“Let them all live. We need to send a message!” I growled, with my shoulders heaving. The wound on my side was sending shots of pain up and down my spine. I could feel my t-shirt becoming sticky with blood.
“Next time, we might change our minds about how many we spare,” Rodeo roared as the Dark Legion men on the ground started scampering up and running away.
The Romano boys were grinning and exchanging high-fives amongst themselves. Oz was with them, and I watched him with a grin on my face. He’d come through when all of us had given up hope. He’d made a decision, all on his own and his plan had worked.
“What about the shipment?” Girth asked, walking up to us with a limp. I could see that he’d taken a bullet in his foot.
“The boats probably sailed back to the ship when they heard gunfire. Wave something white at them and they’ll know that the coast is clear,” I said. Oz was already taking his white t-shirt off. He handed it to Girth who walked up to the edge of the jetty to indicate to the ship.
Oz came to me, still grinning from ear to ear.
“I’m not a fucking coward,” he said, smiling and I nodded my head.
“Those were your words, not mine,” I said, reaching for his shoulder and thumping it.
He looked over at his friends and then back at me again.
“I trust these guys. If you need more new prospects for the MC, these are your men,” Oz said. Rodeo had joined us, and he threw an arm over Oz’ shoulder and dragged him in for a playful choke.
“Full of fucking surprises, this kid,” Rodeo laughed.
“Bring them to church, Oz, we’ll get the women to look at their bruises and wounds and after that, we’ll talk to Lewis about making them prospects,” I said. Oz beamed at me with excitement.
“I volunteer to do the convincing,” Rodeo said.
Behind us, we could hear the boats sailing up to the dock in swarms. They were carrying the crates of weapons with them, reading to be shipped to our warehouse.
“This solves the problem of keeping guard on the warehouse,” Girth said walking over to us. “Me and two of the Romano boys can do it,” he suggested and Rodeo and I both agreed.
“Before you do that, we have to get back to the bar before Lila and Jordan throw up a fuss about you two,” I said. Girth and Rodeo looked at each other sheepishly. They didn’t know how bloody lucky they were that they had the love and support of good women on their sides.
I had an empty house to go back to, and more cans of beer to keep me company.
“Let’s get the stock out first,” Rodeo said, and pulling Oz with him, I watched them greeting the ship’s crew with handshakes.
Rodeo had accepted Oz, he’d accepted the Romano boys and most importantly, he’d accepted my ambitious plans for the MC. All I needed was Rodeo and Girth’s support and I knew that winning over Lewis to the cause was going to be easy now.
I ran a hand through my hair, realizing that my right hand was caked with drying blood. I did it. I finally did it. I’d proven to Lewis and everybody else in our city that the Marked Skulls were on their way and we weren’t going to back down.
27
Alexis
I woke up to the sound of my cell phone ringing. Not that I had been sleeping to begin with, I’d just been lying in bed, visualizing Abe’s face over and over again. I felt like a naive giddy teenager in love with a high school heartthrob.
It was Courtney on the phone.
“Alexis? I just heard about Oz, is he all right?” she asked and I sat up in bed with a jerk.
“What are you talking about? What happened to Oz?”
“I heard that he got mixed up with some shootout at the docks, with the Marked Skulls MC. Loads of men got hurt,” Courtney said. I didn’t let her finish, I was already out of bed and hurriedly changing into any clothes that I could find on hand.
I ran out of the apartment and got into my car. I knew exactly where I needed to go to find more information.
At T-Bone, I could see the parking lot full to the brim with bikes and muscle cars. It seemed like there was a party raging inside. The music was loud and even from outside, I could hear raised cheering voices.
I gulped before I stepped in, tucking in my messy hair behind my ears. I wasn’t sure of what I’d find inside.
When I pushed open the door, I saw that it did look like a party! Even though there were several men, sitting around on bar stools with their shirts off. These were the guys with bruises and gunshot wounds on their bodies. I recognized a lot of their faces, most of them were the Romano boys.
Amongst them, my brother sat with a can of beer in his hand and a girl working on bandaging his left bicep.
“Sis!” He cheered joyfully, jumping off the stool and rushing towards me. I could see now why it was so easy for Oz to get swept up in this. There was a sense of celebration and camaraderie in this place. Even though there were so many of them who were wounded and hurt, everyone seemed to be in a happy mood.
Oz pulled me into his arms and I patted him down, checking for where else he might have been hurt.
“You heard?” he asked and I nodded my head, trying to gulp down the tears in my eyes.
“Courtney heard and she called me. I didn’t know what happened, are you okay?” I asked and Oz hugged me tightly.
“I’m fine, sis, it was great! It was amazing! We won!” he screamed, over the noise in the bar.
“You must be the sister,” two women had walked over to us as Oz and I separated. I recognized them from the last time I was at the bar. One with blond hair neatly tied in a braid, and another raven haired—both as beautiful as the other.
“Hi, I’m Alexis,” I said nervously.
“Lila”
“Jordan” they introduced themselves. Oz looked at them with a grin on his face.
“They’re with Girth and Rodeo, the other senior members of the MC,” Oz added and I smiled weakly at the women.
“We’re all very impressed with your brother here, the men are very happy to have him. We hear that he saved the day,” Jordan said, reaching for my arm affectionately.
I felt a sense of pride as the women spoke about Oz, who was still grinning.
“I just wanted to drop in and make sure he was doing okay,” I said and Lila stepped up and threw an arm around me.
“But you don’t have to go straight away, have a drink,” she said. When I looked, I saw that Oz was already walking back to his friends, leaving me in the care of these women.
“Is…everyone else okay?” I asked, and Lila threw Jordan a look, like they had some inside secret between them.
“Yes, Abe is fine and I’m sure he’d be happy to see you,” Jordan said, with a wide smile spreading on her face.
“No, that’s not what I meant,” I shook my head wildly but the women were dragging me to the counter, squeezing past celebrating men and clinking bottles of beer.
Behind the counter I saw Abe. He was unloading packs of beers, laughing loudly as he spoke to an older man with sparkling blue eyes.
“Daddy, this is Alexis. She’s Oz’ sister,” Lila introduced me to the older man, while I kept my eyes averted from Abe.
“Hello Alexis, I’m Lewis. I’m the President of the MC and we are happy to welcome your brother as a new prospect,” Lewis shook my hand. I felt that sense of pride again. I was glad to hear that Oz had made such an impression on everyone here. It was the best that I could have hoped for my brother. I could see that he was accepted and welcomed into this family of loyal men. They would have his back, they would appreciate his hard work and besides, Oz looked too happy for me to be mad at him.
My gaze drifted to Abe, who was standing next to Lewis, holding cans of beer in his hands like he’d stopped working midway. Lewis looked at me and then at Abe and then at me again.
“Looks like you two have somethings to discuss,” Lewis said, and behind me, I could hear Jordan and Lila giggling.
My cheeks flushed and I looked away from Abe.
I watched him walk around the counter. I noticed now that the t-shirt he was wearing had patches of blood on the side. I followed him, as he led the way to a relatively quiet corner of the bar.
“What are you drinking?” he asked, holding a chair out for me at a rundown table.
“I’m not drinking, I’m not staying for long,” I said. Abe nodded his head and sat down across from me.
“Oz really came through for us,” he said. He’d carried a can of beer with him and he drank from time to time as he watched me. I felt like my body was on fire, like my insides were burning up with the need to be in his arms.
“You look hurt,” I said and he looked down at his t-shirt and shrugged his shoulders.
“Not as hurt as I would’ve been if Oz’ friends hadn’t shown up,” he told me. I looked over to where Oz was sitting with his friends, laughing and joking, looking happy.
“So, you’re involving the Romano boys in this thing too?” I asked and Abe nodded his head lightly.
“They’re good boys, not as skilled as Oz is but with a bit of work, I’m sure they’ll get there. Lewis approves of them, so they’re all ready to be patched in,” Abe continued, and his words sounded like gibberish to me.
I wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying; I was more focused on how brilliantly his blue eyes shone, how strong and masculine he looked as he sat there, the tattoos on his neck, his biceps bulging…
“How are you?” he asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. I fiddled with my fingers, feeling nervous again.
“I’m okay…I’m good. Vanity came to my apartment a few days ago, looking for you,” I said. Abe sighed and shook his head.
“Sorry about that, I’ll talk to her and make sure that she doesn’t trouble you,” he told me, leaning over the table as he shifted in his chair. The party continued to rage around us, and I was beginning to feel out of place here. I had resisted this lifestyle for so long, I had been so afraid of it…that now, with Abe and Oz around, the fact that it felt normal, made me uncomfortable. I didn’t want to give in so easily, I had my pride, but I knew I was…I was seeing what Oz saw in this.
“She said that you ended things with her,” I said and Abe flashed a look at me. “Seems like you’re on a spree,” I added with a forced laugh.
“Not that it’s stopped you from moving on with your life,” he snapped and I saw the fire in his eyes. We both knew what he was talking about.
“So…massage guy, huh? He must be really good at it,” he added and I pursed my lips together and held my chin up in the air.
“We’re just friends. I needed the distraction,” I snapped back and a grin was forming on Abe’s face.
“I don’t deserve an explanation from you, Alexis. You do what you have to do,” he said and I glared at him.
“What are you doing?” I asked and we were holding each other’s gazes, neither of us was making the first move to look away.
“I’m doing nothing, Alexis. I’m trying to get our business started, I’m busy trying to sort this shit out,” he said and scrunched the can of beer in his fist and threw it to the floor.
“I should go,” I said, standing up. Once again, I was pushing it. I was allowing my jealous curiosity to take over me. I didn’t need to know what Abe was doing in his spare time.
“Where are you going?” he asked, standing up as well.
“Home. Away from here, away from you. I can’t be here anymore,” I cried and made to walk past him, but he’d grabbed me by the waist, holding me back.
His hands on my body was like a flaming touch on my skin. I felt like I’d been burnt. I gasped and he released me.
“Alexis…” he began to say and I glared at him with my nostrils flared. I’d had enough of moping about, trying to nurse my broken heart.
“Don’t hold me back here if you have nothing important to say. I’m tired of listening to praises about my brother…I know how amazing he is. You don’t have to educate me on that!” I snapped.
Abe watched me rage, searching my face, his gaze traveling from my eyes to my heaving breasts and I could feel myself melting again.
“You ended it with me, what more can you have to say to me?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“You said I did you a favor,” he growled.
“I was fucking lying!”
Abe grabbed my arms again, leaning me back so he could press his lips to mine. I could feel the edge of the table digging into my back as he kissed me. His tongue separated my lips, slid into my mouth and he was sucking the breath out of me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing my breasts to his chest as he leaned me over the table, kissing me gently, deeply.
When we parted, I was out of breath, feeling light-headed. He straightened me up again, holding my face with both his hands.
“Can we stop fighting each other, Alexis? For fuck’s sake!” he growled. I peered into his blue eyes, feeling my heart skipping beats in my chest. How had I gotten so lucky? How had a guy like him even looked at me twice?
“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen and I’ve been a fool for letting you slip through my fingers,” Abe said, once again, like he could read my mind…like he knew exactly what I was thinking.
“Take me home,” I whispered and he grabbed my hand and started leading me out of the bar.
“Abe? Brother! Where are you going?” I heard a voice behind us. Abe turned at the door, my hand still in his.
“Making this woman mine,” he said and pulled me out of the bar.
28
Alexis
Abe lay with his head back in the bubbles, and I leaned over him, sliding the sponge gently over the stitched up wound on his side. It was bandaged, so I couldn’t see it and I was thankful for that. I’d be panicking way more if I could actually see the wound.
Now that I had a chance to really look at Abe’s body, I could see his other wounds, all of which had healed.
“Do these scare you, Alexis?” Abe asked, as he watched me looking at the bruises.
“Not anymore,” I told him and he lifted up his wet hand to stroke my hair, pushing some strands out of my eyes. I bit down on my lip as I stared at him. He was naked under the water, I could see the outline of his body, the hazy shape of his cock between his legs. I wanted him, but I wanted him to relax first. He’d just been in a shootout!
“Have you changed your mind about Oz?” he asked and I ran the sponge over his chest, tracing shapes along his damp body and leaving a trail of soapy bubbles.
“No, I still want him to be safe, but I’ve changed my mind about you,” I said shyly. I knew my cheeks were burning up as he looked at me. I still couldn’t believe we were alone again. Just a few hours ago, I couldn’t sleep because I didn’t think he’d ever touch me again.
“You don’t hate the MC anymore?” he asked and I shook my head.
“I never hated the MC, I just didn’t think it would be safe for Oz…but I see how happy he is when he’s with you guys and I trust you to have his back,” I said and he wrapped his long thick fingers around my neck. I felt that tightening in my belly again, my nipples pebbled under my t-shirt.
“More like he has my back,” Abe said and we smiled at each other.
“Clearly you both make a good team,” I told him and he nodded his head.
“How do you feel about your boyfriend working with your brother?” he asked and I nearly choked on those words. I wasn’t expecting him to actually use that word. It almost sounded strange and alien coming from him.
“What did you just say?” I asked, quaking. I’d pulled my hand away from him, too afraid to touch him again. I was hoping that I hadn’t imagined it.
“Maybe I should put it differently. How do you feel about being my woman? About living with me, sharing a life with me?” Abe asked, and he was smiling as he watched me shake with shock.
<
br /> I sat down on the cold tiled floor and he followed my every movement with his eyes. He was enjoying seeing me dumbfounded.
“You want me to be your woman?” I asked, a smile spreading on my face which I was trying to stifle.
“I don’t know how else to say it,” Abe replied, shrugging his shoulders. I clasped my hands to my mouth, in disbelief.
“Are you serious about this?” I asked him and Abe breathed in deeply.
“Yes, I am. I knew it the moment I saw you with that loser. I knew I couldn’t stand the thought of you being with anyone else, and the only way I can stop that is by making you mine,” Abe continued and I couldn’t help but smile. I didn’t think he would ever want that, I didn’t know he was even capable of it.
“I didn’t think…” I began to say and Abe interrupted me.
“Yeah, neither did I, not till I met you. I’ve seen the way a good woman has changed the lives of my brothers. Rodeo and Girth are happy now and I didn’t realize that I wanted what they had. I guess I just hadn’t found the right woman,” he said and I remained sitting on the tiles, feeling my body shake with excitement and happiness. This was what I wanted, this was what I had always wanted and now I could finally have it…with the man of my dreams. With the man I couldn’t keep my hands off.
“I want something serious with you, Alexis…I don’t know what it is that I want but I want to try it with you. I want to build something new,” Abe continued and I cried out with a joyful laugh. Abe was smiling too. He was pulling himself out of the bath, the water rushing down his beautiful naked body. His muscles looked chiseled and pumped after the fight, the blood stains were all washed off and he looked just as hot as he did the first time I saw him.
I watched as he stepped out of the bath, drenched, and he bent down so that he could lift me up in his arms.
“Where are you taking me now?” I asked him and he stretched me out on his arms, my legs dangling off the side.
Marked Skulls MC Series: Books 1-5 Page 42