Trey stepped in and leaned so close to Carlito, they were barely inches apart. “We know you’ve been tampering with the product. It’s been thirty percent somethin’ else for a while now when we’re payin’ wholesale prices. You want to cut us a sweet fuckin’ deal—you know, give us a clearance price—it’s fine, but be motherfuckin’ honest about what the fuck you’re sellin’ to us.”
Cillian and Hardy both looked at him, though they didn’t object to how he’d spoken to the man who’d become their nemesis.
“I’ve heard of you, bro - the biggest badass to come out of the Demon’s Bastards. You’ve got heart, man, and I appreciate that. My own men wouldn’t step to me like that. Here you have Hardy and Cillian actin’ like they’re scared of me. They wanna be honest but them white boys know they’d get a beat down for talkin’ to me the way you just did. In that way, you remind me of Ronan—here I was thinkin’ he was the fiercest white boy in the Saints MC.” Carlito nodded his head once. “What can I say? You’ve caught me. I was tryin’ to make more money and my plan failed now I’ve been found out.”
Hardy leaned forward in his seat as Trey stepped back and stood behind the sofa where the Glendale chapter Prez and his own VP sat. “What are you tryin’ to say?”
“No money is to be exchanged. The product you receive tonight belongs to you. Consider it a gift for all the bad blood my foolish actions have caused. My father is very grateful for the connections he has with the Saints and he’d like to maintain them. The product you receive tonight comes out of my own pocket, not Aztecas Infierno, simply because it was my mistake. I hope you can forgive me for my greed and ultimate pursuit of the American way,” Carlito explained casually. Trey turned toward Kink and Ronan who both looked perplexed at the unfolding situation.
“My fiancée, Lacey, will give the product to you. Hardy and Killer, if you could follow her, she’ll set you up. You three can go downstairs and join the party. I insist you stay for a few drinks and enjoy yourselves. Everything is on the house.”
Hardy and Cillian walked off with Lacey while Kink, Ronan, and Trey walked down the stairs toward the dance floor. “Bitches Be Like” blasted in the club; the festive atmosphere did nothing to quell his feelings of anxiety. He didn’t know what the hell was going on but he never trusted nor liked Carlito. Despite them being first cousins, he couldn’t stand the son of a bitch.
“Somethin’ ain’t right.” Ronan shook his head. “I’m not feelin’ this situation.”
“Neither am I,” Kink replied. “What do you think, Trey?”
“I’m thinkin’ that coke is either laced or somethin’ worse. No way is he givin’ us anything for free.”
Despite his reservations and those of his brothers, they located the table where the women sat with Bookie, Cricket, and Quinn. Gisela was no longer seated but he didn’t dwell on it as he reached for Kyra’s hand.
Ronan had grabbed Naomi and they were already on dance floor as Trey and Kyra joined them.
“Partition,” Beyoncé’s bass heavy dance song, played as he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. They both danced using slow, deliberate, seductive moves of lovers who viewed a dance floor as prolonged foreplay. He was stone cold sober and couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this good.
Kyra was everything he’d ever wanted in a woman. A mixture of brains and beauty, she was the perfect foil for him. She was feminine enough to be an amazing lover but strong enough to deal with the club life. She’d never be the type to want out or leave him, not when she innately understood what was expected of her.
“When we get back to the clubhouse, I want you to throw me down on the bed and make love to me,” she murmured in his ear. “Slow at first and then you can really lay it into me—pound my pussy until I can’t walk. I promise I’ll love every minute of it.”
His arms slid down to her ass and squeezed. “You should really stop with your suggestive comments. I plan to do everything in my power to satisfy you but I don’t want to take you anywhere in this club. You keep talkin’ like that and I can’t guarantee we’ll get out of here before I fuck ya real quick.”
“I don’t think you’ll do anything like that at all.” She pulled away and smiled slyly at him before resting her head against his shoulder again. “You have morals and codes, Mr. Lennon. I highly doubt you’d do anything beyond your self-imposed control.”
Trey buried his face in her hair and inhaled deeply. “Mmm, you smell like naughty with an alluring side of innocent, you know that?”
She laughed deeply as the DJ spun in his Plexiglas cage over the dance floor, and did a smooth transition into “Show Me.” Kyra turned around, pressing her back against his chest as he held on to her hips possessively. She was a natural born minx as she ground her ass into his groin. Her obvious moves had their intended effect as his felt his dick harden and realized he’d never escape the club without adequate cover.
He kissed her neck as they continued their sensual dance as an aching and primitive need grabbed a hold of him. He realized he wanted and needed her like the air he breathed.
If Trey hadn’t been so into Kyra and her seductive movements, he would have seen Lacey approach them. Her skin, the same alabaster as Kyra’s, glowed in the dim lights.
She stepped behind him like she was about to join their dance, and murmured in his ear, “Hardy, Cillian, and Gisela have left with the product. The briefcase you were supposed to hand over to Carlito has a bomb in it, and it’s supposed to go off before you leave. Carlito has plans to ruin you—and the club—forever. Take your old lady, find everyone else and get the hell out of here.”
Her words registered with Trey immediately. One thing about staying in Northern Ireland, he’d learned a few lessons when it came to bombs. They were nothing to fuck around with, and he’d rather be killed in a blast than injured.
He grabbed Kyra’s hand and snatched Lacey’s wrist before they made it through the crowd as quickly as possible.
Lacey broke away as soon as Trey found the remaining brothers. “I’m not your problem! Carlito’s expecting me and if I don’t go back, he’s going to know I told you - that would mean death for me.”
Cricket grabbed Lacey’s upper arm. “Fuck your stupid motherfuckin’ boyfriend. I’m gonna do what I shoulda did in July and didn’t. You’re comin’ with us whether you like it or not.”
Trey immediately focused on Kyra, spotted Ronan, Naomi, Kink, Bookie, and Quinn. “Cillian and Gisela are gone. We need to get the hell outta here too.”
Ronan nodded his head. “Agreed, brother. We don’t have much time—ain’t no tellin’ how much damage that bomb will do when it detonates.”
“But…all these people. We can’t just leave them!” Kyra exclaimed, panic lacing her tone.
“We don’t have a choice. The elevators ain’t gonna fit everyone and if you say somethin’, you’ll put our lives at risk. Let’s go now,” Bookie replied.
Trey held on to Kyra as they navigated their way to the elevators and boarded the first one that opened. Unfortunately, Carlito’s men spotted them and made a dash toward the elevator as soon as they saw Lacey, sobbing, being held firmly by her brother.
The elevator doors closed just before they could reach them and started to descend almost immediately. Inside, the enclosed space turned into pandemonium.
“How much time do we have before that motherfuckin’ bomb goes off?” Cricket yelled at his sister.
“I…I…don’t know. It’s C4, I think. Carlito planned to get us out in time. He obviously left so not much time. Maybe a few minutes…” she trailed off before she broke into sobs again.
“Where the hell did the suitcase come from?” Ronan questioned Lacey. “We never brought the money with us. It’s still at the clubhouse.”
“I guess he kept the briefcase you two exchanged from last time.” She wiped her runny nose with the back of her hand. “He doesn’t tell me anything about his business. I know less than you do, all right? I just kn
ow a bomb is going to go off and some damage will be done to the nightclub. The Saints will be blamed for it and it’s a reason why Aztecas Infierno will declare war on the club.”
Cricket smashed his fist against the elevator wall, leaving a bloodied print from his knuckles behind. “Goddamn it! You mean you’ve known about this the whole time and you never planned to tell us? Right or wrong—the Saints are your fuckin’ family and your club! You chose those animals that would sell their souls for money over us? You disgust me so much, I can’t stand to look at you!”
“It’s not that black and white for me, Cricket. I’m fucking pregnant!” Lacey exclaimed with crazed blue eyes.
Everyone, including Trey, looked at her as she hung her head in shame and managed to shake her head.
“By that bastard?” Cricket questioned coldly. “You allowed him to mark you with his seed? Are you fuckin’ insane?”
“Believe me, I didn’t plan it, I swear.” She sobbed again. “He’d proposed to me and then we found out. I’m only eight weeks along but I refuse to have an abortion. I don’t care if he doesn’t want me anymore. I wasn’t fuckin’ stupid. I have some money and jewelry he gave me. I put it in a bank account he doesn’t know anything about because everything is paperless. It’s not a lot, maybe half a million dollars or so but I can take care of me and my baby just fine.”
Cricket embraced her as she buried her face in his chest. “We’ll figure somethin’ out. You’re my sister and Dad loves you so much. Doesn’t matter what that bastard is…he or she is still a Henderson and a part of our family. We won’t abandon you, I swear.”
Trey held Kyra closer to him and could only hope the elevator arrived at the ground floor in time for them to get the hell out of this building. His heart thundered in his chest as a feeling of panic inside him grew to epic proportions. Despite the touching, Lifetime made-for-television moment, he knew he wouldn’t relax until they were out of the building.
As soon as the elevator dinged at the ground floor level and the doors opened, he wrapped his arm around Kyra’s waist, and hustled her toward the exit. Ronan, Naomi, Cricket, Lacey, Bookie, and Quinn followed closely behind. The limousine they’d taken to the nightclub idled out front. The back door opened as they all made a run for it.
Trey held the limo door open when guns started firing in the direction of their vehicle. Ronan pulled him inside as Bookie got in last and the door slammed behind them. The limo driver took off quickly as a large blast sounded, reverberating against the windows.
He looked up, toward the sound of the bomb detonation, and glimpsed a raging inferno as it escaped from several blown out windows. High Lights nightclub, ravaged by flames and clouds of black smoke, appeared ominous and alarming.
Kyra wrapped her arms around his waist. “All those people…my God…it could have been us.”
“I know, baby.” Trey kissed her forehead though his eyes hardened with a new resolve.
If Aztecas Infierno wanted a fucking war with the Saints, they’d just earned themselves one. No club member in the vehicle—including him—would rest until all of those sons of bitches were sent to ground.
Part Two
Sacrificial Saints
Six Months Later
Chapter Ten
Kyra
“Sweetie, can you help me with this?”
I looked away from speaking to Bronaugh, coming face to face with Gisela. She held the twins’ bassinets, one in each hand. Daire and Rori were a handful already; thank God she had us to help her out.
I scrunched up my face. “Again? What the hell are you feeding them, Sela? I swear, how much poop can two infants produce?”
She rolled her eyes and looked at the two small babies who were barely a month old. “What are you talking about? They get breast milk and that’s it! At this age, all they do is eat, sleep, and shit.”
Bronaugh walked over and smacked her on the shoulder playfully. “Those are me grandbabies you’re talkin’ about. I’ll go change the wee ones—you two get caught up.”
She grabbed one of the bassinets while Cell, aka Dillon O’Neal, the newest member of Lucifer’s Saints, grabbed the other and walked with her inside of the compound.
It was a festive occasion.
The twins’ baptism had just taken place and following the blessed occasion, a club celebration for the members, their old ladies, and children. The outdoor stereo system blasted pop songs since all the brothers were all tied up with chapel. Although it wasn’t the most ideal day for it to take place, everyone understood that since the night High Lights was bombed, nothing would ever be the same.
Despite tangible evidence and statements from both Gisela and I, the club was under a heavy guise of suspicion for months. The club hadn’t been completely destroyed; it sustained more water and smoke damage than anything else. Only a handful of fatalities and twenty serious injuries were miraculously reported.
The victims and their families were paid off quickly by the cartel to avoid any publicity. The LAPD questioned both members of the Saints and Aztecas Infierno but after an exhaustive search that yielded nothing by the Fire Department, the blaze was determined to be an accident due to faulty wiring.
Through it all, my faith in Trey never waivered, no matter what happened. As soon as we got back to Northern Nevada, I told my father we were officially together. My dad, furious with me and absolutely livid with Trey, barred me from the Bastards’ clubhouse unless I was there on behalf of club business. Within a day, I went from having a family of people I could depend on to having no one except the man I loved.
I had to hand it to Bronaugh, Naomi, Chantal, Lacey, Misty, and my best friend. They took me in and, from day one, I was considered a Saints’ old lady despite my past affiliations to the Demon’s Bastards. My dad made it clear to everyone I’d been tossed out of the club and I was not welcome back. As far as he was concerned, the Saints could keep me, kill me, or toss me out on my ass again.
Those were some of the hardest months of my life. Trey needed me to be strong for him and, most days, I felt weak as cat shit. I cried a lot, sulked around home and the office, managed to get work done, but not nearly as much as I usually accomplished. Shortly after February, Trey told me the truth about what he and his mother spoke about that afternoon at Starbucks. I agreed it would be our secret and no one would ever know, not even Gisela. For the first time in my life, my best friend didn’t know everything going on in my life.
I believed in what he was doing and, after the carnage I’d seen Aztecas Infierno inflict that night, I was firmly in his corner. It was obvious to us none of the cartels could be trusted as far as we could throw them. It was an obvious mistake by the club to do business with them in the first place.
Trey would never betray the Bastards—despite what my father had done to me—but we both knew his loyalty lay firmly with the Saints. If the government only wanted information about the cartel and the Koslakov family, we would give it to them.
We’d even come up with a little system where I checked the safety deposit boxes instead him since I looked much less conspicuous. Of course Eve busted us immediately and left me a sarcastic note, asking whether she should get me an American passport and a British passport too under the name of Briseis Lipton. The joke would have been lost on anyone else other than a movie geek like me who knew it was the name of Achilles’ lover in the film, Troy.
Three weeks later, on a routine trip to the safety deposit box where I dropped off a manila envelope full of information about the cartel, I found cash in various currencies and two passports, both with my picture and my new name. I realized she wasn’t kidding after all.
After what felt like months, the club was cleared by the Los Angeles Police Department. It came just in time too because Hardy and Ronan had been cleared to replace the current Vegas chapter Prez and VP who wanted to retire in Southern California. Their force majeure came in the form of Linx, Trista’s husband and Trey’s sister. Winter’s Regret, Linx’s rock ba
nd, had signed a deal that would take them to Las Vegas where they’d be performing exclusively for one of the top hotel-casinos on the Strip.
It was late May and spring was in the air. There had been a few incidents of violence between the Saints and Aztecas Infierno in California and southern Nevada but it remained relatively quiet in our neck of the woods. The drug dealers the cartel had sent to Northern Nevada had not been well received by any of the residents of Pine Bluff or Birch Tree.
Most of the young men who were caught selling were immediately arrested and received stiff prison sentences due to their proximity to the Tri-Cities area. It was a noticeable calm before the storm and although we all should have felt relieved, I—like everyone else—was on edge. We all felt cagey, afraid, aware, and anxiously waiting for the other shoe to drop. No war had ever been so quiet until it wasn’t and everything changed, always for the worse and never the better.
“Are you all right?” Gisela asked, shattering both my frayed nerves and scattered thoughts.
I tried to hide my apprehensive mood behind an Award-winning smile. “Of course. I’m just…a bit worried, that’s all. Chapel couldn’t wait until tomorrow? I mean, what the hell is taking them so long? What are they talking about?”
She laughed. “You’re kidding, right? Men gossip more than women do. Besides, it’s not like they’re in any hurry. Yes, the party is, officially, for the twins but they don’t even know what’s going on, sweetie. Mainly, it’s for us. We’ve been through a lot in the past year and a half. We deserve to let our hair down and have some fun.”
“Especially you.” I grasped my best friend’s hands and held them in my own. “You’ve been through so damn much and look at you! Almost as skinny as you were before you had the twins, married, and the future club Prez’s old lady. I’m so proud of you.”
Gisela rolled her eyes. “It’s all in a day’s work and, to be honest, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love Cillian so much and he loves me. He’d die to keep me safe and so would every other man here because we protect our own. I know…what happened between you and your dad was tough but you’re family now. You’ll always have a place here regardless what happens between you and Trey. None of us would leave you out in the cold. Your place in this club is not contingent on your relationship with Trey.”
Naked Dirty Love Page 13