by Lake, Rae B.
I swung my elbow down onto his face. I could feel his bone crunch underneath mine.
I wonder if I hit him again if he will die?
I ducked as he swung a wild haymaker at my face. He was too dazed this time to make contact. The sweat from his brow dripped down the side of his face and onto the collar of his kutte, making the one spot of worn leather darker than the rest. I fixated on that until my head snapped straight back as he clocked me straight in the nose. His big arm rose over his head as he steadied himself to deliver another blow. I backed away as he tried to swing again. I caught his arm, the small hairs on his forearm, giving my sweating palm some traction to pull him in and around. I wound my thick arms around his neck, squeezing enough for him to foam at the mouth. He was slapping at my arms, clawing and scratching.
“Wire!”
“Wire!” Someone else was screaming my name, but it sounded so far away. Whoever it was, I hoped they didn’t need me. Right now, I had to deal with Gin. He was still moving.
“Dillon!” The force of that name smacked me in my face. I sucked in a deep breath and stared up at the person calling my birth name.
“Let go. You’re going to kill him!” Keeley pleaded with me.
I looked down at Gin. I had thought he was still moving when, in fact, it was my brothers pulling at me that was moving his body. Gin was out cold, and I didn’t know how long ago he’d stopped breathing. I dropped him immediately.
“What the shit, Wire?” Prez pushed me out of the way and went to tend to Gin. After a few tense seconds, Gin groaned. He was alive. I let out a deep breath. I didn’t feel bad for beating his ass, and I would never willingly kill my brother. I was just not wired that way.
“He’ll be ok,” I mumbled under my breath. Prez heard it.
“I couldn’t give two shits. I don’t know what that was about, but you need to step off for a bit, Wire. I don’t know what he’s going to do when he wakes up, but I doubt he is going to be too happy.”
“You’re right, Prez. I’m going to go cool off.” I turned, grabbed Keeley’s hand, and started to walk away.
“Wait a minute.”
I turned around to see Prez walking up behind me.
He nodded at Keeley. “Who’s this lovely piece?”
I knew that look he was giving her, desire. I couldn’t fight my Prez over Keeley no matter what she’d done for me.
“This is Keeley. She isn’t a bunny. I don’t know what she’s doing here, but I plan to find out. She saved my life.” I hoped that would be enough to appease him, enough to get him to not ask for her.
“She’s what you fought Gin about?”
I nodded once.
A spark of recognition blazed in his eyes, and a half-smile curled up his lips. “Ok. Take her on out then, Wire.”
I didn’t know what to make of that look, but I was happy that he was giving me an out.
Wire
I dragged Keeley out of the bar as fast I could, not caring she was tripping behind me or that she was telling me to let of her. All of this shit was because this woman just decided to stroll into my club looking for me, calling me by my real name.
Things weren’t clicking in my head.
How the hell did she know my real name?
I grabbed her arm tighter than I had before, and once we made it to her truck, I slammed her against it.
“Ow! What the hell is your problem?” She yelled out.
“Right now, my problem is you!” I stared at her. She had clear gold eyes. I didn’t even know eyes came in that color, but here was a set looking straight at me, clearly pissed off. “What the hell are you doing in my club? And how do you know my name?”
“Lucky for you, I can knock out both those questions with one answer.” She went to reach inside her purse. I grabbed her wrist before she could make any contact with the bag. She raised an eyebrow at me. “Paranoid much?”
I was paranoid. I let her hand go, but I watched as she reached into her bag, a little annoyed when she couldn’t find what she was looking for right away.
Damn women and their bags.
Finally, a small smirk played on her lips as she began to pull something out of the great abyss that was her purse.
It was black, thick, worn, leather.
Oh shit.
It was my wallet. Instinctively I patted my pockets and low and behold my wallet was missing.
“How did you even get this?” I snatched it from her hand and placed it back in my pocket, where I thought it’d been all along.
“You remember that day you were bleeding to death on my floor?” She said with a big fake ass smile.
I barely grunted in response.
“Well, it seems you may have left your wallet, and here I was trying to be the good samaritan and return it to you.” She rolled her eyes and looked away. “Look at the thanks I get for that.”
Now I felt like a grade-A asshole.
“Yeah, well thanks for that. I didn’t even realize it was gone.” I shrugged as I opened the passenger door for her.
“Why aren’t I driving my car?”
“My club doesn’t take no for an answer. I’m pretty sure one of them is going to try and follow you home,” I said nonchalantly.
“What the freak?” She asked as she hopped in and looked over her shoulder.
They probably wouldn’t follow her, but I still wanted to make sure that she made it home safe.
I climbed in the front seat, and we started on our way.
“This is crazy. Here I was thinking that I was going to drop off this stupid wallet, and not only do I get felt up, but now I have to worry about people stalking me. Geez, never again.” She huffed out, crossing her arms.
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I’m very grateful.”
She turned her head to look at me and stared daggers at my head. “Nope, I don’t feel any better about it at all.”
I gave a slight chuckle.
* * *
“I’m amazed you remember where I lived. I figured you missed it when you were passed out.”
“No, I am pretty good with things like that.”
I watched her dig her keys out of her purse and open the front door to her house. Max was already at the door, waiting for her to walk in. She walked in and opened the door further so that I could come in. I wasn’t expecting to do a house visit, but I wasn’t about to turn her down. Max trotted right up to me, sniffed around a few times, barked once and went about his business. So much for a guard dog.
“He already knows you,” Keeley answered before I could even ask her a question about Max.
“If you say so.”
“It’s the truth. If you were a stranger who walked in without me, he would have ripped off your face.”
I had no choice but to roll my eyes at that. “Sure.”
She shrugged and made her way into the living area. I tried to follow behind her, but she stopped me right in my tracks with a glare.
“Boots.”
I looked down at my feet. My cruddy, old biker boots would need to come off. I toed them off and left them by the corner near the door before I followed her into the living room. Her space was simple but functional.
There was a TV though it looked as if it hadn’t been turned on in ages. The couch was plush and big, a nice purplish color. She had throw pillows all over the place, many with girly sayings like “Pass me the wine” or “Girl Power”. I had to turn one around before I would even sit down. It was a shot to my masculinity. There was a doggy bed for Max in the corner and stacks upon stacks of books in the other corner. Surprisingly they all looked like textbooks. I briefly wondered if she was still in school, but the curves on her body indicated there was no way. She was all woman.
“So, Keeley…”
“So Dillon…” she replied, mocking my tone.
Again, my dick twitched at the sound of my name on her lips. I knew if I wanted to get her in bed, I’d have to put in some work. The club had me spoiled. Usually, I’d just wait
until I got with one of the bunnies.
“Seriously, thank you for bringing my wallet back. I would have never noticed it was gone until I needed it.”
“Yeah, no problem…” She hesitated. “Well, the attempted groping by your buddies was a bit of a problem and… wait, did they follow me home?”
I laughed a bit at her change of pace. “I didn’t see anyone, but I will check again when I leave.”
“Crap! How are you going to get back? We used my car.”
“It’s fine. I'll take a cab. Why are you kicking me out already?”
She sucked her teeth and got off the couch, depositing one hand on her hip. “Oh, please. Don’t be so stupid. You can stay as long as you like. You want a beer or something?” She stood in front of me, waiting for an answer.
“You don’t even know me? Why would you invite me into your home?” I asked, honestly confused by this girl.
“Dillon, I’ve had…” She stopped speaking when she saw the big smile on my face.
“What? Why are you smiling like that?” She asked.
“It has been decades since anyone has called me my real name. People usually call me Wire.”
“Wire?” She wrinkled her nose. “Why?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Fine. Well, do you want me to stop calling you, Dillon?”
“Absolutely not.”
She laughed lightly, then continued, “Like I was saying, I’ve had my hand basically touching your inner organs. If I can’t trust you, then who the heck can I trust? Besides I have Max. One word from me and he will kill you.”
I laughed out loud at that. The big fluff ball looked as harmless as any animal I’d ever seen. At the moment, he was curled up in the corner.
She raised one eyebrow at me, standing with crossed arms over her chest.
She pursed her lips and whispered, “Prijetnja.”
The most menacing growl I’d ever heard echoed through the room. The once docile Max was now up and pacing towards me, his lips curled back, beady eyes trained on me. I went to move my arm, and he barked viciously. I knew that if I tried to get up or moved too suddenly, that dog would be at my throat. I stayed as still as I could manage. Even breathing seemed like it would tip my fate in the wrong direction.
“You’ve made your point,” I whispered without moving my eyes from the dog.
“Have I now?” Keeley asked calmly.
“Yeah, call him off before I have to shoot him.”
“Your arm would be off your body before you ever had a chance to reach for your gun.”
I believed her.
Just to prove her point, Max barked again, inching forward slightly.
“Keeley!”
She spoke again in that strange tongue, “Ljubiti.”
Max straightened up and began to trot up to me.
“Keeley…” I was apprehensive. He was no longer growling and barking, but I had seen him change in a second before.
He stopped in front of me and jumped up, his front paws on my thighs.
I nearly screamed when he jumped up further and started to lick my face. I wanted to laugh in relief.
“Get your fucking dog.”
“Max, get down.”
He leapt down off my lap and trotted back towards his bed in the corner as if nothing had happened.
I got up, walking over to the kitchen to splash some water on my face in an attempt to clean his spit off of my face.
“You better be careful with him doing that to people. Someone is going to hurt him one day.”
She laughed out loud. “Shall we have another demonstration?”
“No!” I shouted. I would be staying away from that dog for a long while.
“No worries. I can take care of myself.” She walked away and went to sit back on the couch.
I plopped down on the opposite side. “Really, I have to doubt that. You wouldn’t even know if you were in danger.”
“You’re so quick to judge when you know nothing about me. Especially when I know so much about you.”
“Is that so? Well, enlighten me, princess.”
“You have a gun in the small of your back, and one tucked in the side of your boot that’s now on the other side of the room. You do a lot of work with your hands, probably with a weapon that leaves those long scars. I would say you are an enforcer, meaning that you probably wouldn’t have the slightest problem killing someone. You’re loyal to your club, you were holding back your punches today with that bald guy, and when you thought you’d choked him to death, you held your breath until he made a sound. I would say for anyone to get to you, they’d have to come from the inside.” She blinked at me innocently.
She was right on every account. The gun in my back was usually invisible, especially under my shirt and kutte. How did she know all this stuff? None of it was in my wallet for damn sure.
“What, are you a cop?” I raised my eyebrow at her. I was hoping that she wasn’t.
“No, sir. I am a scientist.”
I had to laugh at that one. “Get the hell out of here.”
“This is no laughing matter. It’s the truth.”
My jaw dropped. I had spent all my life with the druggies, miscreants and thugs. I’d never met anyone who was more than a stripper or store clerk in my life, and she was a scientist. I was awestruck.
“Well, I guess that's why you know so much. You’re a freaking Einstein.”
“You mean I’m a freaking John Muir?”
“Who?”
She shrugged. “I am an environmental scientist, less physics, more plants.”
“Ah, I got you.”
“You want a beer or something like that?”
“Yeah, I’ll take a brew.” I sat back and watched as she got off the couch to go back to the kitchen. “None of that explains how you would be able to determine I’m a fighter or that I have two guns in my possession.”
She walked back and dropped a bottle of Corona in my hand.
“Let’s just say it was more about guns and enforcers when I was growing up then it was about trees and rivers.”
So, she grew up around this, another puzzle piece about the lovely Keeley.
I nodded at her as I took a swig. She stared out her window as she took a swig of her beer.
I was very comfortable here, too comfortable. That was my cue. It was time for me to go.
I took the rest of the beer and tossed it down my throat. “Well, I guess it’s time to go.” I stood up and walked over to my boots as she followed softly behind me.
“Ok, well, it was nice to see you not bleeding on my floor. You’re much taller than I remember.”
I turned around and noticed that she was at about nose height to me. She had to be about five foot nine or five foot ten. “So are you.” I laughed slightly. I looked around her small kitchen, finding a pen and paper.
“Are you really going to waste a tree right now?” She rolled her eyes and took out the cell phone she had in her back pocket. “Just put whatever in here.”
I took the phone from her and programmed my number into it. I smiled to myself when I deleted Wire and wrote Dillon instead. Yeah, she would be the only one to call me that, and I was just fine with that.
Wire
“What the fuck are you smiling about?” Prez asked as I walked back into the club after the hour-long trek from Keeley’s house.
“What are you talking about?” I fixed my face back into its customary scowl. I hadn’t even realized that I was smiling until Prez brought it up.
“Yeah, whatever. So, who’s the dame?”
“I already told you. When all that shit went down with Monte and the Tears, she saved my ass.”
“Is that right? So, what the hell was she doing in the club today?”
“The crazy girl had my wallet. I didn’t even know it was missing until she pulled it out.”
“I was wondering with all that Dillon shit. I’m assuming she got it from your ID?”
�
��Yup.”
“She seemed cool about it.”
“Uh… yeah.” I didn’t know what direction Prez was going in, but I was going to play it safe.
“Too cool?”
“What do you mean, Prez?”
“She with another crew?”
That would be one of the biggest breaches of loyalty. You never bring another crew to your home without the Prez’s consent; it just didn't happen.
“What the fuck? I would never-”
“Don’t sit here and get defensive with me, boy.”
My hackles were up for sure. I was pissed he’d even think that of me, but I couldn’t show my emotions.
“I ain't getting defensive!”
“You are!” He shrieked back at me. “I am just saying pussy can change a man and the way she got your nose all open-”
I was done with this conversation. I turned and walked away from him. He didn’t know what he was talking about, and I wasn’t going to stand around and have him say all that shit when it wasn’t true. My nose wasn't open. It wasn’t.
* * *
I laid in my bed, still pissed off that Prez could have been so wrong about me. I mean, just because he had his ol’ lady and would pretty much eat the shit directly out of her ass, didn’t mean that I was going down that road. Never. Fuck, I’d never even been in a relationship before, and I’d never wanted to be in one. I didn’t want the headache.
*bzzzz, bzzzz*
My phone buzzed. I picked it up, thinking it was Clean or one of my other brothers calling, only to see a number I didn’t know.
“Speak,” I barked into the receiver.
“Jeez, how abrasive.”
Keeley.
I was pissed off the minute I felt my lips try to curl up in a smile.
“What do you want?”
“Ok… well, I just wanted to know if it was cool to go out. You said your club might follow me.”
“Do you have fucking eyes?”
“Excuse me?”
“Well, I guess you don’t have ears either or are you just a deaf twat?”
“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?” I could hear the steam coming out of Keeley’s ears through the phone.