Forbidden Protector

by Natasha L. Black

  Annie giggled and we both got out our forks and knives and started cutting and eating away.

  I could almost hear Mom’s voice – “We don’t play with our food”. But luckily, this time, mine was louder. Life was hard enough for Annie and me, any way I could inject an extra bit of fun into our day – I would.

  I gave my shoulders a slow roll, wincing at the cracks.

  Already, all the worries that had rolled off me so easily in the shower were back. There was a new one there too, an uncertainty that ran deep.

  Did I want to see hot bouncer guy again soon – or not at all?

  6

  Chance

  It wasn’t going to be that easy.

  Seven… eight… nine…

  My biceps failed and I dropped the weight. The clatter on the cement jolted me further awake.

  Waking up at six am and pumping iron ‘til it broke me – I hadn’t done it since…

  Not going to think about that.

  But it was right – the recurring thought. It wasn’t going to be that easy forgetting Blue Eyes. Not when she was a giant question mark in the days ahead.

  Like today – would I see her?

  It didn’t matter. I had had Lucy and now she was gone. I didn’t need anyone else – no matter how tempting they were.

  I picked up the barbell again, my palms settling on the grip. There were still another few hours before I needed to be at work. And maybe, if I was lucky, a few more lifts would get the girl out of my head.

  If only she knew how unlikely it was that she had wormed her way there in the first place.

  The next time I looked at the clock, my whole body was aching, and an hour had passed. Not bad. Hopefully today wouldn’t be the day someone decided to jump me. I knew what that bone-ache meant. I wouldn’t be out of commission completely, just not 100%.

  I really needed to start getting back into the gym. I really needed to start getting back into a lot of things.

  After a hot shower and my usual dark jeans, black tee, and black work boots, I set out.

  A few steps into Twisted Souls and I stopped. Blue Eyes was behind the bar. She worked there?

  Fuck.

  I pivoted, glaring at the few guys who were there. Whose nose would I get to punch in today?

  I forced my forming fist to go slack.

  That wasn’t how it worked. I didn’t get to just punch some guy because I was feeling frustrated. He needed to earn it.

  And, judging by the how the boys were sipping their drinks and chatting to each other, without much notice of me, I’d done too good of a job getting them to like me yesterday with that pizza stunt.

  Looked like it’d be a nice slow shift for me to enjoy all the ways Blue Eyes was so very in reach.

  I set up by the door, clenching and unclenching my hands.

  Chill the fuck out, Chance. It’s just some hot girl you’re unusually attracted to. No need to have a meltdown over it.

  The next hour dragged along. All of me prickled to look at her so finally, I did.

  Our eyes met. Her lips parted.

  Yeah, she had seen me alright.

  My cock twitched in my pants.

  My mouth opened, ready to take over, say “Hey, what’s your name?”, when I twisted away.

  A weight like a magnet pulled at me. To look at her, smile. See where that took me.

  Fuck.

  Except there was someone at the door.

  Saved by the grimy 5’7” grease ball. He flashed his four remaining teeth at me and winked as if we were old buds, then sauntered on in.

  He beelined straight to her. From where I was, I couldn’t hear anything. I didn’t need to. Already, her eyes were narrowed, her hands stopping the drink they were making. Now the guy was leaning over the bar too far, like he wanted to grab something. Or someone.

  Now, Blue Eyes looked full-on pissed. I headed over.

  Seconds later, his hands were out and she was chucking a drink in his face.

  He swore, lunging for her. She leapt onto the bar and gave him a kick straight in the chin. He staggered back, yelling.

  I got there and grabbed him. Him bucking against my shoulder made it ache some more but fuck it – the guy had no place in our bar.

  I strong-armed him all the way to the door then tossed him out on his ass and told him not to come back.

  Scattered applause sounded as the door rattled with an angry kick.

  Hayes sidled up to me with a cheeky grin. “Nice work.” He nodded at Blue Eyes behind the bar, who was continuing pouring a drink as if nothing had happened. “I see you’ve met my sister.”

  7

  Connie

  I sank into the recliner and exhaled.

  It was finally the weekend. I closed my eyes and my mind started churning. Work had followed me home. Although it wasn’t work, not really.

  It was him.

  Chance, the new bouncer.

  He’d gone from barely looking at me to barely taking his eyes off me all night after I’d kicked that drunk fool.

  Afterward, it had been hard doing my work like that, with him staring. I wasn’t normally a self-conscious person but being watched like that made me feel all sorts of awkward.

  Fuck it, I just wanted him to say something. Introduce himself, make some stupid joke, anything. Anything other than his staring silence, what it seemed to say.

  I want you.

  More than that, I wanted to tell him that myself. To say something or fuck off. That I might be little, but I can still hold my own, thank you very much.

  It had always been like that. I could still remember that day at recess at the edge of the school field. I had wandered near to make myself a dandelion crown and saw the circle of older boys around Hayes, their fists at the ready. Hayes had kicked out, our eyes had met, and I’d known, then what I had had to do. Join the fight. Even the odds. That’s what the Carters did; we watched each other’s backs.

  Something fluttered in my belly. Nostalgia for how easy things had been then?

  I shook it off. I couldn’t afford to waste thoughts on wishing for the past. Anyway, I’d never trade anything for the time I get with Annie.

  “Mommy?”

  I quirked an eye open to see Annie’s bright blue eyes looking back at me. “Ah!”

  Annie giggled with her hand over her mouth. “Are we going to sit at home all day?”

  “No.” I rocked myself upright, tucking in the recliner’s footrest with my heels. “I’ve been here just” – I glanced at my phone – “Whoops, ok, ok, we’d better get going. Didn’t realize it was lunchtime already. The park’s going to be crazy, and the hot dog stand lineup insane.”

  I stopped myself just in time. It wasn’t easy, but I did my best to be positive around Annie. The real world was tough enough, no need to raise a pessimistic kid.

  “I have an idea.” Annie’s small face was solemn.

  “Yes?”

  “We can have a picnic!” She danced around the room, hula-hooping her hips.

  I leapt up and gave her a squeeze. “We can, can we?”

  “Yes!”

  And so, we did.

  I picked up a fresh crusty whole wheat baguette and a glorious hunk of old-aged cheddar at the market down the street, crammed those and a package of red grapes into a canvas bag, and we set out.

  The park was indeed crazy with families, the hot dog lineup also insane, and we were inconsolably delighted.

  “This way, Mommy.” Annie marched past the maze of haphazard picnic blankets, around a corner bordered by forest.

  Soon we were alone. Whether people didn’t know about the private area or whether there was something about it I should know – I looked around for an ‘OFF LIMITS’ or ‘NO TRESPASSING’ sign, but found none – it was just us, some sunflowers further on, and a big old oak tree.

  Annie pointed to where the tree cast a nice patch of shade from the shadow. “There.”

  I took her hand and we went over, both of us grinning
at the sunflowers.

  “They’re like you,” Annie said.

  “What do you mean?” I said.

  “Bright and pretty.”

  I hugged my girl and smiled, then I set up the picnic blanket while Annie lay in the grass calling out the cloud shapes she saw – moon! – cat! – star! – rangtang!

  I paused mid baguette doling out. “What’s a rangtang?”

  “An orange monkey. I saw it on the TV at Grandma’s.”

  “Ah, ok. Well, my orange monkey – it’s time to eat.”

  Minutes later, we were enjoying big chunks of baguette with cheese, chomping away. I swallowed the last of mine and smiled over at my daughter.

  It was weird, how often I did that. How often I thought – this little girl, she’s part me… and him.

  “You excited for school this fall?” I asked to get my mind on a different track.

  Annie bobbed her head. Her mouth was so full she sprayed crumbs as she talked.

  I put my hand over her mouth. “No talking with your mouth full, please.”

  Annie swallowed with difficulty, her auburn brows jumping in indignation. “You asked me first.”

  “Good point.” I squeezed her hand. “I didn’t notice. Next time though, you can hold up a finger if you need a minute to respond.”

  Annie held up a finger, smiling evilly.

  Then she sighed, grinned. “I’m so excited! Nadia was telling me all about it. Backpacks and all the cool adventures they have at recess. And crafts and pizza day…”

  “Yes, school is a lot of fun,” I replied, “Some work too – but a lot of learning.”

  Annie bobbed her head, seemingly lost in thought. Her head twisted my way. “Mommy, what was Daddy like?”

  My hand, reaching for another piece of baguette, faltered. Those questions always hit me like a sledgehammer – out of the blue, galling – “He was…”

  Well, why not tell her?

  “Ace was a great father.” I reached over and hugged Annie. “He loved you very much. He used to hug you like this” – I squeezed her tighter – “And this” – I lifted her so her feet weren’t touching the ground anymore – “And this!” – I swung her round as she squealed.

  We laughed as she sailed round, then I plopped her back on my lap. Annie burrowed herself deeper into my arms, her eyes going thoughtful as they rested on a blue patch of sky. “I miss Daddy.”

  “I’m sure he misses you too,” I said.

  Annie spread out and rolled out of my arms, onto the grass.

  I didn’t mention the other part.

  How he was a great father, but a shit husband.

  I didn’t really admit it to anyone, really, other than Val. It was one thing criticizing your subpar living husband, but your dead one?

  Besides, it wasn’t like Ace had been awful or anything. He hadn’t done any of the stereotypical bad husband things like cheat on me or gamble away our retirement money or smack me every time I disagreed with him.

  Thing was, he hadn’t done many good husband things either.

  Date night was once a year – for our anniversary, maybe my birthday if he remembered. Gifts and compliments were for Christmas. Support was for when I agreed with what he had said already. As for my restaurant dream, well, let’s just say the snide chuckles it got me the first time I tentatively told him about it shut that down quick.

  “How about we go for ice cream?” I suggested to Annie, gently easing her off me.

  She plopped onto her back, then rolled onto her belly. She wiggled her arms and legs, then blinked at me. “What?”

  I tried not to smile, that would just egg her on. “You coming?”

  “Glub – glub – I’m a fish.”

  “Phew.” I crouched down to get started putting away our dirty dishes and bags back into the picnic basket. “More ice cream for me. Everyone knows fishes hate ice cream. Especially chocolate fudge sprinkle cones.”

  Next second Annie was scrambling to her feet. “No! I’m not a fish, I’m an Annie!”

  I handed her an empty plate with a smile. “Good. Annies who help usually get ice cream.”

  She let out a melodramatic sigh, but she was smiling, and we cleaned up the rest together.

  The car ride over to DQ was quick.

  Walking inside, the smile was wiped clean off my face.

  It was nearly empty. That was never a good sign. The DQ was already in the one not-great part of town we had. The owner was apparently notoriously stubborn – and attached to the cheap rent, had even gone as far as to try to get his cashiers carrying guns for protection.

  I shook my head

  “What is it, Mommy?”

  I settled my feet into the ground. We had come all this way. I wasn’t about to turn tail and beat it just because of a bad feeling. Even if my bad feelings were usually spot on.

  “Just trying to decide what to pick, honey. You sure you want the double fudge sprinkle cone?”

  Annie bobbed her head, I relayed our order to the blasé-faced teen, and a few minutes later, the DQ door was squeaking behind us as we beat it back to the car. No way was I sticking around.

  On our way to my Camry a few spots down, I spotted it. Them, rather.

  No less than six scratched-up XR-750 Harleys. It took less than a half-second for me to know they weren’t ours. No Twisted Soul drove that model.

  Which meant that a rival MC was in town.

  At that meant nothing good.

  The Twisted Souls kept a tight watch on our little town.

  As soon I was in the car, I buckled Annie in, locked all the doors, then called Hayes up. “Hey, there’s something you should know.”

  8

  Chance

  Something was up.

  As soon as I stepped foot in the cool box of the club, it prickled. The feeling – no, the certainty.

  Something wasn’t right here.

  The club was empty except for the booth in the back. It was packed with just about every Twisted Soul in the place, as well as Hayes. None of them looked happy.

  My gaze did a further scan of my surroundings. Nothing was broken or out of place, the tables and chairs in their usual careful disorder. There was a faint cleaning spray scent in the air disguising a fainter smoke smell. An already dim light over a back three-legged table flickered.

  No sign of Blue Eyes, either.

  One guy in the tight-knit booth group glanced my way. I stayed put.

  The boys may have grudgingly accepted me, but that didn’t mean I was one of them. I knew better than that.

  These guys didn’t welcome just anyone with open arms. Most cases, it took years to build up enough trust to be let into the outer circle, let alone the inner one.

  Not that I was looking for a new family or anything like that. All it meant today was that I couldn’t just go sauntering on over there asking them: “What’s going down, my homies?”

  No, it meant that I kept my head down, stayed the fuck put here, and when they told me what was going on – if they told me what was going on – act accordingly.

  They weren’t exactly keeping their voices down.

  “… I told you…”

  “No… fuck, what do we- “

  The only voice whose owner I could make out was Hayes: “…And… Devil Kings.”

  My back teeth scraped together.

  White devils with red crowns and red gleaming long-toothed smiles. Where had I seen that?

  On the backs of the leather jackets of the tools I’d chucked onto the bar step first night here. They’d started shoving some Twisted Soul, getting all the others riled up, fists at the ready. I barely managed to get the idiots out of there before a full-on riot broke out.

  They’d both had weird eyebrow piercings and laughed, long and high, after I’d tossed them out. Creepy fuckers.

  Their name sounded familiar too. I made a mental note to call up Briggs, my old undercover buddy, to see if he had anything on them.

  By now, the group was d
ispersing, still looking the worse for wear, slinging themselves into seats like they didn’t expect to be getting back up again very soon.

  Only Hayes came my way, his red hair looking like someone put his head into a blender, his puffy-bloodshot eyes too.

  “What’s up boss?”

  He tried to smile. “Here’s the thing – it’s gonna be slow. Pretty much dead, actually. I’ve closed the bar to outsiders for tonight – just Twisted Souls allowed in and out. Plus, it’s a Thursday, so me and the boys can handle it. But you had a shift scheduled, so you’ll still get paid.”

  “It’s fine.”

  Hayes pat on my shoulder was firm. “Nah, you’ll get paid. We may be assholes sometimes, but we’re good to our own.”

  “Alright then.”

  He paused, balling up a napkin in his hand. “You can probably see something’s going on.”

  “I overheard something about the Devil Kings.”

  His gaze smacked to me. “Oh yeah?”

  I stared on back. “Yeah.” If he was expecting an apology, he wasn’t going to get one. I wasn’t going to go hiding in the bathroom every time he and his boys wanted a private chat.

  He smiled grudgingly. “Guess we weren’t exactly being quiet about it. Anyway, it’s best you know too even though I’m hoping it’ll come to nothing.”

  “My first night – those were Kings I kicked out?”

  “Yeah.” He chuckled, clapped me on the shoulder. “Wouldn’t have been the first time they got thrown out of here. I wager that’s why they come, really – to get the shits and giggles of being kicked out of here, stirring up shit. Thing is, more and more of them are coming into town, doing dumb shit like stealing old ladies’ purses, smoking in stores, and refusing to leave places when they’re asked to. Petty shit like that. We’re not sure why, yet.”

  “Turf war?”

  All the mirth – like a screen removed – left Hayes’ eyes as he nodded. “That’s my guess. What I can’t get is why now. We’ve never been BFFs with the Kings, but we tolerate each other, keep the fuck out of each other’s business and territory. Twisted Souls are doing fine too – we’re not prime for fucking with right now, and that’s not just me doing good PR.”