Chapter 4
We walk in and he closes the door behind him then sinks down in the chair across from me.
“Where is your head at right now, brother?” I ask. We need all of our brothers thinking straight now that we are at war. One mistake could cost a brother his life or the life of who rides next to him.
“I was fine until last night. Christ, talk about your past biting you in the ass. Did you see how hot she is? Fuck, I screwed up! That’s who I should be going home to every night and not a different club whore.
Candy couldn’t even take the edge off last night.
All I could picture—” I interrupt him quickly, not wanting to hear him say he was picturing my wildcat.
“Is Raegan going to be a problem for this club, Havoc?”
“What? No, of course not. She’s the sweetest, kindest, most lovable person on this planet,” he starts to say then pauses “Well, except to me that is.”
“Is there any way the two of you can work this out?” I have to ask for my own selfish reasons. After the smack down from last night, I think I already know the answer but the faster he can admit it, it might move this along.
I watch his shoulders slump even further then lean forward with his elbows on his knees. After a few moments he finally answers.
“I don’t think she’ll ever forgive me for that night.
And you want to know the worst part about all of this?
I never even slept with Debbie that first night after Raegan and I got into that fight and I got drunk.
Debbie let it slip one night a few months ago and that was the driving force for me to start the divorce.
I should’ve done it sooner, but was too much of a coward to be alone to follow through with it.
Thought Zane deserved better, but now I think he’s better off with us apart. ”
Well, shit, that might make Raegan change her mind if she knew he didn’t really cheat on her from the beginning.
“You should tell her that, Havoc. She has a right to know what that bitch did.”
“I want to, but you saw her last night, she won’t even let me within ten feet of her.”
“Emotions were running high last night, and she’d just been taken off the street by the prospects. I’m sure she wasn’t in the right frame of mind,” I try to ease into it.
“Maybe.”
“Are you going to be okay seeing her around town with another guy? I can’t have my VP going all cowboy on us if she moves on.” Christ, why can’t I just say what I need to say. That’s right because I’m acting like a pussy! When did I grow a vagina?
He huffs out and leans back in the chair.
“She hasn’t been mine in six years, I’m sure she’s moved on by now. Plus, with her stepdad being—” He crosses his arms over his chest and stares at our MC logo behind me.
The door blows open and Brass barges in.
“Prez, we got a problem. Safehouse out by Lake Trammell is up in smoke along with our coke shipment from two days ago.”
“Jesus Christ! Call the brothers, let’s ride in fifteen,” I say, standing. I regret not having a prospect guard and watch over the place.
Brass walks out leaving us alone once again.
“Are we good here?” Havoc asks.
“Yeah. Let’s go, make sure to pack some extra heat in case it’s an ambush.”
“Got it.”
I walk over to my safe and pull out my knife and place it in my boot.
Then I pull out my 9mm and put it in the back of my waistband.
I already have my regular guns holstered under my cut; I only take those off when I sleep at night.
I have a feeling this is the Vipers payback for burning their warehouse down in Big Spring.
We mount our rides and head out to the safehouse.
Brass, our road captain, is in front with me, then Havoc and Reaper behind us.
Dash, Chains, Ledger, Hawk, Bull, and Riot are all in formation behind them.
Once we hit Hwy 70, we gun it towards the lake.
What normally takes around twenty minutes to drive only takes us twelve.
Our bikes weave up the dirt road where you can’t miss the black smoke mushrooming in the distance.
Hawk already called ahead to have someone we know in the fire department put the fire out and keep it quiet.
Paying off the right people is crucial when you’re running illegal businesses.
No reason to alert the police of our safehouse with over fifty pounds of drugs inside.
As we approach the site, the emergency crew is already there putting the last of the fire out.
The house is a total loss and nothing that was inside will be salvageable.
Havoc and Hawk start speaking with the fire crew, settling and passing some money around for their discretion.
“This reeks of Vipers MC,” Brass points out, coming up to my bike after I just finished a call with Gunner asking for our boys back by tomorrow due to this latest attack. The Nevada Prez agrees and tells me that he’ll spare a few men once his brothers were done down there.
“I hear ya on that, brother,” I say in agreeance.
Shots have now been returned in our war.
Let the games begin.
* * *
BANG, BANG, BANG!
“Are you ready?” I hear as my hazy mind starts to surface from dreamland. “Don’t you dare be late to this, Raegan!” the voice of my mother rings out.
People must know that you can’t hold someone accountable for their actions when waking a person up before their alarm goes off.
Especially when you still have ten more minutes.
Ugh! This is why I never liked living under the same roof as my mother.
Once she’s up, the entire house needs to be up along with her.
After hitting the snooze button multiple times, I get up, shower and lotion my entire body to smell like cherry blossoms. Going into my closet, I find a short sleeved plum dress that hits above the knees and pair it with nude heels that’ll make me break my neck if I fall, along with black earrings and a black clutch.
Sexy but classy, I think. Looking down at my watch shows me that I have thirty minutes, so I put on some light makeup and curl my hair to give it that beachy wave appearance.
I slip on some lip gloss, grab my purse, and I’m out the door with time to spare.
My Lexus pulls up to The Slanted Porch, and I take in the view.
It looks like it used to be an actual home but was turned into a restaurant.
I carefully get out of my car, not to show anyone my goods, and walk into the restaurant.
I’m met right away by the nice hostess who seems to still be in high school.
“Hello, welcome to The Slanted Porch. How many are in your party?” asks the little hostess whose name tag says: CeeCee.
I view around the place hoping to see my mother but don’t. The place is pretty dead at the moment, being slightly early for the dinner crowd.
“I’m not sure, I’m waiting for my mother, Carly Burns,” I say as an explanation.
“Oh, yes! Your party is already here. Follow me, please,” CeeCee says and quickly moves to the opposite side of the restaurant where there is only three tables available.
One is being occupied by a guy in his late twenties, early thirties, if I had to guess. When CeeCee passes up the empty table and stands next to the guy, I gulp. She did not do this to me! I’m going to murder her in her sleep!
I must’ve spaced out because the guy, who looks as though he just strutted off a runway, is now standing staring at me with a confused expression on his face.
“I’m guessing you didn’t know this was a date, did you?” The guy asks holding his hand out for me to take. “I’m Ian Hastings.”
Finally, getting my bearings and my good manners back, I slip my hand into his and say, “Raegan Walker.”
We both sit down at the two-person table as CeeCee takes our drink order.
“I’m really sorry about all this. I had no idea Carly and my mother would blindside you.
Your mother’s been raving about you for years and when you finally came to visit, my mother thought that it would be an excellent idea for us to meet,” Ian informs me.
He has a sweet smile. The wider it gets, the more his dimples show.
“It’s fine.” I wave off. “Should’ve known she was up to something when she mentioned driving herself. She never drives anywhere in the evenings alone.”
“Well, it’s nice to finally meet the mysterious Raegan Walker.” Ian gives me an award-winning smile. Yep, loving the dimples.
Ian is very handsome in a surfer, pretty boy way.
Blond hair and green eyes, perfect teeth, and a muscular build.
He would definitely produce pretty babies.
My roommate use to say that if you don’t see yourself making beautiful babies with your date then excuse yourself to the bathroom and find the nearest exit.
“I hear that you just graduated from MIT. What are your plans now that you’re done with school?” Ian asks after our waiter shows up and we place our food order.
“Right now I work as a computer analyst and consult with various companies,” I vaguely say. Telling people I hack into systems for information isn’t received well.
“So you’re a computer genius?” he questions and I give a little nod. “It’s nice to know someone who is since I’m always screwing things up and getting viruses on my laptop.”
“Porn sites will do that to you,” I tease, and it makes him burst out laughing making me follow.
“I think we’re going to get along real well, Raegan,” he states as our food is delivered.
We dig in and fall into easy conversation.
“Did you always want to be a doctor?” I ask after I try a bite of his steak that he says is the best he’s had in a long time and I have to agree.
“Always. I remember as a kid finding hurt animals and trying to fix them the best I could. In elementary school, a kid fell off the monkey bars and landed on his arm. I knew it was broke and rushed over to stabilize it before the teacher got to him. I remembering following him to the nurse and helping wrap it up until the parents came. Every chance I got to help someone I did,” he says so passionately.