by Annie Buff
“You ain’t getting fired girl, you asked me to tell you about Lisa right. Well let’s go sit down, it’s gonna be needed.” They sat at the round table and Ajax put his tequila in the center of the Formica top. He would need it and after he said what needed to be said, Izzy might too.
“Your name was Renee Ann and your birthday is December Eleventh. You were born in Waco Texas, to Lisa Bridgeway and Noah Jarvis. They were both just twenty at the time and neither one was ready to be a Parent. Your Mom wanted your Dad to marry her but he wasn’t in love with her. She tricked him, telling him she was taking her birth control when she’d stopped. He was a shit. Piss poor Father, and even though he loved you in his own way he just couldn’t stay with your Mom.” Ajax stopped and took a swallow from the tequila bottle, offering Isadora a drink.
“I’m not old enough yet. How do you know all this?” Well here it was, the question of all questions and Ajax had no choice.
“Didn’t ask for your I.D. I asked if you wanted a swig.” The man pushed the bottle toward her across the table.
Isadora took a sip from the bottle and crinkled up her nose, which made Ajax smile. He would make a tequila drinker out of her eventually.
“Anyway, the club he was working for were some really bad dudes. When he refused to work for them anymore, they came after you and your Mom. Brazen Bastards killed Lisa, and everyone thought they killed you too but obviously they were wrong. You have no idea how happy I am that they were wrong.”
Izzy was in shock to hear all this, tears were running down her cheeks. But she still needed her questions answered. “Please tell me how you know all this? I need to know!”
“Please don’t hate me Izzy, I’m Noah Jarvis. That’s a name I haven’t gone by in a long time, but I’m your Dad and it’s my fault your Mom died. You have no idea how sorry I am for all this mess.” The tears were streaming down his face once again as he told her the story. Isadora had tears of her own, she was trying to process all this.
“You’re my Dad? Oh my gawd!” Her hand flew over her mouth trying to hide her sobs. The man in front of her was her biological Father.
Neither one made a move towards the other. Tara sat holding his hand and lending silent support to Ajax as he made a life changing declaration. Izzy calmed down enough to talk.
“So, do you want to be my Dad? I mean, is that why you’re telling me this? My adoptive parents are dead now and I don’t have anyone.” She did have someone, a lot of someone’s; she just didn’t know about them yet.
“Yeah Baby Girl you do, you got me. I ain’t a great consolation prize, but I’ll protect you and Tara with my life. So will Red and the rest of the Pound, Plus the Devils’ too. You got a family even if we’re a fucked up one.”
Tara didn’t like how he referred to himself. “You’re a good man Noah, and you are not a consolation prize in any way!” She was adamant about that.
Isadora got up and went around the table so she was sitting right next to Ajax and she still had the tears on her cheeks. “Yeah Dad I want you, can I call you Dad? I mean holy shit you’re my Dad! How could I not want you in my life?” She cried more as she reached out to hug him. That was when he all out lost it. The tears came hard and fast and this was the only time he would show weakness in front of her or Tara.
As he collected himself there was more to say. “I don’t want you living alone. Bastards find out you’re alive, they’ll come after you. Tara has a second bedroom upstairs and you’re using it till I can build us a house. I hope you can understand why I’m gonna be a dick and force this one.”
She understood why, she didn’t like it but Izzy understood it. She loved her apartment and she had just redecorated it. But being his Daughter put a target on her back and she was barely twenty, Isadora did not want to die.
“Damn girl, I thought you’d hate me after I spilled all this. Thank you for giving me the chance to be the Dad I should have been back then.”
Izzy hugged him again and he held on for several minutes. His Daughter was right in front of him and she wanted him in her life. For Ajax this was better than Christmas.
Izzy wanted to know everything but from the look on her face she wasn’t sure where to start so she started with the obvious. “Are you guys getting married or something? Tara says you’re a couple now.”
Tara laughed, that was definitely not happening anytime soon. The new couple was just starting off and they needed some time to make a go of things before they went that route.
“Someday Baby Girl, I’ll put a ring on her finger. Gotta take care of some shit first, get patched in and a few other things. Do me a favor sweetheart, and don’t tell anyone about me being your Dad just yet. I need to work on security for you. It’s important that nobody knows about me until I can put some things in place.”
She nodded. She got that. The bikers that killed her Mom were ruthless, and they would come for her too.
Ajax took her to her apartment so Izzy could pick up some necessities for a few days. She loved the bike, this being her first time on one. Once she grabbed what was needed for a few days they rode back. He left her and Tara at the bakery. He made sure it was locked up tight. He wouldn’t be gone long, but they still had to be protected. He had Krispy sitting outside keeping watch until he returned. He needed to have a word with Red.
Old Red was sitting out by his fire circle, drinking a beer and talking with Pretty Boy, who had been in the background since his Daughter was born. Pretty Boy and Ajax went back a long way and the two had mutual respect for one another. Pretty Boy’s Wife, Poppy loved Ajax and he loved her too. She was the reason he’d stayed; their friendship was truly something Ajax cherished. The baby was close to a year old now and they couple recently found out they would be parents again. In a way Ajax was jealous of his club mate. Pretty Boy had stepped up and become a Father to baby Noelle, even though he knew she wasn’t biologically his. That was the mark of a true man, even with all his demons he had still stepped up. Ajax wanted this with Tara, a family of their own.
“Hey, how’s Poppy? I ain’t been around so much with my new job.” He had to laugh, it was never a job. It was a life altering event in his world.
“She’s perfect, her belly is swelling again. Damn I love how she looks when she’s pregnant.” Pretty Boy answered happily.
Red just shook his head. These two younger men were going to make him vomit. “Christ Almighty don’t get him going. It’s disgusting how sappy he gets.” They all laughed out loud. Pretty Boy definitely loved his Wife, as he should.
“I told her Red.” Ajax told him. “Isadora knows she’s mine and the fucking kicker of it all, she ain’t pissed at all. Damn girl hugged me and asked if she can call me Dad. Just when I think nothing’s gonna shock me.” Ajax shook his head laughing at how Izzy had accepted him without hesitation.
“So, she needs a sentinel.” Red sighed as he explained. “You know, even though the Bastards were ordered to disband by the Coalition they didn’t. Just went underground like roaches, they’re just hiding in the cracks. One tiny bread crumb and they’ll come out in droves.”
They all knew that was true. After they murdered Lisa, the Coalition stepped in and ordered them to disband; threatening to bring Aries up on charges. The President went underground, but people still talked of a sinister biker gang that plowed through towns; destroying everything in their path. That’s when the light went on.
“Mother fucking son of a bitch!” Ajax jumped to his feet. The lone shooter on the road had been Aries. He was absolutely certain of it. That laugh was something he would never forget. “Aries was the shooter. That means he’s been watching me and he knows about Tara! I gotta go now!” Ajax yelled as he ran for the old truck.
Red and Pretty Boy were both right on his heels. Red jumped in the passenger seat, Pretty Boy dove into the truck bed as Ajax sped out of the drive and down the old two-lane highway that lead to Sweet Surrender. And the love of his life; not to mention his Daughter.
; Ajax drove the back road like a man on a mission. The speed limit wasn’t even mentioned by either of his passengers. They both understood what was going on inside his head. Ajax had to get to his woman and neither Red, nor Pretty Boy would stand in his way. The old President saw the feral look in the Cleaner’s eyes. He was going to kill anyone who got in his way. Nothing in this world would save anyone who hurt either of those women. Ajax might be a Cleaner but Red knew not to mistake that for weakness in any way. He saw the white-knuckle grip he had on the wheel as he passed cars, weaving in and out of oncoming traffic.
The road seemed to go on forever, and the thirty minutes dragged on like hours. Ajax was silently crying, thinking the worst. The tears were rolling down his cheeks, he had just found them and damn anyone who took them from him. “Fuck!” He yelled as he hit the steering wheel, having to stop at the railroad crossing for a train. He looked both directions, but there wasn’t a break in the cars for a mile. Red saw him starting to hyperventilate. The Cleaner was about to lose his mind. When the train was clear of his path, Ajax gunned it through the crossing arms, splintering the wooden barriers. He was less than a mile away from the bakery when he smelled the smoke. That’s when full-blown panic set in. As he rounded the corner he saw the flames and prayed his girls got out unscathed.
The truck came to a screeching halt and he ran from the vehicle towards the bakery. The fire department had the road blocked off but he barreled through the barricades frantically looking for his ladies. Red found them first, crying on the curb with Krispy standing over them, his Glock in hand. He knew this wasn’t an accident.
“Tara! Izzy!” Ajax found his family and held both of them tight.
He could see smoke residue on both women but other than that they were okay. That’s when Ajax got pissed. Red saw it and knew Aries had just started a war he couldn’t win.
“I should have killed that son of a bitch years ago! Well now I’m gonna hunt him down like the dog he is and destroy him. Anyone know what that knife Renegade carries is called? I need one just like it. I think that will do the job just fine.” The look in his eye was terrifying.
“Dad? What are you talking about? Is this those men again?” Izzy was frightened and he knew it but he wouldn’t lie to her or Tara. They had to know why he was so pissed off.
Ajax gathered his Daughter in his arms. She needed comfort and to feel some semblance of safety. “Yeah Baby Girl it’s them, specifically Aries. I will find that son of a bitch. When I do I’ll cut him up and feed him to the fish. We need to go to the compound for at least the night.” He went to Tara who stood strong until he put his arms around her, that was the point of her breakdown. She’d had to be strong for Isadora until Ajax arrived, but once he was there she could lose it.
Ajax pulled Tara aside, leaving Izzy with Red and Krispy and just held her. “Woman you have no idea how scared I was when I realized it was Aries that shot me. I can’t lose you, my Beauty. I’d kill them all without any hesitation. I love you Tara.” Ajax bent down to take her lips, he needed to feel her. It was the only way he would really know she was alright. It wasn’t a long kiss, it didn’t need to be. He just had to feel the reality of her being alive and unharmed.
“I won’t lie Noah, I was scared to death when I smelled the smoke. I knew someone was outside in the alley, I heard that laugh again. That laugh is terrifying. And guess what, I love you too. So, we do this together Noah. I’ll support anything you feel you need to do, now go kill that asshole! He burned my bakery to the ground! I had just baked all those cakes! He is so dead!” Ajax had to laugh at her, she was furious and it was totally adorable.
RAM IT
It had been a week since the fire, but nothing had happened where the bakery had once stood. Fire investigation was still working on finding out what exactly caused the fire and until then the scene was off limits. Tara had taken over Red’s kitchen, it took a few days to memorize where everything was. But she had, and turned it into her own private bakery. The brothers didn’t seem to mind though. She was keeping them all sugared up with her cakes and pastries.
Pretty Boy had paired up with Ajax, joining the hunt for Aries. He knew him also and there was no love lost between them. Aries had stabbed Pretty Boy in a bar fight some ten years back and he never forgot it. He owed the rogue President a few licks. The duo had put in a call to Stone Sinner’s President Magic, explaining the situation. He had agreed to lend any support that might be needed in the hunt for Aries. Seemed like everyone they knew had some sort of beef with the rogue, and all of them wanted a piece of him.
Red teamed up with Jace from the Devils, who was about to get his permanent patch; and Red’s Prospect Wrangler. They hit all the shooting galleries, whore houses, and dilapidated buildings looking for any sign; but came up empty. Someone was hiding him, and most likely against their will. That’s how things worked with Aries. He used fear, and threated horrific violence to anyone who defied him. Red had never liked him. Aries had been his Prospect back in the day, but he hadn’t liked Red’s calmer approach. So, he found a club that didn’t care about rules. The Brazen Bastards weren’t ones for rules and when Aries decided he wanted to be President, he just killed the old one and took over.
Red stopped in to see his new business and meet the employees. He and the guys were hungry, thirsty and in need of a seat that wasn’t mounted on a bike. Handlebars was exactly what the trio needed.
Red noticed the brunette behind the bar, it was hard not to notice her. She was stunning with her curls all pulled into a ponytail and big ocean blue eyes. She was a tiny little thing but her assets were perfect. He saw Johnny behind her explaining the Point of Sale system. When he noticed Red and the others, Johnny came around the bar to greet them.
“Red O’Malley, good to finally meet you.” Johnny extended a hand to the President and now owner of Handlebars. The two men talked while Jace and Wrangler hit the bar and ordered beers.
“So explain this gauntlet Red keeps talking about. I know Ajax is running it with me and you are too but nobody will tell me exactly what it is.” Jace had to laugh as Wrangler asked the question. Normally, he wouldn’t know either but Rylee told him what to expect one night as she was cooking dinner for the men. It wasn’t long after Peyton had given birth to Brolin, and she just hadn’t been up to cooking for 2 dozen people. Smoke wasn’t happy he knew and had sworn him to secrecy. So, in order not to piss off the President he would just lie.
“Not a clue man. I hear we need a change of clothes for after, but I have no idea what this gauntlet is. I’ve been done with my chore list a while now but I wasn’t in any big hurry. The club knows I’m loyal to them and to my Sponsor. Slinger is a great brother and I’m lucky he chose to Sponsor me. His Wife is the best, one day I’ll find one like her for myself and make babies or die trying.” Jace said as he chuckled, sipping on his draft.
The two men sat drinking while Red conducted business. He was slightly long winded when it came to running and owning a bar so they figured ordering lunch was a good idea. Wrangler and Jace both ordered burgers but Jace wanted something with bite too.
“How are the wings? I think I’ll do mine extra hot.”
The pretty Bartender just shook her head. She had seen many a big man cry when eating those. “Okay, I’ll put in the order. But even if you can’t eat ‘em, you still pay.”
That was expected and he had to laugh. Jace loved spicy so he wasn’t worried. When the food came he dove in and they were hot, damn hot. Jace was in his element. The heat in the food was exactly how he liked it and he saw Wrangler and the Bartender watch him in disbelief as he ate wing after wing.
“What’s your name? I’m Wrangler and this is Jace.”
The pretty brunette nodded at both men as she refilled their beers. “Makenna, but most people call me Mack. I’m guessing I’ll be seeing a lot of you boys in here, right? Johnny said Red over there is my new Boss and I’ve been told you guys don’t pay for beer.”
“Bullshit.” Ja
ce said as he finished his last wing. “We pay just like everyone else. Don’t get special treatment just because old Red there bought the place, well him and Ajax.”
“Ajax?” Mack laughed out loud. “Who in the world would call themselves that. I mean is he powdery and in a can.” She was in for a rude awakening when he finally showed his face in here, Jace thought.
Ajax was not what people expected. Actually he was really quiet, he just looked frightening. The head tattoo probably did it, that took balls even Jace didn’t have. “No ma’am, but he does clean up messes you don’t wanna see. Pretty sure nobody wants to see them, including him. He probably won’t be around much, gone and gotten himself a lady and he’s in love. You can’t miss him though, he’s like six feet five and bald with a huge tattoo on his head.”
Mack nodded and went back to work. She had a list for the day, aside from her customers and keeping her new boss happy was top of the list.
Red threw down a quick brew and stole a few fries from Wranglers plate before they left. He did introduce himself to the new Bartender, catching slight wood watching her backside sway as she walked away. Red knew mixing business with pleasure was a bad idea, but this woman gave him some very bad ideas. Ones he hadn’t had in many years. He still had his toy box but it had been locked away for over fifteen years. Mack made him want to open it again, put her over his knee and see just how she liked a little pain.
The ride back to the clubhouse was uneventful and for that Red was thrilled. Shooting and hanging on to the bars was a serious pain in the ass. Not that he hadn’t done it on many occasions, today just wasn’t the day he wanted to do it again.
As they pulled down the gravel road that led to the clubhouse Red got an odd feeling. Someone was watching him and he’d bet dollars to donuts it was Aries. The Bastards had come out of hiding and this was not good, not good at all. If they didn’t find him soon Red had a feeling they’d be sending the women up north to Smoke’s cabin. He had no idea how Ajax would do with Tara so far away. Red had a feeling if it went to that extreme, the Cleaner would be the one making the mess.