2 Ivy
Ivy
After being stopped right at the huge rolling gate, pulled out of my car by my hair, and walked across a huge lot and into the clubhouse with a gun at my back, I was finally where I wanted to be.
I’d just traveled down the world’s narrowest dirt road, which I was pretty sure was only meant for bikes.
My knuckles were white the entire time I drove down it, and my fingers still felt stiff from strangling the steering wheel.
Honestly, I was amazed I’d found it in the first place.
Other than knowing I had made it to Arizona and seeing the tiny, dusty sign for Lost Valley, I would have been lost hadn’t it been for the red and black flags that hung from the trees surrounding the turn off from the main road. The club colors.
Red for blood.
Black for death.
These weren’t men you should mess with.
This was no sweet group of bikers.
I knew they wouldn’t just take me in simply because I sought them out for help.
But that was okay, because I came with a key and a plan.
The clubhouse was nothing more than a shack built onto the front of an old warehouse.
All of my information on the Arizona chapter of the Brutal Sinners club was mostly about the members, so I had no idea if the warehouse used to be a functioning business or something the club built long ago.
Inside the front part, which really did look like a tiny shack, was nothing more than a dirty bar.
Mismatched tables and chairs strewn about.
A couple of pool tables that had seen better days.
One of them had a bright pink bra hanging from the light above it.
There was a jukebox in the back corner, which was playing some heavy metal song I’d knew well enough to sing along to.
The whole bar was quiet except for that, but all eyes were on me.
“Get the Prez,” the asshole holding a gun on me barked out. “On your knees, bitch.”
I went down hard because he didn’t give me a chance to do so on my own. The tip of his boot met the back of my knee, and I crumpled instantly.
I took in a deep breath and tried to bite back my anger. It wouldn’t do me any good now.
My eyes darted around, taking in the fifteen or so bikers that surrounded me, and more were flooding in from all around. Half of them had their guns out, and most of them looked ready to shoot me. The fear in my eyes might not have been completely fake.
“What do we have here?” the Prez said, his VP right at his back as they walked through the parting crowd.
He stopped a few feet in front of me, and I chose to focus on the patches of his cut rather than look him in the eye.
“Who the fuck are you? And more importantly, why the fuck do you think you can come up in my clubhouse uninvited?”
My hand raised, causing every single one of those bikers to take a step closer, the grips on their weapons becoming firmer.
I reached into the collar of my shirt and ripped off the necklace hanging around my neck.
Then I held it out, my hand shaking like mad because I had to make this all look real.
I might have been scared, but only a little.
I knew what I was doing, and I knew these men. Maybe not these exact ones, but they were really all the same.
If I came in here looking like I could handle myself, then it would raise suspicion.
Fragile, scared girl.
That was who I had to be.
And with my frilly shirt, plain jeans, and white tennis shoes, I was looking the part. Not my usual get-up, by the way.
“I’m here for protection. I need a place to stay,” I said shakily.
The Prez took a step closer and yanked the chain out of my hand.
He grunted, seeming unhappy about the whole thing.
“And might I ask who gave this to you?” His gruff voice oozed with disdain.
“Blane,” I told the Prez, giving my best friend’s real name. When the Prez’s eyes narrowed, I added, “Um, Muffle.”
Muff for short. And occasionally, if someone was feeling like they wanted their balls bashed in, Muffy. Oh, how he hated both. But Muffle was a perfect fit for him since his specialty was getting people to shut up.
“How did you get this?” the Prez asked me, skepticism clear in his tone.
He didn’t have the right to ask that. He didn’t have the right to ask anything.
But I needed to act like I didn’t know that.
“He gave it to me before he died. Told me that if I ever needed help, I was to come and bring that to you.”
“Me?” he asked, a little lost on why a brother would tell someone to head to another chapter to call in a Prayer of Protection.
“I mean, to any one of the clubs’ locations. He named a couple of them. He said to give the necklace to the president.”
Did I sound like I was clueless?
That was what I was going for.
“I was in a bad situation, and I thought it best to leave Florida, and since he mentioned this one specifically, I figured it was my best option. I just started driving this way,” I added, because I knew what was going through his mind.
“It was hard to find. If I didn’t know what Muffle’s patches looked like, I would have passed right by the flags. ”
He studied me for a long moment. I couldn’t read his expression, but I figured by the tight eyes, we’d be talking further about why I came here instead of going to the one in Judgment. I’d plant the seeds about the club back home when he was really listening to me.
With a jerk of his head, he let me know I could get up. He must have been satisfied enough with my explanation.
I didn’t move, and a second later, I was being yanked up by the guy who had knocked me down.
The club couldn’t refuse me. It was in the laws.
“What’s your name?” the Prez asked, head tilted back so he was basically looking down his nose at me.
“Ivy Samantha Lenore,” I said shakily. The first name was real, but the rest—along with everything else on my ID—was fake.
“We’ll get you set up with a place at the motel in town, and then we’ll talk,” he told me and turned to walk away.
“Can I stay here?” I asked.
I had his attention again, and now he held a ghost of a smirk on his lips as he turned back to face me.
“We got rules about women here.” The Prez’s eyes said there was no arguing about this.
Rules were rules. They lived by them. Died by them.
Even though I knew this, I couldn’t let on that I did.
“You don’t stay unless you’re fuckin’ a brother.
No changing the rules, little girl, not even for a Prayer of Protection.
No strays, no ol’ ladies, and no staying for free. ”
“O-okay. Tell me what I need to do.”
He studied me with narrowed eyes.
“Take your pick, little girl. Gonna warn ya, these boys ain’t gonna be nice.
” His face shifted, and I could see the amusement dancing in his eyes.
Any moment now, he expected me to run. To let go of my idea and flee from this place like my pants were on fire.
“Oh, and some of the brothers come as a pair.”
Even though I already knew this, I couldn’t help thinking how this was going to suck.
It was best to just get it over with.
I looked around, eyes wide like I couldn’t believe this was happening.
I came back to look at the president. I let my eyes drift down to his name patch even though I already knew it.
Ice.
Between his crystal blue eyes and his stance that said he didn’t really give a fuck, yeah, the name fit perfectly.
His VP still lingered to behind him on the left.
Bones.
Not the most original road name, but it was no secret how he got it. His specialty, breaking them. To the point that the bones popped through the flesh.
A shiver threatened to run down my spine at the thought. I’d never seen his work, but I’d heard enough to be able to paint quite a few pictures in my mind.
Someone else in my position would have probably sought out the president himself. Chosen the highest man she could get to and zeroed in.
But he would help me in other ways, just not at this moment.
I looked around again. A few of the men were looking at me hard, making no move to hide the fact that they had the need to adjust their hard-ons as they thought about fucking me.
There were at least two of them who were avoiding eye contact.
They wouldn’t help me here. And while I could easily overlook them and move on, I decided to see how much ground I could gain.
“May I make a request, please… sir?” I asked, giving my attention back to the man in charge.
Ice let out a sharp, mocking laugh.
“You come into my club, asking for shit I ain’t giving, and you expect me to bend over and give you a favor?
Not how it works around here. You’re gonna get fucked.
It’s gonna happen if you wanna get what you want.
It’s gonna happen right here where we can all see it.
This is your last chance to walk away. You take what you’re offered or get the fuck out. ”
“Hold up, Ice,” Bones said with a hand on his president’s shoulder. Ice didn’t look happy, but he held his tongue. “Curiosity and all, I wanna hear what the little bitch has to ask.”
Ice tipped his head, and I took it as a sign to go on.
“Can we exclude the ones who have girlfriends or wives or whatever? And ones with an attachment.” He eyed me but said nothing. I licked my lips and carried on. “I just don’t want to bring drama into your club. Well, not any more than I already have.”
I had enough to deal with, I didn’t want someone’s ol’ lady hating me and causing more trouble.
I knew how it went around here. Some of the brothers didn’t give a shit about stepping out on their woman.
It happened all the time. But if I could distance myself from being the other woman, then I might be able to use that to my advantage.
Besides, men with ol’ ladies were already taken and would do me no good.
With a wave of his hand through the air, the Prez let me know he was giving in to my request.
A few of the men grumbled and stepped back.
I was left with a circle of possible targets.