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“Going to ask Cece’s new nurse to the Halloween Orgy,” Riff said to the lot of us as we waited for Church to begin.
I didn’t give a flying fuck.
Drumming my fingers, I waited for our sermon. We weren’t in a church waiting on the preacher. No, we were in the Throne Room with its soundproof walls and bolted doors, the conference room at Royal Road. That was the name for the clubhouse of the Royal Bastards MC in Nashville which doubled as our entertainment venue. Settled in the industrial area outside Nashville, the group of three large warehouses hosted our legitimate and illegal business, not to mention our fun. We waited on the king around here, the President of this motorcycle club to come and get caught up himself.
Kingpin had been away staying by the bedside of his Ol’ Lady in the hospital. I knew because I’d been there as well, day and night, guarding him, being his only Enforcer now. He was an important man with many enemies. I was scarier than him but not as scary as the man he’d just fired from the job. It was true, I’d already been his Enforcer for years but only a backup. Therefore, I’d been allowed to do my own thing for a while now around the club. I had been an officer enjoying the benefits without doing much work, with even less supervision, even being loaned out to other chapters of this club like a Nomad. All because Kingpin felt he owed me.
He did.
He wouldn’t let me enact my rightful revenge on a rival club. As it was now, I was stuck at my Prez’s beck and call. Luckily, he was spending all his time in the Big House. Not jail, though he'd been there before, and you’d never hear the end of it. That’s what he called the third large warehouse he’d made into his residence. He’d been holed up in the Big House with his Ol’ Lady who’d just been released from the hospital. Wouldn’t let anyone else do a thing for her. He didn’t trust anyone.
Couldn’t blame him after what happened to her.
His new wife recovered from some serious and grotesque injuries she endured at the hands of one of our sweetbutts. We kept all kinds of women at Royal Road, and they were the whores for anyone’s use. We used these women hard, and they loved it. They were well kept women, fed and clothed by us, given jobs, and protected by us bikers. I knew them all well. Ever since Chloe my wife did me dirty, I’d been having all the fun I could handle with the club whores. For one thing, I planned to never fall in love again. Hell, I had years of fun after Chloe admitted what she did to me. So, I knew Junebug well. She’d been one fantastic lay.
That crazy bitch had been one of our Prez’s favorites so when she chose you, you wanted a taste of what he was having. She was a top shelf whore. And you couldn’t really say no to her. Woman basically worked as his bodyguard too, on a much more personal level before his new girl, Sky showed up. Therefore, Junebug had been a goddamn boss around here along with her bookend, her cousin Memphis. Kingpin’s other ex he seemed to have forgotten about.
If I were him, I wouldn’t take my eye off Memphis. She was just as irrational. Just as senseless. Maybe more so. Since I was responsible for him, that whore was my problem.
Kingpin finally dipped his nib into a much younger woman and ended up marrying her ass. He kicked Junebug to the curb along with his main Enforcer Goliath. Come to find out they had been in love all these years, but Prez thought they were fixing to defect to the mob. Couldn’t blame him for thinking it, either. An Enforcer couldn’t go keeping secrets like I was about to. They’d end up dead.
It was a risk I was willing to take.
After Kingpin kicked his whore out of this club, Junebug decided to inflict her pain on his new woman and therefore him. Bitch cut the man’s initials into the poor girl, all over her but carefully enough not to kill her or her unborn child. A fitting punishment in Junebug’s insane head since Kingpin liked to mark his women that way with a simple K crudely etched into them. It wasn’t reserved for the special ones either. Just someone he wanted to play with. The man had never gotten a woman tatted like we members did.
Man was smart.
I wished my wife Chloe would have hers removed. The only reason Chloe wasn’t my ex-wife was because she wouldn’t sign the papers. And my little girl Haven was the only reason Chloe still lived at the Eagle’s Nest, our place away from the dangers of the clubhouse, where our families lived. Not that I didn’t think of the other two kids as my daughters still. It would take more than a few years of truth to erase my love for those girls. Consequently, I worried about what would happen to the three of them after I defied my President.
Pagan, our Vice-President ran the show while Kingpin was away but wouldn’t stray from our President’s wishes like I hoped he would.
Regardless, I’d made my plans. I’d keep them to myself this time.
He reminded the men. “Let’s keep the dumbfuckery to a minimum today. Prez is back. Riff, Halloween’s a whole two weeks away. The last nurse you were boning is barely cold.”
After witnessing Kingpin empty a clip into that nurse over what she helped Junebug do to his woman, I’d have my vengeance on the club who killed my sister with or without his permission.
“Have you seen Mary?” Riff went on.
With his long hair and leather, Riff was a discount version of our President. He wanted to be him, title, and all, but didn’t hold a candle to the man himself. Brother felt entitled to his position because he came from a family of outlaw bikers.
“Yeah, we have eyes. But she doesn’t look like she’d go to an orgy, Riff,” Villain said, in his usual sarcastic tone.
He spit out shells because he was always chewing on something. Pistachios today. Power hungry prick was our young, asshole Sergeant at Arms who looked like a Disney prince, complete with swept back blond hair. With three daughters, I knew that all too well.
Pagan added, “I was careful to do a background check this time. I can guarantee you, this nurse doesn’t even celebrate Halloween. She escaped from some Amish village or something, some cult. Girl’s probably a virgin.”
One of my brothers who I felt was a brother, Pagan endured the same curse as me. People feared him for his barbaric looks and his position. Sometimes for good reason, sometimes not. We had to stay frightening, but it made getting close to anyone a problem. Not only that, our positions in the club also made it problematic.
His sister was blind, and this had to be the sixth nurse he’d hired to take care of her at the clubhouse. He’d been fucking most of them, but not getting too close. Until Jassica. And that bitch ran off. Not before she burned down half the place.
Fucking Cece’s nurses seemed to be Riff’s thing now though.
But like I said, I didn’t give a fuck.
“Well, even better. This year, Mary’s going to celebrate Halloween. Dress up and all. She’s gonna be a goblin. Goblin this dick,” Riff belted out.
The other members crowded in the room laughed on cue. There had to be more than fifty men here, but only the officers sat at the table. The room grew louder and smokier by the second.
Thankfully, Kingpin busted through the door in the next instance and shut Riff up.
A respectful silence fell as Kingpin slammed the heavy door shut.
Gone was his signature long hair, but the rest of him was very much the same. The biker had to outdo us all. He had to be the most biker out of everyone, in looks at least. Where most of us only wore our cuts over our t-shirts, maybe some shit kickers, he was always in black leather from head to toe. Some of us wore flannels and jeans like I wore today since it was colder than a witch’s tit out suddenly.
But not him, our President came shirtless, showing off his piercings and tattoos under the cut he wore. The sun-bleached vest had been handed down from the President before him, tattered and worn. In leather pants that had goddamn leather fringe going down the legs, he stomped in like he owned the place. And he did. Biker had about as many tattoos as me. However, where he had gothic crows, crosses, and devilish imagery, I had a sea monster’s tentacles going up my sides and on my bald head. But yeah, I wore a toboggan, too. I was fucking freezing.
Motherfucker dubbed me Leviathan on account of the tats and my real name, Levi. It wouldn’t be the name I chose, but we didn’t choose them.
Some of us wore a chain or two, a couple of badass rings on our fingers. I had a couple myself. However, there wasn’t a speck of Kingpin not touched with jewelry of spikes, chains, skulls, dangling earrings even. Prez wore eyeliner and black nail polish just to distinguish himself from all of us country bikers in Nashville. Like Opry and Thorn who liked cowboy hats and boots with their motorcycle vests.
You’d think with all he had going on, Kingpin might appear gay, but no, man looked like he stepped out of a heavy metal video and would eat you, like drink your blood, scary shit. And they called me a monster. Kingpin pulled all this shit off, presenting as alpha AF. If any of us did half the crazy shit he did, we’d be laughed out of the club.
Besides, he was king around here and did what he pleased. He created Royal Road twenty years ago right before he became President of the Nashville Chapter of the Royal Bastards MC. He grew the club into the empire it was in Music City today. And the multitude of guests Royal Road brought in, gambling on anything and everything supported us all.
I was living the dream.
Fuck, I was going to miss it.
Only one closer look at our Prez told me he wasn’t all the same. Guilt weighed heavily on our mad King, sobering him.
That wasn’t a good look on him.
Pagan opened the proceedings, handing the gavel back to him.
“How’s she holding up,” he asked our Prez.
Kingpin lit a cigarette and took his seat, a literal ornate throne upholstered in red velvet. Slumping back, he put his boot on his knee.
After taking a long draw, he blew out smoke and spoke at the same time. “Brothers, my Ol’ Lady is a fighter. She’s survived what would kill any of us men and continues to love me. I’m one lucky son of a bitch. The next member to betray me better remember Junebug and Goliath. I loved them both, dearly, but if you fuck with me, prepare to die like they did.”
We all knew Kingpin didn’t kill either of them himself. Goliath took his own life. He only died because he was fiercely in love with Junebug and wanted to kill Kingpin because she’d been slain on his orders and rightfully so. The fucker was that loyal to our Prez. Loyal enough to take his own life rather than kill his master.
I wasn’t that loyal.
But I did get the meaning behind my President’s words. And when I took revenge for my sister’s death on the Gods without his blessing, I could only hope he understood.
I couldn’t say I didn’t miss Goliath. Gross motherfucker had been my roommate, a nasty one at that, but he’d grown on me. I’d been staying with my brother, Horror when his roomie Payday spent his nights hooked up with some woman in the city. And Horror was mostly staying at his house over in the Eagle’s Nest, where most of the old ladies stayed. He had Tonya set up over there. I’d taken the first chance to escape Goliath’s mess, but I hadn’t known about Junebug staying there with him while I was gone.
And with him gone for good, I still didn’t have the place to myself. Kingpin gave Goliath’s house out from under me to our live-in star, Eve. I roomed with Opry now, officially, but still went to Horror’s empty place when I had a woman over.
Prez kept it short and sweet as he usually did, and I realized I missed him at the helm too. Much better than the long-drawn-out bullshit Pagan put us through. Thankfully, I hadn’t been around for much of it. I’d been in the hospital guarding Prez. He closed Church with the bang of his gavel.
The men picked up their conversation right where they left off.
“Riff, I tell you what, I’m Southern Freewill Baptism, but I’d take one of them cult girls any day,” Horror said.
“What about Tonya?”
“Tonya’s going to be performing on Halloween as a witch. Since Eve’s a no show. But she thinks she is one. For real. Into crystals and shit. But she’s a good cook.”
“Good cook, my ass. What you eatin tonight, Horror?” Villain asked.
“Pussy pot pie, mind your business.”
Kingpin had been headed toward the exit, but he stopped by at the mention of Eve’s name.
“Opry, why isn’t Eve performing on Halloween?”
“Says she’s sick. Actually, she said she feels lower than a snake’s belly,” Opry mocked her southernisms.
We were all southern around here, Eve was just extra.
“It’s two weeks away?” Kingpin stated the obvious, clearly upset.
Opry said, “Girl won’t go on. Been sick all month. You ask her.”
Without a response, our Prez left the building.
Pagan waited for everyone to clear out of the Throne Room. He told them, “Brothers, don’t know why any of you have dates. It’s going to be raining titties on Halloween.”
“How ‘bout you, Leviathan? We didn’t hear anything about revenge tonight,” Riff mocked me.
“Prez has been through enough without my demands,” I lied to keep him off my trail.
Riff told all the officers, “Boys, Levi’s preoccupied with other matters. Maren’s hotter than a two-dollar pistol. We saw you two last night. You staked your claim to her, alright.”
They didn’t know the half of it. I couldn’t wait to get to her. I’d left Maren chained up but just overnight. It was barely afternoon. She’d be okay, but she’d be fit to be tied. Bitch might be a spy for my enemies, but I sure did enjoy her pussy. And she was part of my plan. Bull had downloaded most of her messages from the cloud. I knew everything the Gods had planned and how to use her to get my revenge.
“Fuckers better stop harping on about the Halloween party. Maren’s been helping me plan it all month,” Opry said.
“What are you on about?” I asked him.
“Tonya’s not performing. No offense, Horror, but she sucks.”
“Sucks this dick,” Horror tried to give Riff a run for his money. He fell flat.
Opry ignored them. “Of course, you’ve been cooped up in a hospital hallway, day and night and haven’t heard. It’s a surprise for our Prez. No, Eve won’t perform for some reason. Says her stage fright is back too. I didn’t want to tell Kingpin that. Anyway, once I figured she wouldn’t change her mind, plans changed. Maren’s helping me plan a special Halloween party for Prez. Going to bring the house down.”
I bet she’d want to bring the house down.
“Our Halloween parties already rock,” I said, not understanding.
“We’re planning a haunted carnival. My idea was inspired by your girl. Since Maren’s from the circus, she’s been helping me procure the rides and freaks and shit. We’re getting a black and orange tent and Ferris wheel.”
“No biker gives a goddamn about a Ferris wheel.” Our Halloween parties were very adult themed and famed in the area. Opry had gone mad.
“Listen, the rides are for the kids.”
“Kids?”
“Yeah, your daughters are going to be there. Already talked to Chloe. We’re opening it up to our families and the public. Bubba’s performing.”
“Bubba?” The Prez hated his brother with a passion.
“But don’t worry, that’s only until sunset. After dark anyone under eighteen will have to vacate the premises. We’ll break to make sure. Sweetbutts will have to change anyhow. The carnival will remind you of all our other Halloween parties, only better. And we’ll still host our orgy in here at midnight. If anyone still wants to partake since so many of you are pussy whipped now.”
“And Maren is helping you?”
“Yeah, she has the know-how. She used to run one of those traveling shows.”
“You think Kingpin will like this?”
“Hell, yeah. Our haunted carnival’s going to bring in a lot of dough. We might be able to finish rebuilding the arena in time for the spring.”
When I got to the basement, Maren was gone, but the chains remained.
