by Ami Van
He rolls her small body on top of him and growls.
“Do you need me to open a bank account for you too?” she teases him by taking his nipple in between her teeth.
“Look at that,” he says. “I snagged me a sugar mama too.”
She smacks his chest.
“No thanks, short stack. I have my own money. It’s not like I have any bills to pay these past seven years. Sounds like a busy day for you,” he says. “I’ll probably be covered in paint and dust all day.”
"You can be covered in glitter and still be sexy as hell,” she says before leaning forward and giving him a kiss. Her fingers ruffling in his beard.
“How long did it take to grow this anyway?” she asks before she climbs off of him, already heading to the bathroom.
He sits up and stretches before following her into the bathroom, heading right for the toilet to drain himself. He sees her eyeing him from the mirror as she brushes her teeth and he grins at her.
“What?” he asks with a smirk. “Old ladies have to get used to this, you know?”
She rolls her eyes at him and continues brushing her teeth. When she was done, she turns on the shower. He steps in a few minutes after her.
This morning’s shower was brief though. Of course, he wanted her. He’d always want her but there were other things running through his mind. His most important concern was were the club stands. Only because that would have a direct effect on his relationship with Mercy. He was sure that if he had to leave, she’d go with him if he asked. But it would be asking her to give up too much for him. He may be an asshole but he didn’t think he can take her away from her home and her comfort here.
CHAPTER 33
Minx
Dakota hadn’t been kidding when he’d said he would be covered in paint and dust. She’d gotten back and walked into the clubhouse to see them all watching paint dry. Literally. There were about twenty men sitting in the clubhouse, all dirty and sitting around, staring at the newly painted walls while drinking beer.
“Just a first coat,” Tucker tells her even though she hadn’t asked anything.
“I didn’t think you guys were so handy. Maddox could have had a crew out here and gotten it done in a day,” she says.
“Nah. It keeps us busy and lets us help out. Some of your furniture is beyond repair though,” her brother tells her.
“What’s that?” she points behind the bar where it looked like a stage was being built.
“Atticus and Kyle thought it’d be nice to put Austin’s bikes up there,” Tucker says. “It’s not done yet. They have to reinforce it and then stain the wood.”
“That’s awesome!”
And it really was. If they were already working on it that means that Maddox must have known about it too. She wondered why he hasn’t mentioned it. Come to think of it. Maddox has been a little distant lately.
Dakota was standing behind her. She can feel him without looking. His shadow blanketing her said just as much. Before he says anything, Atticus pulls her by the arm and into a one armed head-lock, giving her a good knuckle head massage.
“You think you’re so fucking funny, don’t you?!” he growls as she tries to shove him off.
Dakota comes to her rescue and pulls her out of Atticus’s grip.
“How far did Corianne get with you?” he teases Atticus.
The sound of laughter erupts from their patch brothers. Kyle walks over and joins their group at the bar. Atticus shoves Kyle’s arm off from his shoulders and Tucker bursts into another fit of laughter.
“You should have stayed to see,” Tucker says after he calms down. “Kyle and I actually took a bet on how long it would take him to figure it out when she took him into the men’s restroom. Two whole fucking minutes before he’s running out with his pants still hanging around his thighs and his limp dick hanging.”
Dakota’s loud burst of laugh had Atticus growling so loud, she steps behind her man as a precaution before she lets out a fit of her own laughter. The rest of the club erupts in laughter and hoots again.
“Nothing against her kind but a little warning would have been fucking nice!” Atticus growls. “And you assholes knew!”
Laughing aside, she sees Maddox leaving his clubhouse apartment and heading towards the garage without stopping to speak to anyone. He looked like he just stepped out of the shower. Before she takes a step towards him, a gust of wind bursts through the doors from behind her.
She turns around and sees a beautiful blonde standing in the doorway. She was tall with blonde shoulder length hair and a supermodel thin figure with legs she can only dream of having. She feels Dakota stiffen behind her and turns to face him. She looks up to see that his eyes were locked on the newcomer. She looks back over at the blonde and sees the same. Her eyes were practically fucking Dakota from head to toe.
It didn’t take long for blondie to reach them where they were standing.
“Jesus, Dakota. Do you know how long it’s taken me to track you down?” she says in a voice similar to that of Mariah Carey’s.
The woman’s body practically pushes her small and short frame out from in front of Dakota. She sees the blonde placing her right hand on Dakota’s chest and sees the black lettering inked on her arm to her wrist. DAKOTA.
She looks up at Dakota and sees the grim expression on his face and notices how tall he was standing and staring at this blonde woman.
“Samantha,” he says. “What are you doing here?”
That tattoo. The stiffness in his body. His greeting. Him avoiding looking at her. It was falling into place. This blonde was...might still be...his old lady.
She looks back and forth at the two, neither of them even acknowledging her presence and spins on her heels. She almost laughs at her own stupidity. Hadn’t she thought about this all along? Hadn’t she wondered this whole time why someone like him who could have anyone he wanted, WOULDN’T have someone already. Just because he’s a Nomad? He probably had an old lady in every town they set foot in.
God! How stupid! She should have known better. This was why Maddox was always telling her to stay away from any MC guys.
Her foot was already carrying her to her safe place. To her bike in the garage. As if on auto-pilot, her helmet was on, her leg was over her Suzuki and she was already turning the key and backing out. A minute later, her hair was flowing with the wind behind her and she was hitting 60 mph.
This hurt. It hurts differently than seeing Kendall hanging all over him. Samantha...that was what he called her. She’d meant something to him. Maybe she still does. Maybe she should have stayed for his explanation but that didn’t look like it was coming right that minute. If she’d stayed any longer, she couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t be throwing a childish fit right then and there in front of both Dakota and Samantha.
Space. Getting space between them right now is the right thing to do, she thought to herself. Deep down, she admits that she was hoping to see Dakota riding up next to her on his Dyna. He didn’t of course. He probably wouldn’t be either.
She finally slows down and looks around her. How long ago had the sun set? It was dark. The lonely road had no cars ahead, no cars behind her. Just darkness. She sees the Hellhounds MC’s bar pass by her. She’d ridden this far and this long for her to have crossed over the county?
She was almost ready to turn back around when she sees Maddox pulling out from the gas station up ahead. What’s he doing out this way by himself?
Without another thought, she follows him, keeping a decent distant. Maddox was usually so on guard when they went out anywhere. She was very surprised that he never even slowed down or looked back. She wouldn’t have been hard to miss if he had.
It was another twenty minutes or so when she lost his tail light. Not knowing which way he might have gone once she reaches the fork in the road, she turns back around.
Ten minutes into the ride back, she notices a small, dark road with a cloud of dust still hovering. Whether it was instinct or cur
iosity, she makes the turn and coasts as quietly as she could. It was extremely dark, the trees overhead blocking out the stream of moonlight. Still, she pushes forward until a building comes into view. A building with Maddox’s bike parked in front. She stops and shuts her engine off a good distance before getting off and walking towards it.
She can hear someone speaking. Someone groaning as well. Not the good kind of groan either. No windows for her to peak in. She tries the doorknob. Of course, it wouldn’t turn. She pulls out her phone and begins her text to him.
Hey Mad. Where are you?
She checks and makes sure her phone was on silent and waits to see if he answers. His reply comes a few minutes later.
Just out having some dinner. Be back soon.
He’s lying. Why was he lying?
She puts her phone away and starts quietly walking around the perimeter of the building to see if there was another way in. Or maybe a way for her to look inside.
The building wasn’t big. It looked more like an old garage. Maybe one that was used to store farm equipment. On the east side of the building, she sees a pretty good size hole in the metal sheet. She clears the shrubs away as quietly as she could, careful not to have it scrape the side of the metal.
Peering in, she sees Maddox standing. There was a kerosene lantern illuminating inside. He was speaking too low for her to hear what he was saying but she follows his line of sight. Her eyes settle on the figure tied up by the arms and strung up by a rope from a metal beam overhead.
“What the hell?” she whispers to herself.
It was a man. One she doesn’t recognize. At least she didn’t recognize him in his current state which was beaten to a near bloody pulp. She watches as Maddox walks over with a bottle of water and begins pouring it over the guy.
He throws the empty bottle down in a bag and then...she watches as he begins pummeling the guy again and again and again.
This...this was too much violence, too much anger for it to be Maddox. Maddox was a fighter when he needed to be. But he was mellow. He was loving and caring. He could be a grouch sometimes but this...this isn’t the Maddox she knows.
She was on her feet and heading to the front door. Grabbing the knob, she twists it loudly, unsuccessfully. Then she had her fist pounding on it.
She hears the click of the lock but it never opens. She reaches the knob and turns it, surprised that it gives way before she pushes the door open. It was dark inside. He must have turned the lantern off.
“Mad,” she calls out to him.
He steps out through the doorway and pushes her back, putting a gun in his waistband at his back. “Minx,” he says in an angry whisper. “What the fuck are you doing here? How did you get here?” he asks, looking behind her.
“I should be asking you that!” she says, pushing him aside before she steps into the building. She had her phone out and had her flash on when he grabs her by the arm and yanks her back outside.
“Did you follow me?” he asks. “Alone?”
“Yes. It didn’t start out that way but I saw you at the gas station,” she answers him. “What are you doing? Who is that in there?” she points.
She removes her arm from his grip and walks back in, flash shining at the slumped over man. Her free hand comes up to cover her mouth.
The man was completely covered in knife wounds. Cuts lining his torso and arms. His face was swollen, bleeding and bloody. His nose looked like he ran into a wall and flattened it. She turns around and faces Maddox.
“Tell me who this is! Why are you doing this to him?”
“You shouldn’t be here,” he says to her. He tries to reach for her again and she steps out of his reach, shaking her head. He stands taller, his full height, towering over her at his 6’2”. “I told you if I find out who killed Austin, I’ll have my pound of flesh,” he says in a tone that pretty much scared the shit out of her.
“What?” she whispers.
“This motherfucker took the order to gun our brother down, Minx. He fucking took a measly $500 for doing the job,” he says, barely containing the anger in his voice. “$500, Minx!”
“How...how do you know it’s him? How can you be sure?” she asks in disbelief.
“I paid a shit ton of money to see the traffic video myself. He admitted taking the money from Diaz for the job. He was hoping they’d let him prospect after that.”
She was shaking her head in disbelief. Her face was getting wet with tears she didn’t know she was shedding. $500 and a cut? That was what Austin’s life was worth? Fucking Reapers did this because of her. The family that took care of her took a loss for the family that left her behind.
Her chest was heavy with sobs. Her phone falls out of her hand as both hands were squeezing the side of her head. Everything was pounding inside. Everything was all jumbled up and hurting. Hurting so much she felt like she was going to explode.
Her heart was hurting when she ran and left the clubhouse. And now everything was hurting. The pain. The anger. It was so overwhelming. More overwhelming than being naked and locked in a dog’s kennel night after night.
One minute, Maddox was holding her. He was trying to calm and soothe her. Rubbing her back and saying things she couldn’t understand or hear clearly through the ringing in her ears and the pounding of her head. The next minute, she’d pulled his gun from his waistband. She turns and fires. Twice at the slumped figure. She knew she didn’t miss. She never heard the sound of any ricochets off the metal sheets.
Everything was numb and dark after that. Even the ringing in her ear stops. Maddox was holding her as the gun slips from her hand and everything else just slips away.
CHAPTER 34
Dakota
“Talk,” he growls at Samantha once they were alone in one of the vacant rooms.
“Is this where you stay?” she asks. “It’s a lot nicer and cleaner than what we’re used to,” she says ignoring him.
“Stop with this bullshit. Why are you here? Long way from Manhattan,” he says, arms crossed, standing a good distance from her.
“Manhattan got boring,” she answers him. She stands and looks him up and down. “I missed you, baby.”
She starts to walk towards him, her fingers were working to unbutton her blouse.
“You got bored and decided to track me down? After seven years?” he scoffs. She stops in front of him and he holds her hand, stopping her from continuing with the buttons.
“I’m sorry, Dakota. I thought I knew what I wanted but...it’s not me. This,” she says, waving her hand around. “This is me. We had such a good thing together,” she says. She was trying to shimmy out of her skirt now. “The fresh air. The sound of your bike, the vibration of it between my legs. YOU between my legs. Tell me you don’t miss me riding behind you, massaging your cock while you’re doing 80 on the freeway.”
“I don’t,” he tells her. “Our shits over and done with.”
“We can start again,” she says, her hands reaching under his shirt.
He flinches at her touch and grabs her by the wrists, removing her from his person.
“No. We can’t,” he tells her. “I don’t care how you got here as long as you leave the same way.”
“Why? Because you’re into the club sluts now?” she asks, pouting.
“No. Because I’m not into you,” he tells her.
He opens the door and walks out of the room. She was standing there in her panties and half-open blouse. He stomps away and hears some of his brothers whistling behind him.
“No limits!” he yells back at them. “She’s good for anyone as long as her dumbass doesn’t stay here!”
Some of his brothers are dogs. They don’t give a shit who they fuck as long as they get a fuck. He knew that and didn’t care. He wanted her out of here and he sure as hell wasn’t putting her on the back of his bike to remove her. Especially not while he needed to explain to Minx what was going on.
He reaches Tucker who was still at the bar.
�
�I heard her take off on her crotch rocket,” Tucker tells him while puffing on yet another cigarette. He snags it from between his friend’s fingers and takes a long drag.
“Shit,” he says before handing it back to Tucker and exhaling.
“Give her time to calm down. She’s not irrational, just a woman who just watched her old man being touched by some other woman while he stood and did nothing,” Tucker says.
He growls at his President. “Thanks for the dig.”
“Just make sure she’s gone before my sister gets back. I can’t promise how rational she’ll be if that happens.”
He hears a buzzing noise and sees Tucker flipping open his burner phone. “Yeah,” he says into the phone. “What? Where?” Tucker asks after a brief moment. “Yeah. I’ll be there.”
“What’s going on?” he asks Tucker once the call ends.
“Minx,” he answers...with no further details. “Atticus!” Tucker yells out.
“Atticus? You don’t want me to go with you?” he asks, not knowing where Tucker was even going.
“No. You stay and get your shit cleaned up,” Tucker says. “Let me go and be the brother that she needed me to be years ago. Atticus will ride with me.”
He watches Tucker and Atticus huddled together and sees Atticus looking really concerned. He wasn’t sure what the hell was going on except that it had to do with Minx and he was getting pissed off that he was being left out. Was she that pissed at him that she didn’t want him around?
Samantha walks over to him, fully dressed again. Before she even touches him, he’s looking her dead in the eyes. “Get the fuck out of here. I don’t care where you go but you’re not staying here. This is my old lady’s place and I don’t appreciate that kind of disrespect. Neither will she,” he says before walking off and leaving her with her jaw dropped.