Hailey swept her hair into a low bun and stared back at her determined reflection in the mirror. It had been two days since she asked Rocco to help get Becca out of the hell that had been created for her, and she hadn’t seen him since. I know that he must have a place around here somewhere, but it’d make me feel less like a prisoner if he’d try to be here every day.
Hailey leaned into the mirror and tugged at the poorly moisturized skin underneath her eyes. She scowled and splashed a bit of water on her face before leaning back from the sink. Hailey ran her hands over her belly and turned to the side. I’m being ridiculous, I won’t show for months. Hailey sighed and stepped into the hallway, she headed towards the lobby where Clyde sat behind his desk. Clyde raised his head and did a quick visual inspection of her before he said, “You look like you could use something to help occupy your mind.”
Hailey grinned and said, “What do you mean?”
Clyde shrugged and said, “Well, I’ve got plenty of extra work back here that needs to be done. You could sort through some things for me so that you can take your mind off of whatever’s bothering you.”
Hailey looked towards the front doors of the lobby and redirected her attention back to Clyde. It’s not like not doing the work is going to make Rocco walk through the doors and check on me.
Hailey sighed and said, “Sure.”
Clyde blinked and said, “Sure? You’ll do it?”
Hailey nodded and walked around to Clyde’s desk. She leaned against the edge of the desk and said, “What do you need help with?”
Clyde pushed his chair back and pointed at a small stack of boxes that had been pushed back against the desk. “You’d be a great help if you sorted through those boxes and put the documents that corresponded with the year,” he reached behind him and pulled out an empty banker’s box, “and put them in one of these boxes.”
Hailey sighed and said, “Sure, yeah.” She crouched down on her knees and pulled the boxes out. She slipped the cardboard lid off of the first box and scooped out a bundle of documents. Hailey’s spread her fingers along tax documents, bank deposit slips, and old pay stubs.
She sighed, and craned her neck up to see if the minute hand had moved on the analog clock that hung above Clyde’s desk. Hailey reached into the box and pulled out a thin folder that was marked: Chasing Spirits 2014. It had been labeled with Clyde’s messy scrawl. She flipped the folder open and the rider roster for that year was laid out in front of her.
A list of names was printed on the list and the first two names had been bolded:
Meish, President of the Chasing Spirits Motorcycle Club
Rocco Garrett, Vice President of the Chasing Spirits Motorcycle Club
Hailey tilted her head and skimmed the rest of the names on the list, before she set it on the floor beside her and moved to the next page. The next page was an article that had been printed out a couple of years before. In the photo, the Chasing Spirits Motorcycle Club was being honored for donating much of their time to charity. The smiling faces of Rocco, Meish, Clyde, and a few other riders she recognized jumped out at her in the photo. Rocco’s arm was thrown around a petite brunette. Her dark eyes burned through the photo, and her full, red painted lips were fixed into a charming smile.
Who is this? She’s gorgeous. Hailey tossed the article to the side only to be met with a photo of Rocco and the woman again. Rocco’s arms were circled around her waist affectionately and the woman wore an aloof expression as she stared at whoever was taking the photo.
Any woman that can be this calm around guys like this must be used to it. She must have been a rider. Hailey’s eyes flickered up towards Clyde and she breathed a sigh of relief upon noticing that he was buried in his work.
Hailey stared at the photo for a while longer, taking in the soft, rolling, waves of black hair that spilled over the woman’s shoulders. This must have been Rocco’s Old Lady. She remembered that Rocco briefly mentioned that she died in a car accident.
Hailey swallowed a lump of spit in her throat and turned the photo over. She placed it on the floor beside her and sighed. I wonder if they’d still be together if she hadn’t died.
The sound of the front doors opening stole Hailey’s attention, she whipped her head up and spotted Rocco heading towards Clyde’s desk.
She tossed the photos to the side and jumped to her feet. Clyde chuckled and pointed at her, “I guess that she’s too good for paperwork now that her hubby is here.”
Hailey rolled her eyes and walked around the desk. She smiled at Rocco and said, “There you are. You disappeared, you made me think that you weren’t coming back.”
Rocco shook his head, “I just had a few things to handle for Meish. It kept me away from the club. Do you have a second?”
Hailey looked over her shoulder at Clyde’s disinterested expression and the mess of papers that sat beside him. She turned around and said, “Yeah, whats up?”
Rocco steered her towards one of the loungerooms, and they stepped inside. Hailey eyed Rocco curiously as he moved over to the sofa and flopped onto it.
Rocco inhaled then said, “Hailey, I can’t get Becca out of there. I tried to talk to Meish but he wasn’t hearing it.”
Hailey sighed and moved over to the sofa. She fell on the cushion beside him and said, “Oh.”
Rocco slipped his arm around her shoulder and said, “I’m sorry. I really tried, I told him over and over again that we can’t keep doing this to her, but I’m just not going to get through to him.”
Hailey was still for a moment, and then managed a stiff nod. “Yeah, sure. It’s fine.” Is this just an inevitability for women that are around these men? Do we die in car crashes, get turned into drugged up sex dolls, and get pregnant and held against your will? She rubbed her hands over her belly and said, “It’ll be fine.”
Rocco’s eyes fell from her face to her belly, and he placed his hand over hers. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you and the baby, okay? What’s going on with Becca is an entirely different deal.” The muscles flexed in his jaw, and he slid his arm from around her shoulders. His eyes burned into hers, and he said, “I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he lowered his gaze and mumbled, “I won’t do that again.”
Hailey sat back against the couch and crossed her arms over her chest. “Okay.” Her foot tapped against the floor and her eyes flew around the room. Rocco sighed and got off of the couch. Hailey watched him step out of the room and shut the door behind him.
In the hallway, he moved towards Clyde’s desk and said, “You got a second?”
Clyde raised his head and said, “Not really, no. I can find a second though.” He smirked and pulled open his desk drawer. A red and white package of cigarettes and a bundle of lighters were the only things inside the desk. He grabbed a lighter and the cigarettes and walked around the desk. Clyde followed Rocco through the front doors of the lobby, and they stepped onto the sidewalk just outside of the club.
Clyde thumped the package of cigarettes against his palm before tearing off the plastic on the package. He slid one cigarette out of the box and said, “I save these for situations just like this.”
Rocco chuckled and narrowed his eyes against the blinding sunlight. They had officially reached the middle of the summer, and Chicago summers had always been unforgiving. He sighed and extended his hand out to Clyde for a cigarette. “Situations like this? I’m sorry, did you commit a felony and knock up the victim?”
Clyde placed a cigarette onto Rocco’s palms and took a long drag off of his own. “No, no, I didn’t. But, I figured that after everything that you’ve been through lately you’ve earned a cigarette.”
Rocco lit the end of the cigarette. “I just—I haven’t someone expect this much out of me in such a long time.”
Clyde nodded and said, “Mariah would want you to handle this with grace, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Rocco sighed and nodded. “Yeah, with grace. I just,” Rocco ashed his cigarette and tilted his head up towards the sky. “I don’t know if I have another episode like this in me. I feel like what happened with Mariah was the kind of thing that only comes around once in awhile.”
Clyde exhaled and a cloud of smoke passed through his lips. He sighed and said, “I don’t know, Rocco. It’s worth finding out.”
Rocco tossed a glance over his shoulder and spied Hailey walking past Clyde’s desk and towards the kitchen.
“We’ll see.”
***
Music pulsated throughout the building, and Hailey slipped her hands over her ears as she moved throughout the lobby. It was Saturday, and while she’d grown used to the riders moving in and out of the buildings on weekends with drinks in their hands, there seemed to be a party going on and in full effect. Hailey sighed and rubbed her stomach, her nausea had taken a huge spike in the last few days, and she was beginning to feel more pregnant than ever.
Hailey blinked to wet her tired, dry eyes and moved past Meish’s office. What’s the reason for all of this partying? It’s not a holiday. Although, I couldn’t fathom celebrating anything. Hailey moved towards the pulsating music and sighed as she approached the lounge room. Her hands shook as she wrapped her hand around the doorknob, and she took a deep breath. She opened the door and stepped inside of the room.
It was like stepping into a cloud of smoke. The room was filled with it from top to bottom, and the bass from the stereo thumped underneath her feet. Hailey turned her head from left to right, bikers were leaning against the wall on either side and nodding their heads along to the music.
Hailey’s eyes widened upon seeing the main attraction of the night. Becca stood in the center of the room with her leg wrapped around a temporary stripping pole. Her icy blue eyes carried that glazed, and wet look that they had the other day. Becca shimmied along the pole before falling to her knees. She whipped her hands through her hair and grinned as the men burst into cheers and jeers.
Oh my God. Is she enjoying this? Hailey’s mouth fell open as Becca met eyes with her. Becca smirked and tossed her hair over her shoulder before wrapping both of her perfect legs around the pole.
One of the riders stumbled over to Hailey and threw his arm around her shoulder. Hailey gagged at the smell beer that fell off of the man’s breath, and she said, “What the hell is going on here?”
The rider hiccuped and replied, “Becca’s putting on a little show for us. She’s such a good girl.” He ran his eyes over Hailey and appraised her. “You know, you might look pretty good up there too.”
Hailey curled her lips in disgust and shoved the rider away from her. Behind her, the door flew open and Rocco stepped inside.
“Hailey, what are you doing in here? I thought that you’d be resting.”
Hailey’s eyes widened, and she said, “Resting? Seriously? How can anyone rest with this circus going on?”
Rocco shook his head and said, “Look, don’t worry. I know that you haven’t been feeling well, so you should go lie down. I’ll quiet these losers down.” He cupped his hands around her shoulders and attempted to steer her towards the door.
Hailey jerked away from him and said, “What about Becca? They’ve got her putting on shows now?!”
Rocco looked over at Becca as she spread her legs wide open on the pole. Their eyes met and Hailey’s stomach turned at the way Becca licked her lips.
It’s just the drugs. It’s not her. She wouldn’t do this. Not again.
Rocco pushed Hailey towards the door, and they stepped out into the hallway. “Why don’t you go and get some rest?”
Hailey’s eyes nervously flicked between the closed door of the lounge room and the ‘relaxed’ expression on Rocco’s face. “Why? What are you going to go do?”
Rocco shrugged. “Probably have a few beers and then I’ll come check on you. Are you going to be this needy throughout all of your pregnancy?”
Hailey frowned and said, “You didn’t need to say that, Rocco. I’m just worried.”
“Well, don’t be.” He steered Hailey towards her room and stopped just outside of the door. “Get some rest, it’s good for the baby.”
Hailey opened the door and chewed on her lower lip. She turned her head and nodded. “Sure.” Hailey stepped inside of the room and headed towards the single full sized bed. She plopped down on the edge of it, and made an effort to clear her mind. However, just as her mind would edge into a realm of calmness that would allow her to even think about going to sleep, Becca’s sultry smirk would flash behind her eyes like an unwelcome flashlight.