Chapter Thirteen
DJ
We are finally able to move into our house. Law was able to pull some strings and we are moving in five days early. I have a prospect with me since Hatch had to do a last-minute run that took him out of town overnight. The furniture is being delivered by the company where I ordered everything from online. The kids are hanging out with Braxton and Cara while I get our boxes moved over and hopefully I get the opportunity to at least get the kitchen unpacked. I’m really tired of moving, and hope that we’re settled for good. Hatch is due back any minute, so I know I have to get as much moved as I can before he starts hovering over me, demanding I not lift anything heavier than a milk jug.
“DJ?” Jaxson comes into the house as I set a box down.
“In the kitchen,” I call out.
“Hey, there’s a strange car sitting down the road a ways. Since there aren’t any neighbors close by, do you want me to go check it out?”
“What? Where?” I ask him, walking out the front door so he can show me. Hmmm…that car looks familiar, I’m trying to place it when it hits me who it is. That fucking bitch, Starla! A plan forms in my head, “Hey, Jax?”
“Yes,” he asks hesitantly.
“I’m gonna get in the bed of the truck, I want you to drive up to the car and engage her in conversation.”
“You want me to do what?”
“You heard me,” I say to him.
“Uh-uh, ain’t happening,” he tells me shaking his head emphatically.
“Either you help me, or I do it myself,” I state, not willing to back down on this one.
“I’m this close,” he says holding his fingers together, “to being patched in, and you’re asking me to give that up?”
“Fine, be a pussy,” I say as I walk out the door. “You can’t be afraid all of your life, Jax, sometimes you have to stand on your own two feet and take a stand for what’s right and what’s wrong.” I see him pick up his phone and start frantically typing out a text.
Next thing I know my phone is ringing, I give him a ‘go to hell’ look letting him know he just screwed the pooch on this one.
“Yes,” I answer as sweetly as I can.
“What are you up to, woman?” Hatch asks me gruffly.
“You’re a tattle tale,” I say to Jax giving him my best glare.
“Talk to me, woman, not my prospect,” Hatch howls out. Fuck, this is not how I saw this day going.
“You’re no longer my favorite,” I say to Jax, as I return my attention to Hatch. “Baby, we need to know why it is exactly that she’s stalking our house. I mean what is she up to? You boys don’t touch women remember? Well, I do, and I want to make sure my family is safe. My plan will work,” I tell him.
“What exactly is your plan?” I lay it all out for him. He reluctantly agrees, telling me he’s sending Braxton, Twisted and Chief to where I am. He tells me he’ll be here within the hour that he’s headed back to the shop now to drop off the truck and get his bike. Lovely, I think to myself, I can’t do to her what is in my head because I’ll have a bunch of hovering, overprotective, macho alpha men standing over me. How exactly am I supposed to beat the information out of her with them standing around, trying to control my every move? They are impossible on a good day, but I have a feeling this is going to turn out to be a bad one. I have a feeling she’s up to no good, and I’m going to be the one to call her out on it. I relay the plan to Jax and tell him to set his phone to record the entire event. I want it on record what all she confesses, because she will be...confessing to all her sins by the time I’m through with her.
“Alright, Muhammad Ali, put the gloves up, you won’t be touching her physically. I can only take so much,” Jax says, as we head out to the truck. I hop into the bed as he gets into the driver's seat. I hear him start the truck and feel us moving as we head down the paved road of our driveway. When I feel us hit the dirt road, I know we’re close to our destination and I prepare myself to slyly get out of the bed of the truck without her noticing me.
When we come to a complete stop and I hear Jax ask Starla, “Are you broke down, darlin’?” I make my move. I slowly let the tailgate down and crawl out, before I crouch into a low position and move around the back of her car. I then move to the passenger seat and slowly open the door. When I get inside she turns to look at me. I smile at her and sweetly ask, “You need some help, darlin’?”
“N... nn…no,” she stammers out.
“Whatcha doing sitting down my road?”
“N... nn…nothing,” she finally gets out. I’m starting to think she’s lost some brain cells with all the stuttering she’s doing.
“Why don’t we go to the house and talk?” I ask her.
“Ummm... no that’s okay,” she says as she starts to turn the key in the ignition. I pull out my gun that I had concealed in the back of my pants.
“That wasn’t a question, Starla, it was a demand,” I say to her while pointing my gun at her.
“The fuck, DJ!” Jax calls out. “What in the fuck are you doing with that?” he asks, pointing at my gun that is steady in my hand.
“I’m playing go-fish, what does it look like I’m doing?”
“Son of a bitch! Hatch is going to kill me!” he hollers out.
“Grow a set,” I say to him, and wave the gun at Starla indicating I want her to do as I said. She puts the car in drive and drives up the road and pulls into my driveway. “Don’t do anything stupid, Starla, I’m not in the mood for any of your games.” She nods her head, but doesn’t say a word. I see Jax pull up behind us, and know that at least he’ll back me up if nothing else. He needs to grow some kahunas and get with the program. If he wants to be a biker, he needs to start acting like one. I’m in protective Momma bear mode right now, and no one needs to step on my toes. This is my family, and no one gets away with messing with them or threatening them in any way. You can take the girl out of the trailer park, but you can’t take the trailer park out of the girl.
“Get out slowly, no sudden movements or I will shoot you,” I tell her as I begin to get out of the car. She goes to grab her bag and I tell her, “You won’t be needing that, leave it there.” She gives me a dirty look, which I return. Doing as I say, she leaves the bag and gets out of the car.
“You’ll pay for this,” she says to me. I laugh in her face, causing her to turn red in anger.
“You have no idea who I am, or what I’m capable of when it comes to protecting my family,” I say as I open the door and wave her inside. She stomps in like a child throwing a temper tantrum, I roll my eyes because Ralynn does it better than she ever could.
“Where do you want me?” she asks on a sigh.
“In the kitchen chair,” I tell her. I go and grab the roll of twine that had been wrapped around one of my boxes. I hand it to Jax and point at her. He huffs and puffs, sets his phone down on the table, but does as he’s told. At-a-boy, I think, but keep the sarcastic comment to myself. I watch as he ties her legs and arms to the chair legs and back.
“What now?” he asks me, and I grin at him. “I don’t like that smile,” he replies.
“Now, we get some answers,” I say to him. About this time, I hear multiple bikes pull up out front. I roll my eyes knowing that my fun time is over. I watch as Braxton comes into the house, and he walks over towards us with a frown marring his face. When he notices that Starla is tied up, a laugh escapes his mouth.
“Damn, woman, you get a cut on your back and all of a sudden you go all bad ass on us,” he says to me with a twinkle in his eye.
“Was always a bad ass, Braxton, I just never had to pull her out from hiding until now,” I tell him.
“Alright, so Hatch says she was sitting in her car down the road there,” he says pointing to the dirt road that leads to our house.
“Sure was,” I tell him.
“What were you doing sitting out there, Starla?”
“Nothing, Axe, I swear it,” she says in an innocent voice. I roll my eyes once again, I can’t help but wonder if it’s really possible for them to stick? Like I tell Ray they will when she does the same thing to me.
“One more time, Starla. Don’t fuck with me on this, what were you doing sitting down the road from Hatch and DJ’s house?” Braxton bellows out at her. Now I understand what the guys mean when they say he ‘uses his president voice’. I wouldn’t personally wanna fuck with him when that tone leaves his mouth.
“Axe, I swear I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Just curious is all,” she says to him.
“This is getting us nowhere,” I say under my breath. Knowing that Hatch’s tool box was unloaded in the first load, I go out to the garage and rummage through the box. Finding what I want, I go back into the house. I walk into the kitchen and show off the pliers that I found.
“How about we start removing some of those fake nails?” I ask evilly to her.
“You wouldn’t dare!” she screams out at me.
“Try me, bitch!” I tell her. The guys all look at me as if I’ve lost my ever-loving mind. I think they may actually be a little scared of me themselves right now.
“Now, DJ,” Braxton starts to talk.
“This is my show, Braxton. You guys don’t touch women, but I on the other hand have no fear of doing so.”
I go over to her and open the pliers while grabbing one of her fingers. Just as the pliers clamp closed around one of her nails she screams out, “I’ll talk! I’ll talk, please don’t let her do this!” Well she just ruined this for me. The fucking hussy is a damn wimp.
“Back off, DJ!” I hear Hatch’s voice rumble through the foyer. Shit! When did he get here?
“Hey, lover,” I say to him saucily. “I missed you,” I say going up to him and lifting up on my toes for a welcome home kiss. It’s short and sweet, but at least he didn’t push me away.
“You and me,” he says pointing between us, “will be talking later.” He walks around me and makes his way to join his brothers. He leans against the wall casually crossing his arms and legs.
“Wanna tell me what you were doing here harassing my woman?” he angrily asks Starla.
“What do you want to know?” she asks, looking down at her lap.
“All of it, start at the beginning,” he tells her. She looks up at him skeptically, as if weighing her options of what she wants to tell him and what she doesn’t.
“He said all of it, Starla. Don’t make me pull the bitch out again,” I say to her, earning me an angry scowl from my man.
“What?” I ask him, and he shakes his head at me. He motions me over with his hand and I gladly go into his waiting arms.
“Calm down, you hellcat,” he whispers in my ear. I snuggle deeper into his arms and raise my head and kiss him under his chin. His body relaxes some at my touch, making me feel ten-feet tall. He does the same for me, so I’m happy to know I have the same effect on him.
“Talk, Starla!” Braxton demands. I settle in for the showdown with a smile gracing my face.
Hatch
I sped as fast as I could to get to my woman. With Chief being the head honcho in the police department, I don’t worry about any potential speeding tickets. Everyone in the department knows who we are, and unless we’re doing something dangerous, they pretty much leave us alone and to our own devices. Axe assured me that the kids are safe and sound and he was leaving them with Cara and Nan as he goes over to my house and assists my old lady. I knew that damn tramp Starla wasn’t done causing trouble. I had no idea that she’d end up stalking my old lady though, or I would’ve put an end to her a long time ago.
I walk into the house and have to hide my smile at her predicament, not wanting to encourage DJ in any way. After I have her in my arms, I relax some and join the interrogation already in progress. “Talk!” I frustratedly holler out. Damn, I’ve only been here a few minutes and I’m already tired of her shenanigans and games. I pull DJ further into my arms, letting her ground me so I don’t go and strangle the answers out of her myself.
“You were meant to be mine, Hatch! I can’t believe you’d choose her fat ass over me!” she cries out, and I have to grip DJ tighter as she tries to exit my arms and go after Starla.
“I’m not fat, you ho!” DJ says to her, still fighting to get out of my arms.
“No, you’re not,” I tell her. She settles slightly, but I can tell if I loosen my grip, Starla will be missing a few teeth from her mouth.
“I was never meant to be yours,” I tell Starla, “I live and breathe for this woman in my arms,” I state.
“That’s such bullshit! Mr. and Mrs. Jensen were right about her and Cara,” she says, then widens her eyes at what just left her mouth.
“Repeat that?” Braxton asks, standing taller.
“Nothing,” she quickly gets out.
“I said, Repeat. That!” he says, using a tone that lets us know he isn’t playing around. We’re all on high alert, anticipating the next words out of her mouth.
“No,” she says, holding her head high. This bitch is crazy, Axe will make her regret ever being born with a look alone.
“The fuck did she just say?” DJ asks me. I shake my head letting her know she heard right, but right now this is Axe’s ballgame, and we need to sit back and be spectators.
“I don’t like where this is going,” DJ says to me.
“Me either,” I agree with her.
“DJ,” Braxton calls out to her, “still feel like playing with those pliers you had earlier?”
“Yep,” she says dramatically, popping the ‘P’ with a malicious look on her face.
“No! No don’t! Fine, just remember you brought this on yourselves.” Does she think saying these things will make things easier on her? She’s a few pennies short in the dollar jar, it appears. DJ has a pout on her face, obviously disappointed to not be able to mess with Starla. My woman is dangerous when you piss her off...note to self, stay on her good side. I don’t even want to think about what she would do to me with those pliers, as I think this I shiver, causing her to look up at me. I smile at her, and she smiles back then looks at Axe to see what he does next.
“Giving you to the count of three, Starla, to start confessing. Or I’m gonna have Hatch let DJ loose on you. I’m sure you can imagine the damage she’s anxious to inflict upon you...hmmm?”
“I’m not scared of her,” she says, squaring her shoulders the best she can while being tied up.
“Let me play, please, Braxton?” DJ whines, causing Starla’s eyes to widen. Not scared of her my ass. She’s shaking in the chair, I’m surprised she hasn’t pissed herself yet.
“Whatever,” Starla says looking anywhere but where my old lady is. “A private detective came up to me one day after work as I was walking up to my apartment. He said his clients wanted to speak with me and asked if I’d be willing. Not knowing who they were, I agreed. I was curious about who could possibly be so interested in speaking with me that they hired a PI. I agreed and was given a card with a room number, date and time to meet this person. Or, persons as it turns out,” she says looking at us to take in our reaction. We’re all wearing neutral expressions on our faces, not wanting to give away how we’re actually feeling. “Anyways, I go and meet these people and they tell me about how Cara took Luca away from them and wouldn’t let them see him. How she helped their son die with all the stress and pressure she put on him while he was dying from cancer. Poor fool, how such a sweet man could end up with a harpy like her I’ll never understand.”
I have to let go of DJ to grab Axe before he does something he’ll regret. While Jaxson and I are holding him back, we forget all about my woman. That is until we hear skin hit skin, and not in a good way either. Starla yells out in pain, so I go to let go of Axe, but then he starts charging her again. I get him contained, but then we have a decision to make. Let DJ keep getting her pound of flesh, or one of us needs to let go of him and detain her. My issue is I don’t want any other man putting his hands on her. Twisted, who had been silently standing back in shock taking everything in that was being said, steps forward with me and grabs our president.
“Axe! I need you to get ahold of yourself. Someone has to stop my woman or Starla won’t have any teeth left to tell the rest of the story.”
“We’ve got him, Hatch. Go get your woman before she ends up killing Starla,” Twisted tells me. Just about this time Chief comes strolling through the door and asks, “The fuck is going on here?”
“You’d know if you answered your damn phone!” I yell at him.
“I was busy, asshole,” he replies to me.
“Get over here, Chief, and help me contain Axe,” Twisted calls out to him.
Once Chief is in place, I go over to get my woman. Only, her arms are flying with punches so quickly I have a hard time getting my hand on her securely. “DJ, stop!” I tell her. She eases up on the punches and I wrap my arms around her and walk her back over to our wall. “Calm down, baby, we’ll get her,” I say in her ear.
“I’m going to kill her,” she says. Right now, there is no doubt in my mind that if I let her go, she’ll do just that.
“Everyone calm the fuck down!” Chief calls out. We all stop and I notice Axe finally has a hold of himself. “Axe, walk away, man, let me handle this,” Chief says.
“I’m not going far,” he says pointing at Starla.
“Don’t go crazy again, or I’ll take her down to the station and question her there, understand?”
Chief has pulled out the cop card on Axe, who gives him a dirty look at overriding him.
“Remember who you’re talking to,” Axe reminds him.
Chief pulls his long hair back into the ponytail that had some hair escape from holding Axe back.
“No disrespect intended, Axe, but we’ve got to do this by the book,” he tells him. Chief pulls out a chair from the table and turns it backwards. He straddles it and looks at Starla. “Look at me, and me alone...got it?”
“Yes,” she says thinking she has a savior in him. He may be a cop, but he’s RGMC first and foremost. His loyalty is to his brothers and club.
“What have I missed?” he asks, looking at me. I fill him in as to where we are at and he looks over at the bitch in question and tells her to pick it up from there.
“Can I have some water first?” she asks him. Before anyone of us can speak up, he tells her no.
“If you give me some viable information, I’ll get you something to drink and help you clean up your face,” he tells her. If he was doing this by the book, my old lady would be in cuffs on her way to jail for assault. Even the thought of that makes me feel murderous.
“Mr. and Mrs. Jensen told me they had a plan, but needed my help. It was supposed to be simple and easy.”
“What was? What was the plan, Starla?” Chief asks her.
“I’m so sorry, Axe. He moved so quickly that I didn’t have a chance to react.”
“What are you talking about?” DJ asks.
“They wanted you and Ray out of the way, they say Cara is like this because of you. That with you out of the way she’d comply and let them be part of Luca’s life. I was aiming the car at Ray, but then Luca jumped in and pulled her out of the way.” The room erupts and this time I don’t hold DJ back, because I find that I’m also charging after the fucking bitch. She was trying to kill my daughter! Chief jumps on top of Starla, trying to protect her life with his own. He’s sadly mistaken if he thinks I’m going to back up off this. “Move!” I bellow out.
“Guys! Think about this,” he says dodging DJ’s arms, as she does everything she can to get her hands on Starla. At this time, all of the remaining brothers enter the house and charge after us to hold us back.
Law grabs me and asks me, “What the fuck did we walk in on?” I notice that he’s not the only one with arms wrapped around me. Capone, our road captain who’s been on leave the last year and a half dealing with family issues, is here as well.
“Hey, man,” he says to me. I don’t have enough cognizant thought to greet him. Smokey, Duke, and Chef are holding Axe back and I see red when I notice that Bandit is holding onto my old lady.
“Get your hands off her,” I growl at him.
He walks her over to me and releases her into my care. He holds his hands up and says, “Nothing personal, brother, just trying to keep her from doing time.” He backs away with hands still in the air. I give Law and Capone a look letting them know I’m good and they can release me now.
“Someone fill us in,” Law says.
DJ
I’m ushered out of the room, I protest but am no physical match for my man. Hatch sits on the fireplace ledge and pulls me into his lap. Axe and Chief start to fill the others in and I don’t take my eyes off Starla, who is still tied to the chair. She is watching the guys with her eyes as wide as saucers. I can’t believe they wanted her to kill my baby! What kind of woman is okay with something like that? Ray is innocent in all of this, and Luca, poor Luca. Everything he went through, trying to protect the girls, he must’ve been scared out of his mind seeing that car coming at them like that. I hear an unfamiliar growl and look around the room trying to figure out where it came from. When I notice all the guys looking at me strangely, I realize the sound came from me.
“Don’t look at me like that!” I snap, causing them all to look away. I see a slight smile on Hatch’s face at my fierceness.
“I’ve gotcha, baby,” he tells me. I try to relax back into him, but I’m strung so tight I’m afraid I’ll snap at any minute. The guys decide, in the best interest of us, that Chief will take Starla to the station and continue questioning her there. This doesn’t make me happy, but I keep my mouth closed. I trust them and know that they will make sure we’re taken care of. It’s what I promised when I agreed to wear Hatch’s cut. Doesn't mean I like sitting in the background doing nothing, but I have no other choice at this time. When Chief goes to leave, with Starla’s hands cuffed behind her back, he leaves with an escort. Guess the guys aren’t taking any chances with her escaping or anything happening to her before they get their questions answered. Starla looks defeated as she walks out the door, Chief holding her arm tightly. I hope he makes it hurt! Braxton is one of the escorts, it was agreed that he’d be able to watch the interrogation from behind the two-way mirror. Hatch looks at me begging with his eyes for permission to follow, I nod my head in agreement. I don’t know why, but I feel like he needs to be there.