Beginning of the Reckoning

by Vera Quinn

  I have been sitting here waiting for the gym to open for thirty minutes. I admit I was here fifteen minutes early but who in the hell opens a business fifteen minutes late? I thought Callie said to be here early so I could talk to this guy before classes started. I think about what kind of classes they could be offering at a gym and then I think this might be a sweet gig if I get to take some of them. My ass could always use a little tightening. Curse of a short woman or like Em likes to put it, vertically challenged, is if you like to eat then you must exercise to keep the weight off your ass. Why can’t the extra weight just go to my boobs or go to make me taller? I so wish I was five nine with a willowy build. Nope, I am five four with birthing hips and a jiggly ass. My boobs are more than a handful but not nearly as perky as they once were. Long legs, nope. I have muscular legs from all the walking I do, the one exercise I enjoy. I eat healthy but I refuse to starve myself. After giving birth to two children I am still only one size larger than my original weight and that thought stops me. I will not go there. I am brought out of my thoughts by the sound of a motorcycle. This sound used to thrill me but not so much now. I watch as the biker that I have been waiting on parks his bike next to my truck. I can see that this is going to be an interesting interview from the smirk on the man’s face. “This is what I love about my life.” I wait for the rest of the line from this delicious biker. Yes, I’ve sworn off bikers but I would have to be dead not to see the pure sex appeal radiating off this man. His eyes are a deep blue and his body is massive. Broad shoulders, muscled up arms with tattoos running down them, his chest is broad and the tight t-shirt he is wearing shows off the definition of his pecs. He is a reckless man or likes a bit of danger because he isn’t wearing a helmet. I am taking in all that is making my mouth water with need but I tamp that shit down fast when I hear a laugh come out of his mouth. My attention is brought back to his face. “A beautiful woman waiting on me and the look of want and lust in her eyes.” This reminds me exactly why I need to stay away from bikers. I smile at him and give it to him straight.

  “That look in my eyes is need, I need a job, but the rest is impatience because the gym should have been open fifteen minutes ago. Haven’t you ever heard time is money?” I keep my voice as even as I can. I see the surprise in his eyes that I am not trying to flirt with him. Then he has the nerve to wink at me and smile a smile that I am sure has gotten plenty of women to drop their panties for him.

  “Well, sugar, I don’t punch a time clock but if I had known you were waiting on me I would have been here earlier. I like my women feisty but you are on the verge of mouthy. I don’t like that so much but I bet we could find a way to make you happy.” Does this man not know that sexual innuendoes are not going to impress me?

  “Give me the job that I am applying for and we will be good. If not then I have other applications to fill out,” I tell him calmly while trying to keep my eyes anywhere but on this man in front of me. When he dismounts his bike, I step back and try to catch my breath, but this man is tall and his legs look like they were poured into his jeans. Very muscular legs in very tight jeans. He takes a step towards me and I take a step back. I do not need to be any closer to this man. He sticks his hand out to me and I look at it and then I put my hand in his and we shake hands. My breath catches and I feel a little jolt in my hand. I sneak a glimpse at his eyes and he is smiling. He brings my hand to his mouth and I know I should stop this but it is like I am frozen in time. He kisses my hand softly and I try to pull it back but he holds it and turns it over and runs kisses over my wrist and my panties are soaked. How could he know to do this? My pulse point in my wrist has always been sensitive to kisses and this man just drenched my panties. I am mesmerized until I see the smirk on his face and right then I know he knows exactly what he is doing to me so I jerk my hand away and wipe it down my jeans and step back to get some distance.

  “Sugar, you afraid of the heat between us?” I try to get myself together. I clear my throat and try to turn on my inner bitch. “Callie told me to come by for an interview and I am here for that. I am not interested in anything else so let’s do the interview or I can find something else.” I hope by mentioning Callie’s name it will get his mind back on track.

  “You’re Joy, the woman from Texas and the BlackPath MC?” A strange look crosses his face. I guess I should have started with that part. “We don’t have club girls here at the gym. Don’t you think the clubhouse would be a better fit for you?” That just pisses me off.

  “Not that it is any of your business but I am not a club girl anymore. I’m looking for a job, here. Can I have your name so I know who I am talking to since you seem to know who I am?” He’s looking me up and down.

  “Name’ s Hacksaw. I am the VP of the Feral Steel MC.” He points to his name on his cut that I already scoped that out. I was trying to be a bitch. Guess that flew right over his head. “Let’s take this inside so we can a have a sit down in my office.” Hacksaw walks around me and towards the gym. I can’t help but watch his ass in his form fitting jeans. Damn, he fills them jeans out. Hacksaw walks up to the door and opens it with his keys and then steps inside to disarm the security system. I stand outside until he looks back out at me and then I follow him inside and across the gym to an office. He puts in another code and then opens the door and steps in and turns the light on. He looks back at me and then walks back out. “Have a seat while I turn the rest of the lights on and check everything out.” I do as he had said and wait. I look around in the office and there is nothing much to look at. There is the chair I am sitting in and another chair beside it. A desk with a chair and a filing cabinet. There’s an old sofa that has seen better days. There’s a computer and a phone on the desk but there is nothing else in here. No pictures and the desk doesn’t have one paper on top of it. I see a tall metal trash can but even it is empty. They must have a cleaning service. No way bikers keep this place this clean. I was in a clubhouse for years and bikers do not clean up after themselves. Hacksaw walks back in and sits down behind the desk. “Alright sugar, let’s try this again. Why do you want to work here instead of the clubhouse?” I am ready to lose my mind with Hacksaw’s attitude.

  “Do you know that there are questions that you can and can’t ask during a job interview? This line of questioning is inappropriate.” I am trying not to get too much of an attitude. I really want this job. Hacksaw surprises me when he starts laughing. Then his eyes go completely serious and I can see why someone would be intimidated by his stare.

  “Sugar, the Feral Steel Motorcycle Club owns this damn gym and I am the vice president so I can ask any damn questions I want to. My job as VP is to make sure no outside threats get into our inner circle. So, get off your high horse and answer the questions or get back in that truck out there and go back to Texas.” Oh no, he didn’t.

  “I’m not your sugar. The name is Joy and the only thing I want is a damn job. If you are not hiring I will find another place of employment which might not be a bad idea since you are such an ass.” I want to say more but I don’t want this biker going psycho on me. Hacksaw just smiles which is irritating the hell out of me.

  “Sugar, did Chief send you to keep an eye on us? We are friendly w ith the BlackPath MC so I can’t see that being the case. Why would someone who is used to spreading her legs for a club want out? Nothing wrong with being a club girl if that is what you want. You look like you have a few more good years in you. You have a good rack, not the best, but decent. An ass for days which is nice to look at and hips for grabbing onto. I’d let you blow me or let you ride me for a night. What is your deal? You a patch whore?” My head feels like it is going to explode. I could kill this man. I put my rolled-up fists under my legs to hold them down. I do not trust myself. I do the thing I am good at. I turn my emotions off and answer him with my teeth gritted.

  “Hacksaw, I am not embarrassed about my past and I do not try to hide it. I was a club girl, a whore for bikers of the BlackPath MC. I let men have their pleasure in
me and on me but I have never been a patch whore. I got mine. I own what I have done in my past but I will not let you or anyone else judge me for doing the exact same thing as bikers have done since the beginning of clubs or even before. I fucked men and I enjoyed it but I would never let one patch me even if they asked or begged. You see, Hacksaw, I have seen what the members do when their wife or ol’ lady is not around. The BlackPath MC never force women to do what they don’t want to so I had the choice if I fucked a man with a ring on his finger or a woman sitting home waiting on them. I wouldn’t and I didn’t. I never tried to trap a man and I know how to keep my mouth shut.” I have had enough. I stand up and start to the door but stop at the door and look back at the smiling fool. “Fuck you for trying to make me feel like shit for being me. I am not asking for your approval of my life choices nor do I want it.” I walk through the door but I hear the chair move against the floor. I don’t stop by the time I get to the front door he grabs my arms. I turn to look up at him.

  “Sugar, you are one hot piece, aren’t you? You have the job but you need to keep that attitude in check. I like my women feisty but if you ever talk to me again like that I will put you over my knee and blister your ass red and not in the good way.” I jerk my arm away from him and he lets me. I’m not done sassing yet.

  “Sugar, you stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours. When do I start?” I say in my sassiest sweet voice. Hacksaw winks at me and it makes me see red. “Nine sharp, tomorrow.” Then Hacksaw does something that I don’t expect. He pulls me into him and kisses me. I am stiff until he nibbles on my bottom lip and I melt and open for him and he kisses me. He devours me and owns me. Damn, that man can kiss. He finally pulls away. “Maybe that will cool your jets. There is always more of that where it came from.” I step back and try to get myself to calm down. I take a long breath and realize this job is going to be a mistake. I should run, run fast. I steal myself and look up to him.

  “In your dreams, asshole. I don’t do bikers anymore.” I turn and start to leave but Hacksaw holds the door shut.

  “You keep telling yourself that sugar. You will be in my bed.” Hacksaw pushes the door open and I run to my truck and I never look back.

  This has been a shit day. After the interview with that feisty little woman this morning everything has been downhill since then. I had to cancel both exercise classes this morning because the bitch teaching them couldn’t bother to come to work or even call to let us know she wasn’t going to be here. Then I had to listen to skinny ass bitches whine about it. How this job landed in my lap I have no idea. I’m not a damn paper pusher or a man that wants to sit behind a damn desk all day listening to all the moaning and groaning. If my brothers weren’t depending on me I would have been on my bike and out of here right after Joy left. I am waiting for Rome and his woman Tara to get here and take this shit over. Rome is normally the one handling this shit but he was tied up this morning at the apartments that the Feral Steel own, helping Tara, his ol’ lady. Since the Feral Steel MC has started doing things the legal way there has been less bike riding and more managing businesses we never thought we would have a part of. Besides this gym, we own a garage that is expanding from not only building and working on motorcycles but muscles cars and classic restorations, a couple of sets of apartment buildings, a parts store, and we just bought a drag strip east of town. Those along with the bar, a restaurant and a strip club is stretching our manpower out. If I can’t work in the bar and strip club then I usually end up here in the garage or gym. The brothers that don’t possess a specialty or technical job rotate different positions and hours. We are in the process of hiring civilians for some positions but we are picky about who has their hands in our businesses. Any lucrative business that comes up for sale is on our radar. We need to keep the money coming in so we can keep expanding our reach. We’ve even discussed opening another chapter of the Feral Steel MC further north in a city a little larger than ours so we can bring more members in. We’ve also been thinking about letting some guys go nomad to find the perfect place for our expansion. Either way, we have a need to keep expanding because our family is growing. After the fiasco with Steel and Stone I thought it would be only a matter of time before the Feral Steel MC was disbanded but Devil took over from Steel and he has a vision for us. A vision most of the members of the Feral Steel MC thought was impossible but in the time Devil has been President he has kept us moving forward. We’ve stumbled a few times but it only makes us stronger. I look at the clock on the wall and I wonder what is keeping Rome. I walk to the door and open it and see that Rome and Devil are coming in the gym doors. About damn time. I can tell by the way Devil is walking he is pissed. Who the hell pissed Devil off this time? I go back into the office and it isn’t long before Devil and Rome walk in. I take a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. Rome sits in the other and Devil walks around to the back of the desk and sits down.

  “We have problems.” That brings my attention to Devil. “Don’t I know it. That bitch Becky didn’t show up for the exercise classes today and I have had nothing but whiney bitches all morning long.” By the expression on Devil’s face he is not caring about my morning.

  “Becky didn’t show up because someone killed her sometime late last night or early this morning. The PD guy that is in our pocket said she was beat so badly she was barely recognizable and then shot.” Devil isn’t finished but he is having a hard time containing his anger to get it out. “There was a message on her wall to us written in blood.” I wait for Devil to finish. “It said Feral Steel, I’m coming for you. No one is safe.” I can see that Devil is worried and so is Kane.

  “O z did a background search on Becky Flowers and there were no red flags,” I say out loud but thinking more to myself. Maybe something was missed. Becky wasn’t a bad person, just a little flighty and she liked to talk a lot. She didn’t act like a slut always coming onto the brothers but that mouth of hers was never quiet. She was a health food nut. I heard Becky more than once telling one of the women in her class the evils of refined sugars and red meat. Trust me, I tried to block it out, but she preached that shit religiously. I can’t imagine anyone beating the woman and killing her. She was a slip of a woman, probably didn’t weigh much over a hundred pounds. “Anything else but the message pointing it had anything to do with us? Maybe an abusive boyfriend wanting to point the investigation away from him or her?” Things have been quiet for us for the last few months and except for THC Hempcan, Inc., the Feral Steel MC hasn’t had any problems with anyone.

  “Do you not know anything about the people you work with?” Rome asks me. I am at a loss to what he is talking about. “Becky has a partner, not a boyfriend and she still hasn’t made it home. Don’t even know if the cops have contacted her yet. She’s been in Canada on a photo shoot for the last month. Tara is waiting for our go ahead to reach out to their parents in Florida. Becky moved to Oklahoma with Lisa Becker, her partner, about a year ago. They moved here for Lisa’s work. Lisa and Becky have been together since they were in high school. Right out of college Lisa got a job at a magazine as a photographer. They were both from the Tampa area in Florida so they chose our small town to live in to stay away from big city life and Lisa commuted. Lisa is out of town a lot for work so she felt more comfortable with Becky in our small-town setting.” I look at Rome like he is crazy.