CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER NINE
Nika
“What?” I gasped, my mouth hanging open with disbelief.
“She did what to Spider?” I couldn’t believe I had heard Nic correctly.
He shook his head, a frown between his brows. It meant my man was pissed and my disbelief was quickly turning into anger as well.
“Unfortunately it’s true, baby. Kid gave me the whole sick story when he called me. That society bitch Kristen Rutherford stole a used condom with his semen, got herself inseminated and had his son. If he hadn’t run into her quite by chance he would have never known he was a father.”
“Oh my God. It’s terrible, he must be furious and devastated at the same time. What’s he going to do about getting his son?” I glanced at Niko playing on the blanket on the floor and my heart ached for my friend.
“He’s taken them to court and after DNA proved the boy was his was given visitation but, Spider wants full custody and that’s why we’re all working together on the Rutherfords’ background checks. They are dirty, I have this feeling in my gut we’re going to find what our friend needs to claim his boy.”
Taking his hand I held on tight. “He’s such a good man and did so much for me, for us. Anything he needs is his, no questions asked, okay?”
My husband, the head of the Syndicate, the crime boss, gave an evil grin, then bent down and pressed a hard kiss to my lips. Lifting his head his blue eyes twinkled with anticipation as they met mine.
“How do you know me, baby?”
I grinned and winked. “Go on, go do what you do, Mr Maingarde, and get our friend what he needs. The sooner he has the information he needs the sooner we get to meet his boy. How old is he? I forgot to ask.”
His smile disappeared. “He’s almost two years old.”
I shook my head in disbelief. Almost two years old. Two years he lost with his boy.
The one thing I couldn’t wrap my head around was how he got involved with someone none of us knew. Spider was a biker, yes, but he didn’t have sex with those awful women who hung around their clubhouse. I knew it for a fact because he told me. He was a relationship kind of guy.
I gasped, because I put the timeline together.
“Oh my word, I know when it happened. It was before my time but Pixie told me he was devastated when his surfer girlfriend disappeared on him. Never said goodbye or anything, one day she was here the next she was gone. That must be when he had his thing with the baby mama. Pixie told me the surfer girl’s name but I don’t remember it. Do you know her name?” I scrunched up my nose trying to remember.
“She called herself Strange but also used the name Dalia Mitchellson.” My man said quietly.
He knew something.
“Tell me.” I demanded.
“I’ll tell you, baby, but it’s something you can’t talk about. Okay?”
I nodded my agreement because I had to know. My curiosity was killing me.
“I don’t know if Spider knows this but she wasn’t who she said she was. She wasn’t here to surf, she was here with a team investigating my connections to human trafficking and the IDMC. During the investigation one of her team was seriously injured and she was ordered to accompany him home on a hospital flight. The rest of her team disappeared at the same time and we never heard from them again. I wasn’t aware that she and Spider had become serious.”
“Damn. She just dumped him without a word and left?”
“Yes, she did. She couldn’t have been as serious about him as he was about her. I believe he was just another pawn in her spy games.”
“That’s horrible, poor Spider. No wonder he made some crappy decisions while recovering from her betrayal.”
I was pissed at the bitch and wanted to fix everything for my friend.
“I have to get back to the office, baby. Give me a kiss.”
I tipped my head back and fell into his kiss. I was breathing hard when he lifted his head and gave me a satisfied smile.
“See you later, baby.” He said quietly, crouched beside Niko and pressed a kiss on his head.
I sat on the couch for several minutes going through what Nic had told me. It was horrible.
Spider must be hurting so much. I actually wished there was something I could do for him to make the next few weeks easier.
And then it hit me.
There was a way to make him smile for a few weeks.
As long as she played along with my plan.
Grabbing my phone I hit her contact and listened to it ring and ring and ring. Glancing at my watch I suddenly realised why she wasn’t picking up. The time difference.
I was about to end the call when a pissed off sleepy voice answered.
“Bitch, do you have any idea what time it is over here? It’s freaking 4 in the morning and I crawled into bed two hours ago.” Ing grumbled.
“I’m so sorry. I forgot you were in Las Vegas with the band. Go back to sleep, I’ll call you later.” I cringed even though I knew she couldn’t see me.
A big sigh gusted through the phone. “I’m awake now, so just tell me. What is to freaking urgent you have to call in the middle of the night?”
Now that I’ve called her I wasn’t so sure it was the right thing to do. I hesitated.
“It can’t be that bad, Niki, just tell me.”
So I did. I told her all of it and her shock and horror equalled mine.
“That poor man, he’s such a good guy. He doesn’t deserve crap like this happening to him. I’m ashamed that I added to the crap by listening to hateful gossip, and typical of me, I over reacted and ghosted him.”
She was silent for a beat.
“Okay, the band has two more performances in Los Angeles before they go on a six week break. I’m going to hop on a plane and come see you, and him, during the break. Don’t tell anyone I’m coming, I want it to be a surprise. He’s going to be pissy but I have to apologise for ghosting him.”
She had mentioned ghosting him twice now. Why? I had to know.
“What happened? I thought there was something there.”
Ingrid sighed heavily.
“We have great chemistry but we have different dreams, Niki. He’s at an age where he’s looking for a woman to settle down with while I want to travel the world and experience things. We liked each other, more than a lot, but both of us knew it wouldn’t work. After a long discussion we settled on being friends with benefits. And then some bitch at his club told me he was well known for being a man whore and I should have myself tested. It threw me for a loop and pissed me off as well, so I left without confronting him.”
Knowing my friend I understood where she was coming from. She lived in the world of rock stars, surrounded by men who were always embroiled in some scandal or another with groupies. It would impact her decisions after hearing those lies.
Plus she had dreams.
Her dream was to be the manager of a major rock act. Working for her dad’s band was her stepping stone to getting what she wanted. It was her life and she should be allowed to live it the way she wanted.
“It will be so good to see you. I miss you.”
“I miss you too but now I’m going back to bed. I’ll call you with dates and flight details. Night, night.”
And then she was gone.
I sat with my phone in my hand and wondered if I had done the right thing interfering in Spider’s life.
Would he even want to see her? Like that surfer, Strange, she was another woman who had walked away from him.
“Your mamma might have just put herself right in the middle of a situation, baby boy.” I said to Niko.
My boy grinned up at me and I dropped my phone to crawl onto the floor with him.
Looking at one of the loves of my life I felt I had made the right decision.
Ing and Spider might not have been in a serious relationship but they were friends.
And right now he needed his friends to support him.
If I interfered in his life a teeny tiny bit I felt sure he wouldn’t be mad at me for doing it.
Not too mad anyway.
Spider
Full Church – Tuesday
“By now everyone knows about Spider losing his shit with a slut in the common room two nights ago.” Orca looked pissed and Spider hoped it wasn’t with him.
“Since then more than one brother has been in my office to complain about the sluts. About how they refused to take no for an answer. How they caused problems between brothers and their old ladies.”
He shook his head as he looked around the room.
“How the fuck have we come to this? We have club sluts strutting through our club like it belongs to them. Going to one of the old ladies and telling her their old man fucked her so good she was thinking about sharing him with her. Sharing him, with his fucking old lady! I’m not going to tell you who the old lady was as it’s between her and her old man. What I will tell you is that the slut lied. The brother never touched her, in fact, he’s one of the brothers who keeps his dick in his jeans. And that right there should tell you how big of a problem we have.”
He pointed at a brother sitting close to the door.
“Siener (Psychic), if your old lady came to you with this what would you do?”
The brother looked around then shrugged.
“Not that I have an old lady, Prez, but, if it happened I would fucking gut the slut for upsetting my woman. Our lifestyle is already a lot for our women to take, but to have a slut get up in her space and tell her that shit? Nope. Not happening.”
Rof (Rough) one of the older senior patches spoke up. “I don’t think you’re right. We live our lives the way we want and our women know this. If my old lady gets upset because I fucked a club slut she’ll just have to get over it. It’s what she signed up for when she accepted my claim and my kutte. I live free, no one tells me who I can or can’t fuck.”
He looked around as if expecting everyone to agree with him. There were a couple who did and it was significant that they were sitting on either side of him, obviously close friends.
Orca tipped his head to the side and gave a slow nod. “You’re correct, Rof, no one can tell you who you can or can’t fuck. Not me, and it seems not your old lady either.”
He tapped a ring on the steel block making it ring out.
“There are only a few people who know about the shit I’m about to reveal. But it seems some of you need an example of how even the strongest of us can make a horrible and sometimes unforgivable mistake. As a young man I fucked my way through countless whores, hangarounds and club sluts. They were here and I was young and fucking horny all the time, it was so damned easy. I thought it was the best life and would never change. But like everything in life change is inevitable. During the time that I was a horny young fuck I met Fatima, a good girl, and fell head over heels for her. I felt like I had the world at my feet when she agreed to become my old lady. Did the fact that I had the most amazing woman change me? Unfortunately not. I was an outlaw biker, I was living fucking free, and I wasn’t letting anyone tell me what to do. But…there came a day I would never forget because it changed my life. I was in our common room back there getting sucked off by a slut when my newly pregnant old lady walked in. We saw each other at the exact same moment. I will never forget the shock, pain, hurt and tears in her beautiful eyes. Nor will I forget how she turned around and walked out, her head held high while the fucking whores and brothers laughed and cat-called after her. I threw the slut off me and my drunk and high ass ran after her. I was too drunk to follow her home and when I eventually got home I was too late, she was gone. That’s when it sunk in. My arrogance, my biker lifestyle, cost me my old lady.”
Orca looked at Trigger, his son was glaring at him with utter disbelief and disgust written all over his face. It was obvious he had been unaware his parents had had problems when they were young.
“I lost the love of my life for five months. Five long months during which I had to negotiate with her brothers every time I wanted to talk to her. Months I tried to prove to her I had changed and she was the only woman for me. I lost five months of my son growing in her belly. My selfishness caused so much heartache and pain to not just my old lady, but to our families, and to me. I learnt my lesson the hard way. I had to change or lose the woman I loved with everything that I am. It’s a mistake I never made again. Fucking easy pussy is not worth losing the love of a good woman.”
Some brothers nodded while others shook their heads as if they didn’t believe him.
“Take a step back my brothers and think of it like this. Your old lady, your girlfriend, the woman you claimed, owns or works at…for argument’s sake let’s say a male strip club. There are dicks all around, available whenever she wants it. She sucks a couple here and there and gets fucked by one or two of the dancers. She can do what she wants because she has as much right to freedom as you do. Even though she’s tied to you she’s living her life, free. Just like you do. It’s not like she’s leaving you, she’s just using her freedom to play with others. She tells you she loves you and is still in your bed, fucking you, there are just a few others in that bed with you. Not physically, but they’re there in your mind, sharing your woman with you. How does that feel? Good? I fucking think not.”
He snorted in disgust and shook his head.
“And that’s exactly how my woman felt, every time I got into bed with her, the whores were there, in bed with us. That’s how every single old lady who’s being cheated on feels.”
There were grumbles and mumbles of hell no and fuck no from several brothers.
“My old lady would never cheat on me.” Rof snapped angrily.
“Oh? Why do you think that? She’s a beautiful woman, Rof. You treat her like shit for long enough she’s going to leave you. And somewhere out there is a man who will worship the ground she walks on and treat her the way she deserves to be treated. Like a queen. Where will you be then? I’ll tell you where. Stuck here, in the clubhouse, an old fart fucking younger women who only fuck you because they’re desperate for a patch. They don’t want to fuck your old ass. They want the younger patches, but the boys don’t have any power in the club yet. So they fuck your old ass telling you how fucking fantastic you are in bed, when in actual fact you fucking suck because you no longer have the stamina you used to have and you now have to rely on little blue pills to keep you hard. That horror show, brother, is what’s waiting for you if you don’t wake the fuck up.”
Orca pointed at the younger patches. “You need to listen and take this in. Its valuable advice for the day you meet a woman that knocks you on your ass. Up until then I don’t give a fuck how many sluts you fuck, that’s your business. In fact, it’s still your business if you fuck sluts when you have a woman at your back who wears your kutte. But for fuck’s sake, take this in and remember this warning. You do not fuck around on the most important woman in your life, the mother of your children. If you lose her, you lose everything. Your wife and kids will move on without you. You will be left sitting at the old guys table out there with girls young enough to be your granddaughters sucking your dick.”
Orca slapped the table and shook his head.
“Right, I’m done preaching. As of today my VP’s new rules will go into effect. We won’t be having shit like what happened to Spider in this club. It’s unacceptable. The rules are up on the noticeboard but to ensure everyone are aware of them it will be sent to your burners as well. Read them, memorise them and if I find anyone ignoring them they will be dealt with by Sly and Blaze. I don’t give a fuck who you are, the rules apply to all of us. No exceptions.”
He once again smacked the table.
“There will be no discussions regarding the new rules. They are what they are. Deal with it. Live with it. It’s done.”
Picking up the hammer he slammed it down on the steel block.
“Church dismissed. Get out of here you fuckers.”
Spider stayed in his seat and watched, he was interested to see the outcome.
The brothers left slowly, many stopping to read through the rules next to the door. There were murmurs and some swearing but for the most part it went down as expected.
Those who agreed with the new rules were in the majority. It was the young patches who were pissed off, and of course some of the older members. It was the fuckers who used the clubhouse like it was the local fucking whorehouse.
He had noticed that the ones who fucked the whores kept their families away from the club.
Sly fuckers.
Fuck them. They would just have to suck it up and live with it. The club was going down a dark road and they needed everyone to be aware and on their best game. The Fortunes gang who used to run a section of the docks wasn’t happy with being side-lined and he was expecting retaliation from that quarter.
They had considered the angle before they signed on for the job. Orca had warned all parties involved there might be some troubles coming from that quarter but the club would handle it. For it to work they needed the club to be focused and a solid brotherhood, unfortunately they weren’t. The Cape Town club had fractured into two separate camps while Orca and Hook had been dealing with their VP’s illness.
But maybe the divide had been there before Hook became ill.
It seemed like the bastards they had locked in the cells had been planning a coup while Orca was distracted by the fact that he might lose his best friend. It was the ultimate betrayal and he knew Hawk would be getting involved at some stage.
After burning off their tattoos Orca had decided to be merciful and keep them here so Coal could deal with their burns. Soon they will be well enough to receive the beat out they deserved and the judgement Hawk will be serving up.
Knowing his cousin the way he did he knew there was going to be blood.
After all the shit that went down at the Joburg Chapter their National President was a battle hardened leader, he would make the tough decisions and not feel a single regret.
His burner beeped and he opened the message to see the new rules, set out neatly. He knew them already, shut down his phone and put it away.
“Let’s get out of here and have a beer.” Dizzy said quietly.
Only then did he notice they were the last two still at the table.
“As long as we have that beer in my office I’m up for it. I’m not in the mood to listen to the inevitable bitching that’s going to go on out there.”
“Ja, me neither. You go to your office, I’ll grab the beers and meet you there.”
It seemed the two of them weren’t the only ones who didn’t want to hang out in the common room.
Blaze, Sly, Lines, Van, Fish and Vulture trailed in after Dizzy with more beers. Not even five minutes later the door opened and Wrath, Smiles, Jacket, Blacky, Colt, Trigger and Shake slunk in.
“The atmosphere out there is not good but Orca and Kid has it under control. We were told to join you when it became clear Wrath was going to cave Rof’s head in if the fucker didn’t stop running his mouth.” Blacky growled.
“The fucker needs a come to Jesus moment. He treats his old lady and daughters like shit. I’ve been wanting to fucking end him for a while now.” Wrath said through gritted teeth.
“Brother, it’s not worth the aggravation. He’s acting like he doesn’t care but I promise you, if that woman packs her shit and leaves he will crawl on his bare knees to get her to come home.” Sly tried to calm Wrath’s rage but it didn’t look like it was working.
“Have you seen how he has his fifteen year old little girl serving everyone during club events? Same with his old lady and the other two girls. It’s like they’re the club’s unofficial slaves. And those girls know no better. It’s how they’ve been raised. To serve Rof and his fucking friends.” Wrath shook his head. “It won’t be long before he has his eldest serving one of his friends on her fucking knees. He has no respect for females. I want to fucking erase his ass.”
Spider wasn’t the only one upset by what the brother laid out.
Dizzy was beside himself with rage.
Shoving his chair back he stood and started going for the door but Trigger and Shake stopped him.
“Calm, brother, you need to stay calm because nothing you say to him in front of the brothers will make a damn of a difference. We need to get him on his own and teach him the error of his ways. He’s our brother, it’s up to us to school him.” Trigger gave an evil smile. “And if he doesn’t listen then we do what has to be done, we remove the ladies from his home and send them to a place of safety. I’ve received some very interesting information about our brother.”
All eyes were on Trigger now.
“We’re not the only ones who have been watching the shit show that’s Rof’s family. Tania, my little sister has as well. She’s reached out to the eldest girl and the kid is scared. She told Tania that ‘Uncle Omo’ has been visiting their house with strange men, and talking to her dad outside where they can’t be overheard. She’s not sure if her dad supports Omo or if he’s trying to get information on the brothers. We need Rof to come clean, to tell us who he has been meeting with. That’s why we need to get him on his own and preferably somewhere we won’t be overheard or seen.”
“You know if we move against a brother without our Prez and VP’s knowledge we’ll be in deep fucking shit.” Spider kept his voice low. “This is something we need them to be aware of.”
“Talk to them at dinner on Thursday. My Ma told me you were coming over. If you want, Tania and I will be there to back you up. My crazy little sister actually recorded her conversation with Maddie, Rof’s eldest daughter. I’m sure once everyone listens to it we’ll get the go ahead from Prez and VP to bring Rof in.”
“Fuck. This problem seems to have grown from Omo and his fucking group to now include Rof and outsiders we don’t know. I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all.” Spider didn’t like where this was heading.
“None of us do, Boss.” Wrath shrugged. “But we have to deal with it or we’re going to find ourselves in a situation we’ve got no control over.”
“You’re right.” Spider dragged his hands through his hair, pulling it back into a tail that he quickly tied up and twisted into a sort of bun with the band on his wrist.
“We need to put together what we know and what we can prove. It’s worth nothing if we can’t prove what we’re saying.”
“We’ll get you everything you need before Thursday evening, Boss.” Trigger said and the others nodded in agreement.
Well, that seemed to be it.
They had a plan and it would be up to him to convince his prez and VP of the urgency of the information he would be bringing to them.
Sometimes it sucked to be an officer.