She’s never seemed shattered; to me. She was a breathtaking mosaic of the battles she’s won. -Anonymous
Butch
“I’m calling dibs.”
I know I heard him right, and still, I have to ask, “What did you just say?”
“I said, I’m calling dibs on that sweet ass little thing we’re sharing a room with. Hands off, brother.”
One look from me is all it takes. Slash and I have known each other for years, and never have I ever argued with him about a woman. Bellamy is different, this girl has been mine since the moment I laid my eyes on her, and I’ll be damned if Slash doesn’t know that.
“You’ll do one thing, and one thing only. If you so much as come near Bellamy I will make sure the rest of your face matches your name,” I hiss, determined to get him to leave her be. She’s mine, even if she doesn’t quite know it yet.
“You have a thing for the girl, don’t you?”
“I’ve had a thing for the girl, you just don’t pay attention.”
“Mister ‘I’ll never be in love again’ has a thing for Elena’s baby sister.” Slash laughs, leaning his head backwards. “Shit. I thought your ex fucked you up pretty good.” No one knows how far I really went with my ex, how she left me on our wedding day. They didn’t even know I was going to marry her, the only thing I let anyone know is that we broke up. I didn’t give them the gory details. It’s not like they would care much anyways. There was this fierce determination inside of me to look like the guy who didn’t give a fuck, and I played the part well. I acted like I couldn’t give two shits about her, yet on the inside, I was barely holding it together. Love does that to you, or more specifically, heartbreak does. He’s one nasty mother fucker.
The door to the bathroom flies open, and I immediately forget that there’s a good chance she could’ve heard everything that Slash and I just said to one another. Deep down, I’m praying that she didn’t hear anything, that her blow dryer drowned out the words we were speaking. When she doesn’t utter a word, I know we’re safe.
“What’s with you two?” She laughs, putting her hair up in a bun on the very top of her head.
“Nothing. We were just talking real quick,” Slash tells her, walking over to her and offering his arm to her like some chivalrous bastard – of which we both know he isn’t. “What’s on the plan today?”
“Not too much. I go on at 7:30 to warm up the crowd for the boys, then after that, I don’t have anything planned except maybe working on a few of my own songs.”
“You write your own?”
“Yep. I muster up some really deep stuff for my fans. I’m…,” she pauses for a second, before biting her bottom lip, leaning against Slash. “I’m not the kind of girl who only writes happy go lucky stuff. In the beginning, I tried to be that girl because, in the end, I knew that it would give me the most fans and the most money in the bank. However, I can’t fake it. I just can’t be someone I’m not. Sometimes I don’t know why I went through the things that I did at such an early age, but then I realize that there’s a reason, and that reason is my music. I was always supposed to be this girl, the one who pours her heart out into her songwriting and lyrics. I’m not what everyone expects, but, at the end of the day this is me.”
“Hm. I dig that. Do you have an EP out now or something?”
“Yep. There’s six songs on it, and I think it gives everyone a taste for me as a musician.”
“Can’t wait to hear it.” He steals the words right from my mouth, and I’m just standing here thinking he’s trying to make moves on my girl. We both know that I’ll be damned to let that happen. Shit. Maybe Slash wants his face to be ripped apart.
The day went by in the flash of an eye. Bellamy was supposed to go on at seven thirty sharp, but due to some technical issues, she didn’t go on until almost an hour later. After that, she ended up staying on stage longer because Jase requested her to sing a couple duets with him. I stood from backstage watching her, how she shined bright like a star when she sang. There was much I didn’t know about the girl, but the longer I was around her the more I began to like what I was seeing.
Slash escorted her down to a dressing room where she’d change into normal clothes, and in the meantime, I stood in the venue, leaning against a wall when my cell phone vibrated in my jeans pocket. I pull it out, reading Reed’s name across the screen, quickly answering.
“I didn’t expect to hear from both you and Elena so soon,” I tease. They’re making me feel like a watch dog. If they wanted reports back every twelve hours, or daily, I could’ve done that, but they never said anything to give me the inclination that they did.
“I’m not calling about Bellamy,” Reed tells me. I can hear the stress in his voice, Slash and I have only been gone a few days, and I can hear that he’s beginning to crack under the pressure. Sure, he has all of us to lean on, but he’s the one who makes all of the big decisions at the end of the day. I can’t imagine how stressful that must be, to not only be responsible for everyone in the club but for the additional girls that he’s purchased as well. Honestly, I can’t believe that Reed is still buying the girls from that Russian dude. We’ve hardly got space for the ones we have, and I overheard him talking to Elena about purchasing more a couple weeks ago.
“We still haven’t found my father; his shit is here and it’s like he disappeared into thin air. This is shady as fuck, Butch, I know something’s up, and I can’t figure it out. Bones disappeared and then my Dad. This isn’t right. None of this is a coincidence, and I want to find out where they are.”
Reed and Kyle’s Dad came to the clubhouse a few weeks ago. None of us knew he was coming, he just showed up. I don’t remember too much, but what I do remember is that he sat around telling stories of the good old days, then we all partied together. I drank half my body weight in alcohol and found a bed to crash on, and that was that. The next morning Will Michaels was nowhere to be found. Poof! Gone in thin air. I didn’t know enough about the man to know if it was out of the norm for him, but this guy hadn’t been around the club in years. I believe Reed said it had been nine or ten years since he last stepped foot into his old club. “He hadn’t been around in a long time, Reed. Maybe all the talk of the good old days brought back some memories that he didn’t want to remember, and he scrammed?” I suggest, trying to ease my worry ridden Prez.
“You don’t think I know that? My dad was never really the stick around and stay kind of type unless it was about the club. He loved the club more than anything, so the fact he just left without saying anything throws up red flags. Even if he didn’t say goodbye to me, he would have to the group of you. He may be a dick, but he is not disrespectful.”
“Have you tried texting or emailing?” I ask, wondering about the answer I’m going to get.
“Both. I texted him the first couple of weeks, then I started to call. Now, whenever I call, I get a message that the phone number has been disconnected. None of my emails are being answered either.”
“Elena. Have you asked-”
Before I can even finish my question, Reed is answering me.
“No. I’m not trying to bother her with my shit when she has enough to worry about. I’m going to call Lucien and see what he can find out. He’s better than all of those fuckers at the FBI anyway, and I trust him. The only agent I trust is my wife.” Lucien is a hacker, I’ve seen him around once and have heard about him lots since that time. It seems that Reed has a liking for him, which means that he’ll be doing a lot of business for the club soon.
“Do you have any updates on the other shit that’s going on?” I ask, wondering what the hell is going on with the Cartel. The fact that they’re showing their faces again is giving me the willies. We’re doing business with the Russian man, Sergei, now. I’m sure that Rafael is not too keen on finding out that information. It makes me wonder, why exactly is he popping up in Tennessee? I know it’s not for Maria. He’s using her, hoping that Reed will use her as a bargaining chip – which he won’t. Maria is a big part of the club. In the beginning, you would’ve never known that. She was always feisty, but never quite the way she is now. She’s found a home with us. She’s part of the Skulls, that’s for damn sure.
“We’re still trying to figure that one out. There are a lot of moving pieces when it comes to Rafael, and I’m trying to figure out the angle he’s playing. Nothing makes sense now.” Reed laughs softly. “Not that it ever has made much sense, but especially now. I’ve hit a dead end, maybe it’s all the shit with my dad playing into it.”
“Don’t worry about your dad. Worry about what you can, which is why Rafael is around. Focus on what you can change, not what you can’t.” My words plummet out of my mouth, and for once I feel like I’ve just said something wise. Bones would’ve laughed at me for that one, telling me to keep my advice to myself.
Now it hits me. I want to have answers too, but not for Will’s sake but for Bones’.