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Tori
I stood in front of my cupboard and looked at the meagre collection I had to choose from. One pair of jeans that I couldn’t wear because it was still too tight around my leg. Two pairs of black leggings. Four pairs of yoga pants. A few t-shirts, a couple of tank tops and my assortment of workout and dance clothes.
In the end I settled on black leggings paired with an aquamarine off the shoulder t-shirt with long floaty lace sleeves. My small boobs didn’t need a lot of support so I wore a bandeau bra. I brushed my hair out and pinned the front back and let the rest hang loose down my back. I hadn’t had a proper hair cut since the accident and my hair was now down to the middle of my back. It was a bitch to put up when I worked out.
I left my face bare, only used mascara, dark eyeliner and some lip gloss.
My leg wasn’t ready for heels and I opted for a pair of flat leather peep toe sandals. After years of dancing my feet were too ugly to wear strappy sandals that would leave them on display. After two years of not dressing up I suddenly missed looking good. The next time I spoke to Pixie I was going to ask her to sneak some of my clothes out of my house and the duffle bag filled with my ballet stuff. When my leg was stronger I wanted to start doing some proper ballet workouts and I needed my clothes and shoes for that.
Leaning closer to the mirror I poked at the skin around my eyes and was quietly happy that the bruises had faded so much that they were almost invisible. All that was left was a smallish yellowy browny bruise at the outer edge of my right eye and another below my left ear. I didn’t even need to use cover up on it because you had to be really close to notice it. And no one got that close.
I was so damned nervous about this dinner with the club my insides were shaking. I wanted to go but at the same time I didn’t want to go. I knew there would be staring and whispers. I could handle those, have been handling it for years. It was the women Beast had been with that worried me. How was I going to handle watching them throwing Beast knowing little smiles and come on looks? And what if he gave them his attention? What then?
Shit. This dinner was such a bad idea. I had to find some excuse not to go.
And then it was too late. Beast appeared in the mirror behind me and I gasped in fright. I didn’t hear him come into the room or the bathroom.
I froze when he ran his hand over my hair. “I’ve always loved your hair.”
I shrugged then tried to get past him. The bathroom was too small for the both of us. But the bastard didn’t budge.
“You look beautiful, Ladybug. This colour makes your skin glow and it enhances the colour of your eyes.” He bent and kissed my cheek, grabbed my hand and pulled me along behind him.
I didn’t say a word because what the hell could I say. Nothing. He thought I looked beautiful while I thought I looked very, very ordinary. I knew how the club girls dressed and the amount of make-up they wore. And they had been Beast’s choice for years. Almost ten years in fact.
Those shitty thoughts stopped abruptly when he held my hand and walked down the stairs with me. Even though I had been working hard with DC my leg didn’t like the stairs, twinges shot up from my knee into my hip but I powered through it. Not even noticing that I had been clenching my teeth against the pain.
Suddenly I was up and in Beast’s arms and I flung my arms around his neck to hold on. He grinned as he continued down the stairs. I felt the eyes on us as we descended but ignored them, looking at Beast’s wide chest instead.
He was dressed in black from top to toe. Black jeans riding low on his hips and held up with a black leather belt with a silver Iron Dogz MC buckle. His t-shirt was black and tight over his shoulders and around his biceps. He wasn’t wearing the beanie he always seemed to wear. Okay, I admit, I’ve been spying on him whenever he was outside my window. The beard was a wild as ever. It needed one hell of a trim.
Carrying me over to the bar he gently sat me down on a barstool next to River and DC. I breathed easier knowing they would take my back, no matter what happened.
I was smiling at River when I heard Beast ordering drinks and I went still and shot both River and DC a look. DC tipped her head ever so slightly. Then I had to look at the woman he was speaking to.
“Chris, I’ll have a beer and bring my girl a lime and tonic.” He wasn’t being rude but he wasn’t being friendly either. And he remembered that I didn’t really drink, just the odd glass of wine and a gin and tonic now and again.
I focused on the woman getting our drinks and sadly I had to approve his choice. She didn’t look like one of the club whores, she looked more like a biker bitch.
She was tall with big boobs and a tight round butt that was showed off to their best in skin tight jeans and a very low cut top. Bracelets covered both her wrists and she had a few visible tattoos. Her shoulder length dark brown hair was wavy and hung loose around her gorgeous face. But it was her eyes that got to me. Soft brown and filled with sadness.
Ah, shit. She was really into Beast and had most probably hoped that their thing would lead to something more.
I looked up into her eyes when she set my drink down in front of me. I smiled. “Thank you.”
She looked a little bit shocked then gave me a tiny smile. “No problem, enjoy.”
DC leant over and whispered. “She’s a good girl, the best of the lot and not really a club slut. She just likes hanging with the guys and works the bar. Aunt Beryl likes her, a lot. I think she’s studying to be an accountant or something.”
“Ja, she’s nice.” River agreed.
I nodded and sipped my drink. The three of us turned on our stools and resting our backs against the edge of the bar we surveyed the room. It was filled with men in Iron Dogz kuttes and slutty women. A lot of slutty women. Were they all going to be at dinner?
After he had deposited me at the bar Beast picked up his beer and wandered off to join a few of the guys hanging out on the couches on the other side of the room. I didn’t see Hawk, Kid or Ice anywhere. All the couches were surrounded by women dressed in barely there skirts and tops cut so low I was expecting their tits to pop out at any minute. Their shoes were ridiculous, they strutted around on sky high platforms with thin stiletto heels and I worried they would break an ankle should they trip.
Suddenly the flirting and sexual touching stopped as if by magic when Aunt Beryl stalked into the room looking like a thundercloud. Oh shit. Something has pissed her off. We didn’t have to wait long to find out what that was.
“The only reason I tolerate your slutty asses at my table are those boys you’re hanging onto right now. I told you to set up the dinner tables and you ignored my orders. No work, no dinner.” She turned to the bar and smiled. “Chris, you, Melly, Sandy, Lori and Grietjie will have dinner with us. You’re the only ones who helped.” She turned back to the bitches who were staring at her with varying expressions of shock and anger. Oh shit. “The rest of you aren’t welcome and don’t think you can get my boys to bring you to dinner, they know better than to ignore my orders.”
She turned to us, grinned and winked. “You girls can come through.” Then she was gone.
DC shrugged and slid off her stool and I was about to follow when Beast was suddenly at my side and gently lifted me and set me on my feet.
“Careful with your leg, baby.” He said softly. I nodded, what else could I do? He was being sweet.
And then I heard it, and if I heard it meant everyone else did too.
A tall bleached blonde with huge boobs and long toned legs stood with her hip cocked and her arms crossed over her substantial, but oh so fake, chest.
“Who the hell is the ugly ginger crippled slut? And why is Beast acting like such a pussy around her? He likes big tits and fucking so hard it hurts, so what the hell is the deal with her? He’ll fucking break her the first time he shoves his dick into her. I can’t believe he stopped fucking me for that short shit of a cripple.”
She did not just say that. She did not just call me a cripple. The freaking bitch.
“What the fuck? You fucking worn out fucking bitch!” One of the men Tori hadn’t met yet shouted and stormed towards the blonde. But Beast got there first.
Within seconds Beast was on her, lifting her into the air by her throat and shaking her. The sounds she made as she tried to breathe and speak were horrendous.
“You fucking overused slut. You are done here. You say one more fucking word about my old lady and I will put your fucking slutty ass in the ground. Do you understand?” Beast shook her one more time then set her back on her slut shoes. She wobbled but was held in place by his hand on her throat and he did not let go. Her face turned red and her eyes were as wide as freaking saucers with fear. I was about to go to him when DC stopped me with a hand on my arm.
“You need to stay out of this, Tori. It’s club business and Beast won’t appreciate you interfering.”
God. This life they lived was strange and horrendous.
Two men stood on either side of Beast, not touching him but talking softly, so softly we couldn’t hear what they were saying. Kid held onto the guy who had shouted at the bitch and was still straining to get to her. Finally Beast let her go and violently pushed her away from him. There was no way she could stay on her feet and her arms wind milled wildly before she crashed painfully to the floor sitting there with her legs splayed, showing everyone that she wasn’t wearing any panties. Tears ran in wide black streaks down her cheeks.
Ugh, the last thing I wanted to see was that worn out twat of hers.
Hawk and Ice had arrived sometime during the whole shit show and had taken the places of the men on either side of Beast. And thank heaven their bodies blocked the view. Hawk’s voice was like ice.
“You are done at the club. You’ll be escorted off the premises and don’t try to come back. You’re blacklisted.”
The slut blubbered her way through an apology but it was so very obvious it was too late for that. But still she tried.
“I didn’t know she was his old lady. I wouldn’t have said anything if I had known.”
“You are done here, Brandi, get out.” Hawk said coldly. “Prospect, see that she leaves.”
With that Hawk turned his back on the woman and walked towards us. And what did he do? He apologised. For the bitch.
“I’m sorry the bitch said that shit about you, little red. She won’t get in your face ever again.” He grinned. “Your man won’t allow it.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. Again with the ‘your man’ shit.
What could I do but pull a face then nod and it made the bastard smile even wider. And that made me wonder what those men had been talking about after Beast left my room the first time.
Oh to have been a fly on the wall.
Beast
Earlier the same day
Hawk had called all the brothers into church and their eyes were on Beast. It was difficult as hell to lay his crap out in front of them. But he did and shocked the shit out of them.
“Almost ten years ago I walked out of Mainline Ink in Cape Town and she ran into me. At first I thought she was a little kid but one look in her eyes and I knew she was older but still too young. She was mad as a fucking snake but not at me, something had upset her before she ran into me. She was dressed in one of those ballet things, you know, the tights and the leotard shit with a long jersey over and little pink flat ballet shoes. I asked her if she was looking for someone to grab her off the fucking street walking around with her body on show.”
Fuck, he remembered how she exploded. That red headed temper of hers.
“She fucking exploded. Prodding me in the chest with her finger threatening to cut off my balls. I was laughing because she was so fucking cute. I asked why her mother would let her walk around almost naked. Man, she did not like that. Stood there with her fists on her hips and told me she was old enough to be out on her own and that she wasn’t naked. Man, she was cute. That’s when I found out she was sixteen. I tapped her on the nose and teased her that I would be back for her when she turned seventeen. Fuck man, she burst out laughing, turned and opened the door to the studio and as she stepped inside she looked at me over her shoulder and winked. ‘See you next week then’ she said as she let the door close behind her. And that was it. I knew she was going to be mine.”
Beast shook his head because even now, years later, their meeting seemed surreal.
“So, hang on a minute, let me see if I got this right.” Spider said with one of those shit eating grins of his. “You went for jail bait. Am I right?”
“Fuck you, Spider. Didn’t touch her like that.” Beast wanted to smack that fucking grin off his face.
Hawk snorted. “I should fucking hope not. There’s a reason why we have the ‘she must be eighteen years old’ rule on the books. Don’t want some little girls’ daddy storming in here with his shotgun.”
Ice was the next to step into his business. “I don’t fucking like to hear that my brother has been with his woman since she was sixteen. If she was my sister I would have fucking gutted you. Sixteen is too fucking young for a man in his twenties.”
Beast dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his burning eyes. Shoved his hands beneath his beanie and scrubbed his fingers through the short scruff on his head. Fuck. He hated explaining his private shit to his brothers. They did not need to know every-fucking-thing.
“I knew then and I know now that she was too fucking young and that’s why I waited. I fucking dated her and the most we did was hold hands and kiss. That’s it. You fuckers don’t need to know when it became more, it’s none of your fucking business.”
Beast tried to explain how he had felt at the time but he didn’t have to words so he went with telling them what had happened next.
“What you should remember is that ten years ago Cape Town was at war with the Hanover gang and I had been sent down there to boost their numbers. By the time it ended my hands were covered in the blood of our enemies and I was put up for promotion to lieutenant. Sharky, the president back then, recommended that I be trained as an enforcer. My proposed promotion and his recommendation opened my eyes to what and who I was going to be. Everyone at the club knew I was seeing someone but they didn’t know who she was. I kept her away from the club.” It fucking hurt to think about what he had done next.
“While all that shit was going down she was working her ass off for a better place at the ballet company in Cape Town. She worked long hours and was always fucking tired but she did it. Worked all the time. Most of the time she danced on feet so blistered and bleeding she had to have been in fucking pain but you would never have known. She smiled as though she didn’t have a care in the world. She was a fucking incredible dancer, when she stepped onto the stage she came alive, she moved as if nothing on earth could hold her. And then it happened. Her director had sent a video of her dancing to a colleague in London. They immediately called her to audition and she had to go to London. We both knew she was going to get the job. Her career was about to take off. She started saying she was going to turn it down, stay in Cape Town and I couldn’t let that happen.”
“Shit, brother, what did you do?” Wolf asked with something in his voice that Beast didn’t get, it was almost like he dreaded the answer.
“I broke her. Ended it in as brutal a way as I could and walked away from her without looking back. It broke me but I had to do it. We each had our destinies we had to follow. And it wouldn’t be together. She was destined to shine on the world stage while I was destined to spill blood and kill for my club.”
Beast sat back and crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his president.
“And then one day I sit down at this table and you say her name. Our fucking colliding worlds exploded in my head, all reason blown away. I didn’t even think about the fact that some fucker had put his hands on her. All I heard was that she was here. In my clubhouse. In my territory. And I had warned her, if she ever set foot on club property there would be consequences. Threatened to beat her bloody but that was a fucking lie. I knew, I fucking knew, if she ever set foot on club property I would never let her leave.” Beast shrugged. “And I’m not going to. She’s mine, has been mine for fucking years. And today I’m doing what I couldn’t do ten years ago. I’m claiming her, right here, right now, in front of all my brothers. Victoria Keating is going to be my old lady and the mother of my children.”
Sin sat forward and looked around the table. “I have only one thing to say. What the fuck is happening around here? He’s the third fucker in a matter of months claiming an old lady. Is it something in the fucking water? Because if it is I’m fucking sticking with beer.”
“I don’t know, man.” Jagger said with a wide grin. “It might be nice to have a pussy not all your brothers have stuck their dicks into for a change.”
“And that’s why I don’t fuck club whores.” Sin gave an exaggerated shudder.
“It’s easier than having to go out there and charm some uptight little miss to give up her pristine pussy for a night. I’m too lazy to do that shit.” Army piped up from where he was sitting against the wall and the brothers shook their heads as they laughed. They laughed because they knew most of them were the same as Army, too fucking lazy to go out looking for pussy when it was so readily available right here.
“After the shit those whores pulled with me I haven’t touched one of them and I won’t ever again. I’m done with club sluts and hangers on. I’m looking for an old lady, a nice girl, and I’m not afraid to admit it either.” Dizzy spoke very quietly.
As Dizzy laid it out the laughter disappeared. Their brother hadn’t been the same since the bitches fucked with him. Beast hoped that he found the woman he was looking for fucking soon because his brother needed some good in his life.
Hawk tapped on the table and all eyes turned to him. “I’m good with you claiming little red as your old lady, Beast. What I’m not good with is the fucking Maingarde Organisation once again coming after one of our women. Dominick is working on the problem but that old bitch is getting crazier by the day. She thinks she’s fucking god sitting on her fucking throne down there in Cape Town. She thinks she’s untouchable and we need to make it clear to everyone that she’s not. We have to find a way to hurt her and her fucking organisation. And if it means working with the fucking pigs, other clubs and gangs then so be it.”
That was fucking huge. The Iron Dogz MC and the pigs did not have a good relationship, at all. We weren’t friendly with the gangs either because most of them worked with the Maingarde Organisation. But our prez wasn’t wrong. We had to do something to ensure the safety of our women and children.
But what that was none of us knew.
“Beast taking an old lady is the good news today.” The room got very quiet as everyone stilled. “I had a call from Wimpie before coming in here. He had some fucking disturbing news. Apparently one of the club whores has been talking outside the club. He isn’t sure who she’s been talking to but he says our shit is being discussed around the tables at Zeffers. Shit like Ice and River’s move to the property and Beast getting custody of his kids. Talk about whether Beast will put his patch on a club whore. This might sound like general gossip but it has escalated. There’s speculation about the identity of the prisoner we have locked up in one of the rooms. We need to find out who the fuck is talking about our business outside our fucking gates.”
Furious grumbles sounded around the room until Ice smacked a hand onto the table. Silence fell.
“I have a plan.” His Prez said as he met Beast’s eyes. “But I’m going to need your cooperation, brother.”
Beast nodded. “What do you need, Prez?”
“I need you to bring your old lady down for dinner with the club.”
Beast’s spine went solid and he frowned at his Prez. “Why?”
“All the club whores will be in tonight for Aunt Beryl’s monthly club dinner which means the bitch who has been talking about our business will be here. When you bring your woman down to the common room it will be crystal clear who has been in that locked room. A woman by your side is going to make huge fucking waves, brother. We need to watch those waves and find the bitch who has been talking. She won’t be able to resist this new piece of skinner (gossip).”
“Fuck, Prez. My girl is here to keep her hidden and safe. I don’t know about this plan of yours. What if the bitch keeps a low profile then leaves here and tells the fucking world about the woman we’ve kept out of sight up stairs?”
Hawk suddenly looked uncomfortable. “We all know shit is going to hit the fan with Chris when she sees you with little red. I want to use it to make the bitch reveal herself. She won’t be able to resist stirring more shit between the three of you.”
“Jesus fucking Christ, Prez.” Beast shook his head, not believing the shit his president expected him to do. “My woman is going to fucking kill me. She might be small but she’s a fucking spitfire when she’s pissed. And she’s going to be pissed as hell. I haven’t told her about Chris so that shit is going to blow up in my fucking face.” Throwing his head back he stared up at the ceiling then nodded. “Fine, let’s do it, I’ll explain to my girl once it’s done.”
“Thank you, brother. If you need me to I’ll explain this shit to her as well.” Hawk tried to lessen the blow but Beast knew there was going to be shit tonight and he was going to be fucking knee deep in it.
His president tapped his fingers on the table and returned to the discussion about the Maingarde Organisation.
“There’s nothing we can do about Maingardes right now.” Hawk said as pulled on his goatee. “We need to think about this situation and together we’ll come up with a plan to end this threat. Our club is changing, we’re adding old ladies and children to the mix which means we have so much more to lose. Our enemies seem to think that it makes us a bunch of pussies but little do they know it actually makes us stronger and more determined.” His smile was evil as shit when he continued.
“This is us, the Iron Dogz MC, hardened in a crucible of fire to withstand the worst our enemies throw at us. We’re like a fucking pack of wild dogs and we don’t ever give up. Wild dogs work together to take down large prey, and their prey don’t stand a fucking chance. The Maingarde Organisation is our prey and we will take them down. Now, let’s get out of here, have a couple of beers, some dinner and just relax.”
As his brothers filed out of their chapel Beast hung back, waiting for Wolf and Sin. Sin and Beast had been friends since they were prospects. And Sin had sponsored Wolf as a prospect and he had become a friend as well as a brother.
“Can we meet tomorrow morning?” His friends frowned but nodded in agreement.
“Sure, anything we should be worried about?” Sin asked quietly.
“No brother, just something I need some help with but we’ll talk tomorrow. Come over for breakfast and we’ll discuss it.”
“You making the breakfast or are you going to get poor Penny to feed us?” Wolf teased.
“Fuck you, asshole. I’ll be making breakfast. Penny has enough shit to do with the baby every morning. She doesn’t have time, and I’ll be making breakfast for my girls and Rider anyway.” Beast laughed. “Poor fucker is finding out the hard way that babies are not the sweet smelling little bundles of joy everyone thinks they are.”
Rider must have heard his name and came over to join them. The bastard had bags under his eyes from sleep deprivation because his little girl woke up two to three times a night to eat. And Rider got up with his girl every single time.
“You look like shit, brother.” Wolf said with a wide grin.
“You wait until you have kids. No one warned me that babies wake up every fucking two hours to eat. Just like no one warned me that my woman’s boobs were going to become a feeding station for my kid. I thought we would be bottle feeding her. But no, she’s attached to my woman’s tits for what seems to be like 24/7. I fucking miss spending time with those tits.” He sniffed with disgust. “And, fuck brothers, I haven’t had sex in fucking weeks and I’m starting to get fucking tired of using my hand. I want my woman back.”
Beast, Sin and Wolf were howling with laughter which only pissed Rider off. “Fuck you lot, wait until you have women and babies, then I’ll be the one fucking laughing at you.”
Clearing his throat loudly Beast stood with lifted eyebrows. “Brother, I hate to point out that I have two kids and I’ve been doing that shit for years. Both my girls were bottle babies though. I didn’t trust their slut of a mother to stay clean while she fed them.”
“Can we stop this talk of tits filled with milk and babies sucking on them? It’s making me feel like I need to fucking vomit.” Wolf growled with an exaggerated shudder.
“Let’s get out of here.” Beast agreed. “Need to bring my girl down to dinner.”
Beast ran up the stairs, his heart beating fast while his blood raced through his veins. After years without her he had his woman back. Well, not back yet, but she would be. She was going to be his old lady, soon.
Very fucking soon.
