Chapter 17 King
King
Missing the next run isn’t what I wanted but staying behind because of Annabel isn’t a chore I’m completely unhappy about.
From the moment she walked through the door I haven’t been able to take my eyes off of her.
The only other woman who’s ever caught my attention and held it was Bella.
I was young and thought Heaven existed between her legs and that was enough to hook me for three years.
But with beauty and Heaven came a price and I paid more than I intended.
When I think about it, I still can’t work out where it went wrong with her.
I loved her. She was good to me in the beginning, she checked in on my dad a few times a week and she had the ability to make me feel like I was the only man in the world.
After a while, she also had that ability with any other guy that caught her attention.
I thought the pain of her first betrayal would never fade but I was wrong. Anger replaced the pain, and it turned me into something ugly. For every time she hurt me, I reciprocated and made sure she knew I had been unfaithful.
We were toxic and if I hadn’t have walked away in the end, I dread to think where we would’ve ended up.
But Annabel. Her and love are not mutual, and I’m not interested in falling for her. I’m only interested in what’s between her legs.
I knock on her door. No answer.
I knock again. Again, no answer.
She’s in there and when I open her door, she’s on her bed, reading yet another book. Her sweater hangs off one shoulder and her tanned skin is inviting and looks so fucking soft. I’d love to bite into it as I thrust inside her.
Because I’ve been watching her, I know she brought three books with her, and she’s already read her way through two of them. And by the looks of it, she’ll be finishing the third by the end of the day.
“Is there anything I can get you?”
She doesn’t answer, she doesn’t even look up.
She has no trouble talking to Luca. In fact, she has no trouble finding herself wherever my president seems to be.
I do question Annabel and how she sees the world.
Anyone can see Luca is obsessed with Victoria.
He has no interest in any other woman but his wife.
He’s not like most men, not like me. Luca made his vows to Victoria and I’m certain there isn’t a woman alive who could entice him to break those vows. Certainly not the likes of Annabel.
“By the looks of how fast you’re reading, you’ll have that book finished by the end of the day. What do you plan on reading tomorrow?”
This gets her attention, and she puts her book down, looking up at me.
“You’d go out and buy me books?” she questions suspiciously.
“Write me a list, and yes, I would.”
She slips off the bed and crosses the room, coming to a stop in front of me.
“And what exactly would you want in return?”
“You.”
Her laughter wraps around us, mockingly.
“Be specific, biker.”
Running the backs of my fingers across her apple shaped cheekbone, I lean in close and whisper, “I want to make you scream my name.”
A slight tremor runs through her before she steps back.
“The fact you believe my pussy is worth a favor from you proves you know nothing about me. Why on earth would I let you touch me?”
“Because I can make you feel so fuckin’ good that you would no longer care that you find yourself here with us.”
A smile creeps across her face. I tilt my head and watch her. Her smile isn’t friendly or kind.
“I don’t mind being here. It has its perks.”
I snort. “If you think my president is one of your perks, then you’re delusional.”
“Men are fickle. They are weak and they are whores.” She runs her eyes from my boots up to my head. “There’s not a man on earth who is true to his word.”
“You’re about to learn how wrong you’ve been and if you don’t learn it quick, it will get you killed. You keep chasing after Luca and he will not only put a bullet in you, he’ll shove the whole fuckin’ gun up your ass.”
I step back, knowing this is going to go around in circles and get us nowhere.
“Write me a list of the books you want, and I’ll pick them up for you.”
“Why? When I’ve told you I won’t pay the price you want.”
“Because when you’re reading, you’re in one place and you’re quiet.”
She writes me a list of three book titles and authors and passes it over. By the time I leave the room she’s picked up her book and is settled back down on the bed.
I close the door and lean against it. An unsettling feeling sits in my stomach. Luca was right to watch out for her. There’s something not right with her, yet why does it make me want her more?
“Prospect! I need you with me. I’ve got to run an errand.”
“What, now?”
“Yes, now. Let’s go.”
He tosses the cloth he was using to clean the bar and grabs his keys.
“I need to stop off somewhere while we’re out,” he tells me as we head out to our bikes. “It won’t take long.”
“Fine. Where are we going?”
“My mother’s.”
I’ve heard the talk about his mom when Cas and Alannah were visiting the clubhouse. His mother was Cas’s whore back in the day. She left Willow’s Peak when Cas chose Alannah. By all accounts, there was no contest between the two women.
The city seems smaller than usual now we have enemies to constantly look out for. Enemies that we have no idea who they are or where they are. Enemies that take cheap shots using their advantage of hiding in the shadows.
Keeping my eyes wide open, around every corner and behind me all at the same time isn’t enough. I keep all my senses open and listen to my gut.
The prospect’s mom lives in the roughest part of the city, and we stop outside a rundown apartment building.
A few of my friends in school lived out here and my mom would never let me over to the homes for sleepovers.
She wouldn’t even let me play out in these parts.
We didn’t have much money and even less after my mother died and my dad spent years paying off her medical bills and then the funeral, but when she was alive, she always thought we were better than the people who lived here.
It wasn’t because of who had money or didn’t.
She always said it was because of choices made when you don’t have the means to find better.
We were poor but we didn’t choose to worsen our circumstances.
She also said to wake up everyday and fight to find better and when our time came to leave this world, we’d be able to look back and see that even if we didn’t strike it rich, we still lived rich lives.
I often wonder what she would make of the choices I’ve made in my life.
Dropping out of school senior year. The way I acted in the only relationship I’ve ever had.
In and out of prison for various crimes.
Joining a Motorcycle Club and fitting in like I was born to be there.
Deep down, I know she wouldn’t be proud of any of them.
She would still love me, but she would wear a frown of disappointment often.
I’ve missed her and thought of her every single day since the cancer took her and when I see the prospect walking toward his mom who is waiting for him on the stoop, a pang of jealousy hits me.
I watch on as he talks with her for a few minutes and then hands her an envelope, of which I assume is cash.
I hand my father a similar envelope every month.
His mom doesn’t look as I expected her to for her age. She must be in her forties, but she looks in her fifties, but it’s easy to see she was once stunning. She still has a good figure and from where I stand, I can’t see any grey in her hair.
“How old’s your mom?” I ask the prospect when he returns to his bike.
“The fuck you need to know for?”
I shrug. “Just wondering.”
“Well, don’t.” He mounts his ride and asks, “Where do you need to go?”
“The bookstore on Clement Street.”
It doesn’t take long to ride through the city and takes even less time to purchase the books on Annabel’s list. I hand the store clerk her list and he walks around the store picking them off the shelves. With them safely tucked into my saddle bag, I move to leave when three bikers ride towards us.
“King, they’re not one of us. Different patches,” the prospect tells me like I don’t have a set of eyes of my own.
I see the exact moment they see us and go for the guns. Grabbing the prospect’s arm, I yank him toward me and drag us down, taking cover behind the nearest car.
It angers me that we have to hide but I want to live long enough to kill these motherfuckers.
I count six shots fired and two embed themselves in the car, before they ride off.
“Get on your bike!” I instruct the prospect.
I climb on my bike and with the prospect riding behind me, we give chase. They won’t be going back to their president and telling him we cowered behind a car. That we’re only alive because we were weak.
I draw my gun and rev the throttle as hard as it goes. Traffic becomes chaotic and the air is filled with drivers blasting their horns. I don’t give a shit. We fought for this city and it’s ours. It belongs to the Lost Souls, and no fucker is going to take it from us.
I aim my piece at the fucker riding behind and squeeze the trigger, stopping at the last moment when a van blocks my view. By the time we ride around it, the fuckers are gone.
“Fuck!” I holler in frustration.
Police sirens fill the air, and we ride for the club before they arrive. There are no more run ins before we reach the clubhouse, thank fuck.
I kill my engine out front and toss my keys at the prospect to park it round the back, grabbing the books before shooting through the front door.
Luca is sat with Angel and before I can tell him what’s happened, he asks, “Why am I hearing about a current shooting in the city?”
I take out a chair at his table and sit. “I know who’s after us.”
My statement gets Warren’s and Maxwell’s attention, and they hover close by to listen.
“Don’t keep us in suspense,” Angel grunts.
“Hades Hogs Motorcycle Club. Three of them just tried taking us out in broad daylight, in front of a number of witnesses. Witnesses that only saw them shoot. By the time we gave chase, and I drew my gun, they were gone.”
Luca grins. He smirks a lot but never grins. It’s eerily cold and sends a shiver up my spine.
He says, “Now we know who we’re going to kill.”