Chapter Twenty
(Jax)
“We need to lay low for a while,” Dino announced.
Chloe was still plainly terrified. She hadn’t stopped shaking since we got here. I only hoped she wouldn’t crumble under the stress.
Dino looked up from his place on the sofa. “Antonio has been spreading rumors back at the club. Marco just texted me. He’s saying you sold that whiskey yourself and pocketed the money.”
“Nobody’s going to believe that.”
“Marco’s saying the boys don’t know what to think,” Dino informed me. “It’s a clusterfuck is what it is.”
“I know. I didn’t take the damn whiskey. But I think I know who did.” I looked at my friend. “The only thing is I don’t have proof.”
“You may not but I do,” Chloe whispered.
I snapped my head around to stare at her.
Dino was doing the same.
“What proof do you have?”
She shivered and replied, “I overheard Antonio on his phone. I heard the bulk of the conversation. He has a buyer coming in tomorrow to pick it up.” She looked up at me with tear filled eyes. “I’m scared Jax. If they know I’m still alive, I won’t be for long. They set you up.”
I nod. “I know baby. I figured that out last night when they jumped me at the docks after they stole the whiskey.” He paused then asked, “Wait a minute, you said you overheard Antonio on the phone, where was this at? Where did you hear him make a phone call?”
Chloe lifted her head. “At the Blood’s clubhouse.”
I was stunned. “Antonio was there? Are you sure?” I turned to stare at Dino.
Dino shook his head looking stunned too.
“None of this makes sense to me.” I threaded my fingers through my hair. “Why would Antonio be strolling around in the Blood’s clubhouse?”
“They both just want to kill you!” Chloe looked afraid. “Jumper wants you dead pretty bad and so does Antonio. Why they paired up would be a good question to find an answer for.”
Dino glanced at his watch. “I got to go brother. I need to check and see what’s happening at the club. And remember we got business to handle. Church will be held tonight. I’m gonna go for a bit.”
Chloe looked up confused. “You bikers go to church?”
Dino smirked at her as he shook his head.
I looked over at her. “Baby, when we have a meeting, we call it church. You should know this phrase. I’m surprised you don’t.”
She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t want to know anything about what the MCs do.”
I turned and shook my best friend’s hand. Dino had been with me a long time. We embraced with the genuine affection and camaraderie of true brothers; brothers who’d fought together and bled together.
“I’ll be along in a bit. I want to make sure Chloe’s settled,” I assured him. After he left, I looked at Chloe. “Are you ok?” I wondered if I was too. I’d thought I lost her and it shook me up bad.
She shrugged. “I don’t know yet. So much has happened. It all seems so surreal. I don’t know what’s true or a lie anymore.”
I smiled as I nodded. “I can show you one thing that’s real and true.” I wanted her more than ever.
Chloe just looked at me for a moment then she reached out and took my hand. “Then show me.”
I led her to the bedroom and shut the door behind us. Backing her up against the door, I kissed her roughly. My blood was pounding through my veins and my cock grew hard rather quickly as I ground it into the apex of her legs. I tore the silver dress off her body. I hated everything it stood for.
I wanted to take back the horror of the entire last day for her, replacing the bad memories with good ones. My lips went to nibble on her neck and my hands caressed her skin.
“God Jax, I need you. I need you now.”
“You got me baby,” I murmured as my hands went to my belt. A minute later, I shoved my pants and boxers down far enough to free my cock then buried myself into her wet haven. I couldn’t wait to do it slowly, more naturally. I had thought to never be inside her again, an hour ago. I wasn’t waiting another fucking minute.
“Awww… that feels so good, please don’t stop,” Chloe begged.
“I won’t,” I promised as I rammed into her again and again. At this point, I didn’t think it would take long for either of us to go over the edge and I was right. Chloe came first clamping down so hard on my cock I couldn’t move. Then I pushed through it and erupted deep inside her.
Neither of us said a word as recovery was slow. When neither of us could move, I gathered what little strength I had left and carried her over to Dino’s bed. Before I left her, she was already asleep. I kissed her forehead and whispered her a promise, “I’ll come back for you sweetheart. I’ll come back even if I have to come back from hell. You won’t ever be alone again.”
I stepped out of the bedroom leaving Chloe sleeping naked under the sheets. She was the only person I could look at and feel whole. I loved this girl more than I loved myself. Chloe was the first woman I’d ever woken up next to and felt truly happy. Now that I would get more days with her, I intended to make it forever. I needed to work like hell to make this whole clusterfuck right before figuring out how she and I could be together.
First, I needed to go to the docks and see a certain whiskey thief as he prepared to sell his father’s shipment. I paused. I needed to have Dino watch over Chloe. I texted him in the elevator and waited for a reply.
‘I’m on my way to her now, it’ll be three minutes… be careful.’
I got on my cycle and headed to the docks.
The light of day was starting to dim when I arrived.
As I approached the docks, I checked my vibrating phone for a message. It was Chloe’s mom, with a message that read, ‘Jax, Roy’s been found dead in his workshop. The cops found him. Call me.’
I couldn’t believe it. The man was safe outside of his garage when it went up in flames. I only hoped that the cops wouldn’t be able to place myself and Dino there that night or we would surely get the blame—the ghost of Roy Harris cursing our lives from the grave.
I would look into this problem later. Just now, I intended to confront the traitorous bastard who’d caused all of this. Shoving my cell in my pocket, I looked up at the docks again.
A lone stranger, disguised in a black hooded jumper stood by the waterside where our club’s boat docked. The plywood of the pier beneath him creaked as water thrashed and slapped against the flat surface. His face was obscured. The man spat the butt of a severed cigarette from his mouth, and unwrapped a piece of chewing gum from his pocket.
I knew it was him. It had been him all along.
“Your lies will catch up with you. You know that, right?”
The man turned. Antonio. I noted his chest heaving and he chewed his gum faster. He ground the cigarette butt out with the toe of his boot.
“People like you are always looking for the next war. You start one with me, Antonio; you’d better sleep with the lights on. But at the same time, I feel sorry for you. When I look at you I don’t see a man, I see a cocky, scared shitless, little boy.”
Antonio remained quiet, staring at the docks. Trying to control his panicked breathing, he took long, slow breaths.
“You’ve treated me with nothing but contempt since the day I joined this club and I have given you nothing but respect in return. And I don’t need to tell you how many times I’ve come close to death to save your ass. I’ve shown the same loyalty to you as I have the club and everyone else in it.”
“And what, Jaxson? You want a medal or something?” Antonio narrowed his eyes on mine like knives pointing toward me.
“I know about the whiskey. I know it was you that tried to kill me on the docks. But I said nothing, not to anybody, because for reasons I don’t understand, I still felt the need to protect you from the bullet that your father would put in your head.”
Antonio clenched his jaw and the veins bulged in his neck. He reached for his gun. He leveled it at me – his finger on the trigger.
I reared back and punched him in the face, knocking his gun from his hands and into the water.
Blood dribbled from his lips. He spat out a tooth violently and grinned, his teeth red from the blood in his mouth.
“I don’t know what you are Antonio, but you’re not human. I know what this life can do to a man. I know what it has done to me. But we don’t kill for blood. We kill to protect our town and the people in it. We kill to protect our MC, and to protect each other – as I have done for you. But you really are just a mindless lunatic aren’t you? I’m your brother and you tried to gun me down like an animal.”
Antonio said nothing.
“I’m giving you thirty minutes. Thirty minutes to get what you need and get out of my town – forever. After that, you’re too dangerous to know. You’re too dangerous to have in the Black Devils. And you’re too dangerous to call my brother.” I held my gun to Antonio’s head, straining to keep it from shaking in my hand with the conflict of feelings that saddled inside of me. “It’s time to decide,” I said. Whatever it took, I was determined to put an end to the feud between Antonio and myself. It was a feud so bitter its wounds could never be healed. As men, I’d thought the both of us had grown wise… but it became clear that Antonio would never be able to put away his insatiable appetite for vengeance. He was a man obsessed with war and hate.
Antonio clenched his eyes shut.
Every muscle in my body tensed and shook, as though that mysterious beast inside of me was trying to break from under my skin. I held the gun to his temple.
Antonio was about to die.