"You ready to talk then?" I asked in a monotone voice.
"Erm...a simple hello Keira would've sufficed." I heard the frustration in her voice at being spoken to like that but I wasn't cutting her any slack.
"Well can you understand why I'm a little annoyed with the whole situation?"
She let out a sigh, "Yes but I had my reasons."
"So why now Keira? Why has it taken you nearly five months to get in touch? Are you ready to explain your reasons?" I asked throwing her words back at her.
"I am but I'd like to meet you face to face, as it will be easier to explain."
"Easier to explain? You fucking bowed out, it's as simple as that! What more can you say that will stop me from hating you?" The words I shouted weren't true but they were making me feel a little better as I'd waited so long to talk to her. I was just word vomiting and I hoped they'd have the desired affect and hurt her like she had me. The other end of the line went quiet and I thought that she'd hung up until I heard a faint noise, "You still there?"
"Yes," she whispered.
"I thought you of all people would've understood what I was going through and you left without a care in the world." I sensed that she was upset but I just kept going, "You should've spoken to me."
"That's not true CJ, you gotta believe me I did care and I still do."
"I don't have to believe any shit that comes from your mouth." I was on a roll, months of hurt and things I had wanted to say to her were just pouring from my mouth. "I was worried that something had happened to you Keira, did you ever stop to think that?"
"You were worried?"
"Slip of the tongue, the club was worried." I had in fact been concerned and brought it to the attention of the club. Despite her short relationship with Locke, he loved her so she needed to be under our protection to make sure no harm came to her. I also knew she cared, I was just venting my frustrations and it was easy to take things out on her because she was so vulnerable.
I visited Locke's grave when I could and there were always freshly laid creative bouquets that I knew had come from her despite a card not being left. If she didn't care she wouldn't go to that trouble considering she was now living in Brighton or so my contacts had informed me.
"I can understand that you're upset with me for what you think was running away but you couldn't be much further from the truth. CJ there's something important I need to tell you."
I crossed the road at the end of the alley and glanced around my surroundings making sure everything was in order, "So why can't you do this over the phone?"
"I can but I'd rather do it face to face, I think I owe that much to you."
I sighed heavily, I had a lot going on at the moment and rubbed my forehead as I contemplated what I should do for the best. I couldn't be seen with her by any member of Satan's Wrath because they'd know what I was up to, I also couldn't put Keira in harm's way so didn't want to meet locally.
"Are you still there?"
"Yeah I'm thinking." I stopped in my tracks trying to think of a solution, "Can't Stoney meet with you?"
"No I need to see you," she stated firmly.
"Okay okay, chill for fuck's sake woman. It'll have to be next week, that's the earliest I can do."
"That's great it doesn't matter when it is, I just need to see you to explain a few things." She almost seemed relieved at the prospect of meeting up with me.
"Call me again in a couple of days and we'll arrange the particulars." I couldn't be dealing with this shit now, for one I didn't have time and two she was fucking with my head.
"CJ!"
The use of my club name surprised me somewhat, although that's what she'd been told to call me in the past, "What?"
"Thank you."
Thank you? Thank you for what exactly? I ended the call and returned the phone back to my pocket. Keira managed to get under my skin, I needed time to process what she'd just said or I'd end up combusting from frustration. I couldn't understand why she'd prefer to meet up, surely we could discuss what was on her mind over the phone and then everything would be sorted but obviously not. I needed a drink, that was the only way that I'd be able to cope as my head felt like it was about to explode.
I strolled into the club run by the Satan's Wrath as if I didn't have a care in the world. I wasn't scared of these blokes, they were flesh and bones just like me but they played dirty and I sniggered at the thought because I could also do dirty if I needed to. In fact dirty was what I did best, it had just been a long time as Duke preferred a cleaner existence.
I made my way to a seating area just to the right of the stage to get a closer look at the pussy available this evening, as I may need some female attention later on. I rubbed my chin thoughtfully as I eyed some of the fresh meat parading around the club but was immediately concerned about their ages. I liked my girls young as they were firm and fresh but the variety on offer this evening didn't look legal to me.
"What can I get you honey?"
I glanced in the direction of the voice to see a young girl in only her panties holding a pad and pen ready to take my drinks order. "Good evening sweet, I'll have a bottle of beer it doesn't matter what it is I'm just fucking thirsty."
"Long day at work?" she asked trying to sound cheery although her eyes were telling me a completely different story.
"Yeah something like that babe, why don't you get me a drink then you can sit and keep me company." I winked trying to make the young girl a little more comfortable in my presence as she seemed a little nervous despite standing in front of me practically in the nude. I thought she may be easy to extract information from if I plied her with alcohol and smiled at her warmly trying to get her on board.
"Sandy off you go like a good little girl." Sandy's eyes widened before she quickly turned her attention to the floor and scarpered off in the direction of the bar without giving me a second glance.
"And who may you be?" the tall bearded bloke asked folding his arms across his chest.
"Simon," I stated firmly. I held out my hand towards him, "Nice to meet you."
He glared at my hand and didn't move to shake it so I simply retracted it and placed it on my lap with a snigger. "Are you always this friendly to your punters?" I asked finding it difficult to be polite because all I wanted to do was wipe the smile from his fucking face. I knew who he was, Hustler was now the VP after moving up the ranks to be Onyx's right hand man. The corners of my mouth turned slightly at the thought of what I was going to do to him and his President but as I grinned I noticed his scowl get heavier.
"You find something funny?" he stepped closer and folded his arms across his chest.
I shrugged, "I can't say that I've ever had such a welcome in an establishment like this before so I suppose I'm flattered." Hustler glared as if I were crazed but I didn't give a shit, there was no way that I was letting him talk to me like a prick. I knew that if I were sitting here with Locke that he'd be smiling at me now because of my audacity but this thought only made me braver.
"Do you know whose club you're sitting in?"
I shook my head, "Oh I'm sorry, should I?"
Hustler surged forward, "Enough!" I turned my head and looked up to see Onyx puffing on a cigar as he glanced between the two of us. "What the fuck is going on?" he asked turning his attention to me fully.
I raised my hands, "I've only come in here for a drink and to check out your talent." I moved my hand indicating towards the girls parading around the club.
Onyx removed his cigar and assessed me closely, "We had a bit of trouble a couple of months back, a bloke pretended to be someone he wasn't. Caused us a lot of aggravation so we're a little suspicious of new faces, can you understand that?"
I nodded my head but my filter hadn't quite kicked in yet, "But ain't that difficult? I mean running an establishment like this you're bound to run into new faces every day?"
Onyx's face lifted into what looked like a smirk, "I'm yet to work out if you're brave or stupid."
I sniggered,
"I'm still trying to figure that out myself although my ex-wife would probably say stupid." Onyx chuckled and stepped aside allowing the waitress to place my drink on the table.
"Well let's hope it's neither, we don't want any newbies hanging around for longer than what is acceptable."
"And what is acceptable?" I asked clasping my bottle of beer.
"A week, possibly two but then it's time to move on." Onyx took another puff on his cigar and blew the smoke in my direction.
I looked at him confused, "Surely it's good to have a bit of fresh meat around?"
Hustler surged forward but this time making contact and knocked me from my chair. I fell backwards and grunted as my back made contact with the floor. "We're obviously not making ourselves very clear," Hustler rammed his knee into my neck and pinned my arms as he growled at me. "I don't want you sniffing around our club longer than two weeks." I continued to eyeball him and kept my calm during the whole pissing match because that's what it was. He could do and say anything to me but it wouldn't rile me or make me lose focus because he was mine and I was looking forward to seeing him crack long before I did.
"Right that's enough Hustler, you've had your fun." He loosened his grip and removed his knee giving me the space needed to shove him off. I sat up and rubbed my neck before I glanced at the hand being offered to me.
"Have I missed the party?" Recon grinned as he helped me to my feet.
I rolled my eyes as I bent down to brush my jeans, "Nah these fine gentlemen were just letting me know their club rules." I glanced in their direction as Onyx, Hustler and a portly bloke that had recently joined them assessed our interaction.
Recon smiled and extended his hand, "Hi I'm Daz." All three members of the Satan's Wrath looked at him bemused by his introduction. "Okay!" Recon flexed his fingers and retracted his arm as it wasn't well received.
"Two weeks tops," Onyx snarled.
I gave him a casual salute, "Two weeks it is boss." Recon glanced in my direction and smiled at my gesture as Hustler drew his brow.
"Fucking twat," he said under his breath as he shook his head. All three blokes chatted among themselves before they turned and headed in the direction of the bar.
"What the fuck was all that about? You're supposed to be keeping a low profile CJ." Recon let out a frustrated sigh as he bent to pick up the chair and place it near the table before sitting.
I sniggered, "That's boring, this is way more fun." I rubbed my chin assessing the guys as they settled at the bar as I joined Recon at the table.
"Yeah but that type of excitement could get you killed." Recon moved his arm as the young girl from earlier placed two bottles of beer onto the table.
"Courtesy of Onyx," she smiled briefly and scurried back in the direction she came from.
I narrowed my eyes and assessed Recon, "What's up with you?" he asked extending his arms to his side.
"What? Don't tell me you haven't noticed." I glanced around the club looking at the array of girls that were on offer.
Recon nodded as the penny slowly dropped, "I get you, they're all very...fresh."
"Exactly and that's what annoyed Locke also." I took a swig of my beer and sat back in the chair noting that two unfamiliar blokes were staring in our direction. I shook my head slightly, feeling a little paranoid about the whole situation before taking another swig of my beer.
Recon immediately followed my eye line, "You know them?"
"No, their faces aren't familiar from the photos I've seen either."
"Well they seem interested in us for some reason."
The lights suddenly dimmed and the music became progressively louder as the curtain at the back of the stage was moved to one side and a stream of young girls strutted onto the stage. It was then that I noticed a count down on a board to the left of the stage. It stated that something would be happening for charity, my natural curiosity kicked in and I beckoned the nearest waitress over.
"What charity are they raising money for?" I asked intrigued. The young girl drew her brows with a confused expression making me roll my eyes, exasperated by her reaction considering she worked here and pointed to the countdown on the board. "What charity?" I asked slowly to the sniggers of Recon finding our interaction amusing.
She looked towards the sign and I saw her facial expression change when she realised what I was referring to. She glanced around the club briefly making sure no one was in earshot and leaned closer, "No the countdown is for Charity." Now it was my turn to look confused, "Charity is being auctioned...well her virginity is."
"What the fuck you mean by that?" Recon smashed his bottle down onto the table, it startled the young girl and she stepped back scared by his reaction.
"Is there a problem?" I looked up at the guy that had just joined us and recognised him from the research, his name was Slick. He was responsible for working his charm on these young girls and bringing them to the club.
"Nah, man chill your boots this lovely young lady was just informing us about the up and coming auction." I sat casually in my chair trying to conceal the rage that was mounting inside me as I spoke to him. We'd all been warned that this was going on but it still hadn't prepared me for the reality of it all.
His face lit brightly, "Okay gentlemen do you think you may be interested?"
"We maybe," I nodded my head faking interest as I glanced at Recon smiling. He caught on quickly and did the same. "We're in town for two weeks labouring on a local building site, we may need to use your services during this time and a tight little pussy may be just what we both need." My words sickened me to my core but I could see his excitement at my interest.
"That's good man, we've got plenty of young pussy around here." He extended his arm encouraging me to look, "See anything you like?"
I glanced around the club trying to think of how I was going to pull myself from this situation, "You ain't getting any pussy tonight man. We've got an early start and I'm not wiping your arse tomorrow coz you were up all night shagging." Recon was one step ahead of me already.
"Easy tiger, what about the times I've covered your arse?" I turned my attention to Recon and pretended that I was now offended that he was cock blocking me.
"That's different now drink up we need to make a move."
I rolled my eyes, "Sorry mate we've gotta go. Grumpy here won't let me play tonight." I sniggered as I stood and downed the rest of my beer.
"That's okay gentlemen, you're welcome here especially on the night in question." Slick shoved his hand into his pocket and removed a flyer. "Here take this," he extended his arm and I took the flimsy piece of paper and opened it out to read. "It states the time and date of the auction so you don't miss it and for the record my name is Slick." He stated obviously very proud of himself, he was probably the mastermind of this sick act.
"Thank you Slick," I folded the flyer and placed it into my pocket. "Has there been much interest so far?" I tried to show my interest regarding the sick event.
He nodded excitedly, "Yeah from far and wide. It's not the norm to have such an opportunity like this so it's created a lot of interest."
"You're right there but how do you know for sure that she's still a virgin?" Recon folded his arms across his chest and frowning.
He sniggered, "She's been with us for a while now and Onyx hasn't let anyone touch her."
I nodded taking in everything he'd said, "So didn't he want to be the one to break her in?"
"I suppose not because she's worth a few quid to the club," he stepped aside letting us know that this conversation was over by giving us the room needed so we could make our way towards the reception.
I pushed the doors open and was grateful of the cool night air as I hadn't realised just how tense I'd become. I was like a coiled spring and needed to relieve some of the frustration I was encountering.
"You feeling it too?" Recon paced the car park and I could see that he was holding himself together albeit barely.
"It's wrong on so many levels, I mean w
e've done some crazy shit over the years but they're exploiting kids." I fully understood what he was getting at and felt the same but there was nothing that I was prepared to do until I'd dealt with Onyx, however wrong it was his death was my priority.
"We will deal with that I promise, I knew it was happening from Locke's diaries but we have bigger fish to fry beforehand Recon and you need to be with me 100%."
Recon nodded he knew we needed to remain focussed on the task at hand. At that point, the heavens opened and the rain lashed down. "As much as I want to stand around talking to you mate, I'm getting fucking wet. I'll catch up with you tomorrow as I'm shattered." I stepped closer and hugged Recon slapping him on the back, "Stay safe."
"And you," Recon nodded before casually strolling over to his car.
I played with my keys as I made my way to my vehicle. I'd hired it especially for the journey and I was grateful that Eli's mate Simon had put the car in his name should it be traced and they looked for a name and possible address. We were also one step ahead as we'd used a fake address as we couldn't run the risk of them coming after anyone else.
As I opened the door, I felt an uneasy feeling that someone was watching me. I turned and glanced in the direction of the club to see Hustler glaring in my direction as he stood with Damian smoking a fag. I knew he'd been nervous during our earlier meeting, I was just praying that he wasn't selling his sole to the devil by ratting me out to the club. After all we'd...I had been through, I needed this to run as smoothly as possible and couldn't have some prick jeopardising it. I'd have to arrange to see him again soon and possibly threaten him myself to remind him of the consequences of double crossing me.
Damian nodded his head and I returned the polite gesture before entering my car. I still had a lot to sort out regarding the scheduled meeting next week and how we were going to ambush them but we now knew a time and a place making the whole process easier. I wanted more time at the club to fully understand the pecking order and planned on returning. It was inevitable that I was going to finish Onyx and Hustler for murdering Locke but this information was crucial so I could take down the Satan's Wrath once and for all. When I was totally finished they'd be no club left to hurt anyone ever again.
CJ (Aces MC Series Book 6) Page 2