by Ana Jolene
“What’s going on?” Seven asked, looking back and forth between us.
“I didn’t want you to think differently of me, which is why I didn’t share this with you before.”
“Oh my God,” Seven cried. “You’re not like a convict on the run or something, are you? Have you killed people, Indy?”
“What? No! No, Seven. That’s not even close.” Where the hell did she get that idea? Even if it were true there were no cops to come after me.
“Then whatever you say next will not change how I feel about you in the least.”
I hoped that was the case. On an exhale, I told her about my disorder explaining everything down to the fact that Hastie knew too. Seven blinked. Then she blinked again. I shot a worried look at Hastie. Oh God, she was cracking! This would ruin everything between us!
“So . . . you have a mood disorder?” she said slowly.
I nodded. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I just didn’t want you to think I was some psycho chick with raging emotions.”
Seven walked up to me, pulling me in for a big bear hug. “Indy, I already knew that.”
“What?” I pulled away from her. “How?” I had kept it from everyone.
“Hey, give your best friend a little more credit here. I’d be a shit friend if I noticed the symptoms all these years and didn’t put the puzzle together. I figured it out myself.” She shot me a smile. “I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want you thinking it was a big deal. I know you have a hard time with it. But it would never make me change my mind on how I felt about you.”
I felt as if my bones were being rattled inside of my body. She knew and she never cared. Seven knew and she never cared! It felt like a revelation in some way.
“I’m glad you told me though.” Her arms circled me and I clung to her, grateful to have her as a friend.
My voice wobbled as I tried to overcome my shock. “You really knew all this time?”
“Well, yeah.” Her smile was teasing. “With you acting like a psycho bitch all the time, it wasn’t hard to figure it out. Why do you think I let you drink all the alcohol in the house? What kind of friend would I be then?”
Laughing, I hugged her once more before cutting the Hallmark moment short. This felt more anticlimactic than I was hoping for, but no less relieving. It gave me hope that this disorder wouldn’t rule my life forever, that there were people out there willing to accept me despite it.
My own fear had kept me apart from those I cared about. I had isolated myself, making excuses when I should have believed in my own strength. Everyone was afraid of something, but it shouldn’t ever stop them from finding happiness.
Seven slid back behind the counter to do what she did best. When she called me over, I helped her make the cake batter. Later, Lucky came despite Seven’s refusal to talk to him, resulting in icing being thrown across the kitchen. I smiled, watching as it all happened and being glad for the first time that I had people around me who knew me.
Maybe this wouldn’t be so difficult after all . . .
Hastie
Since the explosions, Neptune’s had stayed closed to the public but would re-open again tonight. As the staff worked like a well-oiled machine to get everything ready, I sat at the bar having a drink, waiting for Indy to arrive for her shift. I hadn’t been home since I last saw her, driving straight to the clubhouse for a church meeting to work out some more Glory biz. The club had made a decision to locate Anthony Cavezza of the Phantoms. Since he’d taken part in the gas station explosion, Glory MC saw him as a threat that had to be taken down swiftly.
Hanna ambled over, fisting two shiny new bottles of whiskey in her hand. She caught me smiling at her. “Just one,” she allowed as she carefully settled them on the bar. I smacked my lips as she poured me a shot.
“How’s the wedding prep going?”
“On hold until . . .” She waved her had in the air a bit. “All this shit passes.”
Understood. Nobody could’ve expected what had happened to the club. “It’ll pass,” I muttered, hoping it was true.
“You coming to my wedding?”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
“Are you going to wear a tux?”
I gave her a crazy look. “Fuck, no.”
Hanna cackled, shrugging her shoulders. “Well, it was worth a shot. I’m just imagining what all you boys would look like all dressed up.”
“Not going to happen, Hanna.”
The back employee entrance opened and a breeze of hot air wafted in. Indy appeared, smiling and wearing her Neptune’s uniform. I twisted so she could drop a kiss on my lips. “Hi,” she said. “Look what I got.”
In her hands was a bouquet of red and white carnations. “Who gave you those?”
“Oh relax, Hastie. I thought you were over your little jealous streak.”
But it wasn’t jealously making me act this way. It was fear. Stone-cold fear. “Who gave you those?” I repeated, more sternly this time.
“A guy outside.” Indy shot Hanna an exasperated look. “Said he was a friend of the club. He wanted to send his condolences.”
I froze. Would they dare bring war to our front door? “Leave through the front,” I growled as I pulled out my pistol. “Both of you. Now.”
Indy’s eyes grew wide. “Why? What’s going on?”
“Those are the Phantoms colors. Red for blood and white for smoke.” I eyed the door Indy had just come through, alarm bells blaring. “Something’s up.”
The color left Indy’s face, only to be replaced swiftly by anger. Chin jutting out defiantly, I watched her turn, stomping towards the back exit she came from in fury. “I’m gonna string that motherfucker up by his balls for tricking me like that! I can’t believe he’d come here!”
Jumping up, I scuttled after Indy, catching her around her waist before she got herself into trouble. At the same time, Hanna moved into action, calling for backup. Indy had just made it to the door, slamming it open to yell, “Show your face, cocksucker!” when a hail of bullets made Swiss cheese out of the doors. I tackled her to the ground where we landed hard on the asphalt. Pain radiated up my side where I took the brunt of the impact. “Baby?”
She coughed. “Yeah?”
“How about you try not to be superwoman right now and let me handle this?”
She cracked a smile but her words were sharp. “Get off me.”
Several more shots missed me by a couple of inches. “Get under that car!” I yelled. Hopefully, it would shield her from any stray bullets.
I watched as Indy dropped on all fours, flattening herself to the ground as she army crawled beneath the vehicle. Once there was comfort knowing that she was safe, I popped up like a bad guy in a video game and let off a handful of shots in the direction where the bullets came from.
A rain of returned fire caused me to take cover. My opponent was on the move, using the cars in the parking lot as shields. Waiting for that perfect moment, I fired off shots as he bolted across the lot. His cry of pain signaled that at least one of them had hit home.
But I wasn’t a fool to think it was over yet though. By now, I was breathing hard, the humidity in the air making it feel like I was breathing in sludge. With the back of my hand, I mopped my brow of sweat and waited.
The sounds of heavy footsteps confirmed what I had guessed. There was another one. Phantoms rarely worked alone. I popped up once again, aiming and firing as the dirt kicked up around me. As some of the dust cleared, I could make out a face. Recognized him as the man Indy had described.
Holy shit. Anthony Cavezza was here?
It was why Indy hadn’t realized she was in trouble. Anthony had gotten someone else to approach her.
Only about ten feet separated us. Possibly the closest anyone had ever been to the Phantoms in recent history. And to top it all off, Glory MC didn’t need to hunt him out; Cavezza had come to us.
A mistake on his part. Because not only did he bring war to our door, but he also messed wi
th the wrong woman.
My pulse pounded in my head. He had to be hiding between some cars. I picked up a pebble off the ground, whipping it far across the lot so that it hit the side of a vehicle. The ping that echoed in the yard sounded like a bell going off.
The shot was instantaneous.
There! He was closer than I expected. As he fired at the place he thought I was, I let my own bullets rip. Cavezza’s body jerked and as he went down, I closed the last few feet between us, hovering over him as blood began to seep from his bullet wounds. One had hit him in the arm, the other in the neck. The first was likely painful, but the second was lethal.
I kicked his pistol away, never taking my eyes off him. “You picked the wrong girl to give flowers to, motherfucker.”
Cavezza grinned down at the end of my pistol. The bloody show of teeth was the perfect distraction for his next move. I didn’t see it coming until he had pressed down on the trigger and the vehicle Indy had been hiding under blew to high heaven.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Glory Forever
Hastie
The parking lot looked like a warzone, fires sprouting all around me. By the time I got my head working again, I couldn’t find the motherfucker anywhere.
The flames were relentless, burning through my leathers like thin paper. Smoke made visibility nearly impossible and the bandana covering my face did nothing but make me feel more suffocated. All around me I could see charred pieces of metal and other things I couldn’t identify. “No,” I muttered before falling into a coughing fit. Where the hell was Indy? She had been right there!
When hands clamped over my shoulder, I jerked, startled. “It’s me, brother,” Kitt said, his own red bandana covering his face. “We need to get you out of here.”
“No!” I jerked out of his hold. “Indy’s still here somewhere! We have to find her!” My voice sounded panicked even to my own ears.
“Listen, asshole,” Kitt growled when I fought against him. “Let me get you out of here and then I’ll come back for her.”
“My girl’s in there.” Maybe he didn’t understand but I loved her. I couldn’t just leave her!
Kitt clamped his hands on my cut, forcing me to look him in the eye when I tried to turn away from him. “She’s gone, man. I’m sorry.”
Gone? No, she couldn’t be gone! “She’s here,” I ground out, pushing him off me with more force than necessary. “And I’m going to find her.”
“Hastie!” he yelled after me. “You’ll die out here!”
Fuck if I cared now. I moved through the flames, avoiding the sparks that sprang to life like fireflies in the dark. My head swiveled from left to right, trying to find any sign of Indy.
I heard Kitt calling after me but I ignored him as my eyes landed on the blackened crater where the car used to be. I slumped to my knees. Distantly, heavy footsteps sounded from behind me. “You may hate me for this, but it’s the only way,” Kitt said before his fist came crashing down on the side of my head.
Then, blackness.
* * *
The world swam as I cracked an eye open.
Indy? Where was Indy? I needed her. The explosion filtered back into my head and Kitt’s words registered. She’s gone, man. I’m sorry.
My heart sank, and I let it drag me under.
* * *
Pain spiked through my temples like a lance. I groaned as a warm hand cupped my chin gently, turning it gingerly. “I can’t believe you punched him.”
The answering male voice sounded defensive. “He resisted!”
“You didn’t have to knock him out.”
“It was the only way to get him out of there. He kept fighting to search for you.”
The female’s voice softened. “Oh, Hastie.”
Wait. I knew that voice!
My eyes shot open and blinding light poured in. “Indy?” There were her wide amber eyes. Her heart-shaped mouth. That wild hair. She was here. Whole. “I thought you were dead.”
A smile broke across her face. “You almost sound disappointed.” Jesus, she was joking and I was about to lose my fucking mind! I thought I had lost her.
“Shh, it’s okay,” she whispered as tears pooled in my eyes. “I’m here.”
She was here. She wasn’t dead. “Kiss me,” I rasped.
My girl smiled. “Anything you want, babe,” she said before she sealed her lips over mine.
Indy
“Whoa, slow down, cowboy. I don’t think you’ve fully recovered to be able to do that.” Hastie’s fingers stalled on my breast where he was copping a feel.
He nipped my earlobe. “You know I have excellent recovery time.” I slapped his clever fingers away even as goose bumps rose on my flesh where he had touched me.
About two weeks had passed since the explosion at Neptune’s. I didn’t know what it was about bikers, but they loved blowing shit up. It was a damn miracle that we both survived it. “How are you feeling?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
Hastie shrugged like he hadn’t nearly been killed. “Just a knock on the head. Come on,” he said with a tilt of his chin. “Don’t deflect.”
“I’m okay,” I said, feeling much better now that I knew that he was alive. The explosion had rocked Neptune’s, but luckily only the back part of the dive bar and the parking lot received the brunt of the damage.
After hiding beneath the car, I darted backed into Neptune’s for Hanna, knowing Hastie would work more efficiently without having to worry about me. When backup arrived, Glory MC had immediately rushed straight into the flames. They hadn’t found us across the street until the flames were contained.
Hastie brushed the hair away from my face. “Come on. Talk to me.”
“You scared me,” I admitted. “I heard all those shots and I thought, this is it. This is the end.”
His fingers made a trail down my thigh, nothing too overly sexual but I still felt it between my legs. When his eyes met mine, they were still the intense green that looked down at me with affection. “Do you ever get tired of it?” I whispered.
His brows drew together in confusion. “Of what?”
“Death. Dealing it. Seeing it.” In the short time I’d known Hastie, I’d seen a world of death and violence. How could he stand to see it every day of his life?
Hastie’s eyes were solemn. “It’s tiring, but it’s my life.” When he grew silent, I wondered if that would be the extent of our conversation. But then he cleared his throat and said, “I thought about it, you know? On those nights where the darkness just consumes you and there’s too much blood on your hands. I thought about leaving. But for someone who has been around patched members for most of their life it makes me wonder if it’s even possible for someone like me to step out of Glory MC.”
“Kind of like me,” I said, seeing the similarities of both situations. “I’ve got no escape either.”
His fingers grazed my cheek, soft and caressing. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll deal with it together.” His arms pulled me tighter against him. “I’ve got you, baby.”
“You’ve been calling me baby a lot recently. Why?”
“‘Babe’ is flirty. ‘Baby’ implies you’re mine. And you’re definitely mine, baby.”
I arched a brow at the possessiveness in his voice. “Do I have to wear one of those ‘Property of Glory’ thingies now?”
“What?”
“Those cuts that women wear to let others know I’m yours.”
He gave a shake of his head. “There’s no question of who you belong to. Your heart is mine, India Marie, and no one is gonna take that from me.”
“Wow, Hastie,” I sighed. “That sounded really sexy.”
“Yeah?” He flashed me that panty-melting grin. “I think it’s about time I demonstrate my excellent recovery time.”
I smiled at the ceiling. “I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.”
Hastie
The minute I walked into the meeting room, all eyes landed on me.
“Hey! Look who is up and moving!” Kitt said with a bright smile. He wouldn’t be smiling in a second. My fist met his face in a deafening crack and he cried out. “Ow! What the fuck, man!”
“That’s for knocking me out,” I said as I shook out my fist. “And for making me think Indy was dead.”
“I thought she was at the time!” He shot a betrayed look at Indy who stood in the doorway of the room.
Indy shrugged. “You deserved it.”
The others in the room laughed. “Fuck, your fist is like iron.” Kitt checked his fingers for blood. He’d find none. I hadn’t hit him that hard.
“Every once in a while you need your head bashed in.” I slapped him on the back and felt him flinch. “Besides you’ve got a hard enough head.”
As more laughter echoed, Knuckle’s rough voice cut in through our banter. “We ready to start this meeting?”
With another pat on Kitt’s shoulder, I settled into a chair. Indy sent me a smile before retreating and closing the door behind her. She was getting used to the way Glory MC ran things.
Once settled, all eyes landed on Knuckle. “We’ve handled Brennan, but it looks like another son of a bitch wants a piece of us,” he began. “The Phantoms have made their intent clear. They want to clear us out of Ward Four one by one. The only way this will stop is if we show them we don’t like being dicked around. We need a plan of action, something that will get us face to face with these invisible men. Any ideas?”
Knuckle took a long moment to look at everyone in the room, giving each of them a chance to speak their thoughts. Beck lowered his cigarette from his mouth before speaking. “We could always visit Ward Three. I’m sure someone there still has ties to the Phantoms.”
Kitt was quick to argue. “But they wouldn’t just give that up. Not for anything. I wouldn’t stick my ass out for nobody, especially to act as bait.”
Beck shrugged his broad shoulders and took another drag from his cigarette. “If they need some persuading, we’ve got ways of doing that. After all, who do they think they got their guns from?”