by J. L. Drake
We pulled into the strip joint just past midnight. I tossed a ten at the driver, and he muttered about the cheap tip. He should be thankful I didn’t slice his head in two when he lit that cigar.
The Show Girls Strip Joint wasn’t classy, but I figured I was safe from running into anyone I knew.
“Can I get you anything?” She eyed the white collar that showed at my neck. “Ahh…Father.”
“Rum and Coke, no ice.”
“Sure.” She hesitated and continued to stare until I cleared my throat, and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “Coming right up.”
I eased into the chair at the back of the room so I could watch who was around me. I pulled out what little cash I had and counted enough to cover the drink. One drink, that was all I could buy. I hated to be broke, but the money would come in soon if all went the way I hoped.
“Hey, there.” A woman with giant tits pushed into my view. “I was told you might like to do a little roleplaying.” She tugged at my collar, plopped on my lap, and began to massage my crotch.
I glanced at the waitress as she set my drink down, tossed the change on her tray, and waved her off.
“Listen, sweetheart, you want a good night, you come home with me, but I ain’t paying you shit to rub me off in public.”
Her mouth twisted as she rocked herself upward. “I don’t do freebees.”
“Well, aren’t you classy.” I snickered. “Run along to your pimp, then.”
“Asshole.”
“Yup.” I downed a quarter of the cheap drink. I hated rum, but I didn’t have enough for my whiskey.
A younger man in a flashy suit sat at the table next to me, which pissed me off because the place was dead. He could move somewhere else.
“Whiskey, neat.” He handed the waitress a fifty, and she hurried off. He brushed his hair back before he removed his jacket and began to get comfortable.
The side door swung open, and I noticed the alleyway in the back. I could lure this fucker out, snap his neck, and take his wallet. That way, I could sleep on an actual comfortable bed instead of the church shit where I was holed up.
Yes, that was what I would do.
“Long day?” If I wanted to lure him outside, he would need to trust me.
“Long month.”
“Woman problems?” I took a stab in the dark.
“Ha, yeah!” He thanked the waitress for the drink and waited for her to leave. “What about you?” He pointed to his neck. “You seem to be in the wrong house.”
“Nah,” I smirked inwardly, “I’m exactly where I should be.”
The man smiled with a slight nod and raised his drink to me. “Cheers to that.”
I tapped his glass with mine and swallowed it back in one sip.
The man waved at the waitress and pointed to his glass and stuck two fingers in the air to indicate he wanted two more. “So, tell me, what is it you do, besides the obvious?”
“This is all an illusion.” I decided to play a little; I couldn’t help myself. “I’m actually hunting for the perfect time to kill my son.”
To my utter shock, the man nodded. “I’ll take it he did you wrong?”
“Yes.” My senses were on high alert. I was prepared to laugh it off and pretend I was only kidding, but this just got a lot more interesting. “Took my club.”
“What are you planning on doing about that?”
I figured there was no harm in sharing with the man. He only had minutes to live, anyway.
“I need to come into some money and hire an army to take him out.”
“Sure, you could do it that way.” He leaned over the table to get a little closer. “Or you could gather some dirt and save your money.”
Now, that got my attention.
“How would I go about doing that?”
“You just have to know the right people and have the right get-up.” He pulled back my jacket and eyed my suit to make his point. “Everyone has a skeleton tucked away somewhere. Whether it’s big or small, they don’t want it exposed.”
“Just that easy, hey?”
His phone went off, so he rose and finished his drink. He tossed a few twenties on the table and handed me his card. “I think you and I could have a lot of fun together. We both have assets the other could use. If you ever want to play dirty, you have my number.”
He left the bar, and I grabbed the money and slipped out into the back alleyway.
I flipped the collar of my jacket further around my neck and hurried down to the parking lot. I saw a scuffle on the other side of the fence and ran over. The light from a neon sign advertising the show girls lit the scene well. A few men had a young girl on the ground, and they looked like they were about to attack her.
I was sure the bitch deserved what was about to happen.
I hailed a cab and prattled off the address. Once on the way, I pulled the matte card from my pocket and twisted it so the grooves on the card caught the light of the street lamp.
Dirty Promises Strip Club, Owner—Clark Anderson.
Chapter Five
Trigger
“Rail,” I pointed my head in the direction of the door, “he here?”
He dropped his feet from the container and leaned the chair back to see. “Nope, it’s Brick’s hot friend.”
The camera outside caused an alert to pop up on my phone.
“He’s here,” I warned Rail.
He clapped his hands together. “Let’s deal with this weasel.”
The shit in front of me was in a puddle of his own filth, he was so terrified.
“Say the words,” I hissed inches from his face.
“I sk-skimmed.”
I licked the inside of my bottom lip as I sucked in a deep breath through my nose. I started to lean back then quickly switched it up instead and slammed the side of his face into my knee. The pain shot up to my hip as I stood and felt the rush prickle through my veins.
“Why?” I grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to look at me.
He held back his scream and tried to appear hard. “Because I could.”
Rail opened the door, and I tossed my fist into his stomach, and he toppled backward into the club.
“Wait.” Rail stopped me from going out. “We could watch him, see where he goes?”
“Find out how much he took and get it back.”
“Will d—” was all I heard before I tuned in to that fucking little skimming bastard yelling at someone.
“Little cunt-face. You want to know what it feels like to get a fist to the—”
My hand slammed down into his face, and I hissed, “Get the fuck out.”
I needed to kill someone.
I curled my fingers around the leather of his cut, then lifted him in the air and slammed him heavily on the floor.
The demons squealed with hunger, and I fought like hell to force them back. Rail was right, we should find out where he went. My veins were forced to widen so the adrenaline could pump me up further.
Somehow, something next to me was able to break my murderous mindset. I looked over to find a little blonde woman looking scrappy as hell, eyes wide on my tattooed hands. Her gaze wandered up my body, and everything went silent until I heard her gasp when she met my eyes. My dick twitched at her reaction. She wasn’t scared; she was fucking turned on. I watched her breasts rise. She rubbed her arm, and I noticed the bright red spot. I saw what the fucker had done. It wasn’t lost on me that my demons went still.
“He’s out,” I barked, not leaving her gaze. “Take care of it.”
“Will do.” Brick acknowledged my command. His fingers brushed over her shoulder. “You all right, Tess?”
“Yeah.” She nodded.
“Trigger, this is Tessa.” Brick cleared his throat. “She’s the one I was tellin’ you about.”
I could see her connecting the dots on who I was, and her eyes widened.
“Tess,” she corrected him.
I didn’t say a word but held her gaze until she lo
oked down my front and back up again. I tugged on the bottom of my beard because my urge to taste her was fierce. Her skin pinked across her chest, a chest I wanted shoved in my face as I sank deep inside.
Suddenly, she looked away, almost annoyed that I had an effect on her. Reality kicked in, and so did the demons. She might have a little fight in her, but my club was ruthless. She didn’t belong.
I leaned forward to reach behind the bar, and my eyes locked with hers again. I removed the whiskey bottle and tossed the cap next to her. She flinched, and I saw her weakness—strong men. She was a topper, and I hated those. I downed about a quarter of it then finally broke my hold to focus on Brick.
“They’re gonna eat her alive.”
Tess stood a little straighter, and I could nearly hear her cursing me inside.
“Gotta love the encouragement here, boys.” She snickered, to my surprise. Brick sucked in a sharp breath and waited for me to blow. Instead, I turned and smirked. She was entertaining and hot, and that would do until she quit.
“I am your master,” Rail muttered loudly in his sleep, drawing my mind back to my bunk and my drafty cement hell. “And you’re mine.”
My mattress squeaked when I rolled over. Fucking Rail always repeated lines from whatever shit show he was watching.
“Mmm, yeah, right there…”
I made a fist and punched the bars to jolt Rail awake.
“What?” he barked at Brick instead of me.
“Shut the fuck up.”
His huff was muffed by his hands. “You need to start watching Outlander, Trig.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and welcomed the chaos silence brought me.
***
The sun beat down on my shoulders. I was in my spot against the far wall—the one spot no one could approach me from behind. I didn’t count the days in prison. I didn’t have a set time. Regardless of the sentence, it didn’t meant dick when it came to my club. There was always a way out. You just needed to find it.
Brick sat next to me and flopped his head back with a sigh. I knew he was worried about everyone. Too much time could be deadly on the head.
“Sam?” he asked.
“Said we should hear the final ruling in a month. Until then, we sit tight.”
“Lucky us.” He cursed under his breath, but I knew that wasn’t what was bothering him.
“How long did my old man work for you?”
“Long enough.”
“How long have I?”
“Long enough.”
“So, where’s the trust?”
I shifted, uneasy with the conversation. We didn’t do this. “You never lost it.”
“I get not telling Rail. The chances of him becoming someone’s bitch is high, but why not tell me who the fucking mole is?”
I wanted to shut him up, but Brick and I had had enough shit lately, and I needed him to be on, so I could focus on getting us the hell out of this shithole.
“Because the fucker will know, and I need him to sweat it out and reveal the magnitude of what he’s done.”
Brick cracked his knuckles before he nodded. “Okay, fine. I get that. Just remember, I earned my seat here because I’m loyal to you and the club. Don’t fucking hold back shit that I need to know.”
I eyed him with a warning, but I heard him, and he knew that.
It was fucked up to keep the mole to myself, and it was bad enough that Morgan knew, but at least he’d gone searching for Tess and Gus and wouldn’t slip up.
Brick traced a square over his hand. Tess shared with me what that meant, so I attempted to put myself in his shoes. It wasn’t easy.
I split a blade of grass between my thumbnail and separated the pieces while I dug deep inside my head.
“My fifteenth birthday, my father came home with an escort.” I cleared my throat free of hate. I’d never shared this with anyone. “Birthdays always made me want to hide inside my head. It was a day my father chose to teach me a lesson on manhood.”
Brick kept quiet while he listened to me bitch about my past.
“He swung open my door and tossed a chick at me.” I kept my head straight. No need to see his reaction. “She stayed on her knees and smiled at me with a mouthful of silver teeth. Her hair was all fucked up from her gig before mine. I was pissed and glared at my father, because there was no way I was stickin’ anything inside that sack of mixed juices.”
“Sick,” Brick whispered.
“He hauled me out of bed, tossed me at her, and told me to fuck her, or else.”
I half laughed to myself. Maybe there was some advantage to the fact I got to kill my father again.
“What happened?”
I waited a moment to push the memory back in its spot. “I took the else, got beat so bad my left eye wouldn’t open for weeks. I had to watch him get his money’s worth, watch how a real man would have fucked her. I couldn’t fight, so that made things worse for both of us.”
Another piece of grass rolled around my fingers.
“That’s fucked up.”
“Yeah, well, I’m fucked up.”
“Hard not to be.” He seemed to settle and become Brick again.
It wasn’t the only attempt my father made to ensure I was a man. There were many times I’d woken up to find some random chick in my bedroom or my living room. After a while, I just gave in. It was easier.
We both sat for a bit to let the details of my jacked-up childhood sink in. I knew Brick’s was anything but perfect, but it was far from my nightmare.
“You think Tess is all right?”
Her name did odd things to my head. My sense of control was lost when she wasn’t near. It seriously fucked with my demons.
Brick ran a hand through his hair and dropped his head as reality came crashing down around us. He stayed silent, both of us mulling through our thoughts, wondering if she and Gus were alive.
“Did Tess tell you why she disappeared on me for those six years?”
I didn’t answer, which gave him all he needed to know.
“Did it involve Clark?”
Again, I remained quiet, it wasn’t my secret to tell.
“I knew I should have killed him years ago.”
I agreed with that one. “She didn’t want you to know.” I rolled my head to look at him, and his jaw ticked as he processed the little bit he knew. “I don’t share what I want to handle myself, but you are the one I trust.”
Brick gave a quick nod, careful to hold back his emotion, which I was thankful for.
After about five minutes, he dropped his head. “I need to get out of here.”
“We will. Just need to find another angle.”
***
Tess
“What happened?” Morgan pointed at my bandaged leg but kept his eyes on the road. We were in a huge pickup truck he’d borrowed. He explained a bike wasn’t smart, as we needed to blend with the rest of the traffic. Really, I knew Trigger would flip if I rode on another man’s bike, regardless of the situation.
“When I was swimming, something snagged my leg.” I shrugged. “Nothing that won’t heal in time.”
“Anything else?”
“Not really, nothin’ physical, anyway.” I really didn’t want any sort of pity that should be saved for Gus. “Is Trigger okay in jail?”
Morgan smirked. “Trigger pretty much runs that prison at this point. Motorcycle clubs have a lot of pull in there. Once he dealt with Rail’s problem, they let him be.”
“What happened to Rail?”
“Ha!” Morgan covered his mouth with his arm. “Rail is prime meat in jail, which is why he got to bunk with Brick.” He laughed again. “I feel for Trig. Rail can be a handful in those situations.”
“You’ve been in jail with Rail?” Now I was curious.
“A few times. He’s the worst to share a cell with. He’s a sleep talker. We did as little time as we could, and obviously, we always got out.”
“How did you?” My stomach twisted with hope.
My nose scrunched at the thought, and the word months sent a chill through me. I pushed it aside and focused on the other part that kind of bothered me. “So, you’d put away innocent people?”
“None of us are innocent, Tess. The sooner you see that, the better off you’ll be.”
I shifted so my head rested against the glass. “I think we can find another way.”
Morgan glanced at me sideways. “If you can, I’ll buy you a bike myself.”
I smiled a little. “Is that a challenge, Captain?” I couldn’t help but let him know I knew the truth about his name.
“I believe it is, Tiger.” He dismissed my acknowledgment.
We stayed quiet for the rest of the ride, both of us running through multiple options to get the guys out. It wasn’t until we hit the driveway of the club that I felt safe again. I was home. I hopped out of the truck and hurried inside.
“Holy shit!” Minnie squealed from behind the bar as she raced over and nearly picked me right up off the floor. “How? Oh, my God! How are you here?”
“Gus,” I whispered. When I heard Fin race into the room, I didn’t have time to think before…
“Tess!” His little voice jumped to a high pitch as he ran as fast as he could and leapt into my arms. “Yes!” His head buried into my neck. “You’re here!”
“Oh, Fin!” I ate up every moment that little boy gave me. I hugged him for me, and I triple hugged him for Gus. “I missed you so much!”
He sniffed and tightened his grip around my neck. “Never leave me again!”
“I’m sorry, little guy. I won’t.” I was hit from behind, and a pair of small arms wrapped around my stomach.
“You’re back!”
“Hey, Denton,” I purred as I held onto his hands. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” he said, squeezing me a little tighter. “You bring Dad home?”
I wanted to cry, sob like a child and scream at the world that it wasn’t fair for me to be here and not him.