Harley

by Blair Grey

  It wasn’t always easy, and rarely was it black and white, but it was still something. I had to go along with what they said.

  But, when I got the call as Paisley and I were out in the clearing, I was eager to take it and find out what was going on. It was Jett on the other end of the line, and though he was vague, he told me to bring Paisley and head back to the bar as soon as we could get there.

  “Why does he need me to come with you?” she asked as we got on the bike.

  “He found out something with the MC, and he wants you there to be able to discuss what we’re going to do next,” I told her. “Hang on, I told him we’d be there in just a few minutes.”

  She gripped my waist, and we sped off in the direction of town. I knew they would be at Echo Mori, and I pushed the speed limit to get there. If there was a chance we could get to the end of this, then I was more than happy to drop everything and see what could be done.

  I wanted to be with Paisley, but more than that, I wanted to make sure she was okay. I didn’t want her to be stuck in the middle of this mess anymore.

  But, if Jett had figured out a solution, then we were on our way to being done with this for good, and that’s what I really wanted. Not just for the sake of getting the justice I wanted to get, but for the sake of Paisley getting the peace of mind she wanted, too.

  We got off the bike and headed into the bar quickly, meeting with most of the committee as we sat down.

  “What did you figure out?” I asked.

  “A couple of the boys were on this, and they found out the name of the MC Shade’s connected with,” Jett explained. “We know he’s been working hard to convince them she’s the one to blame for a drug deal that went bad, and if they have their way, he’s going to hunt her down and offer her up as restitution to the MC to try to soothe the bad blood that’s brewing over there now.”

  Paisley shivered, and I put my hand on her shoulder. I knew she hated the idea of more violence, but I wasn’t going to let her get caught up in any of this. She was safe with me, I would make damn sure of that. But, she still hated the talk of everything, and I knew it was hard for her to accept that it this was really happening.

  “We’re going to work with them to try to figure out if we can get the blame wiped off Paisley. We know she didn’t have anything to do with the way the deal went, and if we can convince them that the one to blame is Shade, they’ll deal with it internally,” Blade said.

  “I think Hell’s Crusaders are pretty open-minded when it comes to this sort of thing,” Ares offered. He would know, but at the same time, he wasn’t the one whose life was on the line. I knew Paisley wasn’t happy with the development, and though she knew some of this had been going on before, it was hard for her to hear the truth about all of it now.

  I gave her hand another squeeze. “It’s going to be okay, I promise,” I told her.

  She nodded, but was still pale.

  “So, what are we going to do?” I asked Jett.

  “We’re going to meet with the MC on the far side of town,” Jett said. “I’m not thrilled with the fact they want us to bring Paisley along, but I think if it’s what we need to do to get them off her back entirely, then we should consider it as an option.”

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Paisley whispered to me, but I squeezed her hand.

  “It’s going to be okay. I’m not going to let anyone come near you, I promise,” I told her.

  She nodded, but the look on her face made it clear that she didn’t believe me. She wasn’t going to relax until this was over and done with for good, and I didn’t blame her. But, I wasn’t going to abandon her, and if she was going to come along for this ride, then I would make sure she didn’t leave my side the entire time we spoke with the other MC.

  This wasn’t my way of handling things, but then, I wasn’t the president. That was Jett’s job, and if he thought this was the right way to do things, then I would go with that. I just hoped to God he knew what he was doing.

  Because I wanted this to be over and done with. I wanted to be free of this. I wanted Paisley to be happy.

  And, I feared there was a different motive for asking if Paisley could come to the meeting. I knew how MCs worked, and I knew there was often a reason they wanted everything to be on the table when we met for something such as this.

  If we were bringing Paisley along with us, then we might be getting to the bottom of this…or it could mean something else. It could very possibly mean we were in for the one thing that was on the back of everyone’s minds.

  The thing I feared more than anything…

  Chapter 20

  Harley

  “Ambush!”

  The word rang out from the front of our group, but I was already on edge. I’d had a bad feeling about it since we left the bar, and I knew Jett did, too. He had to have known something was going on – he had brought along the rest of the MC with us when we went to meet with Hell’s Crusaders.

  Of course, we had hoped for the best. We wanted this to be nothing more than just a group of us going to negotiate the proper handling of what was going on with Paisley and her ex. But, considering the fact they wanted us to bring along Paisley for the ride, I had a feeling it was going to turn into something much worse.

  After all, with Jett going as well as Blade, they were going to have the one who got blamed for the drug deal going wrong as the president and vice president of the biggest MC in the area.

  That would give them a massive advantage. Not only would they be able to take out the person they were blaming for this in the first place, but they were going to have a shot at taking down the leadership of the MC that was causing them the most trouble. It was a perfect plan, I had to admit, and one Jett knew could be in the work.

  He was smart, and there was a reason he was our leader. It wasn’t just because he inherited the position from his dad. He was always prepared for things like this, and he was ready for the fight to come to him though we were the ones who were meeting with the MC on their turf.

  We had our guns loaded and at the ready, ready to take aim and fire if there was a need. And damn, did that need come fast.

  Paisley was riding on the back my bike, her arms wrapped around my waist as we rode along. I had promised her things were going to be okay, and I would keep her safe. It was a promise I intended to keep, but it was difficult to be able to protect her like I wanted to when there were bullets ripping through the air all around us.

  She screamed when the first shots rang out, and our bikes came to a screeching halt. Every Steel Wings member who was present was ready for the fight, and we all had our guns in our hands and were diving for cover before the report of the first shot even faded fully away.

  We were ready for the fight, but I still worried about Paisley being there. The other MC was on the offensive, coming out from hiding with their guns drawn and knives in their hands. I wasn’t sure which was the ex boyfriend, but I hoped to God I would put a bullet in his head before he had the chance to get anywhere near us.

  Paisley was clinging to me, trying her best to stay small against me.

  “Take cover!” I nearly shouted at her. “Get out of here!”

  “No!” she called back. “I’m not leaving you!”

  “You need to find somewhere safe to hide! I can’t keep you safe when we’re stuck out in the open like this!” I yelled back. But, there was no budging her from me. She made it clear she was going to hang onto me no matter what, and though I was trying to fight her back, she wasn’t going to leave.

  “You need to be safe!” I tried again.

  “You can’t die for me!” Paisley yelled back stubbornly. “I’m going to stand with you, no matter what happens!”

  I knew it was pointless to argue with her further. She wasn’t budging, and there wasn’t any way I could convince her to leave my side as long as we were being showered with the gunfire. I had to get her out of there if I was going to make sure she was safe.

&nbs
p; So, I pushed her along with me to try to get her to the other side of the street. We were close to the residential section of town, and I knew it wasn’t likely going to take very long before the residents started calling the cops.

  They were used to fights happening in town. It didn’t seem long could go by without someone getting into a fight of some kind, especially when it came to the fights that broke out between the MCs. It didn’t happen daily, but it was rare for even a full week to pass before someone broke into a fight with someone else.

  There was often bloodshed, but it still wasn’t unusual for the battles to be dismissed as nothing more than gang violence. That was fine with us. We liked to be able to take care of our differences without having the cops get involved. They never took into consideration why we were fighting in the first place, which only made our problems worse.

  We wanted to be able to work our things out ourselves, and to be able to do that, we had to be able to get into these sorts of battles. They might be bloody, and they might leave several dead on both sides, but at least they helped decide our differences and move on with our way of life.

  Of course, I wasn’t at all happy to have Paisley stuck in the middle of the drama. She hadn’t wanted to come along in the first place, and the only reason she was here was because I had gone with the hope we weren’t going to end up trying to kill each other.

  I wanted it to be like the other MC had suggested. I wanted to be able to just talk it out with them and be able to work out the differences we had without it coming down to this. If they were smart, they would listen to what Jett had to say and not break out in a fight like this.

  But, clearly, Shade had them convinced Paisley was the one to blame for everything, and they were going to do everything in their power to kill her along with the rest of us if they could. If there was a way for them to end up on top, then they were going to take it.

  They didn’t seem to realize, however, that we were ready for them. We were going to fight back with all the strength we had, and there was a reason we were the top MC in the area. We knew what we were doing, and we fought like we did, too.

  We weren’t afraid of anything, and with Jett leading us into this battle, I knew we would come out on top. My only fear was that Paisley would get caught up in the crossfire and get hurt or killed. I would be willing to die for the MC, and I would even be willing to die for her, but I didn’t want her to die in the crossfire here.

  Or, even worse than that, for her ex to get a hold of her and deliver a fatal blow while I was caught up in the fight. I tried to keep my eye on her as best as I could, but it was hard with all the flashes and sparks flying in the dark.

  We’d met under the cover of nightfall with the intent of keeping the entire thing under the radar, but when the fight broke out, chaos was unleashed. I wasn’t sure where Paisley was, and there was only a brief relief that ran through me when I caught a glimpse of her.

  I normally enjoyed the fights we got into with other MCs. It didn’t bother me at all to throw my fist in faces and hear bone crunching under my knuckles. I would use anything I could get my hands on to gain and keep the upper hand, that was for sure.

  I would use my fists, my gun, the knives I had in my vest…anything really. If it meant I would win the fight, then I was more than happy to use it to my advantage. But, it was hard for me to concentrate on the fight when I kept wondering what was going on with Paisley.

  She wasn’t a fighter, that was for sure, and with the way the violence had erupted all around her, she was cowering away from everything. She was trying to get out of the line of fire from anyone who was trying to shoot at her, and she didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire, either.

  There were bullets flying through the air, making it nearly impossible to lean out from behind the garbage can I was using as a shield. I knew it wasn’t much, but I had to get around it if I was going to have a chance of getting a good hit in the fight.

  I wasn’t the sort of person to hide my way through any battle, and I was eager to leave a mark on the other side. I would do anything to protect Paisley in the thick of things, but that wasn’t the only thing I would do.

  I couldn’t very well see my brothers fighting alongside me, but I knew they were still out there. I knew they were fighting with their hearts and souls in the mix just like I was. We fought as one, and we would continue to fight our way out of this.

  No one got the jump on the Steel Wings, and at this point, I didn’t care what the point of the fight was in the first place. I wasn’t going to leave here without at least putting several of these men to the ground, and I was sure I’d already more than met my goal with that one.

  It was hard to tell who had been hit and who was still firing, but I knew as long as I had the ability to fight – and there was a fight to be had – I was going to stand strong with the rest of the MC. I would swing my fists if that was all I had left to swing, and I would make it happen.

  This was what I was meant to do with my life, and I was proud of it. With the added adrenaline rushing through me to take care of Paisley, I knew I was a madman in the center of the storm. But I didn’t care. I was fighting for what I believed in, and that meant I would give it more than what I already thought I had in me.

  I would give it everything, and I would make sure she was okay. I would fight with every ounce of strength I had left in me.

  And even in the thick of this, she was on the forefront of my mind. I would take care of her. I would make sure she was okay. I’d die for her if I had to.

  But if I had my way, I would kill for her even more.

  Chapter 21

  Paisley

  In all my life, I’d never been in such an intense situation as the fight with the rival MC. I knew I hated MCs. I knew there was a reason why I avoided them like the plague, but even in the tough situations I’d had with them in the past, this was by far the worst thing I’d ever been involved in.

  There were men screaming and shouting, and the sound of bullets hitting their mark. It was terrible when they were shot and missed, but to someone who wasn’t in the life, it was even worse when they hit the people they were intended for.

  But, I knew we were fighting for a reason, and if I wanted to get out of this, then I had to do my part. I never wanted to see Shade again, and I knew the only way to get him to leave me alone for good was to fight my way through this once and for all. I had to get rid of him. I had to fight him off. I had to make sure he knew I wanted nothing more to do with him for as long as I lived.

  I would do just about anything to make sure he left me alone for good, and if that meant I had to swing my fists and claw and scratch my way out of this, then I would do it in a heartbeat. It was the only thing I could think to do to be free – and I was willing to finally take that chance once and for all.

  I was done being under his control. I couldn’t do it anymore.

  And if that meant I was going to fight him face-to-face now, then so be it. I was willing to fight for my freedom, and knowing I had the Steel Wings at my back, I knew I could do this. I was going to push through and I was going to make it happen.

  No matter what, I wasn’t ever going back to where I was before. I was done with the way Shade treated me, and that was the end of that. No more second guessing myself. No more letting him abuse me. No more letting him do whatever the Hell he wanted to do to me and treating me like I was his property.

  I was over all of it, and I wasn’t going to put up with any of it anymore. This was ridiculous, and I was done.

  I picked up a board I found lying next to a pile of garbage. It wasn’t much, especially against the knives and the guns, but it was a weapon in and of itself, and I wasn’t going to waste a second putting it to good use.

  I swung it hard and fast, striking at anyone who was in my way. I wasn’t good at knowing who was on whose side by the emblem on the vests. It was too dark for me to see what was going on. Instead, I would go for anyone who was trying to shoot Harl
ey.

  He, of course, was holding his own, which didn’t come as a surprise in the slightest. I didn’t know much about fighting, and I didn’t feel I was doing very well holding my own against the men who were coming down on us now, but I was fighting with the man I had fallen for.

  Never before had I given myself permission to think of him that way, but now, I knew something was different. Something had changed between us, and I was going to cling to that with all I had within me. I was going to make the most of this moment and keep fighting with all I had to fight.

  For too long, I had been the one cowering and letting the rest of the world unfold around me. For too long, I had been the one to run and hide when things got tough. Sure, I had been through Hell, but I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life being stuck there. No, I wanted to be free of this, and free once and for all.

  I was done with this. More than anything, I was done.

  I never again wanted to know what it was like to be hiding in my own bedroom, afraid for my life when the person who was supposed to love me more than anything came home. Never again did I want to be in a position of fear, knowing they were going to hurt me.

  Never again did I want to give anyone else the power over me to treat me like garbage. I never wanted to be at the mercy of someone else. I wanted to be with someone who would love me and take care of me. I wanted to be able to take care of myself.

  I never wanted to fully depend on another again, and I wanted to be able to be part of the relationship. I wanted more than anything to be able to stand on my own two feet, and I wanted to be with a man who let me do that. I didn’t want to be controlled, and ever since I met Harley, I realized I didn’t have to be.

  I didn’t have to be afraid of anyone, or anything for that matter. I could be in control over my life, and I wanted to be. And with Harley there to back me, I knew I would be, too.