“I’ll cut straight to the point because quite frankly I don’t want to be in this house for longer than necessary. Your father smells like rotten flesh.” After making a disgusted face, she continues on, “It’s no secret your club has a war with the Bears MC. They’ve caused you a lot of grief over the years and while your father was able to have a somewhat successful truce for a few years, everyone discovered Grizzly was never really honoring that agreement. He tried to fuck over not only your father but your club for years. So much so that he had one of his men marry you under an alternate identity.”
Ashley stands up from where she was sitting, “Uh, I’m sorry . . . what?”
Agent Williams keeps her eyes on Ashley. “I assumed you knew who you married. I mean, not at first, but you never figured it out?” For the first time tonight, we’re getting new information. There’s obviously something we’re all missing right now.
“I married Harry,” Ashley mutters, her tone proving she’s unsure.
“No, you didn’t. You married Fynn Müller . . . ” It appears Agent Williams is going to continue speaking but Blackjack interjects.
“That’s impossible. He’s in prison serving his sentence right now.” Who the fuck is this Fynn dude?
“If you would’ve allowed me to finish, I would’ve explained Fynn Müller Senior is in jail. However, Ashley married his son, Junior, who legally changed his name. I take it none of you know about Senior having a partnership with the Bears,” Agent Williams tells the room.
“Is this some sort of joke? Why would Grizzly have a partnership with a serial killer?” Fists asks, causing everyone in the room to look at him.
“It’s simple. He had someone handling all of his dirty work. Someone to take the blame whenever it came their way. Senior was his ticket to stay out of jail, and it worked until he was prosecuted. Long story short, we need your help, and you need ours. I don’t see why the two of us can’t help one another,” Agent Williams says,
“What do you want?” I’m blunt as fuck when I ask it, but there’s not another way to ask.
“I want you to help us rescue a woman being held by the Bears. Her name is Alexa. She’s been held as a prisoner and we almost got to her . . . but the ruckus you all caused a few weeks ago messed with our entire investigation. They picked up, left all their shit, and took her with them. Alexa can help us and other agencies in the prosecution of other murderers. She’s a key witness in various cases. We need to get her as soon as we can. You help us get Alexa and we’ll lead you right to the Bears.” Agent Williams looks over to Fist. “We all know you have a bone to pick with him, old man.”
“We’ll do it. My club will get this girl for you, and in return, we get the Bears. I want it in writing and I want you to include every person in this club has immunity from any and all charges you may have been investigating them for in the past.”
Agent Williams smiles. “I can do that, but Fist, I’m going to sweeten up this deal even more for you.”
“How so?” I watch as Fist cocks a brow.
“I’m going to get a conviction for Grizzly. Not only for the murders he committed but the arson against your club as well.”
“No, I’ll deal with him my way.”
“You mean you’ll put him out. Your way will end with him dying. Somehow I think you’re a man who shows mercy to even the ones who don’t deserve it. I’m a bulldog, Fist, and I want this man to suffer for what he’s done. I may have come here on business, but I’m truly sorry for the loss of your brother and your girlfriend. Both of those combined with the club . . . I can’t imagine how difficult it’s been for you.”
“I’m managing,” Fist grumbles back. I think all of us can see just how well he’s really doing.
“I can see that. Now, who has custody of Sydney? From what I know, Fist was left as one of the guardians in case something ever happened to Saffron.”
I know I can’t possibly be catching every person’s reaction in the room, but I see brows are raised and we all look at each other. “What do you mean one of the guardians?”
“It was our understanding Sydney was left solely to Fist,” Blackjack states, looking directly at Agent Williams.
“No, that’s not accurate. Saffron left Sydney to Zane, Kade, and Lloyd Monroe. She also had a notation in her will that Ashley Monroe-Walters was also an acceptable guardian. Saffron was very clear she wanted Sydney to stay in the Monroe family. I’m not here to be your friend, however, I think this says a lot about the love she had for your family. It’s part of the reason I’ve come to you all tonight. You hate the Bears as much as I do. We have a reason to help one another, and I firmly believe we can get what we both want.”
“We’re doing this,” Ashley firmly states, looking around to everyone before settling her eyes back on Agent Williams. “We’re doing this for my Uncle Cracker, and for Saffron who loved us like family. We never got the chance to tell her she was our family, but she was, and so is Sydney. More than that, we’re going to get this girl Alexa for you. She shouldn’t have to suffer at the hands of the Bears either. Too many people have.”
Agent Williams nods. “I agree.”
“Make sure I get the documentation I need and we will,” Fist adds, rising from his bar stool. “If you could let yourself out, that would be preferred.”
Agent Williams rises as does her team. “Of course. I’ll get the papers drawn up this week. I’ll call you when we find out the new location of their club. We’re sure they’ll have Alexa on the property somewhere.”
Agent Williams and her team exit and walk toward the hallway. I can hear their feet tapping against the hardwood floor and the creak of the door opening and closing. Just when I thought shit couldn’t get any more difficult . . . here we are.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I am sorry for making you lose your temper. But to be honest, you look boiling hot when your temper boils over.
~ Unknown
Raven
He texted me three fucking hours ago after he was already late and told me it was because of a club matter. Club matter my ass! I marched downstairs and spoke to Zane, who told me there wasn’t any sort of club business going on. At first, Zane seemed pissed as all hell and sent a couple of text messages. I’m assuming he thought he wasn’t included on something, but as I sat there and waited to hear, he ended up telling me there wasn’t anything going on. In fact, he looked as surprised as I did and then the question he asked hit me straight in the heart. He wanted to know if I saw Shiloh around today.
She’s one of the bitches that sticks around the club for sex. They’re called clubwhores, club bunnies, sweet butts, and so many other terms.
I didn’t see her and I knew the bug he was planting in my mind. He wanted me to think Hawk was with Shiloh. I don’t think he was, but I can’t figure out why Zane would want to make me think that. It caused me to wonder if Zane lied to me the other night. If it was all shit about being a one-time thing and that was it. It may seem naive of me to trust Hawk so much. Many other women would automatically think he was cheating . . . but I don’t think that’s the case.
His actions only point to one thing— jealousy. But damn if I’m not still thinking about my conversation with him. The more I mill it over in my mind, I think it isn’t jealousy. It’s envy. Zane says he wants more time before he has to get tied down but I think it’s bullshit. I think Zane wants to be tied down but is so used to being the playboy that he doesn’t know how to process it. Subconsciously, two parts of himself are fighting against the other. I’m kinda surprised little old me figured this out.
Instead of going upstairs and sitting in my room by myself, I stayed down in Fist’s living room. I figured out where the liquor cabinet was about an hour ago and poured myself a half-glass of vodka. I already went through the warm and fuzzy phase. Now I’m more courageous than I’ve ever been before and I’m about to give Zane a piece of my mind. He’s been sitting at the table, scrolling on his phone for the last hour.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” He sits his phone facedown on the table.
“I said you’re a confused fuck.”
He laughs once, obviously offended. “Want to tell me what’s going on with you?”
“Oh, nothing. I’m just calling you out on your bullshit. It’s obvious you want to drive a wedge between Hawk and I. But I don’t think it has anything to do with me. I think I’m here right now and that’s why you’re doing it . . . because I’m convenient for you. You wanna know what I think, though?”
“I have a feeling you’re going to end up telling me regardless,” Zane mutters.
“You’re damn straight I am!” I respond, rising from my chair. I waver a little bit to the right, not realizing the alcohol hit me this hard. I could be drunk but I think I’m tipsy. When I’m tipsy, I feel like I can finally speak my mind and tell people what I think. “You want to get tied down to one of those Raider girls. Being the interim Prez is fucking with your head because you had this entire idea of what becoming Prez of the Reapers was going to be like. Only, it didn’t go as planned. Your plan blew up in your fucking face and now you don’t know how to process it. So, you’re wanting to be tied down to a woman because you think it’ll somehow balance your life out with all the changes that have happened.”
Zane stands up from his chair and grabs the edge of the table with such force his knuckles go white within seconds. “I’d think really hard before you speak to me like this, Raven.”
“I did think about it and I chose to open my mouth. Ignoring it won’t help, you know. It’ll only make things worse. You need to accept the idea of how you’d become Prez went to crap and it may be coming a lot sooner than you realize. I can’t imagine the stress or turmoil you’re going through right now, because it must be incredibly hard. Especially given you thought you had more time.” I’m not trying to be a bitch right now but if anything is evident, it’s that Fist and Zane are very similar. Fist went into depression because of the trauma, but Zane looks to be having his own issues from my view on things.
“Do me a favor, Raven. Worry about yourself and not about me. I’ll be fucking dandy ‘cause I always am,” He hisses out just as the front door opens and Hawk comes walking in.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Hawk asks, his tone salty as hell.
I remain quiet and see what Zane has to say to him. Zane turns his head over his shoulder. “Raven here thinks she can say whatever is on her damn mind to me. I’ve never needed a woman to give me her opinion on how they think I’m processing shit and I don’t need one to do it now. A word of advice, brother— keep a leash on your woman. The next time she says shit to me like this, I’m likely to blow a gasket.”
Zane doesn’t wait for a response as he walks through the front door and hits his shoulder against Hawk’s. We’re both quiet for a moment before he says, “I’ve never had an issue with Zane before. Do you wanna sum it up for me?”
“He’s pissed I called him out on trying to drive a wedge between us. Zane made a comment to try and make me think you were fucking Shiloh. I think he did it because his whole idea of becoming Prez of the club was fucked by all this chaos and now he wants a woman to tie him down and give him some sort of stability. He didn’t like what I had to say, obviously.”
“He said I was fuckin’ Shiloh?” Hawk laughs, shaking his head back and forth.
“He didn’t say you were, but he sure gave me the impression you could’ve been. He asked me if I had seen Shiloh lately,” I reply.
“Okay, I’ll give you the rundown of who Shiloh fucks. She runs back and forth between Zorro, Grim, and Axel. They almost have this polygamous relationship going on, but none of the men are ever going to commit to her. She’s been a clubwhore for years and I think she always will be.”
“Wow, that’s really sad,” I mutter, thinking about how it must feel to have feelings for three men who will never commit because of her title within the club.
Hawk shrugs. “Yeah, in a way it is, I guess. She knew what she signed up for when she decided to be a clubwhore. She got a free roof over her head, food, and protection. A lot of women would kill to be in this sort of position. You know?”
I nod. “Yeah. I still think it’s sad, though. Everyone deserves to be loved and cared for.”
Hawk turns his head to the side. “Baby Bird, she is. Only in a different way. Just because they’re fucking her doesn’t mean they don’t care. If none of them cared about Shiloh, she wouldn’t be in their beds every night. They would kick her ass to the curb to sleep on the couch here. Instead, whoever she’s with allows her to sleep in their bed until the morning. That’s not typical when it comes to clubwhores. Usually, you pound ‘em ‘til you let your load out and kick them outta your room.”
“Wow. I never knew. There’s still a lot I have to learn about the club lifestyle,” I say,
“Yeah, but you’ll learn in time. There’s no rush to get everything figured out this second.”
I nod at what he says. Hawk is right. There’s nobody rushing me right now. I’m just gonna take everything I learn day by day.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chemistry is you touching my arm and it setting fire to my mind
~ Nayyirah Waheed
Hawk
I make sure to shut the front door to Fist’s house and go over to Raven, who’s standing on the other side of the table. I skim my fingertips over her arm and slowly venture higher until I’m at her shoulder. She turns her head to the left, looks at my hand, and then brings her eyes to mine. Her hazel eyes are a mixture of light and dark, almost as if there are two sides to her. A lighter green is on the outside whereas the brown circles the iris. I’ve never been the type of man to pay attention to small details like this, but I fixate on her eyes, gettin' lost in them like she’s an ocean.
I know some things about Raven, but she’s still a mystery, a woman who I have so much to discover about. “Where is everyone?” she asks in a mere whisper, not breaking our contact.
I glance around the room and see there isn’t a soul here. Fuck if I know where they are, but they can stay gone. I’ve been itchin’ for this alone time with her. God damn, since the first moment I saw her in that bar, I’ve been waitin’ for this moment.
“Not sure, babe,” I mutter, snaking my hand around her neck. I bring her closer until her body is pressing against mine. Raven runs her hands up and down my chest, slowly gettin' to know my body. While our minds and hearts are acquainted, we have yet to be together in this way.
She sucks in a sharp breath as I dip my neck down and press my lips into hers. I feel her body tense up. It’s adorable she’s nervous. I won’t tell her this, but I’m nervous as fuck too. I’ve fucked up lots of shit with women before and I don’t wanna do the same here. I want this to work, and I’m gonna make sure I do everything I can to give us that happily-ever-after she deserves.
Whenever I’ve kissed a woman before it’s been sloppy as fuck. There was never any layer of sensuality to our actions. I can say with Raven it’s the complete opposite. If anything, we’re sensual. There’s this primitive part of me that wants nothing more than to rip her clothes off and fuck her on top of this dining room table, but I won’t. She deserves more than that. She’s the type of woman who deserves a man to move over her, make her squirm and shiver in every way possible with a marvelous smile on her face.
I want to be the man that gives her everything she deserves, so I’ll take shit slow and I won’t screw this up. Not now, not ever.
Raven slides her hands around my neck and pulls my head down in a heated fashion. I break our kiss, seeing the fire in her eyes. “Slow down, Baby Bird. We have plenty of time to get rough and nasty. Right now, I wanna savor you.”
She gives me
a shocked look. “I’ve never had anyone say that to me before.”
I take my hand and rub my thumb against her cheek. “I hope I’m the first man who shows you what type of treatment you warrant. I may be a dog, babe, but I’ll be a puppy when you need me to be. I’m your strength and your soft teddy bear. Don’t you ever forget it, alright?”
I think my eyes are deceiving me when I see a tear slip from the corner of her eye. “You’re one in a million.”
I don’t understand what she means, so I ask, “Huh?”
She smiles softly before clearing her throat. “I’m trying to say you’re unlike anyone I know. I think you get the idea I’ve been through a world of shit, Hawk . . . but I’ve never been treated with the amount of respect you’ve given me. It’s beautiful to experience this with you, and the only regret I have is that we didn’t start this sooner.”
I place my lips on the top of her head, putting a chaste kiss there. “To be fair, I wasn’t being as pushy in the beginning. I should’ve asked for your number in the bar the first day we met. I’m never the type to break a couple up, but anyone could see that fucker was treating you badly.”
“Mmm, you don’t even know the half of it. All of that is in the past, though, and I’m so grateful we’re finally here.”
I smile like a kid running to an ice cream truck. “Oh, Baby Bird, you have no idea how much I agree with you.”
Raven yanks the back of my sandy blonde hair, forcing my lips back down onto hers. I could kiss her like this for years. Hell, I’d do it all the time if I didn’t have shit to do for the club. I bring my lips from hers and leave small pecks down her chin, slowly going down her neck and keep my lips planted there. I want to put a mark on this woman, showing everyone in the club who she belongs to. Everyone knows, but you can never be too careful.
Chaos: A Reapers MC Boxset Page 27