Chapter 9

Glock

“Sage, this isn’t a joke!” I was following her out of the storage room. We had put our clothes back on, and now Sage was on a mission to have her say with Axel.

She yanked the door open and walked out, without really waiting to hear what I had to say.

Outside in the bar, my brothers had gathered in a circle, and Axel was sitting in the middle of the group on a stool. Everyone’s eyes were on us now, and it was too late for me to change Sage’ mind.

Axel looked curious and confused, as he followed Sage with his eyes. She was walking straight at him, and she looked as confident and sure of herself as ever. I followed her, a few paces behind, afraid of what she was going to say.

“Are you the boss around here?” she asked, coming to a stop, a few feet away from Axel. Several of the guys stifled a laugh. Axel crossed brows relaxed a little, and he took in a deep breath.

“I suppose I am. Who is this, Glock?” he turned to me, and I gulped. Sage was looking at me expectantly as well, waiting for the introductions.

“This is Sage Campbell, she’s a childhood friend,” I replied and Axel’s brows arched in surprise.

“Tracy Campbell’s kid? Didn’t you run away from home a decade ago?” Axel turned to her again, and I watched as Sage stuck her chin up in the air.

“I didn’t run away, I left home. My mother knew where I was going and why I was going,” she said, and there was a sizzle in her voice. This meeting hadn’t gotten off to a good start. Axel nodded his head, with a slight smirk forming on his face. He seemed to be amused by her.

“But she wasn’t happy about it, was she? And you were a minor,” he continued, and she shrugged her shoulders.

“No, I guess she wasn’t, but she didn’t try and stop me either,” Sage replied, and Axel smiled more fully now.

“So, you’re back in Long Beach,” he stated, and Sage didn’t respond to the obvious. “And you’ve come looking for me, for some reason?” he continued and then looked over at me again, as though I would have the answers for him.

I didn’t have the answers in fact. I wasn’t sure what Sage was doing here, or why she wanted to talk to Axel. What could she possibly achieve from this meeting?

“I wanted to speak to you about what’s going on with the women in this neighborhood…and I don’t know where else,” Sage said and she crossed her arms confidently over her breasts. Axel was watching her every movement, he was assessing her. He grunted a response.

“What do I have to do with the women in this neighborhood or anywhere else? Other than leaving them very satisfied of course,” Axel said, and a mumbled ripple of laughter rang around the bar, and Axel looked around at his men with a smile on his face.

Sage’s chin twitched as she tried to hold her stead.

“Last evening, I was assaulted by an MC guy, not your MC but a different one. He threatened to rape me and kidnap me and sell me off and make money off me. All this because I was trying to stop him from beating up a girl who he clearly had under his control,” Sage continued, and the ripple of laughter died, and Axel jerked his head to look at me.

“You tried to stop this guy?” he asked, with his eyes widened and Sage nodded her head.

“As best I could. He was a big guy, stronger than me, and I was only able to distract him for a few minutes. He dragged the girl away after he had already groped and threatened me,” Sage had her chin raised up, and I could see a slight tremble in her arms as she spoke. I knew that she was trying her best to create an illusion of strength, but it was taking all she had to recall last night’s incident. With every word she spoke, I wanted to crush that asshole’s skull in.

Axel was listening to her with crossed brows. He glared at her some more after she was done talking, and then he looked over at me.

“Was this one of the Dragon Knights?” he asked, and I nodded my head silently. Axel clenched his jaws and looked at Sage again.

“Why have you come to me with this?” he asked her. He wasn’t smiling anymore, he seemed mad.

Sage dropped her arms to her side and took a step towards him. Some of my brothers closed in on her, as an instinctual defense step. Axel held up his hand to them and allowed her to draw closer to him.

“Because I know who you are and what you guys do here. I know that they are your rival gang and you have been trying to crush them for over a year now,” Sage said, and I clenched my fists. Axel was looking at me again, there was an accusatory gaze in his eyes. He knew that Sage knew all this because I had told it to her.

“So, why are you telling me what I already know?” Axel asked and pulled a box of cigarettes out of his pocket. He slipped one in between his lips and lit it.

Sage licked her lips and then threw me a look. I was trying to plead with her with my eyes to shut up. She had caused enough damage already, and there was no use to take it any further.

Instead of submitting to my pleas, she jerked her head back at Axel, just as he took his first drag of the cigarette.

“I want to help,” she said.

***

They had all broken out in laughter. My brothers and Axel were all laughing at Sage, and presumably at me too. They found it hilarious, that a girl who had moved away from this neighborhood ten years ago, a girl who looked like her was now claiming to offer her services to a full-fledged MC.

Sage waited patiently for the laughter to die down, which lasted at least a couple of minutes before she spoke again.

“I don’t know what’s so funny,” she spat, and Axel wiped the corners of his eyes, and smoked his cigarette.

“You, my girl, you are very funny,” he said, and I could see Sage glaring at him.

“I don’t know what is so funny about a lawyer offering her services for free,” she said, and suddenly, nobody was laughing anymore, least of all Axel. I shifted on my feet. This was the worst revelation that Sage could have made. A representative of the law had waltzed into our bar, and I was the one who had led her to my brothers. What were they going to do to her? Whose side would I have to take?

I clenched my jaws and glared at Sage for getting me into this mess. I should have fucking kept my cock in my pants and just forgotten about her.

“Look, Sage, I’m very sorry that you got groped and whatever else happened to you. I didn’t do it, and neither did any of my men. So, I have no idea what makes you think that you can just come in here and offer to help us. You don’t know the first thing about us!” Axel’s voice was raised now, and he was glaring back at Sage.

I could see that the tops of her cheeks were flushed, to match the fiery color of her hair. She was embarrassed and looked insulted, but I was amazed at how she was still continuing to hold her ground.

“I know enough, and I want to know more about this gang. Look, I’m a licensed lawyer, I can figure out a way take legal action against these assholes,” Sage snapped, and Axel looked at me and narrowed his eyes. I knew what that look meant; he was going to deal with me later.

“We don’t meddle with the law, we handle our problems our own way,” Axel growled at her and Sage nodded her head.

“I understand. I don’t agree, but I understand. But the girl’s you guys have rescued don’t need to handle it that way, they can press charges and maybe if the Dragon Knights are behind bars, they won’t be such a big problem for you guys anymore,” Sage continued. Her voice had become more stable, she was putting forward a logical argument, and with every passing second, she was beginning to sound more and more like a proper lawyer. A small part of me that I refused to acknowledge was somehow proud of her. This woman was a force of nature!

Axel was thinking too. He puffed away at his cigarette and then stubbed it in the tin ashtray on the bar counter before he pulled out the pack again.

“We don’t want to be involved in anything legal,” he said, and Sage licked her lips. She believed that she was going to win this argument, and it seemed to me like she just might. Axel might not have been agreeing with her, but at least he wasn't aggressive either.

“I don’t want to involve you guys in it. I just want access to the women you’ve rescued and any other women that you do rescue. I want to be able to build a case with their help and then nail the Dragon Knights. I don’t want one more woman to have to suffer what I watched that girl suffering. I want to do my bit to make this neighborhood somewhat safe again,” Sage was speaking passionately. I could see her whole body shaking with emotion and rage as she spoke.

Axel was looking her up and down again. He smoked his cigarette and then grunted.

“I’m not promising you anything,” he said, and Sage bit down on her lip and nodded.

“Okay, you don’t have to right now,” she replied, and Axel looked at me.

“Introduce Miss Campbell to the ladies, Glock. She should get a taste of what she wants to get herself into before she or I make our final decisions,” Axel said to me, and I had no other choice but to nod my head. This was the last thing I wanted. I was hoping that I would be able to convince Sage to get out of here and go back to San Francisco in a few days.

“And, Miss Campbell,” Axel was speaking to her again, and Sage was smiling, she was happy with herself. “Once you’re in this with us, there is no way you’re getting out. Remember that before you make any decision,” Axel growled at her and she gulped and nodded her head.

“Now get the fuck out!” he barked loudly, and Sage turned to me with a smile, her face flushed with accomplishment.

I glared at her before I led the way out of the Rusty Pelican. She was fast on my heels, and a buzz of conversation and music had erupted in the bar again.

I burst through the doors and walked straight for my bike. Sage followed.

“Glock!” she called out, and I stopped in my tracks and turned to her.

“I know you’re angry with me, but this is a good thing! I want to help those women, I can help those women,” she said. She looked less firm and more like she desperately wanted my approval. When did Sage ever want my approval for anything?

“I don’t give a shit,” I growled and jumped on my bike, waiting for her to climb up too. If Axel wanted me to make introductions, that’s what I would do, but I had no intention of encouraging her. Sage’s place wasn’t amongst us. She had worked hard for the past ten years to escape exactly what she was now getting herself into.