Rodeo scratched his head, and then threw me a look before he turned back to them again.
“She wouldn’t let me in so I broke down her door. I couldn’t just leave her behind. She’d be a sitting duck to another shootout since she’s the witness,” Rodeo explained. There was silence in the bar for a few seconds, before the men suddenly exploded in laughter.
“You broke her fucking door?” one of the guys said, walking up to Rodeo and thumping him on his back. I watched with a smile flickering on my face while the others pulled his leg. They were making fun of him, and for the first time, I was seeing the lighter side of Rodeo and his lifestyle.
“Everything Rodeo touches, he fucking breaks,” one of them said and Rodeo looked over sheepishly at me. I could see that he was embarrassed by his friends.
“What else did you break in her house?” another one asked and they all kept exploding in laughter.
I was standing to the side, watching the scene, till the older man turned to me and made me self conscious again.
“So, Jordan. Are you offering us anything in return for Rodeo’s protection?” he asked. I stuck my chin up, offended slightly by that question. I didn’t ask for Rodeo’s protection, he had offered it to me and I wouldn’t have needed it if he hadn’t broken my door! Before I could say anything though, Rodeo spoke up again.
“She’s told me everything she saw,” he said and there was a silence in the bar again. All the men in the room were watching us both. I could feel the electricity in the air. Fred had clearly meant something important to each one of them.
“She saw the shooting. He was planning on going into the building. A biker rode by and shot him in the chest,” Rodeo explained. The shorter guy, who the others had been referring to as Abe, growled and punched his fist into the palm of his hand.
“Motherfucker. Which one of the bastards was it? Was it the guy who tried to kill Lila?” he growled and Rodeo looked at me and then back at them again.
“No, it wasn’t. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t anybody from the Dark Legion. Fred was shot and killed by a guy from Hell’s Drifters,” Rodeo informed them. There was silence in the bar again as they all glared at us.
“Hell’s Drifters?” the older guy stood up from his stool. He had his brows crossed, he looked just as confused as Rodeo had been when I described the patch to him.
“Yeah, a bald guy with a black beard. Jordan described the patch to me. It’s definitely the Hell’s Drifters,” Rodeo said. The men were looking at each other blankly. It was obvious to me that this was something that none of them expected.
“What the fuck was Fred doing getting shot by someone from the Hell’s Drifters?” Abe grunted.
***
There was an argument building up in the bar around me, and I was beginning to feel nervous again. It was obvious that the men weren’t happy with the news that Rodeo had just given them.
“I don’t know what the fuck the Hell’s Drifters are doing! All I know is I’m going to find this bald bastard and kill him!” Rodeo growled.
“What does Fred have to do with them? What do we have to do with Hell’s Drifters?” another guy barked and the older man was running his hands through his hair repeatedly.
“Things are not going to look good for us if we get into shit with the Hell’s Drifters, man,” one man said and Rodeo whipped around to him, his eyes were bloodshot. I was seeing Rodeo in his fiercest element.
“I don’t care what shit we get into with the Hell’s Drifters! All I fucking care about is getting the guy who killed Fred!” Rodeo was bursting with rage. His face had turned red and he was lumbering over the guy who was glaring back at him.
The tall muscular man who was sitting at the end of the bar with the girl stood up.
“Do you fucking hear me? I don’t care how big Hell’s Drifters are and what beef they have with us. Don’t fucking tell me to scurry into a corner. They killed Fred!” Rodeo was still yelling, till the tall guy went over and placed a hand on Rodeo’s shoulder.
Rodeo whipped around to face him, primed for a fight.
“We hear you man. We’re going to get to the bottom of this. We’re going to avenge Fred’s death,” he said in a deep grunt, and his words seemed to calm Rodeo down.
“Do you see this? Girth is the new guy and even he gets it. I’m not going to sit back and let Fred’s death go unchallenged,” Rodeo hissed.
I had backed away from the group, feeling chills run down my spine. I hadn’t known what to expect when I first walked into the bar but now I was afraid of the kind of trouble I had gotten myself involved in. I was afraid of this new side to Rodeo that I was seeing.
From the first moment that he had burst into my apartment, Rodeo had been nothing but kind to me. He had tried his best to put me at ease and make me feel safe around him. Now I was seeing his violent side. I could see the kind of rage he was capable of when he was in a bad mood. He was definitely a strong man, he was a brave man—but I wasn’t sure of the place I had in this bar.
“Rodeo, calm the fuck down, brother,” Abe spoke up and patted him on his back.
“We need to figure out what Hell’s Drifters have against us, why they shot Fred. In the meantime, Rodeo, you have my permission to go after the guy who pulled the trigger,” the older man was speaking now.
I was confused and afraid, and feeling like an outsider. I wasn’t even sure if Rodeo remembered that I was in the bar. How well did I really know him anyway?
“Hi,” I heard a girl’s voice behind me. I turned to find the pretty woman standing there, with a kindly smile on her face.
“I’m Lila, I’m Lewis’ daughter,” she said and extended her hand to me. She seemed out of place here too, in the middle of these rowdy rough men. She was wearing a beautiful lacey white dress, and looked too pretty to be in a place like this.
The fact that she was the older guy’s daughter, was even more surprising.
“I can see that you’re a little taken aback by all this,” she said when I finally shook her hand. I gulped and forced a weak smile on my face.
“I don’t exactly know what’s going on,” I said meekly, and Lila nodded her head and then placing a small hand on my back, she led me towards the bar—away from the rest of the group.
“I can sympathize. I grew up around these guys and half the time, even I don’t know what’s going on. I’ve learnt to stay out of it as best as I can,” she said and we both sat down on bar stools. The men were behind us, still being loud and arguing amongst themselves. Lila was talking to me over their voices.
“Listen, I hope that you can stop worrying. I can understand that you might be scared, I was in a similar position like you not too long ago,” Lila said and then she looked over her shoulder at the tall guy who was trying to keep peace in the group.
“All I can tell you is that these guys are men of their words. I have known Rodeo for many years, he is like a brother to me—he is a player and he’s tough and he likes to believe that he has nothing to hold him back, but Jordan, trust me, if he has promised to look after you, he will,” Lila was speaking softly to me, something about her made me trust her instantly.
I looked over at Rodeo who was barking at some of the guys. I felt Lila’s hand on mine as I watched him.
“You can trust him with your life. I can see that he feels a sense of responsibility towards you, and he’s going to keep you safe,” she said. When I turned to look at her, Lila was smiling at me wholeheartedly.
“Besides, I have never seen him walk in here with a woman before. You must be something special,” she added and I could feel the tops of my cheeks flushing. I didn’t want to admit that I was flattered by that statement. I didn’t want to admit that it was more than just sexual attraction that I was feeling for him.
Chapter 7
Rodeo
After Church at the bar, after we had all vented our pent up frustrations; I found Jordan sitting at the counter with Lila. I hadn’t forgotten about her, she was alwa
ys there at the back of my mind; but talking with my brothers had distracted me.
We still hadn’t come up with a solution on how to deal with the problem of the Hell’s Drifters, but we were all in agreement about one thing—that no matter what the risks involved were, we were going to have to avenge Fred’s death.
I walked over to Jordan and Lila, and the two girls looked over at me with faint smiles on their faces. I was grateful to Lila that she had kept Jordan company while I was busy.
“We weren’t talking about you, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Lila joked and I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug. I knew she was probably just as upset as I was about Fred’s death. He had been a part of her life since she was a kid, way before I was even in the picture. He was like an uncle to her.
“Don’t know if there’s anything to talk about me,” I said and when I looked at Jordan, I saw that she was blushing again. It was quite obvious that they were talking about me, but what could Lila possibly be saying to her?
“Rodeo, I think you should fix Jordan’s door and give her a chance to rest at her home a little,” Lila tilted her head to the side to say. I nodded my head and slipped my hands into the pockets of my jeans.
“Yeah, I’ll get to it. I had to come here first and talk to the guys,” I said.
Lila looked at Jordan and smiled.
“Make sure that he does a good job on your door, he owes you that,” she said and then jumping off her stool to give Jordan a quick hug, Lila walked away from us to go find Girth.
Jordan and I were left alone again, and she still couldn’t meet my eyes.
“I guess we should head back then, I should get started on that door,” I said and she nodded her head.
“Yeah, sounds good,” she said and got off the stool.
“I’ll have to get my toolbox, it’s probably here somewhere, and then we’ll have to stop by the hardware store so I can buy some materials,” I told her.
“Okay,” she said meekly.
“Jordan, I’m sorry if you didn’t like being here. I know we all got into a few fights today but that’s only because tensions are really high and all of us are still upset about Fred’s death. I don’t want you to get the wrong impression of me. I don’t want you to stop trusting me with your safety,” I said. She shook her head, her dark eyes were bright and wide, her red lips were slightly parted in that sexy way which made me want to thrust my cock right into her mouth.
“It’s fine…I’m just a little jittery since the shooting. I’m fine,” she said.
After that, I left to go find my toolbox and then we left the bar. Some of my brothers made fun of me as we were walking out with my toolbox in hand. I knew they were going to give me a lot of grief for some time because I had broken down an innocent girl’s door. There was also another element to it—I never brought back women to the bar. I had never introduced a girl to my friends before.
Jordan had a smile on her face as she heard my friends calling after me. We walked out of the bar and then towards the bike. I gave her my hand so she could jump up and then I sat down in front of her.
Jordan hesitantly wound her arms around my torso. Our bodies touching again made me weak. I wanted to turn around and take her right there on my bike. I could still taste her on my lips, I knew how tight her pussy was and I wanted more.
“Hold on tight,” I said instead, and she clasped her hands together in front of me. I could feel her breath falling on my back as she sat there and her big voluptuous breasts sometimes grazed against my back as I rode the bike. What was I still doing with this girl? Why had I brought her to Church?
Maybe now, after I had fixed the door, we could part ways. I had work to do, I had to make sure that I found that bald guy from Hell’s Drifters and gave him what he deserved. Jordan was only going to end up slowing me down. She was a distraction.
I was responsible for her as long as the door of her apartment was broken, after that, she was going to have to be on her own.
I rode us to the hardware store, where I bought the materials I needed and Jordan offered to carry them for me as I rode us back to her apartment. I followed her upstairs, carrying all the things and I watched the way her ass moved in that dress as she walked ahead of me.
We had spoken very little since the bar. I didn’t know what she was thinking, but I was thinking about how fiercely I had wanted to protect her that morning. How sweet she had tasted in my mouth, how crazy beautiful she looked when she came for me.
But I had to cut off Jordan from my life before I became any weaker. I should have been out there, hunting down the man who killed Fred right now, instead of fixing the door of a girl’s apartment.
***
I was hammering a nail into the side of the door, when Jordan brought me a glass of lemonade. I was crouched down on the floor and I turned to take it from her. It was exactly the thing I needed right now.
“I’m sorry if you’d rather have a cold beer, I don’t have any in the apartment at the moment,” she told me and I straightened up and took a long gulp of the sweet drink.
“This is good, thank you,” I said and then tested the door, swinging it into place.
“I’ve re-attached the chain lock and added a bolt lock you didn’t have before,” I said and showed her how it worked. Jordan nodded her head and smiled.
“Thanks, that’s better,” she said and when our eyes met again, she looked away from me. I could see that she was upset about something. I shut the door, bolted the lock and followed her into the living room.
“Are you okay?” I asked and Jordan sighed and ran a hand through her long dark hair.
“I’m just worried, about everything. But thank you for your help, I do feel safer now,” she said and clasped her hands together nervously.
“Are you worried about them finding you?” I asked and she nodded her head. That was a stupid question, of course she was.
“I’m not sure if a few locks on the door is going to stop them if they really want to get to me. You saw how easy it was for you to knock the door down,” she said and there was a strain in her voice. She was right. A door and a few locks wasn’t going to slow the Hell’s Drifters down. When they wanted to come find her, they would be armed and come in pairs. I knew how the system worked.
I clenched my jaws and stepped towards Jordan. She was watching me with her watery dark eyes.
“I’m sorry for whining, I shouldn’t be making you feel guilty. You have your own problems to deal with,” she continued and I put the glass down on her coffee table.
“You’re afraid for your life, and that is understandable. I’m going to keep an eye on your place, nothing is going to happen,” I told her. I wasn’t sure why I was taking on this additional responsibility, but I wanted her to be safe. If anything happened to Jordan…
“No, you don’t owe me that. We don’t know each other, it’s not like I’m your friend or anything,” she said and I stepped closer to her.
“It’s not about what you owe me, Jordan. I want to see you safe. I don’t want those bastards to get to you, that is all,” my voice was gruff and deep. Her eyelashes fluttered on her soft cheeks, she was looking up at me with her wide bright eyes and I couldn’t look away from her.
“I just wanted to get on with my life. I’ve been trying to have a normal life…” she said and then broke away. Turning from me, she covered her face with her hands and I could see her shoulders quaking. I hated seeing her cry, I clenched my fists and tried to control the rage building up in me.
“Jordan…” I said her name and she whipped around to me.
“You have no idea how hard it’s been for me. I’m tired of being nothing, of not being able to earn a decent living. I’ve been going to Community College, I’m trying to become a teacher but all this…” she broke down again and I reached for her shoulders.
My fingers clasped around her arms and I held her firmly, forcing her to look up at me and meet my eyes.
“
You’re going to do it. I promise you, this is all going to go away very soon. I’m taking care of it,” I said, holding her gaze firmly. Jordan looked like she didn’t believe me. Like she had been disappointed too often in her lifetime to take my word.
“Maybe it’s just not meant to be. Maybe I’m just destined to be a waitress at a stupid diner all my life. I can’t study like this, I can’t pass those exams…I’m always going to have this hanging over my head,” she cried and fat tears rolled down her cheeks and her lips were pouted. Jordan was one of those girls who looked even more beautiful when she cried. She looked vulnerable.
I shook her lightly by her arms.
“I’m going to take care of this. This is going to go away, the Hell’s Drifters are going to go away, just give me a few days. Just hold on tight for a bit longer,” I said, hoping to convince her.
Jordan remained silent, and then she dabbed at the tears on her cheeks with the backs of her hands.
“My mother was an alcoholic, my grandfather was an alcoholic too…it’s why I don’t have any beers in my home. I don’t ever want to be tempted. Like right now, I could really use a drink, you know?” she said and forced a weak laugh as she wiped her tears away.
I peered into her eyes, stroking her arms as I held her.
“That is not going to happen. You’re going to get past this, and you’re not going to need a drink,” I said and she nodded her head, like she was trying to convince herself.
I let go of her arms and she stepped away from me. She shook her hands like there was dirt on it, she started pacing around the room and I could see that she was on an adrenaline rush.
“I just need to distract myself. I just need to keep myself busy,” she said and I watched her, following her around the room with my eyes. I gulped, because I had a pretty good idea of what we could do to keep her busy.
***
“I mean, I just need to shake this off and get over it!” Jordan was continuing in the same excitable tone. I could see that she was struggling with all the emotions coursing through her veins. I had to help.
Rodeo (Marked Skulls MC Book 2) Page 4