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DC
I sat on the wide shady balcony of the fourth floor beachfront apartment staring down at the people on the beach. Some were playing in the shallows with their kids, while others were lying on beach towels soaking up the late afternoon sun, just taking it easy. When I initially sat down the broad walkway above the beach hadn’t been busy but as the sun started to set more people were out taking walks, running or cycling. I would have loved to go for a run but Raj very quickly vetoed that idea. And that’s why I sat up here, sipping on a cider and wishing I was down there.
Where I really wanted to be though, was back in Durban with Hawk and my dad. I had a really bad feeling about the shit about to go down in the morning. The last update we had hadn’t been very encouraging. Boeta had talked to the men still at the clubhouse but couldn’t say if they would follow Doc’s orders. Their loyalties were to their president and the fact that he was a low life slaver might not matter to them at the end of the day. It would come down to loyalty to the club and their conscience. For them it would be a very tough call to make. For me, not at all.
I trusted Grizzly, Rover and Alien to guard my dad’s back but they were surrounded by men who, though loyal to the Road Warriors MC, were loyal to their own president first. The uncertainty sucked.
Not having heard from Hawk since we left was to be expected, they were busy setting up to take down Speedy. That however did not make me feel any better. I was worried about all of them.
I flinched when Rico suddenly plopped down in the chair next to me.
“Stop worrying about shit we can do fuck all about, DC. No matter what we do, tomorrow will come and shit will go down. People are going to get hurt, that’s a given. All we can do is hope it all comes down in our favour and none of our guys get hurt or dead.”
After delivering his speech he fell silent, drinking his beer and staring out to sea.
“I just wish we could have been there to help, that’s all.” I muttered as I scratched at the label on the bottle.
“They’ve got this, DC. And no, you do not want to be around the shit that’s going to go down tonight and tomorrow. This is club business. Freeze arrived an hour ago, what is happening in Durban is not for you to worry about and not your business.”
Bloody hell. These men.
I wanted to rip Rico’s head off as he coldly laid it out for me. He made it sound as if I didn’t know how shit worked in the club and that pissed me off. But I kept my mouth shut. Debating club business with him was a lost cause. I would lose every single time.
The news that Freeze was in Durban made it easier and more difficult not to worry about my dad. With the national president at the clubhouse it was very unlikely that the men would turn against them. One less thing to worry about.
My phone started vibrating across the table and I grabbed it, hoping it was Hawk. But it wasn’t, it was Pixie, my boss.
“Hey, Pixie. I’m sorry I had to take off so suddenly. I’ll make up the lost time as soon as I get back, no worries.” I hurried to reassure her.
“Hi, DC, I’m not calling about that. I’m not worried about the shop, Killian’s got it under control. What I would like to know is why Freeze, Rooster and a few brothers flew out of here as if their tails were on fire? All Rooster would tell me was that shit was going down in Durban. You’re in Durban, so what the hell is going on?”
Pixie was pissed but I heard the worry in her voice. Rooster was like a brother to her and his dad, Wild Man, was the man who had taken her in when she was lost and alone. They were her family. I understood her worry but I could not give her the answers she wanted. It was club business. Maybe if Rico hadn’t been sitting next to me I would have given her some details, but with him watching and listening I couldn’t say one word about what was going down.
“I’m not actually in Durban, Pixie. I’m in Umhlanga. I’ve got no idea what’s going down. I’ll try to find out and get back to you. Okay?”
She gave a huge sigh. “You’re not alone, are you?”
Crap. “No, not right now, maybe later.”
“Okay. Try and call me when you don’t have a watchdog on your ass. Oh, and while I’ve got you. There’s a major convention coming up in the US I want us to attend. I’ll send you the information and we can talk about it once this Durban shit is done.”
I grinned wide. “That will be so awesome. I’ll check my e-mails and call you for a chat later.”
“Cool, babe. Talk to you later.”
I was still grinning as I slid my phone back onto the table.
“What did she say to get you so fired up?” Raj stood with his arms crossed staring down at me.
“Pixie is taking Mainline Ink to a tattoo convention in the US. It is going to be so freaking awesome.” I was so damned excited.
Raj shook his head. “You won’t be going. It’s up to Doc and Hawk whether you go or not and I’ll advise against it.”
What?
“I’m not sure I heard you right. Did you just tell me I can’t go until Doc and Hawk gives me permission to go?”
The bastard nodded his stupid head.
Shaking my head in disbelief I laid it out for him and the rest of the guys avidly listening in.
“I’m never going to allow a man to make my decisions for me. It is my career, my decision. As much as club business is none of my business, my career is not the clubs’ business. Doc knows this, and if Hawk doesn’t, he soon will. And you thinking you have a say in it is absolute bullshit.”
Grabbing my phone I shoved past him, stomped into the kitchen, grabbed another cider and stomped into my room. I wanted to slam the door shut but I didn’t. It was a waste of energy. Stupid male posturing. What had happened out there was one of the reasons I had ended it with Raj. He had very traditional views regarding women. I hoped to heaven Hawk didn’t have the same ideas. If he did we were in big, big trouble.
I sat fuming on my bed and was about to access my e-mails when Hawk called.
One of those bastards out there had been flapping their lips.
“Hi, how’s it going?” Start out easy, I warned myself.
“Good. What is this shit I hear about you going to the US with your boss?” His tone of voice was clipped, a tiny bit pissed off.
“Do you have a problem with it?”
“I do have a problem with you leaving with her on your own. Not fucking happening.”
Cold anger slithered down my back but I reined it in. He had a lot on his mind and to talk about this right now would just piss both of us off. He didn’t need to have this on his mind when he needed to concentrate on the shit going down tonight and tomorrow.
“I don’t want to talk about this now. I don’t even know when we’ll be going as Pixie only mentioned it a few moments ago. I’ll talk to you when she tells me more.” There was an angry growl but I ignored it. “Are you ready for tomorrow?”
“You know I can’t talk about that shit, DC. You tell Pixie she fucking talks to me about you going to the US before she talks to you.”
He ended the call.
Staring down at my silent phone I breathed deep to control my anger but it was a wasted effort. Raj had done this, I just knew it. I stormed into the lounge where they were all sitting pretending to watch some shit on the television. Their heads swivelled to me as I stormed in. Raj smirked and I exploded.
“You fucking asshole. You just couldn’t wait to swing your little dick around, could you? Want to know the real reason I ended it with you? It was this type of shit and your damned arrogance. You tried to control me and failed so now you are trying to do so through others. I’m so very done with you and your games. Stay the hell away from me and out of my life.” I hissed. Shocked silence hung in the air as I turned and went back to my room.
Opening the sliding door onto the balcony I stepped out and leant against the railing, breathing deep and rhythmically to calm the rage boiling inside.
Hawk basically told me that I had no say in whether I went to the US with Pixie or not. He would be making that decision. I tried very hard to view his reaction as an overreaction due to the crap swirling around us at the moment. I freaking tried.
But he was pushing buttons that had me ready to bolt.
I would never be a conventional old lady. I loved my job as a tattoo artist and over the years the work I did as the Crow had come to mean something to me. I might be able to give up being the Crow but I couldn’t give up my job. I’ve sacrificed enough for my family and the club. There were no more pieces left to sacrifice.
There was only one person who understood. Skel answered after the second ring.
“Hey, babe, a little busy here. What do you need?”
“Damn. I shouldn’t bother you. You’re going to have a hard enough time keeping Gav from burning down more than just one little warehouse.”
His deep laugh elicited a small smile.
“You are so right about that. The little shit is totally stoked about being allowed to burn shit down. But that’s not why you called me, is it?”
“No.” I bit my lip before I continued. “Pixie wants me to go to the States with her to attend a tattoo convention. Raj overheard our call, told me I would only be allowed to go if Doc and Hawk clears it. I didn’t like it and told him so. He called Hawk. Hawk called me. I’ve been told I would not be going to the US and he would talk to Pixie about it, not me.” I took a deep breath. “I am ready to go home, right now.”
“Fucking Raj. Fuck. Why the fuck can’t he leave shit alone? Always stirring shit.” Skel kept swearing but his phone was no longer near his mouth and it seemed as if his voice was coming from a long way off. Then he was back.
“Give me a few to sort shit out here, DC. I’ll call you back. Okay?”
Bending over I lay my head on the railing and groaned. I shouldn’t have called him.
“Ja, okay. Sorry I dumped all this shit on you, Skel. I shouldn’t have bothered you with this.”
“Hey, that’s not true, you and I, we are family and family look out for each other. This is me looking out for you. I’ll talk to you soon.”
Going back into my room I curled up on the bed and stared out the open door as the setting sun turned the scattered clouds into a kaleidoscope of pinks. I watched as the colours slowly started to fade as the night rolled in.
A soft knock on my door had me lifting my head and looking over my shoulder, but I didn’t answer.
“Deece, it’s Law, can I come in?”
“Sure, Law, come in.”
He slowly opened the door and came in, silently closing it behind him. I sat up against the headboard and frowned as he slid the sliding door closed before he sat down next to me.
“Raj is a dick. He’s been pissed at you for fucking ever because you ended it with him. He strutted around like he was something so fucking special while you dated him. Gav and I are convinced he started dating you because he had his eyes on the Prez’s chair. Tonight he purposely pissed Hawk off. He made it seem like you and Pixie were arranging the trip to the US behind his back. I think he wants you and Hawk to split up. Maybe he thinks with Hawk out of the picture Doc will back him when he tries to claim you.”
“What the hell are you saying, Law?”
Law turned those eyes that were so like his dad’s on me, they were very serious. God, I wish Grizzly was here with us now. He dropped his voice and spoke in an almost whisper.
“I’m saying we need to watch our backs. I don’t fucking trust him, DC. Neither does Gav. As prospects we see a lot of shit no one else pays any attention to. We’ve been watching him and something isn’t right. He’s too fucking slick. And there’s something else everyone has forgotten but we need to remember. He used to be in this fucked up club. And it was Speedy who recommended him to Doc. He transferred in three years ago as a brand new patch and now he’s already being put forward for a position at the table. How did he manage that? What’s his next step?”
I sat looking at him with narrowed eyes as I ran through everything he had said. Yes, Raj was a dick, but a traitor? I was about to answer when the door was jerked open.
An enraged Raj stood in the open door.
“Prospect, what the fuck are you doing alone in the room with Hawk’s old lady with the door closed? Get your fucking ass out of this room, right now.”
My temper went totally nuclear. I’d had enough of him being a dick. “Get the fuck out of my room, Raj. I’m talking to my little brother, to my family. And you are not my family. Get the hell out.”
Behind us Rico slid the sliding door open and frowned at Raj then looked down at Law and I.
“What’s going on?”
“Raj is insinuating that Law and I are fucking in here. He needs to get his ass out of my room or I’m going to lose my shit.”
Rico moved to the side as Skinny shoved in next to him.
“Are you fucking crazy, Raj? Law is like a little brother to her. She has been his big sister since the day he was born. What the fuck is wrong with you? First you piss her off, then you rat her out to her old man. I’m not an officer, just a lowly patched member and going against a brother who might be sitting at the table soon could get me dead, but I’m just going to say it and fuck the consequences. I heard what you told him when you called. You fucking lied to him. Straight up fucking lied.” Skinny shook his head in confusion. “Why the fuck would you do that?”
The room felt crowded with all of them in there. Law slowly got off the bed and stood at the bottom. Rico and Skinny were at the sliding door and Wolf, one of Hawk’s men, stood behind Raj in the open door.
Raj’s eyes glittered with rage and then he suddenly lost it and snarled out his venom.
“I didn’t lie as much as enlighten him. Hawk deserves to know the kind of bitch she is. She will never put him or his club first. It will always be about her and what she wants. Doc is a fucking pussy where she’s concerned. Hawk won’t be. He’ll control her and keep her on her back where she belongs. And if he can’t there are a few of us who will fuck her until she learns her place. She’s pussy, a club slut, nothing more.”
Hatred shone out of Raj’s dark brown eyes as he spat out how he really felt. I couldn’t believe this was the same man I had known for the last three years. I couldn’t believe I had shared my body with this piece of shit, even if it was only for a few months.
Faster than I could blink Wolf had a gun pressed up against the back of Raj’s head.
“Keep your hands where we can see them.” He ordered as he moved back, stepping out of Raj’s reach.
Guns appeared instantly in Skinny and Rico’s hands pointing at Raj and Wolf. I did not want to think what Wolf holding a gun to Raj’s head meant. When we left the factory Hawk had insisted on replacing Gav with one of his men. Wolf was that man.
“Law, get the cable ties and lock this bastard down.” Wolf ordered and Law obeyed. “Rico, Skinny, get your asses up against the wall and stay there, you move and I’ll fucking fill you full of lead.” He threatened through clenched teeth. “Until I know I can trust you, you stay right there.”
“DC, babe, move out onto the balcony and wave at the brothers down at the pool. This is fucking happening sooner than we planned but what the fuck, we’ll go with what we have. Law, where are those fucking cable ties?” He shouted over his shoulder.
I slowly got off the bed, moved to the balcony railing and looked down. There were four Iron Dogz around a small table next to the pool. One was looking up at me and I waved. His kept his eyes on me as he spoke to the others and then they were out of their chairs and walking into the building.
What the hell was going on?
Rico and Skinny looked as confused as I did. Law did not look confused at all. The little shit had been in on this from the start. Whatever this is.
He had some explaining to do.
They all had some explaining to do.
