“Z? Zak? Your club president?”
“Yeah.”
Brooke propped her chin on Dex’s chest. “Wow. That’s... I don’t even know what that is. How did that happen?”
“Bear an’ Doc were the club’s foundin’ members. Vietnam buddies. Got out, then started the club together. That’s what I meant when I said there were two trunks of the tree.”
“A tree which is now twisted.”
She remembered. She’d paid attention.
“Because of Bella and Axel?” she asked.
“Not just them. Jag an’ my sister, Ivy. Diesel an’ Jewel, too. Z an’ Axel’s pop is Mitch. Bear is... was Mitch’s pop.”
She shifted. “Who’s this Mitch? Did I meet him yet?
“Nope. Mitch ain’t a part of the club. Mitch is 5-0, too.”
“Wow.” She lifted her head. “Hey, how old is Mitch?”
“Old enough to be your pop, but ain’t. Mitch grew up in the club but was never an Angel. Took a different path, draggin’ Axel along with him. Z fought it.”
“Did that create a rift in the family?”
“Fuck yeah,” Dex breathed. “Big time.”
“Does it cause problems with Axel and Bella?”
“Yeah. Sometimes. Bella’s gotta ride that fine line between her loyalty to the club an’ her loyalty to her ol’ man.”
“That has to be difficult.”
“Yeah. Love my sister an’ Axel’s good for her. But Axel ain’t good for the club.”
“She won’t walk away from the DAMC.”
“No, it’s in her blood. Like mine. Like Ivy’s. It’s even in Axel’s.”
“I guess he isn’t welcome to things like the pig roast tonight.”
“Sometimes he’ll be with Bella. Though, things tend to be a bit tense when he’s around. But he doesn’t like her outta his sight too often.”
“Why?”
Dex lifted his shoulders off the bed in a shrug. “Got enemies.”
“Who does?”
“The DAMC.”
“The club that hurt the women?”
“Yeah. The Shadow Warriors.”
Brooke was quiet as her hand drifted over his chest and she flipped one of his nipple rings back and forth with the tip of her finger. “Who else haven’t I met yet?”
Dex thought back on the run and the roast. Everyone had showed up at one point or another.
Everybody but Pierce.
However, he wasn’t ready to tell her about Pierce. Not yet. When Zak got the lowdown on Brooke, the club president agreed that they needed a meeting to discuss it in more detail. To figure something out before jumping to conclusions. So he scheduled an Executive Committee meeting for tomorrow afternoon. Now Dex just had to keep Brooke from doing too much digging on her own until then.
Since he had Mondays off from the pawn shop, if he could keep her occupied in bed until Monday afternoon, they’d be golden.
The brothers could figure out a plan and then go from there.
The problem was, Brooke didn’t take orders from him. He doubted she took orders from anyone.
She wasn’t quite arrogant like Pierce, but she had a strong personality. So Dex could see Brooke being his blood.
Admittedly, that worried him. Pierce was already a stain on the DAMC. Adding a rape to his long list of problems would be the last damn straw.
Zak pounded his gavel on the wood table in the meeting room. The table that had the DAMC logo hand carved into its center by his late grandfather. That logo, that symbol of their brotherhood, was everything. It was the glue that held the club together. It meant family and loyalty.
It was not only carved into the table where the Executive Committee met, but there was a hand carved wooden sign above the private bar. A sign also hung over the back door into church with their motto: Down & Dirty ‘til Dead.
And they not only wore their colors on their cuts but everyone had those rockers and symbols tattooed into the skin of their back. Every fucking one of them who sat around that table.
Z, Hawk, Diesel, Ace, Dex and Jag. The prez, the VP, the Sergeant at Arms, the Treasurer, the Secretary and the Road Captain.
The reason they were in that room this afternoon used to sit at the head of the table, as well. For ten whole fucking years while Z did his time in prison.
Pierce, being old school, hated the fact that Z had been trying to make the club legit. The man didn’t like things changing. And Z had always been about change. Making things better for the club. Not just for the club, but for everyone.
However, old school meant murder and mayhem. And Z wanted the club to thrive, not be torn apart. Having members in prison or six feet under didn’t do anyone any good.
Even so, Pierce couldn’t wait to get his hands on the gavel once Z got thrown into SCI Fayette. And everyone couldn’t wait for Z to take it back once he got released. Everyone but Pierce.
“We’re here for one thing today an’ that’s to discuss this shit with this woman.” Z turned eyes to Dex.
This woman. “Brooke,” Dex volunteered.
“Yeah, whatever. The woman who thinks some Angel raped her mom an’ got her knocked up. Now she’s here for what?” Z looked at Dex again.
“Find whoever that is.”
“Yeah, no shit. But then what?”
“Maybe she wants to cut off his balls an’ wear ‘em ‘round her neck,” D grunted.
“Well, if it is Pierce, she’s welcome to it. I’ll help hold ‘im the fuck down,” Jag said.
Z raised his hand. “He’s still a brother, so we gotta decide how we’re handlin’ this. We don’t need her runnin’ off to SVPD. Not that they’d do anythin’, but we don’t need the fuckin’ headache.”
“A-fuckin’-men,” Ace muttered.
“Also, don’t need a fuckin’ rapist in our midst, either. So, if it turns out he did it, he needs to be dealt with swiftly,” Hawk chimed in, his face serious. “That mighta happened thirty years ago, but who knows what other bullshit he’s pulled since then.”
Diesel grunted and all eyes turned to him.
“Got somethin’ to say, son?” Ace asked his youngest.
“Nope,” the club’s enforcer grunted again.
“Don’t need someone wearin’ our colors doin’ shit like that,” Hawk said.
“If he did it in the first place. Know he harasses women, but bein’ touchy-feely an’ fuckin’ rapin’ a woman are different,” Z said.
“Different to you, but you ain’t a fuckin’ woman,” Jag grumbled. “If he’d been touch-feely with Ivy, he’d be buried next to Black Jack.”
The thought of Pierce simply touching either of his sisters or, hell, even his cousins didn’t sit well with Dex.
“He was a busy boy back in the day, can’t imagine he slowed down much,” Ace said.
“His ol’ lady just left his ass not five months ago ‘cause she caught him stickin’ his dick in their house mouse.”
“Ah, fuck. Didn’t know that,” Ace muttered.
“Can’t believe Randi never left ‘im sooner,” Jag said, shaking his head. “Not sure what any woman sees in ‘im.”
“He can charm ‘em when necessary. Seen it with my own two eyes plenty of times,” Ace said.
Z smacked the gavel on the table. “All right, gotta get back to the bakery, so we need to get this wrapped up.”
Hawk snorted. “For what? Not like you do shit at the bakery. Bella an’ Sophie do all the work. Half the time you ain’t even watchin’ the kid.”
Z frowned. “I watch Zeke.”
“Yeah, suckin’ on your ol’ lady’s tits. That’s about it.”
A chuckle rose up around the table.
Z cracked the gavel on the table top again. “Okay, let’s decide what we’re fuckin’ doin’.”
“First thing, gotta make sure Pierce is her daddy,” Ace stated, sitting back in his chair and folding his arms over his chest.
“How we gonna do that?” Zak asked.
“DNA?” Jag suggested.
Z snorted. “Yeah, great. Easy answer to a difficult problem. They ain’t gonna just open their mouths an’ let us swab ‘em without askin’ a fuckload of questions.”
“Think we need to do it on the D.L. Get their DNA on the sly. Figure out if he’s even the culprit. If he is, then we need to continue this discussion. But until then, need to keep it under wraps. Got me?” D said.
“How can we snag their DNA without ‘em knowin’ it?” Jag asked.
All eyes turned to Dex, including Diesel’s. “You’re bonin’ her. No problem gettin’ some DNA.”
Fuck. “Like spit?”
Diesel leaned forward and pinned him with a look. “Don’t want you scrapin’ her spit off your fuckin’ dick. It’ll fuck up the DNA. Just a few hairs. From a brush or somethin’.”
Dex may be able to do that, if Brooke let him back into her room. The woman was unpredictable when it came to him asking her for anything. He already learned that in the short time since he met her. “An’ what about Pierce?” he asked Diesel.
“Gonna get Dawg to grab some hair from him. Or somethin’. I’ll figure it out.”
“We need Axel involved since maybe he’s got a way to get it tested?” Zak asked.
“Fuck no,” D barked. “Don’t want the pigs involved. Got it handled. Hunter should have a hookup.”
“How long’s this shit gonna take?” Dex asked D.
He shrugged his heavy shoulders. “Dunno. Also depends on how soon you get me that hair. Not pubes that were stuck between your teeth, either, brother. Got me?”
“She don’t have any,” Dex announced, even though that was completely untrue. But fuck his cousin and his smart-ass comment.
Ace chuckled, shaking his head and staring at the table. “Don’t understand why women nowadays gotta shave all that shit off. Nothin’ like a woman back in the day that had a bu—”
“All right! Meetin’ adjourned,” Hawk yelled, pushing to his feet. “Don’t need to hear my father talkin’ ‘bout hairy snatches.”
“Wasn’t gonna talk ‘bout your mother’s,” Ace said with a smirk.
“Jesus,” Diesel muttered.
“Brooke ain’t gonna be patient,” Dex warned Diesel as his cousin rose from his seat.
Zak came around the table and whacked Dex on the back. “Keep her busy, then, brother.” He gave him a big smile. “Took a good look at ‘er. Shouldn’t be no skin off your teeth.”
“She can occupy ‘er time playin’ with your nips, cousin,” Hawk chuckled and clapped Dex on the back, too.
Chapter Six
Dex pounded on the motel room door. Since it was the third time he did it and he didn’t hear a fucking thing in return, he was pretty damn sure Brooke wasn’t in her room.
Just like he thought. She wasn’t going to be patient.
And she certainly wasn’t going to listen to him. He had told her to wait in her room, that he’d be back.
But, of course, with any perceived order coming out of his mouth she was going to do the opposite.
Because she could. And wanted to prove it.
“For fuck’s sake,” he grumbled and raked fingers through his hair. He dropped his head and stared at his boots for a minute as he tried to push the anger aside.
He pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket and sent out a mass text to all the brothers: Any 1 C Brooke let me know.
He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth at the answering texts.
She run off with ur balls?
Need 2 tie the leash tighter, brother.
MayB she found a man w bigger rings...
What-fucking-ever.
Dex stared at the text from Dawg: Here.
Oh shit. She was at the gun shop.
Dex quickly texted him back: She lookin 4 Pierce or buyin a gun 2 kill him?
Dunno. Get ur ass here.
“Fuck,” he muttered and quickly strode to his sled, mounted, hit the starter and then headed to the outskirts of town to Shadow Valley Gun Shop and Range at top speed.
Within ten minutes, he was pulling into the lot. His gut twisted at what she might have discovered.
Dawg’s sled was in the lot, but he didn’t see Pierce’s. Maybe that was a good sign.
He crab-walked his sled back into the spot next to Brooke’s BMW. And after heeling down the kickstand, he turned his head to stare into the back of her car.
His dick twitched in his jeans at the memory of fucking her the first time.
Or her fucking him.
Either way, it was fucking hot.
He adjusted himself, then headed inside and out of the cold. When he stepped into the shop, once his eyes adjusted, they landed on Dawg.
The man was leaning back against the glass display case that held handguns and shaking his dark blond head. “She’s a fuckin’ pisser.”
“Where is she?” Dex asked, rubbing his hands together to get them warmed up.
Dawg jerked his head toward the door that lead to the indoor shooting range. “In the back.”
Dex’s brows shot up. “She buy a gun?”
“Fuck no. Had one. Nice little Sig. Asked her if she needed any help with it an’ she just about told me to fuck off. Though, she made it sound a bit nicer.”
Dex glanced around the empty shop. “Where’s Pierce?”
“Gone,” Dawg grunted.
“Good. They see each other?” Dex asked.
“Nope.”
“When’s he gettin’ back?”
“Dunno. Need to get ‘er outta here before he does, though. ‘Cause I can tell you, he ain’t gonna pass up hittin’ on that. An’ if he does...” Dawg shook his head.
“It ain’t gonna be good,” Dex finished for him.
“No. An’ seein’ ‘im will make ‘er suspicious. An’ like D told me, we need to keep it on the D.L. for now ‘til we know if they’re even related.”
Dex plugged his hands on his hips and looked toward the closed door. He needed to convince Brooke to leave the shop with him. Though, if he demanded her to do it, she’d balk. If he even asked, she’d probably wonder why and then things could get sticky.
“Think you could grab some of her hair while she’s here? Got the sample D wanted from Pierce. Figured if you get a few strands of hair, I can let D know what we got an’ get that shit rollin’.”
Dex eyeballed the larger, bearded man. “How’d you get Pierce’s DNA?”
Dawg snorted. “Fuckin’ cornered a woman yesterday, she slapped the shit outta him, gave him a bloody nose. Found some bloody tissues in the trash. D said that’d work. Put it in a baggie an’ gonna run it over to the warehouse later. You get some DNA while you’re here, I’ll run that over, too.”
Dex nodded, again staring at the door that lead to the range. “Anybody else back there shootin’?”
“Nope.”
“Can you make sure nobody comes back for a bit?”
“Yep.” He grinned. “Need about thirty seconds?”
“Thirty-five to be exact.”
Dawg laughed. “If I didn’t have Em an’ the girls an’ hadn’t given up Heaven’s Angels mighta asked if she needed a job. Got good tits, plus an ass that’d give any man a hard-on.”
“Doubt her career goal is swingin’ on a pole.”
“What does she do?”
Dex opened his mouth. Then shut it. He had no fucking clue. He didn’t think she’d be sticking around, so asking her that kind of stuff never crossed his mind. Damn.
Dawg laughed again. “You don’t even fuckin’ know, brother. Hard to keep a woman in your bed if you don’t show any interest in ‘er fuckin’ life.”
“Not everyone’s a whipped pussy at the center like you, Dawg.”
Dawg grinned. “Don’t give a shit what you call me. Got Em in my bed. Never been happier. ‘Happy wife, happy life’ is true as shit. Take it from me.”
Dex had to admit Emma was a catch. Dawg was happy, though he was pretty sure the man would be happier if he didn’t have to share man
agement duties of running the gun shop with Pierce.
But that might change in the near future.
“Gonna just stand there, or go get some DNA?” Dawg said, laughing.
“Yeah,” Dex grunted and headed toward the door to the range. He looked over his shoulder one last time. “Seriously, keep people out.”
“From what I heard, you like an audience.”
Dex shook his head and headed into the range.
Brooke stood with her feet apart as she squeezed off another round. She hit the paper silhouette dead center. Then again and again, until the clip was empty. She released the clip and made sure the chamber was clear before placing the gun in its case. She pulled her protective glasses off her face and removed the rubber plugs from her ears.
“Shoot ‘im an’ you’ll get your ass locked the fuck up,” came a deep voice from behind her.
Her heart skipped a beat, then began to race. She had no idea someone was there. She had not only been concentrating on her target, the earplugs had prevented her from hearing Dex come in.
She turned in the booth and saw him leaning back against the painted cement block wall, his arms crossed over his chest.
Her heart skipped once again, but this time it wasn’t because she was startled.
Hell no, it wasn’t.
He looked damn good. But he was trouble with a capital T. She didn’t need to go down this path with him. Or any path. Take a detour? Maybe. But she had to remind herself that it was only for a few days.
Just until she figured out who her father was. As it was, she didn’t want to waste a lot of time doing that. She needed to get back to her business, her house. Get her life back in order. Back to where it was before her mom died and she found that damn diary.
He pushed away from the wall and Brooke held her breath when he approached her, but he only leaned into the booth to hit the button on the wall. The target rode the track toward them until it was within arm’s reach.
He slipped in next to her to study it. “That’s damn good shootin’.”
“You shoot?”
He traced his fingers over her gun laying in the open case. “Occasionally. I’m not that good.”
“If you’re going to carry, you should be that good.”
Down & Dirty: Dex (Dirty Angels MC Book 8) Page 7