Falcon
I decided I needed to take the night off from pursuing Clementine in order to get my head back on straight. I was starting to get a little too close for comfort, I felt. I needed to distance myself from her for a few days to keep things in perspective. Plus, I felt a little distance might persuade her to go ahead and reach out to me. It was only a matter of time before she started begging me to give it to her.
In the meantime, I needed a little action of my own. I went out to a bar downtown near our headquarters. I knew I was in rival territory, but I wasn’t there on official business. I went in alone, bought a couple of drinks, and started scoping out the ladies. I had spent all my time around this repressed little recent college graduate, and she had me feeling pretty repressed, as well. I needed a release.
There were a few brunettes with long nails laughing at the other end of the bar from where I was. They looked like they spent their afternoons at the pool or on the lake, or like they enjoyed living a little faster than my girl Clementine did. Judging by the tattoo one had on her neck, the one on another’s hand, and pierced lip the third one had, I figured I could have bagged all three of them at the same time.
“Hey, bartender,” I called to guy slinging drinks behind the bar.
“What’ll it be, brother?” he asked as he hurried over to me.
“Whatever those three seductive ladies are drinking over there, put it on my tab,” I told him, and slid him a credit card.
“You got it, boss,” he said, taking the card and pouring another round for those beautiful women.
Hell, I would have been happy just to sit back and watch what they did to each other after a few more drinks. They were already laughing and getting touchy-feely with each other. I might have been able to get a good show if I just sat at the bar long enough.
They were certainly watching me as I watched them, though. They kept shooting me glances as they flirted and played with each other. While I watched, someone tapped me on the shoulder.
“Hold on, bud,” I said, holding my hand up to whoever it was standing beside me.
“I’m not your bud,” the voice said.
I turned around and saw a man standing in front of me in a black suit with black shades. Now, it was late, and we were in a dark bar. Why in the hell would anyone be wearing shades?
“I’m sorry. Did I do something wrong?” I asked the man, who looked like some sort of law enforcement or security.
“Maybe. Leo wants to see you,” he answered.
“What?”
“I don’t believe I stuttered, bud,” he said.
“All right,” I sighed, finishing my whiskey on the rocks. I tapped the bar for the bartender and pointed at the girls on the end to let him know to keep serving them. He nodded. It was a lot like talking to someone in the MC. I got the distinct impression he was a biker, too, and that was what connected us.
“If you would, come with me.” Leo’s security boy put his arm on my shoulder to guide me, but I shrugged it off.
“I can walk myself, thank you,” I snapped. “Where the hell are we going anyway?”
“You’ll see,” he said as he led me through the bar to an unmarked door in the back. He produced a key from his jacket pocket and unlocked the door before opening it and standing aside to let me in.
Sure enough, Leo sat at a small desk next to a filing cabinet that reached the ceiling. The cramped little office looked like the kind of place where someone sat to cook the books after hours. There was another man just like the one outside standing in the corner. Was he cloning these people?
“Please, Falcon, have a seat,” Leo said, gesturing to the chair in front of him.
I already knew what this was about. There were only two things it could have been anyway, and chances were, it was about both of them. This was my formal welcoming back from prison and the rundown on attempting to date his little sister.
“Hey, Leo, old friend. How long has it been, man? Five years?” I asked, trying to break the ice with a little sarcasm.
“Should have been longer, but those pansies at the prison decided they would let you out on good behavior. You must have wanted out pretty badly to behave well. I didn’t think you had an ounce of good behavior in you,” he said.
“Well, then, you should know I used every bit of it I had behind bars. So if I were you right now, Leo, I’d be watching my ass,” I threatened him.
“You don’t threaten me, boy.” He laughed. “Which brings me to what else I wanted to talk to you about, anyway. I hear you’re seeing my little sister.” His tone was threatening.
“Yeah, she’s a sweet girl, isn’t she?” I asked, unable to resist the opportunity to poke the bear.
“Stay the fuck away from her,” he said flatly.
“Whoa, hey, I didn’t know who she was when I saw her in the card shop, Leo. I didn’t find out she was your sister until after our first date,” I told him.
“You’re lying, Falcon. You don’t ever do anything by accident. I know you. Besides, what the hell were you doing in a card shop anyway if not to hook up with my little sister?” he asked.
“I was looking for a thank you card for the guys in the MC. They prepared a really nice welcome for me when I came back, so I thought they deserved something nice,” I taunted him.
“You’re so full of shit,” he said, shaking his head. He couldn’t help but laugh at my attempt to bullshit him.
“Hey, but seriously, she’s a good girl, man. You’re really lucky to have such a beautiful, trusting, naïve little sister who has no idea what her big brother is really up to,” I told him.
“And she’ll never find out what I’m up to. She’ll never know the things I’ve had to do to take care of her, Falcon. And if you go near her again, I’ll have your ass back in prison for violating your parole so fast your head will spin,” he threatened me.
“Understand, Leo, I’ve already been working on that sweet little virgin sister of yours. If you try anything, I’ll take her virginity and ruin her for every man after me. I will crush her and toss her aside like a broken little toy before you can do anything about it,” I told him, and it felt so good to talk about sleeping with his sister. I could feel myself growing hard just thinking about it, and the damage it would cause was just an added bonus.
“You keep your filthy hands off of her,” he growled from behind his desk.
“No, I don’t think I will. In fact, Leo, I think a piece of your sister is exactly what I deserve for the way you set me up five years ago with your little fake meeting at the pawnshop.” I looked into his eyes as I spoke. I honestly expected to see humor at the mention of how he’d screwed me over. I expected him to look pleased with himself, but he didn’t. He just looked angry.
“That’s old news, friend,” he said ironically. “There’s no need to bring that up, but rest assured, you touch her and what I’m going to do to you will be worse than what happened to your friend Alan.”
“After what I do to her, you won’t be able to touch me.” I coupled my threat with a smug little smile, knowing I was liable to set him off at any time.
Leo launched himself over his desk at me but before he could take a swing or anything, his security guard clone stuck an arm out to stop him. “Sir, don’t,” the man in the suit said. “Not here.”
“Listen to your boy, Leo,” I told him, standing up from the chair and straightening my vest. “You don’t want to start something you can’t finish. Oh wait, you already have, but don’t worry, I’m almost finished with your sister. It’s only a matter of time before she begs me to fuck her, and I’m going to give it to her every way I can imagine before I turn her loose and send her running back to her big brother crying that her big bad biker broke her poor little heart.”
Leo was seething with anger. If his security guard hadn’t been there, I would have been forced to hurt that poor man.
“I will end you,” Leo threatened as I stepped toward the door.
“You had your chance, Leo,” I told him. “Now it’s my turn, and you can’t stop me.”
I walked out of the room and left him in there, probably still fuming against the solid arm of his own man holding him back. He was so pathetic. If I hadn’t known any better, I would have thought he was going soft or something.
I stopped by the bar and called the bartender over.
“What’s up, brother?” he asked, looking away while we talked. He worked for somebody. Innocent people didn’t act like that when they talked to me. He was dirty somehow, or he wanted to be.
“Hey, you know that old fire station a couple of blocks over?” I asked him.
“Yeah, the one Rogue Demons use as their headquarters, right?” he answered.
“That’s the one. Hold onto my card tonight. Let those ladies keep drinking on it. If they ask, tell them Falcon from Rogue Demons paid for their drinks. Got it?”
“Got it, boss,” he said.
“And tomorrow, or whenever you get a chance, drop the card by the clubhouse, man. Come in, and I can make sure you get tipped for tonight, all right?” I tapped the bar as I walked off.
“Have a good night, man,” he said, looking up at me for the first time.
I was going home unfulfilled and a little dissatisfied with myself for the way I talked to Leo about his sister. I was starting to feel really guilty about the way I was using her to get to him. As it was turning out, I didn’t even have to sleep with her to get under his skin. It was eating him alive already that we were even seeing each other.
On the ride home, I thought a lot about what was on the horizon for both the MC and my relationship with Clementine. There seemed to be a couple of big next steps coming up. I was going to try to take Clementine to the next level as soon as I could, as long as things with her brother didn’t get in the way first. And finishing things with Leo was the next step for the MC. We had to make a move, and soon, if we wanted to put an end to everything.
But Clementine, I was starting to get attached to her. She seemed so eager to experience new things and expand her horizons that I sort of wanted to take her under my wing and let her explore herself under my guidance. In other words, I was starting to understand what so many other guys found attractive about these young, innocent types like her. There was something intoxicating about a girl who could be taught and trained.
I needed to decide before everything came to a head. If I was still going to break her heart, I needed to go ahead and do it to push Leo over the edge. He was primed to do something stupid and get himself killed. He just needed that last little push. If I wasn’t going to go through with it, I needed to figure out how we were going to handle Leo without damaging his little sister.
I drove around for hours thinking everything over, going over every possible outcome I could imagine, before winding up back at the old firehouse. I pulled the bike in through the bay door and closed it again behind me. I decided it would probably be best to stay at HQ for the night since there was so much going on. I’d call a meeting the following afternoon and see where we were on the whole Leo situation.
It was time to decide what my next move was going to be.