Chapter Twenty-Two
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“KEEP GOING,” JO said as Brooke refilled her glass. “After that news, I’m going to need all the help I can get. You know what, give me the whole damn pitcher.” She motioned for Brooke to hand over the pretty glass pitcher with etched palm trees.
“Hell no.” Harper shoved Jo’s hand aside. “You think you’re the only one who needs a drink after that? Top me off, Brooke.”
“Screw this.” Liv got up from her chair and hustled into the house, only to return twenty seconds later carrying three bottles of champagne.
“Yes. Now we’re talking. Gimme one of those.” Jo motioned for Liv to hand over a bottle.”
Talia blinked. What the hell was happening?
“Here…” Jo filled her flute to the tippy top with champagne, then handed the bottle to Talia. “Drink from the bottle. You need this more than any of us, I’m sure.”
“Um… it’s eleven.” How much were they planning to drink?
The ladies stopped moving and stared at her with affronted expressions. How was it that her refusal of day drinking earned her a more extreme reaction than the twenty-minute story she’d just told about Pulse’s past and the current Del Rios threat?
Is this what Pulse was going through, or was his experience less surreal and more violent? Her stomach cramped each time she thought of him in there with his brothers. If even one reacted as Spec did, Pulse could be in serious trouble.
Why had she agreed to come?
“What did we tell you when we sat down, Talia?” Liv jammed her hands on her hips.
“Um…”
“We said it doesn’t count as drinking if it’s mimosas.”
“Sure, but it’s still—”
“Shh, it’s best to just smile and nod.” Kelsie, who seemed more subdued than the rest of these women, leaned over and whispered in Talia’s ear. “Sometimes it’s better if you just let her think she’s winning.”
“Heard that,” Liv announced. “But she’s not wrong.”
Talia glanced between her empty glass and the chilled champagne Jo still held out.
“Oh, fuck it.” The ladies cheered as she took the champagne and filled her glass.
Harper topped her off with about a teaspoon of orange juice. “See, mimosa.”
“Sure it is.” Everyone laughed, which only made the entire situation more confusing. “You guys did hear me, right? You heard what I said?”
“We did.” Jo raised her glass. “Hence the extra drinking, remember?”
“Okay, so aren’t you upset? I mean, don’t you wanna cuss me out or something? I mean, Spec…” Maybe she shouldn’t criticize one of the ol’ men right to his woman’s face.
“Spec acted like an ape.” Liv sipped her drink. “Actually, I think a gorilla would have handled the news better.”
“Here’s the thing.” Harper reached across the table for a cheese cube as she talked. “Our men are fantastic. They treat us like queens, they’re protective, they have great dicks…”
“Here, here.”
“That’s right, girl!”
“You know it.”
She had to be in an alternate universe. It was the only explanation for these women.
“But they’re still men,” Harper concluded. “Very often, their little brain makes it hard for them to use their big brain.” She pointed to her crotch and then her head with flair, as though in some strange one-woman show.
“That is the damn truth,” Jo added. “I love Tracker, but the man can be a Neanderthal.”
“This is not making me feel better about how things are going for Pulse right now.”
Kelsie put her arm around Talia’s shoulder and pulled her in for a side hug.
She had the craziest urge to bawl all over the woman’s shoulder, but she shoved it down and tried for a smile that probably looked like she had gas.
Was Pulse okay?
“I don’t want to speak for everyone…” Kelsie said, “… but I trust Pulse. The guy rescued me after a very bad… experience.”
Harper reached across the table and squeezed Kelsie’s hand. The women exchanged a sad smile.
“Anyway, I was in rough shape… injured, traumatized, scared, and in pain. Pulse checked me out before I went to the hospital, and he was incredible. His patients rave about how he’s the best nurse they’ve ever had. That man is a healer, and there is no way to convince me otherwise. I don’t believe for a second he has anything but the club’s best interest at heart.”
“We all love Pulse,” Brooked added. “Most of us have wondered about his past because he keeps to himself more than the others. He’s part of the group but stays on the outskirts. Now, I understand why. What a huge burden it must have been to carry this secret.”
Jo nodded. “Not that I’m condoning secrets, but I understand why he kept quiet. They wouldn’t have let him patch in if they knew.” She shrugged. “As a former police officer, I understand the complexity of straddling both worlds, though it sounds like he’s left that life completely behind.”
Could it be this easy to have the women’s support?
“Yeah, when he quit five years ago, he cut all ties. And they don’t actually want him back. He made his feelings about them known. This is all part of a chess game orchestrated by the rebuilding cartel.”
“Okay,” Brenna spoke up for the first time. “This means they’ll be getting serious about safety, and things might get sticky for a while. We’re ready. We can handle whatever this cartel throws our way.”
Jo polished off her mimosa. “Fuck yes, we can.”
“You’re assuming they won’t vote to strip Pulse of his patch.”
Or kill him.
“Nah.” Jo waved away the statement as though it wasn’t a concern. “They might be Neanderthals, but they won’t turn their back on family. Pulse is family.”
If only she had Jo’s confidence.
“But Spec…”
“Look…” Liv sighed. “Like most of us here, Spec came to the club broken. He’s been through things that would make most of us lose our minds. This club put him back together.”
“And you, girl,” Brooke said, smiling at Liv. “Most of it was you.”
Shrugging, Liv nodded. “I do love that man, but some pieces are held together with chewing gum and a wish.”
“I know how that goes,” Kelsie muttered.
One day, Talia hoped she’d hear Kelsie’s full story.
“I’m not excusing what he did the other day. And I never will. What he did wasn’t right. But he has his reasons. He’ll come around. It might take some time, but he’ll see that Pulse belongs in this club.”
“I understand, Liv. I really do. And thank you all. I’m used to going it alone, so your support is incredible and new for me.”
“Ha, you’ll never be alone again now that you have us. We’re all up in each other’s business all day long. It’s what we call co-dependent in my professional world,” Harper sing-songed. The mimosas were clearly going to her head.
“Hey, don’t make our love for each other sound unhealthy,” Jo called.
They really were a tight unit.
“Well, whatever you call it, I’m grateful. If you’d left me alone in that apartment, I’d have probably burst in on church and made everything ten times worse by now. So, thanks. And I’m sorry if I’m not much fun today. I’m just worried about Pulse and won’t be able to settle until I see him. We’ve gotten… uh…” Oh my God, was she about to tell these women she was sleeping with Pulse? “Close.”
“Yeah, you have,” Jo said with a whoop. “Somebody’s in lo-ove.”
“What?” Talia practically shouted the word. Love? Hell no. Not love. Never love. She barely knew the man. What a ridiculous thing for Jo to say.
“Look at her,” Harper fake whispered to Jo. “I think you broke her brain.”
“No. I’m good. It’s just… I’m definitely not in love.”
“Mm-hmm.” Jo saluted Talia with her glass. “Pretty sure we all said that at one point.” She snickered as she reached for the champagne bottle.
Brooke, ever the mama of the group, shook her head. “Let it go, Jo.”
Love. How silly. They were just close. That’s all.
“ Let it go, let it go ,” Jo sang at the top of her lungs before frowning at her once-again full glass. This time, she hadn’t bothered to add even a drop of orange juice. “I may have had too many of these.”
“You think?” Harper asked, straight-faced.
And just like that, the tension burst, and everyone went back to laughing as though they’d met up for a fun brunch instead of waiting on their men to finish deciding Pulse’s fate.
Talia tried to play along. She smiled and said the right things at the right times. She laughed when everyone else did and cooed over Brooke’s adorable dog. She even shared a juicy detail when the conversation turned to bedroom activities.
But her heart wasn’t in it today. It was across the Handlers’ property in the clubhouse, enduring God knew what.
But that didn’t mean she was in love. She merely worried about the man because he was a client and a good friend.
And if you believe that one, I’ve got an island to sell you in the Caribbean.
MAINTAINING EYE CONTACT with his brothers while he told his story was one of the most excruciating things Pulse had ever done. Seeing how their expressions changed from curiosity and confusion to anger to disgust had him fighting the urge to stare down at the table while he spoke. Hot shame prickled his skin like a full-body tattoo machine as he sat beneath their harsh stares.
“So, Talia and I have been staying here the past few nights. The DEA and the cartel must have an idea where we are, but so far, no one has shown up here. I can only assume they’re planning something. So…”
Every man in the room gaped at him with varying degrees of shock and horror on their face. There it was again, the intense urge to avert his gaze. Strength didn’t keep him sitting straight, nor did some internal sense of right and wrong. He kept his gaze up for one reason—his brothers deserved it. At the very least, they deserved to be told the truth with full respect and accountability.
Jinx broke the silence first. “So, uh… fuck, man, were you ever gonna tell us?”
Of course. Yes. Definitely. The lies could fall so easily from his lips.
“No. You might not believe me now, but that part of my life has been over for a long time. I don’t associate with anyone from my time there.”
“Mm.” Jinx glanced at Spec. “And this is what’s had you all fucked for the past few days?”
“Can you blame me?” It didn’t seem Spec’s hatred had cooled in the slightest. “He was a fucking fed. Everyone went through a background check before they patched in. A damn thorough one. If that shit wasn’t there, he went through some serious fucking trouble to make it disappear. Bullshit, he doesn’t still have fed buddies willing to suck his dick if he asks.”
Jinx looked back at Pulse with a raised eyebrow as though asking for his response.
“I have one remaining contact from back then. Not a fed. Not affiliated with the government in any way. Quite the opposite. He’s a hacker whose ass I saved back when we were in fucking elementary school. He’s loyal to me, but I can honestly say his mouth has never been near my dick.”
“Fuck you,” Spec spat.
“All right.” Curly lifted a hand. “Here’s how this is gonna go. Any of you have questions for Pulse, you can ask them now. Then, we vote on whether or not Pulse stays in the club. Majority wins. If he’s in, this issue is squashed right now. As in fucking over, and you do not hold this shit over Pulse’s head. Ever.” He stared at Spec as he spoke.
“If it goes the other way…”
Pulse’s heart thumped so loud he almost missed Curly’s next words.
“He’s out, but no harm will come to him. That’s my final decision. You have a problem with it, you can follow him out the door.” His gaze bounced from member to member as he spoke. His serious tone left no room for argument.
It was more than Pulse deserved.
Spec seethed in his chair.
No one would walk out if they disagreed with the vote. Pulse wouldn’t let them. He’d quit before one of his brothers voluntarily left or their tempers got them kicked out of the club for something he did—even Spec. He wouldn’t be responsible for screwing up his family more than he already had.
“How big a threat do you think the cartel is?” Ty asked as he rested his elbows on the table.
“I think they want to destroy the whole club. Since they’ve infiltrated the DEA, they have the power to arrest me for whatever the fuck they want. If they do, I’ll disappear and never be heard from again. Then they’ll dismantle the club with some bogus felony drug charges.”
“Well then, I think the solution is simple,” Spec said with an evil smirk.
Jinx frowned at him. “Really? You wanna hand your brother over to a drug cartel? You ever seen the shit they do to people?”
Shrugging, Spec folded his arms across his chest. “I survived torture. Maybe he will too.”
“That ain’t right, man.” Jinx shook his head.
“What isn’t right is him lying to us.” Spec leaned forward, practically snarling across the table at Pulse. “Give me one good fucking reason to believe you’re not lying now.”
What could he say?
Because you used to trust me.
Because it was a lie of omission.
I promise I’m telling the truth.
All his justifications fell flat.
“You can believe him because he’s a good man,” Ty said.
Spec scoffed. “You, too, VP? This is fucking insanity.”
“He’s never done anything to hurt his club, Spec.”
“He—”
“I’m not done.” Ty didn’t often exert his authority, but his tone cracked like a whip into the room.
Spec shut his mouth.
“We started this club what, two, two and a half years ago? How many times has Pulse had our backs? How many times has he patched us up? How many of our women has he helped through—” Ty swallowed.
His ol’ lady had suffered at the hands of human traffickers. She was doing well now, but it had been scary for a time, and those days would remain scarred in Ty’s mind for the rest of his life.
He cleared his throat. “How many times has he helped our women through some serious shit? And now, the second his past might threaten this club, he’s here willing to sacrifice himself.”
Pulse’s face burned. Ty made him sound like a damn martyr. All he wanted was to keep his brothers and their women safe. “VP, I’m not—”
Ty lifted his hand. “No, look…” He stood, his face fierce and dark. “I get it, Spec, you’re butt hurt because this shit took you by surprise. But really fucking think about it. He didn’t have to tell us shit. He came to you and Curly because he’s worried about us and our ol’ ladies. And he did it, knowing full well what you might do to him.”
“Or he’s in over his head and might as well see if we’re willing to help his ass out. Or he’s setting us up. There’s more than one possibility, VP.”
Ty shrugged as he sat. “Guess that’s why we’re voting then. So we can all decide for ourselves which possibility is most likely.”
Christ, he couldn’t take it anymore. “Look…” It was Pulse’s turn to stand. “Regardless of how you all vote today, in my mind, you’re my brothers. You can be pissed at me for as long as you need to come to terms with this shit. Bottom line, I’m not DEA any longer, and there isn’t a goddamn thing they can say or do to make me go back.”
“No?” Spec asked. “What if they get their hands on Talia? You saying you wouldn’t give them exactly what they wanted to save her ass?”
He almost laughed. Spec didn’t know Talia at all if he thought she wouldn’t kick his ass worse than any outlaw biker if he did what Spec proposed.
“No,” he said.
“Bullshit.”
Fuck this. He’d taken Spec’s anger and hatred for the past three days because he felt he deserved it, and it would keep the peace in the club. Everyone knew now, and the peace shattered. “I wouldn’t have to.” He leaned toward Spec, allowing his anger and frustration to flood his veins. “I’d turn to my club for help. The fucking club I pledged my life to. The club I’ve goddamn bled for. Same as you.” He shouted the words in Spec’s face.
They squared off across the table like two snorting bulls ready to lock horns.
Spec’s eyes were wild in a way he’d only seen a few times from his enforcer. The time Liv’s ex attacked her came to mind. He curled his fists as his nostrils flared.
One of those fists would no doubt be flying his way in seconds.
Pulse rolled his shoulders. Taking a hit was always worse if he tensed. He wouldn’t fight Spec, but his brother probably had a punch that would send him flying across the room, and he wouldn’t hesitate to throw it.
“Enough!” Jinx hollered. The man had a bullhorn voice without shouting. When he put force behind it, he could shatter eardrums. He put his hand on Spec’s shoulder and shoved the man back into his chair.
“Sit your ass down,” he barked as he pointed Pulse’s way. “Both of you.”
He dropped his ass into the seat as commanded.
“Ji—”
“No! You’ve said your piece, Spec, and we all get it. You’re fucking pissed. Now we’re gonna vote like the prez said. Then we’re gonna put this shit behind us. I’ll go first.”
Pulse held his breath as Jinx turned his way. “You’re my brother. You kept me fucking sane when Harper was in the hospital. I trust you, and I vote you keep your patch.”
Spec scoffed while Pulse swallowed a lump of emotion.
“Same for me,” Ty said. “After the way you helped Kelsie, I couldn’t vote against you. I trust you too.”
Pulse blinked. Christ, this was embarrassing as hell.
Tracker was next. He played with the new lip ring he’d gotten a few weeks ago, nodding. “I vote to keep you. We all got a fucking past. Your actions speak for themselves.”
And around the table they went, each man stating their vote. So far, every single man had voiced their desire to have Pulse as a brother.
It was more than he could have hoped for and probably more than he deserved. When it was finally Spec’s turn, the man looked Pulse dead in the eye. “I think you’re an expert at going undercover to infiltrate an organization. I want you gone.”
It hurt. A sharp ache stabbed through his chest even though he’d known which way Spec would vote.
No one said anything for a few seconds. Not even Jinx had an obnoxious quip to break the tension. After a few heavy moments, Curly stood. “My vote goes with Pulse, and that means the majority vote is that he keeps his patch. This is over. Fucking dead and buried. Now, we move on to the best way to keep this club safe and get off the cartel’s radar.” He swung his gaze Spec’s way. “That means I need my enforcer on board. You gonna be able to make peace with this, Spec?”
For a moment, one of the worst of Pulse’s life, he was certain Spec would flip off the room and storm out. Exhaustion swamped him. This one morning felt like it lasted an entire week. As Spec finally spoke, Pulse stared at a small nick on the wooden table.
“You can count on me, Prez.” Spec said the right words, but his sarcastic tone did little to bolster Pulse’s confidence.
“All right.” Curly nodded, running a hand through his loose curls. “We got more to discuss, but I think we can all use a break.”
“And a fucking drink,” Jinx muttered.
“Everyone, take the day. I want you all here for breakfast tomorrow.” He glanced at Spec. “No exceptions.”
After agreeing, Pulse shot out of his chair and nearly sprinted from the clubhouse. The place that had been his refuge for the past few years suddenly felt like a cage whose walls shrank every few minutes.
He burst out on the gorgeous sunny day. It didn’t seem fair to have dark storm clouds swirling inside him while the outdoors was picture-perfect. The day called for darkness and thunder. Mother Nature had decided to fuck with him.
He jogged down the steps and turned toward the renovated barn. He needed Talia in his arms, and he needed it now—the one good thing in his day.
“Hey!” Spec’s voice had Pulse’s spine stiffening.
He slowed to a stop and turned. Was this it? Would his enforcer lay him out flat and dance on his battered body?
Spec stomped down the steps and straight to Pulse.
He braced, ready for the hit.
But it never came, at least not in the form of a fist. Instead, Spec leaned close. “I won’t kill you because it’s what Curly wants. We can coexist in the club but stay the fuck away from me and stay the fuck away from my woman. Got it?”
Pulse nodded. “Yeah. I got it.”
“Good. Now get the fuck outta my way.”
Spec rammed him with his shoulder as he stormed by.
Pulse stayed where he was, watching his former friend peel out of the lot in a spray of dust and gravel.
He’d won. The vote went his way. Only one man voted against him. He should be celebrating.
Then why did he feel so defeated?