Raze (Dirty Soul MC: Long Beach #1)

Chapter 11

Iwake up to the smell of bacon and a sweet humming sound, and when I open my eyes I see Peyton cooking in my kitchen. Her hot, ass cheeks hang out the bottom of one of my shirts, and I have to lay here and admire her for a little while.

“Hey, sleepy head.” She has a huge smile on her face when she turns around and sees that I’m awake.

God, she’s beautiful. irritatingly, bite down on your own fuckin’ fist to stop yourself from wantin’ to eat her kinda beautiful.

“Sorry, I had to wash all mine.” She looks down her body at the shirt she’s wearing apologetically.

“What ya doin’?” I ask the most stupid question ever because it’s very fuckin’ obvious what she’s doing.

“Just being the best roommate ever.” She shrugs, placing a plate on the table and patting the chair for me to sit. I look down at the problem I’m facing and gather up the sheet so it’s wrapped around the lower half of my body, taking it with me as I head toward the table.

“You're not a roommate, you're a house guest,” I remind her, looking down at the plate in front of me and trying to remember when the last time someone made me breakfast was.

“That makes us friends, then.” She smiles as she grabs a plate of her own and joins me. “You were late back last night, do anything exciting?” She pours herself a coffee from the percolator that's in the middle of the table, and I try not to smile when I notice the flowers she’s put in an empty tin beside it. She really is trying hard.

“Not really.” I give nothing away.

“So you weren’t purposely trying to avoid me?” She raises her eyebrows.

“I don’t need to avoid you, Peyton. I made it clear last night where we both stand.”

“You did,” she stands up from the table and stretches her arms above her head, lifting the shirt she’s got on just high enough for me to see the pink, lace panties she’s wearing under it. I swear this girl is trying to secure me my place in fuckin’ hell.

“So, what are you plannin’ to do today?” I ask her, quickly looking away and holding that sheet I got wrapped around me a little tighter.

“Oh, the usual, sit around and do nothing, wait for you to come home.” She rolls her eyes sarcastically and picks up our plates to put in the sink. Everything inside me wants to reach out for her waist. To drag her back to me, put her over my knee, and thrash that sexy, little ass for all the frustration she puts inside me, but instead, I take a breath and a sip of my coffee.

“You need some clothes.” I reach across the table to my cut and take out my wallet.

“I have clothes there on the line outside,” she points out.

“Well, you need a few more sets of clothes.” Seeing her walking around my hut in my shirt is making her look a lot like she’s mine and I can’t let those kinda thoughts enter my head. I hand her over a wad of cash and she stares at it real hard.

“I thought you said I wasn’t allowed to leave here.”

“I never said that, I said you weren’t allowed to hang at the club.”

“So, you're okay if I leave the compound?” Oddly, she looks unnerved by that idea.

“Sure, I’m not your keeper. But if you're worried, I can have someone go with you.”

“Someone, not you?” She looks disappointed.

“Not me.” I ignore the fact that I actually hate the idea of her leaving the compound because it’s not only unhealthy, it’s insane.

“Well, I can’t go anywhere until my clothes dry.” Her voice is much snippier as she dumps the plates in the sink and starts tidying the kitchen.

“That’s fine, I’ll arrange for Rocco to swing by and get you this afternoon. You can get some groceries while you're out.” Getting up from the table I make my way back over to the other side of the room where my clothes are, then turning my back on her so she can’t see that I’m still fuckin’ hard. I quickly slide on my jeans, buckle my belt, and pick up a tee.

“So you're heading out again?” She still sounds pissed as I pull it on and lift my cut up onto my shoulders.

“I’m president, I don’t get to sit around and enjoy the sun.”

“Maybe you should once in a while, it might cheer you up some.”

She slams the refrigerator door shut, and I stand and watch her as she scrubs the kitchen side.

“Hey,” I call over, and when she looks up at me with flustered red cheeks and an irritated look on her face, I smile.

“Thanks for breakfast.” A tiny smile twitches on her lips that I know she would have tried to hide, and nodding my head, I leave the hut and walk toward the club.

“Morning, Boss.” Dev nods at me as he helps himself to a cup of coffee from the machine at the bar.

“Early for anyone to be here ain’t it?” I look around the barroom and see Griller sitting in the corner, he’s got a bandage wrapped around his head covering his left eye socket.

“I was at the ER all night,” Dev explains, and I can see from the way he’s looking at me that he disagreed with my actions.

“Then you should rest up,” I tell him.

“No can do, we got eight cases of Burlusconi’s metal to pack up and load ready for our run.”

“I’ll help out when I’m back, in the meantime get Rocco to take Peyton into town, she needs to get some clothes and groceries for the hut.”

“Sure thing, Prez.” He nods.

“We all supposed to be runnin’ around after her, now?” Griller pipes up and when I turn to look at him, I see hate in the one eye he’s still got.

“I thought last night would have taught you a lesson on runnin’ ya mouth. If you don’t like the way I do shit, no one’s forcin’ you to stay. ” I step over to him.

“I’m just sayin’, Boss, we all got shit to do.” He surprises me when he lowers the tone of his voice.

“Well, I don’t see you doin’ much shit right now, other than stirrin’ it. You heard what Dev said, there's guns to prepare for transportation.”

“Apologies, Prez.” Griller sounds sarcastic as he stands on his feet and heads to work.

“You headin’ off somewhere? If ya are you should take Ruck with you, he’s your sergeant,” Dev reminds me.

“I’m good takin’ this one on my own.” I head out the door toward my bike before he can argue.

“Mornin’, Raze.” Three of the club whores say my name in unison when I pass the motel. They all have fake tits spilling out of their bikini tops and I tip my chin at them as I pass.

“Hey, wait up.” One of them chases after me as I move through the arch into the parking lot.

“What can I do for ya?” I turn around and put on a polite grin for her.

“I think it’s more a case of what I can do for you.” She skims her nails over the chest of my cut and bites her lip. It’s different to the way Peyton bites hers, and I curse myself for thinking about that girl again.

“Thanks for the offer but I gotta lot to do.” I go to move away but she wraps her arm around my neck and draws me closer.

“Trinity, that’s my name, you won’t forget it will ya?” She looks at my lips as if she’s about to kiss ‘em and I quickly pull away. Something about knowing Peyton was the last person they touched makes me desperate to keep it that way, which is another fuckin’ crazy thought that doesn’t belong in my head.

“I’m sure I won’t,” I assure her, saddling my bike and nodding at Sonny to open the gate.

“I’m afraid Mr. Monkhouse is busy.” His receptionist tells me, looking me up and down like I’m a piece of shit.

“Tell him Raze is here. He’ll see me,” I assure her as I take a seat in one of the waiting room chairs and pick up a magazine from the coffee table. I smile at her over the top of it before she huffs and struts off down the corridor toward his office.

“Logan Ashford.” I look up from the article I’m reading when I hear his voice. The old man hasn’t changed much, other than his hairline receding and a few more wrinkles around his eyes.

“I was hopin’ you and I could talk on a matter I need some help with.” I place the magazine back down and stand up.

“Come through.” He clears his throat and nods at his receptionist as he leads me through to his office.

“You screwin’ that one?” I look back out the door at her as she walks away.

“Don’t be disgusting, Lucy is the daughter of a very good friend.” He shakes his head.

“Ain’t ever stopped you before.” I laugh to myself as he sits behind his desk.

“I don’t work for the club anymore.” He cuts straight to the chase, suddenly turning things serious.

I heard that, and I understand why. Cliff lost the club a lot of their assets.

“Cliff Adams is?—”

“Cliff Adams ain’t in charge anymore, I am. And I’m gonna need a decent lawyer to be on standby, someone who knows how to play dirty.” I look at all the awards he’s got in his cabinet and smile to myself.

“Like I said, I don’t work for the club anymore. In fact, I’m retiring altogether,” he tells me.

“You? Retiring?” I chuckle as I take the seat opposite him.

“Paul, can you even remember what your wife fuckin’ looks like, you live and breathe your work.”

“Yeah, well all that's changing…dodgy ticker,” he explains, tapping his hand over his chest. “My son’s taking over the firm, and he’s smart. Passed all his degrees with honors.” He looks down at a picture frame on his desk and smiles fondly.

“And how’s that daughter of yours?” His eyes flicker with something different when he looks back up at me.

“She’s happy, therapy seems to have worked.” He closes his eyes and flares his nostrils.

“That’s good to hear, Paul, real good. And I’ll bet it’s nice for her not to keep lookin’ over her shoulder,” I remind him, sitting forward in the chair and rubbing my hands together.

“Look, Raze, I appreciate what you did to that son of a bitch who hurt her, but that was a long time ago and I offered you money.”

“And I wouldn’t take it. Friends don’t take money from each other, and that cunt deserved to die for what he did to your little girl and making her feel like it was all her fault.”

I see the anger stiffen his face and feel bad for taking him back there, but I need some security for my club.

“I get why you didn't want to help Cliff, but I’m not him. I’m back to try and fix the club.”

Paul’s immediate outright laughter pisses me off.

“It’s a hopeless cause, Raze, you might as well go back to wherever you disappeared to.”

“I ain’t doing that, I'm back in Long Beach and I’m gonna make things right.”

“Well, you sure as hell got your work cut out, do you know how many of your boys the state put away last year?”

“I’m glad you’ve been keepin’ in the loop.” I snigger at him when he slips up.

“Like I said, Raze, even if I wanted to help, I can’t. I’m retiring.”

“And what about this boy of yours?” I reach forward and pick up the photo frame, spinning it around so I can get a look at him. For a second it makes me think of my own dad but I quickly shake that thought outta my head.

“Raze, I don’t want Connor mixed up in all that. He’s a good kid.”

“He’s not a kid anymore, Paul, he’s a man. A lawyer and I’ll bet you’ve taught him everythin’ you know.” I spin it back round to face him. “Every man’s got the right to make his own choice. You may not believe me right now, but I came home to turn the club around and we will own these streets again. We’re havin’ a get-together at the club tomorrow night, have your son stop by.”

“You're not his kind of people, Raze.” Paul tries to sound assertive but he’s not in a courtroom and I’m not a fuckin’ juror.

“No, we ain’t, we’re the kinda people who deal with the shit that goes beyond the law. I don’t want any more of my brothers gettin’ locked up. I’m giving your son an opportunity to make some money and he’d be wise to take it.”

“Was there anything else?” Paul asks curtly.

“Yeah, I need you to get hold of that private investigator you used to use.”

“Who you looking into?” He picks up his glasses, rests them on his nose, and picks up a pen.

“His name’s Billy Skillet, he was locked up for rapin’ a young girl and her brother.”

Paul looks at me over the top of his glasses, and I try to tamp down the rage that thinking about it causes.

“And this Billy, is he still in prison?” he asks.

“No, he was released not long ago. I want to know where he is.” I get up from the chair and make my way to the door. “I’ll see your son tomorrow night.” I nod my head as I see myself out.

I arrive back at the club and take the gate down to the beach to avoid having to go through the clubhouse. I’m fully aware that the brothers will have an opinion on what I did to Griller last night, but they can keep it to themselves. Griller hit a nerve and the fact I lost control of myself is only evidence that I’m letting too much of this girl get inside my head.

“Raze.” I hear Polly call me from the clubhouse balcony as I pass it and before I can avoid her she quickly rushes down the stairs to stop me by the fire pit.

“I just wanted to thank you for the opportunity you're giving Sonny, he’s so grateful for it. D’ya know where he is right now?”

“No.” I shake my head looking up the beach and noticing the two runners who are staring into my hut as they pass it.

“He’s at the scrap yard, getting himself a chassis, he’s gonna start building his bike straight away. Sasquatch is gonna help him.” She sounds cheerful.

“That’s great, Pol.” I watch the way the two men laugh at each other and look back over their shoulders.

“I know he wouldn’t have been everyone's first choice of prospect but, he’ll work hard and he won’t let you down,” she assures me, just like she did the day I arrived.

“I know. It’s in his blood.” She blushes a little when I say that and offers me a sad smile.

“I want us to have a get-together on the beach here, tomorrow night. Tell the brothers to invite their families. I wanna start showin’ ‘em what direction we’re headin’ in.”

“The brothers don’t have families, Raze.” She shakes her head and laughs.

“Bull shit, I’ve heard Dev’s got a brother, Saul’s got a sister. I’m sure some of ‘em must have old ladies.”

“Cliff wasn’t keen on the idea of the brothers getting serious about women, he told ‘em all it was a weakness.” I feel a knot form in my stomach when I think back and hear him say those exact words to me in my head.

“Yeah, well Cliff ain’t here anymore and I’m changin’ this place. I get that what goes on in the clubhouse ain’t suitable for most, but the beach can be different. Make it happen for me.”

“Does that mean you’ll let your new friend come too?” Polly questions with a smart grin on her face.

“Like I said, the beach is different.” I stroll on past her toward my hut and when I step onto my porch and hear the running water coming from the side of it, I know exactly what the fuckers, who jogged by were staring at, and it makes me wanna chase ‘em up the beach and give ‘em both the Griller treatment.

I stand and stare at Peyton for far too long as she washes herself under the shower. Her hair is tied loosely above her head and the way her back dips above her ass calls out to me to go and join her. To run my hands all over her smooth body and touch it for myself.

I quickly turn around and walk back up the beach toward the clubhouse because I’d rather help pack away guns than put myself through the torture of temptation.