by Jenika Snow
“What in the hell are you doing here?” She leaned against the frame, her willowy frame doing nothing now but making his balls crawl into his body.
“Who is it, Sarah?”
Her douche ass boyfriend called out, and it took everything in Kink not to holler out for the fucker to come out and start shit with him in person.
“Dale, just go back to watching your show.” She stared at him with this fucked-up look on her face. “Seriously, you know you can’t just come all up in here without talking to me first. I should call my attorney and let him know the stunt you’re pulling.” She smiled smugly. “Guarantee that will ensure me moving to California is in the best interest for Callie.”
He breathed in and then breathed out, reining in his anger and annoyance for the mother of his kid. “Yes, Sarah, I should have called first,” he gritted out, “but you and me both know you wouldn’t have answered. I needed to talk to you, to try and work this out.”
She didn’t respond.
“Waiting those few months for Callie to turn eighteen isn’t going to fuck with your goddamn happiness. What you are doing is selfish.” Kink was not the type of man to work out his problems with conversation. He took what he wanted when he wanted, and didn’t give two shits about the outcome as long as it was in his favor or in the favor of the MC.
“Listen, when she turns eighteen she can do whatever the hell she wants to do. Hell, good riddance. If she wants to talk to a judge after I get the all clear to go,” she shrugged, “she can do that, too. It’ll take her a long time to speak to someone in River Run about getting emancipated if that’s what she wants. I’m not an expert in the legal system, but I know the rules of this town and what my lawyer drafted up during the custody hearing, and what you signed.” She gripped the door, intent on shutting it. “That’s it, Kink, okay?”
“Dad?”
He glanced over Sarah’s shoulder and saw Callie standing at the top of the stairs. She looked worried, and he hated that she was feeling that way over all this shit going on. “It’s all right, baby.”
She made her way downstairs, and he felt his anger fade—slightly. When Sarah stepped in front of his vision of Callie he glowered at her and forced himself, once again because she knew how to fucking push his buttons, to remain calm. “Clearly this isn’t going to work out, Sarah, but I told you on the phone once that you’re not talking my fucking kid. I’ll be contacting my lawyer as well.” He didn’t know shit about legal standings, but he had a feeling she was blowing smoke up his ass. No way in hell did she get all of this approved right from under him, and in such a short time. He also had this sick feeling that she assumed he’d roll over and do what she said so not to rock the boat, but she clearly didn’t know him very well. He noticed the way her smug expression morphed marginally to annoyance and then worry. Yeah, the bitch was crazy, and he’d bet his left nut that her real plans were to hightail it out of her with her POS boyfriend right from under his nose.
“You want your daughter to go through the trauma of a court hearing, of having to talk to a judge and all that?” She was grasping at straws, that much was clear.
“Using guilt to make me back down isn’t going to work. I didn’t get a notification from my lawyer about any of this shit, but clearly trying to work this out with you on an adult level isn’t going to work. I’m not a genius in law, Sarah, but I know enough that you can’t just up and move to another state.” He had been so livid after talking to her earlier in the week that all he could think of was trying and talking to her about it all. And then when he cooled off enough that he realized that none of this even sounded right, and that she might make a run for it—even if it was illegal on so many levels—pissed him off even more. Douche-bag came out from the living room, looking good and drunk with a beer in hand and smelling like he hadn’t showered in a week. Kink curled his lip in disgust.
“Hey, get the fuck off my doorstep, asshole.”
Kink turned and looked at the fucker that was half his size and sporting a beer gut. “You better shut your old man up, Sarah.” He spoke to her but kept his gaze trained on her boyfriend.
“Dale has every right to be here. Once we get married he’ll be Callie’s stepfather.”
“Oh hell no,” Callie said from the stairs.
Yup, she was his daughter all right. That had him grinning.
“Callie, shut up and let the grown-ups talk.”
Fuck. No. “Callie, baby girl, head up on stairs, please.” He kept his voice low and his focus trained on Dale. He saw Callie head back upstairs through the corner of his eye, and once she was gone he reached out and gripped Dale’s collar. Lifting him easily off the ground Kink yanked him closer until they were nose to nose. “You ever talk to my daughter that way again and I’ll rip your motherfucking balls off and roast them on my grill.”
“Kink, get out of here before I call the cops,” Sarah said in a slightly wavering, but still high pitched voice.
Kink stared at Dale right in the eyes for a few more seconds, and then tossed him aside as if he were a bag of potatoes. “You don’t want to fuck with me, Sarah, because I will bring the wrath of The Brothers of Menace down on your ass.” With that he turned and stormed back to his bike. Once on it with his helmet on his head, he glanced up at one of the second floor windows. He saw Callie standing there, and it broke his damn heart having to leave her. She blew him a kiss goodbye, and after a lift of his hand to tell her he was leaving, he cranked the engine and pulled out of the driveway. He was even more feral then he had been when all this shit started. What he needed was a good, hard drink, maybe a fight, and a fierce hard fuck to get his mind off of the shit-storm that was currently his life.
An hour later and he was at the bar, good and drunk, and playing darts with Rock. The other biker had already been at the local Brothers bar in River Run. Kink threw back another shot, but there was no burn from the harsh, but smooth flow of the alcohol. His throat was numb, his vision was blurry, and he was wearing a thick frame of beer goggles.
He turned toward the bar and slammed the shot glass on the counter. “Another shot of Jack.”
“Kink, dude, how about we call it a night, or at least go back to the club and drink there?” Rock said right behind him.
He turned only his head and glanced at the other Brother. “Why, because I’m kicking your ass at darts?” He cocked a brow, knowing that he had slurred those words out, but wanting to be so drunk that he couldn’t even walk let alone speak.
“In your dreams, asshole,” Rock said through a grin. “But you’re drunker than piss right now, and I know how this will end if you keep slugging them shots back.” When Kink didn’t respond, just stared at Rock, the other man continued. “You’re going to get in a fight and fuck someone up, the cops will be called, and then I’ll have to bail your ass out of jail.”
Kink shook his head and snorted at that thought. “Yeah, that will probably be the outcome tonight.”
“Hey, baby.”
He turned to his right and saw one of the bar flies that frequented this place regularly.
“You wanna take me home tonight?”
She had been rubbing up on him for the last hour, but he hadn’t nearly been drunk enough to take her slutty ass home. Now though? Now he was good and wasted and she looked like she could handle one hell of a pounding. The bartender set another shot down in front of him, and he glanced at Rock, who still stood toward his left. But Rock wasn’t bitching about him drinking and starting a fight, and instead was busy picking up the young waitress. Kink grabbed his shot and tossed it back, and when he slammed the glass on the counter for a second time the skank rubbed her tits up against the side of his arm.
“Come on, Shuga, take me back to your place and show me how a real man fucks his woman.”
He pushed her away enough that he could turn and stare at her face on. “You’re not my woman.” He continued to stare at her. The make-up she had one was thick and looked suffocating, and her fake ass eyela
shes made her look like she should be standing on the corner of Colfax. But she had a good body, didn’t smell like booze or stale cigarettes like the rest of the women at the bar did, and he needed to fuck tonight. “You’re just a body I’m going to use to get off tonight.” He wanted her to know exactly what this was between them, and make no mistake that there would be anything more than a few hours of hot, sweaty sex involved. She was silent for several seconds, and he could see the sliver of her anger at his coarseness, but he knew she would still go home with him. She was the type of woman that was desperate for attention, and he was willing to give her that attention, but only on his terms.
“Whatever you need, baby.” She lifted her arm and ran her hand over his cut.
He grabbed her wrist in a loose, but secure hold. “Don’t fucking touch the leather.”
She took her hand from his hold and cradled it to her chest. He knew he hadn’t hurt her, and if she wasn’t used to his type of breed of male than she could turn her ass around and find a pansy ass drunk that was loitering around. They stared at each other for several seconds, and then she plastered on a smile he was sure got her a lot of shit from these lowlifes that surrounded them.
“I’m ready when you are.”
It would take him a minute to get hard once he had her back at his place, thanks to the alcohol and the fact she was a butterface, but he’d deal with it. Right now he just needed to lose himself in a warm, female body, and forget about all the negative shit surrounding his life.
Chapter Ten
Malice sat around the meeting table of The Brothers of Menace. All of the members were in attendance: Lucien their President, Kink the VP, Tuck, Ruin, and Rock. Malice had gotten back five hours ago. It was the middle of the day, but Adrianna and the women were still sleeping. They needed that rest though after the last day and a half of fucked-up shit that had happened. Ruin and Rock looked worse for wear, and Malice knew he probably looked the same way. He hadn’t gotten more than a few hours of sleep before he was wide awake and staring at the ceiling thinking about Adrianna and the feel of her lips on his, and then having this meeting with the club. He wanted to get this meeting over with anyway. Lucien might have known he was bringing Adrianna with him, knew about the shooting and Phillip getting it, but that didn’t mean the President was good with it all. For one thing this brought a lot of attention to the club, and not in a good way. They wanted to be on the down low, and having this shit that had made the papers in Utah was not the kind of attention they needed. They already had a bad reputation as it was. This might have all happened because he brought Adrianna into the club, but he wouldn’t have changed it, and he’d deal with the repercussions.
“Okay, so we know why you brought her back to Fairview’s clubhouse, but tell me again why you brought her here.” Lucien leaned back in his leather chair, and it creaked from his weight. The silence that filled the room was because everyone was focused right on Malice, waiting to see why he had acted so out of character.
He took on the same relaxed position as Lucien. “I’ve told you I couldn’t leave her there with all that shit that happened with her ex, and sending her on her way was not something I felt comfortable with.”
Lucien nodded. “I know, but that is not what I meant. You have never given two shits about what happens to a woman once you’ve had her.”
“I didn’t have her.” He growled out at his president, not meaning to show disrespect, but no one was going to imply Adrianna was something she wasn’t. “I just feel protective of her.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t really answer what I was asking.”
Yeah, Malice fucking knew that. “Because leaving a hurt woman like that isn’t my style. And last I checked it isn’t The Brothers’ style either. We save women when it calls for it. We aren’t bastards all the time.” He had no issues beating the shit out of a man for club business or out of retaliation, just like he had done with Phillip, but Malice also didn’t tell Lucien that he cared for Adrianna more than he probably should. He stared at the president, and the expression on his face told Malice that Lucien was holding onto his own irritation and anger over the situation.
“You want to fuck her or something? Even beat up she’s a hot piece of ass,” Kink said.
Kink might be the VP of the club, but that didn’t stop Malice from turning a nasty glare his way.
“You better watch your fucking mouth, Kink.”
There was a stoic expression on the other man’s face. He looked hung-over, as did the rest of the members that hadn’t gone on the run, but Kink looked a little darker than normal, and it was clear the member had some shit he was dealing with. But Malice didn’t care because they were all dealing with their own problems, and just because they were in a bad place didn’t mean that kind of shit needed to be said.
Kink’s short brown hair was in his ever-present faux hawk, and there were dark circles under his light blue eyes. Malice could also see the tattoos that covered his chest and neck as they moved out from the collar of his shirt.
“Damn, testy much?” Kink asked with a smart assed smirk covering his face.
“Yeah, when you are clearly running your mouth on things you know nothing about.” Malice growled out the words, and the sound of the other members shifting in their seats as the tension increased filled the air around him.
“All right, that’s enough, Kink and Malice,” Lucien said in his booming voice. He leaned forward and folded his hands together on the tabletop. The members of The Brothers of Menace ranged in age from forty to fifty, and although Lucien was only forty-two years old the weight of being a MC President clearly showed on his face. He was tired, but then again they all were.
“All I’m saying is that Malice should tell it like it is, and not try and justify his real intentions with a bullshit excuse,” Kink said, clearly ignoring his and Lucien’s warning that he needed to shit the fuck up.
“Christ, Kink, just shut the hell up,” Lucie roared out. “We are all going through our own shit right now.”
For several seconds no one said anything, but Malice did look around the table at each member. There was clear curiosity in their expressions over what Kink had said, but he couldn’t blame them. Aside from Molly he didn’t bother with feelings and emotions, and sure as fuck didn’t bring women back to the club. He knew he was throwing off some proprietary vibes, but he didn’t give a shit.
“I wasn’t about to leave her there bloody and beaten, and passed the fuck out, and besides, I feel something more for her, and I’m not going to let that just go.”
“Okay, good, now we are getting somewhere. Besides, I wouldn’t have wanted you to do a fucked up thing like leave her behind either,” Lucien said.
“I took her back to Marx’s place, and their doc checked her out.” He heard Marx’s words play through his head again—even if he had been busting balls—it still pissed Malice the fuck off. “I had every intention of letting her go on her way the next morning, but I ran into the guy who used her as a human punching bag.” This was all being repeated for the rest of the members because Lucien knew all of this already. “And then you know the rest about the fucking fanatics, and that motherfucker getting hit by the car.” Malice glanced at Kink, and although he didn’t have any problems with any of the other members, he was still fuming over the comments the VP had made.
“Finish, Malice.” Clearly Lucien could see that he was on the edge.
“She has no one, and was planning on leaving Fairview with a couple hundred dollars, but I feel very protective of her, like I said, and I wanted her hear at the safety of the club.” He was staring at the President again. There was more silence, a few clearings of throats, and Malice knew he was starting to show his anger and emotions for this girl.
“And so you thought it was good to bring her to the clubhouse when she is an outsider and not your old lady?” Again, Kink was the one to speak.
“What the fuck difference does it make? We helped out the prostitutes in Denve
r, even fucking bought the cabin for them so they could heal. I didn’t think we were a bunch of lowlife bikers like everyone in town claims we are, but maybe one of us is.” He clenched his jaw and curled his hands into fists. Malice got along with everyone, but he was on edge over this whole Adrianna situation, and things hadn’t worked out any better when Kink thought it was cool to run his fucking mouth. But now both of their testosterone and rage were rising, and he knew that things would get really ugly and fast if this kept up.
“What the fuck is up with you anyway? You’ve had a stick up your ass since you got back,” Kink growled out.
“What the fuck is my problem?” Malice slowly shook his head and felt his blood start to boil.
“Yeah. All I asked was if you wanted to fuck her, and you freaked out. Maybe you’re pissed because she doesn’t want to fuck you.”
Malice stood so fast his chair skidded back and slammed into the wall. Kink stayed in his seat, looking unaffected although Malice could see the other man was tense all over.
“Sit down, Malice,” Kink gritted out. “You don’t want to do this when clearly your head is all messed up.”
Malice opened his mouth, but Lucien slammed his fist on the table.
“Malice, sit the fuck down. Kink, shut the fuck up.”
It took Malice a minute, but he finally sat down and reined in his temper. Shit, he was losing it and with one of his brothers. He ran a hand over his face, felt the trimmed hair of his bead scrape along his palm, and sighed. He needed a drink, and maybe a joint, but first he’d get this shit straightened out.
“Calm the fuck down, and just tell me what your plan is with this woman,” Lucien gritted out, and it was clear he was trying to calm himself down. “If you want her for your old lady then you better own up to that shit right here, right now.”