“You father has a lot of various investments; when his father was president of the club they dealt with weapons and drugs. The club stored away a shit load of money from these dealings but when your father took over he didn’t want the club to be associated with all the shit, he didn’t want the drugs in his town. He invested the clubs money and set up a couple illegal gambling houses in various warehouses instead. They all look like vacant buildings, everything is under the radar and only selected people are invited to the table. Grimm pays off the police and they’re so fucking money-hungry that they look past your father’s money laundering as long as Grimm keeps them on his payroll. You already know Jace and Hunter are the boys that do the collecting when people don’t pay up.” He moves a piece of my hair behind my ear. His explanation doesn’t ease my apprehension it only makes me more afraid.
“What the club does is illegal Caleb. Why would you want to be involved in that? I don’t understand. What happens if you get caught? What am I supposed to do if you get caught? What would you like me to tell Willow?” I swallow the tears away making sure to keep my brave front. I rest my face in my hands, “Shit Caleb... I don’t know what to do with all this information.”
“Baby… I told you the cops in town are on your father’s payroll, I’m not going to get caught. As long as we keep the drugs out of town and the money rolling in their direction, the police won’t question you’re father. I have to do this Harley, Hunter tells me things, he tells me what he’s seeing and that a few of the guys are worried about the Club. Let me do this for our families’ baby.” He pleads with his eyes.
“And the money? Where did you get the money from? All this money?” I gesture my hands around the room. I know his family is wealthy, they’ve always been wealthy and I just presumed that that’s where he got his money from but now I’m not so sure.
He looks down at his hands, “Baby... there’s a lot I still need to tell you about what I was doing when we weren’t together. Those four years we were apart.” He mumbles.
“Mommy! Look what Hunt Hunt bought me!” Willow comes barrelling into my bedroom lifting my dark thoughts immediately by her bright happy smile.
She offers me some ice cream, “No thanks baby.”
Hunter strides into our room and looks at us both. “Bad time? Want me to keep her busy?” He mouths to me looking at Willow as she offers Caleb some ice cream and he takes a big bite.
I shake my head, “It’s cool.” I mouth back with a smile.
“Brother, Grimm’s holding a meeting tonight. You ready?” Hunter says. Caleb’s guilty eyes immediately meet mine. Caleb obviously didn’t come here to get my approval on the situation; he’s already made his mind up.
“Yeah, I’ll be right out. Let me fetch a jacket.” Caleb gives me a hard kiss and walks out with Willow in his arms as she starts asking him where he’s going and if she can go too.
I look down at my hands, worried about my family and their safety. I feel a warm hand on my shoulder before I even hear steps in my direction.
I look up to see Hunter’s concerned face.
“It’s going to be okay Princess.” He says softly then turns to leave.
I stand up and grab his hand. “Look after him, okay?”
He smiles down at me and kisses my cheek, “Didn’t need to tell me that. Family comes first, always.” He smiles again and as he walks out my bedroom door I say a little louder. “You too Hunter, you’re family too…” He freezes mid step then turns and salutes me using two fingers to his temple then leaves with a grin.
Caleb only arrives home the next morning, five minutes before I’m about to get Willow up and ready for Pre-school. He wraps his arms around me pulling me to his chest; I push him away because the smell coming from him immediately makes me claustrophobic. He smells like strong liquor mixed with cigarettes and cheap perfume. It’s the same smell Daddy’s club house has and it’s enough to make old memories surface.
This continues to happen every night over the next week, every single time he says he has a meeting at the Club House. He thinks sending me a single red rose through our local florist to my office every morning is helping the situation, but now as I look at all seven of the roses sitting in a vase on my desk I’m only reminded of the club and what it’s doing to our family. I don’t see much of Caleb and Willow hardly gets to spend any time with him.
Willow is spending the night with Holly tonight because tonight is supposed to be our date night. It’s three o’clock in the morning and I’m pacing around the kitchen, Caleb left work at four o’clock this afternoon and he still isn’t back. He left me a box of chocolates and a bouquet of red roses on the kitchen table with a note saying that he might be late.
I’m seriously starting to fucking hate red roses… and for goodness sake! A girl can only eat so many chocolates!
We were supposed to spend some time together tonight. We discussed it this morning when he came home from wherever the fuck he had been again. I’ve missed him and his presence around the house and I just want to spend time with him. I try calling him one last time on his phone but it just rings.
“Fuck this…” I mumble as I make my way upstairs to change out of my pyjamas.
I dress in a pair of skinny jeans, sneakers and a black hoodie to cover the plain shirt I was planning on sleeping in. I don’t care if it looks as if I’ve just rolled out of bed. Caleb better have a good fucking reason for ignoring me like this.
I grab the keys off the counter, tuck my phone in my jacket pocket and lock the door behind me as I make my way to the club.
Arriving at the club house, I’m surprised to see it so dead. I’ve never seen it this empty. My father is nowhere to be found, neither is Hunter or Caleb. A few of the College students are hanging around, the music is low and the lights dull. I spot Jesse wiping down glasses and placing them on the shelves as he waves me over.
“What you doing here babes?” he says, giving me a tight hug as I stretch over the bar top.
“I’m looking for Caleb. He’s been hanging out here every night only coming home in the morning. I knew this was going to happen as soon as he said he’d help Daddy out. This is fucking ridiculous.” I rest my elbows on the bar and run my hands through my hair. I look up to see Jesse’s confused face.
“I’ve been working this shift for the past two week’s babe and it’s been like this every night. Don’t know where the boys are, everything’s been hush-hush even Anna has been left in the dark.” He says seriously.
I move to get off the stool. “Where is Anna? Upstairs?” I point to the stairs behind the bar.
“Nah, she’s staying at the lake house. I heard a few of the whores talking about a fight between Anna and Grimm. He said she had to stay at the lake house, something about it being safer for her since not many people know where it’s located, told her that she needed to stay away from the club house for a while. Anna threw a fit, packed up her shit and left.” He motions for me to have a drink and I shake my head.
“Why didn’t she tell me? She usually tells me everything? I haven’t heard from her for the past three days. Shit... I hope she’s okay.” I take out my phone to see if I have any missed calls.
None.
I give Jesse a quick goodbye, head to my car and take the long way back to the house.
The streets are dead, but as I’m driving past the gym I notice cars parked all down the street. I slow down as I drive past the glass windows of the gym, but I can’t see many people inside.
“Why are there so many cars and where are all their owners?” I speak out loud as I turn the radio off and park on the other side of the street. All the shops that surround us are closed. It’s going on quarter to four in the morning, what the hell could be open at this time? I climb out my car and make my way over the street toward the gym.
Loud music catches my attention and I step back and look down the alleyway between the gym and next building. A huge metal door opens and four people come out stumbling, obviously
drunk. The girl’s battle as they drunkenly walk in their heels, trying to walk without falling, the men draped all over the girls laughing and talking about their winnings. As I pass the group, I watch as one of the girls drops something on the floor. She’s too drunk to notice it slipping outta her hand.
I lean against the wall and act as if I’m writing a message on my phone. As soon as they disappear around the corner I walk toward the shiny silver looking coin on the floor. I bend down to pick it up, it’s pretty dark in this alleyway but I can see the emblem perfectly. My dad’s MC emblem is engraved onto this coin. I turn it around and it says Admit One. I frown as my eyes look the coin over. I hear the metal of the door being opened again and the loud music coming through, it sounds as If someone’s on a microphone inside. When I hear laughter and voices I quickly pull the hood of my jacket over my head.
“You gonna stand there all night or are you gonna come in? Boss has a surprise tonight. He’s fighting some punk who challenged him. You don’t want to miss it, heard Boss can pack a punch.” I look up to the holder of the deep rough voice and see a huge black dude, his head is shaven and he wears a black tight shirt with the same MC emblem that covers the coin. He shows me a big bright smile. One look at this guy makes me want to run, but his tone is really friendly. I don’t remember this guy being on our payroll at the gym, I don’t confront him instead I walk up to him, show him the coin thankful that he doesn’t know who I am.
He waves me in and slams the door shut behind me, locking me inside with all the madness that surrounds me. The place is crowded, music is blaring and the floor beneath me vibrates from the loud music. There’s girls walking around the crowded room issuing drinks, they’re all wearing the same outfits. Hot pants, black platforms and the standard issue shirt the female trainers upstairs all wear. I notice a few big guys walking around checking the place out as if they’re some sort of security, they too wear the gym’s custom employee outfits but I didn’t hire any of these people.
Everyone is dressed to impress, beautiful lights adorn the ceiling, everything’s really fancy and expensive looking. The smell of perfume and cigars sweep through what I thought was the gym’s basement. There are huge black leather lounge chairs all around the room as well as beautiful glass tables with little lamps on. Ladies are wearing dresses and the men in suits. My casual attire stands out like a sore thumb but everybody is too fixated on the centre of the room to notice me. There’s a huge staged boxing ring in the centre of the massive floor.
Thud...thud...thud…
I can make out the sound of fists meeting flesh over the hoots and hollers of the crowd. I move to stand near one of the pillars when my eyes whip back to one of the men in the ring. Even though no one can hear me through the noise, my trembling hands cover my mouth as a gasp tear’s from my throat. The familiar tattoo of a Harley with the name Willow underneath it is the first thing I notice, then I look at the tattoos that cover his arm; I squeeze my eyes closed praying that this is just a dream.
I open them slowly to see Caleb savagely attacking his opponent. The other guy is also all muscle and nearly the same size as Caleb but not quite. I’ve never seen Caleb look this raw and angry, this is not my Caleb. He’s not this wild animal. Caleb grabs the other man’s neck and brings his head forward kneeing him in the nose.
I’m close enough to hear the loud crack of the man’s broken nose, blood splattering everywhere as it pours from his nose but neither one of them stop fighting. The man spits out blood onto the already blood stained white mat beneath them. Chills of disgust run down my body as Caleb laughs at the guy. The broken nosed man goes for a kick but Caleb grabs his leg, lifts it and knocks the guy to the floor. I place my hands over my ears to block out the sickening sound of the man’s grunting. I watch as Caleb kicks the man to the floor, his opponent raising his hands to try and hide his face from the onslaught of Caleb’s aggression.
When a tall bald guy wearing a black shirt with the words “Referee” on it lifts Caleb’s hand up in the air, Caleb gives the crowd that beautiful dimpled smile. I have to swallow the dread that fills my stomach. A sick feeling suddenly washing over me as I stand here watching someone I thought I knew.
My eyes drop, I can’t bear to look at him any longer, the lies that surround me, the screaming in my ears, stuffy air and the walls that feel like they’re closing in on me making me feel claustrophobic. I lift my head just in time to see Avery and her damn blue hair tips making her way toward Caleb and hugging him tightly.
She pulls away and looks his face over; he has a small gash on his eyebrow but nothing serious. She looks concerned for him, affection evident in her smile. My heart hurts as I watch her place an ice pack on his head and hand him water. I’m not sure if he even realizes how close she is, he’s too busy feeding his ego with the crowd applauding him. I start to look away as he allows her to touch him, not expecting to meet Hunter’s eyes across the room.
He seems shocked to see me, obviously surprised and he’s not the only one. How the hell did they manage to renovate this place right under my nose without me knowing? He moves around the person standing in front of him making sure to keep his gaze on me.
This is when I spot my father and a bunch of club members seated in the corner. One of the security guys issues money out to them on a table. My father and his brothers are all laughs and cheers until he sees me. My disappointment must be evident because his smile instantly drops as he quickly stands up. I look back to where Hunter is now leaning into the ring calling Caleb over. I back away as I watch Caleb and Avery look in my direction as Hunter points me out.
When Caleb’s eyes meet mine he knows he fucked up. He pushes Avery aside and runs in my direction. I pull my hood down and make a beeline for the door, the kind bouncer opens the door and I sprint toward my car. I start the car in a panic and as I’m speeding down the street I see Caleb making his way in the middle of the street watching my car drive away. When I see him sprinting after my car, I drop my eyes from the rear-view mirror and speed up a little, focusing on the road ahead.
CALEB POV
I feed off the crowd’s excitement as I give my last and final blow to the bastard who challenged me and he’s out like a light in no time. I lift my hands and move around the ring smiling at the crowd, Avery hugs me but I’m too preoccupied feeding my ego and making the crowd go berserk to pay her much attention. She’s only here to talk business, there are things that needed to be discussed and this was the best place. I didn’t plan on going into the ring, I don’t need to fight anymore, I have Harley now but the little shit wouldn’t stop bitching about how much he could pack a punch, and I needed to do something about it. It feels good to know that I’ve still got it. I watch Hunter frantically making his way up onto the ring, he motions for me to come closer; his eyes searching through the crowd.
“What’s up bro?” I ask concerned.
“Harleys here dude, we fucked up big time.” My head whips around to look in the direction he’s pointing and there near one of the columns stands Harley. She’s wearing a hoodie but her bright blond hair leaks out of the black jacket. Disappointment, shock and pure rage cover her face and the tears that run down her cheeks shine when the lights cross over her.
“Fuck!” I push Avery aside and head toward Harley with a sprint, Harley turns and does the same, running away from me.
I battle to get through the cheering crowd and by the time I get to the street she’s already pulling away. “Harley!” I scream out running after the car but she’s too fast.
I watch the taillights disappear as she turns the corner and drives away.
I rest my hands on my knees as I hunch over breathing in deeply. “God…what have I done?” I mumble out of breath.
Grimm and Hunter are waiting outside for me when I get back to the gym. Grimm climbs on his bike. “I’m going to the club house, maybe she’ll turn up there looking for Anna; don’t think she knows Anna is at the lake house.” He says, before driving away.
“Hey!” I shout, he pauses mid-step but doesn’t turn to look at me. “Who pissed on your fucking battery?” I’m irritated and angry with myself for allowing Harley to find out this way. I know I’m taking it out on Hunter, but I don’t care at this point.
I don’t see him coming; all I feel is my back being thrown against the brick wall as he holds me up against it.
“You… pissed on my battery brother.” He snarls into my face, his eyes piercing.
“What the fuck bro?” I struggle underneath his tight hold. “I’m the one who may have just lost my girl; I don’t have time for this right now!” I shove him off of me but he comes back at me like a wild animal holding me further up against the wall.
“I told you I wasn’t going to keep any more secrets from her, didn’t I? It wasn’t my place to tell her, but so help me God Caleb… if she hates me because of your actions… I will make your life a living fucking hell.” He almost whispers the last part, his raspy voice laced with venom.
He shoves me one last time before pulling away. “Get your shit together; we need to go find her.”
I’m so fucking angry right now but I can’t blame Hunter, I’m the one in the wrong. Fuck… If I was just open with Harley from the beginning I wouldn’t be in this situation. I’m the only one to blame and because of my actions I may have just lost my girls.
We arrive at the house but Harley’s car isn’t there. I open the front door and scramble through the house searching for Harley, calling out her name but there’s nothing. She’s not here. Hunter looks down by the beach and comes up empty handed too.
I call her phone but there’s no answer, after a dozen rings it just goes straight to voicemail. I call Jesse and Grimm both are out looking for her. I soon call off the search party though when my mother phones.
Harley’s taken my baby girl and left.
A Broken Beautiful Beginning Page 11