Meyah (The Club Girl Diaries Book 9)

by Addison Jane

  And me?

  The club was my life, but so was Meyah. I was being pulled in two different directions, and either way I chose was going to hurt. Meyah and I needed to have a long, in-depth talk about what we were going to do. And we would, but first, I had something that I needed to do.

  “You sure you want to do this?” Romeo asked as we pulled up outside the Exiled Eight clubhouse. The man standing at the entrance speaking into his phone, glaring at us through the windshield.

  “Do I really want to walk in there and possibly not be able to walk out? That would be a no,” I scoffed at my brother’s idiotic question. “But you really think Huntsman’s ever going to be okay with me having his daughter as my Old Lady if I’m not man enough to show up here and give him the courtesy of letting him know how much she means to me?”

  Romeo gripped the steering wheel in his hand, twisting it as he ground his teeth together. “I don’t know if you were present at the clusterfuck yesterday, but he didn’t exactly look like he was about to give you two his blessing.”

  “Then I’ve got nothing to fucking loose, do I?” I threw back as the guard stepped aside and the gates began to roll open.

  “Only a few limbs…”

  The Exiled Eight clubhouse was huge, easily bigger than ours back home. It was an old factory by the looks, real old. Made of brick but looked like it had been well looked after or at least renovated well. A line of motorcycles sparkled outside the building, feeling kind of like home, but at the same time, reminding me these guys were outlaws.

  They weren’t just going to let me walk in there and be like, ‘hey, I’m gonna keep Meyah, is that cool?’ No, they could quite possibly be like ‘um… no you’re not.’ Then shoot me and bury me in concrete.

  There were two large roller doors that were open that, back in the day, would have been used for trucks to drive in and load, then drive out the other side.

  As Romeo pulled up just short of the row of bikes, Huntsman and three of his men walked out, looking like they definitely were looking for a fight.

  “You didn’t have to come with me,” I told Romeo as he turned off the engine.

  He turned to face me, a dark smirk on his face. “You think I’m scared of Huntsman?”

  Of course, he wasn’t.

  Romeo had a dark past that could rival Huntsman’s any day. I had heard rumors about the MC President. What he was capable of. What he’d done time for. I knew there were rumors out there about Romeo too.

  It was obvious in the way that Isiah—the devious bastard with no fucking morals—treated him like he was a long-lost friend.

  If you wanted someone at your back in Las Vegas, it was Romeo.

  It was just unfortunate that this was something—a message I guess you could say, that I didn’t want to be diluted by his presence. I needed Huntsman to know that Meyah was mine, no matter fucking what. And not just that, but if he decided to walk away from her because of me, and because of her connection with the Brothers by Blood, he was a fucking idiot.

  How that was going to go down? I was pretty confident it wasn’t going to be received well.

  Romeo and I both climbed out of the car and walked around to the front to meet Huntsman and his men. One of them I recognized as Ripley—Meyah’s brother.

  “You got some mighty big balls walking in here, kid,” Huntsman announced, looking me up and down. His lip curling in anger when he realized I was wearing my cut. “I ought to burn that shit you have on your back for coming in here with another club’s colors on.”

  “You’d have to kill me first,” I threw back, standing taller, not willing to back down or be made to feel ashamed of my brotherhood. Yeah, coming here I knew it would be a slap in his face, but at this stage, I felt like maybe that was what he needed.

  Huntsman took another step forward, challenging me. “You best turn around and get the fuck out of here before I take you up on that offer.”

  I mirrored him, stepping forward. “I got something to say first.”

  Huntsman chuckled, opening his arms wide. “Well, I am a man who believes in letting a dying man have his last words before I cut them from his throat.” The way his eyes shone didn’t match the jovial tone in his voice, telling me there was probably some truth to his statement. It was hard for me to doubt it when I saw the tattoos that ran up and down his arms, added to the info that Romeo had given me about Huntsman’s past.

  He was a Navy SEAL.

  But not always.

  He had his own missions, ones he was sent on alone, with no backup, and nothing other than a target. He was a hunter. There was no escaping him, there was no hiding from him. And it seemed like I’d just put myself in the crosshairs.

  “Meyah is worth more than you turning your fucking back on her,” I told him clearly, just laying it all out there. If I was going to make an impression, there was no fucking pulling the punches.

  He flinched.

  This man who was larger than life, and who looked like nothing could ever rattle him, visibly flinched. Telling me that with Meyah, I’d hit a nerve.

  “None of your fucking business,” he hissed, pointing at me and narrowing his eyes. “Now get the fuck off my land before I keep good on my word to burn those colors. Or maybe, I’ll just throw your entire body on the fire for good measure.”

  He turned to walk away, dismissed me like I was nothing, but fuck that.

  “She draws,” I called, catching him before he got more than two steps. The men around him not saying anything, just watching things play out. Romeo stood back, leaning against the bonnet of the SUV, but his body was tight, ready to jump in if need be. “She sketches. She’s fucking good at it, too. It helps her to keep calm. Gives her something to focus on. Gave her something to get excited about when her mom practically wrapped her in cotton wool.”

  That got his attention.

  He rolled his shoulders and turned back to face me.

  “You know… Meyah hasn’t always been this girl? She hasn’t always had the strength to voice how she feels. She hasn’t always had that smart fucking mouth. Her confidence was less than zero.” I just kept talking. I wanted him to know where she’d come from and how far she’d come. This wasn’t about me having her as my Old Lady. This was about her.

  “She was teased at school. Tormented by this rich kid. Made to feel worthless.” My words were harsh, and with each one, I could feel myself getting more and more agitated. “She didn’t have a lot of friends. She was raised to hide from her problems. To walk away. Not to make waves. Not to draw attention to herself. She wasn’t allowed to play sports, or go to parties, or anything else that even had the possibility of her twisting an ankle or skinning an elbow.”

  I saw Ripley squeeze his fists and look over at his father. He cared. I could see it in his eyes, the way he hated hearing me talk about the way she was treated, or how she was confined into this bubble that her mom had created for her out of fear. That, at least, would be worth this bullshit if Huntsman did decide to burn me alive.

  “And let me guess, she met you, and suddenly she found this amazing strength,” Huntsman fired back. “That you two have some fucking amazing bond.”

  I snorted loudly, followed by Romeo’s deep chuckle from behind me. “Are you kidding? Meyah has grown into this amazing woman. She’s powerful. Beautiful. And doesn’t take shit from anyone. And that’s in no way because of me. Or because of her Uncle Leo who practically helped raise her. Or her mom who tried to keep her to herself. And it definitely fucking wasn’t any thanks to you.”

  He wanted to kill me.

  He pulled out his gun, taking three giant steps forward and pointing it directly at my forehead, point-fucking-blank range, but I didn’t even fucking flinch.

  “It’s all because of her. She didn’t need anyone. Because she’s fucking amazing, and you’re a fucking dumbass because you’re gonna miss out on having her in your life.”

  “You come here, disrespect my club, disrespect me, and expect to just
walk away with your head intact?”

  I stared him straight in the eye. Not giving a shit that I could lose my head right now because all I cared about was him knowing what he was missing.

  It was all true.

  She would say she found her strength within the club. Or that I gave her the boost she needed. Or maybe say it was because of her family.

  It was none of that.

  It was because of her.

  Because she was fucking powerful.

  “Whether you’re in her life, or whether I’m in her life or not, she will not stop making strides and moving forward and fighting to be the woman she wants to be. The kind of person who’s going to make her own decisions, her own choices, and fuck anyone else,” I rambled on, this time for good measure. “We’re just along for the fucking ride.”

  She was going to be the kind of Old Lady who would break down behind closed doors, but who would put on a brave face, lift her chin and stand by me when I needed her. And I would stare down the barrel of a fucking gun if it meant this stubborn asshole might make an effort to be in his daughter’s life.

  “You’d be surprised what I would do for, Meyah. I’ll fight for her every damn fucking day if I have to.”

  There was complete silence.

  Huntsman continued to hold his gun at my head, and I continued to stare straight down the fucking barrel and into the eyes of a man who didn’t ever show any mercy, but who seemed to have heard what I had to say. “You got balls, kid.”

  “Right now, they’re hiding just in case you decide to cut them off,” I responded, as a joke, but not really.

  “You ever talk to me that way again, I’ll slice them into tiny pieces, stir-fry them and then feed them to you.” He slowly lowered the gun.

  I nodded, trying not to look too relieved. “Noted.”

  Releasing a long slow breath, I allowed my body to relax a little.

  “Oh, one more thing kid.” He didn’t even allow me a moment to brace, his fist swung around, the heavy blow connecting with my cheekbone and sending excruciating pain vibrating through my skull. The punch was so hard it spun my body, and I stumbled, hitting the bonnet of the SUV with my body, trying to hold on to it as my legs wobbled under me.

  “Fucking hell, Huntsman. You couldn’t just leave it, could you?” Romeo groaned as he reached over and held me up while my mind fought to stay conscious.

  “Fucker called me a dumbass,” Huntsman retorted before adding, “Come on. He’s gonna need a drink when he comes to. I already do.”

  My dorm room bed wasn’t very big, and if the Dean found out Ham was in here, there’d be all hell to pay, but I just couldn’t find it in me to give a fuck.

  He and Romeo showed up not long after us a few days ago, and the both of them were meant to be staying in a hotel room a few blocks from campus, but I’d had to come in for class, and he’d followed along. He was heading back to Athens tomorrow, and neither of us were really sure on how things were going to work from here.

  I loved the club.

  But I also loved it here.

  It gave me freedom and independence that I hadn’t ever had.

  But it was also a six-hour flight away from Ham.

  “Stop frowning will you,” he teased, using his thumb to rub the knot in between my eyes. “We’ll figure it out. We have time, okay? It’s not like I’m leaving forever. Like sayonara, don’t call me, I’ll call you.”

  I rolled over into his body, bracing my chin on his chest. “I know. I just want to find a solution that doesn’t involve one of us flying every other weekend. I’ve got school. You’ve got club business.”

  He grabbed the sides of my face. “Calm the fuck down.”

  I slapped at his chest, and he laughed, the sound slightly warm and comforting, slightly annoying.

  “Look, I got a couple things I want to talk to Op about that might get me down here more often. And with Romeo moving back to Vegas, and Phee in Cali, it would be nice to be closer to the West Coast sometimes.”

  “You’re not gonna make the club angry, are you?”

  He rolled his eyes. “You ever known the club to get angry for a man fighting to make things work with his Old Lady?”

  Before I could answer, the door behind me creaked open, and Dakota walked in with her hand covering her eyes. “I’m not looking,” she called, standing beside the door.

  I giggled but didn’t move.

  Dakota had almost returned to her normal self, but there had still been a couple times over the past few days where I’d seen a fear in her eyes that I knew wasn’t there before. I felt responsible, but she kept trying to tell me it wasn’t my fault.

  I felt like it was.

  “You can look, weirdo,” I responded, sitting and throwing my legs over the edge of the bed.

  She opened her fingers a crack, looking around before taking her hand away completely. “Oh, good, ‘cause grumpy McMotorcycle Man is waiting out front. I was gonna bring him in, but I wasn’t sure whether we were on friendly terms or whether we were still having daddy issues.”

  I looked over my shoulder at Ham with wide eyes.

  Huntsman was here?

  Ham didn’t look surprised which instantly turned my shock to suspicion.

  “What did you do?”

  He started to laugh and shake his head. “What makes you—”

  “What did you do?” I asked again, cutting him off. “Don’t try and tell me that my stubborn fucking Navy SEAL father, who could probably survive fifty-seven forms of torture, suddenly just felt a little bad and decided to drive six hours to Tucson to talk to me about it.”

  Dakota didn’t miss a beat, cackling with laughter as she tossed her backpack onto her bed and walked over to her drawers to get her work uniform. “She’s got you there, Roast Beef.”

  I rolled my eyes and leaped down off the bed. Dakota had taken to calling Ham a series of different lunch meats because she finds his name so amusing. Not even giving it up when she learned what his full name was or why he was called Hamlet.

  “Luckily, no one asked for your opinion, Delaware,” Ham teased as he climbed off the bed and lifted me down to my feet.

  Dakota narrowed her eyes at him. “You used the name of a small state on purpose, didn’t you?”

  He gasped dramatically and put his hand over his heart. “I would never do that to you, Rhode Island.” Ham was fighting really hard not to burst out laughing, but Dakota looked like she was about to go all kinds of Kung Fu on his ass.

  I screwed up my nose but allowed him to pull me toward the door. “Come on, he’s obviously here for a reason.”

  The last time I’d seen Huntsman, he walked out, and I’d basically become resigned to the fact he didn’t want anything to do with me.

  Did it hurt? Yeah. More than I expected it to, given that I’d only just met him, and he’d held his cards close to his chest the entire time.

  Just before we reached the exit, Ham pulled me to a stop and turned me to face him. “You go, I’ll hang out here. We can do something when you get back. Like go and torment Connecticut at work or something.”

  “Ham, what’s going on?” I demanded, seeing Huntsman through the glass, standing next to a big-ass truck that could rival Optimus’ beast. “Where’s his Harley?”

  Ham grabbed my cheeks and pressed a chaste kiss to my lips. It was quick but hard, and I instantly wanted more, but he drew back. “Can you just trust me on this, please, fury fists?”

  Of course.

  I would trust him with anything.

  So, I took a deep breath and turned around walking out through the double doors. I looked over my shoulder, but Ham was already gone, determined to let me deal with this on my own—at least, right at this moment. I knew he’d already done something.

  Tucking my hands into the front pocket of my jeans, I slipped out into the cooling night air. It wasn’t exactly cold, but it had an edge to it, especially in the wind.

  October was one of those months that seemed ki
nd of confused. You had to prepare for five different weather situations just to step outside. And with Halloween only a couple days away, you really had to consider what your costume was going to be. Anything too revealing and you could fucking freeze—which was going to be the case for almost every girl in my dorm who’d chosen your typically slutty insert occupation or animal here.

  “Hey…” That was the only word I could manage as I came to a stop a few feet away from him.

  “You eaten?”

  I almost smiled.

  He wasn’t good at this. But that wasn’t the point. I was just hoping he might be willing to learn.

  “No, but I know this awesome pizza place in town?”

  He nodded and pulled the passenger door open. “Let’s go, I’m starved.”

  We sat at a table and ordered our food. Two pizzas, meat, extra barbecue sauce, no weird shit—his words not mine.

  “What are you doing back here?” I finally asked, ready to hear what he had to say. I wanted to have him in my life, but I wasn’t going to be the only one fighting for that. I needed to know he was going to fight for me too.

  “Your man, he wasn’t gonna let this shit go easily.”

  I leaned back in my chair. “So, he did say something.” I sighed. “Look, I want you to be here because you want to be here. Not because Hamlet made you feel guilty about shit. I don’t want that, Dad.”

  He shook his head, his hand reaching up to scratch at his beard. “Couldn’t be further from the fucking truth. Thought you would have figured out by now, ain’t a person out there who could make me do anything I didn’t want to do.”

  That was true. I couldn’t imagine any person ever quilting Huntsman into anything, but I was still confused.

  “Nothing’s changed, you know. The club back home, it’s still a part of me. It’s a part of Ham. I’m his Old Lady.”

  He pursed his lips. There it was. Huntsman had done a lot to change the rules within his club over the years, fighting for something better for the future of his men and their families. But he was still stuck in his ways with some traditions—one being the fact that his daughter having loyalties to another club made him feel like he wasn’t a strong enough president.