Alaric

Mad as shit.

Disappointed.

Fuck, even discouraged.

Eva was the woman that ran through my mind every goddamn day. Even when I wanted to dismiss her, she would pop up. It didn’t help that I had basically forced the hand of the State’s Attorney to make sure a pro-bono unit was placed in Reid, Wilson, and Ebon.

Yup.

Now, there was no way I could pull out. Her words hurt me, but I had failed to see her point of view. I was a man and with it, came privileges. She would be second-guessed. I would not. She would always be questioned because she was a woman and she was a woman of color. I’d taken a few courses on race relations and even women studies. I figured knowing more about the people I would represent would be helpful. Also, the class was a great way to pick up women. They were uber independent and a little too self-righteous for me, but I learned a fucking lot. Useful shit that would always work in my favor as a lawyer. It is what helped me as a District Attorney. The angles for the cases that I won was due to my diverse outlook, research, and skills at arguing on other’s behalf. It was strategic, but it didn’t narrow my outlook on the world like I was used to.

My father was the owner of a corner store, where everybody went. My mother owned the town’s laundry mat, where she spent all of her time there. I, well, went with Senora Lugo. She was my neighbor and looked after me when my parents were so busy making ends meet that I was left to my own devices. Senora Lugo didn’t let me do half the shit her other son did, because she said I was a curious soul. I needed to focus and use it for good. She always told me that. Use my talents and skills for good. That was a recurring theme, which is why Eva hit a nerve because that is what I was doing and she was accusing me like my dad always did of having the wrong intentions. That was a constant mantra in my house. I made the honor roll for the first time in the tenth grade, and they had a banquet for us. My teachers begged my mom and dad to come, so they shut down the stores and came, reluctantly. Once the ceremony was over, my dad bent down and said, “Hope you’re happy now. We’re here and out of money for the rest of the week. Let’s go.”

I was fifteen years old and all of the joy and elation that was in my heart for all the entire hour it took for the ceremony to last, drifted away in the blink of a teary eye. I don’t even know what I did with that award, but I never made the honor roll again. I stayed out of trouble, kept my head low, and when it was time for me to go to college, I worked closely with the counselor, kept my mom and dad out of the loop, and went to Washington, D.C. They weren’t really bothered by this transition, as long as they didn’t have to take off and I never asked them too.

Undergraduate turned into a graduate school, which remained away from home and then an internship. Once I landed a good job, moved back to Pennsylvania, I paid off their homes, with the thought of maybe they wouldn’t work so hard, but nothing. They kept working like they were slaves to the work and wouldn’t even reap the benefits of their hard work. I vowed not to do that. I would work hard, but I’d take time to play. I wanted something to show for my hard work. That was one reason I admired Eva. She worked hard, but she had a whole life outside of her work. A whole club of women who were about the advancement of others. They played too, and that was commendable. I liked that, but I did not like her accusation. It ticked me off, actually. Opened up a whole wound that I thought no longer existed. Some things never change.

Monday morning came and went, with clients coming in and out all day. This must have been the dedicated day to, come talk to your lawyer Mondays, since the office was bustling with everyone meeting, wheeling, and dealing. Around one o’clock, Tammy came through the door and said, “You’ve got a visitor Rick.”

“Send ‘em in,” I sighed.

Yup, it was, see your lawyer Monday.

“Sure,” Tammy smiled wide and I stood up to greet my next client.

Instead, walked through a grey suit wearing curvy woman with a red belt, shoes and matching lipstick in a confidant stride.

“Alaric,” she greeted me with a nod.

“Eva,” I managed to say. “What are you doing here?”

She looked around, closed the door and then turned to face me again. Her face was blank, which made my internal alarm bells go off. I know she made me mad yesterday, but that went out of the window as soon as she walked through that door.

What the hell was wrong?

“So, you’re called Rick?” She nodded her head in acknowledgment, right before she sighed. “Look, I just wanted to come and apologize for the other day. Assuming what your intentions were and spewing that all on you. It was not fair, and I am woman enough to come and fix my wrongs.”

Eva looked me square in the eye and did not falter. Oh, hell, she was the total package. Without knowing it, I was in her space, and the back of my hand was moving the loose strands of hair from her cheek.

“You’re irresistible,” I told her in a low voice. “Will you at least admit, you like me a little?”

I was pushing it, but since she was here on a truth mission, I would take it.

Those big brown eyes moved to the side, then Eva quickly put them back on me.

“I do,” she conceded and continued to stare.

My head nodded to acknowledge her answer. Then, like the man I am, I kept pushing.

“Will you be woman enough to admit, you’ve thought about me making each and every toe of yours curl?” I asked with my nose a hairline away from hers.

We were so close, our lips brushed against each other.

The vixen scoffed before saying, “I thought about it, but I hate to burst your bubble, but my toes don’t curl. So, yeah.”

Then those hands lifted and connected with my chest, effectively pushing me away from her. Quick on the movement, I grabbed her by the wrist to bring her into me, so that we were back where we started.

“Says who?” I asked her, before nipping her ear. “You haven’t even given me a chance.”

“Told you, Alaric,” Eva said with a breathless exhale. “I don’t shit where I eat.”

“I’ll get off the project, then,” I found myself saying. “I’ll oversee it externally.”

“What?!?” she exclaimed. “This is your baby. What you wanted and brought with my company. You can’t be off of it. They’ll get suspicious, and it wouldn’t be good for the marketing. You’re the face of the D.A.’s office, right now.”

My eyebrow rose, as she simply understood, both the political and social capital that came with this type of deal. The women I used to deal with didn’t understand shit. They just wanted to be with the hotshot attorney who was always on TV. They didn’t give a fuck who I was fighting for, what I was arguing or who I represented. It could have been the Don that killed one of their family members, and I doubt they would have known. Sad to say, but that is how much these women were in tune with life, especially mine. Yet, here was this other woman, a fucking goddess from heaven, who is completely connected and understands it already.

“Look, I respect your rule. Swear, that I do. However, counselor, you’re missing one thing. I don’t work where you work. There is a technicality here that has had many verdicts overruled. I’m just the lawyer here, and I’m telling you that your argument won’t stand up in court.”

“Counselor,” she said with a boatload of sass. “Not only will it stand up in court, but I would also have precedence because…”

“Fuck, the precedence,” I cut her off and moved an inch, so my lips took hers.

I had e-fucking-nough, and all I wanted was her. That body pressed against mine so she could feel what she did to me. My hand gripped her long hair, so I could pull and have her right where I wanted it. She was delicious, and that was just her mouth.

Eva's hands found my hair, where her nails began to claw at my scalp.

“Fuck,” I growled, as I nipped her lip and then her neck.

She let out a low moan, which was music to my ears, but also reminded me that we were not alone. I stopped my frantic grappling and tasting everything on her body and lifted my head so I could be somewhat away from her enticing body.

“Woman,” I exhaled. “Tonight, I’m picking you up. We’re going to have dinner, and then you’re coming back to my place.”

I left no room for bargaining, questions or even a rebuttal.

“You’re not shitting where you eat, believe me. I see enough people do it. I’ll be out of your hair in six months, and you can make this program what it needs to be. I meant it, we can work away if you think it will compromise your work, but I’m not fucking around with you Eva. I want you, and I’m going to have you and not once either. Get that through your legal mind, okay. You want me too, so while you’re coming to apologize and claiming to be woman enough to do so. Then, do us both a favor and if not to me, at least to yourself, admit that you want me too.”

Then I moved into her, one last time, kissed those beautiful fucking lips and opened my door, so the scavengers wouldn’t talk too much.

One of her eyebrows was raised in pure defiance, but I crossed my arms in equal measure.

“Yes,” I called.

“You think you’re the shit, don’t you?” She said with a wily smirk. “Just think you’re going to tell me what is and isn’t.”

“I did,” my head nodded towards her. “See you tonight, sweetheart.”

Instead of responding, she lifted her middle finger and jabbed it towards me. This caused me to burst out laughing because, well, that was funny as shit.

“Don’t worry, tonight, we’ll handle all of that.” I shared.

“Humph,” she scoffed, then holstered her bag over one shoulder and turned to yell back. “Fix your makeup.”

Then she walked off.

Fix my makeup?

Fuck, I had lipsticks probably all over my mouth. This caused me to bust out laughing again, and in true Eva fashion, she threw up her middle finger at me again as she kept walking out of the office. Little snickers from the natives grew louder, but fuck them. I was claiming Eva Justice Wyatt, and nobody was going to stop me.

After running all over Reading, gathering documentation, being in court and only have one of my clients not show up, I ended up back at the office at seven o’clock. I never told Eva what time I was taking her to dinner, but time was of the essence, so I shot over to her place. Well, after I had a friend pull her address from her DMV records. The lights in her house were off, but her truck was outside of the garage.

Fuck.

Therefore, I made my way over to the club’s compound. Sure enough, I saw her Harley Sportster with her colors, as she called them, painted in a colorful ensemble of pink, white and steel grey. All of the bikes had this, but I knew that 883 was hers.

The times I had been here before, the ladies never let me inside. If that were the case, I would wait until she decided to leave and deal with whatever happened. It was eight o’clock, but what the hell.

Banging on the door, several times, finally a tall woman swung it open.

“Hey, how can I help you?” She asked.

Her voice didn’t match her demeanor, as her torn jeans and loose-fitting shirt, made her look rough around the edges, but that light voice was almost child-like.

“Here for Eva, I mean Justice. Taking her to dinner, she’s expecting me.” I smiled at the woman.

“Ohhh, you’re the D.A., who’s been stalking her, but now you are dating?” She let out a small chuckle. “Yeah, come on in. I heard what you did at the school. That’s hilarious. Justice does not like shit like that. How’d you get her to bend?”

“Oh really,” I played along. “Eva told you she didn’t like something?”

“Oh, no…no.” She corrected. “We just know, she doesn’t like fanfare, the media, or bringing attention to the work that we do. She says it’s not for that. We do it because it needs to be done. That’s all.”

“Gotcha,” I replied with a twinge in my gut.

That’s why she was pissed because what looked like her new man, came in yelling to the rooftop about all that she and her club was doing, which was the complete opposite of what she was about.

I was a fucking idiot.

The woman escorted me to the President’s office, and when I walked in, Eva was on the phone. From what I gathered, she was talking with a police officer, named Diamond about someone named Geneva. It ended with her having to go to Arlington and possibly bringing Cut because there was some major shit going on down there.

Her eyes grew wide when she saw me enter. Around the room was a gavel mounted on the wall. A license with the name Phoenix Riders Motorcycle Club with the name Regina Roe Lewis. Then there was a recent one with Lady Guardians National Chapter, and Eva Justice Wyatt was listed along with Xander Razor Willis’ signature. There were a few other trophies of races, derbies, and awards with the Lady Guardians proudly displayed on the walls of the President’s office. She had a small conference table on the side, and a big oak desk, she sat behind, giving me the eye. The evil one, but kept talking on the phone. It sounded like another club in Arlington was having problems. Eva was in President’s mode, which garnered no talk back or argument. It wasn’t a bad conversation, but you could tell, she was being clear about what she wanted, listened to what the other person had to say and gave directions on the next steps.

When she was off the phone, she put the receiver down, turned her attention to me and asked, “What are you doing here and how did you get in?”

“That’s no way to talk to your date,” I replied with a teasing smirk. “We had an appointment and I’m here to collect.”

“No,” she clarified. “You made an appointment with yourself and without my consent. There will be no collection.”

“Come over here and say that, Madam President,” I teased her, since I was seconds from jumping over the table.

Instead of taking the bait, she called, “Brooklyn!”

A few seconds later, the woman who answered the door popped her head in and she said, “Pres?”

“Get Goldie and escort Mr. Hunt out of here. He’s not allowed on our premises and I made that crystal clear the last time he tried to gain access. Why in the fuck he…”?

Holy shit.

“Hold on…wait one fucking minute…” I held up a hand toward Eva. “That’s my fault, not hers. Wait…”

I went to close the door on the woman she called Brooklyn.

“Give us one second,” I whispered and locked it behind me.

Then I quickly made my way around the desk.

“Don’t go yelling at her because I misled her. Yell at me. Take your frustrations out on me, okay.” At this point, I was less than a foot away from her, as she watched me.

“Alaric, I know your spoiled ass is used to getting what he wants, but I’m not on the menu. As a matter of fact, I …”

“I’m sorry,” I interrupted her.

“W-what?” she answered.

“I apologize for the other day.” I blurted. “Brooklyn told me that you don’t like a lot of fanfare and I came in like a bumbling idiot, loud, waving the media around and embarrassing you. I, uh, uh, I’m not used to women like that and I misjudged. It makes sense that you were pissed because it’s not just you, but you’re the leader of a club and I had no intentions of making you look like a fool or hypocrite in front of them.”

My head turned, so I could look at her certificate stating that she was their president and the charter was under her power.

“In some ways, maybe it was to impress you. Fuck, even the pro-bono project, I wanted to get closer but show you what I could do for you too. I’m a fucking idiot, Eva. Don’t take that shit out on her, when it’s my fault. Okay?”

Damn fool had to be written on my forehead, the more I realized, this woman was not like every woman. She had major responsibilities and I and my fancy suits were not what she was looking for. No matter how much I wanted her.

Eva was staring at me, but in a weird way. It didn’t register as anger or even exasperation, which is usually the emotion that I invoke in her. For some reason, I turned to leave without saying a word. The woman had been more than clear with me about where she stood. I was the dense one in this equation. My fingers wrapped around the doorknob and I was pulled it open when I heard my name.

“Alaric,” she called, causing me to stop, but keep my back towards her.

“I like seafood,” she said, causing me to turn around in shock.

“So do I,” I replied. “Would you accompany me to dinner?”

My heart was racing one hundred miles per hour at what I thought she was insinuating.

“Yes, I’d love to get some dinner. I haven’t eaten.” This came from Eva and I knew the smile on my face had to have spread wider.

She grabbed her purse and walked towards me, as I held the door open. Once the two of us walked through, we stopped abruptly to see two women, Brooklyn and Goldie, standing in front of us. However, Goldie had a hunting knife drawn in her hands, glaring at me.

“Holy shit,” I hissed before jumping in front of Eva and pushing her behind me.

“Goldie, stand down,” Eva told the menacing woman. “I’m fine.”

“Brooklyn said you had some trouble,” she replied and did not stand down. “Cause I will slice his ass from his dick to his jugular if you need me to.”

“So will I,” Eva pushed me to the side, so she could see Goldie. “I got this.”

“Y’all together or what?” Goldie pushed, while putting the knife away.

“Goldie…” Eva sang.

“Pres, I just need to know if I need to cut his ass or not.” She raised her hands in mock innocence.

“Don’t worry. I’ll let you know when you can cut him.” Eva smiled and waved me on.

“You do know, I’m not scared of you,” I told Goldie, as Brooklyn laughed at our exchange.

“You do know, if you fuck her over, I won’t have one fuck to give when I gut your ass,” she answered just as sweetly and waltzed off.

Well, it was more of a sashay.

“How crazy is she?” I asked Eva as we left the compound.

“Let’s just say, her rap sheet is longer than my resume and yours, put together.” She laughed. “She’s crazy for us, though.”

Fuck me.

“Well, how crazy are you?” I asked in mock seriousness.

“Let’s just say, I’ve done enough shit that if I did have a rap sheet it would be about the same as Goldie’s.” Then the fucking woman shrugged her shoulders and let us out of the compound.

Oh great.