“At least there was that,” I agreed. “I don’t really remember much of her either. So, thanks for saying that. My dad used to tell me stories, but there was always something missing in them, you know? It felt like he was leaving all these parts out of the whole, and I guess I know why now.”
“Anytime you want to hear some stories about your past, you just let me know, sweet girl. I have plenty,” Shameless told me.
“Thank you.” We had reached the bar by then, and when I realized we were headed to the kitchen behind the bar in order to get me food before work, I hesitated. A look moved between Shameless and Rage. One that said they’d been expecting my reaction. I sucked up my trepidation and moved beyond the door Shameless was holding open for me. Rage kept a hand on my lower back the whole time as we moved into the room beyond the storage area. I stopped, like I did that night when I noticed Beaver banging a chick in here, and I looked around taking everything in. “I don’t want to hate this place,” I whispered.
“That’s why we’re here darlin’. You have to know what happened was a fluke. It will not happen again. This is a safe place for you, and the only way you’re going to associate it that way is to be here, with us, doing normal things.” Rage told me as we sat down at the little table.
I stared at the countertop across the way and must have scrunched my nose up in disgust, because Shameless laughed. “Don’t worry sweet girl, it’s all been scrubbed down and sterilized.”
“Well, that’s something at least,” I murmured. Shameless busied himself preparing something for us to eat, and I wasn’t about to ask any questions about their grand plans so I sat back and shut up.
“Can I ask you a question, sweet girl?” Shameless finally spoke while he stirred whatever he’d put in the pot.
“Of course.”
“If we get this situation with your...” he hesitated, catching his words and swallowing them. “If we get this Josh situation taken care of so that you never have to worry about him or anyone he’s affiliated with coming after you, what would you want to do?”
“Celebrate!” I called out and both men in the room chuckled at my immediate response.
“Ok, smart ass, I meant, would you want to go back to Vegas? Do you want to go back to dancing and performing in shows there?” I noticed Rage stiffen out of my peripheral, but I didn’t dare look his way as I answered.
“I broke a contract in Vegas when I ‘disappeared’ so my dance days are over.”
“You had good reason though,” Shameless stated.
“Yeah, but I’m assuming whatever is done with Josh and his associates isn’t going to be something you want to take credit for. It’s going to be dealt with quietly, and I won’t be telling your secrets to gain favor with that crew. So, I’ll be blacklisted from performing there ever again.” I shrugged realizing that I wasn’t even the slightest bit torn up over it. “Actually, don’t laugh, because this is going to sound silly, but when I was on the run I would choreograph new dances and routines for some of the girls in the clubs I worked in, and they always thanked me, saying they made at least double the tips on the nights they used my choreography over the older, tired numbers they’d worn into the ground.” I sat thoughtful a moment.
“I was thinking about asking if the girls at Ruby’s might be interested in some fresh choreography, but I figured if someone caught on to my background check that they’d be looking for me there so it was a no go.” I shrugged. “So, I didn’t bother asking if that would be something I could do.” Shameless turned with the biggest smile on his face then, and before I knew it Rage had picked me up and set me down on his lap. His face snuggled into the hair covering my neck and shoulder. “What the hell?” I asked.
“So, you would want to stay here, maybe? When things get cleared up, I mean?” Shameless asked again.
Understanding was dawning. They were worried I would leave to go back to my old life once I was no longer in danger. “I wasn’t happy with my life before. I’ve told you that. I had no one. I didn’t really have any friends, and seriously, dancers are so much like your BRATs with their competitive natures, I’m sure you understand why that was. My dad is gone. Anything I had tying me to that place isn’t there anymore.” I laughed then. “Winter might scare me away once I experience that, because you know, I’ve never seen more than a snow flurry my whole life.” I thought about it for a moment. “At least, I don’t recall ever seeing snow when I was little, but I have people here that I care about now and I don’t know that I could give that up. I understand having to move out eventually, but…” I started before I was interrupted by both of Rage’s arms tightening their hold on me along with a deep scowl from Shameless.
“You will always be welcome here, sweet girl. For however long you need a place, however long you want to be here, there is a place for you. I know we’re all still knew to you, but you were like a surrogate daughter to me when you were young, and I still feel that way now. Don’t you ever, for a single minute, think you are anything less than wanted here.”
Aw man, these guys sure did know how to make it hard not to cry in front of them. Finally, I sniffed out an, “okay.” And all was right again as Shameless put some Fettuccini Alfredo in front of me. I was still doing softer foods, but man was my stomach feeling ravenous as the smell of the garlic and cheese set my taste buds to watering. The minute the first fork full hit my mouth I was done for. I didn’t even come for air until my plate was empty. Neither man said a word to me about my piggish behavior either.
“Sorry, I feel like I’ve been starving since I’ve only been eating softer foods.” My voice was sounding much better these days, but still had a raspy quality to it that reminded me of long-time smokers.
“You don’t have to apologize for anything, baby girl, I’m just happy to see you getting your appetite back,” Shameless told me with a smile while Rage just hugged me into a tighter embrace. He had been doing this a lot lately, since I was attacked. For two days he only left my bed to go to the bathroom, get me more food when it took too long for one of the others to check on us, and once to take a call about something happening down in Georgia. That was all I could gather before he stepped out. He hadn’t made any moves on me. No kisses. No making out. He was just there for me to provide comfort while nursing me back to health. It was the sweetest damn thing I’d ever seen, not to mention selfless. I was sure he had more important things to be doing, and yet he was here with me.
“I want you to take it easy tonight, darlin’” Rage whispered into my ear.
“There’s nothing wrong with my hands, legs, or lungs. I’ll be just fine.”
He gave me a bit of a squeeze. “I mean it, you’ve been laid up for a few days and coming down off some pretty heavy meds. That takes more out of you than you realize. If you need to sit, you park your ass and watch while Rabbit works twice as hard.” Shameless laughed at that, his eyes twinkling brightly in amusement.
“I second that. You’re more important than assholes being served drinks.”
“Those assholes are your brothers,” I reminded them both.
“Yup, but your ours to take care of, so they can fuck right off and wait for their drinks.” Rage’s statement was no nonsense and, if I’m being honest, really freaking wonderful to hear. It had been a while since I was someone’s top priority. Shameless sat another, smaller plate of the pasta dish in front of me and told me to eat up just as Iceman ducked his head in the room.
“Shame, Rage, I need to see you both for a few minutes.” He noticed I was there too and quickly added, “you gonna be okay in here on your own for a minute?”
“Sure,” I mumbled around the mouth full of food I had just shoveled in. Rage kissed the top of my head, and the men dispersed, leaving me to do my thing.
They weren’t gone more than five minutes when a short lady, probably in her mid-forties, and starting to round out in the middle a little walked into the break room. Her hair was mostly black, but shot through with streaks of silver that
just added to her beauty rather than taking from it. She glanced around, and then her cool blue eyes locked on me as she grimaced with disapproval. “You must be the one causing all the drama around here lately.” Her statement just rolled right off my shoulders since I didn’t know her from Adam. I continued eating, and ignored her, because honestly, how did a person respond to that shit anyway?
“Shit-stirrer and rude as hell, huh? Well, I am the Queen Bee around here little girl, so I suggest you sit up, quit stuffing your face like a little pig, and behave accordingly unless you want to get what’s coming to you.”
“What in the absolute fuck?” Spinner roared out from the doorway. He glanced between me with a fork full of pasta stalled out just shy of my gaping mouth and the older lady who was in serious need of a throat punch. He glanced back at me finally and ignored the older woman. “Sweetheart, the guys have some questions for you, and they can’t wait. I came to see if I could snag you before you went on shift. Gotta say, glad as fuck I showed up when I did.” Then he turned pure fury on the wonder-cunt who was still glaring daggers in my direction, thinking he was glad he showed up to see how disrespectful I was being to her. I didn’t think that was why he was pissed, but she had yet to clue in to the situation.
Her smirk said it all as she continued to stare me down. “I warned you, little trouble making whores get put in their place around here.” The words were spat out as if I had done something to personally offend this woman. I was beginning to think that maybe she was friends with Jezzie and Tallie or something. She seemed a bit old to be a BRAT, but what did I really know about all that? Clearly, I didn’t know enough considering I had someone pissed off with me every time I came into public spaces.
“You better fucking believe Iceman is going to hear about you verbally attacking Charlie in a place where she was just physically attacked only days ago, Carol.” It was obvious from his tone that Spinner didn’t care for Carol. It could have just been that he didn’t care for the tone she had taken with me for no good damn reason. Personally, I didn’t give a shit. I still didn’t know whom this Carol woman was or why she thought she ran the show around here, but apparently someone forgot to clue her into the man’s world she was living in.
“Both of you, come with me now.”
Carol turned to Spinner then, a stunned look on her face. “I was just introducing myself to the little bitch who has been causing so many problems for the club, and she sat there ignoring me,” the woman huffed indignantly.
“Shut. Your. Fucking. Mouth.” Spinner annunciated each word with barely contained rage. I simply stood and walked out the door he was standing beside while we both waited for Carol to get herself in gear.
“I don’t have to follow your orders, Spinner,” Carol snipped like a petulant child.
“Get to the fucking office, NOW!” He yelled in her face, and finally, the bitch cowered while all the men in the common area stood to see what the commotion was. I heard a couple mumbling how it was ‘about time’ and ‘someone’s finally putting that bitch in her place’ as we walked by. She shook with undisguised anger, and I just walked my happy ass to the office knowing I wasn’t the one who was going to get my ass reamed for being a douche.
As soon as Spinner pulled open the office door and the men inside could see that Spinner and I had a third person with us, Iceman stood from behind his desk. “Why are you here, Carol?” He did not sound the least bit happy to see her.
“Ask Spinner, he just screamed at me in front of everyone to get my ass to the office.” I giggled at the fact that she even put on a pout for him, trying to look every bit the victim she wasn’t. Her glare towards me when I laughed out loud was not missed by anyone else.
Iceman turned to Spinner; not looking the least bit upset with him, and simply said, “explain.”
“I went to go snag Charlie out of…”
He didn’t get far before the bitch was interrupting him. “I think I should explain first, because he walked in half way through our encounter.”
“You don’t decide who gets to speak. Sit down, shut up, and I’ll get to you when I am good and damn ready.” Iceman’s admonishment was cold and hate-fueled. He then looked at Spinner. “Continue.”
“So, I watched as Carol walked in back, but I was still crossing the commons. By the time I got to the door I heard her voice raised.” He repeated what Carol had been saying to me, and every man in the room went immediately on edge and stared at the woman as if they each wanted the opportunity to tear her apart.
“Is that accurate?” Iceman turned to ask me.
“The only part missing was her initial comment to me that I ignored,” I explained.
“And that was?”
“As soon as she walked into the kitchen she said, ‘You must be the one causing all the drama around here lately,’” I told them with a shrug of my shoulders. “I didn’t respond, and that’s when Spinner overheard the rest. Iceman shook his head up and down and looked to be digesting that information.
“Normally, I’d ask you all to leave so I could handle my old lady in private, but since she can’t seem to mind her own fucking business, keep her mouth shut, and out of club biz, attacking our guests…” he stopped listing off her faults to check his anger momentarily. “You all get to watch.”
“That’s not how…” Carol started to say.
Iceman sat behind his desk, clicked on his computer for a minute, and then turned the monitor around so everyone in the room could see. Then he hit a button, and video played. On the screen was a video of me stuffing my face in the kitchen, and a side-by-side view of the door as Carol came through. The woman, not the video version of her, blanched. “When did you put cameras in there?” She had the nerve to ask.
“After Charlie was attacked the last time,” he answered. I watched as Carol’s shoulders drooped.
“It’s just, you’ve been so stressed and preoccupied and all I kept hearing were whispers of this bi-woman.” She had been about to say bitch until she saw Rage flinch towards her. “I was sick of seeing you stressed, and wondering if she was the other woman you’ve had tucked away.”
Whoa. This bitch. Her assumptions and airing dirty laundry in front of everyone could not go down well at all. I glanced over at Iceman, and he looked damn near ready to blow his fucking top. “You stupid fucking cunt. I’ve told you before there is no one else. You are fucking headache enough. Wanna see me less stressed? Keep yourself out of my fucking business! You know how it works, you’ve been in this game for more years than you’ve been my old lady, so don’t start acting ignorant now. Club business is NOT your business. EVER. If I wanna fuck around, there’s plenty of club pussy here for me to do it with, and I sure as fuck don’t have time for a dedicated side piece. You don’t have to worry yourself over me looking stressed anymore either sugar, because I’ll be staying at the clubhouse until I figure out what I’m going to do about you.”
He glanced around at the men in the room who did nothing but offer him their silent support. “Now, as to the business of you mouthing off to Charlie. Hear me now. That girl,” he pointed a finger at me, “just think of her as your better. She is the alpha chick around here. Since I’m pretty damn sure Rage is going to claim her as his, and Shameless already claimed her as a daughter, and she was Brazen’s actual daughter before he passed, she has more pull in this place than you ever have or will have in the future.”
“You’re the President!” Carol moaned.
“And you are nothing to me right now.” Again. Whoa. “You were warned before not to get involved in shit that you didn’t belong in. Then you’re going to come in here and try to call both Charlie and Spinner out as liars when I have video proof.”
“I didn’t know you had video.”
“Exactly, which just means you proved to me you can’t be trusted. Loyalty and Honor above all. You have it or you don’t. This is not the first time you’ve proven you don’t have what it takes to be the President’s old lady, but it damn su
re will be the last time.” He huffed as he sat back down in his seat. “You aren’t being banned from the club, but only out of respect for Steel. Your son will be made aware that if you make one more misstep involving the club you will be.” He nodded toward the office door then. “Get out, and get off Club property. Don’t let me catch you back here for at least a month. And when you do decide to come back in this clubhouse, it will be with an apology on your lips for the entire club, especially Charlie, about your rude as shit behavior. Am I understood?”
She nodded and stood to leave. That was not good enough for Iceman though. “I asked if I was understood,” he voiced sternly. “Yes, you’re understood,” she answered in a hushed tone then proceeded to leave. Iceman was immediately on the phone. “Yeah, you’re to follow Carol. Make sure she leaves the property, and keep eyes on her for a couple days. Report back with anything out of the ordinary.” He got ready to hang up and then stopped, seeming to think of something else. “Bring her leathers to me too. I don’t care what kind of fight she puts up. They no longer belong to her.” He hung up and turned his attention back to me. The guys seemed stunned by whatever that meant. I just sat there, waiting. This was not the reason I had been summoned to the office so there was still the possibility of one more shoe dropping on me today.
“Charlie,” he huffed out a sigh. “Fuck! I’m really sorry that cunt got in your face. She’s been trying my patience for a couple years now, and my failure to deal with my personal problems cost you today, for that you have my apology.”
I looked Iceman in the eye, because I wanted to be sure he heard me. “Don’t ever apologize to me for another person acting out. That is beyond your control. I appreciate you handling it, and having my back, as well as trusting that what I told you was the truth though. That means a lot.”
Iceman smiled at me then turned to Rage. “You better lock that shit down before someone else sees what they’re missing out on.” Rage just smirked, bringing out just one dimple to play with the maneuver as he tossed a wink my way. I rolled my eyes at him, and the guys in the room laughed. “The best kind of sassy there is.” He smiled as he glanced between the both of us and then he was looking at only me again, face growing serious.
Dancing With Danger Page 11