by J. L. Leslie
“They’re going to the Souls of Satan’s clubhouse.”
“But that’s where you—”
“Were taken.”
She clicks on the GPS, going through the address history. And much like Hunter did, she sits there quietly, not saying a word about what she’s found.
“What am I missing?” I ask.
“I think we should talk to Hunter and Jake when they get back.”
“No. Not for him to shut me out again. Tell me what the hell is going on,” I demand. “Dammit, Skylar. I need to know. If this has anything to do with Paul and what’s happened to him, I deserve to know.”
“His address history…the Souls’ clubhouse is in there.”
“That can’t be possible.”
“It’s in there,” she confirms. “And so is my address. The one to my old apartment. The one where Don kidnapped me.”
“I don’t…I don’t understand.”
She places her hand over mine. “I don’t either. I’m sure that’s what Hunter is trying to figure out. We’ll get to the bottom of this. Maybe it’s a huge misunderstanding.”
Maybe my fiancé is in serious trouble. Or maybe my fiancé isn’t who I thought he was.
HUNTER
Dean stands with his arms crossed, annoyed at my unannounced visit. Like I could give a shit. I may owe him a favor, but he’s playing games with me, and I need answers.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Paul Crews,” I say. “You want me to retrieve him from the Eagles. I need to know why they have him.”
“Fuck if I know.”
“Don’t bullshit me, Dean.”
“You’re more than welcome to ask Owen why he took him. All I want you to do is get him back. By whatever means necessary.”
I cross my arms, mimicking his stance. “You know good and damn well I can’t go onto their territory and just get the guy.”
“You think I give a damn how you do it? Get it done.”
“Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?”
He points his finger at me. “I’m talking to the bitch who owes me a fucking favor. That’s who I’m talking to.”
I try to keep my cool. Tell myself it’s not a good idea to react to him. He’s baiting me. Practically begging me for a reaction. But I don’t always take my own advice. I hear Jake call out a warning right before I have Dean slammed against the wall, my hands around his throat.
“You come onto my property and lay hands on me!” he yells, and I tighten my squeeze. “This will not end well for you!”
“You sure about that?” Jake asks, pressing the tip of his gun to Dean’s temple. We all know it’s cocked and loaded.
“Shit,” Dean mutters.
“Paul Crews,” I say again. “What do the Eagles want with him?”
He doesn’t answer right away, so I squeeze harder. His face turns a deep shade of red. A commotion indicates we have company.
“Back the fuck up, or you can clean his brains off the fucking wall,” Jake warns, his voice eerily calm as he draws another gun and aims it at them. “When they’re done talking, we leave. It’s up to y’all if there’s any blood shed here tonight.”
“Call them off,” I hiss at Dean.
He glares at me but gives in. “Back off,” he orders.
“Now, answer my fucking question.”
“Paul provides a service for us.”
“Quit with the shady answers, asshole,” Jake says. “What kind of service?”
“He’s Don’s brother. You know, the guy I let you gut from dick to chin?”
I let up, taking a step back from him and Jake slowly lowers his gun. “You running girls?”
“What I do with my club is none of your business,” Dean replies. “I stay in my damn territory, and you stay in yours. The Fallen Eagles encroached in mine to take my guy. I have a damn job to do, and that’s providing for this fucking club and their families. You going to make good on the favor you owe or not? Because I can think of other ways for you to cash in. Like that pretty fucking blonde who belongs to Paul.”
“She doesn’t belong to him,” I snarl.
“She sure as hell doesn’t belong to you,” he snaps back. “Get the job done. And because of this fucking disrespectful stunt you pulled, you have forty-eight hours. The clock is ticking.”
Son of a bitch. I suppose it was worth it. Paul is definitely working with the Souls.
ALLIE
Skylar looks over at me, eyeballing the way I’m white-knuckling the steering wheel. We’re almost at the clubhouse, having grabbed a bite to eat before heading back.
“Don’t let your imagination run away with you before you find out what’s actually going on,” she suggests.
“You’re right. Maybe he knew someone in the apartment building. And maybe the address for the Souls’ clubhouse was already in here when he purchased the vehicle. I think he purchased it used.”
“I know something that could take your mind off all this,” Skylar says with a grin. “We started an all-female MC.”
“Are you serious? When did that happen?”
“It’s pretty new. We have several members, mostly ol’ ladies and some club whores who wanted out of that.”
“So, it’s allowed? The RBMC supports it?”
“Absolutely. We established our rules based on the Bastards’, and there are other chapters who have sister MCs just like us.”
“I’m speechless. I can’t imagine you in an MC.”
“Jake wasn’t crazy about it, but we have the full protection of the club.”
“Do you even know how to ride a bike?”
She laughs. “Jake taught me, actually. So, yes, I know how to ride a bike. I really think this is a great thing. We were already involved in a lot of things the club does, just on the back end. We rally together for meals and get togethers, handle any supply runs, that sort of thing. We decided to have our own club. Carson’s ol’ lady, Lina, is our president and Davina is the VP.”
“What do y’all do for money? You have to have some sort of income.”
“We’re opening a bar & grille soon. We’re going to launder the RBMC income through it, and they’ll give us a percentage of that. It’ll save them from having to launder through the businesses in the city.”
“Are you going to have guys who come around? You know, like the club whores do?”
She giggles. “I don’t know. Jake would shit a fucking brick.”
“If you’re going to be just like the guys, I don’t see why you shouldn’t. I’m sure not all the women are claimed,” I say.
“You’re right. Doesn’t mean it will go over well,” she says with a laugh. “We wanted somewhere for us women to go. Something for us to do. We want to be recognized, given credit for our accomplishments instead of staying in the shadows.”
“It does sound really good. Almost like a safe haven. When I was in rehab, there were a lot of women in there who had gotten caught up in drugs as their escape from an abusive relationship. And most of the time, they were in there again because they had nowhere to go when they got out. They just kept going back to the same life, same routine, again and again.”
She shrugs. “When we get the bar & grille open, we’ll need some help. A job can be a safe haven.”
“Most definitely. Y’all are going to do great.”
“So, are you in?”
I burst out laughing. “You can’t be serious. It’s been a year since I’ve been in this lifestyle. I don’t even live around here anymore, remember?”
“Yeah. You live in Alabaster. Ooh, that’s sooo far away. There are no requirements that you have to reside in Birmingham to be a Royal Harlot.”
“Royal Harlots, huh?”
“Yep. Badass, huh?”
“It is. Suits you perfectly,” I say with a laugh. “But I don’t think it’s for me. Good luck with it. I already have my hands full with finding my fiancé and figuring out who he really is.”
N
ot to mention the fact that I’m still in love with my baby daddy.
HUNTER
“They went in that door,” I say. “Had his laptop. He’s definitely here at the clubhouse.”
“Unless they moved him.”
“What do you think happened?”
He shrugs. “This guy works for the Souls. Whatever it is he’s doing for them, running girls or not, maybe the Eagles wanted in on it.”
“He has to be Don’s partner. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“Or he could be getting drugs for the Souls. He is a nurse. He has to have access to prescriptions and such. Maybe even tending to their wounds.”
I shake my head. “Doesn’t fit.”
“Either it doesn’t fit, or you don’t want it to be something like that. That would mean he isn’t necessarily a bad guy, just caught up in a bad situation.”
“I don’t want him to be a bad guy,” I say with a shrug. “He has been raising my kid, you know.”
“I say we go back to the clubhouse and take this to the table. We need some sort of game plan to get him that’ll take care of the favor you owe the Souls and possibly keep us from starting a war with the Eagles.”
“Or we just go in and get him right now. We have the guns and the element of surprise.”
“You’re fucking joking, right? There are two of us. No telling how many of their guys are in there.”
“I have forty-eight hours, Jake,” I say and climb off my bike.
“Hunter,” he hisses. “You have a son. Think about him before you make a rash decision.”
That stops me in my tracks. Wes. Allie. I have something to lose. I get back on, and Jake breathes a sigh of relief.
“I’m all for going in guns blazing, man, but only when that shit is necessary. When it’s a last fucking resort.”
“I get it.”
“We’ll figure this shit out. Maybe we can make a deal with the Eagles. Guns for Paul. They wanted to purchase a supply from us before. We turned them down. Who’s to say we can’t make that arrangement now?” Jake suggests.
“Yeah, I’ll talk to Mason. Figure something out.”
“Let’s get the hell out of here before we’re spotted.”
We head back to the clubhouse. When we get there, Allie and Skylar are in the kitchen. They’ve cooked a big meal for the club, and some of the guys are already eating. I spot Mason and go sit beside him at the bar.
“Paul is working with the Souls. Not sure exactly what he does. Dean wasn’t very forthcoming with that. But that’s why the Eagles have him. Whatever it is he does for the Souls, apparently they want in on the action.”
“Any bloodshed I need to be worried about?”
“No. We behaved ourselves,” Jake says with a smirk. “For the most part.”
“Jesus. How bad?”
“I have forty-eight hours to fulfill my favor of retrieving Paul from the Eagles, who happens to be Don’s fucking brother.”
“Fuck. You think he’s part of the trafficking shit Don was into?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
“Okay, let me see what I can do. I’ll try to arrange a sit down with Owen. You think the guy’s still alive?”
“I think so. At least until he does what they need him to.”
“Are we definitely thinking drugs or trafficking?”
“He could be on retainer as their nurse, though,” Jake answers.
I shake my head. “My gut says trafficking. That’s what his brother was into. Has to be the same thing.”
“Makes sense,” Mason agrees. “I’ll let you know about Owen. Steer clear of the Eagles for now.”
“What about Allie?” I ask. “Are we telling her any of this?”
“It’s club business now. There’s nothing to tell.”
I’m not sure she would agree with that. Part of me is dying to tell her the man she wants to be with is a fucking liar.
But I don’t want her running to me because she’s running from him.
ALLIE
I smile at Jill, the receptionist at Southern Hospitality Rehab, when I walk in. She gives me a friendly wave and stands up from her desk, coming around to give me a hug and peek down at Wes.
“I’m so glad you finally brought him in. Everyone has been anxious to meet him. The pictures Paul shows us do not do this little man justice.”
“Thank you.”
“And you tell that big man of yours we’re ready for his vacation to be over.”
I mask my shock, not wanting her to know I haven’t heard anything about Paul taking a vacation. So, he either planned this, or he contacted them to let them know he wouldn’t be at work. This shit gets more and more confusing.
“I’ll tell him. He actually wanted me to pick up a few things from his office if that’s fine.”
“Sure thing,” she says, leading me back. “Have you two set a date yet?”
“Not yet.”
She opens the door and lets me in. I place Wes’s carrier on the desk. The phone rings, and she excuses herself, rushing back to the front desk. I immediately start looking around, pulling open the first file cabinet drawer to see if there’s anything that will give me answers.
Patient files. Of course.
I open the second drawer and the third. All patient files. His desk drawers have a few pieces of candy, a bottle of Ibuprofen, and standard office supplies. There’s nothing here. Just like there’s nothing at home.
I stare at the photo on his desk. It’s the three of us. He looks so happy, genuinely happy.
“Where are you?” I whisper.
I get Wes and head out, telling Jill goodbye, then I spend the rest of the day checking his favorite places. The coffee shop where he stops each morning. The deli where he goes for lunch. I search every place he could possibly be. All dead ends. No one has even seen him. The only place I haven’t gone is to the Souls of Satan clubhouse.
Fuck it. I want answers, and no one at the RBMC is going to give them to me.
I find the address in the GPS, recognizing it from where Hunter and Jake were headed before, and let it lead me there. The clubhouse really doesn’t seem any different than ours on the outside. Same security system, same look. Once I’m let inside, two bikers greet me. If I hadn’t grown up around the club, I’d probably be afraid, but I know how this works. They want to know why I’m here.
I roll my window down. “I’m looking for my fiancé, Paul Crews.”
The guy twirls a set of keys on his finger as he approaches the vehicle. He peeks inside, seeing Wes in the backseat. “You need to leave.”
“Not until I know where my fiancé is.”
A man walks outside, and I get the vibe he’s the president. He has to be. The other members immediately take notice, a sign of respect. The guy who was at my window walks over to him, leaning in to talk. No doubt telling him why I’m here.
“Blondie,” the man says as he approaches. “I thought you might show up.”
“Do you know where Paul is?”
“Pretty sure you have some friends taking care of that for you. You need to get back home. Get your kid out of here.”
“I just want to know where he is and why he was here.”
He rests his arms on my window, leaning in. “I’m sure you do, but I’m telling you that you need to go while I’m willing to let you.”
An underlying threat bleeds into his tone. He doesn’t want me here, and he certainly doesn’t want me asking questions about Paul. I give him a slight nod, and he steps away from my vehicle, letting me pull away.
I came to find answers. I guess I found one. Paul isn’t who I thought he was.
HUNTER
It’s official. We have a sit down with Owen tomorrow. Just in fucking time. I take a swig of my beer and position my pool cue. I keep looking at the door, waiting on Allie and Wes. When I got back from making a supply run, they were gone. She’d slipped out on Dash while he was asleep. No one has seen or heard from her since, and s
he’s not answering her fucking phone.
“Come on, baby,” the blonde beside me says, easing her arms around my waist. “It’s been too long.”
I shrug her off and make my shot, grinning over at Dash. “We can go ahead and call this game if you want.”
“I don’t give up,” he brags. “Unless you got some business you need to go tend to.”
He motions to the chick still hanging around. She’ll move on when she realizes I’m not interested.
“Nope.”
The disappointment on her face is clear, but she’s persistent. Stepping in front of me, she wraps her arms around my waist.
“You can put it anywhere,” she says, squeezing my ass.
Dash whistles, getting my attention as he nods toward the door. Allie walks inside, Wes in his carrier. I step away from the woman and go over to her.
“Where the fuck have you been?”
“You won’t give me any answers, so I went to get them myself,” she replies, taking Wes out. “Look, why don’t you go back over there to Blondie and leave me alone.”
She walks away, heading over to the bassinet. I patiently wait for her to change Wes’s diaper, then I tell Dash to watch him. Allie and I need to talk.
“I have nothing to say.”
I grab her arm and pull her toward me. Of course, she resists. She always fucking resists.
“Do I need to throw you over my shoulder?” I ask, jerking her to me.
She stares at me defiantly, still tugging her arm away. Fine. Let’s do it the hard way. Lifting her, I toss her over my shoulder like the caveman she thinks I am. A few of the guys whoop and holler while I carry her to my room.
“Where did you go today?” I ask, putting her down. She stumbles back a little, slapping at my hand when I try to steady her.
“None of your damn business.”
“None of my damn business? You had my son with you, so I’d say that makes it my fucking business, Allie.”
“Your son? You’ve been his dad for…what? Five minutes? Now you want to worry about him?”