they eventually gave up. I’m sorry, boss – this won’t happen again.” Another pause. Cade was still yelling, even louder now, but I still couldn’t understand what he was saying. Tiny said, “I know, I know. It won’t happen again. I’ll make sure that if she needs something, I go and get it. Yes boss, I understand. She stays put no matter what she tells me.” He glanced over to me and gave me a “thanks a lot” look.
Oh no! He’s in trouble because of me. But … Ice did say it was okay. He did! But the more I thought about our conversation last night, I realized he never said anything about me going. He said he would send Tiny. Oh, damn.
When Tiny hung up the phone, he threw it in the console of the truck. I looked over to him and said, “Tiny, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that I was not allowed to leave the clubhouse. I misunderstood him last night when he said he would send you to get it for me. He never said anything about me not going with you. I’m really sorry, Tiny.”
“Miss Emma, please do not apologize. Ice is right, I should have known better and offered to go get your laptop for you. I promised him and now I am telling you, it won’t happen again.”
I still felt bad. Spike was heading back to his bike and we started to back out of the alley. As Tiny was pulling away, he added, “You must be something special to Ice; I’ve never seen him get that worked up over a woman before.”
What could I say to that? Nothing. Which is exactly what I did. We drove the rest of the way to the clubhouse in silence.
Chapter 9
Caden - that same day
I was up early this morning. I tossed and turned all night; Emma has got me all tied up in knots. But, there is business to take care of – I have to not think about her and concentrate on my club. Yeah, good luck with that.
We scheduled our meet with Skeeter at 10:30 at Betty’s in town. Betty’s was a quiet diner, didn’t have a big crowd in the mornings, and the people there kept to themselves. It also helped matters that the club owned the diner, so the employees belonged to the Knights. No worries about any of our plans getting in the wrong hands.
Reb, Spike, Ryder, and I got there before Skeeter did. About fifteen minutes after we got settled at a table
(all of us getting coffee and Spike a full breakfast), Skeeter arrived. He was a nerdy looking guy, early thirties, tall, with shaggy blond hair and skinny as a rail. I wondered if that boy ever ate anything of substance. But then, when he ordered a huge breakfast, I no longer worried about him eating.
Once we got our coffee and food, I began, “So, Skeeter, as I mentioned on the phone, we need a favor. We’ve got a situation and we need someone to get inside the Satans’ clubhouse and do some snooping around. What do you think about helping us out with something like that?”
Looking nervous, Skeeter replied, “I don’t know, Ice. Nobody messes with the Satans. From what I have heard, they are bad news – and if you cross them, unforgiving.”
I’d suspected that I would have to convince him. “Yeah, they are,” I replied. And then I waited. I let him think for a moment. I’ve learned from experience that when you need someone to see things your way, sometimes the less you talk the better. Most people don’t get this concept and end up talking someone out of what they want him or her to do.
Skeeter asked, “Will I be in danger?”
“I’m not gonna lie to you. Anything that involves the Satans carries with it some element of danger. Like you said, they are unforgiving. But, if you play your cards right, do what we tell you, and mostly keep to yourself, you can be in and out whole in a couple of weeks.”
Skeeter looked more nervous. “A couple of weeks! That’s a long time, Ice.” He looked around at each of us and then added, “I don’t know guys, I’m not sure about this.”
I’d had a feeling he might be hesitant to help us. After all, he was right; it was dangerous. Normally I wouldn’t ask a civilian to do something like this, but Skeeter was our only chance at getting someone we could trust inside. I guess it was time to remind him of what this club has done for him. “Skeeter, I totally get you and understand that what we are asking you to do poses a risk for you. I can’t stress enough how much this club needs you right now.” I paused for a minute, then added, “Do I need to remind you that this club was there for you when you and your mom needed us?” Skeeter looked up to me, realization on his face. He knew that I wasn’t really giving him an option in this. Plain and simple, he owed this club a debt and we were calling it in.