Jake nodded. “I run business back here. Okay?”
“Games? Drugs? Hookers?”
Jake slowly nodded.
“Fuck,” I whispered. “And your daughter?”
Why the fuck did you ask that? What does it matter if she gambles, snorts coke, or sucks dick for cash?
I felt that little ping on jealousy again.
“What about her?” Jake asked.
“She work this too?”
“Yes.”
I shoved back and stepped away.
I walked to Frank and grabbed him. I brought him to his feet. “You drive here, asshole?”
“Yeah,” he said. His nose looked like a smushed meatball.
“Get the fuck out of here right now,” I ordered. “The town of Bishop is run by us. Find somewhere else to conduct your business and your fucking shakedowns. I see you come within spitting distance of Ava and I’ll gut you.”
“You don’t get…”
I threw my head forward again and hit his nose a second time. His head flew back and hit the wall. I dragged Frank to the back door of the store and opened it. I shoved him back and outside.
“Get out of here, asshole.”
I watched as Frank stumbled to his car and sped away.
I shut the door and turned to look at Jake.
“Fuck,” he groaned. “I didn’t expect that.”
I looked around and saw a stack of paper towels. I ripped open a package and tossed a roll to Jake.
“Clean yourself up,” I said. “Your daughter is out there terrified.”
I started to walk and Jake ran after me. He grabbed my arm. “Why?”
“What?”
“Why… this? Frank is a powerful man. His group…”
“I don’t give a shit who he is,” I said. “He’s in my town causing problems.”
“That still doesn’t answer why.”
“You don’t need to know why,” I said. I shook Jake away. “Whatever the fuck you’re doing here, Jake, you better really reconsider.”
I wanted to walk away as a tough guy. As someone who did a favor to a stranger. That was something I never did though.
But Jake couldn't just fucking listen.
He ran after me again.
He grabbed my leather cut. “My wife was killed in this store.”
I looked back at him. “What?”
“Someone killed my wife. A long time ago. But this was our place together. All we had was this store and our daughter. I’ll do anything to keep both. If you need to call your thugs and come kill me, then do it. Just don’t hurt my daughter.”
“Thugs?” I asked. “Trust me, Jake, we’re not thugs. We’re your only hope.”
I walked to the front of the store and found Ava right where I left her.
She jumped up. “Is he alive?”
“He’s fine,” I said. “Whatever the hell is going on here… you all need to reel it in and quick.”
“I’ve told…”
I put a hand up. “Not my problem, sweetie. I just came in to grab a little snack.”
And to snoop around your store. I found everything I need. You better skip town, and soon, sweetie, because when Prez gives the order, we’ll take the store down.
Ava reached up and touched my cheek. “You saved my life. You saved my father. You…”
I gently touched her wrist and moved it away from me. I shook my head. “You have no idea what I did here, sweetie.”
I walked around the counter and grabbed my soda and chips. I’d paid for them and I planned on taking them with me.
Just before I turned away, Ava dove across the counter again at me. She put her right hand on the counter and she grabbed my leather cut with her left hand. I had a one second view of her cleavage and I took full advantage of it.
Christ, her tits were fucking delicious looking.
She then forced herself forward and planted a kiss on my cheek. If that was her way of thanking me she could have spared the nonsense and just dropped to her knees and sucked my dick.
I pulled away from the counter and walked out of the store.
I touched my cheek and growled under my breath.
I shouldn’t have gotten involved in that bullshit.
I shouldn’t have saved Ava or her old man.
That was a mistake.
And that mistake was going to fucking follow me.
chapter seven
(ava)
*NOW*
Dad had a bandage across the bridge of his nose. There was a family emergency sign in the window of the store. He shut it down for the day and wanted to hide in his cramped apartment. He had a bottle of whiskey at the table. He had used it to dab on his nose before putting on the bandage. Now he was drinking the whiskey to calm his nerves.
I stood at the doorway to the tiny kitchen, my arms folded. All I could think about was Jace. Jace. What a cool name. A sexy name. And he matched the fit. His shoulders were twenty feet wide and rounded. He filled out his shirt and leather cut easily. Everything about him screamed bad and outlaw but he was beautiful. In such a rough and rugged way he was beautiful.
Dad looked at me then looked away.
“What do you plan on doing now?” I asked.
“Forgive me, Ava,” he said. “Things are out of control.”
“What was Uncle Frank doing here?”
“He’s not your uncle.”
“I know that. And he was the reason I was on the floor when you sent me home sick.”
“What?”
“He tried to…” My mouth went dry. “He tried to touch me. To proposition me. I wrestled him away and then he threw me to the ground.”
“That bastard!” Dad yelled and slammed his fist on the table. “That fucking bastard!”
“Who is he?” I asked. “Why was he trying to hurt you?”
“Better question… why was that biker there to save us?”
“I don’t know anything,” I said. “I’m lost.”
I bit my lip and tried to fight back the tears. Dad got to his feet, favoring his right leg. He grabbed the whiskey bottle and stumbled toward me.
“Ava, you can’t cry now,” he said. “It’s been a bad day for us.”
“Everyday has been bad,” I whispered. “I don’t understand anything.”
He put a hand to the wall for balance. He swayed left to right, over and over.
“Uncle Frank is just no good,” Dad whispered. “And that outlaw hit him. Beat him so fast. So good. I’ve never seen anyone do that to Frank before.”
“Jace hurt him?”
Dad looked at me. “Jace?”
“That was his name. He told it to me.”
A smile flickered across Dad’s face. “Yes… that’s it then. That’s what I can do.”
“Do what?”
Dad stumbled back to his chair and collapsed down. I swore the entire apartment shook like the floor was going to give out.
He slammed a fist down to the table again. His hand opened and he grabbed the bottle of whiskey. Throwing it back, he drank it like it was a bottle of water.
I hated when he drank. So did Mom. He never got violent. He just got stupid.
“We need them, Ava,” Dad said. “I realize that now. They’re part of this town. They’re part of us.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The outlaws,” he said. “The Bitter Aces Motorcycle Club.”
Just hearing the full name gave me chills. I had always heard stories of things they’d done. And then picturing Jace…
“That’s what we need,” he said. “I can give them what they want.”
“What do they want?”
“Come on, Ava. That outlaw wasn’t in our store for a soda. He was checking the place out.”
“Really?”
“I haven’t taught you the true family business, have I?” Dad snorted and giggled. “Stupid me. Always stupid me.”
“Family business?”
“The hustle, Ava. T
hat’s what we’re here for. The fucking hustle.”
“Don’t curse,” I said.
“You need the outlaws to watch you,” he said. “I can’t protect you. I can’t protect my own daughter.”
Dad hung his head. When I heard the first sob echo out of his mouth, I gasped. I hadn’t seen Dad breakdown and cry since Mom’s funeral. Since then he had been a rock to all of us. Now he was losing it.
As Dad cried, I inched forward. I stealthily put my hand to the whiskey bottle and slid it away. I crouched down in front of my father. He was a broken man right in that moment. He looked at me, tears in his eyes.
“I owe Frank a lot of money,” he whispered. “He’s going to keep cashing in on me until he gets to you, Ava. That’s what he wants. You have to be safe.”
I swallowed hard. I was scared. Really scared.
“Me…?”
Dad shook his head. “I just can’t. It’s just… you have to get protection. You have to go to Jace. Be with him. Make sure he keeps saving you. No matter what.”
His eyes went wide. They were bloodshot. Drunk with tears and whiskey.
“I don’t follow…”
“If Frank comes after me again, he’ll probably kill me. Then he’ll go for you. But if you’re with those outlaws… yes. It can work, Ava. This is your only chance.”
“Tell me what’s really going on.”
“I can’t,” Dad said. He reached for the bottle. I hadn’t pushed it away far enough. “I just can’t. I miss your mother. I miss her hugs. I miss her smile. I miss her ways… she could hold it all together. Not me.”
Dad drank more whiskey and kept crying.
I wanted to leave so badly but I was afraid to go home.
I would have to spend the night at Dad’s. But I wouldn’t sleep peacefully. Not a chance in hell.
Unless…
“Come on,” I whispered. “You need to get to sleep right now, Dad. You’re hurt and confused. Sleep all of this off.”
I got Dad to his feet.
He looked me dead in the eyes. “You’re going to listen to me, Ava. I’m giving you to the outlaw. I’m offering you as a thank you for what he did. If you don’t listen, I can’t help you. Frank will kill you. You’ll find out all the secrets… let the outlaw save you again. And again. Do what he says. Become his.”
Maybe Dad grew in a world where women were dealt out as prizes or whatever. And maybe he grew up in a world where women slaved themselves to their man.
That wasn’t my world.
No way in hell.
Even still… later that night… I was wide awake, my face blushing, imagining the badass outlaw Jace telling me everything he wanted me to do to him…
chapter eight
(ava)
*THEN*
I was pretending to sleep when I heard the door softly open. My mother used to come in to the room. She would shuffle to the bed and kiss my cheek. She would touch my hair and whisper something in my ear.
But she couldn’t do that now. Unless ghosts were real. I didn’t want to believe in ghosts. If I did, and I got scared, I’d cuddle with my mother. But I couldn’t do that.
“This is why,” I heard a voice whisper.
It was Dad.
“I know, Jake,” another voice said. “I know. It’s tough. It’s going to be tough. She’ll grow up into a beautiful woman. I know it. I can feel it in my heart.”
“I just have to keep everything going. That’s all I can do. She can’t know anything, Frank. It all has to be quiet. I have to move on and be a father now.”
“The store won’t survive that.”
“I know,” Dad said. “I know. I’ll deal with that later. But just take a second and understand that it’s my only daughter at stake now.”
“Go have a drink, Jake. I’ll be there in a second.”
I gripped my covers tighter. I felt someone approaching the bed. Then a hand touched my shoulder. It wasn’t my mother. It wasn’t my father.
I felt breath on my cheek.
“Sleep tight, Ava. Uncle Frank is going to make everything okay for you.”
His breath was gross, like the smell of throw up. I was shivering under the covers and sweating at the same time. I told myself do not open my eyes. Do not open your eyes. Do not open your eyes. Do. Not. Open. Your. Eyes.
His hand slid down my arm to my hand. I felt his thick and clammy fingers touch my hand. He interlocked his fingers into mine.
“Someday, we’ll be so happy,” he whispered. “You’ll know all the truth. You’ll need me.”
I pulled my hand away and grabbed for a stuffed animal.
He let out a little laugh.
“Sweet innocence. Too bad it won’t last forever.”
He then finally left the room, shutting the door behind him.
My head spun with a million and one thoughts. I missed my mother. I wanted to know who the heck Uncle Frank was. And I wanted to know what my dad meant about secrets.
I fell asleep easily… because of the innocence I still had.
My innocence would be taken away long before I learned the truth of the secrets.
chapter nine
(jace)
*NOW*
Sid’s fist was like a brick as it came across my jaw. I saw him coming from a mile away, fist cocked back, ready to strike. See, the thing was this - you could either take your hits like a man or you could fucking run and talk your way out of it. Last time I checked, I had a big, fat cock between my legs. I was a man. I was an outlaw. I could take a beating.
The punch knocked me back. I dropped my beer and the bottle shattered on the ground.
Sid grabbed my shirt and walked me back to a metal railing. Over that I would have dropped ten feet to concrete if he let me go.
But Sid didn’t.
He showed his teeth like a hungry animal.
“What the fuck did you do?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“You don’t know?”
“Prez, let him talk,” Gage said.
Sid snapped his head back and growled. Then he looked at me again and gave me more space.
“You were sent to check it out,” Sid said.
“And there’s some shit going on,” I said. “The owner was about to get taken out. And his daughter…”
“Whoa,” Ryan said. “A daughter? How old? How hot?”
“Fuck off,” I said. “I didn’t get all of the dirt. I had to split. But it’s someone connected. Named Frank.”
“Ah, shit,” Sid said. “Uncle Frank.”
“Uncle?” Gunner asked.
“He’s a scumbag hustler. Gets people to do shit for him. Promises money. Fucks with their head to turn it into debt. Then he takes what he wants and splits. He’s a leech. A fucking disease. I dealt with him in Reno one time. He’s weaseling his way around I guess.”
“Shit,” I said. “Well, he had Jake on his knees, bloody, begging for his life. I think the deal we broke up is on his shoulders now.”
“Good,” Sid spat. “Why is this my fucking problem?”
“Should we take Frank out?” Gage asked.
“Not our war,” Sid said.
“Prez, this guy was going to murder someone in town,” I said. “And the shit he said about Jake’s daughter…”
“Ah, fuck, you got a whiff of pussy,” Sid said.
“Hey,” I yelled. I stepped toward Sid, taking my life into my hands. “I’m telling you what I fucking saw. You sent me out on a job and I did it. There’s no cameras. Shit is done out of the back of the store. It’s a fucking shit hole and left that way on purpose. Jake has nothing to show for himself so he’s in deep for something.”
Sid put a hand to my shoulder. “Fair enough, Jace. You did what I said to do.”
“Will Frank retaliate?” Gage asked.
“No fucking clue,” Sid said. “We can handle him. Anyone he’s working with knows better than to come into our town. Either way, we need to prepare ourselves. Play this smart
.” Sid rubbed his jaw and looked at me. “Tell me about the daughter.”
“What about?” I asked, almost defensively. Enough so that Sid gave me a grin.
“She in on this?”
She has to be, Prez. A woman that beautiful at that shit hole store? She’s working…
“I don’t know,” I said. “She was terrified. That was for sure. She thought I was there to hurt her. The MC, I mean. So she was pretty confused about the entire thing. That was half the reason I went into the back room.”
“You didn’t kill Frank, right?” Sid asked.
“No. I just busted up his nose a little.”
“That’s been done a million times to him,” Sid said. “No worries. Okay, everyone break up here. Go find something to eat, drink, or fuck. We’ll talk this thing out tomorrow.”
The group all split up but Sid stayed in place. I didn’t think I was going to get to skate away that easily.
“What is it, Prez?” I asked. “You don’t have to fuck around with me. I know I fucked up. What can I say? I saw that fear… if Frank took out Jake and did something to Ava… how would that help us?”
“It doesn’t help us either way,” Sid said. “Sticking your nose in other people’s shit only makes you smell like shit.”
“Then let me stink,” I said with a grin.
“Yeah, right. Jace, you put yourself in this and you’re going to stay in it. I want everything on Jake and his daughter.”
“I can make that happen.”
Sid offered his hand and we shook. He then started to walk away but stopped. He pointed at me one last time.
“Before I forget. If your little crush turns out to be heavily involved in anything that goes against this town and the MC, she’s going to disappear. I’m just being up front about that.”
“I know how this works, Prez.”
“Your eyes tell me otherwise, Jace. Fall between her legs, brother, not her arms.”
I nodded.
What the fuck did Prez know?
I didn’t do the relationship thing.
Even if Ava was beautiful.
Even if I was already plotting my next move to see her again.
chapter ten
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