Sweet Revenge (The Nighthawks MC Book 2)

by Bella Knight

  “What the fuck!” said Bella, “that is seriously fucked up.”

  “He seems so angry, so closed off. I can’t do a fucking thing to help him.”

  “You can’t hurt him,” Bella kissed Ivy’s hand, “he has to walk through this one.”

  “Yeah, but I’ll stand by him,” she sighed it, “if he lets me.”

  “He will. Sooner or later.”

  Ivy snorted, “Probably later. Or after this whole thing ends.”

  Bella listened and cared about her feelings.

  She sighed, clenched Bella’s hand, “I’ll take that bitch out myself if I have to1”

  “See?” said Bella, “the Stratosphere. I’ll be the one slinging drinks while you save the world.”

  “You can fly free, too,” said Ivy.

  “Not me,” said Bella, “I’m an on-the-ground girl.”

  Ivy laughed, “If we don’t sleep, we won’t be able to stand up tomorrow.”

  She pulled off her jeans and her top. She stripped down to her cami and panties. She unhooked the leather chain wallet from her jeans, and threw the jeans in the laundry basket in the corner, followed by the top. She put the wallet on the floor next to her pillow.

  Bella took her clothes off, piling them up. They unstrapped their knives. Ivy put hers on top of her wallet. Bella put hers on top of her clothes. They rolled up and onto the bed, just a mattress on top of a box spring. Ivy took the space next to the wall. Bella laid down next to her. Bella kissed Ivy’s cheek and drew the sheet up over them.

  Bella was shocked to wake up to the smell of crab rangoons and hot and sour soup. She remembered where she was. She felt like lead, slow and languid. She turned. Ivy looked over and smiled at her. She reached out and stroked Bella’s arm.

  “Are you sure?” asked Bella.”

  Ivy turned to face her, “Don’t chain yourself to me. My friends die. I dance death every night, telling him to fuck off for a little longer. You don’t want to be in my dance, Bella. Find yourself an earth person.”

  Bella was mesmerized by her.

  She stopped, looked down at Bella’s face, “In fact, I think I have someone for you.”

  Bella smiled, “I’m sure she is amazing.”

  “Is,” said Ivy.

  She put two fingers on Bella’s lips. Bella put two fingers on Ivy’s lips. Then, Ivy was slow, so slow. Bella lay still, hands over her head, as Ivy drew off her halter top and her underwear, slowly. Bella quivered at every touch, her spirit, her mind, and her heart drawn together. A sense of ease stole over her body. Ivy stroked her hair, in long languid strokes. Ivy touched her face, feather lightly. Her kisses were soft, barely there. Bella arched her back as Ivy ran her tongue down her, from neck to belly.

  Ivy ran her hands down Bella’s body, from her fingertips to her breasts and on down her hips, all the way to her toes. Ivy stopped and rubbed Bella’s toes. Bella groaned; her feet hurt. Ivy ran her hands up her calves. Bella rose up, put a feather kiss on Ivy’s temple. She laid back down, unable to sit up for long due to exhaustion.

  Ivy got to her thighs, and Bella cried out as Ivy found her with her tongue. Bella melted deep inside, in places, she did not know were frozen. She came, and came, and came again, crying out in small gasps.

  She tried to reach out, to touch Ivy. Ivy kissed her fingers. She let Bella stroke her hair. They held each other and fell asleep in each other’s arms.

  They woke up again. They squeezed into Ivy’s tiny shower. Ivy washed Bella, and Bella washed her. They dried each other, and then they dressed.

  They made it down the stairs without falling, laughing as they hit the sunlight. They went into the Chinese restaurant and ate crab rangoons and orange chicken and moo shoo pork.

  They went back to the club for Ivy’s Harley; Ivy had an extra helmet. They went to the center of town. Bella directed Ivy to the used furniture store. Ivy’s face lit up. She screamed when she saw a platform bed with little side tables, and a leather backrest. There was a tiny dining table with two chairs that folded up to half its size, and a wavy red couch and two little black storage ottomans. There was a little vanity in rad leather with a matching round seat. There was a little desk and an office chair. Ivy took out a wad of cash and paid for it all, including delivery and a guy with a rope if the stuff didn’t get up the stairs, for the next day.

  They rushed to get to work on time. They had the bar ready to go in record time, deliveries and all. They were stumbling with exhaustion by midnight, and by two o’clock they could barely get everything done. Bella waved goodbye with two fingers and had Adam take her home.

  Fallout

  Lily didn’t see Ace for days. She was almost useless on Monday, worried about Ace. Ivy sent her a text to say that he was fine, that he was on a ride to Arizona to spend time with his brother Keiran. She got through Tuesday by bringing a six-pack of Jolt Cola into work and doing every single thing she could think of to do during work at the insurance office. Ivy texted her to get some rest and come in on Wednesday. She toddled home and barely made it through a Lean Cuisine before falling asleep.

  On Wednesday, she came in early to the insurance office and found that her entrance code didn’t work. She went around back and used her code to try to get in that way. She used Mark’s code when her own code didn’t work. Her stuff was thrown in a box on her desk. She tried booting her computer, and it wouldn’t boot up without her password. She turned it off, and booted up Mark’s; she knew his password.

  She printed off a check for herself for her total hours, including taking out her withholding, and Social Security, for an entire month’s work. For the two weeks she had just completed, and two weeks of severance pay. Then, she pulled up five of Mark’s most damaging emails, and four of Jason’s. All were written on their company email accounts. Two were bundling products they didn’t bundle at a discount, three were to various married women and were full of sexual innuendo, and four of them as they solicited customers in ways that were unprofessional. She stood in between the desks, and when they came in and threatened to call the police, she said, “Why? You never called or emailed me to tell me not to be here.”

  Jason stammered, not actually saying anything.

  Mark glared, “You’re fired!”

  “Excellent,” said Lily, she almost laughed when they goggled at her, “I don’t care which one of you signs my check for what I’ve already worked and my severance pay, but…”

  Jason sputtered, “The cops came around! They said you did credit checks you shouldn’t have and asked for copies!”

  “If you don’t sign this check, I’ll send all of the emails there to Corporate.”

  They looked at Mark’s computer. Jason turned red. Mark turned white. Mark grabbed the check and signed it. She grabbed it out of his hand.

  “Oh, yes,” she said, “and if you stop payment, Corporate gets the emails. I sent them to myself.”

  She turned to the box, took out her framed picture of herself and Devlin before Devlin went off the deep end. She grabbed her favorite pen, her Peach Surprise lip gloss, and her stash of Girl Scout Thin Mints, and headed out. They were still sputtering as she walked out the door. She put the stuff in her saddlebag, put on her leathers, went to the bank to deposit the check first, then went home for a snooze.

  She got up at four and took off for Sonic. She had honey barbecue boneless wings and jalapeno poppers and a frozen-cherry limeade. She then headed for the Dirty Rock Bar. Ivy was in her office, and Ace wasn’t there yet.

  Lily popped her head in, “Who’s covering for Ace while he’s in Arizona?” she asked.

  Ivy snorted, “Me, it looks like. Called in a temp, no-show last night.”

  “I’m your new bartender,” said Lily, “just lost my job at the insurance place.”

  “Fuck,” said Ivy, “that sucks. The other girls will just have to work harder.”

  “They won’t mind,” said Lily, “more tips!”

  “The club can use you doing something,” said Ivy
, “maybe help with the school.”

  “I do have my bachelor’s,” said Lily.

  “In what?” asked Ivy.

  “Finance.”

  Ivy grinned, regretting that she didn’t read the educational part of the application really closely when she hired Lily.

  “Shit, girl, you just made bartender and assistant manager. You can do the money. I’ll look it over, sign off on what you do.”

  She held out her hand, and Lily shook it. They did some paperwork, and Lily showed Ivy the scanned diploma she got from a bartending school.

  “Stupidest two weeks of my life,” said Lily, “learned a lot, but mostly everybody got drunk afterwards. I couldn’t afford to blow my money that way.”

  “I hear you, girl,” said Ivy, “I earned mine on my back. Saved it up, bought this bar. It was worth it,” she said.

  “You’re amazing!”

  Ivy stood, “You need any money to tide you over?” she asked.

  Lily shook her head and stood, “I got severance,” she smiled, “the Nighthawks are good for me. I’ve got some balls.”

  “Good,” said Ivy, laughing, “now, let’s get the deliveries in.”

  When her shift was over, Adam followed her home. She opened the door. Her scream had him moving his bulk faster than Lily thought he could move up the concrete stairs. He stood behind her.

  “Fuck!” said Adam.

  Her tiny apartment was in pieces, everything smashed. Her Lean Cuisines and her Girl Scout Cookies were crushed all over the floor in the kitchen, the bedroom and the living room. Her Alienware setup was bent and twisted, the monitor and keyboard both smashed. Her suits were slashed, in piles all over the floor. Lily called the police on her cell, and Adam took her down to his car to wait.

  “You’re staying at the clubhouse,” he said, “we got bunks there. The kids are all asleep.”

  “Fuck that,” she said and called Ace.

  Ace was so angry he growled. He told Adam to lead her to his place. He gave her the door code.

  “I gotta go to Walmart first,” said Lily, “they trashed my clothes.” She laughed bitterly as she saw the cop car pull up, “at least I’m wearing my leathers and my favorite jeans.”

  The cops sealed off her apartment. Adam followed her to Wal-Mart, open twenty-four hours in Las Vegas. She bought some underwear and socks. Then jeans, tennis shoes, a nightshirt, toothbrush and toothpaste, some makeup, a comb and brush, a blow drier, and some naproxen sodium for her raging headache. Adam helped her carry the stuff and put it in her saddlebags.

  He took her to Ace’s condo, a two-bedroom. She put her stuff away, took a shower, blow-dried her hair, put on her new underwear and the nightshirt. Then she put the rest of her clothes in the washer/drier combo, and went to bed in Ace’s bed. Adam took the enormous recliner in the living room and turned the TV on low.

  She woke to the smell of coffee and bacon frying. She heard Adam’s low voice and stretched. She saw the laundry basket with her clean clothes on the dresser. The room was all in black, with a low platform bed with attached floating side tables. The dresser was a glossy black. A round, antique, silver mirror hung over the dresser.

  “At least he has good taste,” she said to herself.

  Lily put on new, non-scratchy underwear, a camisole bra, socks, jeans and a T-shirt. Her rock band T-shirts! How was she going to replace them all? She cried a few tears and wiped them away. She’d had nothing before; she could start over again. She put on makeup and brushed her hair.

  She came out of the bedroom. Ace wordlessly gave the spatula to Adam and rushed over to her. He hugged her so hard that he picked her up. Her back popped. He put her down and held her face in his.

  “I am so sorry, Lily,” he said.

  “I didn’t have much,” she said, “I’ve started over before. I guess I’ll do it again.”

  He smiled, “So, have we all. Pancakes?”

  Lily didn’t think she could eat, but she got through two pancakes, four pieces of bacon, and strawberries, too. He made her finish her orange juice before handing her a Jolt cola as a reward.

  “I took the liberty of taking your key. I checked out your apartment already, and the police released the scene. I’ve got cleaners there, and someone will repair the door. It was kicked in. Jannie has the PC. She says someone tried to get data from it, but that you’re smart and had basically nothing on it. She says she’ll have to get you a new case and stuff. It will be delivered here today by her cousin Rain, who makes house calls.”

  “There goes my security deposit,” said Lily.

  “Not after we’re done with it,” said Ace, “then we’ll go over there and get you out of the lease.”

  “Almost up anyway,” said Lily, “at the end of the month.”

  Ace smiled, “Great! You can move in here.”

  Lily just stared at him.

  He kept talking, “You can take the second bedroom as an office, or use that corner over there,” he said, designating a place near the enormous flat screen, “I can move the bookshelves back here.”

  Lily looked around. The living room was in ‘Early Millennium Male,’ all TV and gaming consoles and wide couches and a recliner in black. The table in the middle looked like a black and silver chest.

  Lily stared some more, “I can’t… we just…”

  Ace looked at her, “If you don’t want to sleep with me, take the second bedroom.”

  Lily smiled at him, took his head in his hands, and kissed him soundly, “Of course I want to sleep with you. But don’t you think it’s a little early to…”

  Adam cleared his throat, “It’s not safe, Lily. Someone is dead and someone is trying to find out what you know. They can’t get to Ace because of the Nighthawks. They think you’re the weakest link.”

  “Fuck that,” said Lily, “I need a gun, and I need to know how to shoot it.”

  Adam took out his cell and looked something up, “Concealed carry course starts in an hour. I can take her.”

  “I’ll do it,” said Ace, “you go home and sleep. Or take the second bedroom. After the course, my girl and I are going shopping. I know no girl can live with half a basket of clothes. That’s just pitiful.”

  She took her first four hours of a concealed carry course. Ace had time to run her by to get some T-shirts on a break, and by Sonic for a chicken burger and jalapeno poppers. Then, she had four more hours of training. Numa escorted her back to Ace’s; Lily had the night off from Dirty Rock. They watched stupid action movies, ate pizza, and drank sodas. She took a nap, wanting to be ready when Ace came home.

  In the wee hours of the morning, Ace kicked Numa out and took Lily to bed. Ace showered with her. She soaped him up, and he groaned as she ran her hands all over him. Then he washed her, being careful with her back.

  The scars scared him, somehow, made him want to shoot his mother Daniela in the face. He knew she was behind the break-in, and he needed to take the war to her. First, he needed custody of his brother, then he would remove her from the face of the earth.

  He let his anger harden him. Lily turned away from him. He washed in shampoo, washed it out, put in the rinse, washed that out too. He reached out of the shower, finding his jeans, and pulled out a condom. He put it on. He braced himself in the corner, turned Lily to face him, and picked her up. She slipped him in, gasping, and they pounded together, the shower sending steam billowing through the room. She came with an explosive cry that was almost a scream. He washed them both again, reached out to throw the condom in the trash, and turned off the shower.

  He gently but thoroughly dried her. She laughed when she saw that he bought a silky red robe for her. She put it on, turned to him, and posed. He went over to her and kissed her deeply. He almost took her again, but it was too soon. He led her out of the bathroom, and she squealed when she saw the vanity, with makeup, makeup brushes, and her blow dryer, just for her. He dried himself, then blow-dried her hair.

  He took her to bed, where she grasped with his ha
nds in hers and laid down on top of him. She took off the robe, threw it over the chair of her vanity, grabbed a condom off the side table, tore it with her teeth, and put the condom on him. She took him again, riding him. He stroked her back, then clenched her hips in his hands, feeling her move. Soon, the explosion took them both. He cleaned them both off, and they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

  Police Station Visit

  Monday the bar was closed, so they took a ride to Death Valley, known as the “Ride to Hell.” The sky was huge, the mountains brown, green and purple against the desert sky. They saw hawks wheeling above… a good sign. They drank lots of water and hit up Sonic in Pahrump for the best, yummy frozen drinks and burgers and fries.

  On Tuesday, Ace took Lily to the Harley dealership nearest the condo, and let her go insane. She bought gloves with reinforced knuckles, T-shirts, a leather vest, a face mask, a fantastic helmet, and a cooling vest for the Las Vegas heat. He talked her into letting him pay for her swag.

  In the parking lot, he told her the truth, “I have a trust fund. My uncle made it for me. I rarely draw from it. I’m going to be using on Keiran, to pay for his school, because he likes it and because it’s safe there. I don’t think either company will be there after this, and if my bitch of a mother murdered my father, whatever’s left of the companies she hasn’t stolen will be eaten up by legal fees. He has a trust, but he can’t get into it until he’s twenty-five.”

  “We have to take everything we know or think we know to the FBI, the police,” said Lily.

  “Not yet,” said Ace, “there’s something I have to do first.”

  “Well, get it done,” said Lily.

  On Wednesday before work, Ace took her to the gun range with Adam. She was able to try out several guns. She decided she liked the Glock 42 .380. Ace called a dealer, and they picked up the gun and an ankle holster.

  Ace and Lily found that they loved tending bar together. Lily did the books during slow times, and they developed a rhythm during the peak ones. Lily liked to dance behind the bar when she heard a song she loved, and she became wildly popular with the Friday and Saturday crowds.