Chapter 8 #2
In retaliation, he pulled her head back and slammed it on the side of her car. She thought she might be blacking out, but then what she thought were white dots dancing in her vision turned out to be headlights. Had Jed finally made it?
“Fuck!” The man threw her to the ground.
“This isn’t finished," he growled. She heard him take off running, but didn't know in what direction.
She blinked her eyes, trying to clear her vision.
Something wet hit her cheek, and she absently wondered if it started snowing again.
She was barely holding it together when the sound of tires skidding on gravel drew her attention.
She held her injured hand up to shield her eyes from the bright light.
“Sadie!”
* * *
Jed
It was strange sitting at the bar in the Sons' clubhouse and not having a woman draped over him. Even stranger was that he didn’t seem to mind.
He wasn’t lying when he told Sadie he hadn’t had sex with anyone else since he started hanging out with her at Big Dick’s.
She was the only woman taking up any space in his head, and it didn’t bother him in the least. He’d had plenty of opportunities to fuck other women, but he always found himself politely turning them down.
As it turned out, Sadie wasn’t just a fuck; she was a lot more. He fucking loved that she was funny and sassy and got off on the fact that she didn’t put up with his shit. The fact that she was crazy hot in bed was icing on the cake.
Looking back to when he first met her, he was embarrassed to say that he’d thought the worst of her, and when he discovered her real name and connection to the Phantoms, he’d all but written her off.
Because of what the Phantoms did to Darren, he had gone into it wanting to make her pay for her association with them.
He’d gone to Taos with the idea that he would play her and make her think he was really into her.
He would use her to get information as to where their enemies were keeping Darren.
When it finally came to light that she was as much of a victim to the Phantoms as the Sons, he’d started looking at her in a different light.
He shifted in his seat, not exactly engaged with the conversation going on around the table.
He was only half listening to Chance, the Black Horsemen MC president, talk about the birth of his niece.
He, Deacon, Reaper, and a few other Horsemen showed up as Jed was getting ready to slip out to go see Sadie.
Instead, he’d hung around a while and had a few drinks with them.
They’d been partying for a few hours, and it didn’t look like things were going to slow down anytime soon.
Race had already offered them rooms downstairs to stay the night.
“How are things going for you guys? I’m guessing smooth sailing since the Phantoms have been dealt with?” Chance leaned on the table, one hand wrapped around his beer.
Race’s upper lip curled, and his eyes narrowed as his brows dipped into a deep V. “We’ve been dealing with a flash from the past that unexpectedly turned up on our doorstep.”
“Oh, yeah?” Chance winked at Teresa as she set a bottle of beer in front of him before walking off. She threw him a come-and-get-me look over her shoulder that didn’t go unnoticed. His eyes dropped to the smooth sway of her ass, his appreciation for her assets undeniable.
“Yeah. You remember Tinker? He was one of the originals.” Race leaned back in his chair.
Chase refocused his full attention on Race. “Yeah. I do. My old man brought me here a few times after I patched in with the Horsemen. I met him then, and I remember him being a mean bastard. No offense.” Chase scratched his stubbled chin.
“No offense taken. He’s still a mean bastard.
He’s causing shit with one of the women under our protection, and I’m over it.
We didn’t want him in the club when he came back, but we gave him the courtesy of coming back into the fold because he helped establish the club.
He’s been nothing but a pain in my ass since he's been back.”
“So, what are you going to do about it?” Reaper, the Black Horsemen’s enforcer, asked.
“If we could find him, we’d end our association with him.
” Race lifted a single brow with his pointed stare.
“His most recent stunt was breaking into the woman’s apartment the night before last and scaring the shit out of her and her five-year-old nephew.
For some reason, he’s set his sights on her, and I’m worried he won’t give up on her anytime soon. ”
Jed had been thinking along the same lines.
Things between Tinker and Sadie were only escalating.
He checked the time, decided he’d hung with the Black Horsemen long enough, and he was going to take off.
He needed to get to Sadie. He was putting his phone away when the ringtone from Bottoms Up started playing. “Yeah?”
“We just caught a guy selling EZ Lay in the men’s room. What do you want us to do with him?” Tom, the manager’s voice, rumbled in aggravation. The man ran a tight ship and hated when some dumb ass thought they could bring their shit inside the club to try and make a quick buck.
Fuck. He did not want to deal with this shit right now. “Keep him there. I’m on my way.” He pocketed his phone and stood up.
“What’s up?” Race tipped his head back to look up at him.
“They caught some guy selling EZ Lay in the men's room.”
“Take someone with you,” Race told him.
He looked around the room, trying to see if there was anyone still sober enough to go with him. Maybe Tulsa. He clapped Race on the back and headed across the room.
The southern boy was laying his charms on thick, and Lynette was eating it up. “Hey. Tulsa.”
Tulsa pulled his face out of the sweet butt’s chest where he’d been nuzzling her cleavage. “Jed.” He smiled and nodded his head. “You comin’ over here to join me while I fuck Lynette?” She was snuggled into his lap, one arm around his shoulder.
“No. Sorry,” he chuckled. “I was coming to see if you wanted to ride over to Bottoms Up with me. Got a call.”
“Oh yeah?” Tulsa’s fun-loving country boy playfulness switched to all business in the blink of an eye.
“You good to ride along?” Jed asked.
“Absolutely.” He patted Lynette’s ass. “Sugar, need you to get up. Gotta take care of business.” He lifted her and handed her off to one of the Horsemen sitting next to him. She smiled and wrapped her arms around the man’s neck, appearing fine with the switch.
They piled into Jed’s truck and headed out. He pulled around the strip club to the rear parking lot, entering through the back door. One of the bouncers waited for them outside the office.
“Where is he?” Jed asked.
The bouncer tipped his head toward the door across the hall. “Downstairs.”
Jed gave the bouncer a chin lift and pulled his phone out.
He shot off a quick text to let Sadie know that he was running late and wouldn’t be there until later.
He had some club business to take care of and didn’t know how long it would take, but he would be there at closing for sure.
Stowing his phone, he followed Tulsa down the stairs.
The room was dark except for a single lightbulb shining brightly over the moron sitting in a folding chair beneath it.
What the hell? The individual Tom was holding looked to be no more than twenty-one or twenty-two years old and fresh out of college.
His clothes were name-brand and high-dollar.
His dark hair was clean and cut short. His eyes were wide awake and clear.
He must not use his own product. He looked nothing like a drug dealer. Again, what the hell?
“This is the fucker sellin’ shit in our establishment?
” Tulsa asked Tom. With his hands shoved into the front pockets of his faded jeans, he circled the kid, the heels of his cowboy boots sounding against the concrete.
His friend might come across as easygoing and only out for a good time, but Jed had seen him go nuts on a man for hitting his woman.
After he beat the man, he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and explained what he thought about a man who hit women.
He then told the man what would happen to him if Tulsa ever found out he laid a hand on the woman again.
The man pissed his pants and swore to never lay a hand on any woman for as long as he lived.
They had all been shocked to find out that he checked up on the man from time to time; nothing crazy, just a slow drive by outside the man’s place of work or his home.
“Yes. One of the bouncers was making his rounds and walked in on this idiot trying to make a sale.” Tom smacked the back of the young man’s head. The kid scowled up at him as he rubbed his head.
“And the ones he was tryin’ to sell this shit to?” Tulsa asked.
“I let them go and told them if they ever tried to do shit like that again, I’d break their hands and ban them for life.”
Tulsa’s frown dipped on a, “Hmm.” Round and round he circled, making Jed dizzy.
“What’s your name?” Jed asked.
“Le—” the kid had to clear his throat before trying again. “Levi.”
“How old are you, Levi?”
“Twenty-one.”
“What possessed you to think that the Sons would be okay with you selling your shit in our club?” Jed crossed his arms, moving closer so the kid was forced to tip his head back to look up at him.
Levi looked at his cut, then frowned as if confused. “Because one of your guys gave it to me with $500 and told me to sell it at Bottoms Up.”
Tulsa shared a look with Jed. What the fuck? One of their guys paid him to sell it at Bottoms Up? That made no sense. “What do you mean, one of our guys?”
“He was wearing a vest just like yours and paid me to sell this stuff here.” Levi nervously ran his hands up and down his legs.
“It’s a cut, not a vest,” Tulsa popped him on the back of his head.