by Ami Van
The three drop her to the ground after what seems like hours but was probably only minutes. They get on their bikes and take off after Diaz. He sees Minx curling herself into a ball right there on the dirt and he was pulling himself out of Atticus’s hold.
“Wait until we know they’re out of the area!” Atticus yells at him.
He waits as long as he can. Once he hears the buzz from Atticus’s prepaid phone, he throws both of his brothers off of him and was down the hill to her. He reaches her the same time as Tucker and Kyle. He didn’t even know where they ran out from.
“Mercy,” he says, turning her over.
She looks up, wide-eyed and confused for a moment, still curled up into herself.
“Dakota?” she asks, her voice shaking.
She was in his chest and sobbing after that. He gathers her in his arms and was picking her up. Standing, he faces Tucker who couldn’t even look at Minx.
“Take me home,” she says. “I just wanna go home,” she sniffles.
◆◆◆
He was carrying her up the stairs just past midnight. Tucker, Tristan, and Atticus following him into the house. Maddox and Austin were both waiting for them inside. He doesn’t say a word to the two men with worried looks on their faces. He didn’t think he had to.
He takes her into her bedroom, places her on the bed and starts to undress her down to just her panties and tank top. She still hasn’t said a word since they’d been in the car heading back. He’d seen Nikki eyeing him with concern in the rearview mirror a few times and it made him wonder if she’d seen or heard any of it.
He leaves for the mentholatum salve she keeps a stockpile of in the bathroom and when he comes back, her eyes were on him.
“How long were you guys there?” she asks.
“Not too long before you showed up,” he lies.
“You heard,” she states rather than asks. “You heard what he said.”
She was turning away from him and he stops her by the chin. “I heard, Minx. It’s nothing to be ashamed about. You didn’t do shit wrong. You were just a fucking kid.”
A tear slides down her cheek and he brushes it away with his thumb without hesitation.
“It doesn’t make you --” she begins to say.
“No. It doesn’t make me see you any differently. It doesn’t make me feel about you any differently. You’re mine, Minx. I told you I want you. Everything that’s you.”
She doesn’t say anything but hiss and wince as he takes off her top and applies the salve on the already forming bruises. There was a knock on the door before Maddox opens it and walks in with Austin.
“How bad?” Maddox asks in his two-word sentences.
Minx pulls up the sheet to her armpits. “I’ve had worse,” she answers.
He didn’t even want to think about those times when she’d had worse.
“We’ll ride to our spot when you’re up and ready,” Austin says to her.
“I’d like that,” she says.
Maddox hands him a bottle of water and a prescription bottle of what he assumes are pain killers.
“Just half of one,” the man says. “She’s too small for a full dose.”
“Thanks, man.”
“How about I come make you breakfast tomorrow?” Austin offers with a grin. “Wait...I mean lunch because your ass never wakes up till the sun’s sky high.”
“I want lasagna then,” she says.
“Shit. I’m gonna have to Google a recipe because she wants a black guy to make Italian food. Of course, she would.” Austin mumbles as Maddox leaves the room behind him.
“Here. Take this and get some sleep,” he says, handing her the half pill. Maddox seemed to have all of them pre-cut into halves already.
“You’re not staying?” she asks.
“Tucker is calling a meeting. I have to be there,” he tells her. “But I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“If you want to hang at the clubhouse tonight, you can.”
“Why would I wanna do that? Your bed’s comfortable as shit,” he tells her, trying to lighten things up for her and earns one of her amazing dimpled grins. “Get comfortable. I’ll be back soon.”
He picks up her hand and places a kiss to the inside of her wrist before leaning forward and placing one to her head.
Holy shit! Did he just do that without thinking about it? Thank fucking god none of his brothers were here to see that move.
“What’s wrong?” she asks him, her eyebrows nearly touching. Thank fucking god she didn’t understand what he’d just done.
“Nothing,” he says. “I better get going.”
“See you soon,” she says and he sees her already closing her eyes as he closes the door behind him.
Downstairs, Tucker, Tristan and Atticus were sitting in the kitchen.
“How is she?” Tucker asks.
“She took it pretty bad,” he answers. “Maddox gave her something to help.”
“I can’t watch her go through this shit again,” Atticus says. “We need to make moves.”
“I agree,” he says to the group.
“I hate to say this but you’re gonna need to come clean to the club and to the other members here supporting us from the different charters,” Tristan advises. “Some of them were out there with us tonight. They’re gonna start asking questions why your sister is mixed up with Reapers, our biggest rivals, and we stood by and did nothing.”
“I agree with him,” Atticus adds.
“We bring it to the table then. I’ll tell them this is just as much personal as it is club business. The motherfuckers were wearing our colors, impersonating us and using our connections. We let those that wanna stay, stay. Let those that don’t want any part of this, leave. Then we vote. But this charter of Reapers is getting disbanded and buried,” Tucker says.
“Well, then let’s get to it,” he says.
Tucker was already out of his seat and heading for the doorway.
It was no surprise the clubhouse wasn’t as rowdy as it should be. He can feel the stares of uncertainty and he can almost hear the questions on the tip of everyone’s tongue. Word had to have spread out by now why Reapers were beating the fuck out of Minx and verbally disrespecting us yet everyone was told to stand down when our numbers at the scene equaled theirs. It was an even matched brawl yet we did nothing. Tucker’s rule might actually be in question.
After club sluts were told to leave and after men from the different charters present were able to reach their own club Presidents and have them on calls, church began. Almost an hour later, 16 of the brothers were in the meeting room for the vote. The four current officers of the Nomad charter and then three men from each of the other charters.
Tucker speaks after the vote.
“I know it’s on me that the MC may look weak and we took a verbal thrashing by Reapers. I know my leadership will come under question once this is over and I’m okay with that. But sincerely, brothers. Thank you all for standing with me on this one. The law isn’t for the likes of us outlaws and it sure as hell fucks with everything I want to do to Diaz and his boys but I can’t let my kid take the heat any more than she already has. I can’t let my sister carry this burden anymore either. So, our first priority is to find out where the fuck they’re holding my family. We pull them out and hide them if we have to until our attorneys can do what needs to be done.”
“You have Knights...family...all over the country, Tucker. We can keep them safe as long as they need,” Jermaine from their Kentucky charter speaks.
“Not to add insult, Tucker. But how do we know for sure that your ex old lady isn’t in cahoots with the bastards now? She has just as much a legal right to take the kid and leave,” Bobby from their Tennessee charter asks.
“From what Minx says, Tricia won’t leave without Bianca. She’s tried once but was caught. The second time she tried, they kicked her out but she didn’t even leave the grounds because they kept the baby. Minx had gone so far as to have someone file a
claim of abuse with the authorities hoping that CPS would remove them but she’s certain that Diaz has some judge or some higher up in his pocket because that never went anywhere.”
“Then that’s where we start,” Tristan adds. “We need to find out who he’s got on his legal team and give them a better incentive to help us remove them from under him.”
“We can wreak havoc on the motherfuckers after that,” Atticus says.
“Here, here!” the men were saying and slapping the table.
“Not to be Deb Downer or anything,” Jermaine speaks. “But they have home advantage right now. Just as we’re showing up in numbers, he’s gotta have his back up coming in too.”
“Hellhounds are backing us up all the way on this,” Tucker says. “But you’re right. He’s been smart this far but he’s been left unchallenged in the area for too long. It’s making the motherfucker cocky. We’ll need to strategize about where to hit, how to hit and when to hit.”
The meeting goes on well into the night with just about everyone throwing in their two cents enough for a solid plan to be developed. Once Tucker called it a night, he was heading back to the house with the others.
Minx was in the kitchen when he walks in after Tucker.
“What are you doing up?” Tucker asks her.
“I woke up starving. Pizza’s baking in the oven,” she says without looking up.
“I can put together a PB&J for you,” Tucker offers.
“She hates peanut butter,” Atticus says.
“That’s why he offered that. So she’d turned it down,” Tristan adds in before he laughs.
“You don’t like cooking anymore?” Tucker asks her.
“Maddox usually cooks for me and Austin. He grills just about everything. Me and Austin cook Sunday dinner except we haven’t done that since you guys have been here,” she answers.
“Maddox does a lot for you, doesn’t he?” Tucker asks again and he almost sounds...sad. This was probably the most intimate moment he’s witnessed the two siblings have up to date.
“Yeah. He tried to take me and Austin to Disneyworld for my 21st birthday but we ended up pissing him off,” she laughs. “Austin snuck me out of the motel room we were staying at and we got drunk in the bar across the street. Austin got into a bar fight with some rednecks and I had to stumble back into the room and wake Maddox to bail him out of jail.”
Tucker actually lets out a huge laugh.
“Did you guys make it to Disney?” Tristan asks her.
“Yeah. Half an hour after we finally got through the gates, I threw up on Cinderella and Austin had Pluto in a headlock. Maddox had us by the necks and were dragging us out,” she laughs and flashes him one of her beautiful smiles. “He didn’t talk to us for almost a week after that.”
He watches her smiling about the memory.
“Austin gets this bright idea to throw a Fourth of July party and have a fireworks show here to try and get back on his good side,” she continues. “But we ended up setting part of our fields on fire from rigging the set up all wrong and pissing him off even more,” she laughs.
“So how did you two make up with him?” Atticus asks.
“We didn't have to. We just left him alone in the clubhouse for a whole week which meant he probably had someone over. He even shut off the security feed so we couldn’t see what was going on there,” she says. “We woke up one day and he was watching TV and had pizza with all our favorite toppings ready for us.”
The oven timer beeps.
“I got it,” he tells her. “He’s set everything up really nice for you all here.”
“Sometimes I think he gets overly paranoid. For the first month after Reapers found us, Maddox was sleeping on the roof of the house at night with his sniper rifle. Then when he got tired of that, he demanded that Austin take shifts with him.”
“Christ,” Tucker says with a chuckle. “How did you guys get him to stop?”
“Austin let me go up there in his place one night so he can go on a date. Well, I fell asleep and didn’t wake up until I felt myself sliding off. In my attempt to grab on to something, I dropped the rifle and it breaks a few planters. Maddox woke up and saw me hanging from the gutter.”
They all laugh at her and she scowls at them.
“I bet he had fun getting you down,” Tristan says.
“No! He left me there until Austin got home later. My shoulders were sore for two weeks after that. Maddox put a gym in the clubhouse a week after and told me I needed to start working out. I should have been able to pull myself up,” she finishes as he hands her the sliced pizza.
“Is that when he set up all the security cameras?” he asks. “It’s a really nice set up. Top of the line.”
“Yeah. Sometimes I forget they’re even there,” she answers. “Then he’d started stocking up on the guns. There’s probably one in every room in this house. I don’t even know where all of them are either. But Maddox makes sure both me and Austin know how to use them. We normally go out shooting a few times a week.”
“That’s great,” Tucker says.
“I know Maddox does all of this to make sure we can take care of ourselves but sometimes Austin and I think we’d be lost without him because he takes care of everything. He thinks of everything and he plans ahead,” she admits.
CHAPTER 15
Minx
“We haven’t ridden out together in a while,” Maddox says.
Maddox was standing next to his Sportster and getting ready for their ride out to their favorite spot at the other end of their property line. It’d been a week since her last run and she was getting antsy because Diaz hasn’t contacted her back about her next visit with Tricia and Bianca so Maddox had suggested the outing.
“You don’t mind some of the others coming along?” she asks him.
“It’ll be good to get them out of the clubhouse,” Austin says from her other side. “The ladies are getting catty and some of them always look like they’re ready to shred Mercy to pieces.”
He’d always called her Mercy when it was just the three of them. It felt more...familial and she didn’t mind. Maddox did too.
“Ladies?” Maddox asks, eyeing Austin. “Call them what they are, Austin.”
“But uh...you said to treat women with respect?” Austin sort of asks.
“I said to treat ladies with respect. Ladies like Mercy. Them bitches in there...they ain’t ladies. I saw one standing up and peeing. I don’t even know if she wiped after,” Maddox says and the big guy can actually be seen shivering.
“Oh! That’s disgusting!” she says before she busts out laughing with Austin.
“Pardon,” a voice was heard from behind her.
She turns around and finds a tall, lean, blonde guy standing there with his hands in his pockets. She recognizes him. Jenks. That was his name. He wasn’t wearing his cut but he was in a white tee and denims. Like almost everyone else. His sleeves were tatted up and she can see ink even under his shirt. Admittedly, he was...swoon...worthy.
“Hey, Jenks, right?” she says to him. “Did you need help with something?”
“Yeah. Jenks. I heard you guys were riding. Do you mind if I tag along?” he asks her.
She wasn’t sure why he asked since the invitation had been extended to anyone interested.
“Sure,” she says. “Bring something to swim in. We’re leaving in about five minutes,” she answers him.
“Cool,” Jenks says. “I’ll be right back then.”
Kyle and Dakota walks in just as Jenks was leaving. Dakota was wearing his cut and a white tee and jeans. He, too, was damn swoon worthy. As always.
She was only 5’2” and he was a freaking giant at 6’7” but damn did she love how it feels to be in his arms or pinned underneath him.
Love? Wait...what?
“What’s that about?” Dakota mumbles once he stops in front of her.
“Oh, he just asked if he can ride out too?” she answers him. She hears him snort. “Are you ready
to head out?”
“Yeah,” he says.
He pulls her right up against him. Bold move. Though he’d been more and more bold about his public displays lately. Even in front of Tucker. His hands were on her hips and he was bending down, placing a sweet kiss on her shoulder. “Ride with me,” he says.
“No way,” she tells him. “The point of a ride is to actually ride, Dakota.”
He growls into her ear before straightening up.
“Come on,” she pushes him towards his bike. “Stop being a krabby patty.”
“I don’t even know what the hell that is,” he says.
He swings his leg over his bike and she hands him his helmet while he puts on his green bandana.
“I forget you’re super old,” she teases him.
He huffs and grabs her chin with his fingers, holding her still as he leans down until their noses were barely touching. “Super old? You barely keep up with me at night, short stack,” he says to her before briefly touching his lips to hers to remind her of their previous night’s activity. Soft and gentle. He pulls away and she was leaning in for more.
“Greedy girl,” he teases her.
“You big jerk,” she says through a grin. He smacks her ass when she walks back to her gixxer.
Jenks walks toward her and she hadn’t realized his bike had been standing almost next to her own.
“All ready,” he says. “Lead me and I’ll follow you anywhere.”
“Uh...okay?” she says as she gets on her bike.
“That’s what you ride? A crotch rocket?” Jenks asks her.
“Yes. It’s a gixxer. And yes. I am riding it today,” she says.
Austin was also taking his Hayabusa out today. A rare event. He babied it so much. But the two of them were ready to hit the curves and get in some real cornering. The fun stuff as Austin calls it.
She turns to Maddox who was getting on his Sportster.
“Mad,” she whispers loud enough to get his attention. “Are we like...expected to ride in formation or something?” she asks.
“For what? We’re not part of their MC,” Maddox answers with a shrug and she smiles at his smirk.