Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Kennedy woke alone from the sound of loud voices and music that seeped under the door. Cracking one eye after the other, she found the room cloaked in darkness. Stretching out, she mewed like a cat feeling well-rested.
Rolling over, she found her jeans on the floor right where she’d dropped them by the bed. She checked the time on her phone and was shocked she’d slept until noon.
Scrambling from the bed, she turned on the bedside lamp and looked around the room. Digging in her bag, she found the pajamas Cree had bought her back in Hill City and drug them on.
Opening the door, she looked up and down the hall.
Seeing no one around, she left the room in search of the bathroom.
She found it at the end of the hall. Using the toilet, Kennedy wondered where Cree had gone off to.
After washing her hands, she headed back down the hall but miscounted the doors and busted in on a couple screwing.
“Oh shit,” she blurted out and ducked back out, closing the door quickly. “Damn it.”
“Are you lost, dear?”
Kennedy was instantly pissed. Turning around, she glared at Zoe. Walking toward the woman, she raked her eyes over her. “I’ll figure it out. Thanks.”
“You know he’s not going to stick around?”
“Who?”
“Cree. He’s a nomad, which means he has no real chapter, nothing to keep him here.”
“He has me now.”
Zoe laughed at the na?ve girl. “You don’t know how to keep a man like Cree, little girl. He likes a seasoned woman.”
“You mean a whore like you?” Kennedy calculated how fast Zoe would lose her cool. She was off by half a second when the slap hit her face.
That’s when everything she’d been through slammed into Kennedy, and she launched herself at Zoe, who wasn’t ready for the hell cat that Kennedy Daily kept hidden.
Rearing back, she punched Zoe in the face, knocking her to the ground.
Kennedy straddled Zoe’s waist, hitting her again before Zoe rolled them over.
It didn’t keep Kennedy from having the upper hand.
Shoving at the woman’s chest, she pushed Zoe back enough that she was able to lock her feet around Zoe’s shoulders and roll them back over.
Kennedy twisted her hand in Zoe’s long, bleach-blonde hair and held her in place while she slapped her across the face.
“What the fuck?” Cree shouted. Running down the hall, he tried to get his hands on Kennedy, but Zoe’s kicking and struggling kept him from being able to grab her. He saw his opening and managed to grab Kennedy by the waist, only to get elbowed in the face when she fought his grip.
Commotion behind him meant the other brothers had come to see what was happening for themselves.
Diving back into the fray, he snatched Kennedy off Zoe kicking and swinging. “Stop, iskwew,” he shouted at her.
When Zoe got up, she came at them, but Cree spun Kennedy around out of the woman’s reach. Seeing Teller, he yelled to the man, “Teller, get your ol’ lady under control.”
As if someone put on the brakes, everything except Kennedy stopped. The look on Teller’s face said it all—Zoe had lied the night before, keeping any idea of him or Eros from her bed. Not that Cree even thought of the blonde in that way, but Eros might have entertained the idea.
Kennedy shoved the heavy fall of hair from her face. When Zoe tried getting around them, Kennedy kicked her in the hip, sending the bitch tumbling backward. “I said to fucking stop, Kennedy, so stop,” Cree shouted over the two women screaming at one another.
“Hey, don’t yell at my fucking sister,” Player yelled at Cree as he pushed through the small group of brothers blocking the hallway.
And that was how the brother and sister saw each other for the first time in twenty-two years, Kennedy looking like a screaming banshee and Player like a pissed-off biker, Cree thought. “You pipe down and stay right where you are, Player.”
“Fuck you, Cree. That’s my sister you’re manhandling.”
“Yeah, and she’s my ol’ lady. That trumps her being your sister.”
“You think so, asshole?”
Everything was shut down when Teller let out a shrill whistle. “Everyone except Zoe and Kennedy in the main room now!”
Cree ignored Teller’s order as he kept Kennedy in his grasp. He knew if he let her down, she’d go after Zoe again. No doubt the blonde bitch deserved it, but allowing Kennedy to take swipes at her wouldn’t earn either of them points with the chapter President.
“Cree.”
“No can do, Prez. If I let Kennedy down, she’ll be on Zoe like stink on shit.” He saw the look and knew what it meant. Needing to appease Teller so there wouldn’t be any repercussions, he asked the question everyone wanted an answer to. “Kennedy, what happened?”
“That fucking whore opened her fucking mouth is what happened.”
“What did I say about you using that word?”
“Oh, get over it.”
Cree saw Teller hide a smile, and it pissed him off.
Turning around, still holding onto Kennedy, he kicked the bedroom door open, stormed inside, then slammed it shut.
He didn’t stop until he was at the bed, where he dropped down and turned her over his knees so fast, she yelped.
One, two, three hard swats landed on her ass in repetition, making her swear more.
Cree swatted her ass again. “I can do this all damn day, iskwew.”
Kennedy was furious that Cree had just treated her like a child and let Zoe walk off. “Let me up!”
“Are you gonna keep swearing?”
“Maybe.”
“Iskwew.”
She sniffled. “You picked her side.”
“What?”
“You let that bitch get away with what she did, and you humiliated me in front of my brother.”
Cree let her up. “If you think your brother wouldn’t have done the same to his woman, you’re kidding yourself.”
Kennedy turned around, furious. Her ass stung where Cree had spanked her, but she refused to give him the satisfaction by rubbing it. “He has a woman?”
“I don’t know.” Cree heard more commotion coming from the hallway. He knew it was Player, and he didn’t blame the brother. “Tell me what happened with Zoe.”
“She said you wouldn’t stay with me because you preferred women like her. So, I called her a whore, and she slapped me. Then I kicked her ass.” Kennedy shrugged. “Tell me I’m not strong enough to keep my man,” she mumbled.
He blamed himself for not explaining the hierarchy of the club, especially when it came to the girls within the chapters. “Zoe doesn’t hold a position in the club where she’s higher than an ol’ lady, unless she becomes an ol’ lady of an officer.”
“You called her Teller’s woman, and you also called him Prez. Does that make her important?”
“It would if that was the case, but after seeing his face when I called her that, I don’t think Zoe’s anything but being the house mom.”
“Is there a handbook? There seems to be a lot to learn.”
“If not, someone should write one,” he joked, trying to ease the tension in the room.
“Come sit down.” He patted the spot next to him on the bed.
When Kennedy sat down, he tried explaining things the best he could. “Here’s the deal. The girls in the club are here because they want to be. Most of them come from rough upbringings or they were homeless, and the club gave them a home. Some just like being associated with the club.
“We don’t expect them to screw every brother in the chapter.
It’s their choice what they want. The ones who live here have actual jobs within the club, and they get paid a wage along with room and board.
Some girls like kinky sex. Some like multiple partners.
Some prefer one brother over the others, and some don’t screw any of the brothers.
They’re all respected until they disrespect a patch holder or their ol’ lady, like Zoe did with you. ”
“So, they can leave at any time they want?”
“It’s their choice. Now, not every club or chapter thinks this way, but we do.”
“I still don’t like Zoe.”
“And that’s your choice.”
“Thank you.”
With the tension inside the room gone, he still needed to deal with the tension out in the hall. “Would you like to see your brother?”
“Yes, please.”
“Give me a second.” Cree headed out into the hall.
Zoe was nowhere to be seen, but he’d deal with her later.
Teller stood blocking Player from coming near the room, and Cree appreciated the assist. “Teller, can you let Player pass? His sister would like nothing more than to be reunited with his damn ass.”
“Your funeral,” Teller commented as he stepped aside.
Cree saw the determined look on Player’s face and shook his head. Player might not play fair in a fight, but Cree played dirtier than dirty. “Don’t be foolish when Kennedy’s right inside waiting on you.”
“You and I will be having a conversation, Cree.”
Cree leaned into Player, who stood inches shorter than him. “I’ll be right here when you come out.” Cree turned the doorknob, opening the door to let Player step inside. Then he pulled the door shut, giving the siblings some privacy.
“Now,” he looked dead at Teller, “where is Zoe, Teller?”
“Locked in her fucking room.”
“Is that the same as being locked down by you?”
“What did you say?”
“You heard me. Zoe greeted us last night and made sure we knew she was locked down with you. I took it as she was your woman. At least she alluded to it.”
Teller was about done with Zoe and her antics.
This was twice she used them fucking to come across as more important than she was.
He didn’t know what he needed to do to get through her thick skull that she was not now nor would she ever be his ol’ lady, short of kicking her to the curb.
“Zoe is the house mom for the moment. Not now or at any time has she been my woman.”
“Good, because she’s about to be reprimanded for trying to sabotage my relationship with Kennedy. Like I don’t already have that to deal with from Player.”
“What was the cause of the fight?”
Cree told Teller what went down then excused himself to find Zoe. Teller told him he’d handle it and headed for the woman’s room. He’d kept her around because she liked fucking his way, but that wouldn’t keep her from being tossed out on her ass.