“Then go find someone else. I don’t care!” I continued, and I was the only one screeching in the room because Vanity was calm and composed. I knew she could see the heartbreak on my face.
“Yes, you do, you clearly care,” she said; just as we heard footsteps approaching. Oz appeared at the door, with his hair disheveled and his eyes looking exhausted.
“What’s going on?” he asked, staring at Vanity.
She stood up from the couch, threw me a knowing smiling look and then walked slowly towards Oz.
“You’ve grown into quite something,” she said, with a sizzle in her voice. She ran her fingers seductively up Oz’ chest, before she walked away from him. Oz followed her with his eyes, before he dragged his gaze away to look at me again.
“What did she want? I didn’t know you two were friends,” he said, closing the front door behind Vanity.
I collapsed on the couch, feeling completely drained. The day had just begun but I was already feeling like I was ready for bed.
“I don’t, we have a mutual friend. How was your night?” I asked and Oz threw himself down on the couch beside me.
“Eventful,” he said, nodding his head and he wrapped an arm around my shoulder.
“What’s your plan for the day?” he asked me and I closed my eyes, hoping I might be able to steal a few minutes of sleep like this.
“Work and after that, I have a date,” I said.
“A date? I thought you guys ended things?” Oz sounded excited.
“Not with Abe, with Joshua, he’s a co-worker at the store,” I said, while I drifted off to sleep.
24
Abe
I called for a meeting at a different bar, because I needed to talk to the guys somewhere other than T-Bone. I knew I was taking a risk here, but I couldn’t do this alone; I needed my brothers with me.
Oz showed up first, and looked like he’d finally gotten some sleep.
I, on the other hand, had spent the day walking around the house, trying to avoid falling asleep because I knew I’d end up fantasizing about Alexis. I needed to keep myself awake and my mind occupied with anything other than her. She was going to be a hard habit to break.
Oz sat down beside me and ordered a beer, just as Girth and Rodeo walked in.
“Why are we meeting here?” Rodeo asked, as our beers arrived.
“I needed to discuss the Garcia situation in private,” I told them and I saw Rodeo and Girth exchanging looks.
“What Garcia situation? I thought you made the call to that Paz guy and told him the deal is off, like Lewis told us to,” Rodeo said. Oz was the only one at the table who looked excited.
“Well, I did call him but I didn’t say the deal was off,” I revealed to them. Girth grunted and took a large swig of his beer while Rodeo shook his head.
“They are happy with our performance, they were satisfied with the way we handled the situation. The next shipment arrives in two nights, with way more stock,” I told them and Rodeo clutched his bottle of beer tightly.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me man,” he snapped.
“We can’t tell Lewis,” I said and looked at Girth for his approval.
“Without the backing of the rest of the MC, this is going to be a very difficult operation to execute,” Girth said and Rodeo was still shaking his head.
“We don’t have enough support. What is it going to be? Just the four of us? With more stock to handle?” Rodeo asked and I nodded my head. I needed all of them to be on my side to make this work.
“We just need to get it done and prove to Lewis that this is a sustainable source of income,” I declared.
“And what about more men? Your new recruits?” Rodeo snapped.
“We don’t have the time. We just have to rely on Oz here,” I said.
Oz was nodding his head, pumped up about the plan.
“I can do it. We’ll handle it. I’m with Abe,” Oz said and Rodeo rolled his eyes. I looked at Girth and he grudgingly nodded his head.
“We might be able to do it,” he said and I looked at Rodeo next who seemed to be guzzling his beer down.
“Fuck it!” he exclaimed, banging the bottle down on the table. “Lets do this!” he said.
25
Alexis
This was the first date I’d been on in over a year, and I couldn’t believe it was with Joshua. The previous day, when I told him that I had the night off and asked if he wanted to hang out; he seemed super excited and relieved that I’d finally said yes to his open offer.
I was hoping that we could just go to the movies and get some burritos later, but he insisted that I dress up and that he wanted to take me somewhere nice.
I decided that it was for the best. Dressing up and feeling beautiful and fawned over by Joshua was probably the cure I needed to stop thinking about Abe.
I wore the best dress I had, a navy cocktail dress with a plunging neck. I took out the silver stilettos I’d never worn and I did my silky red hair up in a neat bun on the side of my head. I wore a dark plum lipstick and worked on smoky eyes for at least an hour before I was happy with the look.
Oz wasn’t at the apartment as usual when I was leaving and I found Joshua waiting downstairs for me in his car.
“You look like the most beautiful woman on earth!” he gushed, as he held the door open for me and I blushed, thinking about what Abe had said. It had a deeper effect on me when Abe said it, with Joshua, it just felt like another empty compliment.
We talked a little as he drove us to the restaurant in a fancier part of town. He’d made reservations for us already, and the hostess ushered us in to a romantic corner table. Joshua held the chair out for me and I sat down. He almost looked nervous, like he was hoping that the night would go well…that it might proceed to something else.
I knew I wasn’t ready to sleep with another man. I didn’t know when I would be ready for that.
We ordered, Joshua made suggestions because I hadn’t really tried Thai food before. He also ordered one of the most expensive bottles of wine and I felt guilty, knowing that I was using him as a distraction, as a rebound. I was hopeful that this date could lead to more, that suddenly I might find myself genuinely attracted to this man in front of me, but I still couldn’t stop thinking about Abe.
“I’m glad you finally agreed to this. I feel like the last year of waiting hasn’t gone to a complete waste,” Joshua said, his eyes were sparkling as he spoke.
“It wasn’t you, Joshua. I was just taking a break from dating,” I told him with a smile and he searched my eyes hopefully.
“And now you’re not?” he asked and I looked away from him, down at my lap.
“I don’t know yet, I’m just trying to take it slow,” I replied.
“That’s okay, I can wait, I’ve been waiting for some time now,” he said and we smiled at each other.
We fell into silence for a few moments. Usually, at work, we always had something to talk about—work gossip or complaining about the same people and customers, but here, outside the supermarket; it seemed like we’d run out of things to say to each other.
“Is everything okay with you? You seemed pretty upset that day, when that biker guy came to speak to you. I assume you know him?” Joshua broke the silence, and with the worst subject selection possible.
I gulped and picked up my glass of wine.
“Yeah, he’s my brother’s friend. I’m fine, we just don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things,” I said, hoping that we could stop talking about Abe. Joshua crossed his brows in concentration and nodded his head.
“Yeah, well, maybe you should tell your brother to keep his distance from guys like him,” he commented casually, and I shot up my head to glare at him.
“Why?” I snapped and Joshua looked surprised by my reaction.
“Umm…because, those guys are always trouble and there’s a lot of violence in their world and the stuff I hear about them…” he continued and I interrupted him.
“And they’
re also brave and they stand up for the right thing, and they don’t hurt anybody who doesn’t get themselves involved in their shit,” I snapped.
Joshua clamped his mouth shut and I saw him fidgeting subconsciously with his hands.
“Oh, I didn’t realize you felt so strongly about this,” he said and I sat back, gulping. I had no idea where all that had come from.
“Yeah…umm, sorry, I just…I’m not a fan of generalizations. I wouldn’t stereotype every biker guy as the same unthinking monster,” I said, drinking some more of my wine.
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” Joshua said and he looked sincere. I smiled at him.
I’d come on this date with him to forget about Abe, not to defend him.
“You haven’t, sorry, I just…nothing, let’s talk about something else,” I said and he smiled and nodded his head.
Neither of us spoke for a few moments again. Our food arrived, and it was a good excuse to look busy in ourselves, without having to talk much. I hadn’t realized that we wouldn’t have anything to talk about. I’d always assumed that even though I wasn’t sexually attracted to Joshua, that at least we would have a good friendly time together.
“Why don’t you start by telling me about your family?” he broke the silence again. I looked up at him, trying to control the emotions inside me.
“Don’t want to talk about that either,” I snapped and Joshua clenched his jaws and forced a weak smile on his face.
“Sure, well umm…I have two sisters, and my dad is…” he began and I interrupted him.
“I’d like it if we didn’t discuss fathers,” I said. Joshua chewed his food and nodded. This date wasn’t going as well as either of us had hoped for.
* * *
Both Joshua and I ate quickly and we drank the bottle of wine even quicker. After the wine started taking its effect on us, conversation became slightly easier. We reverted to our usual topics of talking about work gossip and complaining about our manager. This dinner didn’t feel any different from taking our lunch break together at the supermarket.
Joshua paid for the dinner, and we stood up together to leave.
“Do you want to get a drink somewhere? It’s still early,” he asked as we walked out of the restaurant.
“Actually, I’m feeling quite exhausted. Haven’t been sleeping well,” I said to him, hoping he wouldn’t be offended by how short I’d cut the date.
Joshua nodded his head, slipping his hands into the pockets of his pants.
“Sure, yeah, of course. I wouldn’t want to tire you out,” he said, and I could see it in his eyes that he was disappointed.
Over his shoulder, I saw the door of the bar next door open. I saw Oz walk out first, and then Abe, followed by two other men who I recognized from T-Bone. I felt tongue-tied with surprise.
It was Abe who saw me and he stopped in his tracks. Our eyes had met, he stared at me in that same piercing way, before he looked at Joshua—he could only see his back.
“Anyway, I should drive you home,” Joshua said and he started walking over to his car which was parked on the side of the road.
Oz and the other two guys had already started walking in the other direction, but Abe had stayed behind, still looking at me in silence, not making a move. I felt frozen to the spot, looking back at him, hoping and wishing that he might say something…do something, but he didn’t.
“Alexis?” I heard Joshua call out, and I dragged my gaze away from Abe. Joshua was holding the door of his car open for me and I had no choice but to walk to him.
Before I got in the car, I looked over at where Abe had been standing but he was gone. Almost like he’d disappeared magically into the night.
“All good?” Joshua asked, leaning in towards me.
“All good,” I replied, turning my face from him, suddenly afraid that he was going to kiss me.
Joshua didn’t try to kiss me. Instead, he drove me back to the apartment in silence and let me walk out of the car without trying to hold me back. He wasn’t stupid, he knew that we didn’t have a hope of a future together.
“See you at work tomorrow?” he asked, through his window.
“See you,” I said with a smile.
“Still friends?” he asked and I grinned.
“Of course!”
I watched him drive away and I waved before he took a turn out of our street. I walked up the stairs to our apartment, wondering what Abe had thought, if he was jealous the way I had been of those strippers. Or if it hadn’t affected him at all, and if he was relieved that I was moving on.
26
Abe
We were back at the docks, with the same set of instructions. The ship was supposed to arrive, we were going to help the crew assemble the shipment on the docks and then we were going to drive it in a truck to our warehouse.
The plan was in place as usual. Girth and Oz were keeping a watch on the entrance of the dock, while Rodeo and I were lingering around near where the ship was going to dock. We didn’t have the support of the rest of the MC this time, which meant that two of us would have to guard the warehouse after the shipment was stored.
Rodeo and I had been smoking endless cigarettes. Both of us were nervous about what was going to happen next. We were defying Lewis’ orders. The MC didn’t even know where we were tonight. If anything happened, all of our lives were at risk. I was already regretting the decision to get Oz involved in this. I’d made Alexis a promise to keep him safe, and that didn’t change just because we’d stopped sleeping together.
“You all right, brother?” Rodeo asked me. I could see the butt of his cigarette glowing in the dark.
“Yeah, you?” I asked him and he nodded his head.
We could see the ship sailing towards us now, slowing down its speed so it could dock itself some distance away. The crew usually sailed down to us on smaller boats, filled with crates of the shipment. They needed to park their ship as far from the actual jetty as possible, to keep its stock safe from an attack.
Rodeo and I squared our shoulders, preparing ourselves for the next stage of the handover. We watched as the anchor was thrown over the ship, and smaller boats started being floated. The crates were being lowered with ropes into those boats.
For now, things seemed quiet and I was hoping for it to stay that way. Maybe the Dark Legion hadn’t heard about this second shipment, I hoped.
A shot rang out in the night air, and both Rodeo and I had our guns out of our belts within seconds.
“Fuck. They’re here again!” Rodeo growled and we ran in the direction of the shot, it had come from where Oz and Girth were.
We heard loud voices, followed by more shots and now there was no doubt, we were definitely under attack.
Oz came running at us in the dark, waving his gun in the air.
“The Dark Legion!” he shouted, slightly out of breath.
“Do we have eyes on how many?” I asked, as the three of us rushed towards Girth, guns pointed forward.
“More than last time, there are more shots. Definitely more than us,” Oz said, as he took some blind shots.
Rodeo looked at me. I knew what he was thinking. This was bad news. If we were outnumbered by the Dark Legion, it meant that we were not going to win this battle.
“Oz, stay the fuck back this time, and if one of us goes down, run the fuck away,” I growled at him.
We could see Girth up ahead, crouched behind a crate and trying to take shots.
“I’m not a fucking coward!” Oz shouted as the three of us crouched down too. We’d each found ourselves a crate as a barrier, just like Girth had but these weren’t going to hold up for very long.
“I promised your sister I wasn’t going to get you killed,” I shouted back at Oz, over the sound of the raining gunfire.
“She’s going to hate me more for being a coward!” Oz replied, peeping over the crate to fire a few shots.
“There are way more this time, man. At least twelve. We’re not going to make it this time
!” Rodeo growled and I shook my head, before standing straight to shoot some more.
I’d located a cluster of those fuckers behind a barrel and I was shooting at them, trying to squeeze them out of that spot and out in the open.
“Abe! Sit the fuck down! You’re going to get yourself killed!” I could hear Rodeo raging but I didn’t back down. I was the one who’d got us in this mess, and it would have to be making sure that Oz and my brothers got out of this alive. Girth up ahead was glaring at me too.
I fired round after round, forcing the bastards to stay down. I didn’t see another one appear from behind a crate and take a shot at me. The bullet zoomed into my side, making my skin burn but I was going to live, for now.
“Abe! Sit down!” Rodeo growled again.
“I got this. You guys go! Get back on your bikes, I’ll give you cover!” I shouted, over the sound of my own firing. I could feel the stinging pain of the bullet wound on my side, but I kept shooting.
“We’re not going anywhere!” Rodeo shouted back, sticking his head out from the side of the crate to take a few shots himself.
“Abe!” I heard Oz shout, and he jumped up to shoot at a Dark Legion fucker who had pointed his gun at me.
“Sit back down,” I growled at Oz, but he kept shooting. I was setting a bad example for him.
“I’m not going to let Lila and Jordan’s men die out here!” I shouted, catching Girth’s eye as I kept firing.
“Nobody is going to die!” I heard Oz scream from behind me.
The sound of another set of blazing guns ripped through the air, overshadowing the noise that my own gun was making.
“Fuck!” I raged, ducking to take cover now. There were more.
* * *
“Don’t shoot!” Oz came screaming at me, just as I tried to jump up and start firing again.
“What the fuck?” I heard Rodeo murmur as we watched a hoard of boys appear in the dark, from behind where the Dark Legion gang were taking cover.
Marked Skulls MC Series: Books 1-5 Page 41