Nickel
“Drink.”
“I’m good.”
“I said drink, mother fucker.” Slayer pushed a bottle of Jack across the table toward me. “This isn’t the time to be sober.”
That was the damn truth.
An easy run to the River Valley had turned into a complete shit show that I was getting fucked over on. I grabbed the bottle of Jack and drank. “Explain to me how the fuck this is happening again, and why I’m the one who is being screwed over?”
Pipe shook his head and leaned back in his chair. “It wasn’t my idea, brother. Jenkins picked you, and there isn’t a damn thing you or I can do about it.”
“Why the hell can’t he pick a guy who doesn’t have an ol’ lady. Do you know how much this fucks up my life right now? She’s always running scared, and now I’m going to have some chick living with me. You really think any chick would be okay with that?”
“Jenkins didn’t know you had an ol’ lady, but honestly, I don’t think he would have given a fuck. He picked you to take care of his sister, and that’s what the hell you are going to do.”
And that, right there, summed up how fucked my life was right now. I wasn’t making any of the decisions, and I just had to deal with it.
Pipe and I were sitting in the common room of the River Valley Fallen Lords surrounded by the assholes who had made my life a living hell. “You think they could have sprung this shit on me sooner?” Pipe and I were planning on leaving early the next morning to get back to Weston before noon.
“They waited because they knew that you were going to shit a brick when you found out. None of us want a chick weighing us down that isn’t connected to us. Hell, you’re one of the rare few that have an ol’ lady in Weston.”
“And for that, I get shit on by River Valley.”
Pipe looked around. “You might want to keep your disdain for Jenkins and his cronies to a minimum until we leave.”
I leaned forward and stabbed my finger into the table. “This fucking club shouldn’t even have the goddamn last say in anything anymore since Skeeter died. He was the last of the original five, and you and I both damn well know that as soon as they shoveled the last pile of dirt on his coffin that Jenkins took over and fucked up this club more than any of us can fix now.”
“I fucking repeat, you might want to leave this shit until we get the fuck out of River Valley.”
“Tell me you don’t fucking agree with me,” I hissed.
Pipe set his bottle of beer on the table and glared at me. “I hear you, and I fucking agree with you, Nickel. But now is not the fucking time to be talking about this. Take it back to Weston where you’ll find most fucking agree.”
I sat back in my chair and sighed. This was all fucking bullshit. Nothing was going the way I needed it to right now.
I was about to have some chick I didn’t even fucking know live with me, the club I used to love was falling apart at the seams, and I hit a fucking brick wall when trying to find out what the hell was going on with Karmen’s dad. “You got any connections at Winchester Prison?”
Pipe quirked his eyebrow. “What the hell you got going on now?”
“It’s not me, exactly, it’s for Karmen.”
Pipe laughed. “I thought you were dating some shy, quiet nurse. What the hell does she need an in for at Winchester?”
“She is shy and quiet, it’s her family that isn’t. Her dad killed a couple people drunk driving a few years back and is in prison.”
Pipe whistled low. “Jesus.”
I nodded. Jesus was right. We may live crazy and wild in the club, but we knew drinking or smoking and then deciding to drive was fucking stupid. Unfortunately, some people didn’t get that memo before they learned it too late. “Yeah. I haven’t even met the guy, and my view of him is far from perfect. The first night I was with Karmen, he called after fucking midnight.”
“You just said he was in prison. How in the hell did he manage to get a call out at that hour?”
“That was my first thought, too. He called, and she freaked the fuck out. She cut ties with the asshole years ago, and apparently, he only calls when he’s about to get paroled.”
“That’s an asshole move.”
I dipped my head in agreement and took a sip of my beer. “Yeah. So, I told her I would find out what he wanted since I told her it wasn’t right that he was calling.”
“And you can’t find out shit.”
“Here’s the fucking thing…I have a connection to the prison, and he told me Handel got sent to the hole the same night that he managed to get a call out to Karmen.”
“And now you can’t get to him at all.”
Pipe hit the nail right on the head. “I told Karmen not to worry about her dad, but something is telling me that shit ain’t right, and I’m afraid it’s going to fucking blow before I figure out what’s going on.”
He nodded. “I’ll see what I can do when we get back to the club. I think Wrecker knows a few members from other chapters that are in there. They might be able to get word to Handel or figure out why he’s in the hole.”
Well, that was at least some good news. “I’d appreciate it, brother. I hope it’s nothing, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
“Nickel, Pipe!”
I looked over my shoulder and saw Jenkins sitting at a table in the corner calling us over.
“Put a fucking lid on it, brother, and just listen to what he has to say.”
We both lumbered over to his table and took the two empty chairs.
“Figured you would want to meet Cora before she hops on the back of your bike tomorrow morning.”
Pipe cut me off before I could tell him she wasn’t riding on the back of my bike. “She’ll be on my bike tomorrow. Nickel has an ol’ lady.”
Jenkins nodded his understanding that the only chick who was going to be on the back of my bike anymore was Karmen. “I didn’t know you had settled down.”
I leaned back in my chair. “It’s new, but it’s for real.” I didn’t want him getting any ideas that I was going to hook up with his sister.
“Good. I’m sure it’ll be hard for Cora to adjust to a new place. Hopefully, your ol’ lady can help her settle in.”
“I thought that this was just temporary?” I didn’t want this chick living with me forever. Hell, I didn’t want to be responsible for her at all.
“She’ll need to stay as long as she does.”
Well, if that wasn’t a shit answer.
“You think you can tell us why she needs to hide out in Weston?” Pipe asked. He was also annoyed with the minimum information that we were getting.
Jenkins looked to his left and right. “There is some shit brewing here that I think it would be best for Cora not to be around when shit hits the fan.”
“So that shit isn’t going to follow her back to Weston, right?”
“As far as I know, it shouldn’t.”
That wasn’t exactly a solid yes. “So, where is she?” I wanted to see who the hell I was being forced to take home with me tomorrow.
“Ryker,” he called out, “go find out where the hell Cora is.”
“She said she’s not coming out,” a guy, who I assumed was Ryker, called out.
Jenkins slammed his bottle down on the table. “Damn her. Why the hell can’t she see I’m just trying to keep her safe?”
The three guys who were sitting at the table snickered at a joke that Pipe and I were not a part of.
“You know how she is,” the guy to my right said. Although I had been to the River Valley chapter man times before, I was never able to remember any of their names. Maybe it was my brains way of saying none of these guys were important enough to remember. I managed to glance over and see his patch said Mercy. I could imagine the story that went along with his name.
“Well, she can hide out in her room all night, but come morning, she better have her ass on the back of his bike, or there will be hell to pay,” Jenkins warned. He pushed away from the table and stood. “I’ve got some shit to take care of. I doubt I’ll see you before you leave in the morning. I’ll be in touch if there is anything more you need to know.”
Jenkins stalked past the bar and out the front door. “Well, that answered absolutely none of the questions we had,” Pipe muttered under his breath.
Not like I expected Jenkins to actually give us any information that was useful. “I’m just gonna head to bed. The morning is going to come quickly.”
Pipe nodded. “Night, brother. I’m gonna finish my beer and maybe play a game of pool.”
I wasn’t surprised that he wasn’t going to call it a night. Pipe was always the last one to fall into bed, but he was also the first one to be awake in the morning. I didn’t know how the hell the fucker did it. “Try to get some sleep, brother.” I clapped him on the shoulder as I left the table and walked down the hall to the bedrooms.
River Valley’s clubhouse was twice the size of Weston’s, but it was run down and in need of a good cleaning. Pipe had made the comment that you got the original MC feel here and, more than likely, some of the dirt leftover from the original members.
I fell onto my stiff as hell bed and pulled my phone out of my pocket. I had been trying to call or text Karmen when I had the time, but that wasn’t often. She had told me that she had a night in with her girl last night, but tonight, she just planned on doing nothing.
That was where Karmen and I were different. I had to be doing something. Even if it was just hanging out with the brothers shooting pool, it was still doing something.
I swiped across her name and put the phone to my ear. It was half past eleven, and I didn’t know if she would be sleeping or not.
“Nickel?” she answered sleepily.
Fuck, I missed her. “Baby girl, you asleep already?”
I heard her light sigh and the covers moving over the phone. “It’s late, and I was tired.”
“How was your day?” I, unfortunately, hadn’t been able to talk to her at all today and only sent three or four texts back and forth.
She hummed under her breath. “So busy. Two residents passed away today.”
“I’m sorry, babe.”
“Yeah, they were both totally unexpected, too. I hate having to call family to let them know they’re loved one has passed away. Thankfully, Nikki worked with me, so she helped.”
“That’s your girl, right?” I had never really paid attention to anyone besides Karmen. I could pick her friend out of a lineup, but I didn’t know her name.
“Yeah, we were both a bit hungover from drinking too much cheap wine last night, but we snapped right out of it.”
I chuckled. “At least it wasn’t Jack like the other night.”
Her light giggle floated through the phone. “I don’t think I’ll be doing that again anytime soon.”
“Don’t make promises like that. I like when you get a little tipsy.”
She groaned into the phone. “You just like that my brain completely shuts off when I drink.”
“That might have a little something to do with it. You manage to overthink everything enough for the both of us.”
“Sometimes, I think people wish I was brain dead,” she growled softly.
I laughed and covered my eyes with my forearm. “You know that’s not what I want.”
“I know. How is whatever you’re doing going?” she asked, changing the subject.
“All done. We’ll be heading back in the morning. Pipe is living it up with the guys, but I thought I would come back to my room and wake you up.”
“Well, you succeeded on that.”
“You got work in the morning?”
“No, thank goodness. I don’t think I could manage working tomorrow.”
“Nice,” I mumbled. “I’ll be over after I get back to the clubhouse.”
“You could just come straight to my house,” she replied coyly.
“I could, but I have something I need to drop off at the clubhouse, and I need to go over some things with Wrecker before I’m able to come over.”
She sniffled into the phone. “Well, hopefully, I’ll be home when you get here. I need to go grocery shopping and pick up some new scrub tops at the mall.”
“You better be there when I come over or I’ll find you, baby girl.”
“Promises, promises,” she tsked. “I guess we’ll find out tomorrow if I’m there.”
“You’re kind of sassy when I wake you up.”
I couldn’t see her, but I knew she had just rolled her eyes. “Then I guess I better go back to sleep. I’ll maybe see you tomorrow, Nickel.”
“Oh, Karmen. You’re definitely going to see me. I should be there around three.”
She hummed. “Well, I guess I can get all of my errands done before then.”
“And if you can’t, wait for me, and I’ll go with you.”
“You wanna go to the mall with me?” she asked, shocked.
“Pretty sure I’ll go anywhere as long as you’re with me. We could hit up that fancy bra store, and you could do a little modeling for me.”
Karmen laughed and damned if my dick didn’t harden. “You mean Victoria’s Secret?”
“Yeah, baby. You and I could have some fun in those fitting rooms together.”
“And this is where I get off the phone, Nickel. You being in a fitting room with me is too much to think about at this time of night.”
“I’ll let you go only if you promise to wait to go to the mall.” I was liking the idea of having my way with Karmen in a tiny fitting room.
“You’re a dirty man, Nickel. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Night, baby girl.”
She hung up before I could bug her more about waiting for me. I dropped my phone on the bed next to me and looked up at the dingy white ceiling. I was in a shit hole bedroom, but talking to Karmen on the phone had made all of this shit disappear, and I wasn’t even pissed anymore.
Having Karmen around was going to be good for my sanity. I just hoped she decided that she wanted to stick around.
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