Chapter 9
REID (RATCHET)
That did not go as planned.
“Fuck.” I could smell her on me. Tasted her on my tongue and could still hear the echoes of her screams when she came.
I rode back to the clubhouse, not sure what to tell the guys or Patrick.
Hey, dude, hope you don’t mind, but you know your sister we just discovered was the girl we saved all those years ago.
Well, I just fucked her in a hotel near the airport.
Oh, and by the way, you know how we are getting ready to take down our own gang, destroying your father and his friend in the process.
Yeah, let’s call that off because I’m in love with her and going to follow her and beg her to love me.
You can visit during the holidays if you like.
“Fuck me.” I rubbed my face. The stubble made my chin itch. I was heading home but wasn’t ready to face Patrick. He and I had a sort of telepathy with each other, and he’d know something was wrong or that I just got laid as soon as he saw my face.
I parked in the back of the clubhouse. Figured I’d crash in one of the rooms upstairs.
I entered the code into the keypad next to the back door and let myself in.
Boxes and bags lined the hallway leading to the kitchen. Probably decor for the party. I walked into the main hall and grabbed a beer out of the fridge.
It was a silly tradition. People dress up as someone other than themselves to garner some confidence to act like an idiot.
Most of the guys didn’t really dress up.
The most any of us could muster was a mask.
They were already laid out on the counter in the main hall.
The anonymity of a mask gave guys permission to do stupid shit.
It was the ladies who paraded around in barely there costumes.
Hoping to catch the attention of a lieutenant or higher.
The women were paid and asked to sign NDAs.
I used the term ‘asked’ loosely. Then the chaos began.
What happens on Halloween night stays on Halloween night. Or however the saying goes.
I trudged my way up the stairs into the private members-only area of the club, hoping to find a few hours of sleep on a couch. Another keypad for security.
I pushed the door open and groaned.
A prospect had an attractive blonde kneeling on the President’s recliner, giving it to her from behind.
“Oh, shit.” He grabbed for his pants, not bothering to cover up the girl, who was showing all her stuff. “Ratchet.” He tripped and stumbled before pulling his jeans up to cover his angry little dick.
“Elephant.” The name seemed inappropriate considering what I just saw. I crossed the room and flopped down on the couch, then downed the rest of my beer. The girl had yet to move.
Her dress was strewn across the arm of the couch. Her panties balled up on the ground. I picked them up and threw them in her direction. “Get dressed.”
She turned and didn’t bother covering herself and grabbed the dress. She was fit, with nice legs, great ass. Maybe Elephant had game. I didn’t recognize her. Probably some girl wanting an in on the club.
“Uhm. Ratchet?” Elephant remained stuck to his spot. He pushed his messy hair out of his eyes. His hands shook. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
The woman had zipped up her dress. She grabbed her panties off the floor, walked over, and sat next to me.
“You could have joined us if you wanted to.” She swung her underwear around her finger. She was a pretty girl. Elephant with his thin, wiry frame and acne scars was no catch. She could do so much better.
“Yeah, I don’t share women with my prospects.” I shrugged. “Unsanitary.”
“Well, tell him to fuck off and we can go at it.”
“Carla!” Elephant growled and marched over. His face turned a deep shade of maroon. He grabbed her arm and yanked her up.
I stood up.
“Let her go!”
He dropped her arm.
“Fine.” He huffed. “You can have her.” He whispered, bitch under his breath and stomped toward the door like a toddler throwing a tantrum.
Pussy.
“Elephant.”
He stopped and turned. He hadn’t thought this through.
“You remember last month when that other prospect, what was his name, spilled a beer on Pres’s floor.”
“Yeah.” He cracked his knuckles. The guy in question was still wearing a cast.
“What do you think he’ll do when he finds out you got cum and pussy juice all over his favorite chair?”
He covered his cock. “Fuck.”
“Yeah, fuck.” I took the girl’s hand and kissed it. She melted, and her eyes did that blinking sexy thing that only girls knew how to do. “Take her with you.” I dropped her hand and turned back to him. “Make sure the girl gets home okay. You both will be dealt with later.”
The warning hung in the air like a London fog.
Carla’s mouth hung open. I dropped my head back and closed my eyes.
“Carla,” he whisper-yelled. “Let’s go.”
She stood and kicked my boot while skirting past me. “Asshole.”
She wasn’t wrong. When the door shut, I pulled off my boots and spread out on the oversized couch. Sleep came easily.
“Dude.”
A kick to the edge of the couch pulled me from sleep.
“What happened to you last night?” Patrick patted my leg to get me to move and plopped down next to me. A few other guys in the club shuffled in behind him. “Thought you were meeting us at Josie’s.”
“I had some stuff to take care of.” It was early, but I had no idea the time.
Brian walked over to Pres’s chair and looked back at the door.
“I wouldn’t if I were you.”
“What? Pres isn’t here.” He sat down.
“Not worried about Pres.” I rubbed my eyes. “More worried about the cum stains left by the prospect I found in here fucking his girl a couple of hours ago.”
He jumped out of the chair like it was radioactive waste.
“Who was it?” He growled.
“Elephant.”
Brice walked over to the small kitchenette in the corner.
I joined him. I needed coffee. The machine showed 8:32. I maybe got two hours of sleep.
“We got everything in place?” Patrick asked.
The guys all nodded. They all knew part of the plan but not all of it. Only Patrick and I knew what was going down tonight. If it all worked out the way we’d planned, this club would look a lot different in twenty-four hours.
“Should we expect any problems from MPD or anyone else?” Brian asked.
“Yeah, but it’s part of the plan.” I rubbed my beard. I needed a shave. “Just hope they stay away until we need them.”
“Never thought we’d need Morristown’s finest,” Maddox said. “They’ve fucked with us for years.”
“Yeah, well, beneficial synergy.” I sounded like Patrick.
They all laughed. “Fuck, we are getting into some Zen type of shenanigans tonight,” Stanley, AKA Stacks, spoke up.
I sipped my coffee and sat on the edge of the pool table.
The six of us, Patrick, Caleb, Brice, Maddox, Stanley, and myself, were the future of the Infinity Kings.
Most of us were the kids of former members who had passed away or were taken away from us.
We grew up in the gang but didn’t agree with the club continuing the way it always had.
It was time for a change, and we were here for it.
“Brice and Maddox, you guys head over to Albert’s house.
Wait for us. I already gave them the address and entry code for the safe house on Seventeenth Street, but, Stacks, check it out first before you head back and meet up with Caleb.
The two of you stay on Pres. You don’t let him or Daniels out of your sight. ”
“Patrick is going to call him around eleven.” I filled them in on the rest. “He’ll tell him shit went bad at Albert’s house and make sure he calls on you two to ride with him.”
“Hell, by then, the rest of his guys will be too shit-faced to deal with anything.” Caleb grabbed a beer out of the fridge. My eyes narrowed. “What, it’s early?” He pointed to the can.
“Exactly.”
He waved me off and perched himself on the other end of the pool table.
“Dads got a lot riding on tonight.” Patrick nodded. “He’ll be clear-headed until it’s over, and that’s what I want.”
Patrick gave me a look. I nodded back at him. We didn’t speak about how hard this would be for him out loud, but I felt the weight of it on him. I also had no doubt he’d finish what we started.
Yeah, as long as he doesn’t kick my ass for fucking his long-lost sister first.
We went over a few more details. The party would continue as planned, but by midnight, we would all be here under one roof, and the Infinity Kings of old would remain where they belonged. In the past, in jail or dead.
“All right, guys.” Patrick stood and dismissed the group. “Get some rest. It’s going to be a long night.”
I stayed behind while the crew shuffled out.
Patrick stood in front of me. His arms crossed over his chest. “You want to tell me about last night?”
I vowed to put her out of my mind, but apparently, Mackenzie was hard to forget.
“Kenzie’s on the way to Florida.” I shrugged. “Her foster parents were good to her, but she never felt like she fit in. She’s heading down to Florida to start a new life.”
“And you don’t think it’s a coincidence she showed up here?” He paced around the table. “Maybe she wants to reconnect with her family.”
“Well, considering her father killed her mother, I doubt that.” I picked up a ball a rolled it to the other end of the table. “Look, man, if you want to reach out and be all big brother on her, then do it, but let her get settled first. It’s going to be bad around here before it gets better.”
“Why do you care?”
I stood up and downed the rest of my coffee. The heat warmed my insides. I shuffled over to the refrigerator. It contained a tub of butter and a bottle of ketchup and mustard, and four cases of beer. It was devoid of actual sustenance.
“What happened between you two last night?” Patrick grabbed my arm and turned me around.
“What are you asking me?”
“Did you fuck my little sister?”
The accusation wouldn’t have stung so much if it wasn’t true.
I dropped my head.
“What the fuck, Ratch?”
I hated when he called me Ratch.
“Dude.” I pulled my arm back and staggered back a few feet. “You didn’t even know she existed until a day ago. Why you getting all protective big brother suddenly?”
“You had no reason to go and see her last night.” He stepped in front of me. “So, makes me think there’s something you’re not telling me.”
“I didn’t mean to, okay?”
“Oh.” He paced in front of me. “Okay, if you didn’t mean to fuck my sister, then that’s okay?”
“Dude.” I stood up. “She’s not your sister. Y’all have the same asshole for a father, but that’s where your bond ends.”
“What did y’all bond over, my asshole father killing someone you loved?” He kicked the table. “He did the same fucking thing to me, remember?”
We stood in front of one another, staring each other down. I broke the silence.
“Patrick, you jealous?”
“Jealous of what?” He scoffed and dropped his arms. “I don’t want to fuck my sister.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“Then what the fuck do you mean?”
“I don’t know.” I rubbed my face and sat back down. I rested my head in my hands. “We’re all a bit tense.”
Patrick sat next to me on the couch.
“We have a lot riding on tonight, and I didn’t want her involved. I didn’t want her to distract you.”
“Seems like she’d be more of a distraction to you.” He rubbed his hands together. He was right, but I kept that bit of knowledge to myself.
Since we’d stepped into that shithole diner a few days ago, my mind had been on little else. That could be a problem. I shook my head to get her out of my brain.
“Pat, it doesn’t matter. She’s halfway to Florida by now, and I don’t expect to ever see her again.
” I tried to keep the sadness out of my voice.
Truth was, I didn’t want her to go, or, hell, maybe I wanted to leave with her.
I turned toward him, and he tilted his head, but before I could speak, he stood up and walked away.
I wasn’t over her, and he saw it too. If I were another type of guy, I’d jump on my bike now and go find her and run away with her.
But, fuck, I wasn’t that type of guy. The club taught me a lot of bad things, but they taught me better things like trust and loyalty, and my guys needed me tonight.
Patrick needed my head in the game tonight.
I owed him.