by Bella Jewel
I’ve gone easy on Briella, always did.
But she’s mine now, and she’s about to see just how fucking dirty I really am.
I reach for my jeans but a bellowing voice has my hand pausing against the zipper.
A frantic voice.
Mykel.
“Pres!” he bellows. “Fuck, where are you? Pres!”
“Shit,” I growl, pulling Briella up and helping her get her clothes back on just in time to see Mykel bust into the room.
The fact that he doesn’t notice Briella’s panties on the ground, or her flushed face, tells me whatever he is going to share with me is fucking bad.
“What? What the fuck is goin’ on?”
“There’s another one.”
“Another what?”
He looks at me, his eyes wide. “Fuckin’ body.”
Fuck.
No.
3
BRIELLA
We move quickly.
Even though my body is on fire, and my legs are jelly, we move.
We run outside at Mykel’s news and come to a screaming stop at the body lying in the yard. It’s a girl, we can see that from the soft blonde hair falling around her head. My stomach twists as we get closer, and Alarick puts a hand in front of me, protectively. He doesn’t want me to see any more horror, I know, but it’s too late.
I’ve seen her.
She’s only young, maybe early twenties, if that.
She has the face of an angel, even with the bullet hole right through her forehead. I press a hand to my mouth, to stop the agonized cry leaving my throat as I stare down at the beautiful young woman who has fallen victim to this monster, whoever the hell he is. She’s just beautiful, in all the ways it counts.
“Fuck,” Kendric’s voice comes out over the deafening silence and whispers low, “That’s Sally-Anne.”
Sally-Anne? Where have I heard that name before?
Oh god.
That’s Magnolia’s friend, the one who went missing and part of the reason Magnolia started looking into this monster who is doing all of this.
“No,” I whisper, my heart leaping out of my throat. “No, this can’t be happening.”
“This is a warning,” Alarick says, his eyes suddenly scanning the lot. “Get inside. Now.”
“What?” I say, confused. “Alarick, there is a body and ...”
“In-fuckin’-side.”
Everyone moves, mostly me because Alarick is dragging my arms to get me closer to the club quicker. I don’t know what’s happening, my mind is spinning frantically. The moment we’re inside, the doors are slammed and locked and Alarick turns to his members, young and old. “We’re bein’ watched. This is a message. We’re not fuckin’ safe. Samson, call the fuckin’ girl cop and get her over here. We got a big fuckin’ mess to clean up.”
I shake my head, still confused. “You can’t ... leave her out there.”
“She’s fuckin’ dead, Briella,” Alarick growls, before walking off down the hall with Kendric and Cohen following him.
I turn to Mykel, who is staring out the window at the young girl lying in the dirt. “She doesn’t deserve to lay out there,” I say, shaking my head in anger. “Dead or not, she doesn’t deserve to lay in the fucking sun on a pile of dirt.”
I move quickly, charging toward the door and unlocking it, pulling it open. I run out, with Mykel barking my name. I reach the body, and without thought, I take her arm and start dragging her. I pull and pull, but she isn’t light. That’s when the sound of a gun echoes through the lot. I freeze, my head whipping around to see that it’s coming from the thick bushland behind the lot. Alarick is right, someone is watching us, and they’re trying to shoot me.
“Briella!” Mykel roars. “Run!”
I do as he asks, I run. I move my body in a way I’ve never done so before. My feet thundering against the dirt, my thighs powering my body forward. I keep my head down, and I don’t look back. I reach the secured doors of the clubhouse and slam into Mykel as I get inside. He pulls me in and locks the door, both of us panting. Then, an angry voice, a voice so wild I know I’ll never forget it, fills my ears.
“What in the ever lovin’ fuck do you think you were doin’?”
I turn and see Alarick staring at me, panting, his fists clenched. Not only that, I can see the fear in his eyes. I know what I just did was stupid, I know he’s going to tear me apart about it, and I know I deserve it. I didn’t think. I didn’t even realize that someone could be waiting, ready to hurt me. I was worried about Sally-Anne and her poor body, lying in the dirt. I didn’t use my brain, and I know I’m about to regret that.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, still panting. “I wasn’t thinking.”
“You very nearly just fuckin’ died, Briella. Do you have any fuckin’ idea what you just did?”
“Yes,” I say softly. “Yes, and I know I screwed up. I didn’t realize ...”
“When I give an order,” he growls his voice a vicious whip, “I expect every fuckin’ one in this clubhouse to follow it. That includes you.”
“Flick,” I say, my voice pleading.
“Do not fuckin’ speak to me.”
He turns and walks away, his fists still clenched. Tears burn under my eyelids and then burst forth, rolling down my cheeks. I look to Mykel and he sighs, stepping forward and pulling me into his arms. I avoid looking at all the other members staring at me, some shaking their heads, others looking a little more pitying for me. “It’s okay,” Mykel tells me, “He’ll calm down.”
“I didn’t ...”
“I know.”
“I nearly got shot.”
“I know.”
“That was horrible,” I sob, and my voice cracks.
“I know,” Mykel comforts. “Come on, let’s get a drink and sit down, calm down, and wait for Alarick to make orders. Yeah?”
I nod, and we go to the bar and sit down, getting a beer each.
I glance out the window in the far-left corner, knowing her body is still out there.
Knowing someone is watching us.
Knowing I nearly just lost my life.
What the hell is happening?
ZARIAH HENLEY.
Gorgeous.
I have never seen a cop that looks as good as she does, hell, I didn’t even think a woman who has a face like hers would ever even choose to be a cop. Maybe a model? Definitely not a cop.
She’s at least five foot five, and curvy in the right kind of way. She has big boobs, natural, by the looks, and a round bottom. Her waist is tiny. She has the most dazzling green eyes and thick, dark, black hair. Her skin is creamy white and soft, and my god, I can’t stop looking at her.
I feel a good deal like a creeper, but damn.
Even I can see the woman is out of this world gorgeous.
Her eyes scan the room when she walks into the clubhouse, and then settle on Samson for a moment before moving to Alarick who has just come out of his office without looking at me once.
“You have a little problem, I see?” Zariah says, her voice almost sing-song like, it’s so soft and pretty.
Seriously? How is she a cop?
“You’re a fuckin’ cop?” Alarick murmurs, staring at her.
I mean, clearly she’s a cop. She’s all decked out in a cop uniform, and she arrived in a cop car—I don’t think you can just pick one of those up from a rental place.
“Believe me,” she mutters. “You’re not the first person to question it.”
“Gotta know how a girl like you, is goin’ to help a fuckin’ biker gang with a god damned murderer. You don’t look like you could take down my oldest member, and that’s sayin’ somethin’ because he’s fuckin’ fragile.”
Zariah is pissed, you can see it in her eyes. She doesn’t say a word, though. It’s very clear she’s dealt with this on more than one occasion. That much is supremely clear. She turns and the closet person to her is Kendric. She moves so quickly none of us see it coming, and I swear to all things holy
, she has him on the ground in a matter of seconds. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.
My mouth drops open.
Panting, but not a hair on her head out of place, she looks up at Alarick and says, “Now, can we get down to business or are you going to continue to be a sexist fucking pig the entire time?”
Damn, girl.
I think I found my new best friend.
I clap, unable to stop it, and she looks over at me and flashes me a killer grin.
Yep. I like her.
She stands and lets Kendric go, and he glares at her like he wants to throw her on the ground and make her wish she never touched him, but he’s a gentleman even if he won’t admit it, and he’s not going to hurt a woman for no reason. Instead, he looks to Alarick, who is looking at Zariah.
“Let’s talk.”
Alarick turns and Zariah follows him down the hall and into his office, where he closes the door.
A ping of something unfamiliar goes off in my chest. I’m not sure if it’s the fact she’s gorgeous and deadly and everything I’m not or if it’s just that he didn’t include me in the discussion. He completely left me out of it, and that hurts, more than I’m willing to admit. My sister died at the hands of this monster; I deserve to be in there to hear what it is he has to say.
Frustrated, I look to Mykel. “I deserve to be in there.”
“You do, but pushing him right now is only going to end in disaster. Let him speak to her, and then you can go and speak to him and hear what he has to say. Know he’s bein’ a dick right now, but it scared him. For that moment you were out there, and that gun went off, I saw his face ... he thought he had lost you. He’s reactin’ in a way that’s not favorable, but it’s only because he’s hurtin’.”
I get that.
I really do.
I exhale. “Okay, I’ll just wait it out then.”
Mykel places a hand on my shoulder, squeezing, before he walks off.
So, I do what I said I would.
I sit and wait.
4
FLICK
I stare across at the cop sitting in front of me.
I’ll never tell her this, but I was more than impressed with her little show out there. Have to admit, I didn’t think she had it in her to bring a grown ass man down, but she proved me wrong. Pretty little thing has some balls, I like that. I also hope she’s going to stick to her word and be on our side in this, because if she isn’t, she could likely bring down our entire fucking empire, and I can’t have that.
I’d have to do something I didn’t want to do, and I’m not ready to take that risk right now.
“So, you want my help with this,” Zariah says, sitting on the chair and staring over at me with those cat-like eyes. “What’s in it for me?”
“You wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t anythin’ in it for you, we both know that. You’ve got your reasons to doubt Bennett, and you know there is some shady shit goin’ down. We need inside eyes, and we need back up. That back up is you.”
She ponders this. “I could lose my job for working with a club like yours.”
“Again, if you didn’t want to take that risk you wouldn’t be here. I’m not a snitch, you keep it on the low down and so do we. You double cross us, and well, I’m sure you can imagine things are goin’ to get messy.”
She stares at me, her expression strong and unwavering. “Bennett is up to no good, I know it, but nobody believes me. Spoke to my supervisor about it and he brushed it aside, treating me like crap because I’m young and a girl, and that’s how you get treated in the force if you’re not what they expect.”
Can only fucking imagine.
“We know Bennett is up to no good and we know he was talkin’ to Magnolia before she died, also know he’s been talkin’ to whoever is runnin’ this sick fuckin’ show that we can’t seem to track down. Another dead fuckin’ body showin’ up on my doorstep is tellin’ me that they are givin’ me warning—stay away or people keep dyin’.”
Zariah nods. “I know, but whatever is going on out there, whatever Bennett is involved in, it’s dangerous and it’s costing people their lives. I’m going to find out what it is, and I’m going to make sure he goes down for it. Him and anyone else involved.”
“You keep us out of it, and we’ll help you bring them down. We both walk away clean.”
She nods. “That sounds fine by me. You have to know, though, that if I see something here that is going to cost people lives, I’m reporting it, and you.”
I lean forward, staring at her across the desk. “You don’t think I’m stupid enough to let you see what I do here, do you?”
She smiles, just a little. “No.”
“Good. Then we have a deal. Find out what you can about Bennett, we’re goin’ to keep lookin’ into this fuckin’ mystery man who nobody can locate.”
“Firstly, I’ve searched every Dax in the state and every one of them is clean. I’ve already looked it up. He’s using a fake name which is why nobody can find him. Bennett, at this stage, is the only person who knows where he is. There are many, many people involved but, right now, Bennett is the only one we should be focusing on. The reason this ‘Dax’ is covering his trail so well is because he has the help of a cop. Otherwise, we would have found out already.”
She’s a smart girl, I’ll give her that.
Smart as fuck.
“You’re right about that. You tell me where we start with Bennett and we’ll go from there.”
“I’ve tried tracking him, tried locating his phone, but he’s smart. He’s so damned smart. He knows people are looking at him and he knows that he’s going to get away with whatever he’s doing. Because of that, we need to be smarter than him.”
“How do you suppose we do that?”
“We need to put someone in his life that he trusts, someone who has nothing to do with any of us, someone who is basically a person he meets on the street and can lure into the trap.”
“You want us to find a random girl, throw her in the mix, and hope he falls for it?”
“Yes,” Zariah says blandly. “Yes, it’s the only way we’re getting in. Magnolia was unsuspecting, and it worked. We need to do the same thing, only this time we need that person to be on our side, giving us information.”
“It’s a risk to her life.”
“Yes, it is, but we’ll do everything we can to keep her safe.”
“Have you got anyone in mind? Guessin’ since Bennett works with you, he’s going to know all your close family and friends.”
“Not all of them ...”
“I’m listening.”
“I have a step-sister, our parents broke up years ago and she doesn’t live here. I don’t speak about her, not to anyone, but we’re super close, and I’ve already had a chat to her. She’s willing to do it.”
I study the woman, the cop, standing in front of me. I have a choice right not to fully trust her, or to send her on her way. I don’t know if I’m making the right choice letting her in, but I do know we have to do something. “Call her,” I say. “Send her my way. What are we goin’ to do about this body?”
“Leave it with me, I’ll have it covered. Your club won’t come into it.”
I nod.
Not going to ask how she’s going to do that.
I’m just going to trust her.
“Let’s get this sorted then.”
She nods and stands.
Here’s hoping I’ve made the right choice.
“GET IN HERE,” I MUTTER to Briella, calling her into my office after Zariah has left.
Hesitantly, she stands and follows me in. I close the door behind her and turn. She needs to get one thing straight, what she did today was fucking stupid. It was stupid and it nearly cost her her life. Thinking about how close that bullet got to her, thinking of the fact that I could have walked out and found her lifeless form, makes me sick to my stomach. The idea of losing her makes me sick, and she needs to know it doesn’t fly around here.<
br />
“I’ll tell you this once, Briella, and I need you to get it through your stubborn skull. What you did today will never fuckin’ happen again. You risked your life and the club’s lives, you risked so fuckin’ much runnin’ out that door. I don’t need to explain to you how clubs work, you know because you were fuckin’ raised in one. You do not fuckin’ go against orders. You do not risk everyone for your own feelings.”
She drops her head.
I know she’s regretting what she did, hell, I can see the fear lingering in her eyes even still. She knew she nearly died, and she knew it was stupid.
“What I say goes, do you understand me?”
She nods, and whispers, “I’m sorry, Flick. I never meant to put anyone at risk. I never meant to put myself at risk. I understand what I did wrong and I won’t do it again. It’s just ... the idea of her body lying there, in the dirt ...”
“Sometimes life ain’t nice, it’s fuckin’ ugly. Sometimes you have to do shit you don’t like. None of us liked that girl layin’ in the dirt but we also knew there wasn’t a choice at the time. We knew someone was watchin’ and we knew it was dangerous. You gotta trust me, and you gotta understand I make calls based on the safety of this club, respect it, yeah?”
She nods, closing her eyes briefly. “Yes, sir.”
God dammit, the way she said that, it sends shock waves right to my fucking dick. I love nothing more than a woman who is willing to give herself to me fully, and that’s exactly what Briella just did, she just handed herself over to me.
God dammit.
I need her.
I step forward and take her around the waist, pulling her closer to me. Then I tell her the truth, the whole fucking truth, because she deserves to know how that made me feel. “What you did today scared the fuck out of me, and for a moment, for a single moment, all I could think about was losing you. And it killed me, it fuckin’ ripped parts of me apart that I didn’t realize needed you so fuckin’ bad.”
Her eyes soften and her cheeks get a little red, and looking up at me, seeing her face, I know that there will never be a single woman in this world that’ll ever mean more to me than the woman standing right in front of me. The woman I love with my entire fucking soul.