by Sam Crescent
“My wife, Penny, has a daughter. She’s blind and a pain in the ass, but nothing can happen to her. When I’m ready to leave, the daughter is going to meet with a fucking accident. She’s been a thorn in my side for too fucking long. I want her out of the way, but I don’t want my wife to know. She still fucking loves her. When it’s all over I’ll make sure she gets off the bottle and pills and stays completely dependent on me. She’ll do to amuse me for a nice long retirement. With Sasha out of the picture, her mother will depend on me for comfort, and I intend to be there when she needs me,” Kenneth said, counting the notes as he stacked them in his briefcase.
Kenneth hadn’t come from money, and he wasn’t even part of the elite in Piston County. He was a criminal who’d learned how to defraud people, and that business had grown to being the messenger for Gonzalez.
Frederick was happy to help a man with a business mind.
“So your wife doesn’t have a clue about any of your plans to relocate after her daughter’s death?”
“She doesn’t know. Sasha’s the kind of girl everyone likes. The only way to get rid of her is to make it look like an accident. I don’t want anyone pointing the finger at me. In time, Penny will see we don’t need kids to be happy. She’ll see how perfect we are together. I’ll keep her in her place.” Kenneth rubbed his hands together.
Tapping his leg, Frederick wondered what his next move should be with Chaos Bleeds. The two MC clubs were like his new toys. He told them to jump, and they had no choice but to say how high. Frederick wondered how much he could push before they all started to crack.
Chapter Three
Finding a booth in the back, Pussy kept hold of Sasha’s hand to make sure she didn’t trip or fall. He needed to stem his anger, as otherwise he was going to lose it. From the first moment he saw Kenneth, he’d hated the bastard, and now, knowing he’d hurt Sasha, he wanted to hurt him. No man should scare a woman, especially his stepdaughter.
Seating her inside the booth, he slid opposite her. She kept her palms down on the table, and he noticed she bit her lip. Her eyes were wide as she glanced around. The noise in the steakhouse was small, but she looked nervous.
Reaching out, he placed his palm over her hand. “There’s no need to be nervous. I’m here, and I won’t leave you, not even to take a piss.”
The waitress walked to the table.
“Hello, can I take your order?” The waitress popped gum. Her stomach was swollen, and she was clearly pregnant as she rubbed her stomach affectionately.
“I’ll have a strong, black coffee. What do you want, babe?” he asked.
“Can I have a soda?” Sasha’s voice was small.
“Sure thing. I’ll be back after you’ve had time to peruse the menu.” The woman wrote their orders down then left.
“Do you want me to read the menu to you?” he offered, gripping the menu in one hand as he held her other hand.
“You’d do that for me?”
“How else would you know what to eat if I didn’t?” he asked, frowning.
“Kenneth doesn’t give me chance to order my own food. I eat what he orders.”
Gritting his teeth, Pussy gazed down at the menu. His fist was about to get an appointment in Kenneth’s fucking face. The more he heard about the uptight bastard, the more he hated him.
“I’m sorry. I really shouldn’t be telling you this.”
“Who should you be telling instead of me?” he asked, staring at her face. Fuck, she was so beautiful. Her skin was pale, and her dark brown hair shone as the sun glided over the strands. The thick length looked silky. He wanted to wrap the length around his wrist and tug on it. Would she gasp or cry out? His cock hardened at the thought of her on her knees taking his cock. He’d pull on her hair as he rammed inside her, going as deep as he could.
“I don’t have anyone to tell anything to.”
“What happened to your friends? You can’t tell me you weren’t liked?”
“After the accident that caused this,” she touched her face, “I was pulled out of school. I’ve been taught at home. The school didn’t have any way of supporting a blind person. I’ve been taught by tutors.”
Pussy frowned. Her stepfather was pulling her away from everyone she knew.
“What about your mother?” he asked.
Sasha laughed. The sound was harsh and brittle. “A couple of years ago I’d have said she was amazing. Now, she finds love at the bottom of the bottle and some pills. She’s not the best person to talk to right now, and she loves Kenneth.” She leaned her chin on her palm. Her gaze was on his chest. He didn’t know what to say to her.
She was a nicely rounded woman, curvy in all the right places. From what he saw, he knew she had a nice, large set of tits that would fill his hands. Her hips were large, and she had a rounded stomach.
“Where’s your father?”
He wanted to know everything about her.
“He died in action, in Afghanistan. Mom met Kenneth a year or so afterward, and then they married not long after that.” She traced a pattern on the table with her other hand. “Why do you want to know about my family?”
“You’ve not got much family, but I wanted to see what was happening in your life.”
Pussy paused as the waitress handed them their drinks. “We’ve not looked over the menu yet.”
“No problem, honey, take your time. Hold your hand up or holler when you want serving.” The waitress didn’t stick around. Keeping his gaze on Sasha, Pussy wondered what she was thinking.
“Why do you want to know? I’m not that important.”
“You’re important to me,” he said.
She let out a gasp.
“You’ve not always been blind?” he asked, directing the conversation elsewhere.
“No, I’ve not. How have you been since you lost your friend?”
Her question caught him by surprise. Thinking about Ashley upset him.
“She died, and there’s no changing that.” He rubbed his palms down his legs.
“Do you blame yourself?”
“Yes, I do.” Pussy wasn’t going to lie to her. He didn’t want to. Was this what Ripper and Curse went through with their women? Devil seemed to change overnight with Lexie.
“Why?”
“She did something for the club and died for it. Ashley didn’t deserve to be killed, but when I get the bastard responsible, I’ll kill him.”
He watched her tense.
“Are you afraid of me?” he asked.
Sasha didn’t answer him. He watched her frown, but seconds later she shook her head. “No, I’m not.”
“No, are you insane? I just told you I’d kill a man for killing my friend, and you’re not afraid.”
She ran a hand across the table. “I don’t get you. Do you want me to be afraid of you, or do you want me to trust you?”
Letting out a sigh, he rubbed a hand across his face. “I’m sorry. Thinking about Ashley makes me mad, and I don’t know what I’m saying.”
“It’s okay. You’ve never hurt me.”
“You don’t know me,” he said. Didn’t this woman have any gut reaction to the dangers out there?
“Kenneth did know me, and yet I’m blind because of him.”
Her words forced him to pause as he looked down at the menu.
“What? He hurt you.”
“No one knows what he did. The doctors think I was arguing with him over something silly and I fell down the stairs. I was told trauma to the head can cause blindness. Kenneth hurt me, and since then I’ve been blind, depending on him to take care of me.” She stopped talking. He saw her lip wobble. “My mom can’t do anything. She’s scared of him, I’m sure of it.”
“He caused your blindness, and now you’re having to rely on him. Who takes care of you?” he asked.
“No one. My mom and Kenneth take turns to get me out of the house. He rearranges the furniture so I can’t remember the layout of the room.” She stopped. “I really shouldn’t
be telling you this.”
Pussy opened his mouth to talk to her when the sound of her stomach rumbling caught his attention. “You’re hungry?”
“Yes, I’ve not had any breakfast.”
Cursing his interest in her life, he started to read off the menu. None of the food registered in his mind as spoke the words out loud.
“Oh, I like the sound of the spicy cheeseburger. Could I have all of that with extra sauce and sides?” she asked. Her face looked animated.
“Sure.” He signaled for the waitress to come to the table. Pussy ordered their food and asked for the dessert menu. When he turned back to her, he saw her panicking.
“Crap, I’m so sorry. I don’t have any money. There’s no way for me to pay you back.”
“Don’t worry about it, baby. I’ve never taken a woman out with the intention of her paying. This is all on me, so enjoy it.” He took hold of her hand once again.
Pussy liked the feel of her hand in his. There was no way he’d be giving Sasha back to Kenneth, knowing about what he’d done. The club wouldn’t let a woman go back to someone who was going to hurt her.
Sasha was vulnerable.
“I’m sorry about your friend,” Sasha said, breaking the silence that had fallen between them.
“Thank you. Ashley, she was a spitfire and didn’t deserve to die.” He stopped talking to clear his throat.
“Have you killed someone before?” she asked.
“I’m not going to answer that.”
“I don’t know what else to talk to you about. I hate silence.”
“Tell me what you know about our club.” He ignored all the other people in the steakhouse. The smells were making him desperate for food.
“I don’t know anything about you. My mom and Kenneth have warned me to stay away from you. They’ve not said anything other than that you’re dangerous.”
“And yet, you’re not afraid of me?” he asked.
Looking down her body, he caught sight of her hardened nipples. Did he turn Sasha on?
She’s blind, you idiot. Don’t start thinking about that shit.
“No. You don’t make me feel afraid. I’ve been around Kenneth. He’s not a nice guy. Whenever he goes to town he’s always in meetings with an Italian guy.”
He paused. “Italian guy?”
“I think he’s an Italian. He’s got an accent, but I think I’ve heard Kenneth say he’s not actually Italian. I think he has mixed Spanish and Italian heritage, but I’m not sure.”
“What does he look like?” he asked.
“I don’t fucking know. Blind remember?”
“Shit, sorry.” Could Kenneth be working for Frederick? Shit, today was only supposed to be about getting out of Piston County.
****
Sasha smiled. Did he know how sweet he was?
“You’ve no need to be sorry. A lot of people forget about it, even my mom.” She tried her best to reassure him.
“It doesn’t matter. You shouldn’t have to go through something like that. It’s not right.”
She really wished she knew what he looked like. From being next to him, she knew he was tall. Was he taller than Kenneth? She didn’t know. In her mind she pictured Pussy with messy blond hair, which he never brushed. Bed hair, she believed they called it. He had to have tattoos. Every biker had to have them. She wondered what pictures or words they wore.
“Why do you go by Pussy and not Shane?” she asked.
“You’re a curious little devil, aren’t you?”
“I’ve got a lot of things in life to be curious about. You intrigue me.” She rested her face on her hand, wondering if she was even meeting his eyes. Did he have brown, ocean blue, green, or hazel colored eyes?
There was so much she wanted to know about him.
“I intrigue you?”
“Yeah. I’ve heard how bikers are supposed to be rough, tough, and mean, yet I think you’re sweet, possibly the sweetest man I’ve ever known,” she said, smiling.
He made a gagging sound. “Babe, don’t go around telling people I’m sweet. I’ll lose my reputation.”
She giggled as something was placed on the table. Pulling back, she squeezed her hands together to help ground her. Sudden noise always alarmed her.
“I hope you enjoy your food,” the woman said.
Was the waitress eyeing Pussy up?
“Thanks, doll,” Pussy said. Seconds passed, and Sasha tried to hear everything she could.
“Noise and movement around you unnerve you, don’t they?” he asked.
He touched her hand and slowly slid her fingers over the plate. “This is the burger. Let me know when you want it. Here are some fries.”
There he was again being all sweet with her food. “Erm, thank you. Yes, sudden movement or noise upsets me. I don’t know what’s going on, and not being able to see freaks me out,” she said.
Silence fell once again. She picked up a couple of fries and started to eat.
“Why are you not freaking out more about your condition?” he asked.
“I’ve had it over four years. It’s hard to freak out anymore. I just get frustrated about what I can and can’t do.” She stopped talking to eat.
“Is it permanent?” Pussy asked.
“In the beginning the doctors were unsure, as with all trauma it carries risks. Now, I’m permanent. I’ll never be able to see again. I think they said there was too much damage to my nerves or something. I was still reeling from being told I would never see again. I didn’t pay much attention.” She’d gotten used to not being able to see. There was still a tiny spark of hope that maybe one day that would all change, or at least some new wonder drug or maybe even surgery would change it. She didn’t expect it to. “Could you pass me my burger?”
“Sure.” He placed the burger in her hands.
“This is huge.”
“It won’t be the only thing you think is huge.” The words came out as a mumble, but she caught them.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
“No. Stepdad keeps all men away.” She took a bite of the burger and moaned. “This is amazing.”
“I’m not taking you back to your stepfather.”
She paused with the burger pressed to her lips. “What?”
“You heard me. I’m not taking you back there.”
Keeping hold of her burger, she lowered it down. “You can’t do that.”
“Not only am I going to do that, but you’re not going to stop me.”
“You’ll be making a mistake,” she said. Inside she was cheering at having a savior intent on helping her. No one would try to take her away from Kenneth. Would she finally be able to break free from the cycle her stepfather had forced her into?
“You expect me to feed you and drop you back at the diner back in Piston County for that fucker to take you, knowing that he hurt you?”
“You sound angry?”
“I’m pissed, Sasha. Don’t you have any urge to protect yourself?”
“Yes, but you don’t know what he’s like.”
She jerked as he touched her arm.
“Don’t be afraid, Sasha. The club will take care of you.”
“Why?”
“Because I’d ask them to take care of you. They’ll do what I ask.”
“None of this makes any sense to me. I don’t think we should be talking about this. Crap, I don’t know what I’m doing.”
She dropped the burger.
“It’s on the plate.” He caught both of her hands within his. “Stop freaking out.”
Sasha stopped even as her heart pounded inside her chest. What was she supposed to do?
“Where would I go?” she asked. “I didn’t want for this to happen.”
“You need to stop worrying about what could happen and start thinking about yourself, babe. You’re twenty years old, living at home because that fucker blinded you. I’m offering you an out.”
Biting he
r lip, she tried to focus on everything that happened. For the last four years she’d tried to believe the story of herself falling downstairs rather than remembering the feel of Kenneth hurting her. Her mother had begged her not to say anything, asking for her trust. What the hell was she supposed to do?
“He’ll hurt my mother. I can’t leave her alone.”
She was breaking inside. How long had she been with Pussy? Was it already too late to get back to the diner before Kenneth saw she left? She didn’t want anything to happen to her mother because of her.
Do you really want to leave?
No, she didn’t want to leave, and the thought of going back to Piston County filled her with dread. Pussy was offering her an out, and she wasn’t even taking it.
“Then let me deal with him, Sasha. I don’t care what he does to me. I will not leave you alone with him.” His grip tightened on her arm. It wasn’t painful or threatening. He held her tightly, and it kept her grounded. She could think past the fear.
“Okay.”
“Are you sure?”
“No, I’m not sure. I’m not sure of anything right now. We were only supposed to be having lunch.”
Her hands shook. She felt the tremors.
“Stop worrying.”
“I can’t help it. Is this what you do with all the women you take out to dinner?” she asked.
“No. Most of the women end up in my bed and I eat out their pussy.”
She gasped. “What?”
“You heard me, Sasha.”
“You eat out women’s pussies? Is that some kind of carnivore reference?” She frowned. Pussy didn’t sound like the kind of person to eat people, let alone women. Was eating out pussy porn or something?
“You’re a virgin?” he asked.
“It’s not hard to guess that I am. I’ve never been around enough men to want to sleep with me.”
Silence met her words.
“Have I said the wrong words?”
“I want to fuck you,” he said.
She licked her lips. “Did I hear you correctly?”