Girth (Marked Skulls MC Book 1)

by Savannah Rylan

  “They’re running a prostitution ring. They’re getting these girls to sleep with men for money. We don’t know who these clients are but there is definitely money involved and from what we saw; these guys don’t treat the girls well,” I said and Axel and I were staring at each other. He could see how pissed off I was.

  “Motherfuckers,” he cursed under his breath, but loud enough for us to hear.

  “This goes against every code for us,” Thor chipped in and people around us had started talking again.

  “What do you think we should do, Gunner?” Axel asked me and I took in a deep breath. I was surprised that Axel had sought out my advice so soon. It must be because of my family, which filled my chest with pride. My father would be proud.

  “They need to be taken out before more girls get involved,” I said and I couldn’t help but think of Brooklyn. I had no idea how she was involved with the Dragon Knights, but I wasn’t going to give up. I needed to get her out of their grasp, whatever hold they had on her.

  “And we need to rescue the girls,” Hunter added and the others in the bar were nodding their heads and agreeing with what was being said.

  “I can’t have this on my territory. It’s bad business,” Axel said, in a faraway voice like he was thinking.

  “So, what are we going to do?” Sniper asked and Axel looked at us again.

  “We’ll have to take them out,” he said and a louder chatter erupted in the bar.

  “We can’t just take them out, Axel. There are rules,” Thor said to him, but I was glaring at Axel and he was glaring back. We were both thinking the same thing.

  “This is what needs to be done. They’ve broken the rules by getting girls involved in this,” Axel said, snapping at Thor.

  “We’ll be risking men’s lives,” Thor said and Axel looked around the bar.

  “Who is too much of a pussy to not fight it out with the Dragon Knights and stop a prostitution ring?” Axel asked in a louder voice and a silence blanketed the bar again. Nobody raised their hand or stepped forward and I found a grin emerging on my face. In that moment, Axel reminded me of my dad. He knew how to get his way around here and the men respected him for it.

  Axel looked back at Thor.

  “There are the lives of innocent girls here at stake. It’s a prostitution ring, fucks sake. Which means that girls are being held against their will and being forced to have sex,” Axel said and I clenched my hands on my sides. The more we spoke about this, the more anxious I was to get to Brooklyn. She needed to distance herself from the Dragon Knights as quickly as possible. Even if that meant her leaving town. Even if that meant that I might never see her again. I had to get that woman safe.

  “Tomorrow night,” Axel said and everyone began talking loudly. “The operation needs to happen tomorrow. We cannot let this continue for a day longer,” he added and I nodded my head.

  While the others talked, I stepped up closer to Axel.

  “This is what your father would have done, Gunner, and I can see you have his fire. Just like Bryce did,” Axel said and I clenched my jaw. He had no idea.

  “I’ll be there,” I said to him in a low deep voice and he must have seen the burning flames in my eyes, because he reached out and thumped my shoulder.

  “I know you will,” he said.

  “But right now, I have to go and take care of something else. I need to leave,” I said to him and he seemed to hesitate for a few seconds.

  “Go on,” he said and I turned and ran out of the bar, before Glock or one of the others could stop me.

  I needed to find Brooklyn and I needed to make sure that she was nowhere near those bastards.

  How had this happened? How had I fallen for the one woman out of everyone in Long Beach, who might get caught up in this crossfire between us and the Dragon Knights?

  I didn’t want to imagine that she knew what was going on. She didn’t seem like she did. I was angry because she was being naive and stubborn, but I knew she had no reason to trust me.

  I got on my Harley and rode off in the direction of PJ’s. I curse under my breath as I realized that I didn’t even know where she lived.

  Chapter 12

  Gunner

  I burst through the doors at PJ’s and found Sam behind the counter, serving drinks lazily.

  “Gunner, man! I was expecting you,” he said with a smile on his face. When he noticed how grim I looked, the smile dropped.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “Where’s Brooklyn?” I thundered and Sam looked confused.

  “Brooklyn? She’s not here. She canceled her shift and I had to cover for her last minute,” Sam said and I ran a hand through my hair.

  “Can you give me her address?” I asked, ready to put my helmet back on.

  “Look man, I know you and all, but I can’t go around giving her address out to everyone who asks, man,” Sam was shaking his head and I reached over the counter and grabbed him by his shirt collar. I could sense some of the guys at the bar turning to look at us, but I didn’t care.

  “I appreciate your concern, Sam, but I really need to know where she is,” I hissed through gritted teeth. I could see that Sam was squirming. We’d known each other for several years and he hadn’t ever seen me lose my temper.

  “Okay, okay…” he said and I loosened my grip on his shirt. He shot me an angry look before giving me the address to her apartment.

  “Thanks, Sam,” I said and turned to walk away from him and stopped in my tracks at the last minute.

  “And I’m sorry about all this. I just really need to see her,” I said and Sam scowled at me but nodded his head.

  “Whatever man,” he said and I decided to deal with him later. I owed him a drink for all these favors he was doing me.

  Back on my bike, I rode at full speed dodging traffic dangerously, as I made my way to her apartment building. Sam had told me she lived on the sixth floor and I jumped off my bike. Someone was just leaving the building so I didn’t need to be buzzed in. I took the stairs two at a time, till I was banging on her door.

  “Brooklyn! Open up. It’s me. We need to talk!” I was barking and someone opened the door of their apartment down the hall. I glared at the guy and he slunk back in.

  “Brooklyn! I want to apologize. Just open up,” I shouted, but there were no sounds in her apartment. I stood there, banging on her door for several minutes longer till I decided that she wasn’t there.

  On my way down to the bike, I tried her phone number but it rang away. It could have been that she was avoiding my calls and she had every right to. She obviously had no idea how desperate I was to find her.

  I sat back on my bike and gripped the accelerators tightly, trying to decide where to go next, when the thought struck me. We’d just had a fight. I’d commanded her not to see the Dragon Knights and she had stubbornly claimed that she wouldn’t stop seeing her friends. So, if I ditched her at the last minute…in the middle of an argument…where would she go?

  She’d go straight to the fucking Dragon Knights.

  ***

  I parked my bike at a nearby building from The Bird. The bar I knew belonged to the Dragon Knights, and I didn’t want to risk causing anything by pulling up in front with my bike. The lights from inside the bar were spilling out on the dark pavements, and I walked cautiously towards the door. There was grunge music being played loudly inside, and rows of bikes and muscle cars were parked outside. Clearly, most members of the club were inside and I was going to be walking right into the Devil’s lair.

  No outsiders ever visited The Bird. Just like our own Rusty Pelican, The Bird was exclusively frequented by DK members and they’d be able to sniff me out the moment I entered the place.

  And there was no way I’d be mistaken for someone else. Everyone in these parts knew the Alton family. They all knew Bryce and they especially knew my dad and I was certain that they would know me by face as well, even if I didn’t know them. Most people claimed that I was the spitting
image of my father.

  Whether or not they got the news that I’d officially joined the Bad Disciples, just having someone from the Alton family in their midst wasn’t going to work in my favor. Every step I took towards the bar was against my better judgement but I had no other choice. I had to find Brooklyn and I had to get her out of there.

  I took the three steps up on to the wooden porch area, and just as I was about to knock open the doors I stopped. I needed to re-think this. If Axel was planning an operation for the next day, he was relying on me. Exposing myself to a bar full of DK members was going to be the stupidest move I made, and I’d probably end up jeopardizing the whole operation. People’s lives were at risk here.

  Instead of stepping through the doors, I peeked in through one of the windows. The place was filled with bikers and I knew instantly that I was vastly outnumbered. I was about to turn away when I caught sight of Brooklyn.

  She was sitting at a table, cradling a glass of gin in her hands and I could see her smiling widely. Some guys were standing around her, talking to her, and I could tell that they were making jokes and she was having a good time.

  I liked seeing her smile, and I wished that this wasn’t happening so that I wouldn’t have to force her away from her friends…but she had no idea who they really were.

  I could also see the way they were looking at her. Brooklyn was clearly one of the handful of women at the bar, but most of their eyes were on her. It was like she was giving out a glow of sensuality where she sat.

  I wanted to barge in and rip their eyes out of their skulls for looking at her. I wanted them to know that she had gotten all dressed up that night for me. That we were supposed to be on a date, and probably would have still been on one if I hadn’t been fucking stupid enough to start a fight with her.

  I should have known better than to assume that Brooklyn would just follow orders without question. I should have known that she wasn’t that kind of woman. She was feisty, independent and stubborn as all hell. Now I watched her as she flicked locks of curls over her shoulder and smiled and laughed as she talked with the men.

  She seemed comfortable in her surroundings, and not threatened or afraid like any other woman might have been. It was like she had been doing this for a very long time. I wondered if she was one of the groupies. If she had ever been any of their property. Did I care if she was? I still wanted her to be safe.

  I took the steps back down and walked to my Harley. I wasn’t going to leave without at least speaking to her and I pulled out my cellphone from my pocket. Through the window, I kept a steady eye on her as I heard the phone ring.

  I watched as she looked about her, when she realized that she could hear a phone ring. Then she touched her purse, as though to feel for vibrations.

  “C’mon Brooklyn…pick up,” I muttered under my breath. The ringing died, just as I saw her extract her phone out of her purse. I dialed her number again immediately and this time, she answered.

  “Hello?” she said and I realized that my number was blocked, so she had no idea who was calling. She had ducked her head low and I could see the creased forehead, the look in her eyes that told me that she was hoping it was me.

  “It’s me Brooklyn,” I said and there was silence on her end, other than the loud background music and the chatter of voices around her of course.

  “Why are you calling me now, Gunner? I thought you were very busy,” I heard her say. I could see her still, and I saw the way she was looking suspiciously about her at the men. I could sense that she didn’t want them to know she was talking to someone.

  Now I could understand her stubbornness better. She felt claustrophobic around those guys, and she didn’t want to feel pressurized by me too. But I had no other choice. Getting her out of there was the only way to keep her safe.

  “Brooklyn, can we talk? Can we finish the conversation we were having?” I said, hoping that now I would see her stand up, but she didn’t. She only pressed her phone closer to her ear.

  “I thought it was an argument we were having, and that you gave me an ultimatum,” she said.

  “I didn’t give you an ultimatum, Brooklyn, I just want you to be safe,” I said.

  “And I told you that they’re my friends and I don’t need your protection,” she replied.

  “Okay, can we please just talk about this in person?” I said and I watched as she looked over her shoulders again. The longer I saw her cowering like that, the angrier I got. I wanted her to get away from all those assholes.

  “I don’t know what more you could have to say to me,” she said.

  “Let’s just talk and I’ll explain,” I said and then I heard her sigh.

  “Well, I’m with them right now, so I can’t leave. That would be rude,” she said and I gritted my teeth. It wouldn’t just be rude, it would be much more than that. I strongly suspected that these guys kept a close eye on her, and they wouldn’t just randomly let her leave. I was surprised that she had even managed to meet me at Temple Bar. I would have expected her to get into trouble for that.

  “Okay, so just come out and talk to me then,” I said and Brooklyn looked up. I saw the way her curls shook and how her mouth was pursed together. That mouth that I knew would fit so tightly around me cock. I needed to stop staring at her body, and concentrate on the problem in hand!

  “Outside? What do you mean?” she asked, and I could hear the slight fear in her voice.

  “Outside the bar. I’m parked outside The Bird,” I said and now Brooklyn stood up.

  “How did you know where to find me, Gunner? What is going on?” I could hear the tremble in her voice, as I watched her trying to squeeze her way through the crowded bar to the front doors.

  “I made a wild guess,” I tried to joke. “I don’t live under a rock, Brooklyn. I know where the Dragon Knights hang out,” I added.

  Brooklyn had made her way to the door by now and she was just about to step outside, when I saw a tall muscular guy with a head of thick blond hair stop her. He had placed a hand on her waist and spun her around and the call ended. She had purposely ended the call.

  “Brooklyn!” I barked into the phone, but the line was dead.

  I watched in seething anger as the guy swung her in his arms. Brooklyn was smiling nervously at him, trying to slide herself out of his grip and I prepared myself to head inside. I wasn’t going to just stand by and watch her getting groped. No matter what the consequences were.

  I took a few steps forward, and then saw as she slipped out of his arms and was at the door.

  We were facing each other and she was standing with her mouth hanging open.

  “Brooklyn!” I said her name, relieved, and she stepped towards me and then walked past.

  “We need to get out of their sight first,” she hissed in the dark and I heard her heels clicking against the road as she made her way towards the end of the parking lot.

  Chapter 13

  Brooklyn

  My heart was racing as I walked in the dark as far away from the bar as possible. Viper had caught me leaving at the last minute, asking me questions again…flirting. I was hoping that I’d managed to make my escape by claiming that I needed some air and I wasn’t feeling too well. I knew they had all been heavily drinking the whole night and maybe, if I got lucky, he wouldn’t notice how long I was gone. Either way, I needed to make this quick.

  I turned around to face Gunner when I thought I’d walked far enough away from the bar. I was relieved to see him, happy that he had called…at least he wasn’t the kind of guy who’d just ignore me endlessly just because we’d gotten into an argument.

  “So, what do you have to say for yourself?” I said and crossed my arms over my breasts. My eyes were adjusting to the darkness of the night, and his blue eyes seemed to twinkle in the dim silvery moonlight that was surrounding us. He towered over me, a hulking bulk of a man…all muscle and strength and I was quickly reminded of why I was so damn attracted to him.

  “Well, I do want
to apologize for my behavior. I should have explained it better,” Gunner said and I pursed my lips.

  “You’re not very good at apologizing, are you?” I asked him, arching my eyebrows. Gunner wasn’t in good humor, unlike me…I was just glad to see him again. I was just glad that we might have a chance to make up.

  “I said I wanted to apologize,” he said and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

  “But you didn’t actually say the words,” I tried to smile at him, but he was making it very difficult to.

  “It’s hard to beg for an apology right now, given where you are,” he said and I rolled my eyes at him. Not this again! I thought we had gone past it. I thought he wanted to apologize to me for asking me to stay away from my friends.

  “What are you doing here then, Gunner?” I snapped and he took a step towards me. Our proximity made my breath choke up in my throat. Just a step in my direction had a crippling effect on me that I couldn’t explain.

  “I’m here to take you away from this place, to a safer location,” he said and I opened my mouth and shook my head in frustration.

  “Why are you bringing this up again, Gunner? I thought you wanted to apologize,” I said and he stepped towards me again.

  “You don’t know them Brooklyn!” his voice rose a little and I glared at him.

  “And you know them, how? I’ve spent all my life in their midst, Gunner. They are not what they seem from the outside. Yes, they can come on a bit strong and they live life differently from the regular Joe…” I was speaking too quickly now, desperate for him to see reason. If we were going to have any kind of relationship…whatever it might be…he would have to accept my friends. The Dragon Knights accepting him was another question entirely.

  “Brooklyn, you’re mistaken about them,” he interrupted me and I rolled my eyes at him again. He was just not hearing me.

  “I think I know them better than you do! You’ve made your judgements about them, just like everyone else in Long Beach has. If you’re not in their bad books, there is no need to worry. And I’m not in their bad books, Gunner…like I said, I’m like family to them,” I said, stopping myself just in time from mentioning how involved my family had always been with the Dragon Knights.