by Nina Levine
“Stop!” he screamed, drawing me from my violent haze.
I pulled back, caught my breath and demanded, “You got the money now, motherfucker?”
“Not all of it, but—”
I didn’t give him time to finish that sentence. Bending down, I reefed him up, and slammed him backwards against the wall. Moving close, I snarled, “There will be no negotiations. Either you’ve got the fucking money or you don’t.”
“And if I don’t? What happens then?”
Narrowing my eyes on him, I asked, “This the first time you’ve ever owed King money?”
“Yeah, why?” He was doing a damn good job at appearing unaffected, but his tells were there and I could read them all.
“I just thought I’d educate you a little, because it seemed to me like you were under the impression there are options here. When you owe King that kind of money, you pay.” I paused for a moment to let that sink in. When he showed no signs of understanding, I elaborated. “You either pay up or King finds another way to encourage payment.”
His brow furrowed. “Not sure I’m following,” he said.
Fuck me.
“Jesus fucking Christ, you're a dumb cunt, aren’t you?” I muttered. Seriously, how this fucker managed to get through life astounded me. I reached for the back of his head, grabbed a handful of his hair, and pulled his head back. Leaning close to his face, I asked, “You like breathing, motherfucker? You like your family members breathing? 'Cause if you fuckin’ do, you better pay King his fuckin’ money.” I let his hair go and smacked the back of his head. “You following now?”
Before he could reply, his friend cut in. “Whatever he’s short, I can put in.”
I turned to face him. “Someone with some fuckin’ brains. And what about the money you owe?”
Nodding furiously, he agreed to pay up. “I can cover it all. Just leave our families out of this.”
I could smell his fear. That got my blood pumping almost as much as using my fists. “Your friend can’t come up with his money till tomorrow, but I’m not waiting till then. You good to cover him in the meantime?”
“Yes,” he said. “No problem. I’ll go now and get it. Should I meet you back here?”
I chuckled. “Not fuckin’ likely, dickhead. We’ll all get the money.”
Resignation crossed his face, and he nodded.
Griff ended his phone call and joined back in on the conversation. “We good to go, brother?” he asked me.
“We are.”
“Thank fuck, because we have more shit that’s just come up and you’re needed on that.”
My happy levels spiked at the thought. Looked like my week was taking a turn for the better. If I had to be in Brisbane, at least I would be having some fun during my stay.
* * *
As I entered the bar of the clubhouse, I took in the familiar surroundings. It was still the same as it had been six months earlier, and wasn’t much different from two years ago when I walked away from it all for the peacefulness of the nomad life. It was a Wednesday afternoon, and most of the boys were at work, so the bar was fairly empty. Even the pool table in the back corner was empty. I liked the quiet and the lack of people.
“Havoc,” Nash grinned as he came towards me. Slapping me on the back, he said, “I heard you were in town. It’s been awhile, asshole. How the fuck you been?”
I’d been back for two weeks and had met with Marcus at a local bar where he’d detailed some jobs he had for me. This was the first time I’d seen anyone else. My preference was to take care of shit on my own and Marcus had no issues with that.
“Same old shit, different day,” I said, thinking that nothing much changed in my life anymore. I spent my days either dealing with assholes, or on my bike. Both were enjoyable, but lately it had started feeling a little empty. I didn’t want to think about what that meant so I did my best to avoid thinking. Easier said than fucking done.
“You ready to come home yet?” Nash asked the question that my father and sister kept pestering me with—the question that irritated the fuck out of me.
“No.”
Nash didn’t push it. “Fair enough, brother.” He paused for a moment, his gaze travelling to my shirt. “You been dealing with some shit today?”
I looked down at the blood on my shirt. “Yeah.” Looking back up at him, I said, “I hear you’ve got something else for me to sort out.”
“We do,” he started, but was interrupted.
“Fucking Havoc,” came a deep voice behind me.
I turned to find Jason Reilly walking towards me with a huge shit-eating grin on his face. Unable to stop myself, I grinned back. J had been like a true brother to me before I left, and although I’d pretty much cut ties with everyone, I still counted him as a friend. “How’s your sorry ass?” I asked.
He pulled me into a hug and slapped me on the back. Hugging was not something I did, not even with women, but J had a way of getting shit out of me that I didn’t want to give, and so I let him at it. When he let me go, he answered, “I’m fucking brilliant.”
Nash groaned. “Don’t get him started, brother. Madison finally got that ring on her finger and the fucker’s been walking around with a grin full of pussy ever since.”
I wasn’t surprised at this news; J and Madison married was something I’d always seen coming. “Happy for you, J. Surprised as fuck that you and Nash are in the same room though.” These two had never gotten on, so to see them under friendly circumstances was a shock.
“One word for you, Havoc: Madison,” Nash said. He jabbed his finger at J, and added, “She’s sorted him out.”
“Well she must be a fuckin’ miracle worker to get you two talking,” I said, shaking my head.
J scowled and muttered, “Let’s just say she has her ways of making me do what she wants.”
I had to laugh at that. “A woman finally grabbed you by the balls, huh?”
“Laugh all you want, dickhead. It happens to the best of us.”
Nash cut in, changing the subject. “As much as I’d like to stand around counting the ways that Madison has him by the balls, we need to hurry this along. Did Griff give you any info on what’s going on?”
I detected a change in his tone when he mentioned Griff. “No, but first, what’s going on with Griff? You pissed that he challenged Scott?” Scott Cole was the previous vice president, and from memory, he had Nash’s support so I had to wonder about how Griff’s challenge for the VP role had affected club dynamics.
Anger clouded his face. “Yes, I’m fuckin’ pissed. Griff played us all for fools when he betrayed Scott.”
That was a feeling I knew well. Betrayal by a friend was the worst kind. “Yeah, I get that,” I murmured, lost in my thoughts for a moment.
Nash moved back to the topic at hand. “We’ve got a problem with one of the strip club clients harassing one of the strippers at Indigo. Need you to deal with him so he leaves her alone. She’s one of our best, and we don’t want to lose her.”
Storm owned the strip club, Indigo, and from what I knew, it was one of their more profitable businesses. The Brisbane chapter kept its nose clean so relied on various business ventures for income. “You got an address?”
J handed me a piece of paper with the information. “He’s an out-of-towner, staying at that hotel.”
I shoved it in my pocket. “No problem, I’ll deal with him tomorrow. I’ve got some family shit to take care of this afternoon.”
J raised an eyebrow. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” I didn’t want to get into it, but he continued to stare at me, his gaze demanding further information. “Dad’s not well so I’m in town for him.”
J nodded slowly. “Let us know if you need anything, yeah?”
Calling on anyone for help was not something I planned on doing, but I agreed so he wouldn’t push the point. “Will do.”
“Right, I’m out of here. Got a hot date, and if I’m late, she’ll withhold sex,” Nash said a
s he made to leave.
“What the fuck?” I asked, stunned that Nash had a date. As far as I knew, he never dated.
“I’m a changed man, brother. It’s about time you found a pussy to stick with,” he threw over his shoulder.
“Keep fuckin’ walking, Nash. Me and pussy don’t play so nice these days. Unless of course, it’s new pussy, and then I’m all over that shit.”
He shook his head and kept walking. J said his goodbyes too and left me alone to contemplate the afternoon ahead. Yvette, my sister, had texted me about half an hour earlier to let me know Dad had been taken to hospital, so that was where I was headed. He’d had a heart attack about three weeks earlier, which was why I was back in Brisbane, and it seemed he’d had another one. Fuck, if it wasn’t one thing messing with my family, it was another.
I started heading outside when a familiar laugh slammed into me, jolting my senses. The woman it belonged to was a woman I did not want to see, but her voice rang out as she caught sight of me. “Havoc,” she called out, and I heard the tap of her heels across the floor as she came closer.
For fuck’s sake, why can’t I have some peace and fucking quiet in my life?
Her hand landed on my shoulder, and I spun around and shrugged it off. My hard glare landed on her. “Don’t fuckin’ touch me, bitch,” I snarled.
She flinched, but quickly recovered. “Baby, I didn’t know you were back,” she said in that breathy voice of hers. That voice used to make my dick jump to attention but not anymore. All it wanted to do now was shrivel up and pretend she didn’t exist.
“Let’s get one fuckin’ thing straight, Kelly. I’m not your fuckin’ baby, so cut that shit right now.”
“There’s no need to be such a bastard,” she complained, still trying to move closer.
I reached out and gripped her shoulder, halting her progress. “Stop whatever the fuck it is you’re doing, and leave me the fuck alone. We haven’t been together for two years, and if you think I’d ever go there with you again, you’re seriously mistaken. You fucked me over, remember?”
Her eyes widened, and she took a step back. She hadn’t expected that reaction from me. Probably because for the five years we’d been together, she’d had me wrapped around her little fucking finger. Her voice was soft when she spoke. “I made a mistake, Havoc, and I know that now. Let me show you how sorry I am.”
I raked my fingers through my hair as tension punched through my body. She was a piece of fucking work. “Letting you show me anything is the furthest thing from my mind. I’m leaving now, and I’m telling you for the first and the last time, don’t fuckin’ come near me again. You’ve no fuckin’ idea how close I am to losing it with you, and I can promise you, that is something neither of us want to happen.”
I turned to leave the club, relieved she didn’t follow. She’d managed to drag me closer to the edge that threatened to rip every last piece of sanity from me if I stumbled over it. I lived precariously on that verge, but after seeing her, I needed to get my shit under control so I could find my way back from it.
Fuck.
3
Carla
I stared at my teacher in alarm. He’d just given me the choice between sleeping with him or failing my subject. And I had to decide right that moment, because he had to report my grade for the semester tomorrow. “You’re fucking kidding me, right?” I demanded to know as my mind flicked through options. Surely he couldn’t get away with this.
He leant back against his table, and gave me a creepy smile. “I never kid, Carla,” he answered me smoothly. In that instant, I knew he’d done this before, probably many times and gotten away with it. There was just something about his demeanour and the confidence with which he spoke.
Shit.
I was far from a prude, but I wasn’t the type of woman to sleep my way to anything. And I knew there was no way in hell I would ever give my body to this prick. I made my decision. “Fail me if you must. I’m not fucking you, asshole,” I snapped. Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I made him a promise. “If you do fail me though, just know that I won’t let it rest. I will find a way to fuck you over.”
He laughed. “I’m shaking in my boots, baby.”
“Yeah, well you should be. You’ve no idea what connections I have,” I muttered as I walked out of his classroom.
He yelled out after me, “What, are you friends with the local gang or something?”
I turned and gave him one last filthy glare. “No, you fucking prick, worse than that… a lot fucking worse.”
I didn’t wait for his response before I stalked out of the room. My blood boiled at the audacity of his demand, and I had to get out of there before I punched him. As I walked to my car, my mind conjured up all the ways I could inflict harm on his body. Just because I was a female didn’t mean I couldn’t make him hurt; I damn well could because my brother had taught me how.
“Fucker,” I muttered as I opened my car door and slid into the seat. Shit, he’d really riled me up. If he did fail me, I would make good on my threat to fuck him up. Passing my fashion design course was a major part of my life plan, and I was almost finished; to fail a semester would mean extra time and money, and that time and money wasn’t in my fucking plan.
I shoved the gear stick into reverse and squealed out of the car park. Ten minutes later, I was stuck in bloody bumper-to-bumper traffic. Shit. I didn’t have time for this; I had to be at work in an hour. My waitressing job paid for my course, and I’d missed a lot of shifts lately so I could spend time studying. My boss was getting shitty about it, and I sensed that if I missed too many more, he would start looking for someone to replace me. So this traffic was the last thing I needed, and after my run-in with my teacher, it only served to put me in a worse mood.
I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel and searched for good music on the radio. All three stations I tried were playing shit music. I turned it off in disgust. I really needed to get my CD player fixed in my car, but it was an old bomb of a vehicle so I was reluctant to spend money on it. And besides, it was money I didn’t really have.
A loud honk caught my attention. I’d been so engrossed in my search for music that I hadn’t noticed the black ute in front had moved. My eyes flicked to the driver behind, and I gave him the finger. Sure, I hadn’t moved forward, but hell, it wasn’t like I’d be moving very far. God, I hated impatient drivers.
I inched my car forward, and then sat idling again waiting for the traffic to move. My gaze shifted to the clock. Shit, I really was going to be late if we didn’t start moving faster. As I contemplated this, my phone rang, and I reached to check who it was. I had no intention of answering it while driving, but in this traffic, it couldn’t hurt to see who it was.
Fuck. My boss. I dropped it back onto the seat next to me, and commenced panicking. And then the asshole behind me honked again. Jesus fucking Christ! I looked in the rearview mirror at him again. He was making rude hand gestures at me so I flipped him the bird again, and at the same time, I pressed my foot to the pedal. I didn’t mean to press it hard but my foot slipped and I jerked forward and hit the ute in front.
Fuck me!
This was so not my fucking day.
I sat still for a moment waiting to see what the driver would do. When he left his ute and headed in my direction, my belly fluttered. He was built, and damn, he was sexy. I couldn’t make out his face due to the glare from the afternoon sun, but the rest of him had me drooling. But he was pissed off; his rigid posture made that clear as he stalked toward me. When he got to my door, I finally managed a good look at him, and my belly did more than flutter. And damn, the desire ricocheting through me caused me to feel things I didn’t want to feel.
Havoc.
Tall, olive skin, unruly dark hair, inked muscles to die for. It was the guy I’d slept with a couple of weeks ago. The guy who’d fulfilled his promise and brought heaven to my fucking door.
“What the fuck?” were the first words out of his mouth. Then he
squinted his eyes, and dropped his face down to look at me through the window. “Carla?”
Had to give him points for remembering my name. “Yeah. Ah, sorry about that,” I offered an apology he wasn’t likely to accept, going by his pissed-off state.
He held onto his angry glare. “How the hell does someone have a fuckin’ car accident in this kind of traffic?”
I scrambled to offer an explanation. “It was the guy behind me. He was honking and giving me the finger.”
He shook his head once, in a I-can’t-fucking-believe-what-I’m-hearing gesture. “So it was his fault that your foot hit the accelerator?”
I didn’t like his tone. Sure, I was at fault, but there was no need for his attitude. I tried to open the door but he was blocking it. I eyed him. “Can you move so I can open the door?”
“What the fuck for?” He continued to lean against the door, eyeing me through the window. And I hadn’t failed to notice his gaze roaming over my chest.
“Because I want to get out to talk to you.”
The driver behind honked again, multiple times. Havoc scowled before straightening and glaring at the driver. I took the opportunity to open the door and get out. Another honk came from behind and Havoc stalked to the other car. I watched as he had words with the driver—angry words by the look of it. I then watched as he stalked back to me. His jeans hugged his legs, and his grey T-shirt clung to his chest. I couldn’t help but stare. I knew that body, and I knew what it was capable of giving me.
Shit, get yourself together, Carla. The last thing I needed was to want this man again. We’d had our night together, and that was all it would ever be. I didn’t have a biker in my life plan. No, my plan involved stability, not a man who raised his middle finger at society.
“Get back in your car, Carla. We’re done here, but you need to be more careful,” he muttered, treating me like a fucking child.