Chapter 20—Milly
“W ell, aren’t you becoming a regular,” Ruby says as she plops her ass on the chair across from me.
I don’t rise to her bait, just roll my eyes and kick out the chair closest to me, then cross my feet on it. Girl just smirks and joins me, taking the other half of the chair for her own footstool.
“Don’t get all attached. I’m busting out of here soon,” I say as I take a pull of my Red Bull. Finally convinced the prospect to keep it stocked at the clubhouse so I have something to live on before noon.
“That right? You got help, or you need a lookout?”
And just like that, Mia comes to my mind, though without an ounce of sadness. She would have loved Ruby. Not only for her style but because she has my back at a moment’s notice. That’s how Mia and I started. It was instant. Even if I’m not sticking around, I’ve got a feeling that Ruby and I won’t become strangers again.
“Thanks for the offer, but family’s coming in.” That has her raising an eyebrow as she sits straighter, but not enough to forgo her footstool. “Don’t get your panties in a twist. Your pops was the one who called him, apparently. It’s all sanctioned.”
“Thank God.” She drops her feet off the chair as she pulls her bag up from the ground and starts looking through it. “I can’t deal with anymore ‘overprotective daddy’ moments. Guy’s finally been letting the leash out a bit, and I’m not about to get thrown back into the doghouse just when I get some fresh air.”
Her analogy amuses me, and I fight my laughter. “That bad?”
“Ugh, it’s the worst. When Mom was around, I had a buffer, you know? Even after cancer took her, he was still reasonable, willing to talk through things. Then things took some turns with the club, got a few enemies, got a bump or two on my head, and bam! Suddenly, I’m five years old and can’t cross the street without someone holding my hand.” She pulls out a black makeup bag from her purse and puts it on the table. Opening it up, she ignores the mascara, lipstick, and other cosmetics but goes for the square compact. She takes out a small lens holder before she pokes at her eye and pulls out one of her contacts.
“Sorry, but my eyes are killing me. These summer minicourses are great to get in some extra credits, but they force you to take a four-month course in like a week. My eyes are on fire from all the studying I’ve been doing.” She takes out the other before squeezing something into the lens holder and putting it all away. After another rummage in her purse, she takes out glasses that I swear to God make her look almost innocent.
I burst out laughing as she pulls her hair into a ponytail, making it worse. Well, making her look hotter, but also tickling my funny bone like crazy.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Yankee-Doodle. I’ve worn these maybe three times in my life. I hate them. I look like such a nerd.”
“A hot nerd.” I snort as I try to control my laughter .
She waves my comment away, but with a small smile. “Whatever.”
“Ruby?”
We both turn at the question and see Kooper and Domino staring at us as they stand by the pool table, cues in hand.
“Yeah?” she asks with a tone of annoyance.
“You wear glasses?” Domino asks as Kooper just continues to stare.
Her glare is hard, and I throw mine out there, too, to back her up. If they laugh at her, so help me God, I’ll go Real Housewives of New York City on their asses. “No, I wear stilettos on my head. What the fuck does it look like I’m wearing?”
“Yeah, but… well, I’ve never seen you with them,” he stammers, and I see the glare intensify on her face.
“You laugh and I’ll bust you and your bike up,” she huffs before turning around and crossing her arms.
“I wasn’t going to laugh. Girl just fucking made all my naughty schoolteacher fantasies come to life.” A loud smack has us looking back to see Domino holding his face as he’s bent over. He yells at Kooper, who’s already walking away, “Not that I was going to do anything about it, man. Jesus Christ.”
“What do you think that was about?”
She shrugs. “Koop’s in charge of most of my security duty. Probably thought Domino was making a play on the president’s daughter. It’s a big no-no. Think they’ve even got it written in the club’s charter of something.”
“Yeah, right. ”
She rolls her eyes. “Dad’s strict about that sort of thing.”
Before I can dive into that laced answer, two girls come up to the table. They say nothing as they stand there looking at me and Ruby. A once-over has me thinking they’re more than just club vamps, but when they still say nothing after ten seconds of awkwardness, I get antsy.
“Can we help you?” And no, I’m not being nice. From the flinch I get from one girl, it’s clear in my tone that I’m not offering shit to them.
“Down, girl,” Ruby says as she nods to the pair and then to the table. “They’re with me.”
The one with the strawberry blonde hair takes the empty seat easily. The other one, the one who flinched when I spoke, has hair past her ass and just hovers next to the seat that I still have my feet on. I raise my eyebrow. She says nothing, but I give her props—she looks me in the eye and waits.
I pull my feet off the chair, but I keep looking at her as she tilts the seat to clear it of debris before sitting on it.
“You ever been to Brooklyn?” I ask.
“Huh?” she asks before looking at Ruby for guidance.
To Ruby’s credit, she shrugs. “I don’t know what she’s going on about, but she has a thing about Brooklyn differing from the rest of New York, so go easy on the Yank jabs. Especially you, Abs.” She looks at the strawberry blonde, who lets out a small giggle but stops when I roll my head in her direction. “Natalie, Abigail, this is Milly, aka Brooklyn obsessed.”
“Not obsessed. I just know how to read a fucking map. And if you’ve visited New York, or anyplace on the East Coast, you would understand that there’s a difference in shit, and it’s about showing respect for the place when you acknowledge the location you were raised in. But I guess in old Hicktown, USA, that really isn’t a thing.”
Instead of feeling offended, the group of women around me smiles, Ruby even laughs outright. Knew I liked her. And I guess the other two aren’t so bad. They seem young like me, and I’m not seeing rings.
“Girlfriends?” I ask Ruby.
She shakes her head. “Nah, unclaimed. Just here for me. Nat is my roommate and got roped into coming out to lunch with me and Dad for our weekly meetup. We usually head back up to college after lunch, but Abs said she was here, so we thought we’d stop in. Abigail has been a friend of the club for years. Her brother was in, but he passed away a while back when he got pulled back to active duty in Iraq.”
“I’d like to think I’m my own person now and not just my brother’s little sister.” Abigail rolls her eyes as she crosses her arms. There’s no anger in her voice, just annoyance.
Ruby shrugs. “We all want something. Doesn’t always happen the way we want. Why are you here, anyway? Clubhouse is far from your new job at the vet clinic.”
“Wendi had a meeting with Casper about getting a dog. She asked me to tag along, as we’ll be hitting the supply store after, and she wants me on hand to help.”
“Casper wants a dog?” Ruby asks with more shock than I think a person should about a dog, but what the hell do I know?
“Yeah, but for the club. Or that’s what he says. ”
Ruby snorts. “Yeah, sure. And the rumor that he has a hard-on for that vet boss of yours has nothing to do with it. Casper caring about anything but himself, even an animal, is a joke. Guy kills things for a living. He doesn’t keep them alive and well.” She sees my expression, which probably reads “What the fuck?” With a shake of her head, she explains, “He was a sniper before he joined the Hounds. He’s also the club’s enforcer now, so his skills are probably still sharp, if you get my meaning.”
I tilt my head and add in a single-shoulder raise. I’m sure it looks more like a nervous tic or the start of a seizure. “Where I’m from, we call them a strongman. But don’t let Danny’s size fool you. He got his reputation not to fuck with him by the age of eleven when he took out two rivals from another district who were trying to rob a candy story on our block. He fucked them up good, and Mom was so damn proud, she had a damn party. Claimed him as Vinny’s strongman before Vinny even knew he was going to take over as capo of Brooklyn.”
I’m greeted by quiet, all three girls looking at me with wide eyes. It’s the roommate on my left who breaks the silence.
“You’re in the mafia?” She squeaks it out, and that’s all the tell I need.
“Guess your lot doesn’t do much gossiping, huh?”
“Oh, we do our fair share. But I think I missed this fucking news while I was taking my finals or some shit. Damn, girl, talk about princess status. I got nothing on you,” Ruby says with a flick of her wrist in my direction.
I just laugh. “We all know I’m not the princess type. Of the two of us, you claim that crown.” I wave her away but draw my focus back to the roommate, Natalie. “You sure you haven’t been to Brooklyn? You’ve got a face that I swear I’ve seen before.”
She shakes her head, but her face drains of color a bit. “Um, no, never been there.”
I should be nice and let her off the hook, but I hate when I know something but don’t know something all at the same time. “You sure? I don’t really forget a face. You got a sister or something who’s out that way?”
“Um, no, only child. Adopted, actually,” she says with a quick shake of her head in complete dismissal of the possibility.
“Then how do you know you’re an only child? I mean, if you were adopted, your birth mom could have popped out like ten kids before you or something,” Abigail inquires, and I nod in agreement.
Natalie stumbles over her words as she goes from looking at me to Abigail. “Um, I mean, I know I was an only child. Mom died a few years after, and then I got adopted. That’s… that’s what I meant.”
Before I can poke the bear more, Abigail cuts me off. “Incoming,” she mutters, to which Ruby looks over my head and curses.
I don’t turn and look. If it’s a problem for me, I’ll figure it out eventually. And honestly, the only problem I have is if a gun’s pointed in my direction or at my kid. And I can still see Ollie playing on the gaming system on the other side of the club where I dropped him off an hour ago when Teddy asked for a playdate. Or that’s what Maddy said it was, anyway, when she called Bass, and he passed the phone to me .
After our little tryst of knocking boots—for a good solid seven hours, I might add—we went home and slept in our own rooms. Well, me on the couch and him in the bed. Which is fine. I didn’t expect flowers and promises of tomorrow. We’ve been doing the same routine we’ve done since the beginning, but now there’s less stress. Hell, I even slept in this morning. I can let my guard down when Bass is around, because I know he’ll protect Ollie. His club doesn’t want to go to war to protect us from Ivan, so I know he won’t want to go to war against me and my own if Ollie gets hurt. Because that’s what’ll happen if something happens to my kid—all-out war.
“What’s up, losers?” I hear the annoying high voice before a kid hops into my peripheral, pulling my eyes to her.
And I do mean kid. She might dress like a vamp, but this one is clearly just out of high school. She still has that aura about her that says “New from the package and willing to be slutty to get attention.” I’ve seen that look. Hell, I was that look. Long time ago, of course.
Don’t ask me why my eyes travel to the opposite side of the club to see Bass talking to his brothers. I already had sex and got to be my own slutty version of the girl I always wanted to be—no need for a repeat. I should be good to go for another three years or more after what we did together. And yet I swear my pussy is weeping at my thoughts.
“Emily.” Ruby nods at the girl. Abigail just looks annoyed, and Nat has her head down, staring at whatever is so interesting by her feet. Think she’s just trying to be invisible and not draw my eye again.
“What’re we doing today? I’m thinking shots. ”
“It’s one in the afternoon. On a Wednesday,” Abigail deadpans.
“So? It’s five o’clock somewhere or something like that. I say we take a few shots and then see who’s nice enough to teach us how to play some pool.” Her eyebrows wiggle up and down at that last part.
“Ain’t no way the prospect will serve you. And no brother is going to touch you. Not only are you too young, but you’re General’s niece. Club won’t disrespect him like that,” Ruby says with a sigh.
“Oh please. I bet I can get a drink from this place. They don’t care how old a person is. And I can get a brother.” Ruby raises a single eyebrow at that. “If I wanted to. But while these guys are nice to look at, I’m looking for someone who can go longer than five minutes after they run their fingers over my tight body.”
I snort. I can’t help it. Bass is on my mind, and memories of how he held me down and fucked me for hours makes me fucking glad he knew what the hell to do and wasn’t some young gun.
Apparently, this Emily chick doesn’t know what I know, and her annoyance is made clear as she makes an ugly noise in my direction.
I look up to see Ruby watching me, and she shakes her head twice. She’s right—the girl isn’t worth it. Plus, she needs to learn the disappointment in a junior partner like the rest of us did. Not about to let her in on the secret that older men know what to do for a woman, while a boy only knows how to get himself off before literally getting off you and going to play another video game .
“Whatever. I don’t need to hang out with some washed-up peeps who can’t even get a biker to fuck them. You must have something, and I don’t want to catch it. I’m outie.” She leaves with a flip of her hair and a very pronounced sway of her hip, heading straight to the bar, where I see the prospect already shaking his head at her as she walks to him.
“General needs to collar that girl if he knows what’s good for him and the club. She’s a walking liability, and I doubt my dad will go to bat for her when she gets into trouble,” Ruby says with a sad sigh. “Well, we gotta get. Got more studying to do.”
“The joys of life.” Abigail grins as we watch Ruby, then Natalie stand. “I’ll probably be heading out soon myself. Wendi doesn’t usually take too long on these initial interviews. She just wants to see if the person is ready for one of our trained dogs.”
I nod at the two standing. “See you around.”
“Yeah, let me know before you get carried back to your tower. Would hate to have to go all the way to Brooklyn to find you.” Ruby winks at me as she moves past us.
“Wouldn’t want that.” I smile at her as she goes and then nod to Natalie. We hold eyes for a second longer before she cowers and follows Ruby.
“Still think you know her?” Abigail says, not missing a thing.
“Nah.” I grab my Red Bull and drain the rest of it. If the girl wants to keep her secrets, that’s fine. God knows I have my fair share. Keeping them keeps me alive, and I ain’t about to spill someone else’s.