Angel: RBMC: Ankeny IA Read online

  I stood there blinking. Finally, I shook myself. “Excuse me, what?”

  “You heard me.”

  I stepped in closer. “You ruined my childhood, killed my mother, and yet you think I’ll help you? You’re lucky you’re still alive now, because I should’ve killed you years ago,” I gritted out in a deadly soft tone. We were now so close that my heated breath blew cloudy puffs in his face.

  “It was an accident,” he tried to argue, but I scoffed as I stepped back.

  “What exactly was an accident? What you did to me? Or her? You were drunk and you were beating the shit out of her. Was it an accident that she died? Maybe, but if you hadn’t laid your hands on her in the first place, it wouldn’t have happened. You’re a sorry sack of shit and you can fuck off,” I spat. The debts I’d paid for him already were enough to break a lesser man.

  “If I die and they don’t get paid, they are taking their payment in the form of your sister.”

  I froze. Then I lunged forward, grabbing him by the front of his jacket and hauling him into the bars of the fence. Voodoo was on me in a heartbeat, yelling in my ear to let go as I bashed my father’s face into the metal repeatedly. “Angel! Stop!”

  The rest of the brothers were on me, prying my fingers off his jacket. When they got him free, he stumbled back. Blood ran from a cut above his eye, and his nose might’ve gotten broken. I simply didn’t care. Everyone but Voodoo let me go and stepped back.

  When he was out of reach, I shook free of my brother’s hold.

  Venom stared my father down. “I think you might wanna to leave.”

  Chest heaving, I dropped my hands to my knees and leaned over. A primal roar escaped me as my inability to control the situation overwhelmed me. I wanted to lash out, break something, destroy anything in my path.

  My father made one last plea. “Jude. Think about what I said. Jasmine won’t be safe if you don’t help me. They’re already threatening to hold her as collateral.” Casting a glare in his direction, I didn’t respond.

  “I’ll be in touch after you’ve had time to process this,” he said, oblivious to my disgust and anger. That, or he didn’t care because he was too busy being the self-absorbed evil asshole he always was. Hate was a deceptively mild word for what I had for my father.

  Once he got in his car and drove off, I stood upright and stared at Venom. Chest heaving, I drew in ragged breaths.

  “Emergency church,” Venom rumbled.

  We all returned to the warmth of the clubhouse and silently filed into the chapel. One by one our phones dropped in the basket outside the door. With finality, the click of the latch followed the last member entering the room.

  The scrape of chairs as everyone sat was like nails on a chalkboard to me. My nerves were frayed and zinging.

  “I’m sure after that display, you can all guess why I called this.” There was a chorus of affirmative replies and nodding heads at Venom. The few brothers who hadn’t followed us outside had quickly been informed of the gist of the situation on the way in.

  “Angel, we’re gonna pick up Jasmine and keep her here at the clubhouse, but you know she isn’t gonna be happy about that.” Venom held my gaze with a questioning brow lifted as he waited for my response.

  “Yeah, I know,” I muttered. Jasmine had never been keen on my joining the Royal Bastards. To say she’d been shocked was an understatement. Pissed would be a little more accurate. Especially after the last party she’d attended. It had gotten a pretty wild, and I’d been pissed that she’d been there.

  “Anyone have a problem with that decision?” Venom asked the room at large. My gaze traced along those of the men I’d called brothers since leaving the army behind. Every single one of them was in agreement.

  My gaze paused a moment on Chains where he sat staring at the table with a clenched jaw and my eyes narrowed. “You have a problem with it, brother?”

  Startled, he looked up at me. Then he shook his head. “Nah, bro. It’s all good. Sorry, I was thinking about something else.”

  “Well, if Jasmine is coming to the clubhouse, it would probably be a good idea to keep one of you here. Voodoo might be busy with his ol’ lady, so I can’t assign him.” Venom’s gaze flickered to each of us one by one.

  “I can stay if you need me to,” I offered. Voodoo’s eyes widened in frustration, and I remembered I’d promised to deal with Lester for him. I knew he understood because it was my sister we were talking about, but it didn’t mean he liked it.

  “I really want you to handle this one, Angel,” Venom replied. “Since I wasn’t sure Chains would be able to spare the time from the shop to go anyway, it makes sense that I have him stay behind. Then there’s no worry about coverage for the ink shop. Chains, you’ll be in charge of her while she’s here.”

  Chains made a sound of protest, but when everyone looked at him in confusion and consternation, he ran a hand down his face, slouched in his chair, and nodded. There was something weird going on with him. We’d become close over the years, and he hadn’t said anything was going on, so I was part of the confused group.

  “Angel, do you want to call her or go just pick her up and ask for forgiveness later?” Raptor asked with a hesitant wrinkle in his brow.

  “I’ll call her. She already knows some of the shit our father is capable of, and she needs to know the shit storm he may have unleashed on her,” I said as I roughly ran a hand through my hair. Poor Jazzy. She’d worked so hard over the years to get past our mother’s death and develop her independence.

  To find out our father had pulled all that from under her was not going to go over well.

  “Send Me An Angel”—The Scorpions

  Jasmine had indeed been livid. When we’d arrived back at the clubhouse, she’d thrown her shit in my room and glared at me like I was at fault.

  “Jazzy, chill. Until we find out exactly who Dad is indebted to, this is for the best.” I tried to reason, but I don’t think she cared.

  “This is bullshit, is what it is. My vacation was supposed to be spent in Hawaii on the beach, not here in your stinky clubhouse of whores,” she spat. She’d only been to the clubhouse a handful of times over the years. At first she’d asked to come to one of the club parties with some of her friends, and I thought maybe she’d enjoy hanging out there. Well, as long I was around to supervise. She still didn’t end up coming by often, but she’d pop in every so often. Then a couple of years ago, she quit coming by.

  “Enough. Don’t kill the fucking messenger. Facet’s already on it, so we should have something soon.” Though I loved my little sister fiercely, she had a temper. Not one I was willing to put up with.

  She appeared to crumple as her shoulders sagged and she dropped to the edge of the bed. “Jesus, I know, Jude, but shit. When am I going to be free of him? I’m almost twenty-six years old. Old enough to be able to turn my back on him if I see fit. Yet, I can’t because his stupid-ass decisions keep affecting me to this day.”

  Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sighed. “I get it. Trust me, I get it.”

  She threw herself back on the bed and huffed. “I hope this bedding is clean.”

  Laughing, I shook my head. “Cleaned this morning.”

  “No skanks are gonna try to get in here while you’re gone, are they?”

  “No, Jazz,” I patiently replied.

  Then I sat next to her and reached out to hold her hand.

  “What did he want from you, Jude?” she asked, suddenly subdued. “Because I know he wanted something.” It shouldn’t have surprised me that she knew. We’d been close, and over the years it always seemed like we could sense when the other was seriously emotional. Times when the other was struggling either physically or mentally. This would probably qualify as one of those times.

  “I’d rather not discuss it,” I tried to argue. She bolted up to sit next to me. Her soft hands grasped my chin, turning my face to hers.

  “Jude. What does he want? Money?” The expression and her tone told me s
he wasn’t letting the subject drop.

  If it had been club business, I could’ve said as much and been at ease with my reply. But since it was personal, I was having a hard time keeping the shit from my sister. The issue was that if I told her, I knew what her response would be.

  “Obviously something you really don’t want to do, which tells me he needs your gift. The question is, for himself or someone else? I have a hard time believing he told anyone after all this time, so my money is on him. What’s wrong with him?” she demanded.

  “Jesus, you’re relentless,” I grumbled. “Why can’t you let it be? Just know that your safety is potentially in jeopardy and I’m not willing to risk that.”

  “You’re damn right I’m relentless. You taught me to be strong my whole fucking life, Jude. Why are you so surprised when I exhibit the behaviors you’ve cultivated?”

  “Let’s leave it at you’re very close and move on. I need to get on the road. My flight leaves soon, and we need to get through Des Moines traffic to the airport.” I looped an arm around her and pulled her close. “Love you, Jazzy.”

  “Ugh, I wish you wouldn’t call me that,” she muttered into my cut. A grin split my face.

  “Too bad.”

  “So who all is gonna be here if you’re leaving?” She pushed back and looked me in the eye with a frown. “I’m not stupid. I know you’re leaving me with a babysitter.”

  “Several of the guys will be here off and on. Facet, Chains, and Blade live here in the clubhouse, so they’ll be around.” Her cheeks flushed slightly, and her gaze dropped.

  “Hey.” I tipped her chin up. “It’s going to be okay. Are you worried? You’ll be safe here. I promise.”

  She pasted a brave but artificial smile on her face and shrugged. “I’ll be fine. I just didn’t plan on any of this. I thought I’d be leaving for sunny beaches on Monday. Instead, I’m here. Still surrounded by snow.”

  “Hopefully it won’t be long. We’re working on trying to figure out what we can do to help the situation, but we have a few other things to take care of too.” I kissed her forehead. “Love you, sis.”

  “Love you too, Jude.”

  “If you need anything, Chains is in the common area. Facet will be back soon, and the prospects will be around. Kira said she’d come by with some supper for you if you were up to it.” I stood and grabbed my small carry-on bag.

  Briefly, she closed her eyes. Then she took a deep breath and pressed her lips together. “I’ll be fine. I can make something or order something. I don’t really know her. Maybe I’ll go to sleep early.”

  “There’s plenty of shit in the kitchen if you feel like cooking. Don’t order anything to be delivered. One of the guys can go get it for you.”

  She huffed. “Great. Biker babysitters and biker delivery service.” Then she gave me a wicked grin that never boded well. “Think they’ll deliver anything I want?”

  “I’m out. Any of them touches you, and they’re dead.”

  She fell back on the bed again and raised her hand in a one-fingered wave as I laughed. Giving her a little privacy, I closed the door and headed out.

  “Chains! Watch out for my sister!” I shouted over to him as I passed through.

  “No problem,” he said as he looked up from his phone. That weird look was back on his face. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he looked guilty about something.

  Oh well, not my business right now. That was for Venom to sort out.

  “See you soon,” I said with a lift of my chin.

  I met the brothers that were going as part of the team out by the SUV. Thank fuck the senior prospect was waiting with it running. It was cold as hell, and for about the thousandth time I told myself to consider moving further south.

  “I hope it’s warmer down with Coy and Grem,” Ghost grumbled as he raced past me to dive into the warmth of the SUV.

  “Personally, I think it’s perfect out,” said Phoenix with a shrug.

  “You would,” Ghost muttered from inside the vehicle. “Hurry up and get in so we can close the damn doors.”

  We all loaded up and set out for the airport. For most of the way we were lost in our own thoughts. “Grem picking us up at the airport?” Ghost asked, pulling me out of my dark thoughts concerning my father.

  “Yeah. He and Hammy are supposed to be there when we land. I sent our flight info to Coy this morning.” It would be good to see them again. It had been a while. I’d never met Hammy, but Coy and his boys were always a blast. Course now that Coy was tied down, he may have mellowed. We’d see though.

  The prospect pulled up out front and we unloaded. I gave him a firm handshake. “Thanks kid,” I said and he nodded before he climbed back in the SUV and waited for us to get safely inside. Ghost was already in the doors and waiting before I could sling my bag over my shoulder.

  “Jesus fucking Christ, why do we live here?” he grumbled as I stepped through the sliding doors. I chuckled at his whining.

  “Let’s get our asses moving before we miss our flight,” Phoenix said as he joined us. We all nodded and headed toward the security section. We weren’t checking bags, so it was an easy process.

  Before we knew it, the plane was taxiing down the runway and we were lifting into the air.

  “I fuckin’ hate flying,” Ghost grumbled.

  “Jesus, do you like anything?” Phoenix asked in exasperation. Ghost grunted.

  “We won’t discuss the things I like or don’t like right now. There’s too many ears around.” He gave a cheesy grin, and Phoenix rolled his eyes before he laid his seat back and closed his eyes.

  Three big dudes crammed into those airline seats didn’t make for a super comfy flight. My legs were too long, shoulders too wide, making it impossible to get comfortable. I swore to myself, on the way home we were upgrading to first class.

  I tried to nap, but my mind was spinning with too many thoughts. Worry about everything with my sister, anger with my father and his life choices, hatred for what he’d done to me, fury that he got away with killing our mother in his drunken rage, the job waiting for me in Kentucky; all of it kept my mind wound up.

  Thankfully, it was only about a four-hour flight.

  When we landed, Ghost was clutching the armrests for dear life, and I snickered quietly as he glared at me. Phoenix didn’t bother holding his laughter in either.

  “You’re both assholes,” Ghost muttered as he nudged Phoenix to get up. Phoenix grabbed all our bags from the overhead compartment and tossed them to us. I shot off a text to Grem to let him know we’d landed. The time it took to get off the plane drove me crazy. I didn’t like feeling trapped.

  The three of us garnered several second glances as we passed through the airport to the front doors where the Louisville brothers said they’d be waiting. Then again, it probably wasn’t every day that you saw three big motherfuckers tromping through the airport.

  Ghost was the shortest of us at just six foot, but he was no tiny guy either.

  “Angel, brother, how the hell are ya?” Grem said as we approached him and the giant beast I assumed was Hammy.

  “I’m doin’ all right, brother,” I said as I gave him a backslapping hug. It was weird to see him without his cut and that bell he kept taped to it. Since we were traveling and they were caging it, none of us had our cuts on, which was probably for the best. We didn’t need to advertise our chapter was in the area.

  Grem made introductions to each of us with Hammy, then we were on the road. Hammy let me sit up front with Grem and climbed his big ass in the back, sandwiching Ghost in the middle. For a few miles, we caught up. Then Grem glanced my way before returning his eyes to the road.

  “As Coy told Venom, we found out that good ol’ Lester should be in his office tomorrow night. He stays late on Tuesday nights because he has a fucking stripper come in. Not one of ours, thank fuck. We’d never allow the shit he does. More like sick twisted prostitution than stripping. Douchebag fucker. His assistant is out with a sick kid, s
o he should be alone.”

  “Wait. So ordinarily his assistant would be there for that?” Phoenix asked with wide eyes.

  Hammy snorted and Grem chuckled. “Yeah. He’s usually too high to make sure the girl gets out afterward, so the assistant cleans up his mess.”

  My lip curled in disgust.

  “How is she okay with that? He’s such a piece of shit,” I growled.

  “You probably don’t know the half of it,” murmured Grem as he hit his turn signal. We pulled into the lot, and the Louisville brothers poured out of the clubhouse. “If you guys hadn’t been taking care of him, we probably would. He likes them young and unwilling, if you know what I mean.”

  “With what we do know, that doesn’t surprise me in the least.” I held his serious gaze as he shut the vehicle off.

  “Well, come on, let’s go catch up with Coy and the boys before we have to work tomorrow night.” Grem climbed out of the vehicle, and we all piled out as well.

  Coy was standing there with his arm around a tiny woman with golden blonde hair. I knew right away that it was Allie. He’d been in love with her since he was a kid. I’d heard they got back together recently. For a split second, my thoughts drifted to Korrie. Fuck, I hadn’t thought about her in a while. I tried like hell not to, anyway.

  “Hey, Angel, Phoenix, Ghost. How was your flight?” he asked us as we approached. Ghost grumbled, and I laughed.

  “If you’re asking me or Phoenix, it was fine. Don’t ask Ghost. We’ll be here forever listening to him bitch about it.” He grinned as he looked over at Ghost, shaking his head.

  “I’m forever the punching bag. And you call yourself my brother.” Ghost gave an exaggerated sigh. “I’m not feeling the love.”

  Everyone laughed.

  “At least the weather is nicer here,” he grumbled as he crossed his arms. “Maybe I’ll stay here when you two go home.”

  “Yeah, right,” Phoenix snorted. The Louisville brothers stepped up one by one, and we got the introductions out of the way. It had been a while since I’d seen some of them, and others I’d never met.