“All good?” Joshua asked, leaning in towards me.
“All good,” I replied, turning my face from him, suddenly afraid that he was going to kiss me.
Joshua didn’t try to kiss me. Instead, he drove me back to the apartment in silence and let me walk out of the car without trying to hold me back. He wasn’t stupid, he knew that we didn’t have a hope of a future together.
“See you at work tomorrow?” he asked, through his window.
“See you,” I said with a smile.
“Still friends?” he asked and I grinned.
“Of course!”
I watched him drive away and I waved before he took a turn out of our street. I walked up the stairs to our apartment, wondering what Abe had thought, if he was jealous the way I had been of those strippers. Or if it hadn’t affected him at all, and if he was relieved that I was moving on.
Chapter 26
Abe
We were back at the docks, with the same set of instructions. The ship was supposed to arrive, we were going to help the crew assemble the shipment on the docks and then we were going to drive it in a truck to our warehouse.
The plan was in place as usual. Girth and Oz were keeping a watch on the entrance of the dock, while Rodeo and I were lingering around near where the ship was going to dock. We didn’t have the support of the rest of the MC this time, which meant that two of us would have to guard the warehouse after the shipment was stored.
Rodeo and I had been smoking endless cigarettes. Both of us were nervous about what was going to happen next. We were defying Lewis’ orders. The MC didn’t even know where we were tonight. If anything happened, all of our lives were at risk. I was already regretting the decision to get Oz involved in this. I’d made Alexis a promise to keep him safe, and that didn’t change just because we’d stopped sleeping together.
“You all right, brother?” Rodeo asked me. I could see the butt of his cigarette glowing in the dark.
“Yeah, you?” I asked him and he nodded his head.
We could see the ship sailing towards us now, slowing down its speed so it could dock itself some distance away. The crew usually sailed down to us on smaller boats, filled with crates of the shipment. They needed to park their ship as far from the actual jetty as possible, to keep its stock safe from an attack.
Rodeo and I squared our shoulders, preparing ourselves for the next stage of the handover. We watched as the anchor was thrown over the ship, and smaller boats started being floated. The crates were being lowered with ropes into those boats.
For now, things seemed quiet and I was hoping for it to stay that way. Maybe the Dark Legion hadn’t heard about this second shipment, I hoped.
A shot rang out in the night air, and both Rodeo and I had our guns out of our belts within seconds.
“Fuck. They’re here again!” Rodeo growled and we ran in the direction of the shot, it had come from where Oz and Girth were.
We heard loud voices, followed by more shots and now there was no doubt, we were definitely under attack.
Oz came running at us in the dark, waving his gun in the air.
“The Dark Legion!” he shouted, slightly out of breath.
“Do we have eyes on how many?” I asked, as the three of us rushed towards Girth, guns pointed forward.
“More than last time, there are more shots. Definitely more than us,” Oz said, as he took some blind shots.
Rodeo looked at me. I knew what he was thinking. This was bad news. If we were outnumbered by the Dark Legion, it meant that we were not going to win this battle.
“Oz, stay the fuck back this time, and if one of us goes down, run the fuck away,” I growled at him.
We could see Girth up ahead, crouched behind a crate and trying to take shots.
“I’m not a fucking coward!” Oz shouted as the three of us crouched down too. We’d each found ourselves a crate as a barrier, just like Girth had but these weren’t going to hold up for very long.
“I promised your sister I wasn’t going to get you killed,” I shouted back at Oz, over the sound of the raining gunfire.
“She’s going to hate me more for being a coward!” Oz replied, peeping over the crate to fire a few shots.
“There are way more this time, man. At least twelve. We’re not going to make it this time!” Rodeo growled and I shook my head, before standing straight to shoot some more.
I’d located a cluster of those fuckers behind a barrel and I was shooting at them, trying to squeeze them out of that spot and out in the open.
“Abe! Sit the fuck down! You’re going to get yourself killed!” I could hear Rodeo raging but I didn’t back down. I was the one who’d got us in this mess, and it would have to be making sure that Oz and my brothers got out of this alive. Girth up ahead was glaring at me too.
I fired round after round, forcing the bastards to stay down. I didn’t see another one appear from behind a crate and take a shot at me. The bullet zoomed into my side, making my skin burn but I was going to live, for now.
“Abe! Sit down!” Rodeo growled again.
“I got this. You guys go! Get back on your bikes, I’ll give you cover!” I shouted, over the sound of my own firing. I could feel the stinging pain of the bullet wound on my side, but I kept shooting.
“We’re not going anywhere!” Rodeo shouted back, sticking his head out from the side of the crate to take a few shots himself.
“Abe!” I heard Oz shout, and he jumped up to shoot at a Dark Legion fucker who had pointed his gun at me.
“Sit back down,” I growled at Oz, but he kept shooting. I was setting a bad example for him.
“I’m not going to let Lila and Jordan’s men die out here!” I shouted, catching Girth’s eye as I kept firing.
“Nobody is going to die!” I heard Oz scream from behind me.
The sound of another set of blazing guns ripped through the air, overshadowing the noise that my own gun was making.
“Fuck!” I raged, ducking to take cover now. There were more.
***
“Don’t shoot!” Oz came screaming at me, just as I tried to jump up and start firing again.
“What the fuck?” I heard Rodeo murmur as we watched a hoard of boys appear in the dark, from behind where the Dark Legion gang were taking cover.
Girth stood up from behind his crate too. The boys who were wielding guns and knives in their hands, had taken the Dark Legion by surprise and were shooting and knifing them.
“Who are these kids?” Rodeo asked, holding his gun straight out, waiting for the boys to turn on us.
“The Romanos,” I said, in a deep guttural growl. I looked over at Oz who was smiling as he watched his friends overpowering the Dark Legion.
“I made a call, I figured we’d need some backup tonight,” Oz said.
I had a lot that I wanted to say to Oz, as I was sure Rodeo and Girth did too but for now, we had some fighting to take care of.
The four of us charged into the group, who were shooting and punching at each other. We were absorbed into the hoard, and we fought alongside the Romano boys, each of whom was around the same age as Oz and none were very good with the gun. For now though, they were exactly what we needed; more manpower.
I kept an eye on Oz as he took shots and kicked guns out of the hands of the Dark Legion. We had outnumbered them by at least five, and now most of them were lying on the ground, bleeding out and injured.
I felt the adrenaline pumping in my veins. I had been so sure, just a few minutes ago; that I was going to die here. I was going to die because of a stupid decision, and I was going to die before I had the chance to tell Alexis I had feelings for her.
Now, it didn’t seem like such a bad decision anymore, we were winning.
Most of the Dark Legion men were on the ground, while some had scampered away the moment they realized they were outnumber. The score right now was; Marked Skulls, two and Dark Legion, one. I was pretty sure that they weren’t going to mess with us so easily a
gain.
The shots had quieted down. Girth stood over one of the guys who was on the ground, curled up in a ball, gunshot wounds on his legs and sides.
“Let them all live. We need to send a message!” I growled, with my shoulders heaving. The wound on my side was sending shots of pain up and down my spine. I could feel my t-shirt becoming sticky with blood.
“Next time, we might change our minds about how many we spare,” Rodeo roared as the Dark Legion men on the ground started scampering up and running away.
The Romano boys were grinning and exchanging high-fives amongst themselves. Oz was with them, and I watched him with a grin on my face. He’d come through when all of us had given up hope. He’d made a decision, all on his own and his plan had worked.
“What about the shipment?” Girth asked, walking up to us with a limp. I could see that he’d taken a bullet in his foot.
“The boats probably sailed back to the ship when they heard gunfire. Wave something white at them and they’ll know that the coast is clear,” I said. Oz was already taking his white t-shirt off. He handed it to Girth who walked up to the edge of the jetty to indicate to the ship.
Oz came to me, still grinning from ear to ear.
“I’m not a fucking coward,” he said, smiling and I nodded my head.
“Those were your words, not mine,” I said, reaching for his shoulder and thumping it.
He looked over at his friends and then back at me again.
“I trust these guys. If you need more new prospects for the MC, these are your men,” Oz said. Rodeo had joined us, and he threw an arm over Oz’ shoulder and dragged him in for a playful choke.
“Full of fucking surprises, this kid,” Rodeo laughed.
“Bring them to church, Oz, we’ll get the women to look at their bruises and wounds and after that, we’ll talk to Lewis about making them prospects,” I said. Oz beamed at me with excitement.
“I volunteer to do the convincing,” Rodeo said.
Behind us, we could hear the boats sailing up to the dock in swarms. They were carrying the crates of weapons with them, reading to be shipped to our warehouse.
“This solves the problem of keeping guard on the warehouse,” Girth said walking over to us. “Me and two of the Romano boys can do it,” he suggested and Rodeo and I both agreed.
“Before you do that, we have to get back to the bar before Lila and Jordan throw up a fuss about you two,” I said. Girth and Rodeo looked at each other sheepishly. They didn’t know how bloody lucky they were that they had the love and support of good women on their sides.
I had an empty house to go back to, and more cans of beer to keep me company.
“Let’s get the stock out first,” Rodeo said, and pulling Oz with him, I watched them greeting the ship’s crew with handshakes.
Rodeo had accepted Oz, he’d accepted the Romano boys and most importantly, he’d accepted my ambitious plans for the MC. All I needed was Rodeo and Girth’s support and I knew that winning over Lewis to the cause was going to be easy now.
I ran a hand through my hair, realizing that my right hand was caked with drying blood. I did it. I finally did it. I’d proven to Lewis and everybody else in our city that the Marked Skulls were on their way and we weren’t going to back down.
Chapter 27
Alexis
I woke up to the sound of my cell phone ringing. Not that I had been sleeping to begin with, I’d just been lying in bed, visualizing Abe’s face over and over again. I felt like a naive giddy teenager in love with a high school heartthrob.
It was Courtney on the phone.
“Alexis? I just heard about Oz, is he all right?” she asked and I sat up in bed with a jerk.
“What are you talking about? What happened to Oz?”
“I heard that he got mixed up with some shootout at the docks, with the Marked Skulls MC. Loads of men got hurt,” Courtney said. I didn’t let her finish, I was already out of bed and hurriedly changing into any clothes that I could find on hand.
I ran out of the apartment and got into my car. I knew exactly where I needed to go to find more information.
At T-Bone, I could see the parking lot full to the brim with bikes and muscle cars. It seemed like there was a party raging inside. The music was loud and even from outside, I could hear raised cheering voices.
I gulped before I stepped in, tucking in my messy hair behind my ears. I wasn’t sure of what I’d find inside.
When I pushed open the door, I saw that it did look like a party! Even though there were several men, sitting around on bar stools with their shirts off. These were the guys with bruises and gunshot wounds on their bodies. I recognized a lot of their faces, most of them were the Romano boys.
Amongst them, my brother sat with a can of beer in his hand and a girl working on bandaging his left bicep.
“Sis!” He cheered joyfully, jumping off the stool and rushing towards me. I could see now why it was so easy for Oz to get swept up in this. There was a sense of celebration and camaraderie in this place. Even though there were so many of them who were wounded and hurt, everyone seemed to be in a happy mood.
Oz pulled me into his arms and I patted him down, checking for where else he might have been hurt.
“You heard?” he asked and I nodded my head, trying to gulp down the tears in my eyes.
“Courtney heard and she called me. I didn’t know what happened, are you okay?” I asked and Oz hugged me tightly.
“I’m fine, sis, it was great! It was amazing! We won!” he screamed, over the noise in the bar.
“You must be the sister,” two women had walked over to us as Oz and I separated. I recognized them from the last time I was at the bar. One with blond hair neatly tied in a braid, and another raven haired—both as beautiful as the other.
“Hi, I’m Alexis,” I said nervously.
“Lila”
“Jordan” they introduced themselves. Oz looked at them with a grin on his face.
“They’re with Girth and Rodeo, the other senior members of the MC,” Oz added and I smiled weakly at the women.
“We’re all very impressed with your brother here, the men are very happy to have him. We hear that he saved the day,” Jordan said, reaching for my arm affectionately.
I felt a sense of pride as the women spoke about Oz, who was still grinning.
“I just wanted to drop in and make sure he was doing okay,” I said and Lila stepped up and threw an arm around me.
“But you don’t have to go straight away, have a drink,” she said. When I looked, I saw that Oz was already walking back to his friends, leaving me in the care of these women.
“Is…everyone else okay?” I asked, and Lila threw Jordan a look, like they had some inside secret between them.
“Yes, Abe is fine and I’m sure he’d be happy to see you,” Jordan said, with a wide smile spreading on her face.
“No, that’s not what I meant,” I shook my head wildly but the women were dragging me to the counter, squeezing past celebrating men and clinking bottles of beer.
Behind the counter I saw Abe. He was unloading packs of beers, laughing loudly as he spoke to an older man with sparkling blue eyes.
“Daddy, this is Alexis. She’s Oz’ sister,” Lila introduced me to the older man, while I kept my eyes averted from Abe.
“Hello Alexis, I’m Lewis. I’m the President of the MC and we are happy to welcome your brother as a new prospect,” Lewis shook my hand. I felt that sense of pride again. I was glad to hear that Oz had made such an impression on everyone here. It was the best that I could have hoped for my brother. I could see that he was accepted and welcomed into this family of loyal men. They would have his back, they would appreciate his hard work and besides, Oz looked too happy for me to be mad at him.
My gaze drifted to Abe, who was standing next to Lewis, holding cans of beer in his hands like he’d stopped working midway. Lewis looked at me and then at Abe and then at me again.
“Looks like yo
u two have somethings to discuss,” Lewis said, and behind me, I could hear Jordan and Lila giggling.
My cheeks flushed and I looked away from Abe.
“Alexis, can we talk?” he asked, and I gulped and nodded my head. What could we possibly have to talk about anymore?
I watched him walk around the counter. I noticed now that the t-shirt he was wearing had patches of blood on the side. I followed him, as he led the way to a relatively quiet corner of the bar.
“What are you drinking?” he asked, holding a chair out for me at a rundown table.
“I’m not drinking, I’m not staying for long,” I said. Abe nodded his head and sat down across from me.
***
“Oz really came through for us,” he said. He’d carried a can of beer with him and he drank from time to time as he watched me. I felt like my body was on fire, like my insides were burning up with the need to be in his arms.
“You look hurt,” I said and he looked down at his t-shirt and shrugged his shoulders.
“Not as hurt as I would’ve been if Oz’ friends hadn’t shown up,” he told me. I looked over to where Oz was sitting with his friends, laughing and joking, looking happy.
“So, you’re involving the Romano boys in this thing too?” I asked and Abe nodded his head lightly.
“They’re good boys, not as skilled as Oz is but with a bit of work, I’m sure they’ll get there. Lewis approves of them, so they’re all ready to be patched in,” Abe continued, and his words sounded like gibberish to me.
I wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying; I was more focused on how brilliantly his blue eyes shone, how strong and masculine he looked as he sat there, the tattoos on his neck, his biceps bulging…
“How are you?” he asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. I fiddled with my fingers, feeling nervous again.
“I’m okay…I’m good. Vanity came to my apartment a few days ago, looking for you,” I said. Abe sighed and shook his head.
“Sorry about that, I’ll talk to her and make sure that she doesn’t trouble you,” he told me, leaning over the table as he shifted in his chair. The party continued to rage around us, and I was beginning to feel out of place here. I had resisted this lifestyle for so long, I had been so afraid of it…that now, with Abe and Oz around, the fact that it felt normal, made me uncomfortable. I didn’t want to give in so easily, I had my pride, but I knew I was…I was seeing what Oz saw in this.
Abe (Marked Skulls MC Book 3) Page 13