“It’s not that simple, Bryce.” I ground my teeth at the use of my real name, something no one but the bank, the taxman, and my father had called me in years. “Like I said, word out there is that Chelsea has a hit on her head. So if you aren’t working with them, what the hell have you done to piss them off?”
I shrugged and held my hands out to the side. “People just seem to not like me. I’m not sure why. I can be a pretty nice guy when you’re on my good side.”
“This is the only warning you’ll get,” he said as he walked around the table and headed for the front door. “If I find her alone, I’ll take her in, and trust me when I say I’ll put her so far into protective custody, you will never find her.” He twisted the door handle and pulled it open.
“Cop,” he didn’t turn to face me, but he stopped. “This is my warning. You try to take her from me and I’ll kill you.”
“Threats don’t go down well with law enforcement.”
“Just a fair warning.”
He didn’t answer but pulled the door closed behind him. As soon as I heard his car pull away from the apartment, I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and dialed.
Wrench answered after the first ring. “Yo!”
“I need you to get to Chelsea and Rose’s place ASAP. The place needs an exterminator. Get rid of any bugs you can find,” I told him.
The bastard had had a good few minutes to plant something, and I knew for a fact that he had been there before.
Not that Chelsea would be coming back here.
I was done.
Hearing that the front of her work had been shot up, and not knowing whether she was dead or alive, it was like the reality check of the century. No matter what I did, the only way to make sure she was safe was to have her with me. The one thing I should have just seen in the first place.
It didn’t matter if she was at the club or fucking in China, we still had a connection and killing her would fucking destroy me.
I was stupid to think that my enemies didn’t already know that, and that I was fooling them by pushing her away. The only person I was fooling was myself.
And that ended now.
Just as I parked my bike next to the clubhouse and sat my helmet on the seat, Blizzard came storming out the patio doors, looking like he was ready to murder.
“Where you going?” I asked as he stomped to me.
“Bitch won’t fucking listen.”
I frowned. “Chelsea?”
He whipped his helmet onto his head angrily. “No, her fucking friend.”
I had to laugh, Chelsea’s friend Rose had Blizzard all kinds of twisted up ever since he’d dropped her off home from the club that night. “You going to bring her in?”
“If they know where Chel works, they’re gonna know where she lives.” He mounted his bike and kicked up the stand. “Stupid woman is going to get herself killed by staying there.”
I nodded in agreement. “Bring her in, but she’s staying with you.”
He just glared at me silently as he started his bike. I laughed as I watched him take off out the gates, his back end sliding out as he took the corner and nearly running one of the prospects over in the process.
The main room was filled with my brothers when I returned, many welcoming Chelsea back with open arms. I stood to the side and watched as both my brothers and the club girls showed her how much she’d been missed. I gave them all a moment before I banged my fist loudly on the nearest table, gaining everyone's attention. I needed them all to hear what I was about to say.
“I want you all to listen very carefully,” I thundered across the room, but my eyes were only for Chelsea as I spoke. I pointed at her and her eyes widened. “That woman there … she’s mine. Should’ve done this a long time ago, but I guess I’m a fucking idiot. So now you all know, I’m putting my claim on her, so all you fuckers better treat her with the respect an Old Lady deserves.”
I scanned the room, making sure everyone of them got what I was saying. There were no surprised or shocked faces, just smiles—all except one.
My gaze finally landed back on Chelsea, who stood still and quiet. I thought for a second I’d have to chase her, that she was going to run. But I guess my girl finally got it.
She started walking toward me, quick steps which soon turned into a run as she leaped straight into my arms, our mouths connecting like they were pulled together by a magnet. My hands found her ass and her legs wrapped tightly around my hips.
It was a moment I never wanted to end, finally having her completely. She pulled back but quickly tucked her head into my neck.
“Take me to your room,” I heard her whisper softly.
I ignored the cheers and hoots as I carried her out and up the stairs to my bedroom—our fucking bedroom. I wasn’t even in the door before she reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. I growled, pressing my hips against her as I stepped inside and kicked the door shut with my foot. I launched her at the bed and she landed with a bounce. She quickly leaned forward and reached for my belt, but I grabbed her hand. She looked up at me curiously.
“Wait,” I said softly.
“I don’t want to wait, I want you,” she said impatiently, her other hand reaching out for me. I grabbed that too and pulled her off the bed so she was standing in front of me.
I clasped both her hands in mine and held them captive. “I said wait.”
She looked up at me, her head tilted to the side in curiosity. I cleared my throat. I wasn’t even sure of what I wanted to say, so I stopped thinking and just let the words fall. “I’m sorry. I was fucking stupid to think that I could push you away and that would fix all our problems. That cop was right, if he hadn’t been there looking out for you, I could have lost you. All because I was too stubborn to see my mistakes.” I shook my head, trying to clear out all the noise. “I sent Sugar and Harlyn away and they stayed safe. I thought that by doing the same thing...never mind. It was a mistake. One I’m trying to make right now.”
Her eyes began to sparkle and I groaned. “I’m trying to make it right and you’re crying.”
A soft giggle escaped her lips. “You’ve made it so much better than right, Op. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll probably bring this up later down the track, just to keep you humble—it’s what women do. But I’m here now, with you. That’s all that matters.”
I released her hands and pushed my fingers through her hair. “Fuck! What the hell was I thinking before?”
“There’s one thing you could do for me,” she said daintily, looking up at me through those beautiful long lashes.
“Name it, it’s fucking yours.” I was determined to make this woman happy, no matter what the cost.
“Fuck me.” I watched her lips move and form the words and fuck if it wasn’t the sexiest thing I’d ever seen.
“Fuck yeah, baby.”
“Where are we going?” I grumbled as Optimus pulled me down the hallway.
“Church.”
I signed. “So why couldn’t I just lay in bed and wait for you?”
“Because today, you’re joining me.”
I dug my heels in, pulling him to a stop. “You’re what now? Is that even allowed?”
“News flash, Blackbird. I’m the fucking president. And I say for today, it’s allowed.” He rolled his eyes as I continued to stare at him. Women weren’t allowed in church—ever. “We’re gonna be fucking late.”
I let him continue to drag me down the hall, through the main room and inside the double doors that contained the room where they held their meetings. All the patched brothers were there. They all looked at me, but none of them seemed surprised. I assumed Optimus had already run this by them. Optimus sat at the head of the table in a large king’s chair, pulling me into his lap and adjusting me till I was comfortable before he banged the gavel on the large wooden table.
His voice boomed in the small room. “Obviously, shit has gone down and we need to start catching up because we’re missing someth
ing fucking huge here.” I was always captivated by the way that Optimus held himself in front of his brothers. The way they looked at him like a king. He was their leader and every single one of these men respected that. “Blizzard, you want to start?”
Blizzard nodded. “So our boy from the gym is a part of the DEA. Says he’s been following the DePalma’s which lead him here to us.”
The room grumbled, the obvious distaste for a member of law enforcement apparent.
“So now we have not just the Mafia on our ass but the cops too?” Slider groaned.
“There’s more to it than that,” I felt myself say before covering my mouth. I didn’t know what the protocol was for me being allowed to speak. I shot Op an apologetic look, but he just stared at me curiously.
“What do you mean?”
“He’s claiming he knew my parents,” I said quietly, ignoring the murmurs from the room and keeping my eyes connected with my man.
“How?” Blizzard asked from just to Op’s left. He leaned forward, eager to hear my explanation.
I told them what he’d said, about how he told me my father was a member of the DEA, about the club being responsible for my parents’ death.
“Not possible,” Wrench said immediately when I’d finished. The other members all nodded. I knew these men. I had no doubt that they were not directly responsible. But the thought had occurred to me that he hadn’t meant this club, in particular, but rather another chapter.
“How exactly did he think he knew this? If they had any sort of proof, someone would have been arrested for it a long time ago,” Blizzard stated, opening the folder that he had sitting in front of him and flipping through the pages.
I shrugged. “He said the evidence didn’t lie.”
The room chuckled.
“I love how they say that, like they haven’t ever planted shit themselves in order to bring some big criminal down,” Leo said, shaking his head with a smile.
“Always thought this was strange,” Blizzard muttered as he pulled a single page and placed it on the table. “Your parents’ names were never listed on your foster records. All it said was that your mom and dad were deceased. Chelsea Weston, five-years-old, no known address, no other family. Nothing came up when we tried to look up your parents. It’s like they didn’t exist.”
“My parents weren’t married.”
Blizzard frowned. “They weren’t married?”
I shook my head. “I have my mom’s name. Not my dad’s. I remember asking why, they said it sounded prettier. I was happy, that was good enough for me.”
“Fuck me, it’s true,” Op muttered.
Wrench started tapping away at his computer. “You remember your dad’s name?” he asked as he continued to type.
“David. I don’t know his last name. Or I don’t remember them telling me.” I sighed and Optimus squeezed me a little tighter. It had been a long time since I’d had to have such an in-depth conversation about my parents. My chest was beginning to ache.
“David Blackwell, DEA-deceased 1998.” My hand went straight to my mouth as I listened to Wrench read aloud his search findings. “Nothing saying he has a daughter.”
“It wouldn’t,” Blizzard said looking over at me. “They hid her, so whoever killed the parents wouldn’t be able to find her.”
I stared at him in shock, my mind struggling to find a way around what I was hearing. “You mean to tell me, there were possibly people out there, people who could have taken me in and cared about me? But the fucking government decided to put me into the system just so they could hide me?”
“It was a smart choice really,” Leo said, looking at me with sad eyes. “Kids get lost in the system. Shuttled from foster home to foster home. They go missing? Nobody cares.”
“What the fuck happened to shit like witness protection?” I was angry, I wanted to yell and scream. What if there are people out there? Family, friends, people that could have raised me. But instead, they threw me into the system, hoping for the best but expecting the worst—the worst being that I would just disappear.
“What I want to know is why they think it was the MC? What do they have that constitutes evidence, but that isn’t enough to bring the club down?” Wrench asked curiously as he seemed to get lost in his computer screen, his fingers flying over the keyboard.
I curled in closer to Optimus and he tucked his face into my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Blackbird.”
“Think they’re setting us up?” Slide asked curiously.
“Definite possibility,” Blizzard agreed. “But who? The DEA or whoever killed them?”
Optimus cleared his throat. “Leo, give Kit a call and see if you can talk to Oz. See if he knows anything about a hit on a DEA agent, and whether anyone was locked up that year? Anything that might be helpful. If anyone is gonna, know it’s gonna be him. The old bastard is like a fucking elephant, he never forgets.”
Leo nodded, pulling out his phone as he exited the room.
“Let’s take a break, try to gather some more info before we sit down again and hash it out.” Optimus banged his gavel on the table and tapped me on the butt twice, telling me he wanted me to stand.
The boys all dispersed, but Blizzard followed us as Op took my hand and led me toward the dining room. We filled our plates with breakfast and took a seat at a table.
“What’s your view man? To me, this is one big clusterfuck.” Optimus asked Blizz as he took a seat next to us.
I tried to concentrate on my food and getting something in my stomach. But with all this information swirling around in my head I was finding it hard to force anything down.
Blizzard stabbed at his food. “It’s gotta be the DEA, I don’t know how else to explain it. How else would someone be able to edit court documents and prison details then wipe them like that? It doesn’t make sense.”
“The cop said he was here following the DePalma’s. But did he already know this is where Chelsea was or was it just a coincidence?”
“My head hurts,” I mumbled around a mouthful of food that I was struggling to swallow.
Op’s eyes softened as he looked at me. “I’m sorry, baby. But we need to sort this out and fast.”
I sighed, leaning my head on his shoulder. “I know. It’s just a lot to take in. I’ve been disconnected from my parents since I was five. Nobody knew them. Nobody talked about them. And now all of a sudden people are here, telling me things I didn’t even know about them.” I shuddered. “It’s weird.”
“We can talk about it later when the boys have done some digging and we have a better picture.” He wrapped his arm around me and tucked me into his side. I felt safe there. He looked over my head to Blizzard. “Didn’t you go out last night to pick up Rose? Where’s she at?”
Blizzard shook his head and shoveled some eggs into his mouth before he talked. “Tried to find her, but think she’s hiding from me. Called her and she said she was fine, that she was staying with her family. That’s all I got and she hung up.”
I instantly stiffened. I didn’t like the idea of her being around her dad. Although, I still had yet to meet the man, he sounded like a complete fucking asshole.
Op squeezed me. “What’s wrong? You think she’s in trouble?”
Blizzard was instantly alert, his food forgotten.
“I just don’t like her dad.”
“Why?” both the boys asked curiously.
I shifted uncomfortably. I promised Rose I wouldn’t tell anyone what was going on with her family and her dad. But we could protect her, the club could look out for her and help her.
“Her father is a little...strict,” I said, trying to find the right words so it wouldn’t send Blizzard off the deep end.
“Chelsea,” he growled, his eyebrows pulling together in the middle. “What does that mean?”
I chewed on my lip. “He wants her to excel. Maybe expects a little too much from her and can get a little heavy handed.”
I cringed, burying myself deeper into Op’s ar
ms as Blizzard’s usually cool demeanor turned straight up angry. “He’s hitting her?”
“Sometimes I think, yes. Other times he gets more creative.” I screwed my nose up as I remembered seeing her hand all blistered and burnt.
“The hospital?”
I nodded. “He forced her hand onto the element.”
“Motherfucker!” He slammed his hands on the table, causing all our plates to jump and cutlery to scatter. “Why didn’t you fucking say something?”
“Calm down, brother,” Optimus growled.
“Because I promised I wouldn’t. I told her I would help her when the time came, but she’s gotta make that choice herself,” I told him sadly. I felt horrible. But I knew if I’d tried to take her away or get the club involved she would have just stepped back and started hiding things from me and I would never have been able to help her.
Blizzard pushed himself back from the table. “I gotta find her.”
“Blizzard, please. Just let her be! I’ll give her a ring later and check on her,” I pleaded with him, hoping he wouldn’t interfere. Not knowing what her dad would do to her if he did. His fists tightened before he let out a harsh grunt and stormed off.
Op gave me a squeeze. “So I guess he likes her, huh?”
I had to smile. Blizzard was a good guy, a bit of a manwhore, but a good guy. Maybe this was his changing moment. “I guess he does.”
“I’m going to help with the washing up,” I told Op, attempting to untangle myself from his arms but he continued to hold onto my tightly.
“The term ‘Old Lady’ mean anything to you?”
I smiled. “I’m not sure, could you use it in a sentence, please?”
“You don’t have to wash up because you’re an Old Lady,” he said sarcastically.
“You know, some might find that sentence offensive.” I felt a sharp pinch on my ass cheek and I jumped up. “Ow!”
I glared down at him, but he just grinned. “That’s what you get for being a smart-ass.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “How about this for a sentence. Now I’m your Old Lady I ain’t afraid to smack you in front of your brothers.”
Chelsea (The Club Girl Diaries Book 2) Page 21