“Babe.” I squinted through the light, the outline of someone standing over me slowly coming into focus. “Hey.”
Kit brushed my hair away from my face and I cleared my throat. “Hey, you’re back.”
I felt the bed dip behind me and looked over to see Wreck pick up a sleeping Del and give a quick chin lift to his president before exiting the room. Kit walked over and closed the door behind him stripping off his cut, shirt and jeans, leaving him in a sexy pair of boxer briefs that instantly woke my slumbering body.
“Don’t look at me like that with those sexy hooded eyes, I just want to lay down for a little before I have to get up and sort shit for the day.” He climbed in the bed next to me. I rolled, tucking my face into his neck and throwing my arm over his torso.
“What’s the time?” I asked as my eyes drifted closed again.
“‘Bout six.”
“Did you only just get in?”
“Yeah, babe. Had some trouble with the local law.” He chuckled causing my head to bobble on his chest. I leaned over him, propping myself up over his chest.
“I fail to see the hilarity in that situation. Would you like to let me in on this joke?”
He sighed. “Met with Daniel Ashley last night, downtown at one of our strip clubs.”
I shot up. “You what?”
“It’s okay, Harm. We just needed to have words so we both knew where we each stood on the matter.” He touched my arm softly, but I moved away getting off the bed and pacing the room. Just the sound of the guy’s name made my emotions run wild. I was angry and scared all at once.
“So…”
He sat up, shuffling back against the headboard and scrubbing his hand down his face in frustration. “Harmony, I just want to rest for a little bit. I’ve been up all night dealing with this asshole’s bullshit.”
“No. This involves me, Kit. Tell me what happened.” I folded my arms across my chest and stared him down. He had the nerve to smirk at me and I narrowed my eyes even more.
“You look good in my shirt,” he said casually, his eyes studying me.
“Kit.”
He rolled his eyes. “Christ woman, okay.”
Kit explained to me what had happened at the strip club. Daniel had offered him money in exchange for me and Kit had refused. I knew he was leaving a lot of the story out. I wanted to hear it all without the baby gloves he was trying to hold me with.
“What are you not telling me?”
“Do you trust me?” he countered. I was surprised for a second and just stood there, not able to form any type of response. He waited for a minute before getting off the bed and walking around to me. “You need to trust me, Harm.”
“I’m trying.”
“Then try harder,” he groaned, obviously frustrated. “I’m putting my ass out on the line, my club’s ass—”
I pushed him out of my space. “I never asked you to. You claimed me, remember!”
He scoffed. “Yeah, I fucking remember. Because you’ve given me hell for it since the moment I did.”
I glared at him. “I didn’t fucking ask for this, Kit.”
“No, but if you can’t have faith in me to keep you safe –”
“I did, twice. And look what happened!” I pointed to my shoulder, knowing that I was rubbing in his face his failure, but the words just flowed out like a waterfall, my brain refusing to filter it.
He sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled at his hair. “Go on, Harmony, tell me how you really feel.”
“Maybe I should just go. Then you and your club won’t have to deal with my problems.” I turned to walk away, but a rough hand gripped my wrist tightly.
“I’m sorry about the way that came out. It sounded like it was a problem having you here and trying to keep you safe from these guys. That’s not what I meant.” He pulled on my arm so I had to turn to him and hauled me between his legs. His hands hooked around the back of my naked thighs causing my body to tingle. “The thought of them getting their hands on you does crazy shit to my head. It makes me wanna vomit and it makes me want to beat some fucker’s head in.”
I sunk into his touch. “I’m scared, Kit. He sounded serious and he has no qualms about resorting to violence.”
“I know, baby. But you have to trust that I’m going to do everything I can God damn do, to make sure he never comes near you.”
I placed my forehead softly against his, my fight slowly diminishing. I wanted to trust Kit. We were finally at a point where I realized he wasn’t in this for a short term conquest. But fear of being disappointed once again still hung in my mind.
“I need to know what’s going on,” I stated firmly, hoping that at least being in the know would make me feel better about trusting him to take control of the situation.
“I’ll try to do that, but there are just some things that you don’t need to know.” I opened my mouth to speak, but he held up a hand to halt me. “I’m not saying that to keep you out, I’m saying it to keep your peace of mind.”
I nodded, reluctantly, and tried to push past our little spat. “So, what happened with the cops then?”
Kit laughed. “Little prick didn’t get his way so he called the cops, saying some dodgy guys were hanging around with weapons. Think he thought a few of us might get arrested, take down some of our numbers.” He shook his head still smiling. “Almost worked too. I was looking at doing time if one of the prospects hadn’t thought quick and lifted my gun from the back of my jeans without me even noticing.”
“You didn’t notice someone take your gun?” I raised my eyebrow.
“Kid was like a freaking pickpocket or a magician. One second it was there, next thing I knew he was giving it to the cop and they were booking him for carrying a gun that wasn’t registered to him.”
“Saved your ass, huh?”
“Yeah baby, and owe him one. Think I’m gonna pay him back in the way of a full patch. Not even gonna put it to a vote. He’s proved himself time and time again, and laying his shit down for his president. That takes balls.”
I looked at him stunned. For a president not to ask for a vote at the table wasn’t unheard of, but was very rare. From what I knew about the Brothers by Blood, voting at the table was an important part of their bylaws – the rules they lived by. That being said, the president had enough power to rule on particular issues without having to call a vote.
“Wow, that’s huge. Did he get in trouble?”
“Little. Don’t think he’ll do time, but he may get some kind of probation or curfew type shit slapped on him for a few months, along with a fine.”
“And if he hadn’t done what he had?”
Kit frowned. “I could’ve been looking at up to five years.”
My heart sank and I suddenly felt in debt to this young man. I nuzzled my face in Kit’s neck. “Remind me to thank him.”
There was a hard knock on the door and I almost yelled at them to get lost, the urge to appreciate my man being here taking precedence over whoever the hell was there.
“Tuck your cock back in, the boys are rounding up for Church,” Tally called. I heard him laughing as his boots stomped off down the hall.
Kit hooked his hands under my knees and lifted me up as he stood. I squealed and quickly threw my arms around him as he turned and laid me back on the bed. He loomed over me, my legs still wrapped around his waist. I took the time to admire his stunning face, his prominent jaw and the dark few days’ growth that covered it. His dark, sparkly eyes that drew me in and threatened to never let me leave. I raised my hips, my now soaked center brushing against his barely covered length which began to harden by the second.
He dipped his head, licking at sucking at my neck. “I gotta go to Church,” he whispered. His voice was now quiet and husky and I knew that I was winning this battle. I ground my hips up a few more times before he finally began to throw his forward, meeting me halfway.
“You’re the president, you own the club. They’ll wait,” I told him breathlessly. “But right now I need you to own me.”
He pulled back and searched my eyes, my words apparently exactly what he needed to hear. “Fuck me,” he groaned and began to attack my body like a man starved.
“That’s exactly what I was hoping you’d say.”
After I dragged myself away from Harmony and her greedy little pussy, I finally made it to Church and began to hash out with my Brothers the details about what was going on for those who weren’t with me last night.
To say they were livid was an understatement. Brothers by Blood have some serious policies about protecting women and children. They were innocents, who didn’t deserve to get mixed up in messes that their men may have created. Selling woman against their will was a big fucking hell no. I knew that all my Brothers would have my back when I made sure that Daniel Ashley paid for his part in an enterprise that disgusted and sickened me to my core.
“I talked to a couple guys I know. One of them is actually engaged to this guy’s daughter,” Mix said as the room quietened down from its outrage. I nodded for him to continue. “My man’s name is Link. He runs a PI style business a couple states away, specializes in finding missing people. Found the daughter about three years after her dad sold her. She was living as one of his associate’s house toys. Got her out quick smart.”
“He sold his own fucking daughter,” Rifle exclaimed in utter shock.
“Dude is crazy dipped in deranged,” I groaned.
“But wait, there’s more!” Mix said in some weird game-show-host voice. I rolled my eyes, but he just grinned at me from across the table. “From what I gathered, Mr. Ashley was a big gambler. That was how he got messed up with this crowd in the first place. He used the daughter to pay his debt, but in their world, selling your family earns you a certain level of respect. It portrays them as ruthless and emotionally detached, the perfect kind of person to do the job he does.”
“So where do we go with this?” Tally asks to no one in particular.
“Seems our man didn’t stop gambling. Higher paying job, you’re no longer looking at poker games and horses. I think he’s in deep and the money he could get from Harmony is his bail out.” Mix leaned back in his chair, a cocky smirk on his face.
The kid knew his shit, he knew people, a lot of people. I don’t think there was any information that he couldn’t find out.
“You think he’s desperate?” I asked, leaning forward and resting my arms on the table.
“I think he’s more than desperate,” he confirmed, his voice laced with a darkness that Mix didn’t show very often.
“That’s why I’m worried. I don’t know what he’s going to do to get to her, but I know when crazy people get desperate, things usually get messy.” I twisted my hands together.
My Brothers all nodded and we moved on to cover other things, business reports, income, future runs.
Just as I was about to call the meeting to an end, the chapel doors swung open harshly, banging back against the walls and my pops stood between them, grinning like a fool.
With half the club’s hands on their guns ready to shoot at the intrusion, we all breathed a small sigh of relief.
“You fuckers are getting soft. I was expecting at least one of you bastards to shoot first, ask questions later.”
“Get your crazy ass out of my meeting, old man,” I laughed.
“Make me.”
My Brothers all chuckled as I slammed the gavel on the dark mahogany table, releasing them from their seats. They all embraced my father as they moved out the door, vows to meet him at the bar to celebrate his return echoing in the small space. I stayed seated, hefting my heavy boots onto the table and relaxing in my chair, knowing my pops would want to catch up before he headed out to see my Brothers. As expected he closed the doors behind him and came to sit beside me in Loose’s VP seat.
The strange arrangement didn’t go unnoticed by either of us as we eyed each other. We both laughed lightly. “It does me proud to see you in that chair, son.”
I nodded. “Still feels weird, but fucking good too.”
I’d been apprehensive about taking my father’s place as president. I feared leadership wouldn’t come as naturally to me as it did to him. Oz was born to be a leader, it didn’t matter what he did, where he was, he wasn’t afraid to take charge of a situation and own it.
“You were born into this club, Donovan.” My father was the only man that ever used my real name. He did it not to taunt or demean me, he did it because he was proud of the fact that we were family. He was proud to say that he’d given me life and named me. “The club is in your blood. Don’t ever second guess that.”
His Aussie twang always made me smile. Sometimes the boys had a hard time taking him seriously because of the terms he used and the way he pronounced words. But it only took one small laugh and he would show you why he was one of the most respected men within the MC community, by putting a bullet in your knee cap.
“How was your trip?”
“Pretty fucking amazing. Haven’t spent that much time inside your mother since the summer of ‘84.”
I frowned at him. “That shit’s nasty, pops. I’m gonna be having nightmares for weeks now.”
He laughed loudly, the sound resonating in the small room. “Heard you picked up a little something of your own while you were visiting with Optimus.”
I rolled my eyes. These men, fucking outlaws my ass, they gossiped like a bunch of old women at bingo night. “Yeah, think I found her.”
My father always taught me that women were to be respected. He told me that one day I would find one that would challenge me and push my limits. That was the one I needed to hold on to. In the type of business that we’re in, a man needs a woman who can not only stand up for him, but stand up to him. Any one of us can find a doormat, willing to lay down, spread her legs and follow orders. But it took a special girl with fire in her veins and passion in her heart to share how she feels but to stand beside you no matter what you do with her words.
“You have to drag her down here kicking and screaming?”
I smiled. “Basically.”
“Sounds like a keeper.”
“You and Mom gonna come meet her?”
My father smirked at me across the table. “Your mother beat you to it. We weren’t supposed to be back until tomorrow, but as soon as Loose called saying you were throwing the term Old Lady around, your mom was throwing me off her and demanding we come back.”
I groaned. “Mom’s here?”
“Oh yeah, probably interrogating your woman as we speak.”
The need to protect my girl, even from my own mother, weighed heavily in my stomach. Bright Eyes wasn’t known for beating around the bush. She was beautiful and kind and caring to her family, but she could also be crass, upfront and very cunning. She had a way of getting the information she wanted from you without you even knowing you were giving it.
My father laughed and checked his watch as I rubbed a hand over my face. “Think your mom has had enough time to give your girl the what fors? Better go rescue her.”
“Bastard. You were running interference,” I accused with a pointed finger.
He held up both hands. “Hey, I take threats against my manhood very seriously.”
“You ever heard the saying bros before hoes?”
“Do the bros suck my cock?”
“Fuck my life, please just stop.” I flipped him off and I went in search of my woman and my mother, my father’s laughter booming behind me.