Chapter Five
Drew
I shiver when I think about what could have happened. I knew I had that weird, tingling feeling at the back of my neck that you get when someone is lurking in the dark and watching you. Sketch is obviously pissed at me for coming into the strip club when I had promised to stay in the car, but I bet he’s also feeling relieved that I didn’t stay put.
“You gonna talk to me?” I ask him as he drives me home.
Sketch releases a long sigh. “I don’t know if I should feel pissed, or grateful.”
I smile. “Let’s just say, you’re happy with me.”
Sketch shakes his head, trying not to laugh. “I suppose. God my life is gonna be even more stressful with you ain’t it?”
This time I laugh out loud. “You knew what you were getting into babe.”
“From the moment you snuck into my tattoo shop and begged me to tattoo that virgin skin.” Sketch reaches for my hand and presses it to his lips, kissing me. “Even though I was terrified Prez was gonna murder me.”
“No, I knew my dad would be fine.” I point out to him. “It’s my mother you need to watch out for.”
Sketch laughs loudly. “Yeah, I learnt that pretty fucking quickly.”
We both laugh together as Sketch parks up next to my apartment. As I get out the car, Sketch rushes out his side and is in front of me before I can even register how fast he got there. Sketch’s hands wrap into my hair and pull me close as his mouth lands on mine and captures me in a spine tingling kiss.
“Hearing that gun and having you so close to danger like that fucking scared me.” He whispers.
“I know.” I saw the fear in his eyes. I knew he hated it as much as I did. I don’t like Sketch being so close to danger either, but he’s closer to it than I ever am. “It’s how I feel whenever you’re not with me.” Sketch tilts his head to the side. “I worry.”
He smiles, gifting me with another kiss and leads me towards the door. “You don’t have to worry ‘bout me darling, I can look after myself.”
When we get into my apartment, I remove my boots and cringe at the state of them. At the sight of blood stains I drop them to the floor and make a face of disgust. “You owe me new boots.”
Sketch laughs. “You decided to come in babe.”
I go to sit on the sofa, trying to wrap my brain around why someone would do this to the club. We have no known enemies other than the Devil Spawn and I thought all of that was done with, but could they be really be behind this? Why would raiding a strip club be something that they would want to do, considering everything they have done in the past?
“Would you tell me if the Devils are back?” I ask Sketch as he joins me on the sofa. His face immediately clouds over, hiding any emotion from me. “I guess that’s a no.”
Sketch sighs. “Look, you know I can’t tell you babe.”
This has my back up. “But if the Devils are back and causing shit again, me and the rest of the women in this club deserve to know.”
“I aint’ arguing with that darling.” He admits, which makes me feel a little better. Not completely, but at least he sympathises with my situation.
***
A week later, we’re all at the club house after eating a huge Sunday roast. All of the women prepared it whilst the men had their private Church meeting. It was good to speak with my mum and Aunt June about it because they have their suspicions too. My mum doesn’t want to believe anything too bad is coming, but she can’t be blind to everything that’s going on around us and more and more people are beginning to see what I have from the start. Even the club bunnies are starting to feel on edge.
“If it’s those bastards again, I don’t know if I’ll make it through this time.” Aunt June admits as we put away the dinner dishes. I feel really bad for her, when Elise was taken by the Devils she had a really tough time with it.
One of the club bunnies, Busty is here helping to wash up. “But, the Devils are all dead, right?” She asks, her blue eyes large from fear.
“Honestly,” I answer her. “Nobody knows.”
She quickly looks down at her hands as she scrubs a plate and decides to stay quiet. The Twins, Lulu and Poppy then make their entrance with dishes in their hands, talking about their double date next weekend.
“Does your Dad know about this ‘amazing date’?” My mum asks them, quoting their words as she follows. Lulu looks away, busying herself with carefully placing the plates beside Busty while Poppy shakes her head.
“No, we were going to tell him today but,” Poppy stops, not knowing her excuse. I wrap an arm around both twins, looking at my mum.
“Leave them alone mum,” I give them a gentle push and they hurriedly rush out the door.
“They need to tell him Drew.” She points out, giving Busty a wide birth. She’s never liked the company of a club bunny, apart from Maci of course.
“I agree, but you shouldn’t be scaring them.” I shamefully point at her and Aunt June laughs.
Maci and Lauren join us, bringing in more dirty dishes and I hear Busty moaning from her place in front of the sink. Maci goes to join her and helps dry them while I begin to put them away in the cupboards. I nudge Maci with my hip and she smiles.
“We’re going to be ok, right?” She asks quietly, so quiet that nobody else hears her.
I try to give Maci my bravest smile, but by the worry in her eyes I see that I’ve failed. “We’ll all look out for each other.”
I don’t know what’s happening, none of us do apart from the men so I don’t want to lie to her. “Did you speak to your dad about us carrying?” She asks.
I quickly glace over to my mum to make sure she’s not up to her usual tricks and trying to overhear. Thankfully, she’s too busy talking to Lauren and my Aunt June. “Not yet, but he knows I want to talk about something, so I think he’s purposely avoiding me.”
Maci smiles. “He knows you well.”
After we’ve cleaned away all the dinner pots, we escape the kitchen and I return to Sketch. The sight of him playing with little Connor melts my heart and I quickly join them.
“Hey Connor.” I smile at my gorgeous nephew. He reaches out to me and I join in their little game of roll the ball. I look up and see Sketch watching me with heated eyes and it makes me blush. Connor yawns and he makes an adorable little noise when he does. “You sleepy Connor?”
He nods his chubby head and I scoop him up in my arms. Connor reaches up and plays with my nose, a habit that he does when he’s tired. I wriggle my nose, making him laugh and Grim approaches, taking him away from me. I frown at my biggest brother, and he laughs in return. “We gotta take this little guy home.”
“Fine.” I sulk, leaning in close and giving my nephew a kiss goodbye. Lauren grins wide as she comes over to cuddle me, saying our goodbyes. “Look after that gorgeous boy.”
Lauren breaks away, smirking still. “Which one?”
She glances over at Grim holding his son and I feel sick. “Ugh, I meant Connor.”
“I know.” She laughs, joining her man. As much as her playful comment made me feel unwell, I love watching them walk away together, waving their goodbyes. I’m so happy for my brother that he’s found a woman like Lauren. She’s a good person, but she doesn’t take any of his shit. A perfect combination for the old lady of our future Prez.
I look around for Elise, she has Madison’s travel cot beside her and that’s no surprise. She keeps it here for when she and Bomber bring their baby daughter with them to the clubhouse. Elise sees me approaching and smirks, watching me as I peak inside the travel cot and see Madison sleeping. I groan quietly so I don’t wake her, although I wish she was awake so I could fuss over her.
“Sorry.” Elise laughs, teasing me as I watch my beautiful niece sleep.
“Her eyelashes are so thick and long.” I smile down at her, marvelling at how gorgeous she is. “I’m so jealous of them.”
Elise giggles. “I know, she gets them from Bomber.”
I roll my eyes, standing up straight. “Damn men and their fucking eyelashes.” It is true, you might not have noticed it but a lot of men have thick, dark eyelashes and they don’t fucking deserve them.
I go to make myself and Elise a cup of tea and return to sit beside her. She thanks me and takes a grateful sip. “Have you seen Baby?” She asks me.
“No.” I answer, and Elise sneakily gestures to her left and my eyes follow. Maci is talking to Poppy and Lulu, but in the background stands Baby. He’s with Scrappy, Ryder and a few others. The men are talking loudly and having a laugh but Baby’s attention is all on Maci. I look back to Elise and she smirks. “You scare me.” I laugh.
Elise giggles. “Why?”
“You can see everything.” I point out. “I’m scared to do anything in case you’re spying.”
“I pick and choose who I watch.” She shrugs. “I don’t mean to watch certain people, but when it comes to Maci and Baby I can’t help myself.”
I nod. “I agree with you there.”
Elise sighs. “I’m scared for them. They’re either going to go through a shit storm and come out on top, or they’re going to break each other’s hearts.”
I look over at Maci and Baby, he’s still looking over at her and Maci catches him. Baby doesn’t look away but Maci frowns. Turning back to whatever she was saying to Poppy and Lulu.
“There’s going to be a shit storm either way.” I add.
Maci smiles at the twins and spots Elise and me, she makes her way over, sitting next to Elise. Damn she’s closer to Madison than I am.
“What are you two up to?” Maci asks.
I take a sip of my tea while I leave Elise to answer. “Just talking about nothing.”
Five seconds of silence envelopes us, and I just can’t help myself. “Baby won’t stop watching you.”
Elise’s eyes widen and I shrug my shoulders. I just don’t want to bullshit her. Maci looks down at her feet, and I see her risk a glance over at Baby and he’s still glancing over at Maci. When he notices that Elise and I are also looking over, Baby frowns and looks away, returning to his guys chat. Elise looks back to us and bites down on her bottom lip, rolling her eyes.
“He’s feeling guilty is all.” She shrugs.
My interest peaks. “Why? What’s he done?”
Maci sighs, stretching out her arms and looking up to the ceiling. “I was here at the club the other night, working the bar and Baby was with a girl. I didn’t know who she was, I’ve never seen her before but she was laughing all night and it started to piss me off. It felt like they were taunting me, and Baby didn’t do anything. She eventually came to the bar and when she ordered her drink she told me to sop watching them and that Baby wasn’t interested. That he had told her I was jealous and I wasn’t her.”
Elise gasps and my mouth drops open. “What the fuck?” I shout, people glace over at me I speak so loud, but then they return to their own business.
“What did you do?” Elise asks.
Maci looks over at Baby as she answers. “Instead of giving her the drink, I threw it in her face and told her to go fuck herself.” I laugh, leaning over Elise and giving her a high five. “She tried to threaten me but Baby and Scrappy jumped in. Baby took her away and we haven’t spoken since.”
“The little fucker.” I growl. I’m so pissed at my little brother acting like a pussy around all this shit.
“I’m sorry Maci.” Elise smiles sadly.
Maci sighs. “It’s not your fault.” She then looks to me. “The thing is, I know how I feel about him and I think he feels the same, but I won’t wait for him.”
Her eyes tell me she’s not lying, and I reach over and high five her again. “Too right! He’s my brother but I fucking hate him when it comes to hurting you. I’ve got your back girl.”
“Thanks Dee.” Maci smiles and Elise wraps an arm around her for comfort. “What time are you thinking of going home?” She asks me.
I look over at Sketch to see that he’s having a great time with Devlin, Grinder and Tech. I’ll leave him to it for a little while. “No idea babe, why you thinking of going soon?”
Maci nods. “Yeah, I’ve been here for the past couple of nights working the bar. I fancy watching TV in bed.”
“The exciting life of a club bunny.” I laugh and Maci salutes me, giggling.
“I’ll call a taxi.” Maci gets out her phone.
“I’m sure someone here will take you home.” Elise tells her.
“I’ll take you.” Baby jumps in, suddenly standing right in front of us. His eyes burn into Maci and I’m feeling a little uncomfortable at the intensity I see. Hanging around the club, you see a lot of shit and most of it I wish I could erase from my mind and seeing my brother’s lust after this women is one of them.
“No it’s fine.” Maci answers without sparing him a look. “I’d rather call a taxi.”
Ouch. Take that little brother.
Baby shuffles, looking from me to Elise but it’s pretty evident we ain’t moving an inch. His face becomes pained as Maci continues to look down at her phone.
“Come on Mace, let me take you home.” Baby begs her, sounding like a child.
Maci is still scrolling through her phone as if it holds all of her attention, but both Elise and I really know what’s happening here. As much as Maci had brushed off what happened between her, Baby and a new slut, Maci’s hurting.
“No thanks.” Maci sighs. “Although, I bet the whore from the other night would appreciate a ride with you.” She smirks and I feel as though the girl needs another high five, although I don’t think that would be appropriate right at this second.
Baby growls in frustration, stomping right up to Maci. “Maci.” He calls, but she doesn’t look up at him. The little show that they’re unintentionally putting on is starting to get some attention from others, and the men are physically cringing in sympathy for Baby. Growling again, Baby speaks louder. “Maci, look at me.”
Sighing, Maci gives in and looks up at Baby. “What?”
“Come with me and let me take you home.” He begs. “We need to talk.”
Maci’s eyebrows lift. “Do we?”
She’s making this hard for Baby, and I love it.
Baby’s jaw clenches over and over as the two of them stare at one another. “I need to explain about the other night.”
“Ah.” Maci nods. “The whore.”
“Yes.” Baby mumbles, casting a careful eye to me.
“Baby, it’s none of my business who you spend your time with.” Maci sweetly replies. “It’s not your fault that you’re blinded by tits and pussy, it’s just a shame you continue to settle for easy fucks rather than trying to build something meaningful.”
Damn Maci is on fire tonight.
“Get up Maci, please fucking stand up and follow me to my car.” Baby growls, clearly having enough. “I want to fucking talk alone, without all these nosey fucks listening to our business.”
Maci and Baby look at each other, and after a couple of minutes of deliberating, Maci stands. She looks to Elise and me as she grabs her bag. “See ya later girls, I have an apology to listen to.”
“Yes you do.” I can’t help but laugh, and Baby tilts his head back to the ceiling, with a look of annoyance and relief.
Maci walks out the clubhouse, with Baby quickly following behind her. A few members slap him on the back as an act of sympathy. I just hope Maci makes him squirm enough before accepting his apology, because she will. She’s smitten with Baby as much as he wants her. I look across the room to see Tasha watching the scene, her eyebrows lifted in shock, she’ll surely ask for all the juicy details and I’ll gladly pass them on. I get my phone out and quickly send Maci a message.
Me: Give him hell! X
Maci: Oh I will babe. He’s already grovelling. X
I smile to myself, picturing Baby begging for forgiveness, something he’s never had to do. I look over at Sketch and sensing my gaze, he turns to look and sends me a wink. It won’t be long until I’ll be asking to go home, I need some alone time with my man.