Even though nerves began to turn my stomach inside out, I looked forward to meeting the people that had created the man who’d taken over my life so dramatically and so swiftly. I wanted to know more about him, learn more about who he was and what made him who he is today.
“Harmony! Let’s hear more of that cute voice of yours.”
I laughed as the boys threw around random song suggestions and were mortified when I admitted that I didn’t know some of them. Then they proceeded to teach me, the chorus of deep masculine voices breaking through the night.
I stood at the sink of the bathroom which was attached to Kit’s room. It had been a long night and I was ready for bed. Kit had been gone for a couple hours. I hoped he’d be back soon, but I understood that club business meant I probably wouldn’t know when.
I climbed into bed and curled myself into the soft sheets, the smell of him attacking my nose. Although I fought it, the urge to bury my face in his pillow and inhale got the best of me. Kit always smelled amazing. I knew why as I’d found a stack of empty Lynx body spray cans hidden in the cupboard under the sink. The smell was so God damn sexy with a little bit of sweet hidden under a thick masculine scent.
I rolled over and shook my head. I was going crazy. Just a few days ago I’d been angry and upset that he’d forced me out of my comfort zone, my home, and dragged me up here so that he could keep a watchful eye over my every move. And now here I was, sniffing his pillows and pining for the moment he walks back through the door.
Kit had broken down every defense I’d tried to build up. I’d given him attitude and all hell along the way, but he was a man who knew what he wanted, and wasn’t afraid to go after it and hold onto it tight no matter what the cost.
There was a soft knock on the door and I pulled the sheet tighter around me before I called for the person to come in.
Del popped her head around the corner and smiled softly. “Hey, hun.”
“What’s up?”
She walked in and sat at the edge of the bed. “Some of the boys had to shoot out. Something happened with Kit and his group and they have to go down to the police station to sort it out. Wreck called and said Kit just wanted to let you know he was all good and would be home soon.”
“The police station?” I said in shock.
“Don’t worry, it’s not for him,” she said quickly.
I sighed and climbed out of bed. Throwing a pair of jeans on under the oversized T-shirt of Kit’s that I’d stolen, I walked toward the couch in the corner of the room that faced the television. “Guessing you won’t be sleeping until Wreck gets home?” She smiled but shook her head. “You wanna throw a movie on?”
“Yes, that’s an fantastic idea.”
Del and I raided the pantry downstairs before rifling through Kit’s enormous stack of DVDs. We finally pulled out an Adam Sandler movie, opting for something that would make us laugh as we waited for our men to return.
“How did you and Wreck meet?” I enquired as I stuffed my mouth with potato chips.
“In the hospital.”
“He worked in the hospital?” I asked, not able to keep the skepticism out of my voice.
She giggled. “Oh God no. He was my patient. He’d been stabbed.”
“Oh, wow…”
“Yeah. Hardcore for us, but just another day in the life of an outlaw,” she said a little too seriously before slapping a smile back on her face. “He kept trying to get out of bed, adamant that he was all right and needed to get back to the club to help out. I told him to sit his punk ass down before I stabbed him myself. The rest is history.”
I laughed; the picture she painted in my head just so hilarious. Del was sweet and small, at five foot nothing. Wreck, on the other hand, was maybe closer to six-foot-one or six-foot-two. Just the idea of her being able to put the hulking piece of man in his place was hard to comprehend.
“He’s very serious. I get the feeling he doesn’t like me much,” I told her honestly.
She turned her body to me, the movie forgotten for now. “It’s not you, Harmony. Wreck is a hard man to understand. He was burned before and it takes time for those types of wounds to heal.” She lay a soft hand on my shoulder. “Like all of us, he’s had bad experiences. Only he took them to heart and takes a lot longer to warm to people and to trust them if they aren’t his Brothers. Even our relationship was bumpy to begin with, but deep down he is very sweet and very loyal. You’ll see.”
I nodded, hoping that she was right. “Do you still work at the hospital?”
Her smiled beamed, telling me all I needed to know without the words. “Yes, I couldn’t quit if I tried. I love my job so much.”
“Have you ever gotten into trouble, you know, for helping out the boys and stuff when they get hurt?” I remembered reading an article once about a doctor who had been thrown through hell for treating patients outside of a medically licensed premises. It didn’t help that the men he was working for and treating were members of a well-known gang.
“I took an oath when I became a nurse and swore I would help people no matter who they were – gender, age, ethnicity, criminal or no criminal. I live by that. If the boys need help, I’m going to help them. If they wanted to do me for it, they can. But I will continue to help people no matter what.”
“I don’t think I could do it. Blood I could handle, but I’m pretty sure my bedside manner would suck.” I laughed.
“Girl, if you can hang out with the club and deal with these men, working in a hospital and dealing with patients would be a walk in the park.”
The meeting with the devil was enlightening to say the least.
When he told us he was willing to offer up three-mil as a cut of the money he was looking to earn, it told me there was a big player in this game and things were more dangerous than we had initially anticipated. The club wasn’t short of money. With the legal businesses and projects on the side, we all lived very comfortably, well above the average income of a two working parent family. The Brothers all got a cut in profits, more for the senior officers of the club, less for the prospects, but enough that no one struggled.
But three million dollars? That was a shitload of spare cash for someone to just throw around.
“Unlike you, Daniel, I don’t put prices on the heads of the people I care about,” I sneered. “Is that how much your daughter was worth when you sold her? Or did you just take a couple thousand and called it even?”
I watched as his face contorted into an expression of fury and his hands balled into fists on top of the table. “You know nothing of my family,” he ground out tightly as he fought to regain his previously calm composure.
I smirked, knowing I’d hit a nerve. “No, but I’m sure you know a lot about mine and how far I’m willing to go to keep them safe. So, I would suggest you grab your shit and go while I’m still in a good enough mood to let you walk away.” I stepped to the side, my Brothers following suit.
My eyes remained on him, the standoff between us causing the heat and tension in the room to crackle. He sat there for a few moments, the rigidity in his body visibly releasing. He brushed off the thighs of his suit pants and stood, his silent bodyguard following his every movement.
“I’m disappointed that things have gone this way, Mr. Cranshaw. I thought you would be more reasonable than this. Smarter, in fact.” Aiken opened the door and they both stepped through, he turned back to look at me over his shoulder. “I apologize for having to drag you away, I hope you manage to return home soon and your night isn’t dragged out too long.” With that he walked off, his words striking me in the gut. I knew he wasn’t done yet.
“We letting him go, just like that?” Wreck asked, cracking his knuckles.
“This wasn’t the place or time for this to be dealt with using force. We didn’t know how many men he had out there or what they were willing to do to protect their boss. I wasn’t going to risk Missy or her girls finding out.” The boys all nodded, accepting my explanation without question.
“Do the rounds of the place, make sure they’re all out. We’ll keep an eye out for a bit before we head back.”
Rifle stayed beside me as the others went to make a few rounds of Glow. “He’s gonna play dirty, Prez. Men will do all types of crazy shit when there’s that much money at risk.”
“I know.” I nodded. “Get Tally on the phone and tell him to keep a close eye on Harm.”
“Sure.”
With Glow secure, we were ready to head out half an hour later. It was around 3:00 a.m. and I was itching to get home to my girl even though Tally had texted to say he had her locked down and safe. I trusted him to do whatever was necessary to keep her that way.
Just as we all filed out of the club’s entrance the flash of red and blues caused me to cover my eyes. I swore under my breath. “Fucking cunt.”
My Brothers all groaned and I felt them brush against my back as they rounded to stand beside me. We knew there was no reason for the cops to be here unless someone had called them. We also knew exactly who that would have been.
The club had contacts within the police force, but they were purely for information purposes, not for protection from the law. Fortunately, most of them were all right guys and generally didn’t go out of their way to hunt us down. We did a lot of positive work here and in neighboring towns, from charity runs to free security at high profile events.
We stood under the lights of the entrance as four police officers made their way toward us, hands on their weapons. “Evening guys, sorry to disturb your night, but we got an anon call to say there were some rough looking guys fitting your description carrying weapons. We need to check you all.”
My heart began to race. Fuck. My piece was tucked into the waistband of my jeans. Alabama law allowed people to openly carry a handgun unless you’d been convicted of a violent crime, something I had done time for after freshly being patched into the club. I didn’t usually carry a gun on me unless I felt it was necessary, knowing how much trouble I could get in by having one. But as soon as I’d heard the asshole’s name, I automatically picked it up, anger fuelling me.
I wanted to hang my head, knowing that I was about to be cuffed and headed for an extended stay in the big house, but I didn’t. I thrust my chin up and held my arms out. “Have at it.”
The officers went down the line, pulling a gun from each of my Brothers. Most of us had convictions for one thing or another from drugs to traffic violations. As far as I knew I was the only one present who had done time for beating the crap outta some guy and almost killing him. The officers took the weapons and my Brothers’ names. They went back to their cars to check their computers, making sure their rap sheets were clean. Even though most of the officers already knew us by first name and who should or shouldn’t have something on them.
“Kit,” the officer said as he approached me.
“Go ahead.”
He patted me down, starting at the bottom of each leg and working his way up. I held my breath as he reached my waist, feeling around the back of my jeans and the front. When he bypassed it and moved his hands, patting further up my body, I tried to hide my surprise.
My gun wasn’t fucking there. How had I not noticed that it was missing? I’d checked it just moments before we’d walked out the door ready to ride home, making sure the safety was on and it was secure before I got on my bike.
“You’re good.” Even I didn’t miss the way he said the phrase, sounding more like a question than a statement. He was just as surprised as I was.
Aiken stood to my side, the last in the line. My eyes shot up as the kid pulled a gun from the small of his back – my fucking gun and handed it to the officer. “May as well just give you this.”
The officer’s eyes flicked to me, but I didn’t react.
“This gun registered to you?”
Aiken shook his head. “No, sir.”
“You know it’s illegal to carry a gun that isn’t registered to you?”
“Yes, sir.”
He handed the weapon off to another police officer. “You’re gonna have to come down to the station, so we can write this up.”
“Sure.” He followed the policeman to his vehicle.
“Aiken!” he turned to look over his shoulder at me with a grin. I couldn’t help but smile. “Make sure you try get my pop’s gun back, or next time he takes you down to the range to show you how to shoot, you’re gonna be the target.” I tried to give him all the info he would need to make things sound legit. They would ask him who the gun was registered to, and if he couldn’t tell them they might try to do him for theft.
“Sure, Prez.”
“We’ll catch you there, Brother.”
He lifted his chin and climbed in the back of the police car.
The guys got their guns back, all clear, and we watched the cop cars file out of the small lot.
“Why was the kid carrying a gun?” Loose asked, knowing that prospects weren’t allowed to carry weapons unless told specifically to do so by me.
“It’s mine! He fucking slipped it from the back of my pants when we filed out of the place and saw the red and blues. Didn’t even fucking feel it. I was sweating bullets when they came to pat me down.”
The boys all laughed. “Kid has a quick mind and even quicker hands.” Rifle laughed.
“Yeah, to lift that without you noticing. That was fucking ballsy,” Loose commented.
“Lift…I like it. Think he just earned his road name and saved my ass from a long haul in a cell all at once.” I knew Aiken was quick, but not many would have put two and two together and thought that fast.
“Lift it is.” Rifle nodded, the others all grunted in agreement. “Well, let’s go support our boy. Hopefully with a first offense, he’ll get out of it with a fine.”
“Babe.” I squinted through the light, the outline of someone standing over me slowly coming into focus. “Hey.”
Kit brushed my hair away from my face and I cleared my throat. “Hey, you’re back.”
I felt the bed dip behind me and looked over to see Wreck pick up a sleeping Del and give a quick chin lift to his president before exiting the room. Kit walked over and closed the door behind him stripping off his cut, shirt and jeans, leaving him in a sexy pair of boxer briefs that instantly woke my slumbering body.
“Don’t look at me like that with those sexy hooded eyes, I just want to lay down for a little before I have to get up and sort shit for the day.” He climbed in the bed next to me. I rolled, tucking my face into his neck and throwing my arm over his torso.
“What’s the time?” I asked as my eyes drifted closed again.
“‘Bout six.”
“Did you only just get in?”
“Yeah, babe. Had some trouble with the local law.” He chuckled causing my head to bobble on his chest. I leaned over him, propping myself up over his chest.
“I fail to see the hilarity in that situation. Would you like to let me in on this joke?”
He sighed. “Met with Daniel Ashley last night, downtown at one of our strip clubs.”
I shot up. “You what?”
“It’s okay, Harm. We just needed to have words so we both knew where we each stood on the matter.” He touched my arm softly, but I moved away getting off the bed and pacing the room. Just the sound of the guy’s name made my emotions run wild. I was angry and scared all at once.
“So…”
He sat up, shuffling back against the headboard and scrubbing his hand down his face in frustration. “Harmony, I just want to rest for a little bit. I’ve been up all night dealing with this asshole’s bullshit.”
“No. This involves me, Kit. Tell me what happened.” I folded my arms across my chest and stared him down. He had the nerve to smirk at me and I narrowed my eyes even more.
“You look good in my shirt,” he said casually, his eyes studying me.
“Kit.”
He rolled his eyes. “Christ woman, okay.”
Kit explained to me what had happened at th
e strip club. Daniel had offered him money in exchange for me and Kit had refused. I knew he was leaving a lot of the story out. I wanted to hear it all without the baby gloves he was trying to hold me with.
“What are you not telling me?”
“Do you trust me?” he countered. I was surprised for a second and just stood there, not able to form any type of response. He waited for a minute before getting off the bed and walking around to me. “You need to trust me, Harm.”
“I’m trying.”
“Then try harder,” he groaned, obviously frustrated. “I’m putting my ass out on the line, my club’s ass—”
I pushed him out of my space. “I never asked you to. You claimed me, remember!”
He scoffed. “Yeah, I fucking remember. Because you’ve given me hell for it since the moment I did.”
I glared at him. “I didn’t fucking ask for this, Kit.”
“No, but if you can’t have faith in me to keep you safe –”
“I did, twice. And look what happened!” I pointed to my shoulder, knowing that I was rubbing in his face his failure, but the words just flowed out like a waterfall, my brain refusing to filter it.
He sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled at his hair. “Go on, Harmony, tell me how you really feel.”
“Maybe I should just go. Then you and your club won’t have to deal with my problems.” I turned to walk away, but a rough hand gripped my wrist tightly.
“I’m sorry about the way that came out. It sounded like it was a problem having you here and trying to keep you safe from these guys. That’s not what I meant.” He pulled on my arm so I had to turn to him and hauled me between his legs. His hands hooked around the back of my naked thighs causing my body to tingle. “The thought of them getting their hands on you does crazy shit to my head. It makes me wanna vomit and it makes me want to beat some fucker’s head in.”
I sunk into his touch. “I’m scared, Kit. He sounded serious and he has no qualms about resorting to violence.”
Harmony (The Club Girl Diaries Book 1) Page 14