“She is Fred’s daughter?” he asked, in a deep guttural growl.
Lila squealed and went rushing towards Jordan, throwing her arms around her neck and pulling her close in for a hug.
“Oh my God, Jordan…I’m so happy that we’ve met!” Lila was gasping as the two women hugged.
“I still don’t fucking understand,” Lewis mumbled.
“Jordan didn’t know. Fred was missing from her life. He didn’t want Sarah or Jordan to get tangled up in his debt with the Hell’s Drifters. If they found out that he had a wife, and a daughter…” I said, but Abe had cut me off.
“They’d use the two of them as leverage against Fred,” he said, in a ghostly quiet voice. I nodded my head.
“He gave up his family because he didn’t want to put their lives in danger,” I added.
“What was he doing outside Jordan’s apartment building?” Lewis asked.
It was Lila who had connected the dots now. She pulled herself away from Jordan and smiled at the woman I was falling for.
“He was coming to see her. He wanted to meet his daughter before the Hell’s Drifters got to him. He knew that the end was near and he didn’t want to die without seeing his daughter. Maybe he wasn’t even going to go to her door. Maybe he just wanted to see where she lived,” Lila said, in a breaking shaky voice and then she broke down again.
Girth came up to them and pulled his girl into his arms. Lila was sobbing, she couldn’t get over how sad Fred’s last moments on this Earth were. That he had died with the knowledge that his long-lost daughter had seen him getting shot.
Lewis had been silent all this while. I heard him taking in a deep breath, before he stepped in Jordan’s direction.
“I want you to know that you will always have the Marked Skulls’ protection. I will use every man in my Club if that is what it takes to keep you safe. Fred was like a brother to me, and I’m going to protect his daughter,” Lewis said, and Jordan stared back at him firmly and then nodded her head.
“Thank you, that is the next best thing to getting to know my father,” she replied, and I felt relieved as I watched Lewis hug her tight.
Chapter 20
Jordan
Girth had dropped Lila and me over to my apartment, and then he left to join Rodeo and Abe.
“What do you think is going to happen today?” I asked Lila, as I made mugs of coffee for us. Lila rubbed her thighs with her hands as she sat on the couch. She looked a little nervous even though she was putting up a brave front.
“I’m not sure. The boys aren’t telling me much about their plan, which means that it’s something that I won’t like,” she said, as I brought the mugs over to her. I sat down beside her on the couch, and I had a sudden vision of the way Rodeo had held me that morning—with his tongue between my legs, making me come violently. My pussy throbbed just from the memory of that moment when my orgasm took over my body.
“What do you think that means?” I asked, sipping some of the coffee. I noticed that Lila was refusing to meet my eyes. I could sense that she was worried, and I had never seen her worried before.
“It basically means that they’re going to do whatever it takes to get that man,” she replied, and our eyes finally met, and she looked away from me. I forcibly gulped the coffee down my throat. I didn’t want to imagine what ‘whatever it takes’ meant. As much as I wanted my father’s killer dead, I also didn’t want Rodeo to be hurt.
“Do you think they’ll be safe?” I asked in a weak voice. Lila looked up from her coffee mug and then forced a smile on her face. She reached for my hand and clasped it tightly.
“Whatever happens, I’ve learnt not to worry. I’ve spent most of my life worrying for my father’s safety, but I don’t want to do that with Girth. I trust him to be safe, to do the right thing. No matter what happens, I will always be proud of him and I won’t ever fall in love with any other man. Nobody will even come close,” Lila replied.
My throat had gone dry. I couldn’t imagine living a life like that, where the man you were in love with; lived on the edge. When you could never be sure if he would return home to you. It was exactly the life that my father had tried to shield my mother and me from. But what had that done to mom? Now I knew exactly why mom had been depressed…she was always in love with Fred. She couldn’t lead a life by herself. No matter how dangerous her life might have been if she stayed with him, it would have made her happy if they were together.
I smiled weakly at Lila. I understood her better now. I understood what it took to be in love with a man like Girth…or Rodeo.
“I can see that you’re worried for him,” she broke the silence and Lila had a twinkle in her eye. My cheeks flushed and I dragged my gaze away from her.
I nodded my head, there was no point in hiding it anymore.
“I can’t help it. I can’t help how I feel anymore…I know it sounds silly. We don’t even know each other…” I was fumbling with my words. The concept was still completely complicated in my head. Lila squeezed my hand again, she was smiling.
“It isn’t silly. I told you; that’s what happened with Girth and me. One minute I was happy with my life, I couldn’t wait to leave home and move to New York and build a new life for myself, and the next minute—I couldn’t imagine living my life without Girth. He had completely rocked my world and I’m so glad that he did,” Lila’s words were a relief. It was like she understood me, and didn’t judge me for my sudden feelings for Rodeo. She knew what it was like to fall for a man like him.
“And you are Fred’s daughter. Do you have any idea what that means to Rodeo, to me—to all of us?” Lila was smiling again.
“I know they were very close. Rodeo was telling me stories about him, and I enjoyed listening to them. I would have loved to get to know him,” I said, and I could feel the tip of my nose beginning to turn red.
“I wish that too, but I’m glad that you found your way into our lives anyway. You have no idea how happy it makes me that Fred’s daughter is my friend now,” Lila said. I felt pinpricks on the back of my neck. I felt happy that she thought of me as a friend, because I loved having her around.
We were smiling at each other again.
I bit down on my lip when I remembered what I’d said to Rodeo earlier.
“I told Rodeo that I wanted the killer dead. I’m worried that he’s out there, putting his own life and Girth and Abe’s at risk because of what I said,” I told Lila and she shook her head.
“He was going to do it anyway. I saw the look in his eyes when he first found out that Fred had been shot. He was going to get the man whether he met you or not. Maybe now he’s more determined but nothing was going to stop him anyway,” Lila said and I gulped.
“I can’t believe that I ordered him to kill the man,” I said squeakily and Lila pursed her lips together.
“He was going to kill you. If Rodeo doesn’t get to him first, he’s going to find an opportunity to get to you. He’s not just going to let you live because Rodeo saved you from him once,” Lila said and I could feel a cry rising up my throat. How could I forget that I had nearly died the previous night?
“But how is killing the shooter going to solve that? Aren’t they still going to come after me?” I asked and Lila had a soft smile on her face, like she knew something that I didn’t.
“The Hell’s Drifters won’t care about you as a witness once the shooter is dead. He is the one you can lawfully identify to the cops. There is no way to prove that he had anything to do with the MC, that Fred’s death was connected to the Hell’s Drifters. They’re only trying to get to you now because the shooter is still alive,” Lila said. She knew what she was talking about. She had spent her entire life around Motorcycle Clubs and I nodded my head. I understood what she was saying. Killing the shooter would serve two purposes—it would avenge the death of my father, and also eliminate the reason for Hell’s Drifters to come after me.
“I just want them to be safe,” I told her and Lila smiled.
“Go on, Jordan, say it…you need to say it out loud,” she urged me. Her friendly face and her comforting presence; pushed me towards the inevitable. I needed to first admit it to myself, before I could admit it to him. If he even wanted to hear it, if this was something he even wanted.
With my cheeks flushed and my neck hot, I looked Lila in the eye and parted my lips to speak.
“I have feelings for Rodeo. I’m falling for him,” I said and Lila squealed with excitement and clapped her hands.
Within seconds, we were hugging again.
“I don’t care how hard Rodeo fights this, I know the truth. I know he feels exactly the same for you!” she exclaimed excitably.
I laughed as I hugged her back.
“It’s going to take more than just your seal of approval!” I retorted and Lila laughed.
“He’s going to come around. It’s not going to take him long to realize that he’d be a fool to allow a woman like you to escape. He’s learnt his lesson from Fred,” she said, tilting her head to the side. There was warmth and confidence in Lila’s eyes which made me hopeful for my future with Rodeo.
All I could do now was hope for his safe return, hope that he accomplished his mission and that we could move on with our lives, together. I couldn’t wait.
Chapter 21
Rodeo
Abe and Girth joined me outside the Hell’s Drifters bar again. I had been staking out the place for the past hour when they arrived.
This wasn’t the ideal situation—it was going to be the three of us against every Hell’s Drifters member who was inside the bar. I hadn’t seen the killer yet, but my gut told me that he would turn up.
It was getting dark now, and the three of us stood at a distance from the bar, where we had a direct view of the parking lot and the door.
“What’s the game-plan?” Abe asked me as he lit his cigarette. Girth and I looked at each other, and my hand drifted automatically to the gun at my waist.
“I don’t have one,” I replied and Abe drew in a breath and nodded his head.
None of us, not even Girth, had found ourselves in a situation like this before. We were grossly outnumbered. But the truth was that if Lewis sent all the members of the Marked Skulls to join us, the Hell’s Drifters would still outnumber us. They were a significantly bigger club than us. We were the underdogs and we practically didn’t stand a chance against them.
Launching an attack on them, on their own territory was basically a suicide mission.
I looked over at Abe and Girth, both of whom were staring firmly ahead. I was grateful to them for coming here with me, but I wished that they hadn’t. I didn’t want to drag two of my brothers into the pit with me. There was very little chance that all of us were going to get out of there alive.
For me, this was a matter of vengeance. I was avenging Fred’s death, and I was doing what Jordan wanted me to do. I hadn’t told her exactly how dangerous the shootout was going to be, because I didn’t want her to feel guilty—and I definitely didn’t want her to stop me from going either.
“You guys don’t have to come with me,” I grunted and they both swung their heads to look at me. Abe had a hint of nervousness on his face, which he quickly wiped off.
“You need backup, brother,” Abe said with a grin.
“This is my job,” Girth added, in his calm growling way. I clenched my jaws and looked back towards the door and waited.
I couldn’t see the killer’s bike parked outside, which meant that he wasn’t inside the bar.
“I’m going in first,” I declared, without meeting their eyes.
What I said, basically translated to—I’m taking the first bullet. Neither of them said anything. We just continued to look ahead.
The roar of his bike was loud in our ears. The three of us saw him riding towards the bar at the same moment. My hand went to my waist and I pulled my gun out. This was it. It had to be now or never.
***
We had a small window of opportunity to get the job done. I needed to get to the man before he went inside the bar.
Without alerting Girth or Abe, I started striding towards the parking lot, with my arm on the side and the gun in my hand.
The man was jumping off his bike, and beginning to take his helmet off now.
He looked up when he noticed me charging towards him, and he took his gun out too. I pointed mine at him.
“Motherfucker!” I growled, as we pointed our guns at each other.
“Get the fuck off our property!” he roared back but I didn’t stop striding towards him. I was quickly closing the distance between the two of us, and he remained stationary behind his bike, following my every step towards him with his gun pointed at me.
“What the fuck do you want?” he growled. He had clearly not recognized me or seen the patch on my back.
“You killed Fred,” I hissed, and now I was close enough to him to shoot.
But he shot me first. I swerved back, and the bullet grazed my left shoulder and I felt my skin tear open. There was an instant spilling of blood and I could feel the wet coolness spreading on my shirt and down my arm.
I pulled the trigger at the same time, and I saw him topple backwards. I’d caught him on his upper thigh. Clenching my jaws, I continued to walk towards him.
He shot me again, and I stepped to the side but the second bullet grazed the side of my waist. I felt the sting of skin splitting open again, and the stickiness of blood.
I was close enough to him to shoot him point blank now. I glared at his shiny bald head, the rings on his ears, at the gun pointed to me. I could see in his eyes that the bullet in his thigh was painful for him. I was glad.
He had made the mistake of waiting a second, of not pulling the trigger before me because he could have. I would be dead right now.
But instead, I squeezed the trigger first. I felt the reverberation of the bullet leaving my gun and speeding towards him. There was a slicing sound in the air, just a split-second before there was a thud. The bullet had pierced through his ribcage. He looked up at me, staring, like he was surprised by what had just happened. The bullet was in his heart now and his blood pooled on the spot around his heart.
He staggered, and then fell straight down to the ground like a bag of potatoes.
His eyes remained open, he was staring up at the sky but he was dead. He didn’t have a breath left in him. I had done it. Fred’s death hadn’t gone unpunished. The killer was fucking dead.
***
“Rodeo! Run!” I heard Abe’s voice behind me. That’s when I looked up at the bar doors to see a group of guys charging out. They’d heard the exchange of shots and had come out to look. I had been standing over the dead body of the killer, watching the color drain from his face.
This was what Jordan wanted, what I wanted and I had done it. Whatever happened right now, all I wanted was for Jordan to know that I had killed her father’s shooter. That she could move on with her life now.
Abe and Girth had run over to my side when the first bullet struck the ground beside my feet, and they started shooting. The Hell’s Drifters were shooting back at us and I shot at them too, jumping into action. We were retreating, stepping backwards, shooting and ducking. We had no chance in Hell against the bunch of them who were crawling closer to us.
I didn’t have to look over at my brothers to know that they had been shot too. All three of us were wounded.
There was the sound of a muscle car engine behind us.
“Fuckin A! Lewis sent Marcus!” Abe roared, grabbing my jacket and dragging me backwards.
The shower of gunshots didn’t stop, and we were shooting back too.
Marcus stopped th
e car right behind us, and pushed open the back doors. The three of us jumped into the back, while Marcus started shooting at the men who were now scrambling to get on their bikes and chase after us.
When I slammed the door shut behind us, just seconds before Marcus started speeding away; was when we heard the police sirens.
“What the fuck?” Abe growled, as Marcus stepped on the accelerator.
“Hugh alerted the cops. They were waiting for my signal,” Marcus said as he started driving. Some of the Hell’s Drifters who were about to ride after us, now swerved and headed in the opposite direction when they heard the cops approaching.
The man I had killed was still lying on the parking lot ground. None of those fuckers had bothered with his body. We might have been the underdogs but we wouldn’t have left one of our own behind, no matter if he was already dead.
“Woohoo!” Abe cheered, waving his gun around in the backseat. Girth ducked then pulled the gun out of his hand while Marcus laughed. We saw three cop cars speed past us as we drove. I was staring out of the window, my heart was racing. I couldn’t believe that I’d actually done it, that all of us had come out of there alive.
I looked over at Abe and Girth, both of whom had been shot too. We were all sporting gunshot wounds now but none of us cared.
“For Fred!” Abe cheered.
“For Fred!” Marcus joined in. Girth looked at me and he was grinning now.
“For Fred!” I said and he nodded his head.
“For Fred,” he muttered.
Chapter 22
Jordan
We’d been waiting for several hours for the boys to return, and in the meantime; Lila and I had done nothing other than just drink loads of coffee and talk.
“Is this a good sign?” I asked her, looking at my watch. Lila had started pacing around the room now. Her toughened exterior was beginning to crumble. I could see that she was as worried about Girth now as I was about Rodeo.
Rodeo (Marked Skulls MC Book 2) Page 13