Storm the Night: An Iron Guardians MC Romance Novella

Chapter 2

Callie came out of her front door and walked toward her mailbox and I noticed her instantly. Something was off about her, about him, about that house. I couldn’t put my finger on it though. I hadn’t lived in the neighborhood long, but it’d been long enough to notice how she never left and if she did, that dickhead in a suit wasn’t far behind and never looked happy. I just knew he was a fuckin’ asshole and it made me wonder if she was ok.

Callie is beautiful. I was asking around about my neighbors and every neighborhood has someone that knows everything about everyone. Nosey Nancy told me Callie was shy and her husband worked all the time, but they were a beautiful couple. Right.

Callie has curly brown hair that falls just past her shoulders. She’s got beautiful caramel skin, slightly curvy in her hips, and carries herself with such confidence most days. I say most days because it’s when she’s alone that she seems the most at ease. When Mr. Dickhead is with her, she looks completely timid and withdrawn.

I decide to wave to her. “Hey.”

She smiled back and held her hand over her brow to block the sun. “Hi! You waitin’ for someone?” Her voice has a very soothing, lower tone.

“No one. Just sitting here thinkin’. Anything good in the mail today?” I nod to her hands and wince inside because of all the things I could’ve said, I asked her about the mail.

She smiled and said, “Junk. Why do we even have a mailbox? It’s always junk. Send me something good for once!” She shrugged her shoulders, and it was really cute.

We laughed and then I visibly saw her shoulders tense when the screen door shut behind her. Hopping off my bike, I took a few steps toward her and in a lowered voice asked, “Are you ok?”

She dropped her head and then looked up and said, “Um...I have to go.”

“Give me a piece of mail. Tell him my shit landed in your box.” She looked at me hopeful and chewed her bottom lip before nodding. It broke my heart. I grabbed the piece and said, “Thank you,” loud enough for Mr. Dickhead to hear. I looked at him and said, “Hey man. My mail landed in your box. The postal workers gotta figure this shit out.”

He stood there with his dick hands in his dick pockets and a dick fake smile on his face and nodded his head. “Callie, we need to get going.”

She blinked several times and then turned to go inside without looking back. I rubbed my thumb along the bottom of my lip as I watched her head to the door. Mr. Dickhead grabbed her...hard, by her arm and basically shoved her inside. It had taken everything within me not to go running up to that door and grab him the way he grabbed her. I knew in that moment that something was not right about that guy, and I would figure out everything I could about him. I looked down at the piece of mail and it read, Calliope Richards. Calliope. He called her Callie though. Fuck that guy.

*

Everyone was sitting around the table for a meeting. Our club is different than others. We mostly stay on the straight and narrow, but we aren’t afraid to handle shit if it ever comes to that.

Our meetings take place weekly on Friday nights unless there are emergency meetings called, but we liked to have our Saturday and Sunday’s free for club activities or just personal shit.

Those meetings, when called, are always mandatory. You had better have one hell of an excuse if you can’t attend. Aside from being laid up in the hospital, most excuses will get you fucked up.

Being a part of the Iron Guardians means to be a part of a family, for life. Iron is hard to bend or break, just like this family. It can be demanding being a part of the club, but the reward is knowing you’re never alone, someone always has your back.

Doc gets everyone’s attention. “Alright assholes, listen up. We have a couple of things on the agenda.” Doc is our president and a veteran. I’ve got a great deal of respect for him and he’s definitely the glue that keeps everything with the club held together, him along with his old lady, JoElla. “Who is doing the Veteran ride this weekend to the cemetery for the fallen without family? I want at least six of us.” Several of the guys raised their hands, including myself.

Every now and then we will learn that a veteran has passed, and they weren’t claimed by any known family. It was important to us that someone stood for those men and women. “Alright. Me, Smoke, Griller, Country, Kid, and Romeo, let’s meet here at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Ryder, you’re off the hook. It’s all good. I know you have shit this weekend, which brings me to our next thing. Ryder...” Doc nodded my way giving me the room to speak.

Leaning forward on the table, I laced my fingers together. “Yeah, I uh, have noticed some shit with my neighbor that I just want to keep my eyes on and may come to you guys if something pops off.”

“What’s up, man?” Smoke asks. Smoke’s real name is Jedrek and he’s our VP.

“I don’t know. I get a real bad feeling that she...Calliope...her name is Calliope, although that dickhead calls her Callie, so maybe that’s what she prefers.” I shake my head. “Anyway, I’m pretty certain Callie is in an abusive relationship. I just want to keep my eye on it. If she needs help, I want to be there for her.” I stared down the table at everyone.

“Whatever you need, man. When you have a minute though, I’d like to talk a little more about it.” Smoke jutted his chin at me.

“Yeah, sure. Thanks everyone.”

Doc grabbed the gavel and finished up. “Alright. Enjoy your weekend. Let’s go eat. Jo made a feast for us and she’ll cut your balls off if you don’t grab something.” Everyone laughed. The gavel slammed and everyone filed out.

Smoke stopped me. “Hey. What’s the importance with this woman?”

“I don’t know. Something just isn’t sitting right with me. I was sitting on my bike today and it was like she was trying to find a reason to talk to me. Her husband or whatever he is, he’s a real fucking dick. You know how you can just tell. I don’t trust him.”

“Be careful. Keep your head on a swivel. You want D to look into him? He’s in charge of security and shit. You know he can find out anything and everything.” D was Diablo, but his real name was Alden. He got his nickname because he’s a real son of a bitch if you cross him. The man has a good heart, but no one would know it.

The club was in one of the local parades in support of the Veterans in our area. We each attached a flag to our bikes. D never smiles and a couple of kids ran out into the street to get a little closer and D stopped, looked down at them and growled. I know it was to get them out of the street, but it freaked the kids out. One of them whispered to the other, Diablo, and well, it just stuck. I guess he liked the name. I laugh every time I think about him growling at those kids.

“Yeah, good call. Ok, I’ll talk to him. Thanks.” He grabbed my shoulder and then headed out the door to the food.

I wasn”t” sure what it was about Callie, but I felt a need to protect her, make sure she was ok. She was too sweet to act the way I saw her when she was getting the mail. I knew it was gonna bug me until I figured out what was happening.