Living A Beautiful War

by Debra Kayn

  Cam was equally aware of the seven Bantorus members who watched him, so he made no mistakes, though he never let on that he was under watch. Lilly pulled her gaze away from him and found Ink against the back wall. Her skin tingled. He'd watched her check out Cam.

  Not wanting him to mistake her concern for anything else, she slipped behind Germ and approached Ink. He kept his gaze across the room, but this close, she could feel his body stiffen. Yep, bikers were their own breed.

  "Hey," she said over the music.

  He glanced at her, his eyes warmed, and he went back to ignoring her. That was enough to know he was aware of her beside him. With the others standing farther away and everyone's attention on the girls dancing, she decided to talk.

  "Germ's concerned about the Moroad riders." She focused on Katie. "They seem a little intense tonight."

  He leaned closer. "When we close the building, I want you to tell all our girls to come out together. Make sure you're with them."

  She nodded. Her whole life she'd learned when to listen to her gut and to obey the Bantorus members. The club protected the women and families, and too many accidents happened because someone didn't take the threats made against them serious enough. She wouldn't make that mistake.

  Two more songs played through, and the girls weaved between the filled tables to the back. Lilly motioned for Cutter to turn on all the lights.

  "That's our signal." Ink stepped away from her and helped the others clear the room. While Bantorus members were busy, the Moroad riders slipped out the backdoor to wait for the girls. Shari hurried over to her and grabbed Lilly in a hug.

  "The girls grabbed the customers by the balls and hung on." Lilly pulled back. "Cash was flying out of their pockets and by the end of the first song, I sent Stripper around to the girls for a pick up, so they could hand over the money. Best night ever."

  "It's incredible. A few changes and having more girls worked out great for everyone." Shari bounced on her toes.

  "I can't wait to do more." Lilly smiled, feeling better than ever. "By the end of the year, Silver Girls will be a well-respected adult entertainment club with more business than we ever hoped for."

  Angry bursts of male voices came from outside on the sidewalk. Lilly snapped her gaze to the door. All she could see were bodies huddled outside creating a wall.

  "What in the world?" Shari said.

  Lilly touched Shari's arm and stepped around her. "Keep the girls in the back."

  She strode to the door and caught a glimpse of a scuffle in the middle of the circle of customers. She bent over and removed the small 9mm pistol from her boot that her dad got her when she'd turned eighteen and went off to college, and pushed her way through the crowd.

  Three customers faced Ink, Muff, and Tim. One big miner swung at Ink and received a blow to the stomach in return. Lilly elbowed the man on her left and pushed her way to front. The ones fighting were past the point of talking, and continued to exchange blows.

  Ink's right hook knocked a man off his feet. Instead of holding back, Ink followed the customer to the ground and kept hitting. Lilly groaned. She wanted to yell for him to stop, but she'd learned long ago never to step into a fight and embarrass a man. There were many times her mom had swept her into her arms and shuttled her out of the room, leaving her dad to beat the shit out of someone.

  Damn male pride. She looked around for someone to stop the fight, but every single Bantorus member had their hands full, either fighting or holding back the crowd.

  Muff grunted from a vicious hit to the stomach, kicking out. Tim kidney punched the man closest to him, holding him by the front of his shirt. A crack sounded. She flinched, and watched blood spurt from the nose of the man Ink beat.

  For the first time since she'd taken over Silver Girls, Sheriff Colby wasn't around to oversee the crowd. Frustrated, she stepped forward. The last thing she needed was trouble at the Sterling Building or anything to happen to make the town question the safety of the residents.

  She slid her thumb along the safety on the pistol, raised her arm, aimed the pistol in the sky toward the abandoned building on the corner, and pulled the trigger.

  The blast stopped everyone. More importantly, Ink's head came up and his eyes connected with hers.

  She lowered her arm, flicking the safety back on. "Fight's over. I want everyone off this sidewalk now."

  Everyone hesitated and stared at her. She stepped forward and pushed one of the men, bloody and beaten, into the road. "Go home. Silver Girls has a no fighting policy. You and your buddies can stay home next weekend too until you learn to obey my rules."

  The customer glared, spit on the ground by her boot, and turned away, motioning his friends to follow him. She moved back onto the sidewalk, relieved to find the others taking their cue and going to their vehicles or walking home.

  Sirens cut through the night and she turned around even more irritated that the cops were coming when someone should've been here ten minutes ago before the fight broke out. Ink wiped his bloody hand off on his T-shirt and glared at her. There was no reason for him to be upset with her. She wasn't the one fighting.

  "Really?" She shook her head. "You had to fight."

  "Put the pistol away," Ink said.

  She shook her head. "Bantorus members are standing outside my business, covered in blood. The Moroad MC members are behind the building. I have girls inside not knowing what the hell is going on. There are customers who are pissed off and probably nursing broken noses right now, thanks to Bantorus MC. I will not let anyone take the wrap for what goes down during business hours."

  Cutter shook his head. "Ain't letting no woman go down for this."

  "She's going to put the pistol away. Now." Ink stepped forward.

  Lilly stepped backward off the sidewalk as the sheriff's SUV pulled up. "Get the girls home. I'll handle this."

  "Ink, she's right." Germ planted his hand in the middle of Ink's chest. "Check yourself and think. She's got no prior arrest. The most they can slap her with is discharging a weapon within city limits."

  Ink stayed on the sidewalk. "They can take away her concealed weapons permit, charge her with disorderly conduct, and endangering the public. I'm going with her and handling this shit."

  "No. You're going back with the girls, and letting me handle it." She walked away from the Bantorus Members and met the Sheriff in front of his vehicle. She laid the pistol on the roof of the car. "The safety is on."

  Sheriff Colby studied the others, picked up her pistol and ran through the procedure to unload the magazine. He motioned for her to come to the other side of the SUV. "Want to tell me what's going on? There were reports of a gunshot."

  She crossed her arms. "Silver Girls is closed. There was a fight, and a few of the men decided to have a scuffle on the sidewalk. I run a respectable business and don't allow fighting. I sent the men home."

  "I can see that." Sheriff Colby still watched the riders who weren't leaving. "Do you want to explain why a couple members of Bantorus have blood on them?"

  "Do they?" She glanced over her shoulder. "They must've got some spots on them when they were assisting the men who were fighting to their cars. I'm lucky they've hired on to be bouncers and were here, because everything ended before we had to call 911."

  Sheriff Colby's mouth tightened. "You and I both know that's not what happened tonight. A gunshot went off."

  Lilly lifted her chin. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

  "I'm going to take you over to the station and take your statement." Sheriff Colby held her elbow and escorted her around the back of the car.

  On the other side, Germ approached her and handed over her purse. "Shari said you might need this."

  "Thanks." She smiled, but inside she was shaking.

  It was the first time she had to ride in a police car. It was the first time she risked being arrested. It was the first time she was afraid of the look on Ink's face as he stared at her from the sidewalk.


  Afraid to lose contact with him, she continued looking at him as she got inside the sheriff's car. Anxiety clogged her throat, and she swallowed. The intimidating force of his body, rock hard and still, coupled with the anger raging in his eyes told her everything.

  He wasn't happy with her decision to take matters into her own hands. For a man who prided himself on his position within the club and in her life, he wanted to protect her. She turned away as the car started. What he didn't understand was she would do anything to protect him.

  "I get along with Bantorus MC." Sheriff Colby turned right at the end of the block. "But there are certain things that are hard to ignore, and shooting a pistol in my town in front of almost all the males in Federal isn't one of them."

  "Nobody is going to press charges," she said with confidence.

  Bantorus MC would make sure nobody admitted to the fight or witnessed her discharging a weapon within the city limits. That's how the club worked. She wasn't informed on how the riders made that happen, but they had ways of making sure nobody came after them.

  "Shit." Sheriff Colby parked the car and gazed at the front of the sheriff's building. "I take it these are also friends of yours?"

  She followed the direction the sheriff gaze and found three Moroad riders. Cam, Stache, and Gunner.

  Friends? How was she supposed to answer a loaded question like that? The Moroad MC was not her club, but their women were her employees. Instead, she remained quiet and let Sheriff Colby come to his own conclusions, because she had no idea why the other riders were here.

  "Stay beside me, or I handcuff you." Sheriff Colby exited the car and came to the passenger side.

  She hopped out, and followed his orders. The Moroad members swung their leg over their bikes and stood on the sidewalk. Their stone-cold expressions gave nothing away.

  Sheriff Colby put his hand on Lilly's back. She bristled. They all outnumbered her. She'd do anything to have Ink or someone from Bantorus MC here on her side.

  "Gentlemen," the sheriff said.

  Cam extended his hand to the sheriff. "Sheriff."

  "What can I help you with?" Sheriff Colby let go of Lilly.

  Cam nodded to Lilly before turning to the sheriff. "We were watching the Silver Girls and were walking out when we overhead a couple men disrespecting Ms. Brookshire. On the sidewalk, the two men said the wrong thing in front of the Bantorus members."

  Lilly frowned. She'd never known any MC member to be a rat, whether to their club or another club.

  "I'm sure Ms. Brookshire will tell me the full story once we get inside," Sheriff Colby said. "Now if you gentlemen will excuse me, I need to take a report."

  "She doesn't know what happened." Cam widened his stance. "I'm telling you, the Bantorus MC members stepped in to a disagreement between the customers when Ms. Brookshire's name came up and did their job as bouncers for Silver Girls."

  Sheriff Colby inhaled deeply. "I'm more concerned about reports of a gunshot. Ms. Brookshire has handed over her pistol to the Idaho Sheriff's department willingly."

  "As she would, considering she carries a concealed weapons permit and she's lawfully required to follow the rules to keep that CWP. She did the right thing." Cam shrugged. "I know for a fact, the gunshot didn't come from her."

  The sheriff glanced at Lilly before directing his attention to Cam. "There's a bullet missing out of the magazine."

  "She carries a 9mm, built for a woman's hand. It's known to jam. It's customary to only put 14 rounds or less in the pistol." Cam shook his head. "I'd hate to think the department was harassing Ms. Brookshire on grounds of her being the property of the Bantorus MC. I believe public profiling is frowned upon in Idaho."

  All Lilly could do was look between the sheriff and Cam, and gawk. She almost believed the line of bull shit Cam was feeding Sheriff Colby. Behind the lies, she tried to uncover why Cam would come to her defense or how he would know what happened when he was behind the building the whole time.

  A loud rumble broke the night and grew louder. Lilly glanced over her shoulder. Kurt led the Bantorus MC first riders down the street toward the sheriff's department. She tapped the toe of her boot. This was not good.

  "Cam's right." Lilly nodded, needing to get out of here before the club arrived. "I never fired my pistol."

  Sheriff Colby's mouth tightened. "Let this be a warning. I hear any more reports of problems at the Sterling Building, and someone's going to have to give me answers I believe."

  She nodded. "No problem. I'll be glad to work with you anytime you want to check things out."

  Cam inclined his chin in approval of her speech. Sheriff Colby shifted and withdrew her pistol from underneath his belt and handed it over. Lilly blew out her breath.

  "I'm serious, Lilly. I don't want to bring in a Bantorus member or one of their girls every time something happens in town." Sheriff Colby stepped back. "Now go to your club before they start questioning me."

  Not wanting him to change his mind, she hurried toward her family and stopped beside Kurt. Her heart raced. Now that it was over, she realized how close she was to getting in real trouble.

  Kurt shut off his Harley. "What's Moroad doing here?"

  "I'm not sure." She glanced back at Cam, who continued to watch her. "They told the sheriff that I wasn't the one who shot the pistol and Bantorus MC was only working and bringing order for Silver Girls. Then he let me go."

  Kurt's jaw ticked. "The truck's behind us. Go get inside and tell Jojo to take the girls home."

  She nodded and walked through the tight line of motorcycles between Kurt and the truck. Near Ink, she looked at him to try to explain why she'd stopped him from fighting, but his eyes were on the Moroad riders. She curled her fingers into her palms and kept walking. The need to clarify her reasons for what she'd done and make things right would come when they were alone. Hopefully, he'd listen.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Last night's scene at the Sterling Building sat heavy on Ink's mind. Kurt had announced there would be no meeting when they all arrived back at the club, and Ink had tossed and turned all night. This morning, he'd come downstairs and paced the main room, and texted Kurt, Remmy, Lee, and Cutter to request a meeting before breakfast. He wasn't going to let last night go without knowing what the fuck was going on with Moroad running to Lilly's rescue with the sheriff.

  To have miners talking shit about his woman and having another MC jump in to save her ass was not going to fly when that was his job. No matter what, he'd protect Lilly.

  The first riders walked in. Ink waited until they all took a seat at the table. There was no reason to go to the meeting room. No one else was around and he'd have privacy to talk to the others.

  "What's going on?" Kurt scooted his chair forward.

  Ink sat in the last vacant chair. "Is no one else concerned that Moroad MC did us a favor last night with the sheriff?"

  "I talked with him after we escorted the girls back to the club. Cam said he did it for Lilly, not Bantorus MC," Kurt said. "We have to take him for his word. He's never fucked us over before."

  He fisted his hands. "He'll come back and use that against her. He's already got a hard on for her."

  "He said it was out of respect for her dad." Kurt held Ink's gaze. "I believe him."

  That fact alone ate at him. Cam took too big of an interest in Lilly after Ink had warned him away from her. He thumped his fist on the table in frustration. "When have we ever let a woman go down for anything Bantorus MC is responsible for?"

  Kurt inhaled loudly and shook his head. "Lilly's not just any woman."

  "Bull shit." He cussed. "She's Prez's daughter, and everyone let her step forward and take the problem up with the sheriff by herself without any of us there to support her. Meanwhile, Cam rides in and saves her ass."

  ''You're blowing this up. There's no way that Sheriff Colby would've arrested her." Kurt leaned back. "We were on the way to clear the air to make sure that wouldn't happen. Lilly was fine."

  "S
he's been protected her whole life," he said.

  Kurt held up his hand. "She's been trained her whole life. She was fine. None of us would've let her go with the sheriff if we had any doubt."

  He wasn't going to win that argument. Deep down, he had all the confidence that Lilly was strong enough to deal with whatever came to her last night, but that didn't mean that it should've happened. He should've stopped the interrogation instead of Cam, and that's where his anger came from. He was pissed at himself for not having the right to jump in and stop last night's situation.

  "There's a problem when the customers are checking out Lilly and not the girls dancing," Ink said, grasping at anything to make a point that Lilly needed his protection.

  "Agreed." Kurt rubbed his jaw. "Except, I believe Lilly can take care of herself with us in the background. She proved it last night."

  Lee cleared his throat. "Remmy and I are always looking out for the girls, including Lilly. You should've let the comments go."

  "Right," Ink muttered.

  "Our sister has had attention thrown her way her whole life. She plays it cool around all men, but one...you." Remmy's brow rose. "Men will talk trash. Hell, Ink, we used to say the same thing those men were saying last night about Lilly, about the bitches and the women in Pitnam and Federal. You have to shrug off the words, brother. Unless the men act on what they're saying and wishing, we don't have a problem. Each customer is there to look at titties bouncing and hoping for a flash of pussy. Their dicks are hard and they're stupid."

  He hated it, but Remmy was right. He'd acted the whoredog for years, but he never encroached on someone else's property. Far as his MC brothers knew, Lilly wasn't his property to protect. So where did he go now?

  "I don't want anything to happen to Lilly." He checked himself. "Out of all the girls that are there during the shows, Lilly's the one who'll stand up to the men. She has no fear, because she's grown up around bikers that she could push around. She can get in our face and talk smack, and know that we find her amusing. The customers? The moroad riders? They'll find her impossible to ignore when her temper flares. They'll want to conquer her mouth."