by K. J. Dahlen
The downside was being trapped here. We had guards at the door around the clock. We got meals served to us too, while Chloe was convalescing.
I was getting cabin fever. I’d never done well being locked away somewhere. I had been on my own since I was 15 really and I’d always chosen for myself where I went and when.
Chloe was all better and finally Jaxson went out to meet with Bruno, Marco and Thunder. She insisted, in fact, saying Jaxson had an MC to run and that she was fine. She was too. Like she didn’t even mention the shooting or anything regarding it at all.
We also did not tell her how frightened and upset we all were when she had taken that bullet. Until this event, I never trusted Jaxson too much, as I knew he was under Bruno’s thumb. However, when I saw how much and just how deeply he loved her? I knew he had a good heart. He was also Thunder’s best friend. Thunder was such a great judge of character if there was such a thing.
They had to have a ceremony for their fallen brother, Tacks. We wanted to go, but they both said we shouldn’t leave the room yet.
Why? Weren’t we safe in the club? This bothered me and it was the only thing Thunder refused to talk to me about.
Chloe was just as suspicious of this. She had a theory of her own. She believed Spider was not true to the club and they suspected him of being a traitor. Though she said to me that she had no proof. He just gave her the creeps. I saw him once or twice and I felt the same way, but many bikers gave me the creeps for my own reasons. So I really didn’t know if I was unbiased.
Miggs was at our door for 12 hours at a time then Reaper. Funny, they never gave me or Chloe the creeps. They were nice guys and funny too. We didn’t have to worry about being safe I suppose. Someone would have to get through the club then all the way back here, then get through them.
But I was getting restless and this wouldn’t bode well for anyone.
“Okay!” Chloe called at me.
I went into the kitchenette where she stood with her phone in hand, grinning like some fool at me.
“We are on for tomorrow night!” She clapped her hands.
“On?” I asked.
“Yeah!” She nodded. “Your reception!”
I felt a bit nervous. “B-but I don’t have anything to wear. No shoes, no—”
Chloe put her hand over my mouth. “It is all being done today.”
“What is being done?”
A knock sounded on the door.
“That’s them now!” She almost squealed as she ran to the door.
I grabbed her before she got there. “You know what our men said.”
She pouted. Then she mimicked Bruno by puffing her chest out and scowling as she stepped to the side of the door and she raised her gun from her waistband. Holding it in both hands she called out, “WHO IS IT?”… in a deep guttural voice.
I placed my hands over my mouth as I laughed. Oh, my god, she had Bruno down pat!
“It is Kinky and friends.”
My laughter stopped. “What?”
Chloe jumped and opened the door as she slipped the gun into her back waistband. “Come in!”
The door opened and three women came in.
I did a double take. No! They weren’t women. I recognized them from the Drag Queen club that took us in. “Oh, my god!” I hugged each of them. “Kinky, Louise and Pepper!”
We all hugged and jumped around like teen girls as we screamed and squealed in exhilaration.
Finally, we slowed our dancing in a circle and looked over at the open door.
Miggs and Reaper stood there. Mouths open and round eyes.
I bit at my lip so I wouldn’t outright laugh in their faces and tugged on Chloe’s arm.
She looked over and stared then she laughed so hard. She sashayed over to the door. “They are the wedding team, boys!”
Miggs and Reaper simply shook their heads and looked away.
Chloe and I laughed as she shut the door.
Kinky went on to tell us what all she had as choices for dresses, as she said she never forgot our sizes. She got out at least ten outfits in our sizes.
Louise had the makeup and hair products.
Pepper had shoes, jewelry and garter belts.
They went to town with all the bells and whistles, as Kinky had put it. Dressing us and trying out makeup, careful to show us just what to do. They said Marco paid them 5k for whatever we wanted to keep.
“Girls, how did you two babes ever get here?” Pepper asked.
I shrugged. “Um… I am married to Dino.”
“Thunder?” she asked.
I blinked my eyes. “Yeah.” How did she know who he was?
“Oh, wow. He is totally hot and packing some real heat, I bet. Sweet eyes too.”
I giggled. Exactly Thunder.
“How do you know him?” Chloe asked.
Pepper pursed her lips and looked around. “Shhh…” She lifted the sleeve of her very pink dress.
Sinners& Saints MC… was inked on her upper arm. “I met him at Sturgis, him and Jax are legends you know?”
Me and Chloe dropped our jaws.
“Yep. I was a biker for 5 years.”
We barely blinked as we gaped at her.
“Come on Pepper tell them!” Louise snapped as she brought out the nail polish.
“Well, I knew I was not… like everyone else. I was in the army with men. Then joined the MC with men. I was tough but I never felt right. So one day, I left. Later on, my old Prez then saw me at some show we did.” She rolled her eyes. “He sent a hit squad after me.”
We both gasped.
“Yeah, and I killed three of them. He never did nothin’ else after that.”
Kinky grinned. “Pepper is our bad ass. She takes down the haters for us all the damn time!”
“So, why are you here Chloe?” Pepper asked.
She bit at her lip. “I’m engaged to Jaxson.”
“The President of the Black Devils?” She gushed.
I nodded.
“Oh wow, now that is one hot man. I bet he takes your breath right from that little body of yours!”
Chloe went 2 shades of pink as she nodded.
The whole room erupted into laughter.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Jaxson
We stood lined up at the bar. We didn’t use the bar much these days. No drinking in the club was allowed beyond a couple of shots. Antonio was the main reason for this. He would get violent with most of the guys and some of the women too, when he drank. We found there’d been too many fights and fuck ups. They could go drink on their time off at Jauntia’s.
Today was the exception.
Bruno, Thunder, Marco and I all had our shots sitting on the bartop. Then we each took a bullet from our gun and dropped it into the glass.
The brothers at the tables all did the same.
Bruno raised his glass. “To Tacks. One of the newly fallen. He gave his life for the President and VC of the Devils. He remained true to his oath in the most extreme way. His name will go up on the wall next to his brother’s.
The men all recited the names of the previously fallen. “Tracker, Jules, Vincent, Hopper, Bear, Key, Blade and Rum. Then they all raised their shots and said, “Tacks!” They stomped their booted feet on the floor.
The clubhouse room shook from the booming.
We all downed our whiskey and bullet. Taking one for the fallen.
Then we all remained silent for at least ten full minutes. No one making a sound.
Bruno finally stood from his stool. He nodded at me.
I turned to the room. “We all have our memories of the fallen. We all have our oaths to this club. More than one if us have taken a bullet and lived to tell about it.”
The men all nodded.
“We had a sniper attack this club. He took Tack’s life. He would have taken any one of us, given the chance. This is a threat to the club. Anyone who hears something on the street is to report it. Anyone who knows anything about it needs to come t
o us.” I looked all around.
Spider was there with Cutter and Demon sat at the same table.
I barely glanced at them like I did at everyone else. “We just have four Lieutenants left. We will be patching in a fifth to replace Tacks.” I paused. “Tomorrow we plan a celebration. We know it is too close to this tragedy. It was planned before Tacks was killed. There will not be much booze, but lots of food and some champagne. It will be very brief. Just a gathering for about an hour to officially celebrate our Vice President’s wedding.”
Murmurs went around.
“Yes, it was a civil ceremony held over a month ago.” I smiled over at Thunder. “Held at the prison no less.” This was our story since most knew he’d been in jail just three weeks ago.
The men all laughed.
“Hey, I couldn’t wait!” Thunder added with a grin.
The men kept snickering.
“So, dress in good jeans and your best tee shirts, vests are a must. You are allowed to bring a girl, but all names must be vetted by Marco, so turn them in and addresses to him now. All the catering servers and such have been vetted already. Security is a must right now. It is why the celebration will be brief, in addition to our recent loss. So remained armed but be discreet, as we don’t want the bride to be freaked out.”
The men laughed again.
“I hear she packs a magnum!”
I stilled and gazed at Spider who’d said this.
“Yeah, she does,” Thunder responded. “A PPQ and it is deadly. So no kissing the bride, brothers.”
More hoots and laughter.
The meeting broke up.
Many of the men went over, filled out notes on their girls and dropped them with Marco.
Bruno stood and waited for him to gather all the slips.
Marco got finished after about five minutes.
Bruno then motioned to Thunder and I.
Marco joined us and we made our way to the VIP hall. We already had men on watch shifts at the front, sides and back of the club. We also had three brothers at all times on the rooftops in shifts as well. We were taking no chances. We had security cameras at every angle to the outside, with alarms at the fences and doors.
Bruno led the way as we waved at Reaper in the hall in front of the door where our girls were. He’d taken his shift and sat drinking his coffee.
We all went into the room next to the one Thunder and I shared.
Marco closed the door. He sat down and flipped open his laptop. “Okay, we talked with Reaper. And yes, every shorted shipment had Spider in charge. Then yes, Spider has been missing off and on. Still not proof but we have eliminated Cutter.”
“Why?” I asked.
“He hasn’t been on any of those shipments and he doesn’t have a key to the armory…” Marco explained, “…where the weapons were stolen. He hasn’t been in on any of the areas that had thefts or incidents. So, he is cleared. Kinda hard to run anything, if you aren’t even there.”
I nodded. “So, it has to be Spider.”
“Or no one?” Marco added. “But we know someone is doing this tapping and someone helped Antonio, and they keep helping his wishes too.”
“I say we take him out. Flat out. BOOM!” Bruno suggested. “Right between the eyes and be done with it.”
“I’m not sure we should do that,” Marco replied.
Thunder looked troubled. “It would be murder. No trial or anything. We usually have a tribunal. Then sentence them.”
“I agree.” I nodded as I crossed my arms over my chest. “We aren’t like Jumper’s MC or some of the others. We aren’t animals.”
Bruno stood up. “Easy to say until someone takes out your woman or your brother. Then you will want blood!”
“Okay, we lock him up in one of the cells,” Marco suggested.
We all stared at him.
“Until when?” I asked.
“Until we find the evidence or he cracks.” Bruno nodded. “Then we search his place in town, his room here, and all his media, phone, laptop. Even his bike saddle, all of it.”
“It is better than watching our backs,” I agreed.
“Well, until Mario is in a grave or tiny little pieces, I’m not through watching our fucking backs,” Thunder growled. “None of this solves that. You know it was his guys who sniped us. Not Spider.”
“No. We have that recording and that was Antonio’s voice, saying he did the sniping. So Spider was at least in on it,” Bruno argued. “I do feel he has aligned himself with Balemi too.”
“Shit! I want this Mario dead!” Thunder barked. “I can’t rest. I cannot feel like I am living any kind of life as long as my…wife is hunted.”
Bruno raised a brow at him. “Wife, eh?”
Thunder looked angry. “Yeah. So? I claimed her already. She is mine. I keep mine safe.”
Bruno put his hands up. “Whoa down boy! She’s my blood. We will keep her safe!”
I sighed. “Guys. This arguing solves nothing. What do we do about Mario? You know Thunder is right. That freak will be after Bella until he gets at her.”
“I know. I know.” Bruno stared at me. “But making a hit within the families on a kingpin ain’t easy. Staging an accident has to be done over time. It has to be foolproof, double indemnity.”
“Double what?” I asked.
“Yeah, it’s some old term.” Marco rolled his eyes. “Like it means when special circumstances are met in a life insurance policy it could pay double upon death. Bruno means we have an arrangement to do just that with a hitter. Hitter gets double if it proves as an accident and the client is dead.”
We stared at Bruno.
He shrugged. “Shit, you boys don’t know my world.”
“They’re better off not knowing, Bruno.” Marco grinned.
“True that. True.” Bruno nodded.
“So when is that supposed to happen?” Thunder queried.
“Soon.” Bruno glared at him.
“If I didn’t think it would hurt the—”
“No!” Bruno yelled cutting Thunder off. “Do not even contemplate that, Damicio! You cannot go out and hit Mario.”
Thunder put his fingers through his hair. “So, I gotta keep her locked up?”
Bruno sighed. “I know it’s hard. But just for a few more days. It is set to happen in a few days.”
Thunder looked surprised.
“Yeah, Dino. That soon see? So you are getting your panties in a wad over nothing again!” Bruno snorted.
Thunder shook his head.
“Dammit!” Marco was laughing full out.
“Shut up, Marco,” Thunder warned under his breath.
“I just can’t help it. It happens every time!”
“You must be gay then, Marco,” Thunder barked.
I looked back and forth between the men. “What am I missing?”
“You do not want to know.” Thunder seethed.
Then we heard thumps and yells coming from the next room.
“The girls!” I whispered.
Thunder and I were at the connecting door, guns drawn.
“No, wait!” Marco called.
The fuck we were waiting!
Our women were in there.
We both raised our knees and hit the door with our boots. We busted through, guns aimed.
Bella and Chloe had their guns out, aimed at us.
There were three other women in the room, two of them were tall, the third was smaller.
They squealed and screamed.
One of them pulled a gun from beneath her pink dress…Aiming it at us.
Chloe huffed. “Dammit, Jax!”
Thunder lowered his weapon. “What the fuck?”
One of the women swiped at her brow. “Oh, damn. Hot flash!”
One of the others, a redhead, hooted. “Oh, my God! They are so hot!”
Bella started to laugh. “Yeah and their guns are bigger than ours!”
All the females started to laugh.
“What is going on
here?” I asked.
One of the women sashayed up to me. She winked. “Damn…just breathless.”
I stared at her. “What?”
“Fuck yeah!” the blonde exclaimed, “And look at Thunder. God, simply hot as lightening!”
Looking disgusted, Thunder shoved his gun back into his jeans at the front.
“Oh, my god, two hard pistols!” The dark haired woman gasped.
Chloe and Bella were howling with laughter.
Thunder and I looked at each other as we raised our brows.
Bruno came in.
The women all went quiet. They stared at him and looked like they might faint.
“What?” he asked.
They all went over to him. “It’s De Luca, right?” one asked as she smiled up at him. “Bruno?”
Another smoothed her hand over his wide chest. “Look girls, a wall of muscle. Whooo!”
Bruno grinned at them, looking very interested in their opinions, suddenly.
Chloe stepped forward. “Um, Bruno. No we—”
Bella grabbed her arm and pulled her back. “Nah, Chloe don’t ruin his fun!” She gave Chloe a huge wink.
I stared at them. What fuck? I then really looked at the women all fawning over Bruno and my eyes rounded. “Oh, fuck no!” I knew who these people were now. They were not women!
Thunder then studied them and his mouth fell open as it now dawned on him too. “No way!”
Marco came in and saw them hugging up on Bruno and batting their eyes. Then he burst out laughing.
Thunder shook his head looking a little like he might hurl. “Fucking Bruno,” he muttered under his breath.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Dino
Chloe and Bella had been super secretive. After the drag queens left, they put all these bags and boxes in the closet. Then said we were to be out of the room by the next afternoon. ‘Go fix a bike or patch someone.’ As Chloe had put it. Jax and I had looked at each other and we had no choice but to go along with it.