by Evelyn Glass
“It doesn’t, not really. But, well, Uncle Val kind of looked after Mom and me after my dad died.”
“What happened?”
“He and Val were best friends. They joined the Grim Angels at the same time and they rose through the ranks together. Then, about twenty years ago, they went out to clean up a problem. One of their dealers was skimming.”
“I hate the fucking drugs,” Scott spat. “More trouble than they’re worth in my opinion. We should stick to the guns or, better yet, get out of the underground all together.”
“Yeah. Dad thought so, too, or so I hear from some of the old-timers. Anyway, they rode up to his house, and as they were getting off their bikes, the guy drove right through the garage door. Missed Val, but ran over my dad. He got hung under the truck and was dragged a long ways. He never had a chance.”
“Holy shit!”
“Yeah.”
“I’m really sorry, Jess.”
“It’s okay. It was a long time ago and I don’t really remember him, but after that Mom had to go to work. The Angels helped her out, made sure she had what she needed, and the café sort of became their unofficial headquarters. After her divorce from Ron, my step-dad, she bought the place and renovated it.”
“Jesus. All that, then this Luke business, too.” He looked at her solemnly a moment before gently tugging her lips to his. “No wonder you have bad dreams. Was your step-dad good to you?”
“The best. He still comes around sometimes. He’s a programmer for some company in Canada. Makes good money, but not really into the life, you know? Mom should have never married him and he deserved better than the way she treated him. Sometimes I wonder how it would have been if I had stayed with him when they divorced. Then…it wouldn’t have happened,” she said, not wanting to speak of it. “But I love the life. I love the bikes, and the parties.” She paused and smiled at him again before kissing him softly. “Bikers…I really love those.”
“Yes you did, especially last night. I thought you were going to kill me. But fuck, what a way to go.”
She smiled but didn’t say anything as she placed her head back on his chest, listening to the strong, slow, thudding of his heart. They had gone twice last night, the second time a slow and easy marathon that lasted for hours as they made love in every position they could imagine. She had come three times more before he had grunted out his third orgasm of the night. After they collapsed in a heap, sweaty and exhausted, she had fallen into a deep and dreamless sleep. That’s the key to a good night’s sleep. Get fucked senseless by Scott first!
“What do you do?” she asked after a moment of silence.
“For the club?”
“For the club and in real life.”
“I’m an enforcer for the club.”
“I figured that when you pulled your gun on that guy the other night. How many?”
“More than I want to admit. Three with Rick, the other guy that came up from Atlanta with me, the one who warned us Val was coming. Four more on my own.”
“Did they deserve it?” she asked, calling back his words to her.
“Not all of them, no. Those are the ones that make me wonder about what I’m doing with my life.”
“It’s part of the life.”
“Maybe, but it doesn’t have to be. Sometimes you just have to explain things in a way someone can understand.”
She smiled. No wonder Scott looked like a predator. He was. “You do that, too?”
“Yes.”
“How many of those?”
Scott woofed out a soft laugh. “More than I can easily count. Remember what I said about drugs being more trouble than they’re worth?”
“Ever get hurt?”
“A few times, but If I don’t like the odds, I get backup first. Being stupid is a quick way to get dead.”
“What about real life?”
“It’s boring.”
“I can use boring.”
He smiled. “I work for PPG as a rep. I travel around Atlanta, helping body shops that are having problems. Well, I did.”
She looked up at him. “Body shops? You mean like where they fix wrecked cars?”
“Yep. If they want to file a claim against PPG for a paint failure, I investigate to make sure the surface was properly prepped, that sort of thing. I teach them how to use our new products and make suggestion on which products might work better for them. Stuff like that. I told you it was boring. But it keeps me out of an office and gives me a lot of freedom for…other stuff.”
They were quiet a moment, enjoying each other’s company. “What are we going to do?” he finally asked. “We can’t run forever.”
“I know.”
“We should go back. I’m not afraid of Val, and I have a score to settle with Jason, the little prick.”
“I know. But you don’t know Val. He doesn’t—”
“No, but I know his type,” Scott interrupted. “I can handle him.”
“But the rest of the club?”
“Look, Jess, we have to get this shit sorted. If we can’t, then we can decide what to do. Do they have parley up here?”
“A what?”
“Parley. It means to talk without one side or the other trying something stupid. Kind of like a temporary truce. That’s how we deal with shit like this back home. If you can’t sort it out in a parley, then it gets real. But most of the time, shit can get settled and I don’t have to pay another visit in a more official capacity.”
“Oh,” she grunted. “You’re pretty damn smart for a biker.”
Scott smiled. “Believe it or not, I only need ten more credits to complete my Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering.”
She sat up so fast her hair fell across her face. “You’re shitting me! Why did you quit?”
He shrugged and grinned. “Just lost interest. I was in the Angels and, at the time, that seemed more important.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-eight. How old are you?”
“Jesus, you’re an old fart!”
Scott snickered. “Does that mean I’m robbing the cradle?”
“Twenty-five. But I like older men.”
“That’s good. I hope I can keep up.”
“You did okay yesterday. And this morning.” She was moving to take his lips to see if he was ready to prove is mettle again when her phone began to ring. “Val,” she said after looking at the screen. She pushed the button to put it on speaker. “Hello?”
“Jessica, goddamnit! Where the fuck are you? You get your ass home right—”
She pushed the button ending the call and grinned at Scott as she held the phone in her hand.
“You’re just pissing him off,” Scott deadpanned.
“Probably.” When her phone rang again her grin widened and she pushed the speaker button again. “Hello?”
“Goddamnit, Jessic—” Val roared from the phone before she could push the button. It took longer this time, and when the phone rang, she didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”
“Jessica!” Val’s voice came over the phone. “Don’t hang up!” Her thumb hovered over the button, but didn’t press it.
“Then don’t talk to me like that.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I was just worried, that’s all. Where are you?”
“Whose phone are you calling from?”
“Jason’s. Mine broke.”
“You mean you threw it?”
“Are you safe? Where are you?” Val asked, ignoring the question.
“I’m safe. I’m with Scott.”
“Did he…?”
“No he didn’t. I left with him because I wanted to.”
“I want you to come home.”
“Okay. What about Scott?”
“I’ll deal with him.”
“For what? What did he do that was so bad? Ask me out? Protect me from some thug at your party? What?”
“You shouldn’t have been at that party.”
“Yeah, I know.
I should be at the café, stuck in the kitchen.”
Val was quiet for a moment. “Okay, maybe I overreacted. But I don’t know this Scott Murphy from Audie Murphy. You should have come to me first and not just run off.”
“You didn’t give me much of a chance, now did you?” Jessica snapped, her frustration growing again. Everyone wants to run my life for me, I’m sick of it, and I’m not going to take it anymore! “Hell, I had only met him twice. But no, here you come, riding up with a bunch of Angels threatening to kill him. Yeah, you really gave me a chance.”
Val paused a moment. “How did you know about that?”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m not going to rat out an Angel like Jason did.”
Val was quiet for a moment. “Okay. You’re right. But that’s behind us now. Just come in. We’ll figure something out.”
“Parley?”
“What? What the fuck is a parley?”
Jessica grinned at Scott. “I guess not,” she said to him before returning her attention to the phone. “Ask Jason. He knows.”
Chapter Nineteen
“You ready for this?” Scott asked as his hog vibrated between his and Jessica’s legs. They had agreed to meet with Val, and Val alone, to try to work out a compromise.
“Let’s just do this,” she replied, her voice hard and full of determination.
He smiled as he eased the bike farther into the parking lot of the Farmers Restaurant before stopping and allowing her to dismount. As she removed her helmet he swung a leg over the bike and stood, scanning the area, his eyes narrow and hard, as he looked for signs of other Grim Angels.
“Look okay?” she asked, noticing how he became still except for his eyes.
“I don’t see anything.”
“If you get spooked, give the signal and we’re out of here.”
“No. We’re okay,” he said taking her by the waist and steering her toward the door. Not only did he want his hand on her for the pleasure of touching her, he wanted her close in case shit started going down. He opened the door and stepped in first, then held the door for her. He removed his sunglasses and scanned the dining room until he spotted Val and Jason, sitting in a booth, not far from the kitchen. He didn’t like being so far from the door, but the place was packed and there were no other tables. He gave his head a nod and started her walking toward the two men.
“I thought we were meeting alone,” Scott said as they stopped at the table.
“I brought Jason because he knows the rules of these parleys,” Val growled, like a dog protecting his turf.
Scott thought a moment then gave Jess a soft push toward the booth before sliding in beside her as she scooted across. “Say what you have to say.”
“I think we got off on the wrong foot,” Val began. “I know Jason told you Jess was off limits, but that didn’t come from me. He is in line to be president, but he’s not president yet. So, I’m willing to overlook it, this time. But it stops here, and it stops now.”
Jessica’s eyes narrowed. “It…what?”
“This…relationship, whatever you call it, with Scott.”
Before he could answer, Jess spoke. “You’re telling me who and I can and cannot date now?”
“I’m telling you that you are not part of the life anymore. After that, it’s your own business.”
“And if I don’t want to give up the life?”
“You don’t have any choice.”
“Val,” Scott began. “What’s your beef with me? What have I done that has pissed you off?”
Val dragged his eyes from Jessica and focused on him. “It not you, boy. It’s who you are. I want her out of the life. You willing to turn in your colors for her?”
“Maybe.”
“Bullshit,” Jason said. “You never gave two shits about a woman before. Why now?”
Scott pierced Jason with a glare. “That is none of your fucking business.” He turned his attention back to Val. “The Angels have been good to me, but the club doesn’t run my life. I’m not like Jason. I have a life outside the club. I do my job, and I do it well, but what I do on my own time is my business and mine alone. If you can’t accept that, then maybe it’s time for me to turn in my colors. But you didn’t answer the question. What is wrong with me? Is an Angel not good enough to date your niece? Do you think so little of the men you lead? If you do, that’s another reason it’s time for me to turn in my colors.”
Val sat blinking at Scott a moment. Nobody had ever questioned his authority before. “Listen, you little shit. I don’t know who you think you are, but what I say fucking goes!” he snarled quietly, driving a thick finger onto the tabletop. “I don’t have to justify a fucking thing to you, got it?”
Scott met Val’s eyes. “What I get is you think you run not only the club, but the brothers. But I got news for you: you don’t run me. You got that?”
“You’re not leaving here with her,” Val rumbled, his voice so low the cups on the table nearly vibrated.
“That’s up to her. If she wants to leave with me, then she will. If she wants to stay, she can. But it’s her choice, not yours.”
“Scott,” Jason began.
“Shut up!”
Val stared at Jess. “What’s it going to be? You going to make this easy or difficult?”
Jess chewed her bottom lip a moment. She looked at Scott and saw the same deadness in his eyes as he stared at Val that she saw the night of the party. He wouldn’t back down; she could see that. “If I choose to stay, will you let me?”
Scott felt his heart sink, knowing if she stayed he would never be able to touch her again. “If that is your choice, yes. But make sure you are staying for the right reason,” he replied. His eyes never left Val’s as he watched for signs of a double cross or impending violence.
Jess nodded. Scott would let her go if she chose to, unlike Luke, who had threatened her if she were ever to leave him. She nodded as she made up her mind. “I’m leaving with him.”
“Difficult it is, then,” Val said softly as he raised a hand over his shoulder and made a gesture as if calling someone forward.
Nine men in black leather stepped out of the kitchen, but before they made two steps, Scott’s weapon was pointed at Val’s forehead.
“Scott! What the fuck?” Jason yelped.
Jason’s soft shout of surprise was enough to make people look in their direction and then scramble for safety with much commotion and noise at the sight of the gun, but through it all, the gun never wavered. The nine men stopped in their tracks, unsure of what to do.
“You motherfucker,” Scott snarled at Val. “You can’t make anything simple, can you? Have you no honor? This was a parley; we could have worked this out. But instead of trying to do what is right, you had to play the heavy. So you tell me, Val, how difficult do you want to make this?”
“You can’t kill us all,” Val said. His voice never cracked, but he had gone pale.
“No, but I can kill you and your fucking sidekick. That’s two I owe you, you stupid Mick,” Scott said, his eyes never leaving Val. “Next time I see you, you and I will have a score to settle. Jess and I are leaving now. So the question is, are you going to make this easy or difficult?”
“You just signed your death warrant, Murphy,” Val said slowly.
“Then I have nothing to lose by killing you, do I?”
Jess sat, stunned into silent stillness. Here was a man who was willing to lay his life down for her, to give his life to rescue her from her prison without bars. “Scott…” she murmured, not sure what she wanted to say.
“What’s it going to be Val? You want to go out in a blaze of glory or are you going to let us walk out?”
Val raised his voice so everyone in the now silent restaurant could hear. “You can leave. But this isn’t over.”
“No. I’m sure it isn’t,” Scott said as he began to slide out, Jess scooting out right behind him. He nudged her behind him, his Glock still pointed at Val’s head, putting his body between he
r and danger. An Angel took a step forward and Scott’s gun popped up, pointed at him briefly, and then returned to Val, all in the space of two seconds.
“Don’t be stupid or your president is going to get a nine right between the eyes.”