Chapter one
Fang
My head thumped, and each time it pulsated at my temples, I wanted to punch something. No, I wanted to beat the ever-lovin’ shit out of someone. Alvin Torian was one lucky motherfucker that I was walking away from him. But I had to because Alvin’s lie had to be just the drugs talking, and if I’d kept going, I wasn’t sure if Poppy or Charlie would forgive me. I knew Alvin was high most of the time, another reason Charlie got Alvin away from the Venom club. Some members still dabbled in selling on the side apparently, and they still would until Blackie, the president of the club, got his shit together and either enforced the rule or kicked them out. Blackie wanted a clean club to some extent, though he still dealt with whores, but other than that, he wanted a fresh start.
The shit Alvin was spewing was just that. Shit. Charlie was second in command and he’d been the one to push for a clean path for the Venoms. Charlie wouldn’t hurt a fly unless someone was hurting or touching one of his. Then it’d be on, and Charlie wasn’t one to back down.
Fuck Alvin for the crap he pulled.
It wasn’t true.
It’d never be true. Not with Charlie and his daughter, Poppy.
Christ. Poppy.
I’d known her for ten years, since we were teens and in high school.
Goddamn was she adorable back in the day. Glasses, frizzy red hair, and rock chick clothes. She used to get so flustered every time I was near and always made me grin. Hell, I’d even go outta my way to see what she’d say or do next.
Yeah, she’d been damn cute, and I’d claimed her as my friend because I’d wanted to be close to her. There was just something about Poppy Torian that dragged me in.
And since we’d grown, she’d turned into a stunner. I’d only seen her the once. It was a while ago, since she’d come back from uni, and it hadn’t been a good time. I’d been out at a nightclub with Vicious and Nary…. Christ, Nary was another story. A love I’d lost to my brethren because I’d been stupid to think she’d eventually love me. She had, but it was never a strong hold like she’d had for Vicious. Which was why I’d stepped back, that and the guilt I still held over Nary being taken in the first place. Thank fuck they were both in a good place. Finally.
Motherfucking hell. I ran a hand over my face. My mind was messed up. My thoughts jumped from one to another. I needed my head clear, and thinking about losing Nary and Poppy wasn’t gonna help me any.
That was the truth of it.
I’d lost Poppy too. She’d left without telling me and refused to take my calls. I didn’t understand why. I still don’t. Which could be why I didn’t chase her after that first sighting in the nightclub.
Back then, she was too young, yet I still wanted her. I’d longed for her to be on the back of my bike, in my bed, and heart. I still did.
But when I’d seen her, her eyes had shone with hurt. It confused the fuck outta me.
It didn’t make sense.
“Poppy.” I smiled down at her as I stopped beside her at the bar. Her body stiffened at the sound of my voice.
She shifted her head slightly to the side. “Hey,” she replied, and then went back sipping her drink.
Smirking, I mentioned, “No glasses.”
“Contacts.”
I didn’t like her short reply. “What, you’re not gonna talk to me?”
Sighing, her chin dropped to her chest and then she straightened to face me. “What do you want?”
She was cold and distant. I didn’t understand it. We’d been friends before she’d gone. Before she’d left me. Didn’t stop my eyes travelling over her frame noticing her tits, arse, and the extra weight she carried around her hip-hugging jeans. The top few buttons on her tight shirt were undone so I could see her cleavage clearly. Shit, I wanted to see what was under her clothes. My hands itched to reach out and take hold of her waist, dragging her to me to taste her sweet plump lips.
Forcing a laugh, I said, “What do you mean what do I want? Haven’t seen you in a while, babe. How you been?” I started off simple, trying to get to the bottom of why she goddamn left in the first place. And more specifically, why she’d left me.
She rolled her eyes. “Good, Fang.” She spat out my club name like it was a dirty word. “But I got places to be, drinks to have, and men to grope.”
Narrowing my eyes, I bit out, “What the fuck, Poppy? What’s with the attitude? How you think Blackie or Charlie would like the cold way you’re acting?”
“Whatever, I don’t have time for this.” She spun and stalked away.
My body unlocked and I was after her. Catching up, I gripped her arm. She spun and hissed, “Fuck off, Fang.” As I was about to get in her face, she opened her mouth again. “You left the club. You have no right to say what I can and can’t do. Now leave me the fuck alone.” She yanked her arm free and made a run for the entrance. I’d been too frozen to do anything, not sure I understood where the toxic tone and attitude came from. If I were to guess, it had to do with me leaving the Venom MC, the one her family was a part of. Did she see that as me leaving her? Our friendship? Christ, that couldn’t be it, not considering what she put me through by blocking me from her life.
I should’ve gone after her and had it out, but I hadn’t, and I’d left it too long. Why I’d left it so long, I didn’t know, but it wasn’t like that scene and Poppy weren’t on my mind all the time. They were.
Anyway, she would have known I left the Venom MC because of my father.
She probably hated me already. But I’d soon change that and get to the bottom of her problem. Just like I’d find out what her fuckface of a brother was going on about.
Should’a made my move a long time ago, but I didn’t, and I could no longer stay away. Something in me had me gunning for my bike with a desire to see she was okay.
“Fang,” Vicious called.
Ignoring him, I kicked my ride to life and revved her hard a few times before I put my helmet on and took off. I saw in my side mirror my brethren running for their own rides to follow. But I was already in the wind.
I pulled up at the kerb to Poppy’s parents’ place. It was the only place I knew to look. If she wasn’t around, then I’d have a few words with Charlie about his cunt of a son. After making my way to the door, I pounded my fist on it and glanced behind. The roar of my brothers’ rides grew louder and then shut off when they were parked alongside mine. Vicious, Muff, and Pick headed my way. I faced the door and hit it again with the side of my fist. Just as the brothers reached me, I raised my fist to bang at the door again, but it opened before my hand could touch it.
In it stood a furious Poppy.
She might have been furious, but I could still tell she’d been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy, her nose pinked at the sides from blowing it. Something was wrong.
A strangled choke from behind had me glancing over my shoulder to see Muff’s gaze was running over Poppy’s body. Quickly I turned back and my own eyes widened.
She was in a towel.
Just a towel.
A short one at that.
Spinning back to my brothers, I clipped, “Fuck off.”
Vicious smirked, and I wanted to wipe it off his face. “We’ll wait by the bikes. Call us if you need us.”
“I don’t mind stayin’,” Muff commented, trying to glance around to Poppy in a goddamn towel.
It was lucky Pick grabbed the back of Muff’s tee and led him roughly away from the house or he would have gotten a taste of my fist down his fuckin’ throat.
My gaze stayed on them until I saw they were at the rides. Poppy cleared her throat. At least I hoped she was clearing it and not growling at me. Though either way it was cute as hell.
Facing her, I let my gaze run over her quickly. My cock throbbed behind my jeans at the sight of her bare skin. I was enjoying what I saw, even though my brothers were there and she looked about ready to murder me with her scowl and arms crossed over her chest. A chest I wanted a better look at.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, meeting her stare.
“Are you seriously here to ask me what’s wrong? What are you doing, Fang?”
“Jerimiah,” I growled.
She seemed stunned for a second before her wide eyes change back to a glare. “I have things to do, Fang. I thought whatever you had to say was urgent with the way you were banging on the door. Tell me and then go so I can finish getting dressed.”
Clenching my teeth in annoyance, I breathed out my nose deeply. My Poppy had changed. She never used to give me such attitude. Not that I wasn’t liking it. I just didn’t understand the change. She used to be sweet, shy, and happy. What was going on? “Poppy, why have you been crying?”
“Fang, why are you here?”
“Poppy,” I barked.
“Fang,” she snapped.
“Fucking hell.” I ran a hand through my hair in frustration. “Is your dad here?”
Shit. Her bottom lip trembled. Alvin couldn’t have been right. I wouldn’t fuckin’ believe it until I heard it. I couldn’t be rash, so the fury building inside of me had to hold until I got to the bottom of everything.
“No. He’s drinking alone at the pub.”
My head jerked back. Charlie never went drinking during the week. He kept it to the weekends, and only around his brothers at the Venom compound.
Reaching out, she backed up. With a sigh, I begged, “Baby, please, tell me what’s going on.”
She sniffed, her chin jutting out. “Just leave.”
“Poppy—”
“I don’t concern you anymore, Fang. You’ve made that clear.” I winced. Fuck, she couldn’t have heard me saying shit that night. Had she? Jesus. “Get out, get back on your ride and stay away.”
“No.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t need this right now, Fang. Just leave, please,” she whispered.
“We’re friends—”
She snorted. “We used to be.” She shook her head, her eyes closing for a moment. I just about had my hand on her arm when her eyes sprung open and hardened. She removed her hands from the towel and pushed at my chest, only to growl low in her throat when I didn’t move.
“Get out,” she yelled.
“No.”
“Fuck off,” she screamed, fisting my tee and trying to shove me again.
“No.”
She sniffed, her head dropped forward. “Go.”
“Poppy, please just tell me what’s goin’ on. I can help.”
She shook her head, again and again. “You can’t,” she whispered.
“I might be able to.”
Her shoulders shook. Christ, she was crying. My gut bottomed out.
“Poppy,” I murmured. I lifted my hands to wrap around her wrist where she still gripped my tee, then traced circles with my thumb on her skin. “Baby, what’s goin’ on?”
She sucked in a loud breath and straightened. She released my tee and stepped back again. “Why do you care?” she asked the floor, and before I could answer, she went on. “I’m a nuisance. I mean nothing to you, so I don’t understand why you’re here.”
Fucking hell. She had been there and heard me that night. I’d been drunk and trying to get in the pants of some bimbo I couldn’t even remember the name of. I’d had a huge fight with my dad and had needed space, needed to forget. Had to get Poppy outta my mind because she was younger than I was.
Christ. She wasn’t supposed to hear that.
“I didn’t mean it. You know—”
She scoffed and roughly wiped at her face. “None of it matters anymore.”
“It does. It explains a lot. I didn’t understand why you left to finish out school at your aunt’s and never spoke to me again. Hell, if it was because of that, fuck, baby, I didn’t mean it. I was drunk. Stupid.”
“Don’t call me that.”
I threw up my hands, “What?”
“Baby. Never call me that.”
“Poppy, is that why you never returned my texts or calls? Why you haven’t seen me since you’ve been back?”
Pain slashed through her features, but there was something else as well… guilt. But for what? The pain I could understand, but the guilt, no way.
She shook her head, blanking her expression. “No, Fang. I was a silly girl back then.” My gut tightened. “A girl who thought the world of a guy and in her eyes, he could do no wrong. Then he gutted her. And then….” She closed her eyes, tears leaked out.
“And then what?” I asked, but my mind was stuck on one thing.
What exactly had I said that night? I knew some of it, but obviously not all. The pain written all over Poppy had my throat thickening.
“Nothing.” She sniffed. “God, just leave… just go.”
“Poppadom, what’s goin’ on?” came from behind me. Turning, I found Charlie standing there with furrowed brows until he saw it was me. Then he smiled. Hadn’t seen him in for-fuckin’-ever and had only just spoken to him over the phone a couple of times about getting Alvin into Hawks. “Fang. Jesus, son. It’s good to see you.” When my hand came up to ward off my approaching brothers, he glanced there, then back, and asked, “What’s goin’ on?”
“We gotta talk, Charlie.” I sensed Poppy take her leave, and I let her. She needed away from me, so I gave her space. For now. Until I found out what was going on, there was jack shit I could do. But I’d figure this out, work out how to fix it, and then in turn, fix Poppy and me.