Stripped Raw

by Miss Merikan

  “We’ll see about that,” Nick rasped and spat some blood at Sam’s boots.

  Sam gave him a bitter smirk and pulled out his cell phone. It weighed his hand down like a brick, but he chose Borg’s number and waited with his heart shrinking with every beep. What would happen to him now?

  “What is it? You ready? We’re rolling out in five.” Borg. Always to the point.

  Sam exhaled, and he found himself finding support at the wall. “Borg. Come to our lockers. Alone.”

  “Okay,” Borg’s voice went cold, and he disconnected.

  Sam put the phone back in his pants and walked over where St. Nick had scattered the letters. He picked them up, gently squeezing the envelopes, but eventually put them away in his locker. St. Nick’s nose was bubbling up red every time he wheezed, and Sam got a certain satisfaction out of it, even if that was it for him with the Nails. All good things came to an end. He could only hope Candy would stick around with him, but nothing was sure anymore.

  Borg stomped into the lockers, scanning the room with a frown. “What is this?” he asked in a stern voice, towering over Sam.

  Sam looked up at him, his jaw tense. “He’s the rat. He tried to blackmail me so that I tell him about the transport.”

  Nick let out a raspy laugh. “Yeah, right. I worked out Samantha’s secret, so now she’s trying to pin me as the rat. Sounds almost like ‘Victoria’s Secret’.” He snorted but then started coughing blood.

  Sam put his hands down his pockets, looking up into Borg’s stern face. He might sport a scar similar to the one on Borg’s cheek by the end of the evening. On his back, covering the club tattoo.

  “I need to come clean about this. I could have just killed the motherfucker, but this had to come out one way or the other.”

  Borg let out a low groan and slammed the door shut, looking between Nick and Sam. “How do you know he’s the rat?”

  Sam took a low gulp of air. “He told me he won’t be loyal to you after what happened to Doc. He tried to get intel out of me. He basically told me!”

  “Borg, you’ve known me for years,” Nick said. “I’ve always been loyal.”

  The air in the room became as stale as if it hadn’t been open in years when Borg pulled out a gun from under his cut. For a moment, Sam thought Borg was about to point the barrel at him, but he turned the gun around and passed it to Sam.

  Sam grabbed it, light-headed, and looked up at Borg, with his feet cemented to the floor. “Those letters. They were for me.”

  “I know. I did your background check when you prospected. Show St. Nick what we do to those who try to fuck a brother over,” Borg said in that emotionless voice he used on runs.

  Sam had to blink to regain his focus as cold shudders went down his spine. His hand moved, aiming the gun at St. Nick’s head. He pulled off the safety as his heart slowed down, plunging him into a well of breathless panic. Borg had known all along.

  Nick’s eyes went wide, but he turned his attention to Borg. “What the fuck, Borg? A woman is not a brother!”

  Sam pulled the trigger, and St. Nick’s brains splashed from underneath his head, coloring his white beard.

  Sam dropped his hand, and only after a few seconds, did he pull the safety on to present the gun back to Borg. He didn’t know what to say.

  Borg looked to Nick’s twitching foot. “Good. And pick up that fucking inheritance, for fuck’s sake.”

  Sam chuckled, rubbing his face with a silly grin. It was such a massive weight off his chest he feared he’d float up and hit the ceiling. “Thanks, brother.”

  Borg pursed his lips and spat on Nick’s body. “I knew he lied. If you wanted to just hide it, you’d have shot him dead.”

  Sam nodded and looked at the mess under their feet. “I’ll deal with him. Okay?” He raised his eyes at Borg, for once more than willing to take up the grim duty. He’d bury the motherfucker so deep no one would ever find him.

  Borg slowly nodded and took his gun back. “I knew that if I took you in, you’d be my most loyal man,” he said slowly. “Or I’d have shit to blackmail you with if I were wrong about you. Good job, Sam.”

  Sam smiled. That was such a Borg way of thinking. He saluted him and opened one of the drawers in a metal cupboard, in hope of finding supplies. He wanted to show how efficient he’d be with the task.

  “Good luck.”

  Borg nodded and there was actually a little twist on his lips that reminded Sam of a smile. “So fucking happy with this,” he said, pointing to Nick’s body before walking out.

  Sam grinned even as he put on a pair of yellow rubber gloves and wrapped a thick plastic bag around St. Nick’s head.

  So was he.

  Chapter 21

  Candy smiled as she smelled the fourth batch of hash brownies, the final one. The aroma of chocolate and cake, with a hint of herb, was making her melt inside already. She quickly put the tray in the coldest place of the house and returned to the kitchen to start decorating the other batches. It wouldn’t be too complicated, as the brownies were to disappear very soon anyway, but she enjoyed playing with a bit of buttercream nevertheless.

  The transport she did last week went smoothly, and the club was having a celebration tonight. Candy couldn’t wait. She felt so light with Bastian off her back, and she’d have the debt with them paid off in no time thanks to the drug gig. So it wasn’t the most moral, or legal, job, but it would pay enough to at least help her start getting a handle on her debt.

  Tonight though, she’d be as free as a bird. Dress nicely, get high, and party until morning.

  Someone unlocked the door behind her, but the only person who had the keys was Sam, so she was hardly worried.

  “Hey, doll,” he said, and his words were immediately followed by the sound of a yawn.

  “Sam!” Candy turned around and pulled off her apron before giving him a hug.

  He kissed her on the lips, still smelling of soap underneath the overwhelming aroma of leather. His short beard tickled her when he nodded, deliberately caressing her skin this way. “You all set? The party starts in an hour.”

  “I just have to decorate the last of the cake.” She couldn’t help herself though, and instead, wrapped her arms around Sam’s neck. “You smell so good.”

  He rested his forehead against hers and gave her a kiss on the nose, so tender and sweet she could only melt further into his arms.

  “Couldn’t come here all brown and black. It was a fucking mess today.”

  “Exactly. What would your girlfriend think of you, right?” She gave him one more kiss before turning her attention back to the brownies.

  Sam patted her on the ass in passing and disappeared into his bedroom. She was staying over on nights when she didn’t have to start baking early in the morning, and with the heat around the club gone, the police didn’t have enough evidence to bother the Nails any more than usual. Sam had hinted that there was also a fat bribe involved in the thawing of attitudes of the policemen, but the harassment stopped after St. Nick died in a bar brawl in a town nearby. Sam wouldn’t straight up say it, but she could sense that a lot of the trouble the club had lately involved Nick. His son, Monster, on the other hand, was back around, and even with Sam at her side, the guy’s cold stares gave her the creeps.

  Candy finished decorating the cakes and went off to the bathroom for some quick touchups to her makeup. “I heard there would be a band playing tonight?” she yelled to Sam.

  “Yeah, Gina’s friends, or something,” said Sam, who was putting on fresh clothes—a pair of leather pants and a grey tank top with the silhouette of an eagle. He finished the look with his cut. “I don’t even know if they’re gonna be good.”

  “I’m sure that after eating my brownies, everyone will have fun.” She laughed and slipped on a pair of dark blue heels to go with the stripes on her dress.

  “Can’t wait.” Sam pulled her back against him and kissed the side of her face. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something more, but
just pulled away in the end. “Come on, you’re driving that can.”

  “I love my can.” Candy smiled and grabbed her boat-shaped bag. “Take the other cakes.” She took one of the brownie trays herself and headed for the door.

  Sam lived close to the clubhouse, which was already bursting with people as they arrived. With loud music playing in the background, Candy marched through the crowd to the rhythm, and Sam followed her with yet more of the cakes. Those who knew what was up were already interested, and one of the guys actually tried to pinch a bit of the edge off. Candy needed to gently kick him in the shin.

  “Not yet.”

  Even though she was dressed in a cute dress and stood out in the crowd of black leather, she didn’t mind anymore. She felt right at home with her new friends and with Sam by her side. She was still slightly scared to look Borg in the eye, but Gina eased her anxiety as she greeted Candy with a wide smile and urged her into the kitchen.

  “Hey there, darling! Everyone’s been waiting for these. Hey, Sam.” Gina took the tray out of Candy’s hands and put it on the kitchen table. She looked like biker royalty tonight with her fiery curls loose, smoky eyes, and a leather jacket with long fringing at the back and arms.

  Monster, who according to Sam’s words always volunteered for guard duty during parties, was sitting in the middle of the kitchen. With a beer in hand and hangarounds all around him, at first glance he seemed like the social butterfly, even though he didn’t look too content with the socializing aspect.

  “He got patched in,” Sam whispered into her ear.

  Monster’s gaze slid over Candy, but she quickly made her way to the tabletop at the back and started cutting the cake into bite-sized pieces. Sure, Monster was easy on the eyes, but Candy was not about to look at him.

  “Fuck! Candy! I was waiting for your sweet ass to come over.” This voice Candy knew all too well. Red Jack, the ginger perv.

  “Oh, yeah? Does Sam know about that?” she asked.

  The freckled hand grabbed a brownie without asking, and she barely stopped herself from stabbing it. But she was a good girl.

  “Come on, babe. Don’t be a bitch, you know what I mean.” Red Jack laughed before stuffing his face with a whole brownie.

  “What do you mean?” she asked, making long cut after long cut. She wasn’t really sure what Red’s deal was.

  “Yeah, what do you mean?” asked Sam, walking over with Viper, who looked like a very drunk cobra with his silly grin sticking out of the serpent mouth surrounding his face.

  Red Jack rolled his eyes and swallowed all the cake before being able to answer. “I mean I want the fucking brownies, not fuck her up the ass.”

  “Hey!” Candy punched his arm, but it only made him laugh.

  Sam glared at him. “That’s fucking strike one, man. Don’t talk to my woman like that!”

  Red Jack spread his arms and stole one more brownie from Candy’s tray. “Okay, okay! I’m gonna go chat to my new best friend over there.” He pointed to Monster.

  “Didn’t you say he was annoying? He might feel smothered with your love soon,” chuckled Sam.

  “Who got him the gluten-free veggie pizza, huh? Right, Monster?” Red Jack grinned and had a bite of the cake.

  Sam squinted. “Right. Does he know you’re in love with him?”

  Red Jack let out a low groan. “Why do you always have to make this gay? For fuck’s sake! It’s not me who eats pizza with fucking kale.” He pointed to Monster.

  Sam snarled in disgust. “You can have that on pizza? Isn’t it like ... what, lettuce?”

  Viper sighed. “Better don’t talk to him about nutrition. He’s nuts.”

  Red Jack nodded. “Yeah, it’s fucking lettuce. Who’s gay now, huh?”

  “We’ll talk when you get cancer from all the heavy metals and GMO you’re having in your meat,” called out Monster, twisting back in the chair to watch them.

  Viper rolled his eyes. “There we go.”

  Red Jack scowled and spread his arms. “What the fuck, man? You don’t fucking joke about cancer!”

  Candy suppressed a laugh and took a tray of cakes out of the kitchen, leaving the big bad bikers to argue about kale. She was greeted by the most glorious chaos in the main room. Music drowned out the chatter, and next to the band, a girl was pole dancing to the rock tunes in just a sparkly bikini. Candy realized it was the girl Red Jack tried to wow with an invitation to the hot tub. She danced like a pro, bringing Candy’s drunken attempts to shame.

  Candy’s gaze slid over a couple on the sofa, but she quickly turned the other way when she realized the girl in a short leather skirt was giving the guy a blowjob.

  She would most definitely not do that in public. Even high. No judgment—okay, maybe a little—but no. Hands were already diving for the herby bites, but she blanked when she realized that one of the thick arms belonged to Borg. He was standing by Candy’s side with Gina pressed against him, her mouth open in waiting. He dropped the brownie on her tongue before gently pushing her jaw closed and giving her a kiss. Gina snatched one from the tray as well and reciprocated the gesture, feeding him a full two pieces.

  “Candy, how do you like the party so far?” she asked.

  “I’m liking the band!” Candy raised her voice to talk over the music. It was nice to be a part of something bigger. When she came to California with Jake, she lost contact with her friends back home, and never made new ones until now.

  Gina looked over the crowd, at the makeshift stage next to the dance pole, where the dancer was at the moment sliding down with her legs wide apart. “You think? The sound’s a bit shit,” she said, and indeed, the vocals were completely overwhelmed by the drums.

  Candy laughed out loud and patted Gina’s shoulder. “Oh, my God! I thought it was just me. It is shit. But I’m having loads of fun anyway.” She dared to glimpse up at Borg, who didn’t seem all that scary next to his old lady.

  “Those are good,” he said and reached for another brownie bite.

  “Just don’t overdo it.” Gina shook her head with a smile, and he shrugged.

  “I’m big.”

  The next few hours were a careless bliss. Candy drank, ate some of her brownies and stuffed herself full of pizza, though Sam laughed at her for it being ‘just three slices’. They both chatted to their friends, and Candy even danced with Red Jack after he promised not to be naughty. He was, and it earned him a slap, but he didn’t seem upset and ventured into the arms of yet another club hangaround.

  Monster disappeared from sight, so that soothed Candy’s nerves as well, but after the drinks and brownies, she couldn’t have been more at ease. With the weather beautiful as ever, and the night so warm, the party soon moved out to the back yard and the beach, with some people enjoying the hot tub, and even a couple having sex on the beach.

  Viper and a prospect brought the massive speakers out, so the party could still have music, and it all progressed to some people shedding their clothes and going to play in the ocean.

  It’d been a while since she parted from Sam for some girl-talk, but there he was, strolling along with a beer in hand. He slapped Red Jack’s newly bared ass in passing and nodded at her.

  “You wanna go?”

  Candy grinned and was about to turn around for him to unzip her dress, but then she remembered how Sam stayed at the beach on that first party she came to. Of course, he would. She reached out and entwined their fingers. “Nah, I’m too drunk. I’d rather kick back on the beach.”

  His warm hand squeezed around hers as he led her to the side. “You sure? You seemed to have fun last time.”

  “It’s not fun when you’re not there.” Candy gave Sam a kiss, and they sat down in the warm sand, watching others in the water.

  Sam put his arm behind her shoulders and smiled. “I know, right? I’m like your favorite clown.”

  “So mean,” Candy put her cheek on her shoulder. “You’re my favorite person.”

  Sam closed the distance between them
and nuzzled her nose. “Would you like me better if I were rich?”

  Candy snorted. “Yeah, and a doctor or lawyer, of course. Or both.”

  Sam pulled on a strand of her hair and curled it around his fingers with a slight frown. “No, really. I could pay off your debt if I had money.”

  Candy cuddled up to him. “That would be nice, but I don’t want you to take up risky jobs, Sam. I’ll pay it off with time. As soon as I’m done with the Italians, the banks won’t be that bad.” She would probably be in debt with them all her life, but it wasn’t like a bank would hire an assassin on her.

  He chewed on his lip and glanced at her, so close she half-expected him to kiss her. “I do have enough money. Well, I will.”

  “What do you mean?” She stroked his forearm.

  Sam rubbed his head along the line of his short mohawk, looking away. “My parents died, and a lawyer contacted me about it. The name in the documents is wrong, but ...” He exhaled, looking into her eyes.

  “Oh… I’m so sorry about your parents, sweetie.” Candy kissed Sam’s cheek. “It’s your money though. I wouldn’t want to take it from you.”

  Sam chuckled and hid his face against her neck, softly breathing on her skin. It felt as if it were just the two of them, all the other people gone from the beach at the gesture of a hand.

  “I don’t want it that much. It’s Samantha’s.”

  Candy couldn’t help a little sneer at the name. It must have been the name his parents gave him. “What if I took it and bought you something, huh? How much is it?”

  San snorted. “A lot. We could pay off your debts, and you could have some. But I’m not an idiot. I do not really want it, but it would be a sin not to take it. Stuff happens, so I’m gonna keep the rest for emergencies. You know, in case I got sick in the future, or something.”

  “I’d be free of debt?” Candy looked up at him, trying to hold back the tears pushing at her eyelids.

  Sam nodded. “Yeah, it’s like that money fell from the sky in just the right time.”

  “My decency wants to, but I really can’t say ‘no’ to this, Sam.” Candy climbed into his lap. “This would change my life. I could start anew.”