I whirled around when the door opened behind me. Batta stood there with a shit-eating grin on his face. “I knew you wanted my dick. But let me hear you deny it some more.”
“There’s a big difference between wanting your dick and wanting a dick,” I said evenly while I planted my palms on his chest and shoved him out the door.
Unfortunately, he grabbed on to my wrists and pulled me along with him. Pivoting, he put my back against the opposite wall and raised my hands above my head. Dropping his head, he ran the tip of his nose along my jaw and inhaled deeply. “You need to be fucked, sugar tits?”
Yes. Yes, I did. But no way in hell was I admitting that to him. Instead, I moved my mouth as close to his ear as possible and whispered, “Sorry, big guy, I actually prefer pussy.”
“You’re lying,” he growled and nipped at my earlobe.
“Batta!” someone shouted from down the hall.
Upon hearing his name, he immediately released my wrists and stepped away from me. “Go back to your room,” he instructed.
“What’s the matter, big guy? Can’t handle the heat?” I smirked and licked my lips.
“I’m not the one who’ll get burned.”
Just as he started to lean closer, someone called his name again. “Fuck!” he bit out and pushed off the wall. Without another word, he turned and disappeared down the hall.
15
Searing pain pierced my back. Once. Twice. I couldn’t breathe.
“You’re disappointing me, Trey.” The pain of those words coming from my mother hurt more than the physical pain consuming me. “Why are you acting like this?”
“Their secrets and lies are going to get us killed. Just like Sarah’s secrets and lies got you killed.”
I felt her hand move from my shoulder to my cheek. I couldn’t see her, but I could hear her, and I could feel her. “Oh, my sweet boy, you’ve got it all wrong.”
“How? No one knew about her husband, and he killed you. If we knew, you and Dad would both be here with me.”
“We did know. The club tried to help her, but that’s ultimately how he found her.”
“What?” I asked in disbelief.
“She told me and your father everything. We just didn’t tell you. We didn’t want you to be worried. I’m so sorry.”
“She didn’t lie?”
“No, Trey. She didn’t. Stop blaming her for something that never happened.”
“Is she there? Can you tell her I’m sorry?”
“Not Sarah. Tatum.”
I bolted upright, covered in sweat and out of breath. I’d dreamed of Mom many times over the years, but it was usually a memory that played out or some other sequence of events that made no sense. This particular dream felt real, like I was really talking to my mom.
“Batta!” Grant shouted as he pounded on my door. “Church!”
I wiped the sweat from my face and got my ass out of bed. If Copper was calling Church first thing in the morning in the middle of the week, something was up. It’d only been two days since the wreck, so I hoped it was related to that and not something new we needed to deal with.
“The driver of the vehicle was identified as Luther De Santis.” Copper held his hand up to keep everyone quiet while he continued. “He’s the younger brother of the guy Bronze fought to win the gym, Dez De Santis.”
“That can’t be a coincidence,” I observed.
“It’s not. According to the medical examiner, Luther had a recently healed bullet wound to his right shoulder.”
Exactly where Tatum shot the man who ran away the night Bronze and I were attacked.
My chest tightened as I waited to hear more.
“So, this is one of the fuckers who tried to kill me and Batta?” Bronze asked.
“Looks like it,” Copper said.
“Do we know what their motive was?” I asked.
“I have a pretty good idea,” Copper said. “Spazz did a little digging, and it turns out Dez took one too many hits to the head. Apparently, he used to be a legit fighter, but after a particular match ended in a knockout that left him in a coma for three days, no doctor would give him medical clearance to fight again.”
“So, he joined the underground circuit,” Bronze said knowingly.
“Right. Given his history, it was only a matter of time before he took a devastating blow. Since that happened during his fight with Bronze, he’s the one who got blamed,” Copper explained.
“Blamed for what?” I asked.
“Like I said, Dez shouldn’t have been fighting in the first place. But, after Bronze knocked him out, he was in such bad shape even the underground fighting ring wouldn’t let him fight. Dez supported himself and his younger brother with the money he won from the matches. In other words, his younger brother was pissed because his free ride was suddenly gone.”
I sat there in stunned silence for several minutes. And then I exploded. I shoved away from the table and stood so fast my chair landed on the floor with a resounding smack. “You’re telling me this little motherfucker tried to kill me and Bronze because his lazy ass didn’t want to get a job?” I roared. “How would killing us change that?”
Tiny shrugged, seemingly not bothered by my outburst. “Maybe he was hoping to get three hot meals a day and a place to sleep for free.” When we all looked at Tiny like he’d lost his damn mind, he added, “You know, jail.”
“Are you fucking serious right now?”
“Sit down!” Copper bellowed. “And shut the fuck up, Tiny.” Copper pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled deeply, trying to gather some patience. “He’s dead, so it doesn’t really fucking matter.” Then, he swore under his breath and slammed his fist on the table. “I knew getting that gym was too easy.”
Bronze reached over and squeezed Copper’s shoulder. “Don’t do that, brother. What’s done is done, and everything’s good now.”
“Are we sure everything’s good now? No disrespect, Prez, but your explanation was what you thought happened, which may or may not be what really happened,” I carefully pointed out.
“You’re right, and that’s why I asked Spazz to look into the other man who entered the ring during the fight. Turns out, that was the man Tatum shot and killed the night you and Bronze were attacked. So, yeah, I feel confident in saying we’re in the clear now.”
I nodded in agreement. The two men who attempted to kill us were dead, and the likelihood of Dez being able to come after us was minimal at best. And that’s when it hit me.
I blamed Tatum and Josie for the attack. I’m pretty sure we all did. And they had absolutely nothing to do with it.
My throat was suddenly dry, and I felt like shit for the way we’d treated them. “Prez,” I rasped. “It wasn’t their fault.”
“Wasn’t whose fault?”
“Tatum’s and Josie’s. They didn’t bring trouble to us. We brought it to ourselves.”
“And?”
“We need to apologize to them,” I blurted.
He grinned. “I already have. Pretty sure you’re the only one who’s been outwardly hostile to them.”
“Shit,” I muttered. I had been an asshole to them, but fuck, in my defense, I thought they were the reason I almost lost my life. And even that I could’ve handled if I’d known why. Not knowing the reason why they were in Devil Springs and what was going on with them was infuriating. Even still, they had secrets, and those secrets could still be a problem for us.
“Now that we know the attack at the gym didn’t have anything to do with them, do they still need to stay at the clubhouse?” I asked, trying not to sound hopeful.
“The reason they’re here has nothing to do with the attack at the gym. They’re here until Luke has determined whether or not their cover has been blown.”
“Wait a minute. If that’s the case, then why do they need a babysitter?” I asked. If they were trying to stay hidden, they didn’t need someone watching them because they wouldn’t try to leave the clubhouse.
; “Because you pissed me off by digging into their past and not following orders.”
“Understood,” I replied and clamped my mouth shut.
“Good. Church dismissed,” Copper said and banged his gavel on the table.
I didn’t hang around to shoot the shit with the guys like I usually did. Instead, I went straight to the girls’ room and knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” Tatum asked in a sing-song voice.
“Batta.”
Silence.
I knocked again.
“Who is it?” she sang.
“Batta.”
Silence.
Fuck it. I reached for the doorknob, happy to find it unlocked, and pushed the door open.
“What in the hell are you doing?” I blurted. Josie was on the floor on her back with her legs and arms extended toward the ceiling. Tatum was facing Josie and holding on to her hands while her shoulders rested on the soles of Josie’s feet and the rest of her body curved into a backbend suspended in midair.
“AcroYoga. Now, shush it, you’re making ripples in my inner peace pond,” she snapped. Then, I shit you not, the woman started slowly chanting in a deep tone, “Ohm. Cream of Sum Yum Gai. Ohm.” Josie started to giggle. Tatum huffed and, with what appeared to be no effort whatsoever, she pushed off of Josie’s feet and gracefully landed in front of me.
“Oh, biker babysitter, did you come to take us to the park? Or maybe the zoo?” she asked excitedly.
Fuck, she wasn’t going to make it easy on me, but I had to do it. Clearing my throat, I stood tall and looked her in the eyes, “I came to apologize for the way I’ve treated the two of you. I learned today that the attempt on my life had nothing to do with you. I blamed you when I should’ve thanked you for saving my life, as well as my friend’s life. I hope you can find it in yourselves to forgive me and maybe we could even be friends.”
“Okay, stop right there,” Tatum said and pressed her hand to my forehead. Then, she leaned forward and inhaled deeply.
“What in the hell are you doing now?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I figured you were either ill or drunk.”
“Tatum,” Josie scolded and moved to stand in front of her sister. “Thank you for your kind words,” she said and extended her hand to me. “My sister doesn’t know how to accept compliments or apologies with any semblance of grace. Thankfully, I do.” She smiled and briefly shook my hand. “Now, Tatum, give him a smile and kindly shake his hand.”
I chuckled when Tatum petulantly stuck her hand out to shake mine. “You ladies let one of the other brothers know if you need anything. I’m officially off babysitting duty, and I’m going to celebrate.” If I hadn’t glanced over my shoulder as I was leaving, I would’ve missed seeing Tatum’s face fall, before it morphed into a mask of fury.
16
Fuck him and his asshole self. As long as I didn’t have to listen to him “celebrating,” he could go fuck a hole in the wall or drink himself into a coma for all I cared. His half-assed apology had me fuming.
As soon as he left the room, I grabbed my phone and called Luke. I needed to know what information suddenly had the bikers seeing us in a new light.
“Johnson,” he answered.
“Why do you do that when you know it’s me calling?”
“Because it’s one of the only ways I know how to irritate you,” he chirped.
“Whatever. What info did the bikers get today that would’ve cleared me and Josie in their eyes?” I asked without preamble.
“They identified the driver who was killed in the car accident in front of the clubhouse the other day. It was the man who ran away from the gym after you shot him,” he explained.
“Well, who was it?” I asked impatiently.
“Luther De Santis, twenty-four years old. Single. No children. One older sibling, Dez De Santis,” Luke rattled off information I knew he was reading from a computer screen.
“Motive?”
Luke cleared his throat. “Beef with the club.”
“Beef? Did you just say beef?” I teased.
He completely ignored me and continued. “I was going to call you later when I was certain, but with this new information, if everything else checks out, you and Josie can return to the safe house tomorrow and resume your regular work routine the day after.”
“Really?” I squealed in excitement.
“I’ll let you know for sure later tonight or first thing in the morning.”
Once I ended the call with Luke, I turned to tell Josie the good news. “There’s a possibility we can leave in the morning.”
“What?” Josie asked, not sounding happy in the least. “Where would we go?”
“Back to the safe house. We’d continue setting up the bookstore and move forward with our original plan.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” she whispered.
“Why not? Those men weren’t after us. They were after the bikers, because of some problem they had with them. There’s really no reason for us to be here.”
“If Cristofano was able to find me here, anyone else can, too.”
“Cristofano didn’t find you,” I pointed out. “He may have thought he found me, but I’ve disappeared, and a lovely little cyber trail was planted to lead him away from here.”
“I don’t know…” she trailed off.
“Think about it and let me know how you feel in the morning. If you’re still not okay with the plan, we’ll come up with one that you do feel comfortable with,” I promised.
“Thank you, Tatum.”
“Hey, I learned a long time ago to listen when someone says they have a bad feeling. I’d rather take unnecessary precautions than not take necessary ones. Now, how about we go get something to eat? Audrey’s starting to get mouthy again.”
After dinner, Josie was still a ball of nerves and in much need of some alcohol. When I went to the bar to get her a drink, the bartender was a girl I hadn’t seen before. “Hi, I’m Tatum,” I introduced and extended my hand.
“Hello, my name’s Heidi,” she said and glanced around the empty room. “Uh, are you here with someone?”
I snorted. “My sister and I are being held here against our wills. This is the day they let us out for food, and I saw an opportunity to get some alcohol for us, so I took it.”
Heidi gasped in horror. “She’s just fucking with you,” Batta said from behind me. “She’s a guest, so you can serve her and Josie whatever they want.”
Heidi laughed nervously. “Oh, okay, well, what can I get you?”
“I’m guessing you don’t have a drink menu.”
“Give them each a BWOL,” Batta said.
“A what?” I asked.
“A BWOL. Stands for Blackwings Old Lady. It’s a drink that Layla concocted. Trust me, it’s good.”
Heidi returned with two glasses that were either extra-large shot glasses or extra-small drinking glasses. “Um, is a B-WOL a shot or a drink?”
Heidi fidgeted with her hands and Batta shrugged. “We’re not sure. I’ve seen some shoot it and some drink it.”
Fuck it. I picked up one of the glasses and tossed it back. “Damn, that’s good stuff,” I said and immediately downed the other glass. “Two more, please.”
When Heidi refilled the glasses, I thanked her and returned to our table. “I don’t know what this is, but it’s fucking good,” I told Josie and placed one of the glasses in front of her.
She picked it up and tentatively took a sip. “Mmm, this is good,” she said and followed up with two larger sips. I decided to sip mine as well since I’d already downed two glasses of the liquid goodness.
Once Josie finished hers, I threw back the rest of mine and stood to go back to the bar to get two more before calling it quits for the night. Josie was the very essence of a lightweight, and I didn’t like to overdo it with alcohol, especially when I was on an assignment.
I’d taken two steps away from our table when my eyes landed on a woman who looked so
mewhat familiar to me. I probably could have placed her if she wasn’t standing so close to Batta that she was practically raping his bicep with her boobs. Somehow, I managed to maintain a mask of indifference while approaching the bar and asked for not one, not two, but four more drinks—one for Josie and three for me.
“You sure you’re okay, Trey? You’ve seemed off the past few weeks,” the arm-raping hussy said while she ran her whore fingers over “Trey’s” cheek.
“Here you go,” Heidi said, drawing my attention back to her just in the nick of time before I was caught mean-mugging Batta and his guest.
I quickly downed two of the drinks and pushed the glasses back to Heidi. “Thanks, hot stuff,” I said with a wink.
On the walk back to our table, I felt the alcohol start to hit me. “Here’s your drink,” I slurred and slapped my hand over my mouth.
Josie threw her head back and cackled, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. “Oh, Tatum, you’re drunk.”
“I am not,” I hissed. “Now, shut up and leave your drink so we can finish. Fuck, I mean, finish your drink so we can leave.”
“What? Why? I’m having fun,” she protested through her laughter.
“Well, I’m not,” I grumbled and took another sip.
Josie glanced back at the bar. “Oh, I see,” she said.
“Not another word.”
“Okay, I won’t say another word. Let’s take these drinks back to our room so you can sit in there and imagine what’s going on out here. Better yet, maybe we can get that tech guy to put the camera feed on our TV so you can livestream the canoodling.”
Finishing the rest of my drink, I slammed the glass down on the table and stormed out of the common room. What in the hell was wrong with me? I had no claim on Batta, aka the man who lets the sluts call him Trey. He could do whatever or whomever he wanted. I didn’t want him, and I was most definitely not one of those women who wanted a man to want me, even though I didn’t want him.
I pushed through the back door and deeply inhaled the crisp night air. Then, I started to pace.
Batta (Blackwings MC - Devil Springs Book 4) Page 8