by Ryan Michele
As we took our seats, and the door shut, it was standing room only for all the chapter men that came. The large, rectangular oak table in the middle of the room housed several chairs where we spent many hours talking about business. Diamond sat at the head with the gavel. Pops was to his left, Dagger to his right. G.T. and Becs sat next to Pops, and Rhys and Zed next to Dagger. My spot was at the other end of the table facing Diamond.
One wall was covered in pictures of the brothers; anything from party shots to mug shots lined the wall. The other was the Ravage MC name with our symbol, a skull with fire coming out of the top, which was also on the back of each of our rags.
Diamond slammed the gavel down on the table. “Look. We know that it was Rabbit who shot up Pops place, and we just found out why.” Diamond’s stare turned deadly, “Princess.”
The words made my blood run cold even though my anger spiked. “What about her?” I asked, as all eyes around the table turned to me. “What? She’s mine, and I will protect her.”
“Not what she said this morning,” G.T.’s deep grumbled voice spat at me, but before I could answer, Diamond did.
“Son, she’s all of ours,” Diamond said, eyeing me. “Apparently, Rabbit has taken a liking to Babs. For those of you who don’t know, Babs was instrumental in getting our Princess locked up. She disappeared off the radar about a year ago and now has popped back up, with protection this time. They were sending us a message.”
“I’ve got a fucking message for them; I’ll fucking kill ‘em.” My pulse was racing to the point where I thought steam would come out of my ears. No one would take this woman away from me. Ever.
“There’re no worries there son; he’s already dead for hitting up Pops’ place. But his crew has grown over the years, and it won’t be pretty. We also have an issue with runs through his territory. We’ll need to find a different route for the time being.”
“We can’t let him dictate where we go!” I yelled, not even trying to control it.
“Calm your ass down,” Pops said, slamming his hand on the table catching everyone off guard. He’s normally the calm one when situations arise. This one must cut too close to home. “He’s not. We need to think about this short term and long term. Right now, no one else is in danger but Princess. She’s gonna be pissed, and we all know what she’s like when she’s pissed.” Groans echoed throughout the room.
Diamond cut in. “We’re gonna go on soft lockdown for everyone except for Ma and Princess. They must stay here unless escorted by a brother.”
“She’s gonna be pissed,” G.T. said, rubbing his face up and down.
“Yep. But she’s a good woman. She’ll do what’s right.” Diamond eyed me. “She your girl?”
“Yes, sir,” I said not skipping a beat. But G.T had more to say.
“She ain’t your fucking girl!” G.T. jumped up from his seat sending it flying to the floor behind him.
Standing from my seat, I met him stare for stare, his outrage dripping off his body. I’ve never wanted to punch my brother more than this moment. I wanted to beat the living shit out of him. “Shut the fuck up!”
“Stop it, now!” Diamond’s stern voice had us both sitting back in our seats. “Then… you keep her here. If she goes out, you make sure someone is with her. She’s your responsibility.” He smiled as the rest of the room chuckled. Damn, I knew I had my work cut out for me, and I sure as shit didn’t need any lip from my brothers.
“She ain’t gonna let you five feet in front of her. Good fucking luck!” Irritation seeped through my pores, but I knew it wouldn’t help a damn thing right now to react. And I knew I had my work cut out for me. G.T. was probably right, not that I’d let that stop me.
Ma banged on the church doors in a panic screaming, “Pops get out here, now! Princess!”
Jumping out of my seat, I rushed to the clubhouse taking in the scene, in front of me. Princess swung a pool stick at a blonde-haired woman’s face, hitting her hard against her nose sending blood flying everywhere as she screamed. Danny, a patch member from the Clayton chapter, was getting ready to charge Princess when my voice boomed. “Danny, stop!”
Danny looked at me, “You gonna let this bitch beat up my ol’ lady?”
Narrowing my eyes, I thundered, “This bitch is my ol’ lady. There must be a fucking reason she wants to rip your girl’s head off right now.” Moving closer to her I called out, “Princess, you okay?”
“I’m fucking fine. And I’m not your fucking ol’ lady.” Her voice was cold, icy, and detached, not really something I enjoyed.
“Danny back off!” Pops boomed. “Princess, what’s going on out here?” His voice calmed as he talked to her, the gentleness of a father taking over.
“You remember that whole two year in jail thing,” she said sarcastically, gripping the pole in her hand so tight you could see the wood bend. “Well, this bitch here… is part of Babs’s, crew. She was part of it.”
“Shit,” was heard collectively throughout the room.
“Brother, I suggest you get her out of here if you want her whole,” Pops clipped to Danny.
“Oh, Pops,” Princess’s sarcasm coming back, “I think this bitch needs a lesson before she goes.”
“Not here. Not under this roof,” Pops growled as Princess turned to him, her hands clenched into fists. Nodding her head, she backed away from them, throwing down the pole crashing it to the floor, but the fury was emanating off of her body.
“Brother, she doesn’t hang out with her anymore. Babs is part of Rabbit’s crew.” Shit. Damn Danny, you just couldn’t keep your fucking mouth shut.
Princess stopped in her tracks, coming around to stand beside me, not quite making it to Pops. “What?” she asked, covering her mouth as if she didn’t mean to say the words aloud.
“Mindy’s not part of Babs’s crew anymore. Babs is Rabbit’s ol’ lady.”
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” Princess growled under her breath walking over to Pops. “That’s who shot Ma. I’m the reason why.” Damn this girl was smart and caught on way too quick for her own good. And dammit, it made my dick hard as steel.
Pops rested his hands on her shoulders, “Princess, the club will handle it.”
From the stiffness in Princess’s body, I knew she wanted to argue, but all she did was nod and walk away. She didn’t stop to look at me. She brushed past me as quick as she could, heading towards the hallway. Shit.
6
Harlow
Shit. Shit. Shit. What the fuck was I thinking going out to the main room. Not only was that bitch Mindy there, but fucking Cruz. Why in the hell does he have this magnetic force about him that just pulls me to him, making him hard to resist.
I couldn’t have him. It’d just turn into the same shit I’ve seen a thousand times over and over again in here. A brother starts seeing a woman, fucks her a thousand ways to Sunday, gets tired of her, and then passes her on to the brothers. I won’t be that girl. I may spread my legs, but not to these guys… at least until Cruz. What the fuck was I thinking?
I knew… I was horny. Plain and fucking simple. Why does he have to be… well, Cruz? Power just emanates off of him, beckoning me, engulfing me. I swear that man short circuits every brain cell in my head just by his smell. Then, being in the same fucking room with him, my body throbbed craving his. This didn’t happen with the brothers, never. It had to be just because of my two year dry spell.
If it weren’t for this fucking lockdown, I’d get the hell out of here and wipe my memories of Cruz… or at least I would try to.
Fuck. Throwing open the door to Pops’ room; I found Casey sitting on the bed. “Where the fuck have you been?” I barked. She didn’t look at me but fidgeted with her hands.
“I slept in the spare room downstairs.” Casey turned towards me. “So one night and you’re someone’s ol’ lady. What the hell happened?”
Sitting on the bed, I explained, “I’m not…” Running my fingers through my long dark hair, I shook my h
ead. The last day had been a rollercoaster ride. I knew coming back to this life would make things interesting; I just didn’t realize how much.
“Thought we didn’t fuck brothers,” she said twirling her hands in her lap.
“I know. He’s just so damn overwhelming, and I couldn’t say no, I didn’t want to say no.”
“Is this an ‘I needed a dick thing,’ or is it real?” she asked, puzzled.
“For me… a dick thing. He says it’s the real thing, but he’s a brother. I’m not stupid. Anyway, even if I thought it was real, and it didn’t work out; I’d be fucked.” Knowing if I left him, I’d be out, out of the club, out of the life, yet another reason to be scared shitless about him. It didn’t matter that I was the VPs daughter or a sister to a member. Once I was an ol’ lady, my status with the club would change forever, and there’d be nothing I could do about it. Club rules. This has been my family, my entire life. I was not ready to give it up.
“I think Cruz is a good fit for you.” Her voice was low but serious.
I stared at her as if she grew three heads, not recognizing the woman sitting next to me. Of all the people, I would have never thought those words would come from her. We’ve always talked about the women of the club and how each had their places. And one of those places was the club momma. These women get passed around from brother to brother as free pussy, and for some reason they loved it. It’s the one role that we vowed always to steer clear of.
And more recently, there were reasons that Casey, nor anyone, for that matter, knew. They were reasons that I locked down deep, and they would fucking stay there.
“What?”
“Cruz is a good guy for the most part,” she said, smiling. We all knew that none of these men were angels, far from it. “He’s great with his kid. That bitch of a baby momma is a pain in the ass, from what I hear, but other than that, he doesn’t have a lot of drama.” She turned facing me. “And he can hold his own against you.” She smiled, and I returned it, shaking my head.
“I can’t. I won’t be a whore around here, who the brothers think they can pass around. I can’t. I won’t.” Casey flinched.
“No one’s saying that.”
“Why the hell are you all the sudden okay with me fucking a brother? Wasn’t it you that sat there and made a pact that we never would. Even doing that stupid cut your finger open blood shit.” She laughed her beautiful laugh.
“Yeah. I was there. We were also thirteen. Things change,” she said blowing out a huff of air.
Breathing in deep, I stared at Casey. She’s been my best friend for so long. If I could talk to anyone about this, it’d be her. “There’s something there. I’ve seen more guys in and out of this damn place than I can count. Not one has done what Cruz has. He sparks something inside of me, something I haven’t felt before. But it was one night, and it will be the last.”
“You don’t have to rush into shit.”
A knock on the door stopped her thoughts. Opening the door, I was surprised to see Diamond standing there. “Yes?”
“Need a minute.” His arms crossed over his chest as if power didn’t already radiate off of him.
“I’ll go,” Casey, knowing protocol, called as I stepped aside letting her out. Whenever the President wanted to talk, we knew the others needed to leave immediately.
“What’s going on?” I asked trying to be calm, but inside my nerves were a bit on edge from this impromptu visit.
Diamond eyed me intently. “We’re going on soft lockdown, except for you and Ma. You two are not to leave this clubhouse. If there’s somewhere you have to be, you take a brother. No discussions…” My anger began boiling over. This was all because of Babs and fuck if I didn’t want to kill the bitch. But I locked my lips as he kept going. “I know you’re pissed Princess, but this is a club decision. It’s what’s best for the club. You want what’s best for us, right?”
Hanging my head, “Of course.” In all my years, in this club, I’d always wanted to make the brothers proud, now would be no exception, even if I hated it.
“Look, Princess, we have dealings with Rabbit and his crew. We need to keep those in mind while we deal with this situation.”
Swallowing my pride, “I understand.”
“Good.”
“I need to go to Studio X and check on shit.”
“Then you take a brother with you… and your gun,” he said as he walked out of the room not looking back.
Cruz followed right beside me the entire way to X. After arguing about who was riding with me, Cruz won the pissing contest when Diamond stepped in, again, ordering him to go. I wasn’t happy, but it was what it was. Ma said she’d watch Cooper, so I’m sure he’s getting spoiled rotten.
Pulling up to X, I was happy to see that the building looked exactly the same as I left it two years ago. The blackened bulletproof windows had the sun’s light reflecting off them. The large X hung above the door, but with it being closed, the bright red light wasn’t shining. Parking my bike near the back entrance, Cruz followed closely. I kept my eyes out but didn’t see a damn thing.
Walking in, the place was eerily quiet. The black walls had red drapery that hung all around the room. There was a large bar on one end and the stage with poles on the other. The black tables and chairs were placed exactly where they should be, filling me with pride. I began this place to help the club bring in clean money, and it has profited greatly.
“Harlow?” Liv called from the office as she ran towards me smiling. “Oh, my God!” She squealed. Liv had been running the place for me this entire time, and from the looks of things, she was doing a kick ass job.
Her arms wrapped around me. “Hey, girl. How’s it going?”
She pulled away, “Great. We’ve tripled our profits, and I brought in five new girls. You’ll love them; they’re hot.” She eyed Cruz up and down, and her sharp intake of breath told me she liked the assessment. “Hey, Cruz.” She gave him a very seductive smile, and damn if it didn’t piss me off, not that I had any right to that feeling.
“You two know each other?” I didn’t want to know the answer, but I loved punishing myself, and if I couldn’t be with him, may as well put salt in the wound.
Liv stepped closer to him running her hands up his chest. It took every bit of strength in my body to keep still in one spot. “Cruz and I…” her words trailed off as Cruz cut in.
“I fucked her a couple of times.” His voice was completely unapologetic.
I didn’t give him the satisfaction of a sound escaping my lips even though my stomach fell to my feet, and the air rushed out of my body. I didn’t want to feel this way, but fuck if him screwing Liv didn’t make me want to rip her eyes out. Shit. He’s not yours, Harlow.
“Wait a minute. Am I missing something?” Liv turned to me, questioning.
Eyeing Cruz, I turned back to Liv. “Nah, we’re good.”
Cruz came up wrapping his arms around my waist as I tried to push away from him. “She’s my ol’ lady. Doesn’t want to claim it yet, so I’m claiming it for her.”
Liv’s eyes grew wide. “I thought you didn’t date brothers? And you’ve only been out for what… a day?”
“I don’t, and I’m not his ol’ lady. And yeah, a day. Let’s get down to business. Let me see the profit and loss sheets and the files on the new girls,” I said, pulling out of Cruz’s grasp as he chuckled.
After going over the paperwork and hugging the girls as they came in, we headed back to the club. I didn’t want to stay all night, and Cruz needed to get back to Cooper.
The clubhouse was pretty quiet, but after last night that was understandable. The guys were drinking at the bar, and Ma was playing with Cooper coloring at the table. A couple of women sat on the far couches but didn’t say a word. The club mommas. I rolled my eyes ignoring them.
“There she is!” Dagger yelled, running up to me wrapping his arms around me.
“Here I am… what’s up?” I walked up close to him breathing in the booze
and cigarettes, his familiar scent.
“Things have gotten more interesting with you back, Babe.” His words made me laugh.
“Yeah. I’m sure you had enough going on without me interfering in it.”
Zed came up kissing my cheek. “Princess, this is the most fun we’ve had in a while.”
“What? Watching me beat shit up?” I said rolling my eyes.
They laughed. “Something like that.”
Cruz strolled in. “Get you’re fucking hands off of her.” I didn’t move. He had no rights to me, and he needed to fucking learn that quickly.
“Dude, calm the fuck down. We’ve known her since she was a kid.” Part of me was a little giddy at the whole alpha thing Cruz had going on. I’d really never had that before with a man. Damn these fucking feelings. I. Don’t. Want. Him.
“Pin… ess!” Cooper screamed from across the room. My eyes smiled at the little man running towards me and jumping into my arms.
“You have fun with Ma?” I asked, brushing his hair out of his eyes.
“Yep. Me’s got cookies.” I began to tickle his belly as he laughed uncontrollably.
“Where’s mine?” He pointed to his tummy. Lifting his little body up, I began to pretend to eat his tummy, making weird eating noises as he laughed and laughed.
Looking up at Cruz, he had a puzzled look on his face. “What?” I asked.
He lit his cigarette and shook his head. “It just amazes me that the woman who met me blow for blow can turn it off and be what I just saw.”
“What is that?”
“A loving, caring mom.” His words made me freeze, making it difficult to breathe. I slowly walked Cooper over to Ma handing him off, not ready to hear this shit coming out of his mouth and wanting to get away from the audience in the room.
“I’ve gotta go lay down.” Turning, I didn’t stop when my name was repeated over and over; instead I locked myself in Pops’ room. Climbing into my roll on the floor, I laid my head on the scruff pillow as my mind tried to take on the tornado of thoughts bombarding me.