by K E Osborn
He chuckles. “Will do, night brother.”
I slap his shoulder. “Night.”
Turning, I walk off toward the stairs. Suddenly, a tanned black haired goddess steps in my way.
“Zdravstvuj Techno.” Irina uses her Russian twang as she seductively twirls her hair around her finger.
“Hi Irina, and I keep telling you it’s Techie, not Techno.”
She leans in closer. “Would you prefer me to scream Techya?”
Clearing my throat as my cock twitches slightly in my pants, I clench my eyes tight and then open them for clarity. “Well, while this has been super fun, I’m really tired.”
“Oh, you blowing me off Techno? I could blow you off, ya?”
Taking in a deep breath and holding it slightly longer than normal, I let the air out in a large gust as she squints running her long taloned fingernail down my chest. “C’mon Techno, you, me, another night of Russian passion?”
Tilting my head at the great offer, because let’s face it, Irina and me in bed is cause for fireworks, but right now I just want to be alone. “Thanks, sweetheart, maybe tomorrow?”
“Awww Techno, you break my heart.” She frowns and pouts.
“Irina you don’t have a heart.”
She laughs and nods. “So true, so true. Tomorrow Techno, tomorrow.”
“Techie!” I tell her, and she smiles knowingly at me and walks off toward Mooch. Shaking my head, I stomp up the stairs toward my room to spend the night wallowing in self-pity—a self-pity that I don’t even understand why I’m wallowing in.
***
I slept like shit, but at least now I know I can have bacon, and it might make me feel better. Bacon and coffee, two of the world’s greatest inventions behind the development of Pasteurisation in 1864, life without beer as we know it now would be sacrilegious. Thank God for Louis Pasteur! Sure Pasteurisation helped to prevent the growth of bacteria in milk and wine too, but beer is the important one here. If only it were past ten a.m., I could start drinking without feeling like an alcoholic. I want a beer now, but I have no idea what the hell is even playing on my mind.
“Grubs up,” Chowhound calls out dinging his bell.
I look up to see my plate full of ridiculously fatty breakfast food and grin as my chest fills with warmth and love for the English breakfast.
“Thanks, hound,” I call out as he flips an egg on the fryer and waves his spatula at me.
Grabbing my plate, I walk off to take a seat in the clubroom. It’s bustling this morning, but I’d rather be on my own than sit with the guys. So I take a seat by myself and pick up a piece of crispy bacon. The slick grease covering the layer of pork is sliding down my fingers as I beam in delight at the thought of devouring the deliciousness in front of me. Just as I go to shove the delight into my mouth, Steel slaps my back making the bacon slip from my fingers to fall back onto my plate. I groan and glare at him as he smirks at me excitedly.
“Crash says there’s movement again, and she’s having trouble squeezin’ it out. So there’s somethin’ big coming… if you know what I mean?”
Huffing, I lick the fat from my fingers and mourn the loss of my breakfast as I stand up basking slightly in Steel’s excitement.
“Okay, let’s go see a pig about some shit,” I tease, and he chuckles as we walk off toward the stairs. We stride up them missing every second step in our rush. Arriving at Crash’s door, we don’t bother knocking and just walk in to see Petunia in the litter tray trying to squeeze out a massive log. A glimmer of something sparkling catches my eye as we rush over to the litter tray while Crash laughs.
“It’s here, we got it!”
Steel jumps on the spot and picks up Petunia swirling her around in a circle and cuddles into her as Crash puts on his gloves peeling the shit away from the ring.
“Okay, now what?” Crash asks as he looks at the diamond encrusted in shit.
I huff and pull out a plastic bag, opening it for him to drop the ring inside. “Okay, ring in the bag. I’ll have Switch take it to my guy to have it cleaned and disinfected.”
Steel smiles and nods. “Great, and make sure he knows that no one else can know about this!”
“Yes, boss.”
“Crash, you did an amazin’ job. I have plans for you for tonight.”
Steel reminds me of Irina and how she wanted to hook up with me tonight, but now Steel wants her for Crash instead. He can have her, I’m still not in the mood.
“Oh God, I hope it’s not any more special assignments?”
We both chuckle. “No Crash, this one is more… exotic.”
I slap his shoulder as he furrows his brows in confusion. “Shit, I’m not sure if that sounds awesome or terrifying.”
“It’s awesome, trust me.”
Steel glances at me and shakes his head. “Okay, get the ring off and make sure no one knows about it. Especially the women, they gossip like nobody’s business.”
“Done.” I seal the bag placing it in my pocket and walk toward the door.
“Oh… and Techie?”
“Yeah.”
“Thank you.”
“No worries, brother.” I walk out the door in search of Switch. Traipsing down the stairs, I look to see Chowhound taking my beloved breakfast away, and I pout as I walk out the red door to find Switch. I see him instantly, smoking with Mooch down by the auto shop, and so I head down as Mooch butts out his durry and walks past me.
“Techster,” Mooch greets me.
“Moochanator,” I call back making him chuckle as he continues to walk past me. “Switch, brother, you got a minute?” I call out to him before he heads inside the auto shop.
He turns to face me, his long black hair falling on his bearded face. “What can I do you for Techie?”
Pulling out the shit covered ring in a bag, Switch looks at me and furrows his brows. “So… I need this to go to my mate, he’s a local dentist. Tell him Techie sent you, and for him to autoclave and disinfect this and then bring it back. No one is to see it under any circumstances.”
He nods taking the bag from me and smiles putting it in his inside pocket. “Sure.” His answer is simple and sweet, and he doesn’t ask any questions. That’s what I like about Switch, he does what he’s told without asking anything in return. And he won’t tell anyone what he’s doing or has done. He’s as quiet as a mouse. But get on his wrong side and his personality switches like a light switch—you flick his switch, and he can go from placid to complete agro arsehole in a second. He’s an oddball.
“Right, on your bike. Here’s the name of the dentist and his address. Don’t see anyone but him, okay?” I state handing Switch a business card.
“Got it, secret’s safe with me.” He takes the card and walks off to his Hog leaving me smiling. I love that he has a shit covered ring in his pocket, and he’s asked zero questions. What a legend!
I turn walking back toward the clubhouse and head inside making my way back to the kitchen counter to order another breakfast, but there’s now a queue. Jigsaw and Behemoth are already waiting. Damn.
“Breakfast… the life-force of nature to abide by the calling of heaven,” Jigsaw says, and I furrow my brows as Behemoth half smiles.
“Well, I would try to decipher that one. But my gut says it’s something like breakfast is amazing, and I love bacon,” Behemoth says. I chuckle as Jigsaw nods.
“You been waiting long, guys?” I ask wondering how long I’ll have to wait for round two of breakfast.
“About five minutes, Chowhound is working alone today. Whisk has the flu,” Behemoth informs me.
“Oh, bugger.”
I turn to see Gadget storming toward me his brows furrowed and his hands clenched by his sides. He’s on a mission, and I seem to be his direct target. Great!
He stops right in front of me and huffs. “I know something’s going on in Crash’s room, and you’re going to tell me what! If you don’t, I’m going to the Prez.”
I huff as Behemoth and Jigsaw furro
w their brows at me. “You’re such a rat, Gadget.”
“That must mean you’re hiding something. We don’t like secrets in this club, Techie.”
“Well, have you ever thought that maybe some secrets are secret for a reason?” I tell him.
“And some secrets can bring down an entire club. I don’t trust you, Techie! I know you’re up to no good.” Suddenly an alert sounds over the sound system.
We all look up as the amber alert goes off in the clubroom. The yellow lights flash, and the buzzer sounds that someone is at the gate, someone the sensors don’t recognise.
Gator storms into the clubroom as Gadget pulls out his tablet for the security feed. “Gadget?” Gator calls out.
He swipes the screen and furrows his brows shaking his head. “Looks like a bunch of men at the gates. I don’t know them, Prez, but they’re all… well, dark.”
Gator frowns. “Dark?”
Steel gasps and turns toward Nikita. “Flame take Niki and Jackson to the safe room. Do not come out for anythin’. Full lockdown mode, okay? Go… now babe.”
Flame nods as Niki’s eyes widen and she frowns. “Is it them, Steel?”
“Flame, take them now!” he demands.
Gator nods at Flame, and she grabs Niki by the shoulders and starts to pull her toward the torture room. Niki grabs Jackson’s hand and leads him with them as they head off down the stairs toward the room. At the bottom, there’s a giant safe under the floor. There’s no way you’d realise it was there unless you knew. It’s a hiding place, and it’s the safe room in the clubhouse for instances such as this.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Okay brothers, stay on guard, don’t let on that Niki and Jackson are here. If it’s the Jones’s, then we need to remain impartial, got it?” Gator advises and everyone nods.
I glance at Steel, and he looks shaken. He’s the reason all of this is happening. He took Tyrell’s life, sure it was an accident, but I know this would be weighing down on him right now.
We all march outside to the gate, and Gadget opens it to see the row of chocolate skinned men standing there in their suits just waiting for us. My hand is right next to my piece, just in case this turns ugly.
“This is club property. Showing up here unannounced like this when we don’t know who you are is dangerous. Who are you, and what do you want?” Gator asks.
I try to hide my smug look. Someone’s grumpy today.
“Now, now, play nice, we’re just looking for someone. We heard she was here, Nikita Jones?”
Gator puffs out his chest and pouts his lips. “Never heard of her.”
The lead guy takes a step toward Gator, and we all stiffen our posture and pull our guns aiming them at him. His men don’t react, just simply chuckle at us, we outnumber them by double anyway.
“I think you have heard of her. I think she and the kid are here.”
“You can think all you like, truth is we haven’t seen her.”
He smiles and tilts his head. “Right, well, no offense, but I can’t really take the word of a lowly biker now can I?”
Gator moves forward and grabs the guy by the scruff of his collar which only causes him to laugh in Gator’s face. This guy seriously has a death wish.
“I suggest you let me go, or I’ll make sure to pay special attention to that gorgeous little Meli. She really is a delight, isn’t she?”
Gator groans and pushes the guy into the side of his car with force, the sound of the metal collapsing behind his weight. “You son of a bitch, how do you know about her?”
“Gator, easy,” Steel murmurs resting his hand on Gator’s elbow as Gator’s chest heaves with harsh breaths. He slowly lets the man go with a slight shove.
“We know a lot more than you think. We have affiliations, our family is huge. We’re connected, we know a lot of people and have ways of finding out information. We have ways of… well, let’s just say that if you don’t hand over Nikita in twenty-four hours, your families, and I mean all your families won’t be safe.”
“Is that a threat? You’re threatening us lowly bikers?” Gator asks.
The guy cockily grins and licks his lips while straightening out his crinkled shirt. “Yes Gator, I believe it is. Twenty-four hours to decide what you want to do… no more, no less. We want Nikita. Don’t disappoint us, we’re bigger than you think.”
Gator breathes harshly in through his nostrils as the man turns and walks back toward the front of the car with the other four men. Their expensive vehicle shows me that they come from money, and when corrupted men have money on their side, they’re more than likely to be a very bad force to be reckoned with. The car slowly drives off down the dirt road, and I lower my gun as I look toward Steel, he’s a slight shade of white and I hate that he’d be feeling bad about this.
“Prez, you know we can’t give them up, right?” Steel asks.
Gator huffs and shakes his head running his hand through his shoulder length blond hair. “Fucked if I know. First things first, though. This club goes into lockdown. Everyone… get your families in here, now. I believe the threat to them is real, and I can’t risk your family’s lives being in danger. So brothers get on your phones. I want everyone here, parents, siblings, children, family friends, anyone you think could be in danger. This clubhouse is big, we can hold a lot of people, so bring everyone in. No one is to be put at risk, no one. This club has lost too many people in its time. We’re not losing anyone else.” He exhales and storms off back into the compound.
Glancing at Steel, I swallow hard. “Hey, this isn’t your fault, you know that right?” I try to ease his tension and more importantly guilt.
He shakes his head. “It’s entirely my fault, Techie.” He turns and meanders back inside, and I exhale wishing I could help him more.
Mooch and Jigsaw step up alongside me shaking their heads. “Crazy minds make feeble work,” Jigsaw murmurs and I raise my eyebrow as Mooch chuckles.
“You’re a freak, Jigsaw,” Mooch quips, and Jigsaw smiles widely.
“The odd one is placing them on the cusp of greatness.” He strolls off down toward the auto shop at the back of the compound.
Shaking my head, I look at Mooch, who’s raising his eyebrow in confusion, and I chuckle. “Don’t even try to work him out, Mooch, no one can understand him, not even me, and I know everything.”
He laughs and nods. “Ain’t that the truth?”
“That no one can work him out? Or that I know everything?”
He tilts his head. “Both. Hey, do you have twenty bucks I can borrow? I need to buy some more credit on my phone.”
Rolling my eyes, I huff and groan. “Fuck off, Mooch!”
Leaving him standing there, I storm off looking dumbfounded at my outburst. I love the guy don’t get me wrong, but his mooching behaviour really gets on my nerves.
Making my way back inside the compound, I walk to the bar to see Flame coming up the stairs with Niki and Jackson. Steel is with them, and he’s talking to Niki, who’s obviously not happy with what he’s saying by the way she’s frowning and shaking her head. Flame grabs hold of Jackson and leads him away so Steel and Niki can continue to talk. It’s probably best he doesn’t hear that his family are after them.
Taking a deep breath, I traipse over to Flame. “You okay?”
She winces and half smiles as Jackson plays with his Spinosaurus seemingly oblivious to all that’s going on around him. “Sure, it’s just a bit scary having to use the safe room. You never know what’s going to happen or is happening outside, you know? I just worry about Steel, the thought of something happening to him terrifies me. It’s a constant internal struggle for me, Techie.”
My chest tightens seeing the love they share. There’s that feeling again, the one where something’s missing—it’s really starting to bug me. “You know he would never leave you, Flame. He’d go down swinging as hard as he could to stay with you.”
She smiles for real this time. “Yeah, he would. Plus, he has you to watch ov
er him, too.”
Chuckling, I nod. “There is that. I am pretty awesome at keeping him alive… I’ve done a great job so far.”
She smiles and leans into my shoulder with her arm. “What would we do without you, Techie?”
“Probably all die horribly and painfully,” I tease, and she leans her soft red hair onto my shoulder. I tense slightly, but I let her show me her affection. She’s always like this with me, so I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her to me slightly.
“Miss Willow, can Steel be my daddy?” Jackson pipes up from nowhere.
She opens her eyes wide and chokes on thin air as I burst out laughing. I gently pat her back softly until she recovers. Jackson chuckles at her misfortune.
“Umm, I think you want your mummy to marry your new daddy, right?” she asks, and he nods.
“Well, I’m Steel’s girlfriend. So if your mummy married Steel, then he wouldn’t be with me anymore.”
Jackson frowns and crosses his arms over his chest. His eyes sparkle, and he smiles brightly. “Then you can marry Mama too, and I can have two Mamas and a new Daddy?”
Willow starts to choke again as I laugh hard. “Well, I’m going to leave you to your ménage à trois,” I quip and Willow raises her eyebrows and shakes her head.
“You can’t leave me with this, Techie.”
“Miss Willow what’s a ménage à trois?” Jackson asks making me laugh again.
“Oh my God, Techie!” Willow chides.
“Have fun Miss Willow,” I tease and stride off, leaving one confused kid and a flustered Old Lady. Chuckling to myself, I walk past Gadget, who’s on the phone.
“Just make sure she doesn’t act like a brat when she gets here, Mum. I know she’s calm around bikers, but she doesn’t need to be so relaxed around us you know?”
I continue to walk past and wonder briefly who he’s talking about, but decide I don’t actually give a shit about Gadget and his life, so I continue to the bar and sit down in front of Blake.