SIX
Barbie Porn Palace
Seven
The blaring sound of the alarm jolted me out of bed. One second I was sleeping, the next I was wide-eyed, frazzled with my heart beating like it was trying to run out the door.
A side-glance at the old clock on the wall told me I was running late for work again. So without preamble, I swung my feet over the edge of the bed, grabbed my towel and work clothes, and rushed towards the bathroom.
My forehead met the door in a loud smack. “Auugh!” What the hell? I rubbed my forehead while mentally threatening the barrier before me. In my sleepy haze, I hadn’t heard the sounds of the water running, nor noticed the fact that the light was on inside, or that the door was locked.
Leaning in, I listened closely, hearing someone humming inside. Oh God. How could I forget I had a new roommate? “Hey, Lucky! I need to use the bathroom! I’m late for work!” I had less than half an hour to shower, dress, have breakfast, and rush out the door to make it in time for work. When there was no response, I banged loudly on the door. “What the hell are you doing in there?”
“Jesus, woman, calm the fuck down. I’m lathering!” Images of Lucky naked, running sudsy water over his muscled torso threatened to poison my mind but I pushed it back.
Irritation made me snappy. It didn’t help that I’d been tossing and turning for most of the night, unable to find sleep until the early morning. That had just been two hours ago.
I settled onto the floor beside the bathroom door and frowned. How many bikers did you know who rose at six in the morning and hummed in the shower? Lucky was already proving to be the worst roommate ever. Standing, I put my ear to the door and heard the water shut off. “You about done now?”
“No,” came the gruff reply.
“I’m late for work!”
“One fucking second! Can you give me that?”
“What’s taking so long? What are you even doing in there?”
“I’m sure your mind can come up with something,” he retorted.
I glanced at the clock. I was down to fifteen minutes. “Hurry up!”
“All right, all right, I’m done. No need to throw a goddamn hissy fit!”
Finally! I gathered my clothes and held them to my chest, waiting for the door to open. Minutes passed and no sounds from inside indicated that Lucky was coming out soon. I leaned in, putting my ear to the door again and listened.
The door unexpectedly whipped open, making me lose my balance. I fell forward but caught myself with a hand on the doorjamb. Thank goodness for quick reflexes! I didn’t want Lucky seeing me brain myself for the second time this morning.
Lucky’s annoyed glare bore down on me as if I was the one who was irritating him. “What the fuck was that?” Hot steam wafted out from the bathroom as he stood there. “Were you listening through the door?”
“I have work, you know.”
“Yeah, you yelled it about five times while I was in there.”
“Then why were you in the shower when you knew I would need it?”
“I did it to piss you off.”
Ugh! “Just move. I need to get in there.”
“Be my guest,” he muttered as he slipped out. He smelled delicious. Like spices and lemons. A lock of damp hair fell over one eye before he brought his hand up to smooth it back. When his eyes met mine, they were piercing and angry. “Enjoy your shower,” he snarled before turning and walking towards the stairs.
His towel rode dangerously low on his hips and my eyes immediately magnetized to the elaborate tattoo spanning his back. How had I not seen this before? A massive bald eagle, wings spread took up his upper torso from shoulder to shoulder. The ink was impressive, the details exquisite. Had it been on anyone else, the tattoo would’ve been sexy as hell.
Last night, I wondered what Lucky would look like shirtless. Seeing the full effect now, it would probably make a grown woman cry. Of course, now I was wondering what he’d look like naked.
Yikes. On that dangerous thought, I slipped into the bathroom, locking him—and hopefully thoughts of him—out. Within two minutes, I was as dirt-free as I was going to get within the limited time frame I had. Time to get out, get dressed, and get gone. But my efforts were stalled when I couldn’t find my panties anywhere. “Shit. Where are they?” I searched for a few seconds more but there was no time. Instead, I slipped into my pants commando, trying not to notice how uncomfortable it was. My bra went on, and so did my shirt. My hair had to be plaited quickly so that it didn’t bother me while I was riding. I was in and out before I knew it.
But when I opened the door to the bathroom, Lucky stood there with an amused expression on his face. He was still distractingly shirtless and I ignored him as I whizzed past him to go down to the kitchen. I needed breakfast. Stat. Having a high metabolism meant I was usually starving like an alley cat by morning.
Lucky lingered in the doorway as he watched me prepare breakfast. “Why do you keep looking at me like that?” I asked.
“You’re not wearing any panties, are you?”
I froze. “Of course I am!” And how the hell did he know that I wasn’t?
Without a word, he lifted his hand. Dangling off the edge of his fingers were the panties I couldn’t find. I must’ve dropped them while I was yelling at him earlier. Turning red, I snatched them from him before crumpling them into a tiny ball and shoving them in my bag.
Lucky snickered before tossing a medium-sized parcel on the table between us. “Found this on the front steps.”
“What is it?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Do you usually get packages like that?”
“No.” The box was nondescript, no markings whatsoever on it to indicate who it was addressed to. Maybe someone had left it at the wrong house? I wasn’t expecting any packages.
“Open it,” Lucky encouraged with a tilt of his chin.
I couldn’t deny that I was curious myself, but this seemed odd. “You do it,” I told him. If it was something dangerous, I wanted to be as far away from it as possible.
“Fine.” He reached behind him for a pocketknife and started dissecting the package through the middle like a frog.
Despite bracing myself, nothing exploded or jumped out as he tore at it. “What is it?” I peered inside when Lucky slid it over to me. Inside was just a simple bag of potato chips, the kind I used to like as a kid. “Oh, I love these!”
Lucky snatched the box away from me. “Are you crazy?”
I stared at him wide-eyed. “What?”
“These could be from anyone, you know. What if they’re poisoned? Or—”
“Oh, please.” I snatched the box back, opening the sealed bag of chips and popping one delicious morsel into my mouth. “You’re so paranoid.”
“Fine. Eat it and die.”
Suddenly I wasn’t feeling so good. Panic filled my eyes as I clutched my neck, taking in big, heaving breaths. Lucky simply stared at me as I faked my own death. “Aren’t you going to save me?” I wailed.
“I’d rather see you turn blue.”
I rolled my eyes. So much for messing with him. “The chips are fine,” I said as I bit into one. “Want one?”
Lucky glared at the bag I offered him. “Your boyfriend gives shitty gifts.”
Boyfriend? Oh, did he mean Trey? At least he was nice enough to get me something even after I ditched him.
Lucky shook his head. “You’re terrible with men.”
“You’re not a genius with women either,” I shot back.
Lucky scowled at me before glancing at the clock. “Don’t you have some place to be?”
“Oh shit!” Jolting up, I ran for the door. When he thought I was gone, I saw Lucky pick a chip from the bag and eat it.
* * *
“You look gorgeous,” Trey said when he came by later that afternoon. Apparently, he liked the haggard look on women.
“I’m gassed,” I admitted. “Didn’t sleep well.” And the mad rush this morning didn’t help. Not even a touch up in the washroom could fix up my appearance.
“I figured you might be tired. Especially after last night. How’d the moving go?”
Damn, word traveled fast. Not even a full day had passed and everyone knew I had a new roomie. “How’d you know?”
“Well, when a fully-patched Glory member goes missing and then shows up unexpectedly at Neptune’s, word gets around.” True. If there were celebrities left in this world, Glory MC would be it. Trey grinned. “I wanted to call to make sure you got home all right, but it was already late.”
“That’s sweet,” I told him. “I did and I went straight to bed.”
“The action at Neptune’s not enough to keep you up?”
“One punch hardly counts as an exciting night.”
His bright eyes widened. “Well, you and I have different views on what counts as exciting.”
“Trust me, crazier shit has happened.”
“I may have missed the fighting, but I still had a great time last night. Up for another date?”
“I don’t know. Think you can handle another crazy night with me?”
“I hope to.” His eyes sparkled with mirth. “Look, I’ll call you tonight and we can set something up.”
“Sure, sounds great.” The smile he flashed me oozed charm. “Oh, and thanks for the present. That was really nice of you. I haven’t had salty chips in what feels like forever.”
Trey paused by the door and shot me a confused look. “I didn’t send any chips.”
“Oh,” I said, embarrassed. “My mistake then.”
He grinned. “No worries. Call you later?”
I nodded and flashed him a grin. As I turned back to my desk, my smile faltered. If it hadn’t been Trey, then who had left the package?
Lucky
With Seven gone, the house was much quieter. I moved around freely as if I’d been living there all this time. It helped that there were actual furnishings in the place, unlike my own apartment and the shack Dex and Lennon called home. Despite the flares, Seven had actually kept this place in prime condition, the kitchen being the most impressive.
I heard that Seven had been studying to become a chef before the flares. She had even managed to land an internship with some exclusive name. But when the first of the flares crash-landed on us, it was difficult to follow your culinary dreams when so much of it relied on access to food.
Businesses like Neptune’s did okay, but I doubted we’d be able to go back to how we were before the flares. Certain foods were still attainable through trades like grain and produce, but other indulgences such as chocolate, milk products, and the chips Seven had this morning were harder to come by. As the Ward’s leaders, Glory MC were much better off than the general public, and yet Seven’s kitchen seemed stocked with plenty of canned items, perishable foods, and even some fresh fruit. How had she managed to get her hands on all this? While everyone else was struggling to find provisions, Seven had her kitchen stocked with delicious, not to mention healthy, foods at her picking. I made a mental note to ask her.
As I helped myself to a can of Seven’s ravioli, there was a knock on the front door. Opening it, Kitt’s panther eyes stared back at me. “How are the new digs?” he asked, a faint smile curling his lips. I turned around without answering, hearing his laughter follow. “Here. I brought over what you wanted.”
I grabbed the bag he offered. “Thanks.”
“What I don’t understand is why you need extra bedding. Doesn’t Seven have her own shit?”
“Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
“What? Do they itch?” he teased. “Too rough for your sensitive skin.”
I showed him upstairs and paused at the doorway. “See for yourself.”
“Oh shit. What is that?” Kitt’s eyes widened in horror as he took in the rest of the room. “It’s like a Barbie porn palace up in here!”
“Exactly. And I don’t plan on going pink and plastic anytime soon.”
Kitt chortled. “She wanted you to sleep in here?” At my nod, he laughed again. “Man, she really fucking hates you.”
The feeling was entirely mutual. “Here, help me change the sheets.” Kitt stood on one side of the bed while I went to the other. As we ripped off the fugly-ass sheets, a part of my sanity returned.
The ones I had Kitt get were in a masculine gray. No pink frou frou shit in sight. I moved to grab the fresh pillowcases but couldn’t find them. “Hey. Did you forget the pillow cases?”
Kitt frowned. “They aren’t with the sheets?”
I shook the sheets out. “They aren’t here.”
“Shit. Must’ve lost them.”
“They’re usually kept together, you moron. How could you lose them?”
“I lost them,” he said simply. “I’m not Martha fucking Stewart, all right? Gimme a break.”
Christ, you couldn’t get shit done without having to do it yourself. “Just get rid of the pink sheets, okay?”
Kitt balled up the pink monstrosity and frowned. “Wait.” He sniffed the air like a dog. “What is that smell?”
See? I wasn’t the only one who hated it! “It’s some lavender spray that Seven likes.”
Kitt made a face that had me laughing. “God, I can’t stand it. Open the goddamn windows! It stinks!”
As I did, I was hit by a furnace blast of hot air. “Christ, a flare’s gotta be coming. It’s a boiler out there.”
“Seems like it. Been a while since we had one. Mother Nature is just biding her time.”
“Come on,” I called out. “Seven’s got some beer in the fridge.”
“You don’t think she’ll mind?”
“I’ll replace it.”
In the kitchen, Kitt settled into one of the chairs, making himself comfortable. I placed a beer in front of him.
“Thanks,” he said as I settled into a seat opposite him and frowned.
“So what’s been happening since I’ve been gone?”
Kitt took a pull from his beer. “It seems like we have a situation . . .” Oh no. I hated when he started sentences with that.
“What kind of situation?”
“The Phantoms have resurrected.” Shit. Not good news. If the Phantoms were back in action, that didn’t bode well for us. “They’ve been getting more aggressive as of late,” Kitt continued. “Cases of extortion are sprouting all over the place, even as far as Two and Three.”
That surprised me. If the Phantoms were trying to gain control of more land, that was definitely one way to go about it. The flares had marked a bid of power. As societal structures dwindled, more and more people were hoping to gain more power and leadership. Glory MC ruled Ward Four, and other Wards had their own respective leaders, but some weren’t able to hold that spot for long. It was a constant battle to dethrone the king in each Ward. Even years later, spots weren’t fully secured yet.
The Phantoms were the post-flare equivalent of the mafia, an invisible, manipulative crime syndicate that specialized in extortion, drug trafficking, protection racketeering, and fraud. Because no one Ward belonged to them, they targeted businesses within Wards. And that was how they were slowly gaining power.
It would become a real issue for us if they targeted businesses within Ward Four. Glory MC would be forced to intervene and it would once again instigate a war that neither one of us were ready for. “Have there been reports of any extortion cases within Ward Four?”
“Not yet, but I doubt the Phantoms would pay attention to boundaries. It’s just a matter of time.”
“How’s Bronson doing?” Ward Three’s new leader had come to Glory MC for help when the Phantoms had demanded payment for protection. Not willing to pay for his former friend’s mistakes, he fought against it and was now in deeper shit than he was before.
“He’s playing it out,” Kitt answered morosely. “The Phantoms will return for their money again, and if he doesn’t give it to them, Ward Three will have the hammer come down on them.”
It seemed that all around us the Phantoms were attacking. “Let’s just hope that no more deaths come along with it.” Glory MC had yet to recover from the losses. Newt’s death had really hit us hard.
“All right, I gotta run.” Kitt rose. “And don’t forget about the church meeting tomorrow. We’ll discuss this more in depth.” When I led him to the door to see him out, he turned and said, “Tell Seven I said hi.”
“I will.”
“Hastie’s gonna have a good laugh when I tell him about your little Barbie porn palace.”
I flipped him off and slammed the door shut on his ugly grinning mug. I knew better than to ask Kitt for a favor. He had a flapping mouth that didn’t stay shut for long. Now I would never hear the end of this. Through the barrier, I could still hear Kitt’s howling laughter as he pulled out of the lot.
I glanced at the clock. There were still a couple of hours until Seven came home. I grinned. I hoped she enjoyed payback.