“You too, Walter, and again, I’m so sorry.”
“No worries, Charmaine. You have a great night.” Walter waves and makes his way out of the house. I head into the kitchen and see the plate of laxative brownies on the table and upon looking at them I can think of one person who deserves them as much as my mother, and he happens to be right next door.
Chapter Eight
Fenrir
The day after the funeral I sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee while trying to knock out a headache coming on. Last night I’d drank a few drinks with my brothers, but I didn’t get fucked up. No, my reason for my head hurting is because I’m caught fighting the thoughts that keep wanting to pop into my head about a certain blue-eyed woman next door.
I decided to make things right with Charm and ordered her a box of steaks. I figured she wasn’t a vegetarian from what Emil and Oskar told me about her. The woman is baffling. From what they said, she’d take them out for meat lovers pizza and wings after practice or games during football season. During baseball season, she’d take them out for hotdogs at a local food truck. She did these things for Amanda because as much as she loved our kids, she was still stuck working some crazy hours at the hospital. When it came to her life, she was always putting other people before herself.
It’s why she’d been out so late the night of the accident and the semi-truck took her life. She was leaving her shift. God, I still can’t believe she’s gone. I didn’t know the details, but Freya, a woman around my age who babysat for Amanda when Charm couldn’t take the kids for her, told me Charm lost her grandmother not too long ago as well. Freya seemed fond of my children and offered to continue to watch them if I needed her to.
As much as I knew I’d need help I didn’t trust the woman. Not yet at least. For some reason the need to talk to Charm about Freya consumes me. Why? I don’t fuckin’ know. All I know is until I do, I won’t be leaving my kids alone with anyone else besides Charm. She’s the one woman I knew Amanda trusted most. Not only because of her being the one here for them but because Amanda constantly praised the woman whenever she mentioned her.
A soft knock on the door pulls me from my thoughts and I glance to the back door knowing who it is.
Standing up, I move to open the door and stand in the doorway without thinking of putting on a shirt. Shit, I’m still in my basketball shorts I’d slept in. I had some time before I needed to get dressed and was planning on relaxing around the house before my brothers showed up. We’d planned to have a BBQ and talk about finding a location for a satellite clubhouse here in Tallahassee. Last night Runes brought it up to our brothers and they’d all agreed like I knew they would. I’m fuckin’ lucky as shit to have them. While we’re Nomads, this is good for the club. And fuck, it’s good for me too.
“Hey,” she whispers, and I don’t miss the way she checks out my chest. Seeing my wolf tattoo on my right side. On the other, I have three rings linked together—one for each of my kids. I never got one for Amanda. Maybe it’s because deep down I knew we wouldn’t be together for the rest of our lives. But, the linked rings symbolize Astrid, Oskar, and Emil and will always be on my body. They’re my blood and the most important things in my life.
“Hey,” I mutter, noticing her holding two containers in her hands. Charm’s standing in front of me in a blue summer dress that comes mid-thigh and barefoot. My cock takes note of the fact she’s not wearing a bra and I inwardly groan at the sight.
Fuck me.
“Can I come in?” she asks, waving the containers in her hands. “I brought a peace offering.”
Nodding, I step back and let her into the house. It gives me a view of her back as she moves forward and I close the door. There, in the middle of her back, is a tattoo of a willow tree trailing down her spine. My fingers itch to see where the tattoo ends.
Clearing my throat, I chastise myself for having those thoughts. I can’t let myself think shit like this about Charm. Doesn’t matter how fuckin’ hot she is.
“I brought two different treats. One for the kids that are extra chocolatey the way they like them. The other’s for you. Don’t let the kids eat any.” I quirk a brow at her order for the kids not to eat any and when she grins I become weary. “They have something special in them, if you know what I mean.” She winks as she finishes speaking.
A grin slips into place as I nod. “You made me pot brownies?”
At my question, Charm licks her lips and smiles. “No, I made special brownies for you.”
Taking the containers from her, I put them on the counter and look back at her while grabbing a knife to cut into the brownies she’d made for me. “We’re having a BBQ this afternoon if you and your friend want to come by. There will be plenty of food and I’m sure the kids would love it if you came by.”
Charm watches my movements as I lift a good size square and inhale it. A smirk crosses her face and I’m about to ask her what she’s smirking about when the front door opens. Quickly Runes and several of my brothers come piling in.
“Y’all are early,” I mutter, putting the knife down and moving around the counter, feeling the desire to move closer to Charm for some reason.
“Yeah, VP, we wanted some coffee. That motel shit ain’t worth a pot to piss in,” Dag grumbles, moving past me. “Oh shit, brownies,” he murmurs, cutting one for himself.
Fuck.
They’re gonna devour all of my brownies before I get another one.
“Who’s this?” Runes asks, jerking his head toward Charm. I’d told him about her but he and the rest of my brothers haven’t met her yet.
A sense of possessiveness hits me and I quickly shut that shit down. “This is my neighbor, Charm,” I announce before startling myself by the next word that comes out of my mouth. “Minn.” It’s the word we use when we claim someone. Minn means mine in old Nordic.
Fuck me.
Why the hell did I just claim Charm as mine?
I’ve never done this shit before and as it sets in that I did, my stomach churns.
I barely hear the conversations around me as my mind screams at me for doing something I never did with Amanda. Fuck, it’s a betrayal to her memory. Shaking from this, I excuse myself and leave the room. I can’t think of Charm in any other way besides as my neighbor and Amanda’s friend.
My stomach churns once more and I end up rushing to the bathroom. It’s at the same time one of my other brothers curses and rushes for the other one.
I’m not a man who believes in coincidence, so what the hell did we eat?
Chapter Nine
Charm
I’m standing chatting with Runes, who’s a really nice guy when Fenrir takes it upon himself to rush off to the nearest bathroom. He walks quickly, but almost looks like a waddling duck, and I can’t help but laugh to myself, but I don’t miss the way Runes has his eyes on me. His stomach grumbles loudly and he makes eye contact with me. We’re the only two here right now since the rest of the guys are walking around, chatting, and some are drinking coffee.
“You put some shit in here, didn’t you?” Runes continues to keep his eyes on mine, and I can’t tell if he wants to choke me or applaud me.
“I plead the fifth,” I reply, looking down at the floor.
“Now that’s something I say quite a bit, when the badge gets me. They end up lettin’ me go, though since they never have shit to hold me on anyway. Slimy fuckers.” Runes smirks, flashing his pearly whites right at me.
I’m not sure if the guy is trying to flirt with me or not, but something gives me a vibe like he might be doing a little bit of it. Just as I’m about to speak up and confront the man, Astrid comes rushing up to me and grabs my hand. “Charm! Charm! Something’s wrong with Daddy in the bathroom! It sounds like spashing!” I release a small chuckle, shocked the brownies worked this fast.
“What do you mean?” I question Astrid, but she huffs and drags my hand so I follow her to the downstairs bathroom. Sure enough, the sounds of a rumbling stomach and what I
would compare to a gut-wrenching machine gun can be heard. Fenrir even moans a little bit and I fight back my laughter. Shows him not to be a dick to me.
Astrid gets sidetracked and darts off, gasping dramatically, and I rush over to her. She has her hands in front of her mouth and her eyes are wide as can be when I reach her. “He’s pooping in the backyard!” Astrid practically screams it and Runes comes over, and then Astrid blurts out a question I don’t think I’d ever be prepared for. “What’re those things?!”
I glance up and see the dude’s totally taken down his pants, not giving a fuck who can see his balls. “It’s nothing!” I tell her. Grabbing her by the shoulders, I turn her around and force her to look in my direction.
“There was something there!”
“It was poop! A big poop stuck to his butt.” I don’t have a better answer. The last thing I want is for this girl to be scarred for life, that’s for damn sure.
“Ew!” Astrid runs off with her nose scrunched up, making gagging sounds, and I cover my face with my hand, breathing through my nose, trying to calm down for a second.
“Bet I know what you did now,” Runes’ voice comes up from beside me and a sadistic smirk crosses his face. “You’ll fit in just fine here.”
“What?” By the time I hear what he’s said, he’s walked off and I see him knocking on the bathroom Fenrir is in. I can’t hear what he’s saying to Fenrir, but I’m pretty sure I saw him eat a brownie too.
Fuck. It was never my plan for the entire biker club to eat the brownies, only Fenrir, but it looks like they share. I could’ve probably gotten away with this if everyone else didn’t get so sick too, but every single man who took a brownie is now looking for the closest bathroom, and if they don’t make it to the bathroom, they’re just shitting like a dog in the back yard.
Runes continues banging on the door while Fenrir is inside and I internally debate what to do. I didn’t think things could go this way, but here we are. I’m shit out of luck, pun very much intended.
“Man, today sucks for them.” Oskar cackles as he comes up beside me.
“That’s for sure,” Emil adds, cackling like the immature little boy he is, but the way he laughs causes me to laugh too. Goodness, I love these kids more than I can admit.
I glance around and notice Astrid isn’t here, and I see a flash running in front of the front door, so I run over and see the curious kid trying to round the corner of the wrap around porch. Luckily, I was on the track team in high school and have managed to keep some of the skills. I manage to grab onto her hand and turn the little girl around. “What do you think you’re doing?!”
“I wanted to make sure he was okay! See, Mom showed me the pink pills to give them!” Astrid unfolds her hand, and I see the folded up plastic wrap and the Pepto tablets.
This little girl is so smart, and if she doesn’t grow up to be a nurse just like her momma was, I know she’ll be in some sort of job where she’s helping people. She has too good of a soul to not help others.
Chapter Ten
Fenrir
Finally feeling my stomach settle, my anger starts to boil. While in the bathroom, I heard my brothers yelling about nearly shitting themselves. One of them even went outside. The only reason I know is because I heard Astrid yell it on the other side of the door.
What the hell did we all eat that fucked us up?
As I step into the living room, Charm enters the house holding Astrid in her arms with a horrified but amused expression on her face.
Fuck me.
What did she put in those brownies?
“To be fair, I told you they were special brownies.” She slightly laughs, coming straight out to admit it.
“Wanna enlighten me as to what the fuck you put in them? Fuck, my house stinks worse than a pig farm right now,” I snap, going about opening windows.
“Dad, Logi, and Vanir are yelling about shitting their pants outside,” Emil says, pinching his nose closed.
I groan while casting a hateful look at Charm as she continues to smirk. “When that case of steaks I order for you comes in, I want them back.”
“What steaks?” she asks, completely baffled by my declaration.
“The ones I bought to apologize to you for being a dick,” I growl.
“And you couldn’t do that with flowers?” She snickers.
“Not my style. Anyways, I want them back for this shit you pulled. Fuck, woman, you’re vile.” I have a hard time keeping myself in check from wanting to throttle her for this bullshit stunt. At the same time, I have to admit I’m slightly amused.
“You shouldn’t have been an asshole to me when all I was trying to do was help.” Charm narrows her eyes and places Astrid on the floor. She murmurs something to my daughter about her going to get her bathing suit on and brings her attention back to me. “I’ll take the kids for you for a while, so you can . . . um . . . air this place out,” she says, coughing as if she’s keeping herself from laughing it up.
“Yeah, you do that, and from now on keep your brownies to yourself. I get I was a dick to you. I own up to my mistakes but fuck, what you did was just wrong. I should make you clean up the mess that I’m sure is in my backyard now.” I feel a sense of satisfaction at the horror that crosses her face. “BBQ is canceled for the night. Take the kids for a while and bring them back before dinner.”
Charm seems to be speechless for a moment as she clears her throat and licks her lips. “I’ll make sure they’re back in time,” she says quietly and rushes off after Astrid.
I go about getting the boys ready for her and then go to the backyard to see the damage my brothers had done. Fuckin’ good thing we have a privacy fence that blocks out the view of neighbors on the one side and back of the house.
Gagging, I grab the water hose and start to spray the ground to clean up the shit the best I can.
“Holy shit, I can’t believe she did this. I told her she’d fit right in, though,” Runes grumbles with a laugh.
“She pulled this shit ‘cause she didn’t like me bein’ a dick to her the first day we met,” I mutter, continuing on cleaning up the mess.
“Fuck me, if it weren’t for the fact it was all of us that suffered, I’d commend her more on the brilliancy of her work,” he groans. Runes is the type of guy who appreciates good thought into shit like this.
“Yeah, but it was us it fuckin’ happened to. Which means I don’t find a damn bit of it comical. Not when I’m out here spraying the ground.” I could really throttle the woman right about now because the only thing I can smell at the moment is the stench of fresh shit.
Finishing up cleaning the backyard, I head back into the house where I grab a bottle of air freshener and spray it throughout the whole damn house. I never realized shit could reek this bad.
“Swear to fuck this is one of those moments we need a thing of that VIPoo stuff that they advertise on TV. Damn, VP, why did you let us eat those brownies? What the hell was in them?” Ivar grumbles, taking a seat at the kitchen table.
“Fuck you, Ivar,” I growl, throwing a can of air freshener at him and watch as he ducks to miss it hitting his head.
The front door opens to Kraken and Aesir coming in with Regnor, one of our two prospects that show promise. “What’s that smell?” Kraken asks, gagging.
“Seems our VP’s beautiful neighbor doesn’t take too kindly to anyone being an asshole toward her,” Runes grumbles.
“Thanks, VP, that woman is malicious when it comes to payback. I’d hate to see what she does to someone if they really piss her off,” Rati mutters, throwing himself into another chair at the table.
“Someone needs to go get more toilet paper,” Logi says, staggering to sit on a barstool, eyeing the evil brownie container.
“How about you carry your ass to get it?” I suggest.
“That’s what we got prospects for,” he cackles.
Shaking my head, I move to the fridge and grab a bottle of water, feeling dehydrated as hell right now. I chug half
the bottle in one gulp and look to my brothers. “BBQ’s canceled. I ain’t got the stomach for it now.”
“I have to agree with you. If I eat anything right now I’d be afraid I might end up shitting myself again,” Dag groans.
“We’ll do this tomorrow night then,” Runes announces. “For now, with our VP’s kids out of the house, I wanna ask you guys what do you think of us getting that warehouse that’s for sale?”
“What warehouse?” I ask.
“There’s a warehouse right outside of the city limits that’s for sale. It’s massive. I went by there this morning after leaving the motel. Found a way in and it’s big enough we can convert the place however the fuck we want it to be, and I had Ivar look up the price on it and it ain’t that bad,” Runes announces.
“We have the money from the last job we did with the Inferno’s Clutch MC. The mother to the daughter we helped them get back gave a rather large bonus,” Rati snickers.
I quirk a brow in his direction. “Wanna tell me what I missed?” I demand.
“Marker found out more and took money from them he felt was well deserved since the woman’s husband’s the one who caused the whole situation to begin with.” Runes shrugs. “Now, what do you all think of us using the bonus money we got to buy the warehouse?”
The room is filled with unanimous ayes.
Guess this is really happenin’. For once the Raiders of Valhalla will have a place to call their own. It doesn’t mean we won’t be on the road as much as possible, but what it’ll mean is we have a place to rest our heads.
It might sound weird, but I’m excited for it.
I thought my entire life might change when Amanda died, but thankfully it hasn’t. My brothers are here to support me in any way they can.
Malicious: A Nomad Biker Novel (Raiders of Valhalla MC Book 1) Page 4