The ride had been long and boring by myself but the wind and open road had cleared my head, it always did. Learning to ride was one of the few enjoyments of MC life that I had had. I’d bought my first new bike when I was hired as deputy. It wasn’t one of the decked out bikes, but my Softail Slim fit me nicely and the monthly payment was low enough that I could still afford to eat, between rent and utilities. My truck was complements of Wild Bill, his excuse was I needed a vehicle to get back and forth to college. I know he felt obligated because of sending Sami and I to Black Hawk territory but it didn’t make me feel good since my dad had been the reason he had to do it.
The note had shocked me, but should I have ridden off like I did? No, it had been a rash, dumb move. When I’d checked the pocket of the leather jacket, found the paper and unfolded it to see what it was—my world had shifted a little and I’d panicked when I’d seen who’d written it, more so than what it revealed. I could remember every word on it.
Cutter,
Meet me in town, I have info on something that belongs to Black Hawk you might want. You help me out, maybe I’ll let you know what it is. If nothing else, we can compare notes on Clarice. You got stuck with the son and I got stuck with the daughter.
I’ll be waiting for you,
Stone
Halfway through the trip I stopped feeling sorry for myself about having two parents who, if I was lucky, forgot they even had a child. Then I thought of Speed and how if I’d known or he had known, would we have had any contact. All the days I’d sat in my room in that crappy trailer and wished I had a sibling to play with, someone to talk to.
Sami had been my solace growing up. And even though I never shared the things I witnessed in my house or dealt with, I always felt she’d understood anyway. As we got older, more and more she invited me to stay at her house. I’d mourned more when her mother died than I had my own. Wild Bill was president of Haven, but he seemed to have more time for his family than Stone who was VP had for his. Never once did Sami’s parents treat me as anything other than part of their family. Their house was actually where I learned how family was supposed to interact. Even Reed treated me like another sister.
With just a quarter of the trip left I decided that now was the time to get over the shit I had no control over. I wasn’t responsible for my mother being a whore or for Stone plotting to take over Haven. My past was what molded me into the grown woman I am. Haven, no matter how hard I tried to push away, was a part of me—good, bad, or indifferent.
The fence leading to the clubhouse came into view and I took a deep breath, the gates were folded open with a couple Prospects standing guard. I stopped my bike and waited for them to approach. Since I didn’t know who the men where, meant they didn’t know me, and no one just drove onto Haven property. Well, unless you had a death wish. Some tended to shoot and ask questions later.
“Hey, sugar, you here to relieve us?” I rolled my eyes, then furrowed my brow as he looked me over and licked his lips. Hell, I wasn’t that old so guy in front of me was probably just recently out of his pimple stage. I hoped he had better pickup lines in his arsenal because that one sucked and he would never get laid, even by the hang-arounds.
“I’m here to see the Prez.” I’d called about five minutes out and spoke to Wild Bill to let him know I was headed in and thought maybe he would have notified whoever was on the gate. Why would I be that lucky after the day I had? Wild Bill had been upset about me traveling by myself, especially with Stone and a couple of friends in the wind. Sami had already called her dad and he told me we would talk after I arrived.
“Ah, a new piece for the Prez, huh? He’ll get tired of you and then we can have a spin at you.” The other Prospect stood there but never spoke. I looked between them, my conclusion, yeah, the non-talker was the smarter one. Not only had I not wanted to think of Wild Bill having sex, I definitely hadn’t wanted to be part of that scene either, considering he was like a father to me.
“Dipshit, do you have a cellphone? Want to use mine, if you don’t?” I reached behind to grab my cellphone out of my jean’s pocket, it slipped, I bobbled it, and caught it right before it would have hit the ground. The movement had me bent over the side of the bike, and before I could rise, I heard the click of a gun’s magazine being snapped into place. Well, guess my jacket raised up in the back and revealed my own gun. Could this day get any freakin’ better?
“Sit up, bitch. Sparks, call this in. Make sure to inform them she was asking about the Prez.” Okay, maybe he wasn’t the slow one of the two. Out of the corner of my eye, across the parking lot, the door to the clubhouse opened just as Sparks pulled out his phone.
“What the hell are you doing, Taylor?!” Reed yelled as he headed toward us.
“Bitch asked for the Prez and she’s carrying.” I hadn’t moved.
“You were told she was on her way in. And put your damn gun down. Carly is a part of this club, dumbshit.”
“We didn’t get told, Keg.” I’d almost forgotten Reed had a club name. Sami and I never used it, he’d always been Reed to us.
“Mondo didn’t call either of you?” Reed asked.
“No, Keg, neither one of us received the message.”
“Okay, carry on. Carly, meet me at the door. Prez has been waiting for you.”
“You got it,” I answered, then looked at Taylor, “And next time, dipshit, when you pull a gun on me, don’t wait to use it, I don’t wear one for show.” I hit the throttle and moved into the parking lot without a backward glance.
By the time I backed my bike into a spot and threw my leg over to get off, Reed walked up.
“He’s pissed you rode here by yourself. So good luck with that. That was a stupid move, Carly.”
“Wasn’t thinking when I pulled out, Reed. Don’t give me shit. Plus, I can take care of myself.”
“Do you think someone coming after you is going to carry a damn sign or walk up to you? They’re not. They’ll hit you when you least expect it and you won’t have enough time to think about what is going on before they have you.” Reed started toward the door. “You’ve always been stubborn, I’d forgotten that.” Reed pulled the door open and held it, letting me enter before him. As I crossed the threshold my stomach flipped, my first time back to the place that I had spent almost every day for the first eighteen years of my life. The men that sat in the main room were my family.
“Well goddamn, look who decide come back to town. What’s up, mouse?” The tall, bulky man with dirty blond hair approached me, to say I was surprised to see him at the Haven clubhouse would have been an understatement. The man was a fucking prick, I grew up with him, and there was no love loss there. My eyes narrowed when I looked at him, he was a disgrace, how the hell he had even become part of the Haven MC was beyond me.
“Gavin. What, did Haven have a pity drive for members? Or did they get an EO complaint for not letting any women be actual members so you were the closest thing to one they could come up to meet the quota?” His face morphed and his eyes flashed with instant anger at my words. He’d always had a temper growing up, especially when he didn’t get his way. I should know, I had been on the receiving end of that nasty piece of work a few times. Hell, he was lucky I hadn’t kicked his ass back then and embarrassed the shit out of him.
“Brother, you were fucking supposed to inform Taylor and Sparks that Carly was on her way in?” Reed spoke, gathering Gavin’s attention.
“I called, the punks didn’t answer their cells. I was on my way down there but you walked in with her.” Geez, I hoped liked hell Reed wasn’t believing his lying ass. He was easy to read, had always been, at least that hadn’t changed.
“Oh yeah, I’ll take a look at their phones later, see if your number shows. And if you lied, I will take action a different way, one you won’t like. We clear?” Reed gave him the look Sami and I received too many times to count for getting caught spying on him when he was with a girl or when he would catch us in his room looking at the magazines he had hidden under his bed. He wasn’t that much older than us but when you were girls who started to get breasts and noticed boys, we’d figured if we watched him and the things he did, we would be one up on all the girls our age.
“Fuck, Keg, alright, I didn’t get a chance to call them. I had to take a shit right after you told me to notify them. I just came out of the bathroom and was on my way there.”
“When I tell you to do something, I expect it done then, not at your fucking convenience. You gotta go to the john, do it after my orders. This isn’t the first time you’ve not followed orders, but it will be the last. Next time you’ll be begging for mercy by the time I am done with you. Got it, Mondo.” Gavin’s head nodded in agreement to Reed, but his eyes shined with defiance and I could see the hatred buried deep in them. He did not like getting reprimanded openly in front of me or the members present in the room. I knew I shouldn’t add fuel to the fire, but my dislike for Gavin overrode my better judgment.
“Mondo? Seriously?” I chuckled, bringing Gavin’s gaze back to me and he smirked.
“Yeah, mouse, ‘cause of the size of my dick.” Gavin grabbed his crotch and I couldn’t help myself, I burst out laughing.
“Oh please, let’s not get carried away here. Don’t forget, I’ve seen it. The day in the trailer park when you tried to get me to touch it, I was like ten and you were what? Fourteen. I don’t think it could have grown that much since then.” The smirk left his face and the glare I received just seconds ago returned, the anger blazed in his eyes. I should have known when I saw the look in his eyes, but honest to God, I figured he was too pussy to do a damn thing.
Then his hand grabbed my throat, I knew that not being able to keep my mouth shut would lead to problems someday. Of course, I had my own temper issues, so I grabbed his junk quickly and squeezed, the hand on my throat released as quick as it had latched on, and the fucker instantly dropped to his knees as I twisted his package with one hand and had my gun out with the other and aimed at his head. I had grown up a lot since the trailer park, and he had mistaken me for actually giving two shits about his sorry ass ego.
“Holy shit,” was yelled from a couple of the men in the room as I glared back at Gavin.
“Carly, put the gun away and let go of Mondo’s damn cock.” Reed had moved closer to me.
“Well Jesus Christ, Carly! Even time away doesn’t seem to have changed shit. Just once I would like to see you enter my club and not start any crap.” I turned my head and smiled at Wild Bill.
I let go of Gavin’s dick and tucked my gun back into the waist of my pants, “Ah, I was just congratulating Gavin on being a member of Haven, Wild Bill.”
“Come over here and give me a hug, girl, and show some respect in my clubhouse, call me Prez.” He opened up his arms and smiled and I moved into them. He’d showed me more love in my life than my own dad.
“You got it, Wild Bill,” as I hugged him back.
“Smartass,” he whispered in my ear.
“What the hell, the bitch comes in here, insults and pulls a gun on a patched member, and no one does fucking shit,” Gavin said and when I turned around Reed was in his face. The idiot had not fucking learned.
“The key word is patched member. Carly was born into this fucking club, you, Mondo, were accepted in and yes, earned a patch, but, motherfucker, the patch can be taken just as easily as it was given. You know, like for not following my fucking orders! Stop acting like a pussy, take your ass, go down to the gate, and relieve the Prospects so they can get something to eat. And next time you put your hands on her, I’ll let her ass shoot you.” Gavin stomped out and Reed walked toward me and Wild Bill. “Want me to bring some food to your office for you and Carly, Prez?” Reed asked calmly as if he hadn’t just reamed someone’s ass.
“Oh my God, you really are the Enforcer for the club?” I knew he had earned the position after the shit my dad had caused with his backstabbing treachery but I’d never seen him in full Enforcer mode.
“What the fucked did you think I was?”
“Don’t get all indignant, Reed, and pull your panties out of the wad. It hit me you had grown up and Sami and I missed it. That’s all.”
He actually rolled his eyes at me, “Carly, fuck, I’m older than you, dumbass. And it’s not like you haven’t seen me when I come down with Prez to visit.”
“Alright, let’s move this party to my office so you can tell us what brought you hightailing it here and then I can fix it.” Wild Bill put his arm around my shoulders and turned me toward his office. “Reed, grab some food and drinks and join us.”
“Sure thing, Prez,” Reed responded and headed in the opposite direction.
As I walked down the hallway, the emotions moved back in on why I was here. I’d panicked over some damn piece of paper. Avoidance was my specialty and damn it, right about now with the door getting closer and closer, I was kicking my own ass for coming here. Was I ready to hear this shit? Hell, did I want to even freaking listen to what I hoped was the truth finally?
“Okay, sit and start talking.” Wild Bill closed the door to his office as soon as we walked in.
Why did I suddenly feel five?