Chapter Six

Linc had asked for Joe to meet him, along with Manny and his boys at the big house on the outskirts of town and to make sure that his guests were made comfortable until he arrived. Linc made sure to include Stone and Jace in this celebration of Manny’s life so he made sure to invite him to the event for a spectacular show he and his men were planning on putting on for Stone and Jace.

Linc wanted Manny’s blood to be shed on the same grounds where the six women had been hidden for their safety. After the death of the girl who had returned home to her sick mother, Linc didn’t want to take any other chances with their safety and insisted that they be under the care of the Sons of Sinners at their compound as long as Manny was still searching for them.

The house looked like any of the other houses that were in the area, but what people didn’t know was that the barn in the back of his property had been used numerous times to torture people for information. This time wasn’t any different, but Linc had more than pain planned for Manny this evening. He wanted a man like Manny to disappear forever.

One of his caretakers who lived on the premises nodded at Linc while standing on the front porch. He rounded the back of the house, parking his BMW beside the barn where Joe’s truck and two Harleys were sitting.

As he entered the barn door, he could hear the muffled moans and grunts of someone being smacked around by his men. The first thing he saw when he entered the barn was Manny, tied to a wooden chair with rope securing his feet and arms behind him. Tape was placed around his mouth, keeping him from speaking.

Joe and another one of his men from the club were standing over Manny and the two others who had accompanied Manny to the strip club asking for Linc. Stone and Jace were spotted leaning up against the wood paneling as they watched the show that was being put on for them.

Linc nodded to everyone before he addressed Manny.

“I hear you have been asking for me.” He spread his arms wide open. “Well... here I am. I knew it was a matter of time before you found out who intercepted your shipment at the docks that night.” Linc paced around Manny’s chair, circling him. “How could I not intervene knowing what you had planned for those women? This world would be a better place without men like you. You wouldn’t be missed.”

Manny stared up at him with fright in his eyes as blood dripped from the wound on his head. His left eye was practically swollen shut and his shirt was ripped to shreds. The man appeared to have been dragged in the dirt when they brought him there. Linc looked at his two goons that were tied together on the ground. They didn’t look any better than their boss did.

Linc looked to Stone and Jace. Both wore black leather cuts with their club patch on them. Neither one of them said a word as they watched Linc take care of business.

“See my two friends over there?” He nodded to Stone and Jace. “I bet you are wondering why they are here. Let me answer that question for you since you are unable to talk. I thought they’d want to watch, or maybe even participate in your death this evening.” Linc nodded to where Stone and Jace observed Manny. “They have wanted to see a fucked-up bastard as yourself taken out just as much as the rest of the world. Dirty fuckers like you need to be squashed like the cockroach you are.” He rolled up the sleeves on his crisp white dress shirt, preparing to land his fist straight into his face.

Manny’s face whipped to one side from the blow. Linc didn’t stop there. He took a few more hits to his face before he landed a few liver shots to his side. Linc smoothed the loose strands of his light brown hair off his forehead as he took a minute to observe his work.

“That felt good. But I bet it hurts like a bitch for you, huh, Manny?” It brought him great satisfaction knowing he would be the one to see the life dissipate from Manny’s eyes. “I think I’ll let my friends here have a shot at your boys for a while. And then we’ll take turns beating you like a piñata.” He picked up the bat that was sitting off to the side, leaning up against the wall.

“I’m pretty good with a bat,” Stone chuckled.

“It’s been a while since I swung one. Let’s see if I remember how to hit a target.” Linc waved the bat around in front of Manny’s face, causing him to piss himself. Linc looked to Joe. “Is the hole ready for us to dump their miserable carcasses in when we’re done?” Linc hadn’t had to get physical with anyone in a long time. He left the dirty work to his hired hands. At times like this he missed the good ol’ days of getting his hands dirty.

****

“So tell me a little about yourself, Alison,” Roc said as he watched her from across the table.

They had just finished the meal she’d cooked for them to enjoy and now they were sitting and having a conversation. She looked at the floral print dress she had found at a cute store while out shopping for their dinner for tonight. She wanted to look nice for her first date with Roc. She was so nervous about their date that she had barely slept a wink the night before.

“Well, I have to admit something to you.”

Roc relaxed in his chair, giving her his complete attention. He looked so good tonight. He’d left his leather cut behind, choosing to wear a nice short sleeve button-down shirt with his jeans. His beard had been trimmed shorter, as well as his hair. She wasn’t the only one who wanted to look good for their first date.

“I’m twenty-five and this is the first real date I have ever been on.”

He sat forward so fast that he almost spilled the glass of water that was in front of her when he bumped the table. “How is that possible? I mean, you have had other men take you out before, haven’t you?”

She could tell he was confused and wasn’t sure what she was getting at. “It’s a long story, one that I will tell you in time—that is, if we continue to see each other in the future.”

He leaned back in his chair once more. “I have all the time in the world. And that’s the reason why we are both here this evening... to get to know one another, right?”

She just needed to be honest with him. She was tired of being afraid of her past and hiding in the dark because of it.

Her fingers toyed with the floral pattern on her dress. “Have you ever heard of stories of where a girl’s innocence is taken away from her? Where she has no rights as a human being because her body was sold as a slave without her consent?” Her eyes met his and all she could see was the compassion he felt for her. Or was it pity he felt for her?

“This happened when you were younger?”

She nodded. “I wasn’t always the confident woman you see singing up on stage. There was a time in my life when I was scared, wondering if this was going to be my last day in this world. After my mother passed away, my stepfather began to drink and get careless with his money. He owed someone a lot of money, money he couldn’t repay, so he decided to pay his debt to the guy by giving him me as a gift on my eighteenth birthday.”

Roc stood up so fast he kicked the chair from beneath him, causing it to crash on the linoleum. He looked so pissed as he wandered around the small studio apartment as if he was looking for something. He turned and faced her, his fists balled up by his side.

“You don’t know how much this angers me. Or how badly I want to hit something right about now. Your stepfather sold you to pay for his own fucking debt? What a fucking low-life scumbag he is. So tell me, how did you get away from your keeper?” His demeanor relaxed a bit as he picked up the chair he had knocked over on the floor, taking a seat once again.

“After five years of living in fear, I was finally free. I was told that my stepfather shot Ken in retribution for his actions. I assume he is serving time for Ken’s death. I didn’t stick around long enough to find out what happened to Bob before I left Chicago. I have lived here in Nevada for almost two years now.”

Roc shook his head in disbelief. “I just can’t imagine what you went through in those five years. I assume he kept you under lock and key, never letting you out of his sight? Didn’t you have any other family who wondered where you’d gone?”

After her mother passed away, Bob had been her only living relative. Her mother was an only child who was raised in Canada. Alison never knew any of her family. She had only a few friends she hung around with in high school, mostly keeping to herself. She wasn’t like most teenage girls who went out every weekend with her friends to parties and drinking and smoking. She liked to stay home and play with her Karaoke machine, singing in the mirror and pretending that she was performing for an audience. Her favorite TV shows to watch were American Idol and The Voice. After graduation she planned to attend one of the auditions in hope that she would be the next singing sensation.

“It was just Bob and I. I used to think of him as my father after my real one died when I was young. He used to tell me I was going to be a big star one day and to make sure I had front row seats for him when he came to watch. I never imagined he could ever do something so harsh and demoralizing.”

“Obviously this Ken guy treated you badly if he kept you for so long. Have you ever talked to someone before about the traumatic things you went through while living under his rules?”

She shook her head. “When I first arrived in town I went to a church and asked to speak with a priest. He was extremely helpful and found a crisis center for me to attend meetings at. The counselors were friendly. I was placed in a group of other women who had been through similar events. Since I’ve been on my own, I’ve had to learn to not be so skittish around men and that all men aren’t going to harm me.”

“Trust is something I have had a hard time learning to adapt to.”

Alison nodded. She was sure that Roc had some things he was holding back as well. She was sure a man like Roc had spent a lot of his past trying to forget some of the things he had seen or done. She stood up and grabbed their plates from the table. “How about we take this conversation to the couch? Can I get you another beer?”

****

Roc walked over to the sink, bringing his beer with him. He helped her rinse the dishes before they placed them in the dishwasher. It felt strange being in the kitchen with her, doing domestic things with a woman he was interested in. It was refreshing to have her look at him like the man he was and not the biker everyone else saw him as.

They took a seat on the small sofa and turned so they could face each other. She looked so pretty in the sundress she wore for him this evening. She placed her foot on the coffee table in front of her, making herself comfortable.

“So, Roc, tell me about your past. All I know is that you’re in a biker gang and that I work for your younger brother Mac. Did you grow up here? What’s your favorite flavor ice cream?”

He could tell that she was simply interested in getting to know him and not in a stalker kind of way. Alison was different than the other women he had been with in the past. This was a conversation he would normally never have with a woman he wanted to get in the sack. Although he would love to see what she was like behind closed doors, he had to admit, he was a bit curious about her as well. But being here with Alison and after the shit she had told him she had been through, he didn’t see why he couldn’t share a little about himself.

“I’m the oldest, if you couldn’t guess by the look of the greys that are starting to come in along my beard. My father died when we were teenagers, so I have been helping my mother with the finances and keeping a close eye on Mac ever since. Mom is a retired housekeeper and lives not too far away. Like most mothers, she makes sure we don’t stray from our visits too long before we go and see her. I have to admit something that I have never told anyone ever before. I’m a big momma’s boy.” He snorted.

“That’s not a bad thing. That just means that you have more respect for women and don’t treat them like shit. I respect that more than you know.”

Roc shifted in his seat. He wasn’t trying to get on her good side or impress her. He liked her and wanted her to know that there was more to him than just the tough biker that everyone saw on the outside.

“My favorite ice cream is vanilla. That’s the only thing that I like that’s vanilla in my life.” He playfully winked at her. He could see the blush creep up around her cheeks as she looked away in nervousness. He liked to see her squirm in her seat, like she was. He couldn’t help it; his hand reached up and touched her pink-tinted cheek. “You’re beautiful when you blush, Alison.”

“I have never had someone compliment me the way you do, Roc.”

He was surprised at her words. If she were his girl, he would make sure to tell her how precious she was to him each and every day that he was with her. He felt this magnetic force draw him to her lips. She didn’t pull away from him as his lips touched hers.

As he closed his eyes, relishing in her soft lips, he felt her hand rest along his shoulder. The simple touch of her fingers sent an electric shock straight to his cock. His hands reached around, bringing her body flush against his chest. He could feel her begin to tense up at his brazen act of taking control of the kiss. He could tell just from that one simple kiss that Alison was going to be the one to break him. Roc wanted her with the kind of desperation that he couldn’t explain. This whole experience was new to him. Getting a woman like Alison was going to be his ultimate sin. She was going to be his biggest challenge in life.

He pulled free from their kiss. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she didn’t want him to stop. Things could be taken to the next level with them if he wanted to. But she was still fragile. He needed to pace himself when he was with her like this. He didn’t want to spook her with the sexual appetite he had gained while around her.

Alison’s eyes glazed over in desire. “My brain keeps telling me to slow down, that I shouldn’t be moving so fast right now. But it’s hard to listen when my body is telling me to see what it’s like to keep this night going with you.”

“It was never my intention to have sex with you tonight, Alison. I promised myself that I wouldn’t pressure you into anything you weren’t ready for. This has to be your decision. I can walk out that door right now and I will call you tomorrow.”

She stared at him. He knew she was still light headed from the kiss they had just shared and wanted the time to consider her next move carefully. He meant what he’d said. He really liked her and didn’t want to rush into anything that she wasn’t mentally and physically ready for.

She stood from the couch and reached her hand out to him. “If I’m going to do this, I want to be comfortable in my bed.”

Roc followed her around the corner where her bed sat in the middle of the room. The room was sparse. There were a few items of clothing thrown on the mattress and a few of the dresser drawers were still open, with clothes hanging from them. He waited as she stood in front of him and allowed her to make the first move. He wanted her to know that whatever happened was because she wanted it to.

She lifted the dress from her body and tossed it on the floor. He could tell that she was beginning to second-guess herself about standing before him in only her white undergarments as her hands tried to hide his favorite asserts on her body.

His hands pulled hers away from her chest. “Please don’t ever do that again. You just have no idea how much I appreciate your attractive curves. There isn’t anything on your body I want you to hide from me.” His hands rested on her full hips, caressing the skin beneath his fingertips. “So soft. Just the right amount of curves I like to see on a woman.”

She pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on the floor. He let her take her time as she tried to unbutton his jeans. He helped her after she was having trouble with the buttons at the waist. He kicked his boots off before pulling the jeans from his body. There they stood in only their underclothes.

“I’m ready to take the next step with you, Roc. I want you to make me feel good. I need you to show me what it feels like to be a woman. Help me replace the bad memories with new good ones.”