by London Casey
I ignored them all and opened the door to the conference room. Almost instantly, everyone started to clap and cheer for me. It was a congratulatory applause for surviving being run down by the SUV. It was also the first time I’d been at the table since the attack.
Trent pulled my chair out, but I wasn’t going to sit down. I pulled the chair out of the way and just stood there. I looked down the table to Prez and nodded.
“Where are we?” Prez asked.
“There’s been nothing else happening,” Max said. “Town has been quiet. This looks like a once-and-done thing.”
“No reports at hospitals of a gunshot victim,” Cade said. “So this was all underground. Under the radar.”
“Fuck,” Cash said. “What do you think, Prez? Irish attacking?”
“We have a call out to Garvan,” Prez said.
“No response, though,” Jasper said. He sucked on a cigarette. “We might need to push a harder angle at getting a response. Pull something out of our ass.”
“We’ve got plenty to pull,” Cash said.
“You have plenty,” Xavier said. “You keep fooling around with those wild women. I can’t imagine what’s been rammed up your ass.”
“I’ll put my fist up your ass,” Cash said.
“You’d like it too much,” Xavier shot back.
“Why would they attack us?” I asked, breaking up the assplay stuff. “We have nothing to offer the Irish, and we don’t owe them shit. What about the O’Nuall family?”
“Channels,” Prez said. “We go slow with this. If you put too many hands in the kitchen, the food will taste like shit.”
“Fuck the kitchen,” I said.
“I’ll personally call Bryant today,” Prez said. “Try to get something. Someone on the line. How’s your leg, brother?”
“Still attached,” I said.
“You going to physical therapy?”
I curled my lip. I looked at Duke. He was straight-faced. Had he ratted me out?
“I’ll go for him,” Cash said. “I’ve seen the women there. They can bend and twist my leg all they want.” Cash turned and leaned toward me. “See, the trick is to put them in a position where you can look down their shirt. Get yourself a good view while they put you in pain.”
“Thanks for the tip,” I said.
Prez lifted the gavel. “Before I swing this. Business. We find out what happened and get squared up. We don’t assume anything, so we don’t start a war. When we get Garvan and Bryant on the phone, then we’ll move up to the O’Nuall family. Something will push through on this. Now, on a personal level. Our brother here, Hudson, took a hit for another brother, Cash. If that SUV would have hit Cash, we’d be sitting here with an empty chair. Cash would be six feet in the dirt, and we’d have every goddamn charter around us piling in to offer their condolences and their top picks to replace Cash’s seat. So we all lift our glass to Hudson.”
Trev swung the gavel and grabbed a drink. All my brothers. Throwing back shots of whiskey and beers. Punching the table. It sounded like thunder. It got my goddamn heart racing, too. But I had nothing to say to them. I turned and walked with my goddamn crutches out of the conference room and through the clubhouse. I went outside and went to my motorcycle. She just stood there, front wheel turned, my bucket helmet hanging from the handlebar, resting peacefully. But my two-wheeled beast didn’t want rest. She wanted the road. She wanted action. She wanted fucking danger. Freedom and the outlaw way of surviving.
And there I was, standing, depending on crutches.
I reached forward and touched the leather seat.
I wanted to be out there, doing what was best for my club. Checking in and out of the normal places. Collecting monies owed, protecting people, finding some kind of outlaw trouble to get into. The normal life that I embraced as my own.
“You’ll get back on her soon.”
I turned and saw Cash standing there. He hooked his thumbs into the belt loops of his jeans. His black sunglasses covered his eyes. His face was scruffy like a homeless man’s, his hair matching, just greasier.
“Time will tell.”
“You saved my ass,” Cash said. “I’ll forever fight for you, brother. Rules or not.”
“Everyone knows the rules, brother.”
“Fuck the rules.”
I laughed, even though I agreed. “Easy for you to say.”
“Easy for you to go to physical therapy and get your leg twisted up a little. What’s the worst that could happen?” I just stared at Cash. “Who worked on you the first time? A woman, right?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“There you go. It’s like a free handjob.”
“My dick isn’t on my leg, Cash.”
“Then your dick isn’t big enough,” he said with a grin.
I shook my head. “You’re a real prick, man.”
“We’re going there together,” Cash said. “You get in your truck. I get on my ride. And you’re going there.”
“Like hell…”
Cash took his sunglasses off and glared at me. “Listen, if you don’t, you’re going to be pushed out of the club. Not by our doing, okay? And if you think voting a member out is hard when the guy deserves it, you haven’t seen anything when someone doesn’t deserve it. You don’t deserve it. Get your leg fixed. Right now.”
I looked over to my truck.
Cash smashed his hand to my shoulder, almost knocking me over.
“Come on, let’s go. I’m going to show up with a hard-on and ask for the prettiest woman there to work the kinks out.”
Cash laughed, but I ignored what he had to say.
I wasn’t in the mood for fucking jokes.
If I was going to keep my leg, my ride, my cut, and my club, I needed Cora.
But before that I needed to do something I wasn’t used to doing.
I needed to apologize to her.
7
CORA
Leslie pulled me aside after I came out of the bathroom. She was just standing there and scared me. Her face was red, and I couldn’t tell if she was angry or embarrassed over something.
“There’s a man here looking for you.”
My heart sank.
It’s him.
But it couldn’t be. I just took care of a payment the other day. There was no way he would come back looking for more so soon. And if he was, I was in some serious trouble.
“Who… I’m…”
“That guy,” Leslie said. “The rough looking one from before. The biker.”
“The biker?” I asked.
It wasn’t like Hudson had slipped my mind at all. In fact, it was the opposite. My mind was obsessed with him, if only because I never had someone walk out on me before. I had a lot of bad days and rough appointments but never had someone just bolt like he did. Or curse like he did. Or look like he did.
I poked my head out to the main floor and saw Hudson standing there. Suddenly, he was using crutches. Still wearing that leather cut from the biker club he was part of. Everyone knew about that club, too. Some people said they were good guys with bad attitudes. Others said they were the bad guys with even worse attitudes. For me, I did not need to associate with anything that wasn’t within the law. At least, never again.
Stepping back, I weighed my options.
I had plenty of people to work with who wanted me to help them. Who would listen. Who would care about themselves. I didn’t need some passion project. I didn’t need to save him.
I looked at Leslie. “I already transferred him to someone else. I’m busy today.”
“And I should tell him that?”
“Yeah. I’m not available. End of discussion. If he doesn’t want to go, then call the police.”
“Are you serious? What happened? I thought you…”
“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “Just listen to me.”
I walked the hall to another part of the center. I grabbed a folder and met with my last appointment of the day.
I smiled
big and hugged a woman named Agnes, who was almost done with my time after a knee replacement surgery.
“How are you?” I asked as she embraced me.
“Good, good,” she said. “I was able to walk for communion at church on Sunday.”
“Oh, Agnes, that’s fantastic,” I said.
There was something fitting about that moment. The woman in front of me, fighting to walk in church to receive communion, embracing a life of faith and the hope that she would be one day be greeted in heaven. And behind me, in a different part of the center, was a man with a skull on his back, death all around him, boldly fierce enough to spit right in the face of the devil himself.
I was having my time with heaven, Anges full of happy stories and smiles.
Yet waiting for me, without me knowing, was hell to my heart.
I opened my office door and my chair slowly turned. Truthfully, I expected it to be Derrick and another one of his cheap moves. But since I shook his hand off my lower back the other day, I hadn’t seen him.
When I saw Hudson sitting in my chair, I froze. He grabbed for his crutches and got himself to his feet. He was so tall and so wide. I casually walked to my desk and put the folders down.
“I’m done for the day,” I said.
“Perfect. I’m just getting started with mine.”
“What are you doing here? I told…”
“You traded me away, huh? After one appointment?”
“To be fair, it wasn’t even one appointment,” I said.
“Even better,” Hudson said stubbornly. “Let’s get started.”
He moved toward me. I put a hand out. “No. That’s not how it works. I take my job seriously.”
“So do I.”
“You wouldn’t listen to me. You can be someone else’s problem.”
I turned, and Hudson was suddenly there, right next to me, grabbing at my arm. He was strong, but he didn’t squeeze too hard.
“Hey, listen to me. I’m…sorry.”
I glanced at him. “Oh?”
“You heard me, I’m sorry. If you want to know the truth, I’m going to lose my job if I don’t get back on my feet on my own.”
“There’s plenty of people here that can help you.”
“But I want you to help me.”
“Why?”
“What if I told you I like the way you look?”
I gave a quick laugh. “Seriously? I don’t do the biker thing, Hudson.”
“You do the geeky doctor thing, though?”
“Excuse me?”
“I saw the way that doctor was eyeing you,” he said. “You like that?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said. I wiggled away from his touch, walked to the door, and pointed. “I’m not having this conversation with you. Or any conversation. It’s time for you to go. And stay gone.”
“What are you afraid of?” he asked. “You can’t handle a little confrontation?”
“This isn’t a confrontation, Hudson. I gave your file to someone else to deal with.”
“So take it back.”
“Why should I?”
“Because I’m just what you’re looking for in life. A little bad…edgy…and I need you.”
“You need me,” I repeated with a smile.
Hudson walked toward me, wincing each time he moved his left leg. I hated myself for still staying there, listening to him.
“You can fantasize about what you want with my club,” he said. “But someone tried to kill me, Cora.”
It was the first time he said my name. I never gave him my name, but it was on my shirt.
“Tried to kill you?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t an accident. Someone tried to run over one of my brothers. I had to jump and save him. That’s how I got hit. I was sent here to see you. So what happened the first time, fuck that. There’s something in your eyes, sweetheart. I can sense it. I’m not letting anyone else in this place touch me but you. And don’t ever lie to me again.”
“Lie to you?”
“My folder is on your desk,” Hudson said. “You didn’t give it to anyone else. You were waiting for me to come back.”
Hudson had caught me. I felt the heat in my face rise. He was so big and so bold, even though he was injured.
“Does your leg hurt right now?” I asked.
“Throbbing in pain.”
“You haven’t taken any pain killers?”
“I told you, I don’t do that shit.”
“Why don’t you sit down, and I’ll take a look at your leg real quick.”
Hudson grinned. He was really sexy, and that was really a problem.
Hudson sat on the couch in my office. I grabbed a chair and sat across from him. I grabbed his left leg, and he winced in pain. Maybe this could be fun for once. I had the power over a guy like Hudson. I could make him hurt. The bad boy was at my mercy.
What the hell was I thinking?
His giant boot was in my lap. I ran my hands up his leg, over his jeans.
“Where does it hurt the most?” I asked.
“My knee,” he said. “I feel like it’s locking up and grinding.”
“Could be scar tissue there,” I said. “If you don’t work it out the right way on a consistent basis, it will do that.”
“Nobody seems to give me a straight answer,” Hudson said. “I got wailed by the grill of an SUV. Doctor told me an inch higher and I would’ve had my leg chopped off. He does a surgery to patch things up, and now I’m with you. Am I going to be able to use this leg again?”
I moved my hands up his leg, past his knee. My eyes darted between his legs at the bulge in his jeans. I turned my head, hoping he hadn’t caught me looking. I shouldn’t have looked. I didn’t know why I looked. Maybe because he was the first patient I’d had under the age of sixty.
I could feel the tightness of his muscles the higher I went. My left hand was at the inside of his leg, inching closer and closer to his…
“Fuck,” he groaned as he jumped.
“Sorry, sorry,” I said. I released my hold. I looked at him. “You need to work your leg, Hudson.”
“No, sweetheart, you’re wrong there. You need to work my leg.”
He grinned again.
I grabbed his leg with more force than was medically necessary.
He winced and groaned.
My eyes looked between his legs, then away.
I heard his groan echoing in my head.
“You have to listen to me,” I said. “I’m trained in this. It’s going to hurt. It’s going to suck, okay? But it will get better.”
I stared at him. His eyes were dark, too dark, borderline evil. He didn’t respond for what felt like hours as he just glared at me. I had no idea what was racing through his mind, and I was sure it wasn’t good.
“I can handle pain, sweetheart,” he said, his voice low and seductive. “I need to get on my motorcycle as soon as possible.”
“You shouldn’t be driving, either,” I said. “That’s crazy.”
“You haven’t seen crazy yet.”
“I can still give your file to someone else. And I will, if anything happens.”
Hudson grabbed his leg and slowly bent it. He sucked in a painful breath as he did so. Then he wrestled his way to standing. He was towering over me then, looking down. Seated in a chair, I was eye level with his… package.
“Sweetheart, my eyes are up here,” he said.
By the time I looked up at him, he had his finger under my chin. He traced a thin line around my chin, and that was more than I could take. I realized I could see him sort of as protection, but more than that, he was a bad guy.
No.
He wasn’t anything.
He was a patient. A man injured in an accident that needed my help.
I slowly rose up, feeling the chair against the back of my legs. There was nothing but a few inches between me and Hudson.
“What are you thinking right now?” Hudson asked.
“A game pl
an,” I lied. “How to get your leg back in shape.”
“Good. Keep it to that.”
“I think you would be best with someone else though, Hudson. I don’t know how you ended up with me, but that was probably a mistake. We have others here.”
Leslie then came flying through the door. She quickly put the brakes on with a Whoa sound.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“There’s a guy…his friend,” she said, pointing to Hudson. “He’s asking Donna for a massage between his legs. Something about a groin pull.”
“Fucking Cash,” Hudson growled.
“Call the police,” I said.
“No,” Hudson said. He grabbed for the crutches and started to move. “Let me take care of him. Don’t mind him. He’s just a total asshole.”
I chased after Hudson and he stopped, almost having me crash into him. He slowly turned. He looked down at me.
There was silence again.
“When’s our next appointment?” he asked.
That was my last chance to tell him no. To kick him out. To grab his folder and take it to the administrator and get him out of my life for good.
“Tomorrow,” I said. “Don’t be late. I’ll pencil you in as my last appointment.”
“I’ll see you then, sweetheart.”
“And don’t bring your outlaw friends with you, alright?”
“You got it,” he said with a smile.
Hudson turned and hobbled his way out to the main floor. I stood in the doorway and watched as he whistled for his friend, Cash. He was the other guy from the bar that night. The gross, vulgar one.
Poor Donna stood against a rack of medicine balls with her eyes wide.
“What did I do?” Cash asked. “I have insurance. I just wanted a little rubdown.”
Hudson lifted his left crutch and swung, smacking Cash in the knee. Cash yelped in pain and started to bounce on one leg.
I couldn’t help but smile.
But inside, there was no smiling.
I was heading down a long road of nothing but trouble.