Chapter Seven
Olivia
The moment Bria had set her eyes on Pearce, she’d fallen head over heels.
He wasn’t interested. He hadn’t so much as glanced in her direction, and it turned out to be the topic of many of our conversations.
The fact I was with his older brother made it easier for her to hang around and watch him through puppy dog eyes.
Pearce and Bully were brothers. Not like club brothers, but real blood-related.
And they were inseparable. Mostly. I still remember the way Bria lit up the second Pearce asked her to go for a ride on his bike.
It had been a weird day, with most of the bikers out on a secret run they couldn’t tell us about.
That wasn’t unusual—club business was always private.
But when they returned, something in the air felt off, like charged electricity bouncing around aimlessly.
I’d just assumed something had gone wrong and I left Bully alone. He always needed time to himself when he got like that.
I’d arrived home and gone straight to bed, not thinking too much about Bria because I knew she was in safe hands. Everything about the club felt safe and protective then.
It was the early hours when I heard her in the shower sobbing.
I wasn’t prepared for what I was about to find in there.
She was standing under the water, and the entire bathroom was full of steam.
Her skin was red raw from the heat, and I immediately turned it off, which brought her from whatever nightmare she was lost in.
Her eyes found mine, and the pain shining in hers almost broke me there and then.
Her hair was matted, sticking to her face, and I noticed bruises appearing right before my eyes.
And her feet were dirty, like she’d run barefoot through the depths of hell.
I’d held her until she stopped sobbing, and it was only when she began to shiver from the cold that she stepped from the shower and allowed me to wrap her in her dressing gown.
Some of the details stick in my mind as fresh as the day I witnessed them. Others have faded over time.
“You’re right,” I admit, finally meeting Bully’s eyes. “I do feel guilty. I do blame you, and I blame the club. And I’ve tried to move forward. Lord knows, Bria wants that. But all those bad memories, they originate from here, from being in this club.”
“Yet Bria is coping just fine,” he snaps, looking past me and through the office window. Bria is sitting at the bar, chatting with Lords, the club’s Chaplain.
“On the outside, maybe.”
“She’s dealing with it better because she isn’t blaming the club.”
I roll my eyes, sighing heavily. “We’re going around in circles, Bully.”
“Talk to her. Ask her who she blames,” he demands. “I know the club didn’t deal with things in the right way at first, but in the end, we did what was right.”
“You didn’t believe her,” I snap. “You sat on the fence.”
“He was my brother.”
“And she’s my sister.”
He runs his fingers through his hair. “Yah know, I don’t get why we’re still fighting over this. Pearce is dead and still causing me shit from beyond the grave.”
“I want to take Bria home,” I mutter.
“No. The club’s on lockdown until further notice.”
“I don’t belong to the club, and Bria certainly doesn’t.”
“Dagger is going after you to get to me.” When I frown, he sighs. “Darren. He’s the president of the Scorpions.”
“He never mentioned you. And how would he know about us?”
“Trust me, he knows. And until I know what his game is, you need to stay here.”
I scoff. “Have you ever actually thought he might like me? Is the thought so abhorrent to you that a man could actually want to get to know me?”
He rolls his eyes. “Of course not, but these bikers have been a pain in the club’s side since before I was born. The history is too much of a coincidence for me to ignore it.”
I groan dramatically. “Fine. I want a room with Bria. I’m not leaving her alone with your men.”
“Whatever,” he mutters. “I’ll have one of the whores sort it for you.”
“I can sort my own room. I don’t need your sex slaves running around after me.” I stomp from the office and head for Bria, who looks surprisingly calm considering. “Let’s go find a room.”
She jumps off the stool. “We’re staying?”
“If that’s okay with you? He’s being dramatic, thinking I’m in some kind of danger.”
She slips her hand in mine. “Then that’s good enough for me.”
We take the stairs and go to the first floor.
Guests usually stay here, and the rooms that are free have doors propped open.
We take one with twin beds, and I go to the cupboard to find bedding.
We make the beds in silence. I have a million things racing around my head, and eventually, she laughs, “Okay, out with it.”
“Huh?”
“Your mind is working overtime. What’s wrong?”
I sit down on my bed and cross my legs. “Bully said I’m projecting.”
She laughs again. “That doesn’t sound like a you thing,” she says, her tone teasing.
“Don’t tell me you agree with him.”
“Depends what you’re projecting about.” When I don’t answer, she sits on her bed facing me. “Pearce,” she mutters in a low voice.
“How can you even say his name?” Her fingers interlace the way they always do when she’s anxious. “Look, we don’t have to talk about this,” I add quickly.
“Why do you do that?” she asks. “Assume I don’t want to talk about it, like it’s some shameful secret.”
I gasp. “Bria, that’s not what I meant.”
“You’re just like Mum. It’s why I moved out of there. I was raped, Livvy. I’m not ashamed. I did nothing wrong.”
I jump up, joining her on her bed. “I know you didn’t. I’m sorry if I’m getting it all wrong.”
“We don’t talk about it because you were sad that Bully went to prison. It all happened so fast. The trial, and then Bully getting arrested and charged . . . and then Pearce dying.” She stares down into her lap. “And now, Bully’s out and you’re still sad.”
Tears fill my eyes. “Oh god, I’ve made it about me.”
“No,” she’s quick to say. “I just never brought it up because I didn’t want to make things worse between you.”
“I remember leaving the police station and taking you home,” I say. “And once you’d fallen to sleep, I went to see Bully.”
“I didn’t know that,” she says, frowning.
“I never told anyone. I was so upset with his reaction, I couldn’t bring myself to tell you.”
“When he didn’t believe?”
I nod. “He dropped my hand like it was a hot poker, shaking his head and telling me I was wrong, that Pearce wouldn’t do that.
” I wipe my tears, feeling shame wash over me.
“I should’ve dumped him there and then. I didn’t and I’ve spent years thinking about the way he reacted, resentment building inside me. ”
Bria takes my hands in hers and smiles sympathetically. “Pearce was his brother. He didn’t want to believe what he was capable of, but in the end, he saw the truth.”
“And then he ruined the trial.”
She nods. “He did. And I was mad too. But things worked out. Pearce is dead. He can’t hurt anyone else.”
“But he didn’t pay. Not really.”
“He took a pretty good beating. The thought of spending life in a wheelchair was too much for him, so he took his own life. I call that a win.”
“I’m so angry,” I admit.
“At the wrong person.”
“What? You’re telling me you don’t blame the club for everything?”
She shrugs. “I did, at first. Therapy helped me deal with it, and now, I can see it’s only Pearce who’s to blame. He’s not here, so I have to let it go or it’ll eat me alive. Besides, Bully is in charge now. Things might be different.”
“I want a normal life. I want kids and a house.”
“Can’t you have all that with Bully?”
I shrug. “I guess I feel bad,” I admit. “Shacking up with my sister’s rapist’s brother.”
“He was your boyfriend before Pearce was my rapist.” She offers a little smile. “For what it’s worth, I think Bully does love you. He just needs to learn to treat you with the respect you deserve.”
“Everything about him is wrong for me.”
She grins. “But he feels so right?” I nod, and she laughs. “Then stop punishing yourself and him. Give him a chance to be what you need. He’s had five years to grow up. You just have to get to know one another again.”
Bully
I take my seat in church. “Smiler, tell me you have something.”
He nods, smiling wide and showing his ear-to-ear scar.
“Yes, Pres. Dagger was from the London faction of his club. He was the VP and then decided to start his own chapter here in Nottingham. He was married, but there’s no record of her being here with him, so I didn’t look into her.
She seems irrelevant. His VP goes by the name Bullet, on account of his favourite murder weapon.
” He rolls his eyes. “The other members are OGs, no one younger than fifty by the looks of things. They’re recruiting for prospects, so they want to expand.
Their main income is drugs. I’m looking into storage units to see if they’re shipping in or if they have grow farms around.
Something tells me weed is too small-time for them, although the market is thriving in Nottingham. ”
“It’s too saturated already,” agrees Taz.
“Word on the streets is that spice is rife,” Lords chips in. “I’m volunteering on the streets next week in the town centre. I’ll get people talking.”
Smiler pulls out his mobile and shows us the damage from the fire we started a few nights ago. “I got a guy in the fire service who sent me these.”
I smirk. “I hear they’re still in there though.”
He nods. “Yep, the fire didn’t touch upstairs. There’s an entire floor they can live on.”
“Good,” I say. “I want them where I can see them. We’ll wait, see if they retaliate.”
“And when they do?” asks Ragnar.
“We’ll be ready.”
I’m heading out when Liv steps in front of me. “I want to talk,” she says.
I inwardly groan. I’m so sick of arguing with her, and I really just want to get out of here for a quiet ride. I hold up the bike keys. “I’m riding out.” Disappointment fills her expression, so I add, “You wanna come?” A smile pulls at her lips, and she nods, following me out.
I drive for half an hour. The sense of freedom it gives me instantly lifts my mood, and as I slow into a car park, I’m glad Liv came with.
I take her hand and lead her to the edge of the hill. It’s the perfect spot to watch the sunset, a place I’ve been coming to since I was a kid. A place I vowed to bring Liv to while I was banged up inside.
“Wow,” she whispers, taking it all in. “This is beautiful.”
I lay out my jacket so she can sit on the grass, then I drop down beside her. “I’ve been thinking over our argument,” I say.
“About that . . .”
“Let me say this,” I tell her, “or I’ll mess it all up again.
” She gives a nod. “I love you. It’s always been you.
And yeah, before, when we first met, I was an idiot and I thought I could have it all.
Club whores threw themselves at me the second I became VP.
I hurt you, over and over, but you stuck around.
And I appreciate that. I’m done with other women and stupid games. I just want you, Liv.”
“I spoke to Bria,” she almost whispers. “She kind of agreed with you. I am holding on to some kind of anger and blame, but I know it’s not our fault. I’m sorry.”
I brush a hand over her cheek and cup her face. “The club is my life, Liv, but so are you. Don’t tell me I can’t have both. Please.”
“We’ll try,” she says, and my heart swells. “I can’t promise it’ll work. But I will do my best to support you.”
I slam my lips against her in a bruising kiss. “Thank you.”
We stare out at the sinking sunset. “You were wrong before,” I say, and I feel her look at me.
“I do know things about you. You like vanilla ice cream with pecans. You drink decaf everything because caffeine makes your heart race and you hate the feeling. You like gin, lemon is your favourite, and if you could, you’d home a thousand dogs.
” I turn to her, and she’s smiling. “You like hot baths and white roses. Chocolate with salty crisps,” I grin, “at the same time.”
“It’s nice,” she argues, laughing.
I climb onto my knees and lean forward so she has to lie back.
I lift her top slightly and kiss her stomach.
“You want children, two. You want to get married, but you don’t want the traditional white wedding because you hate to be stared at.
” I glance up, and there’s heat in her eyes.
“You like to be on top, but you also like me to be in charge.” I gently bite her nipple through her shirt, and she gasps.
“You give the best blowjobs in the world.” She laughs out loud.
“And when you walk into a room, it lights up. I hate that men stare at you, but at the same time, I’m amazed you don’t pay them any attention.
I love you, Liv. I always have and I always will. ”
“I love you too,” she replies, running her hands through my hair. “I’m sorry for everything.”
I brush a finger over my name tattooed across her collarbone. “We belong together. You know that.” I kiss her one last time before standing and holding out my hands for her. She grabs them, and I pull her to her feet. “Now, let’s get back so I can get you naked.”