by Jayne Blue
“Uh, I thought you fired me yesterday.”
“What? Oh, honey. I was pissed. Rightly so. But no, I didn’t fire you. I would never. Don’t mind me.”
I closed my eyes, bracing for what she’d say next. This was the number she ran when trying to convince me to do something I wouldn’t like. I had half a mind to just hang up on her. Funny, I’d stepped into a war zone but felt more at peace here in Dom’s world than ever before.
“Johnny Murphy wants you!” she screamed.
“What?” Johnny Murphy was an up-and-coming director. His independent film on the war in Afghanistan had earned him an Oscar last year. Every serious actress in the business wanted to work with him.
“What are you talking about?”
“His new film. The one about the refugee crisis. Sarah Collette had to drop out. She got pregnant.”
“Sarah Collette. She has three Academy Awards. She drops out and Johnny Murphy naturally thinks of me?”
“I don’t know. But I’ve got a contract sitting on my desk, honey. It’s what you want. You sent that script to me four times. Murphy wants you. He sees something in you. But we have to move now. Principal photography starts next week. In France. Find your passport, baby. We can negotiate the terms.”
My heart raced. This was the kind of role I’d been dreaming about for years. She was kidding. She had to be kidding. “I don’t get it,” I said. “Yesterday, you’re throwing me over because I won’t be your meal ticket. There’s no way Murphy’s going to be able to come anywhere near what I’d make in the next Night Terrors knock-off. What gives?”
“You ever heard the one about not looking a gift horse in the mouth? Look. This biker movie ... I just don’t see it. Too many risks. Noel Ransom’s too green. If it tanks, you can’t recover. With Murphy, it’s not all on you. And he’s the hottest thing there is right now.”
I couldn’t deny the truth of what she was saying. This was exactly the kind of part I wanted. Johnny Murphy was exactly the kind of director I wanted to work with. It seemed too good to be true. Which meant it had to be.
“Is this a done deal?” I asked.
Noreen’s deep sigh spoke volumes. “Look. You need to get out there. Have lunch with Murphy and his production team. You’ll have to read. But he really wants you. You know he’s got a reputation for casting actors nobody expects. You fit that bill perfectly. You will have to show him you want it and what you’re really capable of. I’ve never doubted you on that, honey.”
“When?”
“You need to be in Paris in the next week or so. Tomorrow would even be better. Whatever you’re doing, it’s not as important as this. Trust me. Lightning doesn’t strike like this for people twice. You’re charmed, Quinn. I’ve known that about you from the very beginning. Don’t prove me wrong.”
In the outer room, laughter rose. Bear walked into the kitchen. He gave me a smile and tested his wife’s chili. Josie yelled at him to keep his nose out of it. Bear, big and hulking though he was, looked chagrined. He dropped the ladle and headed back out.
Then Domino filled the doorway. My heart lifted when I saw him, just like it always did. Noreen kept yakking in my ear, rapid fire.
“It’s the best thing for you,” she said. “You don’t belong out in podunk Texas or wherever the hell you are.”
Josie’s words seemed to superimpose themselves over Noreen’s. Do you love him? I’d like to tell you it isn’t always like this, but it is.
“I’ll call you back,” I finally said. “I’ve got some things to sort out here. I’ll be in touch by morning.”
Domino narrowed his eyes, but not his smile. I clicked off the phone and went to him. He folded me into his arms as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Chapter 20
Domino
Quinn murmured in her sleep. Soft little sighs that made her chest rise and fall. She slept naked, her arms stretched over her head. I stood at the end of my bed threading my belt through the loops of my jeans and fastening it. Bear told us to enjoy the night keeping our families and loved ones close. The word came in late yesterday evening. It had been two members of the Devil’s Hawks who’d shot up Cups. There could be no doubt what that meant.
Bear, E.Z., and Axle left at four a.m. Shep threw a fit. He wanted to watch his old man’s six. So did I. Sure, Axle was more than capable of doing that, but we were all itching for blood. I knew in my heart that’s the exact reason Bear wanted us to cool our heels here. He still thought he could pull us back from the brink of war.
Quinn stirred. She rolled to one hip. She was perfect, with one long, lean leg bent at the knee, the other stretched out. I sat on the bed and reached for her. She slept like the dead. I smoothed the hair away from her face. Her lips curved into a smile, then she settled back into her dream.
Her dream.
She never asked for any of this. A second later, a few feet to the right, and I might have lost her in that fucking bar. She could have died just for standing close to me. She still could. Bear couldn’t guarantee peace and we all knew it. The best he could hope for was a cease-fire that couldn’t last forever. He hadn’t said as much yet but I knew it was coming.
Leaning down, I kissed Quinn’s shoulder. More than anything, I wanted to turn her to her back and take her again. We’d spent the night fucking like rabbits, both of us knowing we might be on borrowed time. She’d taken a phone call from somebody back in her world. She hadn’t seen fit to tell me the details, but I overheard enough. Quinn had a job offer.
My heart squeezed with pain at the thought of letting her go. I wanted her here, in my bed. I wanted to lose myself inside of her hot, soft wetness. I belonged there. She was mine.
A soft knock on the door drew me away. Quinn’s brow furrowed, but it wasn’t enough to wake her. I kissed her shoulder then went to the door, careful not to open it more than an inch.
Deacon stood in the hallway, his light brown hair wild. He kept it shaved on the sides with an unruly, long thatch of it on top. His own version of a mohawk.
“Sorry to bug you,” he said. “We’ve heard from Bear. He’s on his way back to the clubhouse.”
I let out a hard breath and my shoulders dropped. Bear was coming back. Whether it was good news or bad news, at least shit hadn’t escalated.
“Everyone else accounted for?”
Deacon nodded. “Mama’s out of her mind. She’s been pacing the floor in the bar ever since Bear left. She’s scared.”
Deacon didn’t have to spell out why that mattered. Mama Bear had seen it all in her time with the club. She’d survived two wars, one with the club, one with the army. She wasn’t one to lose her cool.
“Fuck,” I said, looking back over my shoulder at Quinn. I shielded her from Deacon’s view but she was awake now. She sat at the edge of the bed drawing the covers up to her chin. She’d heard probably every word Deacon just said.
“Yeah,” Deacon said. “I do have a bit of good news though. Great news, actually. Wendy’s going to pull through. She lost a lot of blood, but the bullet missed her heart and all her major arteries. Went through her lung and her arm’s torn up pretty bad. But she’s alive and the doctors say she’s likely to stay that way.”
“Thank God!” Quinn couldn’t sit still. She wrapped her sheet around her like a toga and came to my side. She reached for Deacon, touching his cheek. “Are you sure? Is she awake?”
Deacon blushed at Quinn’s touch. Like Shep, he was still a little starstruck by her. Wendy had been the same.
“She’s in and out,” Deacon said. “Shiree, one of the waitresses, has stayed with her. Wendy’s family lives in Maine, I think. They’re on their way. Shiree says Wendy’s been asking about you. First thing she said when she woke up, actually.”
“Me?” The sheet had tangled around Quinn’s feet and she straightened it.
“Yeah.” Deacon shot me a quick wink. “She apparently remembers how you and Ariel looked after her before the ambulance got there. It made
a difference. Wendy’s a big fan.”
Quinn’s lashes fluttered as she held back tears. “I’m just ... God. I’m so glad she’s going to be okay.”
“Yeah,” Deacon agreed. There was a subtext to his tone that Quinn couldn’t pick up on. The club’s fate was tied up with Wendy’s. She was one of ours. She’d worked her way through some of the guys over the years but she’d proven herself loyal and capable. Cups needed her. We needed her.
“Anyway,” Deacon said. “Bear’s called for Church in an hour.” He cleared his throat and excused himself. I shut the door gently and turned back to Quinn. She was full-on crying now.
“Baby.” I went to her.
“She could have died,” she said. “Oh Dom. There was so much blood. I thought …”
“I know.” I gathered her into an embrace. Quinn quietly fell apart against my chest. My heart seemed to go soft in one place and hard in the other. It had been so close. So, so fucking close.
“Is it over?” she asked, peering up at me. I wished I could tell her what she wanted to hear. I wished I could weave some fairytale and take that look of fear and grief out of her eyes. This wasn’t her world. This wasn’t make-believe. There were no good guys and bad guys. Maybe we were all bad guys to people looking in from the outside.
Quinn searched my face. Her big blue eyes flickered over me. She was looking for something. Some reassurance. She held onto me, her fingers digging into my upper arms. I hadn’t noticed it before, but she had a small cut running along her hairline. I gently pulled her hair away. It wasn’t enough to even have warranted stitches, but it was there. An inch or so lower, and it would have marred her face. Last night, I’d found bruises on her hip where I’d thrown her to the ground. I’d done it to protect her, but those purple blotches were even deeper than the ones Oliver Ransom made.
“No,” I said. My voice went cold. It was as if every blood vessel in my body hardened, turning to ice. I had to let it. I couldn’t allow myself to feel what I was about to do. I even kept my breathing shallow, afraid my heart might burst from the pain if I let it in.
“It’s never going to be over, Quinn. Not tomorrow. Not in a week. And I can’t protect you from it.”
She gripped me even harder. Where I’d started to go stone cold, Quinn became fire. “You don’t have to protect me. I won’t break.”
“You will,” I said. “And this will follow you. Taint you. It already has. You were right about Ransom. I don’t regret putting him in his place, but what I did connects you to me. It’s all over the news. This shit with the Hawks is going to get worse. It may never get better. It’ll be too easy for them to get to you. I won’t let that happen.”
“Dom,” she said, letting go of me. She took a step backward, pulling the sheet even tighter around her body as if she could use it as a shield against what she knew I had to say.
“Baby, you have to go.”
“No!”
“It’s not up to you.”
“The hell it’s not!” she said. She protested, but the tears finally spilled over and ran down her cheeks. “Do you know how sick and tired I am of other people telling me what’s best for me and trying to make my decisions?”
“This isn’t a game, Quinn. You want to cut loose, have your girl-gone-wild moment, that’s fine. It can’t be with me.”
She blinked back hard. I hated myself for doing this to her, but knew it was the only way. Let her hate me. At least she could do it from a safe distance.
“That’s what you think this is to me?”
“It doesn’t matter. Take a look at Wendy. She’s a friend of the club and has been for years. She’s still lying in a hospital bed and probably won’t ever be able to use her arm the right way again. And she’s the lucky one.”
“Dom, that’s bullshit. Other guys have wives. Axle. Chase.”
I cocked my head to the side and laughed at her. With each breath I drew, I hoped the ground would open and swallow me. “I’m not asking you to be mine,” I said, hating myself for it.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
“You’re right, I do know it. But Axle’s woman, Chase’s, Zig’s, Mama Bear. You think you’re like them? You’re not, baby. They understand this world. They grew up around it. They can take care of themselves in it. You can’t. You don’t belong here. It’s time one of us finally admitted it.”
“Fuck you,” she said. She dropped the sheet. Her anger boiled to the surface, making her cheeks flush red. She was beautiful. Her need to tear me apart lit behind her eyes. And yet, she stood before me, naked, exposed, her chest heaving so her breasts bounced. God help me, I wanted to take her. Desire coursed through me. I wanted to kiss my words away and spread her wide. I knew I’d find her wet and ready. I wanted to take it all back. Her nudity was a challenge. She was here. She was vulnerable. She wasn’t afraid of me or this life.
But I was too afraid for her.
“Go, honey,” I said. “Take that job.”
Her brow furrowed. “What do you know about it?”
I’d guessed right. Another knife went straight through my heart. “I don’t. Just that you took a phone call last night and didn’t want to talk about it. Is it something you want to do?”
Her lips parted. She took a breath, as if she had a million things to say. She settled on just one thing. “Yes.”
“Good. So go do it. I hope it’s on the other side of the world.”
She blanched. “France,” she answered.
“Even better.” I reached for my cut and swung it around my shoulders, stabbing my left arm through it. “Take your time. I’ll have one of the probies drive you to the airport.”
“Dom.”
I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to tell her goodbye. In the end, I was too much of a damn coward. Another soft knock on the door shattered the silence between us. I knew it would be Deacon, telling me Bear was back.
“I gotta go,” I said. “This can’t wait.”
“Right. Church.” She wiped away a tear.
“Better if you’re gone by the time I get through,” he said. “Things are going to move pretty quickly now. Go to France, baby, don’t look back.” Maybe I’d already said enough to hurt her. Each tear she shed seemed to stab through me. I said the last awful thing anyway, praying it was enough. “I won’t.”
Quinn gasped as I turned and closed the door behind me.
Chapter 21
Domino
My pulse thundered in my head worse than any hangover. The pain in Quinn’s eyes would haunt me until my fucking grave. But that pain would save her. France. It was perfect. It was hell.
Bear sat at the head of the table looking grim. E.Z. looked even worse beside him. Only Axle seemed calm. He sat beside E.Z., leaning far back in his chair. I was the last to arrive. Toby stood guard at the door. Once I walked inside and he closed it, nobody would go in or out without going through him. Someday, I hoped he’d sit at that table with us. By the stone-cold look in Bear’s eyes, I wondered whether Toby still did.
“Quinn needs to get to the airport,” I said to Bear. “You got a problem if Moose and Machop see that she gets there?”
“Just Moose,” Bear said. “Machop’s doing something else for me. And it’s a good idea.”
Bear didn’t meet my eyes when he said it. I came fully into the room and took my seat.
E.Z. took a series of uneven breaths, shifting uncomfortably in his chair beside Bear. Whatever shit he wanted to say, he had to physically restrain himself from saying it. This wasn’t good. The tension between those two had gotten worse.
“I’ve worked out a deal,” Bear said. “The Hawks have agreed to hand over Fitzie if I agree not to blow up their shit in retaliation for what happened at Cups. A.J. Moss is swearing up and down he didn’t endorse the drive-by.”
A.J. Moss had just been voted in the Hawks’ new prez earlier this year.
“And we’re supposed to fucking believe that?” Benz said.
A rumble
went around the table. I couldn’t fucking breathe. “Bear, this is bullshit!” Chase said. “Are they trying to claim that shooting was somebody going rogue?”
Bear scratched his chin. He made a gesture to E.Z., keeping him silent. “A.J. didn’t admit to it outright, but my gut’s telling me it was. A.J.’s green as prez. Word was the vote putting the gavel in his hand was as tight as they get.”
“So he doesn’t have full control of his crew,” Maddox said. “Jesus.”
“He doesn’t want a war. Maybe others in his crew do, but he’s wearing the president patch. So am I.”
“Mother fucker.” I couldn’t hold my tongue. “Wendy almost died. She still might. Ariel was in the club standing right next to her. So was Quinn.”
“Bear, we can’t let this slide,” Zig said. “Cups is Gina’s and you know it. They hit it for a reason. If the businesses along the docks think we can’t even keep that place secure, what’s that going to do for us going forward?”
“I don’t like it any more than the rest of you,” Bear said.
“Fitzie’s not enough,” Maddox said. “For fuck’s sake, Bear. He’s not enough.”
“Yeah?” Bear leaned far forward. Fire lit his eyes. “You need me to remind you how we got into this situation? If your old man hadn’t flown off the goddamn handle and taken matters into his own hands, I could have kept this shit contained a little longer. As it stands, they’re handing over Fitzie. What we do with him is another matter. He’s a traitor to this club and the word is out on that. Shooting up one of the Hawks’ businesses just escalates into an all-out war. Right now, I care more about the message we send if we can’t make an example out of a fucking traitor. So we give a little, we get a little.”
“For how long?” E.Z. erupted.
“For as long as it fucking takes!” Bear shouted.
“Never mind Fitzie or Maddox’s old man or any of it,” Kade said. “This already is a war, Bear. You’ve tried to keep us out of it. I get why. But we’re not afraid. Let’s take it to them and end it once and for all.”