Chapter Ten #3
“I’ll meet you in the chapel.” They walked around the corner, and I knocked on Tank’s door.
“It’s open.” His grumbled reply came through the door.
I pushed open the door and leaned against the jamb. “I need a favor.”
Tank sat on the edge of his bed, blinked sleep from his eyes, and tapped out a cigarette.
Dozer and I had been friends for a while.
For all my dad issues, I never had an issue with Dozer’s old man.
Not that I knew him well. He was never around much, and by the time I came into the MC, he was locked up.
“Did you hear about last night?” I asked.
“Got in late. What’s up?”
I gave him the abridged version of events while he smoked his cigarette.
“I always had a soft spot for Levi. She’s just like Willow,” Tank said. “Hates to see a Heller hurting.”
“Kings fucked Ryatt up. I want him to stay here. He can share my room.”
Tank squinted against the smoke curling off his cigarette. “Not sure I want to know about that.”
“Nothing to tell.” Not yet. “Pike and Brenna are moving out. Another room will open up if he’s unhappy in mine.” My sexual preferences weren’t a secret, and no one would talk about my girl. McKelle was perfect. She put up with me. And because of her, Ryatt and I had a fragile truce.
However, there was no way to keep this thing between the three of us just between the sheets. Hellers were going to wonder about the mechanics of our relationship. Who was fucking whom? It was none of their business.
“Your girl wasn’t too happy with you working for Bullet. How’s she going to feel about you sharing a room with your prospect?”
“You’ll have to ask her, but I think she’s good since she was in bed with us.” Why hide it? He’d know by tonight when they were both in my bed again.
“You and Dozer got the same affliction.” He shook his head. “What’s the favor?” he asked with the cigarette bouncing between his lips.
“I need to know how you got out from under your PO.” Tank was living here in the MC, working for the mafia, and riding with the club that got him locked up in the first place. Ryatt needed that kind of sweetheart deal. “Ryatt needs legal counsel.”
Tank stood and stretched. “Give me five minutes to take a leak. I’ll meet you in the chapel.”
“Thanks.”
I stepped away and went to the chapel. Ryatt and McKelle sat at a small table. McKelle tilted her head and laughed at something Ryatt said. Who was this girl? With me, she was all fire and attitude, but with Ryatt she was like a flirtatious kitten.
I smiled at her as I went behind the bar, rinsed the carafe, and refilled it for a fresh pot of coffee.
“We were talking about his bike,” she said, standing from the table and crossing to the bar.
She slid onto one of the barstools. Ryatt came with her and stood behind her.
“He won’t report it stolen so he’s not going to get anything from an insurance payout.
But my dad has the Ducati. He never rides at the track anymore. ”
“Cops are going to ask questions,” I said. “But we have time to get him a ride. With his ribs, he’s in a cage for a few weeks anyway.”
“I know, but apparently, I have a type when it comes to boyfriends since he’s just like you and nothing I say is getting through.”
“McKelle, I’m not taking your dad’s bike, and I’m not riding yours. I don’t want your parents to know anything about this. Period. I’ll figure something out. Romeo had a Honda down at the shop. Maybe it’s still there.”
“Dozer just got a bike off Lee. It needs work, but you need rest and to lay low for a couple weeks anyway for your ribs to heal. You could barely crawl out of bed. I’ll talk to Dozer about the bike. I know he’ll work out a deal.”
McKelle propped her elbow on the bar. “Since you won’t go to the police, I was just suggesting there are temporary options.”
“I’m seeing the big picture,” Ryatt said. “There are dead Kings in the trap house. My DNA is all over that bathroom. It fucking sucks, but I’m taking the loss on this one. I owe about eight grand on my loan. That’s a small price to pay for my freedom.”
“I agree with Rizz.” I pulled four mismatched mugs from the shelf. “It’s not a real bike anyway.”
“Fuck you,” Ryatt said and smiled.
“Is that coffee ready?” Tank entered the chapel and combed his hand down his beard.
I filled the mugs, and we gathered around one of the tables. Tank stretched his legs out in front of him, growled, and took a sip of coffee. “They fucked you up,” he said to Ryatt.
“It looks worse than it is.”
“Good man. Don’t pussy out in front of your old lady. Give me details. What’s the situation with your PO?”
“I’m sitting on eighteen months of probation.
Three months in the halfway house, complete drug treatment, pay my fines.
Until yesterday, I was golden. I could’ve gotten out of the place I’m in, but my housing has to be approved.
Ted Vernal, my PO, would have to sign off on it.
I’m pretty much fucked now. Kings roughed up the lady who runs the halfway house. ”
“Housing seems to be settled.” His gaze shifted from Ryatt to me.
“Housing solved.” I took a sip of coffee. “Next problem.”
“I need a job, at least on paper,” Ryatt said. “I’ve been doing food delivery, but Kings have my bike.”
“We’ll get you wheels.” Tank’s chair creaked as he leaned back. “But you won’t make shit delivering. Once your busted ribs have healed, I’ll get you a meeting to talk with Bruno.”
“Priority is talking to my PO. I lost my phone, so I haven’t checked in with Ted.”
“You’re fucked without a lawyer,” Tank said. “I’ll call Willy. He’ll get in touch with your PO.”
Ryatt visibly exhaled, and his shoulders sagged with relief. “Thanks.”
“What’s the situation with the Kings?” Tank waited for a reply.
Ryatt glanced at me.
“Bullet’s dealing with them,” I said.
Tank laughed. “That fucker has all the fun.” He finished his coffee and set the empty mug on the table. “Until you hear from Bullet, you shouldn’t go anywhere alone. I’d tell you to carry a weapon, but you’ve got enough trouble. If you get caught carrying, Willy won’t be able to do shit for you.”
“When will the attorney contact Ted?” Ryatt asked.
“Give me an hour. You’re going to owe Willy a favor for working on Sunday. But all we need is a phone call.” Tank stood and rolled his shoulders. “Don’t worry, kid. The worst is over.” He went behind the bar for a refill on his coffee. “Rest up. You look like you could use it.”
“When you go to check-in,” I said, “I’ll see if I can borrow the hearse, or maybe Kiss will let me use her wheels.”
“I’m not walking into my PO’s office with you.” Ryatt sipped his coffee. “You wear trouble like a badge of honor.”
I ran my palm down the front of my cut. “Yeah, and you’ll be wearing the same badge one day.”
McKelle checked her phone. “I need to go home for a couple hours. My dad already gave me one lecture this week about treating the job as a voluntary position where I only show up when I feel like it.” She rolled her eyes. “Then said my salary will become optional. I can bring back dinner for us.”
“I’ll stay with Ryatt.”
“You work tonight,” Tank said.
“Fuck.”
McKelle stood and pushed her chair in. “I need my helmet and keys.” She headed back to my room and returned a moment later. “I’ll be back before you need to go to work.”
“I’ll be gone all night.”
“I’ll stay here with Ryatt.” She leaned over and kissed me. Her gaze shifted to Tank, then to Ryatt. I could see the moment when she decided to claim her boyfriends. She pivoted around the table and kissed Ryatt.
Tank chuckled and headed down the hall to his room.
“I’ll bring back dinner,” she said.
“I’ll walk out with you.” I pushed my chair back.
She kissed Ryatt once more, this time sliding her tongue into his mouth. “Rest. Everything will work out.”
He forced a smile. Then I followed her out of the MC.
As soon as we left the church, I slid my hands into my pockets, and we walked around the side of the building. “People are going to talk.”
“I know,” she said.
“I don’t worry about you and me. Everyone in the MC has heard us—”
“—fight, breakup, get back together. I don’t want to hide from this. It either works for us, or it doesn’t, because of what we want. I’m not ashamed of having two boyfriends. They can call me a Heller whore. Put it on a patch and I’ll wear it.”
I laughed. “Good girl.”
She grew quiet and squinted into the sun.
“What’s got you worried?”
We approached her bike. “To be honest—you.”
“Me?”
She wrapped her arms around my waist and tipped her face up to mine.
“Yes. Because you take what you want. You don’t always consider the consequences.
He doesn’t know you like I do. Maybe I’m worried for nothing, but you’re intimidating, and you know I’m yours.
” Her voice quivered with emotion. “And he knows I’m yours.
Cruz, I’m his, too. You have the power to make him feel like he’s not as important, but he is. ”
“I know. He’s not a pussy. I have to believe he’s here because in his gut he knows he belongs with us.
” I kissed her forehead, then let her go.
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a stack of folded bills and peeled off a few hundred dollars.
“I don’t want Rizz to go back to the halfway house for anything.
Can you call Kiss and go shopping for him?
He needs a phone, jeans, toothbrush. He needs everything. ”
She clutched the folded bills in her hand then wrapped her arms around my neck. “How can you be such an asshole and yet so amazing?”
I rested my hands on her hips. “Want to make a side bet?”
Her lips pulled into a sexy as fuck smirk. “On what?”
“He’s going to be a dick about this. He’s not going to want either one of us buying him anything.”
“I’ll take that bet. I think he’ll appreciate it.”
“Enough to watch me fuck you while he’s still busted up? Because I’m not going to last six weeks for him to heal.”
“Probably not that much.”
I swatted her ass as she tugged on her helmet.
“Go straight home, Micki, and text me when you get there. Kings are still out there. Until we hear from Bullet, assume they’re still looking for Rizz.”
She nodded and snapped down her visor. She rolled through the lot, and I headed back into the chapel. Once she’d cleared the fence, the scream of her engine pierced the quiet afternoon.
Fuck, my girl was badass.