Chapter 17
VANNA
“ A lright, Ace is with Rosita and Mia for the night,” Dean says, walking into the bathroom while I finish applying mascara in the mirror. I’m not much of a makeup wearer, but I know I’ll be around club girls decked out to the nines tonight, so I’m making an effort.
“Either Viking or I will pick him up sometime tomorrow morning. You almost ready to go?” He grabs the comb from the stone counter beside the sink and slicks back his hair.
“This charity run starts in forty-five minutes. There’s a party at the Jokers’ afterwards we need to attend.
” He doesn’t seem too thrilled about that last part.
I curiously look at him through the mirror while tucking my makeup back into the little zippered pouch to bring with me. “Do you plan on us coming home tonight?”
“Yeah. Might be late. Why?”
I open the drawer near the sink and remove the little blue disc of contraceptives. “I take these in the morning now.” I hold them up for Dean to see. “If we’re not going to be here, and you do want me to continue taking them, I should bring them with me.”
“Oh…” He stares at it contemplatively for a moment, and a little glimmer of hope flickers within me. “Bring them. Just in case.”
I quirk a brow at him in an attempt to disguise the crushing disappointment. “Missing one dose in the middle of the pack isn’t as risky as the first week.”
“Why be risky at all?” he asks, tossing the comb back onto the counter.
“ So says the biker ,” I tease. “Risk-taking is in your DNA.”
Scowling playfully back at me, he smacks my leather-clad ass then walks out of the bathroom, telling me to hurry up.
T his particular charity ride raised funds for a local children’s hospital, and multiple clubs within the region participated. Once the official event closed, everyone headed to the after-party hosted at the JoCo Jokers’ legendary clubhouse to celebrate.
We pull through the black iron gates and ride up the long, ancient-oak-bordered driveway to an area designated for parking in front of the old convent-turned-biker-clubhouse.
Dean’s brother Daniel is standing guard by the cathedral-style doors.
He’s wearing a denim cut over his leather jacket, but it doesn’t have any patches on it, besides one that says ‘Prospect’.
Trippy is standing beside him. She touches his arm in a brief but supportive way, then descends the steps as we park and dismount Serene. I wonder if they’re an item now?
Immediately, Trippy informs Cherry and me of one more fundraiser taking place tonight. “We’re calling it the Old Lady Auction.” She smiles as if we should be excited.
“Oh, and what does this entail?” I ask.
“You just have to dance with the highest bidder. One song of their choosing. It’ll be fun, so far everyone is in, but it isn’t mandatory.
Your Old Man’s permission is a requirement to participate, of course.
” She winks playfully at Dean. “The clubs that offer up their Ol’ Ladies get to decide which charity the money they bring in goes to.
You could raise some extra cash for Medusa’s Gates tonight, if you want. ”
I glance at Dean when I hear him release an exasperated sigh. He doesn’t appear thrilled by this either. “It’s for charity.” I shrug awkwardly. “It’s just a dance…I don’t want to be the only Ol’ Lady that doesn’t participate.”
“ For charity ,” Dean begrudgingly concedes.
“The auction is later… Right now…” Trippy turns to Dean once more, and her typical jovial tone seems more subdued. “Slice wants to speak with you and your crew.”
Dean cocks his chin at Viking and Viper, then takes my hand, giving it a little squeeze as we follow Trippy up the steps to head inside. Dean and Daniel exchange curt nods when we pass, but say nothing to each other.
They’ve been civil whenever they happen to cross paths at these biker events and when we arrange visits with Maddie, but that’s about as much progress as they’ve made in repairing their relationship.
Still, they’re doing better than I am with my family.
We receive cards around the holidays from them, and my parents always send Ace money for his birthday, but my family has yet to reach out to me about meeting their first and only grandson.
Sometimes I wonder if things would be different if they knew Ace and I almost didn’t make it.
The Jokers’ clubhouse is the same man cave it was the last time I was here. Loud music, loud men, scantily clad sweet-butts dancing around poles and catering to their guests. The marble fountain has once again been turned into a huge ice cooler loaded with bottles and cans of beer and soft drinks.
“I’ll take Vanna and Cherry out back.” Trippy slips herself between Cherry and me, looping her arms around ours.
“I’ll come find you as soon as I can,” Dean says, always reluctant to leave my side at these events.
I watch him walk off with Viking and Viper in tow before Trippy tugs Cherry and me out back.
“I need to talk to you two,” Trippy says, though she’s keeping her voice conspiratorially low as we walk through the crowd and out to the large back patio and manicured grounds. Like last time, there’s a makeshift stage and a band playing covers of rock n’ roll songs.
“What’s going on?” Cherry asks when Trippy leads us to a less populated area near a fire pit in the far corner of the patio.
“It’s about Daniel… He needs Dean’s blessing in order to be patched in with the Jokers as a full-fledged member.” Her wide eyes zero in on me, full of hope.
“ Oh… Are you and Daniel together?”
“Unofficially, yes…but technically, until he’s a patched member, I can’t be his Ol’ Lady,” Trippy explains. “Slice won’t give the okay until, or unless , Dean approves. Normally, this wouldn’t involve another club outside of ours, but Dean and Daniel are a special circumstance.”
Cherry and I exchange glances. Although we’re both Ol’ Ladies, and we understand how things work in this MC culture, we can’t help but feel some rules are ridiculous at times.
We both know Trippy has put in her time with the Jokers, and if this will make her happy, whether it involves Dean’s brother or not…
I shrug at Cherry.
“Alright,” Cherry nods.
“We’ll see what we can do,” I say.
A bright smile immediately washes over Trippy’s anxious expression.
“This is still Dean and Daniel we’re talking about… So, no promises, but we’ll talk to him.”
Trippy gleefully scurries off, and Cherry and I head for a minibar to grab a couple of cocktails.
“A woman’s work is never done,” Cherry jokes.
“Who’d have thought we’d be the ones helping Daniel with a new woman?” I have to shake my head.
A little mischievous smirk pulls at Cherry’s lips. “ Lucinda will be thrilled ,” she says, making a scissoring gesture with her fingers. We both laugh a bit diabolically at the potential opportunity to dismantle one of Lucinda’s ‘ safety nets’ .
H e’s dead before he knows it. A stifled gasp of surprise escapes him just as my hand clamps over his mouth.
I open his throat with the blade gripped in my other hand.
It cuts through his carotid artery like warm butter, and I assist his collapse to the ground while he rapidly loses consciousness and departs this world in a pool of blood.
A merciful death, all things considered.
The other two inside the old cook trailer may not be so lucky, however, it is my hope that one of them survives…
Way out here in the country, far from anyone who might hear all that is about to go down in this singlewide-turned-meth lab, I’m not too concerned with the crescendo of this structure’s impending demise. There are others, after all.
Crouching beside the corpse, I wipe my knife off on his shirt before slipping it back in its sheath at my side, then I remove the beer bottle tucked within the deep pocket of my leather jacket.
It contains a homemade napalm mixture, and I twist the top off to stuff a handkerchief down the neck, soaking it in the contents with just enough fabric protruding to act as a fuse.
“Put on some fuckin’ tunes, man!” one of them shouts inside.
While I get into position outside the kitchen window, Bawitdaba by Kid Rock blares loudly from within.
With a flick of my thumb, True Love ignites the end of the handkerchief, and the flame rapidly consumes the fabric.
I send the Molotov cocktail crashing through the window, then immediately sprint for the van parked out front. The cook trailer explodes as I take cover behind the van.
Screaming, engulfed in flames from the waist down, one of the cooks staggers out the front door, flailing in a desperate attempt to extinguish himself.
Gun drawn, I approach while he manages to shed the burning coveralls and drags himself across the ground, away from the remnants of the burning trailer.
“ W-what are you doing?” he rasps, gawking up at me in utter shock.
Aiming the barrel between his crossed eyes, a grin stretches my mouth as I tell him, “Just trying to love someone…”
“ T his whole mess is a result of a beef your crew had with the Chrome Demons MC.” Slice shoots me a pointed glare. “It’s only fair you help us clean up the mess Legion left behind.”
“We’re already in agreement. We have every intention of assisting your crew however we can with clearing these dregs out of your county as well.”
The walkie-talkie beside Slice crackles, and a prospect’s voice comes through. “Boss…we have a…situation at the front gate.”
Slice picks it up to respond. “What is it?”
“Says his name is Legion …and that he’s brought a party favor courtesy of the Saviors MC.”
Slice cocks a brow at me.
“I have no idea what this is about,” I tell him. “I didn’t authorize whatever this is. I didn’t even know he’d show up.”
“Speak of the Devil, I guess.” Slice lets out a sigh.
“He seems to have a fuckin’ knack for that,” I mutter.
Slice lifts the walkie again. “Alright, Prospect, let him through. We’ll meet him outside.”