“Is that possible? Will your club agree to something like that?” she asked and I stared back at her firmly.
“Yes, I’m going to make sure that they are,” I told her.
***
At the Rusty Pelican, I parked my bike outside its doors. I had sent a text to Gunner to ask Axel to call for an emergency Church meeting. I grabbed Noelle’s hand as I led her towards the doors of the bar, aware that she was nervous. I had a feeling that she had never been to a bar like this before. It was going to be a completely new experience for her, and I wished that I could ease her anxiety a little, but the truth was that I was nervous too. I wanted the meeting to go smoothly. Besides, I had never brought a woman back to the bar, or introduced her to any of my brothers; let alone Axel.
Noelle was walking by me closely, our arms grazing. All the information I had given her about this meeting; was that she was going to be walking into the midst of my entire Motorcycle Club and to just follow my lead. I knew she trusted me. She had just nodded her head and agreed with me regarding the plan.
When I pushed open the doors of the bar now, we were hit with the usual blasting of Classic Rock music, and a jumble of voices inside. I could sense Noelle’s muscles stiffening immediately as we stepped in. The air in the bar was slightly smoggy, filled with cigarette smoke and it smelt of masculine adrenaline and beer in there. These weren’t details I had always noticed, but with Noelle there beside me today, I was paying attention to them.
I could see that most of the Bad Disciples were there. Gunner had managed to organize Church pretty well on such short notice. I also noticed how most of my brothers stopped chattering, and turned to look at us the moment we stepped in. I didn’t even want to imagine what Noelle was feeling; with a bar full of hardened tattooed bikers, with thick beards and leather jackets, drinking in the middle of the day…staring at her.
I knew exactly what everyone in that place was thinking. That Tank had walked into Church with a woman in tow. Tank! Who had never been seen with a woman before, who kept his private life to himself, who didn’t smile or crack a joke. He had now turned up at the bar with a beautiful young woman who nobody recognized…well, I was sure that Glock and Gunner recognized her from the hospital, but their faces when I looked over at them, seemed just as much in shock as the rest of them.
I squeezed Noelle’s hand, and clenching my jaws, I led her through the crowd of my brothers towards the center of the bar where Axel was sitting on a bar stool. He was looking at us keenly as well, with narrowed eyes and his brows crunched up. He was just as surprised as everyone else.
I glanced a look at Noelle and saw that she was walking with her face turned to the ground. I could sense that she was embarrassed or self-conscious or both, and I didn’t blame her.
We came to a halt in front of Axel, who was now scanning Noelle up and down. From the corner of my eyes, I could sense Gunner and Glock exchanging looks. Someone had turned down the music in the bar too so that now it felt like we were surrounded by complete silence with everybody’s eyes on us.
“Well, Tank? Are you going to explain yourself?” Axel finally broke the silence, and I sensed a shiver run down Noelle’s body. I looked at Axel and drew in a deep breath. I didn’t even know where to begin.
***
“This is Noelle Peters. She was my nurse at the hospital when I got shot,” I said, looking Axel directly in the eye. I wasn’t sure how seriously he or my brothers were going to take this declaration of mine. Would they assume this was all a joke? Axel wasn’t smiling; instead, he was peering at Noelle like she was a creature from outer space. Then his gaze dropped to how I was holding her hand. Axel looked over at me again.
“And what is she doing here?” he asked, and another shudder ran through Noelle’s body. Now I was worried that she was too afraid, that she wouldn’t want to be here. Without the MC’s protection, it was going to be very difficult for me to keep her safe by myself.
“We are together,” I said and felt a twitch in my eyelids. I had never imagined myself saying those words, and especially not to Axel, in a bar full of my brothers. There was a low buzz in the crowd when I said the words and Axel lifted his hand up to shut it up.
“Do you mean that she’s your woman?” Axel asked, his brows knotted quizzically like he wasn’t buying it.
I clenched my jaws, holding his gaze and I nodded.
“She’s also carrying my child,” I said, and another buzz rang out in the crowd. My eyes flitted over to where Gunner and my friends were standing. He was in shock, as was Glock. Noelle’s grip on my hand tightened.
“Silence!” Axel called out, and the buzz died again.
“She’s going to be the mother of your child?” Axel asked, arching his eyebrows and I nodded again. Axel was now staring at Noelle again, he too, like everyone else in the room, seemed to be in utter disbelief.
Then, after a few moments of silence, he addressed Noelle directly.
“There must be something special about you, sweetheart because Tank has never introduced us to any of his girls,” Axel said, and finally, Noelle raised her eyes to meet his. I could see the way her cheeks were flushed, and how bright her eyes had gotten. She didn’t know what to say.
Then Axel looked at me again.
“The mother of your child is welcome to the Club, Tank,” Axel declared, and I felt a flicker of a smile on my face. Gunner and Glock were smiling too, and some of my brothers cheered. Noelle looked at me, a relieved smile stretching her face and I smiled back at her in reassurance.
“Now, sweetheart, if you can go to the back office over there, you’ll find the other old ladies having a chat. Brooklyn and Kylie, and my old lady, Rebecca. Sniper! Why don’t you take Noelle over and introduce her to the crowd,” Axel continued and gently, I let Noelle’s hand go.
She seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then she walked towards where Sniper was waiting to take her in. She threw me a look before she walked through the door, and I nodded my head again to reassure her.
When she was gone, Gunner and Glock came over to thump my shoulders and congratulate me.
“So, you’re going to be a father, Tank!” Axel said, and I pursed my lips together and shrugged. There was no chance that I was going to demonstrate to my brothers just how excited I was at the prospect.
“It’s a hard job. It doesn’t come naturally to men like us, which is why we need women like them,” Axel said and tipped his head towards the back office where his own old lady was sitting. Some of the others chuckled, and I smirked.
“Before I worry about that, there is something else to take care of,” I said, interrupting the cheerful spirit in the bar. Axel arched his eyebrows at me again.
“You mean taking care of the Dragon Knights?” he asked, and I glared into his eyes.
“One of the assholes, Viper, saw Noelle in the hospital. He knows she’s pregnant,” I said, and Axel’s eyes changed instantly. It went from diffused and calm to enraged.
“If they know she’s carrying your baby, they’re going to use that against you,” he said, and I nodded. I could feel Gunner’s anger from across the room. Gunner and Viper had history, and I knew him threatening another woman would push him over the edge.
“It could put Noelle and the baby’s life in danger,” I said, and Axel shook his head. He was staring at me, and I knew exactly what he was thinking. Threatening one of the MC members was one thing, but threatening one of the old ladies or one of the kids of the Club was a completely separate matter. It was intolerable in Axel’s eyes. Gunner stormed over to us.
“Did he hurt her?” Gunner hissed, and I clenched my jaw at the thought of it.
“He was rough with her. Pulled her arm. Asked her about me. He knows,” I replied, and Axel scrunched the can of beer in his hand out of anger and threw it to the floor.
“It’s time,” Axel said, in a louder voice, so that he was sure that the entire MC was paying attention to what he was saying. “No more waiting. We need to tak
e down the Dragon Knights before they strike or harm one of the old ladies or children,” Axel continued, and a cheer rang out in the bar.
I felt Gunner’s hand on my shoulder, and he squeezed it in support. Glock, Sniper, and Hunter had joined me too. When I looked at their faces, I could see that each of them was in agreement with Axel and me. The Dragon Knights had had a personal role to play in each of their lives, all their women were in danger as long as the DKs were allowed to run free. We all agreed that they needed to be taken down.
When I looked back at Axel, I saw that he was smiling at me. This had been my plan since that night I got shot, and now it was finally going to be set in motion.
CHAPTER 20
Noelle
The women and I came out of the back office into the bar, when we heard loud voices. Brooklyn, Kylie, and Rebecca all seemed very excited about the fact that Tank and I were going to be parents in six months. Even though I hadn’t met any of these women before, and our paths might not ever have crossed other than in this situation…I seemed to be getting along with them well.
Brooklyn and Kylie were close to my age, beautiful women and fiercely in love with their men. Rebecca was closer to my mother’s age but was warm and welcoming. When we heard their raised voices outside, Rebecca led us out, and we saw that the Club was deep in discussion.
Tank was standing with Gunner, Glock and his friends around the President, Axel and I couldn’t help but admire him from a distance. The women and I took up seats in the back.
“Think they’re finally planning their final attack on the Dragon Knights,” Kylie said, keeping her eyes on the men. Rebecca nodded her head, and when I met Brooklyn’s eyes, she smiled.
“You look worried,” she said to me, and my cheeks flushed, and I licked my lips nervously. I was new to this world, and even though everyone had been perfectly friendly and nice to me till now, it was all still new to me.
“No, it’s nothing. I just don’t know what an attack means…what that means for Tank,” I said, and now Kylie and Rebecca looked at me as well. Kylie reached for my shoulder and squeezed supportively.
“I know how this can feel, I felt lost and worried for Hunter too…this was all new to me too. But you shouldn’t worry. These guys know what they’re doing, and they’re good at it,” Kylie explained, and I nodded my head, trying to hide the tension from my face. Even though I appreciated their support, those words weren’t helping. All I was hearing was that Tank was going to put himself in danger. That his life might come in harm’s way.
“And besides, honey, it’s probably better that you know this now, from the beginning…this is what keeps our men happy. They need to go out and do what they feel is right and what is best. If they don’t, they lose the meaning of their lives,” it was Rebecca speaking now. She was Axel’s old lady, a generation older than us, and a seasoned MC woman.
I appreciated her advice and what she said made perfect sense to me, but I still wasn’t able to wrap my head around the lifestyle. How the father of my child could possibly be involved in all this.
While we were outside this world, it was easy for me to forget what Tank did. I could focus on only him, his body, and how he was capable of making me feel. Now that he had brought me here to this bar. Now that I had met his friends and brothers, and I was getting a taste of his day to day life; I wasn’t so sure of myself anymore.
Not only was his world different and new, but it was rough and rebellious and dangerous…I wasn’t so sure how I was going to be able to cope. Or how I could be as relaxed as Brooklyn or Rebecca about watching their men plan an actual weaponized attack on a rival gang.
“Or we could take down the Four Skulls first,” it was Tank’s voice that drew my attention back to the group again. He was standing casually, with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans. He had made some suggestion, and the others were looking at him, nodding their heads.
“Yes! That would mean cutting off the weapons supply for the DKs,” his friend Gunner said, and Axel was nodding his head too.
“No more allies on the streets for those mother fuckers,” Axel declared, and some of the men in the group cheered.
I didn’t exactly understand what they were talking about, but there was threat and anger and violence dripping from all their voices; including Tank’s. And I had never been surrounded by so many people who cursed so freely or drank like a fish in the middle of the day. Not that any of them were drunk; which proved that this was their daily routine.
I gulped, as I tried to catch Tank’s eyes, but he wasn’t looking at me.
“Good. So we take down Four Skulls first. Stop the weapons supply and deal with the Dragon Knights after that,” Tank was speaking again, and I watched him closely. His face was serious and angered. His body language reeked of violence.
“This kind of an attack. The one they’re talking about with the Four Skulls…” I turned to Kylie again. “Will this involve actual guns and weapons?” I asked, and Rebecca let out a light laugh behind us.
“Honey,” she said and placed a hand on my arm. “How else are they going to bring those guys down?” she asked and I stared back at her. I knew it was a stupid question, but I was still in disbelief.
“Don’t you want payback for what they did to Tank? The Dragon Knights almost killed him. You were there at the hospital, you know right?” Brooklyn asked, and I nodded my head and looked away from them.
Yes, I wanted payback for what they did to Tank. I also wanted payback for the way Mark Kaz had treated me at the hospital and the fact that they had tailed us on our date. But an attack, with guns blazing and putting lives in danger…was not the payback I would have had in mind. That was not the world I belonged to.
But now things were going to change. I had fallen in love with a man whose life was completely different. I just wasn’t so sure anymore, if I could live my own life without caring about the guns Tank kept hidden in the kitchen when I wasn’t looking. He thought I hadn’t noticed it, but I had.
***
The men had been talking for close to an hour, discussing the details of the attack that they were planning. Eventually, Axel ended the meeting and Tank came over to me. I tried to force a smile on my face when I saw him walking towards me because I didn’t want him to know how anxious I was feeling.
“Everything okay?” he asked and drew me into his arms. His touch was enough to instantly calm me down, and despite everything I was feeling, I couldn’t help but melt right in his arms.
“Yeah, the girls have been very friendly to me,” I said, and Tank’s hand moved down to my ass, and he slipped it into the back pocket of my jeans. I bit down on my lip as he squeezed my ass and started drawing me towards the door of the bar.
“That’s good because you will be seeing a lot of them and you might need their help when the baby comes,” he said, and we walked together. I was glad that I would have help with the baby, given that I was sure that my family would want to have nothing to do with me when they found out. But I still couldn’t get rid of that feeling gnawing at me. That I would never be able to come to terms with the life I had just walked into.
Tank helped me up on his bike and took up his position in front of me.
“Are you taking me back to my place?” I asked him as he accelerated his bike noisily. I clung to him for support, and I could feel his muscles become stiff and taut under his leather jacket.
“Yes, and I want to spend as much time with you as possible,” I heard him say, and despite myself, I smiled as we rode off.
At my apartment, we walked in hand in hand. We were both smiling and talking, and slowly, the more time I spent with him, I started to forget all my anxiety that had filled my mind at the bar.
We ate a late lunch at the kitchen counter, and Tank told me that it was the best home cooked meal he had ever eaten. This time, I didn’t even have to coax him, he decided to open up and tell me a little about his parents. About how violent his father was, how many broken bones
he had as a kid, and how his mother wasn’t half the mother she should have been to him. She was more concerned about men than her son who was getting beaten up by his father on a daily basis.
I didn’t blame Tank anymore, for choosing the life he had chosen for himself. I understood now, why he smiled so little, why he kept his distance from people and why this was such a difficult topic for him to talk about. The people that were meant to love him the most as a kid never did, which left him feeling the need to guard himself. I was thankful that he was letting peak behind his strong walls.
I was looking into Tank’s deep hazel eyes, while he leaned over the kitchen counter across from me. We had eaten out of bowls standing up, and I still couldn’t believe how normal and natural it felt to be with him, to have him in my home.
“I’m sorry, Tank,” I said and reached for his hand. Tank allowed me to hold his hand and he took in a deep breath and shook his head.
“I don’t want you to feel sorry for me, Noelle because I stopped feeling sorry for myself a long time ago. Now, I want to make sure that my child has a better life, with better parents. That’s all I care about right now,” he said, and I leaned myself over the counter some more so that our faces were just inches away.
Tank looked into my eyes, reading in them what I was asking for. With his fore finger, he pushed aside a few strands of hair from my forehead and then allowed his hand to trail down my cheek, till he was holding my face in the palm of his hand. To me, it felt like he was also holding my heart in the palm of his hand. The more I looked at him, the more convinced I was that I would follow him anywhere, that none of the things I had seen or heard in the bar mattered; as long as I could have him.
Fox (The Road Rebels MC Book 4) Page 39