When I got up to my room there was a note lying on my bed, which reminded me that I apparently needed to start locking my damn door. I picked up the note to read the demand in whiskey’s nearly illegible scrawl that my presence was required tonight, and that ‘no’ was not an answer. Fine. Tonight, I was going to put all three of my friends in their place, and tell them I wanted no part in their extracurricular activities any longer.
I’d had a bit of a shit day so I went to just lie down and get a fuckin’ nap in, especially since my presence was request at another party that night. When I woke it was to the sound and vibration of loud music, and even louder assholes. Apparently I had slept through part of the party after all.
By the time I got downstairs it was in time to hear the music come to a screeching halt as my buddies climbed up on the stage the strippers usually used when they were in house keeping the guys happy, and they dragged Amy up on stage with them.
“You all know Amy’s our girl, been that way a while,” Whiskey started out in his usual jovial tone.
“Tonight, we officially claim her as ours,” Fox finished for him as he held out a smaller version of the leather kutte they both wore. Only when they turned her around, after putting it on her, the top rocker read, ‘Property of W + F,’ which caused everyone to start yelling like the lunatics they were.
“Don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman claimed by more than one man of the club at once before, this is new,” Shameless said to me as we both snagged a beer from Charlie who beamed at us from the other side of the bar.
“I don’t doubt that. I’m waiting to see how it plays out long term myself,” I admitted.
Shameless grinned at me while giving me an odd sidelong glance. “Why aren’t you up there celebrating with them?”
I waved off his question. “This is their moment, let them have it. No need to put my ass in the middle of their business.”
Shameless, once again, tossed an odd look my way before glancing back at Charlie. I caught him shrugging his shoulders at her while she just continued to smile. I felt like the idiot who didn’t know he was the butt of some joke everyone else was in on, but him. I didn’t get long to think on it though since Whiskey plopped a squealing Amy into my lap before I could even realized they were there.
“What the hell?” I asked as Amy just continued regaling me with her infectious laughter.
Fox clapped his hand down on my shoulder. “Where were you, man? We had to start without you, so that kinda sucked.”
“I saw everything,” I explained quickly. All three of them stilled a bit and just stared at me. Once again I was left to feel like the asshole on the wrong side of a joke. Tonight though, I was too tired to care. My recent nap aside, I had just been feeling exhausted lately. “Look, I’m spent. I’ve been pulling long hours with shop and getting ready for the Reno trip coming up.” They all got that look like I’d just kicked their cat or something. “Congrats on all this,” I stated while depositing Amy onto her feet in front of Whiskey. “Seriously, I’m happy for all of you.”
“Happy for us?” Amy asked with a cautious tone.
“Yeah,” I agreed, giving the hair on her head a playful little toss. “Happy for all of you. I promise, I’ll take you guys out to celebrate soon too. I just need to crash tonight.” I didn’t wait for them to try to say anything, talk me out of it, or invite themselves back to my room, and for the first time since I joined the club I locked my door to bar anyone from getting in. A little later I listened as the doorknob jiggled followed by my friend’s incredulous outburst beyond my door wondering what the hell was wrong with me. I was beginning to wonder just that myself, only I knew the answer already. The thing that was wrong with me was that I was beginning to resent my two best friends for continually putting me into a position I didn’t much care to be in so that they could feel they had fixed me, instead of just letting me be, and find happiness on my own terms like they apparently had done. I just had to find a way to get them to understand that my not wanting to be a part of their shit didn’t have anything to do with still being hung up running from the issues Camilla left me with and everything to do with the fact that I didn’t want to be a part of that lifestyle, or any other that I didn’t absolutely want for myself when the time was right.
I was headed to Reno soon for the Lady Luck Tattoo Arts Expo. I was hoping that by the time I got back things would be a bit more settled for the three of them, and I wouldn’t be walking right back into the same old drama, because I was damn near my breaking point where feelings were going to get hurt, and friends might be lost. Before heading back to Spearfish I was planning on spending some time with my mom
Chapter 6
Liza
(2 weeks, 6 days ago)
My brother was going to die. I couldn’t believe he had put me in a position where I was in this much danger. Actually, I could, because this wasn’t the first time and I had the scars to prove it. Why, oh why, did I continue to love my brother?
I stood off to the side of the booth the stranger in front of me had set up. He hadn’t yet noticed me, and my brother didn’t give a shit if I overheard them or not since I already knew the score. “I really appreciate you taking on my sister like this. I owe you and the club, big time.”
“You know they’re not entirely happy with me agreeing to get involved considering you dug this hole you’re in all by yourself,” the man stated, and I was actually happy to hear him say it. At least I knew he wasn’t being bowled over by my big brother with a bunch of lies and the same happy horseshit he fed everyone else. I took another, harder look at the man in question. He was the person I was supposed to be leaving my life here in Reno with. I was to ride out and stay hidden in the black hills of South Dakota or some crap. I huffed as I thought of being stuck in the middle of no fucking where. Definitely not my scene, but I supposed it was way better than being hunted, raped, and tortured by my brother’s enemies. I’d avoided the rape part last time he was in trouble, but only just so. Some days, I still can’t believe I ever forgave him, and allowed him back into my life. I thought he had changed. I was wrong.
“I know. I know. I can’t,” my brother actually choked up. “Last time,” he tries again, and has to collect himself. “They did things to her once before man, I couldn’t live with myself if anything ever happened to her again. I fucked up, but I didn’t realize who he was when I stole his girl. I swear, I don’t owe money, not involved in drugs, or any other shady shit. I fucked the wrong girl. I know what they’ll do though. They’ll go after my sister, because she’s important to me.”
The other man shakes his head at my brother. “I don’t even know what to say about that shit. You’re sure that’s all that went down?” He asks again, clearly not believing that was the whole story. I’m not sure I believe it either, but I did meet Michelle, and she swears Random – her ex-boyfriend and the VP of the King’s Demons MC – was beating her and she had run from him before she met my brother. I believe their story, I do. I want them protected, because Michelle is now pregnant with my niece or nephew, but I also want to know why my life is being disrupted and not theirs.
“Why do you think they’re coming for your sister, and not this woman you knocked up?”
“Michelle. He doesn’t want her anymore, because she has another man’s baby in her belly. She’s considered ‘tainted’ now. They’ve taken Liza before, and didn’t get to finish what they started with her. He’s already made threats about doing just that,” my brother hisses. “I can’t let them do that to her. She’s a good girl. Well, I meant she has a foul-as-fuck mouth, but a great heart, you know? It’s fucked that I have to lose her talent too.”
“Seriously? You’re worried about not having her around because she’s an artist, not because you put a fucking bulls-eye on your sister’s back?” The man asked incredulously.
“You know what I mean,” my brother huffed out. “I love my sister. I’m going to miss her for a lot of reasons.”
�
��Where is this sister of yours?” The man asked. His broad shoulders and short cropped black hair that spiked up on top were pretty much all I had been able to see of the him other than the fact that his ass filled out his jeans in a wonderful way, and his arms appeared ink free from the elbows down, which I found interesting for a tattoo artist. He towered over my brother’s 5’11” height, so I almost missed it when my brother pointed in my direction. The man turned and I was immediately captivated by his unusual eye color. It appeared to be an odd blend of green and gold that would look amazing as cat eyes, but his were a bit too rounded for that appearance. It worked for him though. This man was hotness personified. The front view definitely rivaled the one I had of his backside.
“C’mere, Liza!” My brother called out forcing me to step forward and acknowledge the two men I had been listening in on. I move forward, stepping around the barricade that blocked pedestrian traffic into the man’s booth space. “This is my sister,” Frankie explained. “Liza Rossi,” he offered while gesturing between the stranger and myself. “Sis, this is Tango with Aces High MC.” I had noticed the MC kutte sitting on a chair off to the side. He wasn’t supposed to wear it in the booths, as per the rules, but apparently he wasn’t letting it get far from his person either.
I glanced back over my shoulder at my brother’s deep-set brown eyes that smiled down at me reassuringly. “Are you sure about this? He’s with an MC,” I stated plainly.
“He’s with the good kind, sis. I promise, I wouldn’t send you with anyone who would even think of laying an unwanted hand on a woman.” The man was just watching me with those intense eyes of his. Hell, they were even more spectacular up close and personal.
I turned and stuck my hand out to shake Tango’s. He gripped mine with a large, warm hand that sent zinging energy right up my arms and caused me to break out in a serious case of goose bumps. I glanced up into a chiseled face that almost seemed too serious. “Good to meet you,” he told me before directing his attention back to my brother and releasing my hand. “I’ll be finishing out the weekend here before heading out. That gonna be a problem?”
“I don’t think so. Is it possible for her to work here as your assistant instead of in my booth for the duration though? I figure the sooner we establish a distance, the better.” I turned to glare at my brother then. I would almost swear this was 200 years ago and he was trading me off for a goat, two chickens, and a pig with the way he was negotiating my custody turnover. I damn near called off this insane plan of his until I caught sight of a kutte in the crowd that clearly had a King’s Demons patch on it.
“Frankie?” I called out, and tipped my head in that direction.
“Fuck! I didn’t think any of them would be here,” my brother whispered.
Tango chuckled. “Really? You’re a tattoo artist slotted to have a booth here, and you didn’t think they’d come try to harass you?” He shook his head back and forth. “Frankie, sometimes, I really think you did too many drugs in your early years or something.”
“Hey!” I called out a little too loudly. “Don’t talk about my idiot brother that way!”
“Gee, thanks, Liza.” Frankie commented, sarcasm dripping from his words.
“Well, if you weren’t an idiot I wouldn’t have to be running away while you get to play house with the reason,” I cracked out bitterly. Yeah, okay, so I didn’t resent Michelle and the baby per se, but I did resent being sent away for their selfishness of wanting to be together without getting shit straightened out first. Michelle and my brother both made mistakes when they got together, the first of them being staying in Reno where the King’s Demons ruled. My anger was warranted though, because I seemed to be the only person who was going to suffer for their decisions. Just as I was turning back to Tango he reached out, grabbed my arm, and pulled me right up to his ridiculously large body. His hands tangled into my hair at the back of my head, and he bent, crashing his lips down on mine. I felt him kick his leg out a bit and heard my brother hiss out an “Ouch, motherfucker!”
“Okay, well, you’re busy, so I’m gonna go hit my booth up for a while. Catch ya later about that technique you’ve been using,” My brother called out while Tango’s tongue found its way into my mouth when I gasped. Then he released my mouth only to dip his head into my side and nip my ear while whispering. “Play nice, KDs are watching.” And that’s about the time my hands got involved with feeling this man’s hard body up and resuming a kiss so heated I was sure my panties melted right the fuck off my body.
At 24 years-old I definitely wasn’t a virgin, and I’d had my fair share of kisses from men, but never in my life had one turned me so inside out and upside down all at once. Dear, sweet, baby Jesus someone needed to save me, my panties, and my poor little starved-for-attention girl-parts. It was suddenly possible that I wouldn’t survive running away with this man for protection, because holy hell, I had never felt such sizzling ass chemistry with another human being before. Ever.
~ Tango ~
I slowly peeled Frankie’s sister from my body where she seemed all but melted into me during that kiss. It was meant to be a distraction, but now I couldn’t stop reliving every possessive touch, the tingle when our tongues clashed, and the complete rush that flew through my body when our mouths devoured the others. Never in my life have I felt that kind of instant, explosive chemistry. Definitely hadn’t felt it with Camilla, or else I might have fought harder – or at all – to preserve what I had once thought we had. It also didn’t escape my notice that my feelings about the kiss may just be because I’d gone so long without that sort of touch in my life. Touch starved. That was a thing I’d heard one of the girls at the clubhouse talk about before. I shook the thought off and pulled my head out of my ass long enough to reassure the woman still tucked in my embrace. “It’s okay now, they’ve moved on. When your brother left, they followed.” I felt her tense up immediately. “No need to worry. There are too many people around who know Frankie. They won’t try anything more than delivering a verbal message while he’s at the Expo.”
“That’s good to know, but I wouldn’t put anything past them. They snatched me up from campus when I was still in school.” Now it was my turn to tense. Frankie hadn’t told me details about what they’d done to her before, just that it hadn’t been pretty.
“I really hope for their sakes you mean college. Not that snatching you, and doing whatever they did wasn’t bad enough, but you weren’t…”
“I was in college, not underage. Not that it would have stopped them. I honestly believe they didn’t care how old I was at the time. I was 19, and I looked young for my age.” She shrugged her shoulders as if it was no big deal. I know that wasn’t not the case, but I didn’t want to push anything here and have a potential outburst from her that could attract attention. I’d find out later though, and I’d file that information away for future reference. We didn’t run into too many Kind’s Demons members, but there was always Sturgis Bike Rally in August when all types of bikers made their way close to our territory.
“We’ll discuss all that later,” I told her.
“Or we won’t, because it’s not necessary,” she counters.
“It is necessary to know so that my club understands how they operate and what to expect. We don’t have dealings with King’s Demons normally since they’re over here in Nevada, Arizona, California, and New Mexico while we’re up in the Dakotas and along the East Coast. We will definitely be having a conversation about what went down before, and I’ll expect you to be completely transparent with us when we do.”
She sighed and bit down hard on her plump lower lip while glancing up at me with those whiskey-colored eyes that had my attention the moment I first saw them. “Whatever you think will help,” she finally conceded.
“I’m going to need you to help break everything here down for the night, and we’re going to pack all the supplies to go for transport back to my shop, because I have a sneaking suspicion that I won’t be able to finish out the w
eekend now that they’ve been spotted at the expo.”
Another sigh comes from her. “I’m so sorry you got dragged into my brother’s mess too.”
I reached out and took hold of her chin, forcing her face to look up into my own. “Don’t worry about that shit. It’s not on you.”
“No, but my brother is affecting your business here, he’s making me your burden, disrupting your life as well as mine. It’s not fair.”
“I could have said no, babe. I didn’t. That makes all the rest of it on me. Now, help me pack up, and we’ll go grab something to eat before we hit the hotel for the night.”
“I still don’t have any of my things. Frankie didn’t grab any of it.”
“Don’t worry about your stuff. I have a prospect with me that went to grab it.”
“Won’t they know I’m with your club if they see your prospect going into my place? I’d bet money they have someone watching my place.”
“Don’t worry, he’s a prospect so he’s not allowed to have any club tats, and he won’t be wearing his kutte either. He’ll just look like some asshole heading into your building and leaving with some luggage. He also hired a hooker to meet him there, so it’ll look like he’s leaving with his woman.” I winked at her when I let her in on that little secret.
She was staring at me wide-eyed for a full minute before she started laughing. “You guys are too much! A hooker decoy! Oh my God!” Her laughter continued as she helped me pack up and I couldn’t help the way that laugh of hers was like a punch to my gut. The good kind. The type of feeling that lets you know if you’re not careful you’re going to be in too deep before you know what happened.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: Aces High MC (Aces High MC - Dakotas Book 2) Page 5