Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
JACK
“Yes. You got it, Dom,” I call to him.
He is currently whizzing around the courtyard at the compound doing tricks but also learning how to gain speed to do said tricks.
Sipping from my beer, I let the pride wash over me seeing how good he had gotten over the past few weeks. This skateboarding shit really is something that he wants to do when he is older.
Silas had some new wheels for his board shipped in and also had a friend, who custom paints cars and bikes, add some designs onto the bottom of Dom’s board. He added half of the club’s skull to the board, and the club’s name along with some other shit that Dom is into.
“What time will Lilith be finished?” Dom calls to me.
“No clue, Kid. You know what the women get like when they do their beauty shit,” I reply, smiling.
“Freaking girls,” he gripes back, making me laugh more.
Lilith and some of the Ol’ Ladies are over at my parents’ house having a girly day. I am talking facials, and having their nails done. My mom even hired someone to give the girls massages, and I made sure, just like the rest of the men did, that they had hired a female masseuse.
Luna was more than happy to agree to having some chick’s hands on her. I swear she is as much of a slut as the guys were before they got claimed. One thing I will say about Luna is that she has fucking great taste in women. There have been many times over the years that I have found myself wanting a piece of the chicks she fucks, but most are full lesbian and do not like dick.
Footsteps gain my attention, and I see a sheepish looking Logan walking toward me. He is quiet but a fucking damn good prospect. He reminds me so much of Finan.
“He is getting good.” He nods toward my son.
“He is. Spending every spare minute practicing.”
“Jack, can I have a word about something?” I turn my head to look at him.
“Club or personal?” I edge. “If it is club, you need to bring it to Pres.”
He rubs the back of his neck, removing his baseball cap that he is always wearing and runs his hand through his dark blond hair.
“Kinda both, I guess.”
“Sit. Talk to me.”
He sits next to me on the table, his feet resting on the bench, elbows on his knees as he looks down at the ground.
“I fucking love it here, man. You, the club, have made me feel welcome and not treated me like shit like my old man did. I know that people see me as being slow, because I don’t talk a lot, or drink like the other two prospects. I want to make something of myself, I want to become a Rugged Skull one day. What I have not told you and the club is that I am fucking good at racing cars.”
“Street racing?” I ask and he nods.
“Like Fast and The Furious shit.”
I chuckle seeing the laughter in his eyes. Clearly he loves to fucking race, and from what I have heard, there is some good fucking money to be made on the betting side.
“No shit.”
“Yep, which brings me back to why I needed to talk to someone.”
“Go on.”
He takes a deep breath and jumps right into his story.
“I have been racing since I was seventeen. Love being behind the wheel, hell I love being on my bike, but it was cars that gave me the buzz that matches nothing else. Well, except for sex. Anyway. When I was just turning eighteen, a family moved to town, and I fell hard for the daughter, but also became best friends with her brother. The three of us, Valarie, and her brother Greg became fast friends. We did everything together; it helped that Greg loved cars also.
“We fixed cars for money to build our supercar. We raced for even more money, and we became known on the illegal street racing circuit. I fell in love with Valarie, and that was when the little signs started showing— Greg would do shit or say something that would cause us to fight.”
“When did it all go tits up?”
“Greg wanted to race this guy who was huge in the racing world, but the buy in was all of our savings to get the fuck out of Utah. It caused some shit between the three of us; he would plant shit in Valarie’s head, and she would take his side. Then, one night she distracted me, wanting me to take her on a date in the car that we had just finished fixing, and we fucked on the hood. It was not until after we had finished and redressed that I got a text saying that Greg had lost an epic race against this top guy, and I flipped my shit. Valarie told me that it was his idea, but I couldn’t listen to her. I didn’t want to hear her excuses.”
“I don’t blame you, man, that was a shit move on both of their parts. They violated your trust.”
He nods in agreement. His gaze moves over to Dom, who is flipping his board and yelling out in delight that he fucking did it.
“He is a great kid; you have done good with him, Jack.”
“I like to think so, but I had the club to help.”
“Nah, he is all you, man. He will make a great Rugged Skull one day.”
I love hearing people say that Dom is the best of me, saying that he will run this club one day, because I fucking hope so, but I will never force that title or responsibility onto him— it has to be his choice.
“What happened when you got the girl home?”
“She cried the whole way, saying that it was not her or Greg’s fault that he lost. They must have fixed the race. It was bullshit, because even though this guy was the top gun of it all, he raced fair, ya know? I knew that I was done with them both when we arrived at the house. The car was sitting in the driveway, Greg sitting on the porch steps looking like a kid who lost his puppy, but that did nothing for my anger.”
“Please tell me you hit the fucker?” I gleefully asked.
“I did. Beat the shit out of him. Then packed my shit, making sure to get the ten grand that I stashed and left. She begged the whole time, crying, telling me that she loved me but fucking hell. How could they do that to me? Over sixty thousand he lost that night. It was our ticket out.”
Logan runs his hand through his hair, his baseball cap sitting on the bench between his feet.
“There was no loyalty there, brother. You did the right thing in leaving.”
“It hurt, ya know? They were my family.” I can hear the anguish in his voice.
What they did to him still hurts him and, in turn, pisses me the fuck off. That brother and sister had no loyalty to him to go behind his back like that and fuck him over after all the hard work they had all done.
Greed and ego always get the better of some people.
“I hear you, so why now? What has happened that you needed to talk to me and tell me this story?”
He sighs, bringing his gaze back to me, and I see raw pain.
“I have kept myself updated on what they have been doing. Greg has still been racing but he has also slipped into drugs, and Valarie, she had a kid by some fuck who left as soon as she told him she was pregnant. Well, he raced in a big desert race in Phoenix, lost and bolted. Valarie got in the car with him and the cunt whipped out. He got scraped up with cuts and a broken hand, she is in the hospital, with a few injuries.”
It dawns on me what he is asking. Leaning back, I look him in the eyes with raised brows.
“You want to transfer to the Phoenix charter to help her, don’t you?”
He sighs. “Yeah. Greg is in jail, not that he would be much help to her, but I don’t think that I can stand by, especially knowing they have no family. From what I have been told by my friend, none of the racing people have stepped up to help her.”
“So, what? You are going to play the hero and save the day after what they did?”
He nods. “I can’t explain it but a part of me feels guilty for leaving her with him. Maybe I should have forgiven her and convinced her to come with me.”
“You don’t need to carry any guilt, man. They fucked up, not you, but from what I have seen from you over the last nine-ten months is that you are loyal as fuck, and we are happy to have you be a part of the club. I will talk to Pres and see what needs to be done to transfer you to Phoenix, if that is definitely something you want.”
“It is. Thanks, Jack.”
“They will be lucky to have you, Logan.” He smiles, pride shining in his eyes.
He is a good man, quiet as fuck but there when you need him. Logan has shown that he is worthy of a Rugged Skulls patch, and like I told him, the Phoenix charter will be lucky to have him. When you have been brought up in an MC, you get the feel of people, and when Logan came to us wanting to prospect, I think most of us knew that he had what it takes.
“So, this chick you want to swoop in and save. Will she be welcoming?”
He chuckles, shaking his head.
“It will be a battle, but one I am willing to fight. I thought that I would marry her one day, then everything went to shit, but everyone deserves a second chance, right?”
“Fuck yeah, brother. Hell, the first generation of this club has their fair share of stories to tell. Fuck, most in the second generation do too, but in the end we all get what we want. If she is worth the fight, then fucking fight, man.”
He laughs, looking over at where some of the brothers are chilling, while watching the other prospect clean their bikes.
“I have heard the stories, man. Fuck, I saw the tail end of what went down between Lennox and Astrid, and that was fucked up, but at the same time you have to look at it from both sides. Everyone has their own reasons for doing shit.”
I punch him lightly in the shoulder.
“When the fuck did you get so wise? How fucking old are you again?”
He smirks. “I have always been wise, Jack. Just not wearing a patch to have my say.” He winks. “I am twenty-eight.”
My eyes bug wide at how old he is.
“Fuck off, man, you do not look a day over fourteen,” I joke with him.
“I have always looked young for my age, but yeah, I am twenty-eight. It has been ten years since I last saw Valarie. I know that it is not going to be a smooth reunion.”
He is right about that. Some women hold a fucking grudge forever. My mom and Aunt Syn are two women who are the definition of holding a grudge.
I have heard the stories of the shit that went down with the older Rugged Regs, and not the Ol’ Ladies of the club. Our parents have never hid anything from us growing up, we saw the arguments, and the make-ups. I mean every couple fights, there is no way any couple in the history of planet Earth have never had an argument.
“When you transfer down to Phoenix, remember to lean on the members there. Tank is a good Pres, and with his VP, Racer, they have a solid foundation of support and loyalty. Just remember to keep your girl away from Target— that fucker is a whore at the highest level.”
“So, much like Calder and the guys then,” he jests, making me laugh.
“Yeah, like those fuckers. They could never keep their cocks in their pants, that’s for sure.”
“Dad, did you see?” Dom calls from across the yard.
“Yeah, bud. Good job.”
“You lie. I was watching you talking to Logan,” my kid replies with sarcasm coating his voice.
He walks toward us, his board tucked under his arm. He looks every bit the part of a skater kid. Baggy jean shorts that meet his knees, an old band T-shirt, and Vans on his feet. He has a baseball cap on his head that must be worn backwards, apparently; it is all the rage, and the girls love it.
His words, not mine. Lilith is right, Dom will definitely be a ladies’ man when he gets older.
Stopping in front of us, he places his board down on the floor and cocks his head, looking at Logan.
“Did you fill out that online form so I can help out with the school’s family fun day?” he asks.
“I did. Thanks to Lil reminding me,” I inform him, making him chuckle.
“You would be lost without her, Dad. You need to lock her down. ASAP.” With that he picks up his board and wheels away, leaving Logan laughing his ass off next to me.
“Fucking hell, that kid. Gets me every time.” Logan climbs off the bench, looking to me while placing his cap back on his head.
“Thanks for the chat, Jack. Let me know if Pres needs to speak with me.” He salutes me and calls out to Dom that he is doing a great job, before he goes back inside, no doubt to do a job that was left by one of the Ol’ Ladies.
I sit and watch my son practice his moves, and pride swells in my chest seeing how much he has grown. And I have my family, my club, to thank for the helping hand in him being the kid he is today, but I know that Lilith will have a hand in the man he will become.