3. Chapter One
Medusa
Fifteen years later
Thirty Years Old
The rumble of the bike makes my legs vibrate, and its roar makes my soul happy. No matter what happens, whether good or bad, the bike seems to heal everything. I have nowhere to be until ten when I meet with my brother and sister for our bimonthly brunch. I rev the bike and hit the throttle to open myself up more, which makes me smile. I slow down when I begin to enter the city limits. I try to be on my best behavior and not bring my motorcycle club on the cop's radar. I pull into the gas station to top off.
I grab my phone from my black leather jacket and see a text from my sister in my sibling chat group message.
Chelle: I’m not going to be able to make it. Lucas is in town, and I haven’t seen him.
TJ: Bring him. I want to meet him finally.
Chelle: Never going to happen until I know he’s worth keeping around.
Me: eye roll emoji.
Me: TJ, are we still on, or are you canceling on me too?
TJ: I’m almost there. Where are you?
Me: Getting gas, then heading there.
TJ: See you soon. Chelle, you owe us dinner one night since you canceled at the last minute.
I may be the oldest, but Tanner Jr., or TJ as he prefers, takes his role as the only brother to a new level. He’s overprotective even though I’m the president of my motorcycle club and could kill a man or woman about twenty different ways. I gasped and nodded at the man in a yellow Corvette on the other side. The guy stares at me like he’s either trying to figure out where he knows me from or seeing what my skin would look like on him. It’s one or the other with me. Men are a big distraction for me, and I don’t have the time to get involved with what I'm doing. That’s why I have my list of friends with benefits who help scratch an itch when I need it.
“Overcompensating for something or too much money and not enough brains?” I straddle my bike and head to the Dinner Bell Restaurant to see my baby brother. I park my bike out front to keep an eye on it. I walk into the restaurant, scanning for TJ. The woman standing at the hostess booth looks me up and down, then frowns.
“I’m sorry, miss, but the restrooms are for guests only, and we have no empty tables available.” Her tone isn’t one of being sorry, and she looks at me with pure disgust. I’m used to people looking at me like this because I’m the girl from the wrong side of the tracks. I'm curvy, five foot four inches, with wild red hair. I have a temper and am not afraid to use it. I’m standing here with my black biker boots, ripped jeans, T-shirt, and black leather jacket. I don’t care to dress up, especially when I’m on my bike, and I have shit to do today. I smile at her.
“Well, it’s a good thing I made a reservation.” I smirk at her. I scan the room again and smile when I spot my brother. “I see my party. I’ll show myself to the table.” I grab the menu she’s holding. “I’m going to give you some advice; keep your opinions of what you think of people to yourself because one day you will piss off the wrong person.” I walk away from her and slide into my side of the booth. TJ is chuckling to himself.
“Can you ever be nice to people?” He tries to chastise me with a twinkle in his eye.
“She started it.” I roll my eyes. I look at the menu even though I know everything about it.
“Mel, are you okay?” TJ’s voice is lower this time. “You look lost.”
“Last night was a rough night. I didn’t sleep well.” It’s coming up on the fifteenth anniversary of our Dad’s death. The nightmares are coming more frequently, and I’m no closer to getting to DeMarco.
“When are you going to trust me with the truth?” he asks me as he stares at me. I shake my head as my eyes look around the restaurant. He sighs. “I know you’ve lied to me all these years, but I thought you trusted me.”
“I do trust you, but not here. There are too many people I don’t trust in here.” He nods, scanning the room like I did earlier. We ordered, and he started talking about his auto body shop. After he completed trade school, I wanted to help him. I gave him the money to start his business. He paid me back, and we fought over ownership. He gave me 20 percent of the company because I believed in him. I take my profit and divide it in half. I have a trust fund for Michelle and TJ. I never want us to be poor again, fighting to stay together. ”Have you hired anyone new yet?” He shakes his head. “When you start the interview process, let me know so Joker can do a background check for you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he snarks at me through a mouthful of his bacon cheeseburger. He knows I hate when he does that because I hate seeing the food in his mouth or him chewing so loudly. “I appreciate the help ensuring everyone is on the up and up. I don’t want a repeat of the first three years.” I nod. “Speaking of the auto body shop, I need you and the girls to bring the bikes for a tune-up. I brought my schedule so we can stagger them so I can still run my business as usual.” He pulls out a calendar, and I can’t help but giggle. He raises an eyebrow at me.
“I need my workers to see this, and I’m not giving them access to my phone.” I hold my hands in surrender before handing over my phone calendar to him so he can see my MC's work schedule. We spend the next hour and a half talking, working, eating, and planning to get together at my place to talk. I knew I couldn’t get rid of this topic. I don’t want him involved in the DeMarco mess. I try to keep my siblings out of the Valkyries MC business because it’s my cross to bear, not my brother’s, especially since Mom took off the day I graduated from high school. I don't know what would've happened if it hadn’t been for Smitty helping us. He pays the check because he’s the man; no woman, sister, friend, or girlfriend will ever pay in his presence. We’re standing on the sidewalk.
“I’ll see you tomorrow night.” I hug him and head to my bike.
“Hey, Melly,” he yells at my retreating, and I look over my shoulder at him, “Be careful.”
“Careful is my middle name.” I wave and straddle my bike. I head to the clubhouse for a few hours before the mayhem begins.