Blood Revealed (Brimstone Lords MC Book 6)

by Sarah Zolton Arthur

  The men have put the word out to any pieces who want to show up they’re welcome and to bring a friend. Then, set up next to the first tent, the brothers with carpentry skills are busy building a stage with a portable pole. Elise and Hannah have talked some of the dancers down at the club, the ones who’re off tonight, into dancing for extra cash for the men coming in.

  Who doesn’t like a good party?

  We all need it.

  I’m like a fucking traffic cop directing trucks and delivery drivers every which way. That goes to the kitchen. That goes to the big tent. All I want to do is spend the day lost in my wife. But even if I could find a moment to get away, she couldn’t. She, Brinley, and Caity, along with the caterers, yes, we even hired fucking caterers for this shindig, are busy cooking. There are things that the men love that only the women here know how to make. And frankly, between Hannah, Brinley, and Caitlin, not to mention the other women, the men’ll eat good tonight.

  Hours go by. The tents finally get their heaters, which makes a better working environment for the brothers, like Hero, building the stage. Slowly, the trucks leave without new ones following to replace them and the compound goes back to a somewhat state of normalcy.

  That is until the first sounds of engines come rumbling up the mountain. The last truck leaves right as the first group of men descends on us. Some have brought their old ladies. The women will like that.

  Missouri led by Hammer with his woman, Kath, on the back of his bike ride through the gate. I walk over to clasp his hand and pull him in for a side hug, patting his back. I haven’t seen him since we took off after Hannah’s rescue. Kath gives me a cheek kiss.

  “How you doing?” she asks.

  “Exceptionally married,” I answer. Her eyebrows go up.

  “Didn’t waste time with that one, did you?”

  “Wasted enough. Hero and I headed out to Vegas with our women.”

  “Good show,” Hammer says. “Don’t know how I’d have made it through the last month without Kath.” Then he pulls his woman into his arms, pushing his face into her neck. She giggles like a fucking school girl.

  “I’m glad you all could show. Duke’s inside. Why don’t you take a load off? Go get a drink. Or we can show you where you’re staying first if you’d like.”

  “Drink sounds good. What about you, Kath?”

  “Caity in there?” she asks.

  I nod. “Took the day off work to help cook. The woman knows her way around a kitchen, along with my wife and Hero’s.”

  “Then I’m going to head in there and say hi before sorting out the sleeping arrangements.”

  “Woman,” Hammer says, snickering through his smile. “Don’t count on too much sleeping.”

  She rolls her eyes but kisses him before leaving to head inside. They don’t get here often, but they’ve been to the clubhouse before. She knows her way.

  “Seriously,” I say. “How are you doing?”

  The death of his best friend and second-in-command hit him hard. “Hangin’ in there,” he replies. “Nothing more I can do. Takin’ care of his wife. Makin’ sure she’s got whatever she needs to move forward. It sucks.”

  No truer words.

  “Well, enough of that for now. It’s time to celebrate.” I use my hand to gesture him toward the front door of the club. He pats my back as he walks past me. “Right,” I call out. “Who wants drinks first and who wants sleeping arrangements?” I ask the rest of the group.

  “Pussy,” one of the brothers, his name’s Grunt, shouts out. It’s not hard to know how he got his name. I don’t think I’ve heard him use more than one-word sentences the whole time I’ve known him, which has been years. Although he’s short, pudgy and a bit hairy, he’s never had a shortage of women hanging off him. The man flashes his dick and has pussy lining up for days. Good for him. Though, I learned a long time ago—don’t need a lot of pussy when you got the right pussy.

  “Not here yet. Soon, brother. The pieces’ll be showing up looking for fresh blood. Plus, in tent two, we’ve got dancers from the club to move the show up here.”

  “Good,” he grunts. “Bourbon.”

  I smile, snickering at the amusing bastard, and point him in the direction of the bourbon inside.

  Boss and Hero join me after finishing their tasks. Then Chaos comes hobbling out. Since they got back from Carver’s last ride, he refuses to use the chair. “Crutches are more manly than that goddamn chair,” he said.

  My sister bitched a fit but gave in. Not surprised. There’s pretty much nothing she wouldn’t do for her man.

  “Got a text from the Texas Outcasts. They’re expecting to hit Thornbriar by five,” Boss says. “Then there’re the Arkansas brothers, who’ll be here around the same time.”

  “Got Chicago Lords coming down, too,” Chaos says. Chicago would’ve been the club Chaos and I joined if my dad, their VP at the time, hadn’t bit it by a coward who took a cheap shot. Once we avenged his death, we had to get the hell out of Dodge, ending up here with the Kentucky Lords.

  “It’s filling up fast.” Sneak joins the conversation, and he’s hobbling like Chaos, but he’s hobbling with little Briar Rose, his baby girl, on his hip. “And no, she ain’t staying. Trish’s sister is coming to babysit. She just ain’t here yet. Lives over in Hazard now that she’s married.”

  “With Maryanne so pregnant, she and Tommy are sitting this one out,” Boss says. “They got Gun for the night.”

  “Who wants to place bets that Brighton sits this one out too, taking care of Scotch’s girls and Jade and Diesel?” I joke.

  “That’s too easy,” Sneak says.

  “Not tonight,” Chaos answers. “Was just inside and overheard Crass laying down the law. She’s been commanded to show up to the party. The other old ladies’ll be there and as a representative of the club”—the four of us outright bust a gut thinking of Crass informing Brighton she’s a ‘representative of the club’—“it’s one of her duties to entertain the other old ladies who show up.”

  “Bet that went over well.” I barely get that out as I’m having trouble breathing from laughing so hard.

  “Oh, she’s a right pissed lass,” Scotch says as he walks up to join us. “Never heard those words come from such a tiny thing before. But Crass threw her over his shoulder and stomped them toward their place, which means”—Scotch looks down at an imaginary watch on his wrist—“she’s being convinced right about now.”

  After a while, we settle into a good night. The spread set out by our women and the caterers is some of the best food we’ll find anywhere. Most of the pieces have shown and are already showing our visitors a good time.

  The beer and alcohol flows freely. No kids anywhere on the compound tonight. Not with the way these men party. If shit gets too rowdy, that could scar a kid for life. Several of the men have taken advantage of the show going on in tent two.

  It’s a good night by all accounts.

  I grab a fresh beer from the prospect behind the bar and a cider for Hannah. Though I can’t find my wife in the crowd and I look everywhere. When I can’t see her here, I head outside to see if maybe she’s on the job, working as a go-between for the dancers.

  Parts of the compound are dark, but others we’ve got lit up like a baseball field with temporary flood lights. Over by tent two, I see my wife with one of the Chicago brothers, his back is to me. He grabs her arm as she attempts to pull away. Fuck that. I throw the drinks down and take off running. As I bound down on him, I hear the fucker say, “Come on, sweet tits. Seen you dance at the club a hundred times. Show me those tits.” He reaches up as if to rip at her top. I see her raise her fist to clock him, but that’s about all I see as a red film coats my eyes, blinding me to everything but ending that asshole.

  I rear my fist back and lay waste to the fuck. He was so focused on trying it on with my wife, he never saw it coming. “Don’t,” I grind out, spit flying from my mouth. “Ever. Touch my wife again.”

  The whole time Hann
ah’s screaming, “Raif, baby. You’re gonna kill him. Stop—you gotta stop.” She grabs my forearm with both hands, pulling with all her body weight to lower my fist. As the film begins to recede, I notice the blood on my fist and spatter on my shirt, on Hannah’s top. Still, my pulse pounds in my ears. A group has started to form around us, probably from hearing Hannah scream.

  A beefy hand clamps down on my fist, squeezing until I drop my arm. Boss, the giant motherfucker, won’t ease up on his grip until he sees I’ve calmed myself. Breathing heavily through my nose, I nod once I’m checked.

  Duke’s gruff voice splits the night. “The fuck’s goin’ on down here?” Our president stomps fast and angry to reach our group.

  The guy can barely stand. He sways, coughing a liquidy cough, then he bends forward, hands to his thighs to brace himself as he pukes up blood and snot. Another man moves in to pat his back. I pull Hannah into my side.

  “I asked, the fucks goin’ on down here?” Duke repeats himself.

  “Asshole tried to attack my wife,” I growl. “Saw him grab her arm and needed to show him why that wasn’t a good idea.”

  “Raif, babe. I had it. Did you stop to think that he didn’t know I’m not dancing anymore?” Hannah asks.

  “No,” I bite out. “He touched you. I don’t care if he knows or not; you never lay a hand on a woman unless she invites you to. Did you invite him, baby?”

  “First, don’t call me baby in that tone. You’re just being a dick. Second, I’m not even going to dignify that with a response. I only just stopped dancing in the first place. They’d have no idea about that. We got married in Vegas. They wouldn’t have cause to know that, either.”

  “Fuck,” I grumble. “Never been happy with you doing that shit.”

  “What?” she yells. “Who was it that got me dancing in the first place, Raif? Can anyone say hypocrite?”

  “I only did it because you needed a job.”

  “Yeah,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “Let’s not forget I spent how many years trying to convince you to stop it too.”

  “I needed money. Stripping made me good money.”

  “I’d have taken care of you,” I argue back, bull-headed, breathing hard through my nose and mouth.

  “As your old lady. We all know why I couldn’t do that. And I don’t want to be kept, Raif. We’ve had this talk; I’m not programmed for that.”

  “But you’re programmed to let fuckers try to see your tits?”

  She slaps me hard across the face, leaving a burning, painful mark. “Fuck you,” she says, low. “I can’t believe you.”

  “Han—” Fuck me, I knew I screwed up the second the words left my mouth. I jog to follow her but am stopped by Duke, who wants answers.

  “He tried it on with Hannah,” I tell him. “What would you done it been Caity?” We all know exactly what he’d have done because that man is all about his wife, as he should be. She’s sweet, funny, a doctor, and fucking fine. My wife might not be a doctor, but she’s all that too.

  “So you grab him from behind and move him away,” Duke says. And if that’s not enough, Tag comes jogging out from the clubhouse to see about the commotion. Someone must’ve told him one of his brothers got the shit beat out of him.

  “This how you treat guests, Duke?” Tag, a large, crazy-looking motherfucker, barks. He wears his stringy hair long, to his shoulders and wild. Built like a tank, Tag is short for Toe-tag, and he lives up to it. That man has a massive body count under his belt. Only other crazy motherfuckers get on his bad side. Wild eyes. Tiny pupils. He looks cracked out all the time.

  “Yer man here tried takin’ from one ’a our women when it wasn’t on offer,” Duke says, defending me. “An old lady. Don’t know how you deal with that shit up north, but here, you don’t touch a woman ’less she gives that okay.”

  “Fuck, look at him. How the hell did anyone get close enough to Danger Jim to mess him up so bad?”

  “He grabbed my wife,” I tell Tag, and at this point, I don’t care if it pisses him off or not. “Fucker grabbed my wife by the arm and when she tried to push him off, he went after her top. That shit cool with you? Old ladies are safe, man. They’re always safe. He got off easy in my opinion. I should’ve put a bullet in his brain.”

  “Blood,” Duke yells. “Enough. Boss, take him up to the club, give him a fuckin’ beer, and don’t let him outta yer sight ’til he calms the fuck down.”

  “On it,” Boss says as he shifts so I’ve got no choice but to move. How am I the asshole here? He assaulted my wife.

  The music blares too loud when we get back up to the common. It’s hard to talk, which is fine. I’m not here to share my feelings. Boss orders me bourbon and a beer, then a beer for himself.

  “Sit,” he orders, shoving me back onto a stool.

  “Fuck you,” I spit. “Not my mother or my preacher. Certainly not my wife. Don’t see why you think you can boss me around.”

  “I’m your fuckin’ VP. Now sit your goddamn ass down, drink, and listen.”

  He’s right. He might be my friend, but he’s still the club’s VP. I grab up the glass of whiskey and throw it back, coughing from choking. That beautiful burn hits my throat and my eyes.

  “Feelin’ better?” he asks.

  “Hardly. The man had it coming. He put hands on my wife.”

  “I get it. And I know you been sweet on her forever, but, brother, you don’t want to end up in divorce court, can’t treat her the way you did outside. These’re strong women. I protect my family. Elise and Gun are my fuckin’ world. But I also know I gotta let her do what she’s gotta do, for the most part.”

  “Really? Don’t remember you takin’ it too well when my sister freaked out and left and Elise took off to find her.”

  “Don’t. You know that’s not the norm. I’m talkin’ about that shit you said to her about the strippin’. In her eyes, it was honest work. Paid her bills. And I get it. I’d have thrown a fit Elise showed her tits for money. But the way you went about it was wrong, and you know it.”

  Fuck, I hate that he’s right. I rub my hands over my face. “I feel like every brother in here’s undressing her with his eyes.”

  “That’s the price you pay for fallin’ for a hot one like Hannah. Plenty of ugly women you could’ve bedded. You chose the one who’s shit-hot and took her clothes off for work.”

  Right. I laugh. “Shut up, asshole. I no more chose to fall for Hannah than you chose Elise. That shit just happens. This is gonna get worse before it gets better, isn’t it?”

  “You want the lie or the truth?”

  I’m so fucking screwed.

  13.

  Hannah

  I wake up under the covers, cuddled up next to Raif, my pissed-off attitude from last night still present, even if, apparently, my body doesn’t remember that when he falls into bed with me. He apologized and I let him work out his frustrations with his glorious dick. But how could he have said the things he said to me?

  When he rolls, I use that as my chance to escape from the bed, quietly padding to the bathroom to do my business. We’ve got a cleaning company coming to take care of last night’s shindig and it’s not even over. These guys are here for the week.

  What can I say? The Lords know how to party. Leaving the bathroom, I pull a loose sweater off the hanger in the closet, it’s soft gray. It pairs nicely with my darker gray leggings. Then I slip on my black ballet flats and leave Raif sleeping.

  There are men passed out all over the furniture and the floor of the common. Gross. I don’t like letting my bare feet touch this floor, let alone sleeping on it. But hey, I’m not a man.

  Stepping over several bodies, I trudge to the kitchen to start the coffee. Then I set to work on making breakfast. With all these men and women still here, I decide on oatmeal. It feeds an army. But since I’m me, I make up a brown sugar and—I walk over to the freezer to see what kind of nuts we’ve still got in there. It looks like walnuts. So tod
ay it’s brown sugar and walnut topping.

  I’m busy, in my groove, singing along to a song on my “easy morning” playlist when Elise saunters in, looking as beautiful as always. She and Boss keep a room here for when parties happen. Her jeans are practically painted on and her sweatshirt has the collar cut off exactly how the chick from the movie Flashdance wears her sweatshirt. With her hair pulled back in a messy bun, she looks hot. If I were into chicks, I’d have tried to hit that years ago. As she’s never expressed any interest in chicks, either, she’d have probably shot me down. Though I guess I’ve never asked, so who knows?

  “How’re you doing?” she asks me. “You know, after last night?”

  I shrug. “Raif was an ass. It hurt my feelings. But I still let him make it up to me with his penis.”

  “Make-up penis is always a good choice,” she says. We both snicker. “But then why don’t you look appeased?”

  These women are too astute for my own good. I pick up the wooden spoon I left next to the pot on the stove to stir the oats. “Like I said, he hurt my feelings. I get my stripping embarrasses him, but I did what I had to do.”

  “Girl, I get it. You know I worked phone sex to pay my way through college. Beau didn’t want me doing it once we got together, so I stopped. But that kind of shit pays well.”

  “Yeah,” I agree, using the spatula to stir the brown sugar, butter, and walnut concoction.

  “Smells great.” Boss walks into the kitchen, broad, muscled, tattooed chest on display. He wraps his arms around Elise from behind and bends in to kiss her cheek, clipping her mouth while he’s at it.

  “Well, it’s almost done. Grab a bowl and help yourself.”

  Before I eat, I reach up into the cupboard above the coffee maker to grab my favorite mug. It’s a travel mug, which means it holds more coffee than the others. The thing is huge and I fill it mostly up, leaving room for creamer.