Chapter 6
Jagger
1 week later
T he long week was finally over and it was time to cut loose and party. The ranch made a huge profit from the stock show, and one of the ranch hands took second place in cattle roping at the rodeo. It was a great way to end a successful week for everyone. The club would get a ten percent cut of the profits from the sale of all the cattle, and each brother who worked the week would each get twenty-five hundred for all their hard work.
Since that first day, besides a few stolen minutes here or there, Jackie and I hadn’t had much time to be alone. We’d rise early, and she’d go out and spend time with her horse, who she named Luna, before the day got busy. In the evening, we would go back to the ranch, shower, and crash. Rinse and repeat for the entire week, and I was ready for some downtime with my woman.
I’d asked Roughstock the first morning after I claimed Jackie if I was making a mistake, and he explained that he thought the two of us were perfect for each other.
“How did you stop yourself from fucking things up with Cheyenne?” I inquired.
He chuckled as he responded, “I fucked things up royally a few times in the early days, and I groveled more than I want to admit, but in the end, the love we had for each other was greater than the mistakes I made.”
“How do I stop myself from blowing this with Jackie?”
“Jackie is a straight shooter. She wants to know what’s what, so if something bothers you, tell her. If you’re having issues about something, talk to her. That’s the biggest thing I can stress to you. Don’t let things get so far gone that there’s no coming back from it. And I’ll tell you something Nitro told me the first time I screwed things up with Cheyenne. He said no one is perfect and we all deserve grace.”
“That makes sense,” I returned.
“And he also said don’t be stupid enough to screw around on her or I’d probably end up with a knife in my back.” He cut his eyes to me and added, “And I’d say that goes double for Jackie.”
“Why?” He paused, and I could tell he didn’t want to say whatever he was thinking, but if he knew something that would help me with Jackie, then I needed to know. “Please tell me.”
“Are you aware of what happened to Jackie’s ex?”
I shook my head and tried to rein in the unreasonable anger at the mention of someone she used to date. I never knew I was the jealous type until that very moment.
He exhaled and looked me straight in the eyes. “Do not ever repeat that I told you this or my ol’ lady will have my balls for dinner.” I nodded, and he lowered his voice as he continued. “Jackie dated a guy for a few years after high school, someone from the tribe, and she found out he was using her, thinking her father would give him a council position if he was with her. Basically, he used her for power and was fucking more than a few girls behind her back.” He shook his head and looked off into the field as he added, “It took her years before she trusted anyone again.”
The idea that someone would use such an amazing woman for their own personal gain pissed me off, and I almost asked for the fucker’s name, but I wouldn’t do anything that could get me locked up away from her.
The entire week, I thought about how painful his betrayal must have been for her, and I made myself a promise that no matter what, I wouldn’t do anything to cause her heart any pain.
We were taking one of the side-by-sides across the ranch to the Sin Den, the Sinners Revenge clubhouse on the backside of the property. Roughstock had closed the bar to the public for the night, so it would only be brothers and their ol’ ladies. I was eager to walk in with Jackie, and as I maneuvered the machine down the path, following behind Cheyenne and Roughstock, I lifted our connected hands and placed a kiss on the back of hers.
Quick, stolen kisses were all we were able to have this week, but we did have lots of time to talk. She told me about her mother and how she’d left when Jackie was a few weeks old, and I shared how my mother passed away when I was in high school from cancer. She had been diagnosed with stage four cancer of multiple organs and was gone within ten days. Jackie squeezed my hand tighter as she simply said, “I’m sorry.”
As the lights of the Sin Den shined on the horizon, I looked over at her and asked over the sound of the motor, “Are you ready for a fun evening?”
She practically bounced in her seat as she replied, “Oh, yes.”
“You have as much to drink as you want, darlin’. I’ll make sure you get back to the ranch safely.”
“What about you? Aren’t you going to drink?”
“I never have more than two, so don’t worry about me.”
Her forehead drew down, but she didn’t respond as the trail let out in the back of the parking lot of the clubhouse. Pulling up next to Roughstock’s vehicle, I saw him and Cheyenne walking into the back door as I turned to look at Jackie.
Remembering what Roughstock said, I took her hand into mine as I explained. “My father was a worthless man who lived off my mother’s hard work and money. He drank every day, and it finally killed him my last year in high school. He drove drunk, and it cost him his life. Luckily, he didn’t hurt anyone else, but since then, I’ve kept my drinking under a certain limit. I don’t ever want to become like him.”
She leaned over, pressing her pouty lips against mine as she kissed me softly. I lifted my hand and slid it under her thick hair to the back of her neck, and when I placed my hand on her, she moaned and opened her mouth, allowing our tongues to duel. The sound of approaching bikes brought our embrace to a conclusion, and her hypnotic green eyes twinkled under the lights.
“Thank you for trusting me with that,” she said.
I brushed a piece of hair from her forehead and remarked, “I trust you with everything.”
Her smile grew in brilliance, and when we heard someone yelling from the back of the building, we both turned to see Cheyenne standing on the steps, looking at us.
“Let’s go already. You two can mush faces all you want later.”
She smiled and returned inside, and I looked at Jackie. “I guess we need to get inside.”
“Okay.”
She’d learned not to reach for her door, and I got out, walked around, and opened the door for her. Offering my hand, I helped her get out of the side-by-side then we walked across the parking lot and up the stairs into the Sin Den.
The music was loud, and the strong odor of weed filled the air as we walked inside. The few brothers who had worked the week with us were already aware that I had claimed Jackie, but the ones who’d been dealing with club business didn’t know. As we walked through the crowd of brothers, their ol’ ladies, and the few club butts who were allowed inside tonight, we got hoots and hollers from a few and back slaps and hugs from others.
There were a few club butts who gave Jackie dirty looks, and I gave them a piercing stare that relayed one thing— do not fuck with Jackie . I wouldn’t have some jealous woman who I shared a few sweaty minutes with thinking they had a claim on me, or that I would tolerate them being disrespectful.
I guess my face showed what I wanted because they averted their eyes and went back to paying attention to whichever brother they were trying to rub up against. I didn’t have a problem with the ladies who liked to be passed around by the brothers, but they needed to know their place. They were at the bottom of the totem pole, and Jackie was on the second to highest level, just one below ol’ lady. And something deep down said that she would rise to the top faster than I’d expected.
I wasn’t saying I was going to marry her tomorrow, but I could see our future laid out in front of us and I liked what I saw—marriage, kids, a dog, some land for her horse, and countless hours riding my bike. I wanted to show her the world if she would let me.
After finding a table near the side of the room where I could keep an eye on things, I pulled her chair out, and when she sat down, I asked, “What do you want to drink?”
“Surprise me,” she responded.
I kissed her fully on the lips until I heard a few catcalls behind me, then I reluctantly pulled back. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, darlin’.”
Cheyenne walked up and patted me on the back. “I’ll keep her company. Roughstock asked if you could come into the office for a minute.”
She gave me the narrow-eyed look that she got whenever we discussed Blur, so I instantly knew something was going on. I nodded and remarked, “I’ll have a prospect bring you two some drinks.”
“Thank you,” Jackie said, and I kissed the top of her head before walking away.
This past week, I hadn’t been as attentive to my search as I had been for months. I ordered the ladies some margaritas from Comet before walking to Roughstock’s office. On instinct, I pulled my phone out of my cut and placed it into one of the bags on the table outside the office. A prospect—I forgot his name since he’s not on radar—gave me a nod and stepped aside for me to knock on the door.
There was a hierarchy within the club that the prospects had to follow, and respect was the biggest rule. We are patched brothers, and they are nameless prospects until they earn our trust and show the proper respect. It wasn’t mean, but it was the reality of our club. Some of the old Bastards rules still clung to the walls, even though we were Sinners now.
Phantom opened the door and stood off to the side, allowing me to walk in. The door closed behind me as I took my seat as Phantom sat beside me. Roughstock was sitting behind his desk, looking at his computer, and when he closed the lid, I saw anger on his face.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“I just got an email from the Madman. Blur was captured on a Callahan camera yesterday morning,” he said. Leaning forward, I eagerly waited for him to continue. “It was just outside a small town in Louisiana called Hathaway. Mostly farms and swampland, but there was a new ATM installed at the only gas station there, and it captured who he believes to be Blur.”
“He believes? Either it’s him or its not,” I remarked, and it was Phantom who explained.
“I said the same thing when the report came in earlier this afternoon, so I called him while you guys were finishing up with the ranch work. Before I brought this to you, I wanted some kind of understanding of what the email was saying. After talking with him, this is the best I can understand.” He took a swallow from a bottle of water before he continued. “The Callahans decided to deconstruct Blur’s life, and they uncovered something interesting. He was adopted when he was three years old. Apparently, he became a ward of the state of Mississippi when he was removed from an abusive home. The family he was placed with moved to New Orleans for work when he was around ten, and from there, his life seemed normal. Graduated, joined the military, got out, and came up here to South Dakota. Lived in Pierre for a few years, then he came to Rapid and prospected for the Bastards. His financials seem to start increasing about eight years ago, around his fifty-fifth birthday. That’s when they believe he either started, took over, or stumbled onto some kind of trafficking situation.”
“So, why are the Bastards protecting him? Was his adoptive father a member of the chapter down there, or was he somehow involved in the purge that killed Jamison’s father and sent him running for all those years? Because so far, nothing you’ve told me gets us any closer to Blur,” I returned, feeling angry that Phantom was having to do my job.
I was supposed to protect the club, and I failed. They should have taken my cut for letting someone get close enough to Nitro for him to get hurt.
“From all indications, his adoptive family were good people. His brother is a doctor in Texas, and after James Callahan interviewed him, they ruled him out as being involved. He said they haven’t spoken in over twenty years, and he had no idea how his brother could’ve been mixed up in something so vile, but it didn’t surprise him,” Roughstock said.
“So, how do we determine if it was Blur or not on the camera?” I asked.
“Devlin is going to send one of his guys down to do some recon work, but it looks like he was gassing up and heading toward the interstate. They can’t be sure if he lives there, was visiting, or was just stopping through. Without a second image or some indication of direction, they don’t have an answer,” Phantom tacked on, and I sat back in my chair, anger course through my body.
“The question still stands. Why is he being protected?” I asked, and no one had an answer. “What’s our next move?”
“We go out and enjoy our evening. There’s nothing else we can do right now,” Roughstock reasoned and stood from his seat.
Phantom and I stood, and just as we got to the door, Roughstock turned and looked at me. “You need to stop blaming yourself for whatever you think you did to fail Nitro. There was no way for any of us to know what was going on with Blur, and we certainly couldn’t have foreseen him turning on Pops. He wouldn’t want you to blame yourself, and I want you to stop, for your own peace of mind.” I started to shake my head, and he gripped my upper arms, causing me to snap my gaze to him. “Go out there, have a drink, smoke a joint, and spend some quality time with your woman. You two haven’t had the chance to be alone since you claimed her. Show her some fun, dance, then get the fuck out of here and take your woman to bed.”
I smirked, and he released me as Phantom shook his head, mumbling, “You’ll never see me claim a woman. I like variety.”
Turning to him, I laughed and said, “I guarantee you’ll be the next one to fall.”
His eyes grew wide, and Roughstock joined me in laughing as he opened the door and we walked out, leaving Phantom with his mouth hanging open. He loved to profess being a bachelor, and seeing the sheer panic was comical, helping to alleviate some of the guilt I carried about Nitro.
We walked across the room, and I couldn’t help but smile when we got close to the table, and I saw Cheyenne and Jackie visiting with some of the older ol’ ladies. They were laughing and having a good time, and Roughstock nudged me and smiled. Walking to the table, we joined them by dragging a few chairs over, and for the next couple of hours, I watched the woman who was quickly claiming my heart show how much she belonged here . . . with me.
At that moment, I knew I’d do whatever it took to keep her safe and make her mine. I just hoped the fickle finger of fate didn’t fuck us before we got to our happily ever after.
And I wasn’t sure I even believed those existed, but I was willing to try anything to keep her.