RIDE (A Stone Kings Motorcycle Club Romance)

by Daphne Loveling

  “How did you find out about this?” I asked, turning to Levi.

  “I called him,” Repo answered. “Right after they took off. Shitty service up here, though, the call cut out right after I made contact.”

  Levi nodded his assent. “All I got was there was a problem, and where they were. So I texted you so we could meet at the clubhouse and ride out together.”

  “You did the right thing.”

  “So, what happens now?” Repo asked.

  “I’ll be fucked if I know,” I answered honestly. “Whoever did this is gonna pay, though, and pay hard. First things first, we get an ID on that van. Probably too much to ask that it wasn’t stolen, but if we do get a positive ID that it’s theirs, that makes the rest of our decisions pretty fucking simple.” I looked at Levi. “Get some eyes on it.”

  “You got it boss.” He stepped away and took out his phone.

  I turned to Repo. “Your old lady is waiting at the clubhouse for you. You’ll want to let her know you’re okay.” He nodded and stepped away.

  I thought about Seton, then. I knew I should call and let her know what happened. It was gonna seem like cold fucking comfort, though, for her to hear that her brother was okay but that he had been in a drive by shooting. I considered the very real possibility that she would be angry enough to break things off with me completely.

  I couldn’t blame her. Hell, I should be the one to break things off with her, just to protect her from having one more person to worry about whenever shit like this went down. I couldn’t allow her to be part of this life, I realized as I walked back to my bike and texted Sag to make arrangements to pick up the bullet-ridden bikes. It wasn’t right for me to try to keep her, just because I was in love with her.

  Because I was in love with her.

  Just my fucking luck.

  When Levi returned from his call, I motioned toward our two bikes. “Come on,” I said. “Let’s get out of here before the cops come over and start asking questions.”

  Levi nodded, and then suddenly broke into a shit-eating grin. Repo hardly ever smiled.

  “What?” I asked, frowning.

  “Repo’s bike is fucked. He’s gonna have to ride bitch,” he laughed.

  I snorted. “Not my bitch. He’s all yours.”

  Levi wandered over to Repo and said a few words. They came back toward me, Repo glowering and Levi almost jubilant.

  “Get on, sweet butt,” Levi cooed, patting the seat behind him.

  “Fuck you,” Repo muttered.

  I got a phone call on the way back, and we stopped by the side of the road so I could take it. It was Moose, telling me that Trigger was all patched up, and that the prospects were fine, only some minor scratches. I relayed the info to Levi and Repo, and we finished the ride back to the clubhouse.

  When we walked in pretty much the entire club was there waiting for us. The first thing I saw was Seton, who came running over to me, her eyes wide and dark.

  “What happened?” Her hands clutched my arm. “Is Cal okay?”

  “Cal’s fine, sweetheart,” I murmured. “Don’t worry. He’ll probably be back any minute.”

  She let out a deep breath and tried to smile. “Will you tell me what happened?”

  “Eventually.” I put my arm around her. “Right now, I need to talk to the men. Why don’t I take you home?”

  “No,” she said stubbornly. “I want to wait for Cal to get back.”

  I pulled her close and kissed her. “Okay, you win. Stay here for now. I’ll take you back later.” Detaching myself from Seton, I walked over to Repo and his old lady, who were engaged in a reunion of their own. “Hey,” I nodded to them both. Jules smiled tremulously.

  Turning to Repo, I said: “When Trigger and the rest of them get back, we need to have church. Don’t go anywhere.”

  “Got it.” He looked at Jules. “I could use a beer.”

  “Don’t go anywhere,” she smiled. “I got you.” She kissed him and wandered over to the bar.

  Just then, the door opened. Winger and Moose strode in, followed by Trigger on crutches, and finally, Cal and Frankenstein.

  “Hey, what’s Frankenstein’s actual name, anyway?” I asked Repo.

  He grinned. “Chad.”

  “Fuckin’ Chad?” I sputtered. “Jesus H., Frankenstein is one hell of an improvement.”

  “You’re tellin’ me,” he drawled.

  We stood around and watched the happy faces as the men were welcomed back. Seton was talking to Cal, her face beaming with relief. I gave them a few minutes, then raised my voice above the din. “Church in three!”

  A murmur of assent rose in response. I turned to Repo.

  “I want the prospects at this meeting, too.”

  He gave me a questioning look. Prospects were never allowed in church.

  “They were there,” I said. “I want them to be part of this discussion. I want to know what they saw.”

  “I see your point. Probably best to have all the intel we can.”

  “I say we ride back into their territory and set fire to their fuckin’ clubhouse,” Moose bellowed loudly. A few of the men voiced their agreement.

  I had to admit it was tempting. The tension and anger in the room were palpable. The Stone Kings were out for blood. I looked around the table. “Did anybody who was there see anything that could tell us who it was?” I looked at the prospects. “You?”

  Cal looked at Frankenstein, who shook his head. “All I saw was the barrel of an AR sticking out of a van.”

  Cal agreed. “I didn’t see anything either. Fuck, glass and shit was flying all over the place so fast it was impossible to see anything.”

  “Had to be the Cannibals,” Trigger said.

  “What’s the message?” Repo asked. “Payback for driving into their territory? That makes no goddamn sense, to go out that hard.”

  “Fuckin’ idiotic, doing a goddamn thing like that, with no context and civilians all over the goddamn place, I growled.”

  “Could have been the Aztecs,” Tiny said.

  “Nah,” Moose countered. “That’s not Aztecs’ M.O. Besides, we got no beef with them right now. I still think it’s the Cannibals.”

  “What’s the message?” Repo repeated.

  “Preemptive warning, maybe,” Trigger replied.

  “Warning about what?”

  “Who knows? A giant ‘don’t fuck with us’ message. A blanket statement?”

  “Some warning, when they were too much of a bunch of fuckin’ pussies to even show us who they were,” spat Levi in disgust.

  “All right.” I nodded at the prospects. “You two. You can leave.” They stood and filed out, closing the door behind them.

  “Okay.” I leaned my elbows on the table and folded my fingers. “Here’s how we’re gonna play this. We don’t know who did this, but the Cannibals are the most likely culprits. Fact is, with them having a new president, we don’t know much about how they plan to operate going forward.” A change in leadership could alter a lot about the way it operated, for bad or for good. “So we’re gonna presume right now that this is the first move in a pissing contest.”

  “So, how do we piss back?” challenged Moose.

  “We get ourselves ready for a battle. Maybe even a war,” I announced. “If this is the way they communicate, then negotiation ain’t gonna cut it with them.” I turned to Levi. “You’re gonna go make a recon visit to their clubhouse. See what you can see. See if you can identify the van there. Find out what they’re up to. Take one or two of the others with you, your choice.”

  Levi looked around the table. “Moose. Repo.” The two men nodded.

  I looked at the three of them. “This is recon only. Not looking for payback. Yet. Got that?” I eyed Moose for emphasis. He scowled, but nodded once.

  “Okay.” I banged the gavel. “Church is over. Officers, stay behind.”

  The men filed out in uncharacteristic silence. Trigger, Winger, Levi, Moose and Repo stayed in their seat
s.

  “How you doing, Trig?” I asked.

  “Okay,” he muttered. “Good thing it’s my right leg. I should be able to ride before too long.”

  “We gonna have to replace the bikes, or can they be repaired?” I hadn’t bothered to look closely at them when we were at Maisie’s.

  “We might be able to save one or two of them,” Repo said doubtfully.

  “All right. When we bring them back here, we’ll see what can be done. Whatever can’t be saved, the club will replace.” I changed the subject. “How’d the prospects do?”

  “They did good,” Repo affirmed. “Frankenstein went into action and ducked in behind a booth after the windows got shattered. He fired off a few rounds, probably hit the van once or twice.”

  Winger grunted. “That’s good. Makes it easier to identify, since I’m guessing no one got their plates, if they had any.”

  “Cal didn’t do so shabby himself.” Trig said approvingly. “He grabbed a little kid sitting a couple tables over, took him down on the ground and covered him so he wouldn’t get hurt.”

  I nodded. You get a person in a life or death situation, you know more about them from their first reaction than you could learn about them in ten years. Both prospects showed good instincts.

  “Okay. Good.” I stood up. “We’ll talk again when Levi, Moose, and Repo get back.”

  In the meantime, it was time to go talk to Seton.

  17

  Seton

  The hours I spent at the club waiting for Cal and the others to get back were the most scared I had ever been in my life. Grey had apparently put the clubhouse on ‘lockdown’ before he left to go check things out, and so no one was allowed to come in or leave until they got back. A few of the club members stood guard at the doors, and I could hear the occasional murmur of their voices as they checked in with each other, but other than that it was fairly quiet.

  I knew that apparently the attack at the diner was over, and that no one in the club was critically hurt. In theory, Cal and the others were out of danger, but all the same I kept thinking about the day of my father’s death and how awful it would be to have my brother die in the same way. The irony was, though, that this time, it was the club members who were the victims, instead of my “civilian” father.

  And then there was Greyson. I knew that as president, he would be an immediate target of anyone with bad intentions toward the club. Having them both out there was making me frantic, and I only managed to contain myself because Jules, Repo’s old lady, made sure I wasn’t left alone.

  Jules was amazing to me during the wait. She was so patient and kind. She looked to be about thirty, with ash blond hair and blue eyes that twinkled when she talked. She was funny and genuine, and I liked her immediately.

  “How do you stand it?” I asked her. “How can you not go out of your mind when things like this happen?” I felt sheepish that her husband (were they married, I wondered abstractly?) was out there in danger, but she was calmer than I was.

  “It doesn’t get easy, but it does get easier,” she assured me. “I trust Repo. I know he can defend himself. This is the way things are. It’s better to just accept them and have faith. Your brother’s in good hands with the men.” She gave me a knowing look. “And don’t you worry about Greyson. He’ll be fine.”

  I blushed. Up to now, she hadn’t mentioned Grey at all.

  “How long you and he been an item, sugar?” she asked. “I haven’t seen you around here before.”

  “I’m not really sure we are an item,” I admitted. I thought about what he had said when we came into the clubhouse earlier: She’s with me. “I mean, obviously, there’s something going on between us. I just don’t know what it is.”

  “Well,” she drawled, taking a sip of her beer. “I’ve never seen Greyson Stone look at a woman the way he looks at you. So I think it’s a pretty sure bet the two of you are an item.”

  “He said he doesn’t do relationships,” I ventured. “I stayed over at his house last night, and this morning he told me that normally he doesn’t have women do that.”

  She erupted into peals of laughter. “Now, that is an understatement! Honey, if you’ve been in the inner sanctum of Grey’s bedroom, you can count yourself as one of the lucky few. If not the only.” She leaned back and gazed at me speculatively. “I can see what he sees in you. You’re a real beauty.”

  I blushed and looked around the room at the half a dozen other women who were there. Most of them were young and blond, with huge breasts and clothes that looked painted on. “I don’t know if I’m in the same category as them,” I observed. “Are they ‘old ladies,’ too?”

  She snorted. “Hell no, most of them are just club wh… uh, women who hang around the men, hoping they will take an interest. Jacie, over there,” she pointed a finger, “she’s Sag’s old lady, but,” her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, “I don’t think she’s gonna last.”

  “You don’t sound like you like her very much,” I whispered back.

  “Eh, she’s just a club whore who got lucky,” Jules shrugged. “Pardon my French.”

  Just then, one of the door guards shouted a word to another. The front door opened and Grey stepped in, followed by two other men. I stood up and ran over to him before I even knew what I was doing.

  “What happened?” I asked anxiously “Is Cal okay?”

  “Cal’s fine, sweetheart,” he murmured into my ear. “Don’t worry. He’ll probably be back any minute.”

  I exhaled all at once. I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding my breath. “Will you tell me what happened?”

  “Eventually.” He put an arm around me, hugging me to him. “Right now, I need to talk to the men. Why don’t I take you home?”

  “No. I want to wait for Cal to get back.” I knew I wouldn’t be able to stand it, pacing back and forth in my apartment, waiting for a call. I had to see for myself that Cal was safe.

  Grey pulled me close and kissed me. “Okay, you win. Stay here for now. I’ll take you back later.”

  Relieved, I let him go talk to the other men and went back to my vigil with Jules. About half an hour later, the guards opened the door again. A group of men streamed in, one on crutches, and finally Cal. I leaped up with a shout and went to him.

  “Oh, my God, Cal, are you okay?” I cried, hugging him.

  He seemed surprised to see me. “Yeah, I’m fine, See. Really.” He frowned. “But, what are you doing here?”

  Belatedly, I remembered that he had no idea that I even knew Greyson Stone, much less that there was anything going on between us. I stammered out the first thing I could think of. “I, uh, met Greyson when you left my car here. He told me what happened and drove me here so I could wait.”

  Cal didn’t appear to be too happy that Grey had involved me. “Uh, okay, I guess,” he frowned. “But you could have just waited at your place, Seton. I don’t like the idea of my sister waiting here for me to get back.” He looked around, embarrassed. “It looks like I’m some sort of little kid. Plus, it’s dangerous.”

  I wanted to tell him about Greyson, I really did. But something held me back. Hell, I didn’t even know if there was anything real between us. I thought back to Jules’ whispered confidence about Jacie: I don’t think she’s gonna last. For all I know, someone would be saying that about me soon.

  “It wasn’t dangerous,” I retorted, trying to change the subject. “We were on lockdown. The MC had guys guarding all the doors just in case.” I contemplated the irony of me assuring him that I was safe.

  Suddenly, Grey’s voice cut through the chatter. “Church in three!” he yelled.

  I looked at Cal. “What does that mean?”

  “It means the club’s having a meeting in three minutes.”

  “Oh.”

  A bearded man wearing a cut with a patch that said “Road Captain” came up to Cal. “Prez wants you and Frankenstein at church.”

  “Sure thing,” Cal said. He turned to me. “I
gotta go.”

  The men were away for a while. I was uncertain what to do. On the one hand, I didn’t know whether Grey would be mad that I was still there when they were done. On the other, I didn’t have my car, so I would need a ride home if I left. So, I just decided to wait. I struck up some awkward conversations with a couple of the other women, and eventually sat down at the bar and chatted with the blond bartender to make the time pass more quickly.

  After a while, Cal came out with a tall, lanky guy with gaunt features who looked to be in his early twenties at most. They approached the bar, and Cal asked for a beer. He didn’t look too happy that I was still around.

  “Seton,” he muttered, “This is Frankenstein.” I tried not to laugh at how well the nickname fit him.

  “Nice to meet you,” I replied, not knowing what you were supposed to say when you met a guy named Frankenstein. He nodded a silent greeting to me.

  “So, uh, Seton, you gonna be hanging around much longer?” Cal asked. He glanced around the room nervously.

  “I, um, don’t have my car,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t offer to drive me back.

  “Huh. Well, I’d give you a ride, but my bike got kind of shot up at Maisie’s.” He looked at me curiously. “How’d you get here, anyway?”

  “Um… Grey brought me,” I reminded him.

  “Oh yeah.” Cal responded with a frown. The words hung in the air awkwardly.

  The noise of a door opening in the back made him turn his head, and I looked with him to see Grey emerge with five of the other men. Grey broke apart from the group and approached us, accompanied by the large, muscled man who had caught me when I almost fell off Grey’s bike. He was covered in intricate tattoos that adorned all the visible skin from his neck down. Grey spoke to Cal and Frankenstein: