“I’m going to tell you only once and when I’ve finished I don’t want any more questions, do you understand?” Chanel nodded dramatically. “He came over last night, we had great sex, twice actually but he left before I woke this morning. Experience tells me he’s not interested or even going to call.”
“But what if he…” I held my hand up in front of Chanel’s face to stop her from talking.
“No questions, end of discussion. Are we clear?” I said lowering my hand.
Chanel nodded and slowly stood to walk over to the customer that had just arrived.
“Morning Taylor.” Anne said as she took off her coat. “Your aunty Pam sends her love and said that she’ll call you this evening.”
I smiled sweetly, “Thanks Anne. I look forward to it,” knowing full well that my aunt would be fishing for more gossip.
Chapter 5
Duke
We stood in the middle of Chingford Mount Cemetery, in the pouring rain watching Jimmy’s coffin being lowered into the ground. As I looked around I saw Ink holding Diesel’s hand tightly. He looked a little uneasy and I started to wonder if he’d asked her yet? He’d been putting it off all week, worried about her reaction. He didn’t give her the credit she deserved, she was a strong woman and in an indirect way, she’d asked to be involved in the death of the people responsible for her father’s murder.
After the service I sent the guys to their motorcycles, whilst I walked over to speak to Ink and Diesel.
“Ink,” I said with a nod, “Has he asked you yet?”
She slowly looked between myself and Diesel with a confused expression. “Asked me what?”
Diesel continued to look everywhere but directly at her. She shrugged her shoulders looking at me for answers.
“We have Patch in a safe house. Do you want to be present when he meets his maker?” I could see the mixed emotions on her face and I gave her the time she needed to process this information.
“It’s a very fitting day Duke. I’d love to accompany you.” She walked towards Diesel’s van.
I burst out laughing at her reaction and the look of shock on Diesel’s face.
“You have one gutsy lady there Diesel.” I stated, patting him on the back and directing him towards his van.
We rode in unison for thirty minutes to an old farm house that we owned in Stapleford Abbotts. It was in the middle of dense forest and ideal for its intended purpose. I looked over at Diesel to see the hesitation on his face. The club had carried out similar tasks numerous times over the years but he was worried how Ink would react and rightly so, she was his old lady. I gave her a smile as she followed us into the derelict building and noticed that she was flexing her fingers in the direction of Diesel looking for him to take her hand for reassurance.
Patch was bound and gagged, lying on the dirty floor in the middle of the room.
“It’s a shame you’re not naked.” Ink said kicking him in the groin. I could hear the pain in her voice and could only imagine what took place in that cellar before Spike arrived and rescued her.
Bear picked Patch up, throwing him onto the wooden chair that was positioned in the middle of the room and tied him securely.
“What are you going to do to him?” Ink asked.
I could see the glistening of her eyes as she tried to keep it together.
“That depends on you Ink. Do you want to watch or participate?” I asked as I held up my hand to stop Diesel from talking.
Ink nodded and slowly took out a knife from her belt and stalked towards Patch, tapping the blade against her right thigh.
Bending down between his legs, I heard her whisper, “It doesn’t matter to me, if you die now or later babe.” She pulled the blade up high and thrust it down fast into his right leg. Patch let out a loud scream and jerked forward. I held out my hand across Diesel’s chest to stop him from charging over to where Ink knelt between Patches thighs. I understood his need to protect her but she needed to do this to help her get over the recent events and find some kind of closure for her father’s death.
Ink quickly pulled the blade out and plunged the knife into his other leg. Patch thrashed about in the chair as pain radiated off him but Bear held him firmly as Ink stood and wiped the blade on his leg before casually returning it to its sleeve.
Ink turned and walked back into Diesel’s arms and I saw the love between them. Diesel was totally consumed with his emotions to protect her and so was the rest of the club now that she’d become his old lady. Ink turned her head briefly looking towards me, “Thank you, he’s all yours now.”
I nodded, understanding what she meant as I gave her a small smile. I eagerly waited for Diesel and Ink to leave the room and then gave Bear the signal. I had things to do and needed this over and done with quickly. He grabbed Patch by the hair and pulled his head back sharply to reveal his neck.
“Please man don’t do this. We can sort something out!” He screamed thrashing around in the chair. “I can give you some more information.”
Bear looked at me briefly, “What information?”
“If I tell you, do you promise to let me go?” Patch said pleading.
“Yeah. Now spill.”
“Flex was involved in Harlow’s kidnapping. He had some pact with Hawke. I don’t know all the details but I can find them out if you let me go.” Patch said hopefully.
I nodded for Bear to continue. He casually ran the blade deep across the length of his neck and I could hear the sickening gurgling sound coming from Patches mouth as death drew closer. Bear abruptly let go of his head as we watched it flop forwards towards his chest. My job here was done!
I turned to the prospects, “Bury him in the usual place.” I stated as I pointed to Patch slumped in the chair. They nodded understanding my instructions.
“Bear, call Flex and let him know it’s done. Step up the surveillance to twenty-four hours and if I find out he was involved in the death of Jimmy and the kidnapping of Ink, he’s a dead man. Under no circumstances are you to mention this to Diesel. Do you all understand?” I glanced around the group as the guys nodded their heads, understanding the severity of this confession. “And when you’re finished, come and find me at the Bird Cage. I need a fucking drink.” I left the guys to it and rode to the club so that I could try and unwind. It had been a fucking shitty day.
I sat in my usual place knocking back drink after drink. There were no other brothers in tonight as they were at Jimmy’s wake and that’s just how I wanted it. Was it disrespectful not to turn up? Did I need to be at the club house to think about Jimmy? Would people think badly of me? Did I even give a shit what people thought?
I continued to knock back my drink when I noticed someone sitting opposite me. In my blurred state I tried to focus on the person.
“What’s this all about Duke?” Savannah asked reaching across the table resting her hand on top of mine. I pulled it back, out of her grasp to pour myself another drink, ignoring her whilst I knocked back the amber liquid in one gulp and started to pour myself another. Savannah reached over and swiped the bottle of Jack from my hand.
“I think you’ve had enough Duke.” She said moving it out of my reach.
I swiped the table which sent my glass flying across the club and shattered on the floor, drawing attention from some of the punters.
“I’ll be the judge of that bitch don’t forget your place Savannah. You’re just a fucking stripper.” I spat angrily at her.
Savannah folded her arms across her chest and I could just about make out her scowling at me. She sat there staring as she placed the bottle of Jack back on the table.
“Thank you.” I said as I started to swig directly from the bottle.
“You keep talking to people like that and you’ll eventually lose everyone.” Savannah stated as she continued to stare at me. Our relationship ran deep and she knew I didn’t mean what I’d said, it was the drink talking.
“It won’t matter coz she probably won’t talk to me again
anyway.” I took another swig from the bottle and rested my head on the table. Sleep slowly invading my body.
Bear
“Can anyone join the party?” I asked as I sat next to Savannah on the sofa.
She gestured to Duke slumped unconscious on the table, “What’s going on with him? I know you had Jimmy’s funeral today and a job to attend to after that but that’s nothing he hasn’t dealt with before.” I looked at her with raised eyebrows shocked that she knew so much.
“Don’t get your knickers in a twist! Duke has no one to confide in apart from myself and Amy. He sometimes needs to get things off his chest. You’d be surprised by what we know.”
I laughed shaking my head at the realisation. It was club rules not to share information but we all needed to vent frustration and anger from time to time and it was usually the old ladies that had that pleasure. In Duke’s case, I suppose Savannah and Amy were the closest he had to an old lady.
“I’ve never seen him like this Bear!”
I shook my head. I knew the visit from Rev annoyed him but that shouldn’t make him want to drown his sorrows. Maybe it was the combination of Jimmy, Rev and the up and coming drugs deal that had set him off?
“Before he passed out he said something about it not mattering coz she probably wouldn’t talk to him again anyway. Who do you think he was referring too?”
I knew exactly who he was talking about, “Taylor.” I said bluntly.
I got the prospects to move Duke to the van, this took a while because of his shear weight and we had to ask some of the security at the club to give us a hand. They had direct instructions to take him to the club house where he could be put in to bed with the help of some of the brothers at Jimmy’s wake. I would make my own way home after I’d spoken to Taylor, probably using Duke’s motorcycle. He’d go fucking mad as he didn’t let anyone on his ride but it was justified and I’d take the repercussions.
Taylor’s mobile number was easy to get hold of from Natasha, the manager of the club. I dialled the number hoping that she’d be available as I needed to find out what we were up against. She thankfully answered on the third ring.
“Hello!” A sleepy Taylor answered the phone.
“Taylor, its Bear,” the line stayed silent, “Sorry it’s late but I need to ask you a few questions.” I said hopefully.
“Don’t you own a fucking watch?”
I sniggered which was probably the wrong thing to do but she had a smart mouth which I found amusing.
“Hurry up, what do you want to ask me?” her clipped tone told me this wasn’t gonna be easy.
“What’s the state of play between you and Duke?” If I could find out if they were seeing each other it may shed some light on the situation.
“That’s none of your fucking business and I don’t appreciate you calling me in the middle of the fucking night asking me stupid questions about him.” The line went dead.
I turned to Savannah pouring myself a drink, “Well I can safely say that they’re not an item.” Savannah shook her head in disbelief, “You men haven’t got a fucking clue!”
Taylor
What the fuck just happened? Did Bear really just call me in the middle of the night to ask what I was doing with Duke? Should I have told him that he scored two home runs then bailed on me in the middle of the night?
I got up out of bed and put on my dressing gown before going downstairs to make a cup of tea. Tea made me feel better in a crisis. I sat at the kitchen table when my phone bleeped indicating I had a text.
Hi Taylor, it’s Amy. Sorry that Andy (Bear) didn’t handle the conversation well. Men! LOL
A little confused as to why he contacted me in the first place? T
Mitchell’s been acting strangely!
What’s new! LOL
He’s not acting himself and the guys are worried
Not being funny but what’s this gotta do with me Amy? T
That’s what we’re trying 2 find out. What happened Sunday evening?
We shagged twice, he left before I woke. T
That good! LOL
Dented the ego but I’ll get over it. T
I’m even more confused. No big fight or fall out?
No. Perfectly normal one night stand! T
Well thanx Taylor. Sorry to bother you but the guys asked me 2 make contact. Pop in tomorrow 4 a chat. X
I’ll try. Night x
Good night x
Could this night get any stranger? Looking at the clock I could see that it was now just after 2.00am which meant it would be 9.00pm in New York, so I decided to take my tea into the living room and call my sister. I just needed a normal conversation.
“Hi stranger, how you doing?” Sophia asked in her usual jovial tone.
“I’m good. More to the point how are you and my nephews doing?” It had been so long since I’d seen them all.
“The boys are doing well. Charlie made the soccer team and Luke’s singing in the school talent contest next week.” She paused and I could hear her take a sip of her drink. “I don’t know where he gets his confidence from?” We both started to laugh. We were regulars on the karaoke machine when we were teenagers and had an abundance of confidence.
“Enough about the kids, how you doing?” I asked concerned. Sophia always got on with things without a fuss and I was concerned for her welfare.
“The doctor told me to rest but it’s easier said than done with two young children.”
“Why, what’s up?” The doctor wouldn’t tell her to rest for no good reason.
“I’ve been having a bit of tightening in my stomach.” She stated as if it was a normal thing to have.
“Do you need me to come home?” If my sibling was in trouble I would be expected to go and look after her regardless of my new business.
“Nah, I’m fine Taylor. Anyway, how could you possibly leave your hot biker friend?”
“I’m assuming you’ve spoken to Pam.”
“Sure have. She said he propositioned you.” She started to snigger.
That was just like Pam, giving half a story so that she thought the worse of me.
“Don’t get too excited. It was a business proposition.” I stated making sure she clearly understood.
“I was only having a little fun.”
“Yeah at my expense.”
“Taylor, you’re allowed to let your hair down and have some fun. All work and no play makes Taylor a grumpy cow!”
“I know I just have so much going on at the moment that it’s difficult.”
I could hear crying in the background.
“Sorry, I’m gonna have to go Taylor. Charlie’s crying. He’s probably had a nightmare.”
“Not a problem, we’ll catch up soon. And Sophia…”
“Yeah?”
“If you need anything, please give me a call. It doesn’t matter what time of day or night it is. You hear me?”
“I hear you. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
It was great to speak to Sophia. I needed to make more time so that I could catch up with her and my nephews more often. I didn’t want the fact that I’d moved to England to compromise our relationship.
We’d been through a lot together over the years which made me very protective over her.
Growing up she blamed herself for mom being unwell. It wasn’t until her late teen’s that she truly appreciated that it wasn’t her fault but she’d carried that guilt around for so many years blaming herself for mom experiencing postpartum depression after her birth.
With the support from the Postpartum Resource Centre in New York and counselling, Sophia managed to change her outlook on a lot of things and stopped blaming herself.
I walked into the kitchen and dug around in my handbag until I found a pen. I wrote on my calendar that I’d spoken to her this evening and hoped that this visual reference would make it easier to remember. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, it’s just with everything that was going on in my life at the
moment, it was difficult to find the time. I placed the pen back into my bag and also made a mental note of sharing as little information with my aunt as possible!
Chapter 6
Duke
“Oh my fucking head hurts and my mouth’s as dry as a camel’s arsehole.” I rolled over, covering my eyes as someone drew back the curtains and opened the window to let in some air.
“And it smells like something died in here.” Amy said in a cheery voice as she moved around the room picking up items of clothing from the floor.
How could she be so happy first thing in the fucking morning? I leant over grabbing my alarm clock that was positioned on my bedside cabinet to see that it was well after 11.00am. I knew I was in the dog house if Ames was here. We always sent for her when there was a problem that needed a female to deal with and here she was fussing around and making a fucking noise.
“Can you keep it down, my fucking head hurts?” I said pulling the cover up over my face.
“No I can’t. It’s self-inflicted so you’ll get no sympathy from me.”
She continued to walk around the room and eventually placed a glass of water and some tablets on the bedside cabinet.
“The guys asked me to come and deal with you, like I haven’t got enough to deal with. You’re thirty-five years old Mitchell, not eighteen. Don’t you think you’re getting a little too old for all this shit?”
I pulled back the cover and jumped out of bed taking Amy by surprise by my nakedness.
“Alright, I get it! I’m getting up now. Will you just fuck off woman, you’re doing my head in.”
Amy smiled sweetly and walked towards the door, “That was the plan. The guys are waiting for you in the bar, Mark is leaving in half an hour on a reconnaissance run.” Amy left my room slamming the door behind her.
“Bitch!” I shouted as I made my way slowly into the bathroom.
I stared at my reflection in the mirror. “How much did you drink last night?” I said aloud leaning on the vanity unit to get a closer look at my bloodshot eyes. I needed to get my shit together and fast. It had been an emotional couple of weeks. Dealing with my feelings for Ash, the death of Jimmy and the kidnapping of Ink were the final straw on top of the constant reminders of how I let Viper down and the responsibility of this club. I needed to deal with my shit and fast as my brothers were relying on me.
Duke (Aces MC Series Book 2) Page 6