by E. C. Land
I shake my head, words refusing to form on my lips.
“Good, now let’s get you the fuck out of here. I didn’t want to have to show you this shit but figured it’d save me the headache of you fighting me,” Hammer growls.
“You could have just told me,” I mutter quietly.
“Yeah, but you’d still have smarted off, and I don’t have time for that shit. Now let’s go,” he states and pulls me out of the room.
Nodding, I follow him out of the room and head down the hallway. Something catches my eye in the second bedroom as we start past, and I stop. I push the door all the way open and step inside the room. My heart stutters to a stop, and tears well in my eyes. The room, like all the rest, is destroyed, but the difference being my walls are painted with more words. ‘Whores get what they deserve, even the greedy ones.’
“Fuck, I didn’t see that shit earlier. Come on, baby, let’s get you out of here,” Hammer says, tugging on my arm to get me moving.
My entire body is shaking in terror as those words and the ones on my bedroom wall filter through my head.
Who would think I’m a whore? I don’t even know anyone around here besides Quinn and Willow. As it stands, I barely know either of them. I stick to myself, and I pride myself on keeping out of the drama. I’ve always tried to be good even when I’d been surrounded by the filth of my family. They might have liked living the way they did but not me, I wanted something better for myself, and I worked hard to get that good in my life.
Hammer pulls me through the front doors and down the stairs of my porch. He continues to guide me across the street and toward where the others are now standing.
“Did you see what was painted on the wall in the other bedroom?” he snarls. I lift my head up until I’m able to see his features. The tension radiating off him is nothing like the fire in his eyes.
Oh my.
Um.
His dark eyes are sexy enough, but with the fire in them shimmering out, they’re magnificent. They could easily put me under a spell, and I’d do anything at his command with the mesmerizing glint in them.
Yeah, okay, maybe not anything, but I’d definitely drop down in front of him and do something that’s for sure.
Jesus, where did that thought come from. I’m not that girl. I never have been. Yeah, I’m not a virgin by any means, but still. I don’t give it up to just anyone, and for that matter, other than my B.O.B., I haven’t had sex in nearly three years. Even then, my B.O.B. gets me off better than the guys I’ve been with. I’m willing to bet Hammer would definitely not leave me wanting like those other men did.
Internally, I smack myself across the face and yell to quit thinking about stuff like that.
I’m not a skank or anything similar.
“Yeah, Prez, we saw it,” the one who’d stayed outside with me sneers.
Though he’d been nice to me, there’s a coldness about him that sends chills down my spine. His eyes are a speak no lies to what his vest thingy says his name is, Malice. Yeah, I can definitely see it. Coldhearted, but he’s got enough warmth to have cared enough to stand outside with me and keep me close when I’d wanted to runaway.
“Let’s get to the clubhouse; we’ll deal with this shit in the morning, it’s late, and I’ve had enough bullshit for the night,” Hammer declares, getting nods of agreement from the men standing around us. I hadn’t realized until just now how many men were here. Without counting, I know there’re more than ten of them. “Come on, Avery, baby, you’re with me.”
I’m what?
My eyes widen as it dawns on me what he means. “I, uh, I’ve never—um ridden a motorcycle before,” I stammer.
Hammer grins wickedly. “Then it’ll be fun to pop that cherry of yours.” His words cause a round of hoots and hollers.
“I could, um, just drive my car and, uh, follow you. I mean—”
“Sunshine, you’re with me, and besides, I’ve broken the back window of that heap to get you out of your car. It needs to be replaced, and I’m not talking about just the window. That shit is old. Tomorrow, we’ll check into that for you as well as see what the hell’s going on,” Hammer says, interrupting me and making my head want to explode at the same time.
This can’t be happening. Can it?
Chapter Six
Hammer
What the fuck am I doing?
Putting this woman on the back of my bike. Shit, I’ve never in my fuckin’ life had a woman ride bitch with me. We got a rule in the club unless the chick is blood or an extension of the club; we don’t put anyone but our ol’ ladies on the back of our bikes. Not even my niece rode with me when she’d been a kid, and everything was okay.
At that time of my life, I figured when the right woman came into my life, that would be hers and only hers. Then my brother and his wife were murdered, my niece kidnapped, and my nephew left to die in a pool of his own mother’s blood.
Fuck, I don’t need my thoughts goin’ down that road.
But I gotta admit, it felt right having Avery’s tits pressed into my back. With it being her first time on the back of a bike, I decided we’d take the long way to the clubhouse. During the first few minutes, her arms were like vise grips squeezing the shit out of my waist. She’d loosened up somewhat and pressed her front tighter against my back, and I swear to fuck, I’d heard her moan at one point of the trip.
Grinning, I parked my bike, put the kickstand down, and helped Avery climb off, and I followed suit. I grab her hand and hold her to me while lookin’ at my brothers. Unlike the other clubs, when we decided to claim someone as ours, it doesn’t matter for how long that time period is; we simply speak out. “Mine,” I declare, pulling her further into my body.
“No shit, Prez,” Dagger chuckles with a shit-eating grin.
“Pretty fuckin’ obvious, Prez,” Gunner mutters.
Knowing my brothers got the statement, I turn with Avery tucked under my arm and head for the door to the clubhouse.
Inside, I guide Avery through the main room, not giving her a chance to look around and head straight for my room in the back. A few years ago, we’d renovated some of the areas, expanded on others. Since I live here all the time and didn’t have a house outside the club, well, technically, I did, but I refused to live there, and my niece and nephew don’t want the place. None of us want the memories that come with the house, but I can’t bring myself to sell it. So, to keep up with the taxes and shit, I rent the place out. All I need is my room with a bed and bathroom to shower. The clubhouse is my home, so we’d made during renovations, my brothers and I added to a few of our rooms mine.
The clubhouse has a spacious main room with a bar that takes up a good portion of a wall, three pool tables are off to the side with dartboards. Several tables and chairs were scattered throughout the room, along with a few couches and a flat-screen TV. The kitchen is state of the art and is the domain of Bruiser’s mama, Lissa. Whenever she comes in, which is nearly every day, she cooks. She’s the only woman I respect, in all honesty. After her ol’ man passed away from a heart attack, it was like she’d stopped living altogether besides keeping her focus on her son. Didn’t matter to her how old he was; he’s all she has left and, in the process, took all of us on as well. With her being in her late sixties, we all take care of her even if she doesn’t want us to.
The other, more so than myself out there and handle stuff at her house, but if she needs something taken care of financially, I’ll pitch in as much as possible.
Opening the door to my room, I pull Avery in and shut the door behind us. Hitting the light switch, the light comes on dimly. I hate bright light and installed an adjustable light switch, and mine stays in dim mode. If I need brighter light, I’ll change it, but normally I keep it at what I have it on.
I release Avery and move over to my dresser and start emptying my pockets, tossing my wallet and keys along with whatever change on to the top of the wood. I step over to my bed and pull my gun out of the holster I wear under my cut
. I place my gun on the nightstand and reach down to pull the knife from inside my boot. Never go anywhere without both. Placing the knife next to my gun, I toe my boots off and remove my cut and holster. I’m fuckin’ exhausted, more than ready to pass the hell out.
Glancing up, I take in Avery, still standing by my dresser, her eyes filled with fear as she stares at my nightstand.
Shit.
Standing to my feet, I erase the space between Avery and myself. I wrap an arm around her and pull her into my body. “Got nothing to fear in here or in the clubhouse, Sunshine. No one here will fuck with you, okay?”
Avery nods her head but doesn’t meet my gaze head up or at all. I step back over to the bed, bringing her with me. “Sit down, baby, you eat anything for dinner?” I ask, thinking of the time and the fact she’d just gotten home from work, and from what Gunner stated, she leaves when it’s dark. I’m guessing she gets home and crashes without eating. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit with how tiny she is.
“I ate at the coffee shop while I was prepping things for when I have to get there in the morning to bake and prepare for opening,” she murmurs quietly, staring down at her hands as she picks at her nails.
The telltale sign she’s lying about eating. She didn’t eat. If she did, then it wasn’t much.
“What did you eat?” I push.
“A sandwich,” she says without hesitation. This is also a lie. One I’m willing to bet she’d practiced in her head.
Sighing, I grab my phone off the dresser and shoot a text message off to Tap, the only other prospect I’m sure about at the moment, telling him to go pick up a couple chicken meals from DR’s Food and Booze. This being one of our restaurants. We have three in total to go with our garage, stripper joint, and two other bars. If we’d wanted to go straight, we could honestly do it without taking a hit to our income, but my brothers and I get off on the adrenaline rush we get from the dark side of shit we do. Granted, when it comes to women and hard-core drugs, that’s a solid fuck no for us.
Putting my phone back on the dresser, I reach out and snag Avery’s wrist and pull her toward me. With the jerking motion, I cause her to lose her footing and fall into my lap. I twist and flip her onto the bed. I don’t miss how stiff her body becomes at this or the fear coming back into her eyes.
“Easy, Avery, I’ve said already, you don’t have nothing to fear here. Not gonna keep repeating myself. Just relax, got food coming. If you want a shirt to change into and get comfortable, I’ll get you one. You’ve been up all damn day and need to chill,” I state firmly, wanting her to hear me and understand exactly what I’m saying.
Slowly Avery licks her bottom lip and nods her head. The sight of the tip of her tongue slipping out of her mouth catches my attention and, of course, goes straight to my cock.
Fuckin’ hell. My hands itch to tear her clothes off, sink inside her and fuck her throughout the night while making her scream my name out loud enough for everyone to hear. Yeah, she’s not ready for something like that. I’d have to work her up to that.
I’m a patient man alongside being a ruthless bastard. I can wait, but I hope I don’t have to wait for long.
I pull back from her and stand up at the side of the bed and decide to help her out by going ahead and grabbing one of my shirts. I toss the shirt onto the bed and jerk my chin to the door on the opposite side of the room. “Why don’t you go get ready for bed? Food will be here soon. You can eat and then crash. We’ll talk more tomorrow when we get up.”
“Um, I have to be up and at the shop by four-thirty to prepare for customers,” Avery says apprehensively.
Glancing at the clock on the nightstand, my brows furrow even more. “That’s only five hours of sleep, Sunshine, you need more rest than that.”
“I’m good, I’m used to it, besides what’s the saying, I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” she states, trying to be funny.
“You gotta fuckin’ be livin’, babe, in order for that saying to be true,” I point out.
“Doesn’t matter, I have to be there to open, and then when I close, I need to get my tail to the store to restock what I’ll need for the next week. I’ll also need to get back to my house and do some cleaning, fix what I can fix, figure out what I need to replace.” Fuck me if this woman doesn’t give me a headache. But I gotta commend her for the fact she’s trying her fuckin’ best to pull her shit together.
“Avery, baby, you’re not gonna be back in that house until we know what the fuck is going on or who did that shit. You’re also not gonna be the one goin’ in there to clean that shit up. Do you even know what the hell those words were painted in?” I snap the last part out without meaning to.
“No,” she mutters.
“Didn’t think you would, Avery. It was fuckin’ blood, babe. In your room, you missed it due to the carnage but whoever destroyed your house left the body of a dead animal in your room. They used animals’ blood to paint your walls with those words calling you a whore. Now don’t even think for one minute I’m gonna allow you to go back there until it’s safe.” Memories of my sister-in-law and brother’s blood painting the floor of their house pop into my head.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. This shit isn’t something I need.
Stiffening, I turn from Avery, grab my cut and pull it on over my shoulders. I pick up my gun and put it in the back of my jeans. Last, I grab my phone off the dresser and shove it in my front pocket and start for the door.
“Get changed. I’ll be back with your food when it gets here,” I growl, needing to get away from her. Storming out of my room, I slam the door and stalk off toward my office. Inside, I round my desk and throw myself into my chair. I let out a heavy breath, pull open the bottom drawer, and lift a bottle of Wild Turkey hundred proof. I don’t normally drink Wild Turkey, preferring to stick to Jack or Makers.
The only time I pull it out is when memories of that night are brought to mind, and I need to get rid of them. Though the only way to do that really is to get the moonshine out that Colt makes. That shit will make you forget your own name if need be.
Pulling the lid off the bottle, I lift it to my lips while I dig into my pocket and snag my phone out. I shoot a text to Tap and tell him to give the food to Malice. I also shoot a text to Malice tellin’ him to take the food to my room and order Avery to eat. I didn’t even care if he had to wake her up first.
Right now, I need to wipe the memory of my brother’s death from my mind without thinking of the bullshit storm I’ve walked into with Avery. Why I decided to say she’s mine is beyond me at this point, but I know one thing for certain. I’m not takin’ it back. In my gut, I know I gotta see it through. Something tells me she needs me, and my brother used to tell me when it came to his ol’ lady, my sister-in-law, his gut told him he had to pull her out of the hell she’d been living in. He didn’t understand it at first, but then he got it when she gave him the good that was all her.
Maybe that’s what this is. Or maybe it’s not. All I know is come tomorrow; I’ll start to find out. The rest of tonight, however, I’m erasing the world and crashing without anyone fuckin’ with me.
Between the Supreme Masters, Simone, this gang bullshit, the club possibly having a rat, and now Avery’s drama, I’m hitting my limit. Something’s got to give, and it needs to do it sooner rather than later.
Chapter Seven
Avery
Last night had been a complete and utter disaster. From the moment Hammer put me on the back of his motorcycle to him pulling me into his room. Okay, so I’m somewhat freaked by everything going on right now. I have a right to be that way, but I’m not going to let it stand in my way of what all I’ve got to do.
I have a business to run and no time to do much of anything else. Shoot, I didn’t even sleep worth crap last night. I honestly didn’t sleep any. Which means I’m running on empty right now.
After Hammer stormed out the way he did last night, slamming the door behind him, I’d quickly done what he’d said about changing and then
went to lay on the couch he had on the far side of his room.
I’d been surprised by how spacious the room is, considering it’s in a clubhouse, but it’s twice as big as my room with a king-size bed in the middle. He’d had a dresser near the door upon entering, another dresser against the wall directly in front of the bed with a TV mounted on the wall above it, a little further over on the other side of the door leading to the bathroom, he has a desk sitting there littered with a lot of papers scattered everywhere. On the far side of the room, that’s where he had a comfortable couch sitting, and that’s where I’d laid down after coming out of the bathroom. Wanting to give Hammer his space when he came back.
He didn’t, though, come back. Instead, Malice, the guy who’d stood with me, came into the room holding a container of food that smelled divine, my mouth watered immediately, and my stomach growled. Malice shoved the food at me and ordered me to eat as he stayed in the room without speaking another word until I finished. I’d been nervous and scared by the way the man glared at me that I even ate the stuff in the container I hated, like fried okra and sprouts. It took everything in me not to throw those up in the process.
Now with it being morning, I need to get out of here and get to Rise-N-Shine. I figured with it being so early in the morning, there wouldn’t be anyone I could ask to take me and that I’d have to walk. On the ride here, I took in how long it would take me to get to town just in case. I’m still new to the area, but I knew it would take me a minute to get to work from here. I didn’t want to walk, but I had no choice.
Leaving the shirt Hammer tossed at me on, I pulled my jeans up and figured I’d change everything at the shop. I keep extra clothes there, just in case. Working with fluids, you never know what can happen, and I’ve spilled enough coffees on myself by accident to learn to always have backups. Not only in jeans but panties and bras too.
I quietly step out of the room, making sure to stay quiet in the process in order to not wake anyone. I hadn’t heard a peep in hours, so I figured everyone was asleep. I slowly make my way down the hall and into the main room. I have a visual memory, so I followed the way Hammer brought me in. Heading for the door, I ignore the moans of women, not wanting to know where they’re coming from. But I don’t miss the groaning or the screaming of Hammer’s name as I walk past the room.