Chapter 3 Gage
Letty is here. It’s fucking crazy that she shows up just when I’ve had another conversation with Storm about her. I know shit is escalating at the house. I can feel it when I’m there.
So far, all I’ve heard or seen is yelling, objects thrown and broken, and pounding on doors in anger. I can’t force Storm’s hand. This isn’t a club issue. It’s mine.
But that changes when Ava and Letty show up, asking for help. It’s become a club problem now because the girls are involving us. They don’t understand the cost. You can’t come to the Vipers and ask for protection without offering something in return.
Storm will see this as a chance to earn a future favor.
Both girls are smart and come from powerful families.
Ava may not have wealth, but her father has connections.
Storm will find a way for Ava to become useful to us.
Same with Letty. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but in the future, she’ll owe the club.
I don’t want her to owe a fucking debt to the Vipers.
Fuck. Letty took this out of my hands. The worst part? It’s not even her fault. I haven’t been there for her. The reason doesn’t matter. She still blames me for leaving her alone. I don’t have to hear the words spoken to know that it’s true. It’s burning in her gaze as she stares at me.
The accusation. The betrayal.
It’s fucking killing me.
My body stiffens as I hear Ava list all the shit my father, Liam, and Theo have done to her. The cruelty. How it’s escalated.
Cynthia’s absence leaves her daughter vulnerable. Why hasn’t she protected Letty? Or taken her out of that house?
I don’t get it.
Only money could make her turn a blind eye. That was fucking unacceptable.
“What do you want from the Vipers?” Storm asks, needing clarification.
“Protection,” Ava states as Letty pulls away from me and goes to her best friend. Ava’s arm surrounds her shoulders, hugging her for support.
It’s clear that Letty is struggling to handle the situation, and she’s overwhelmed.
Storm shakes his head. “I need to hear it from Letty.”
I can’t intervene, stop, or help Letty. This has to come from her.
“I just want to be left alone.”
“If we help you, you’ll owe the club.” Storm looks between them. “We always collect our debts.”
Ava blinks. “Money?”
“No,” Storm growls. “A future favor.”
Ava thinks it over. “Done.”
Letty sighs. “I don’t know what that means or how I can help you, but someday, when you ask, I will.”
“That’s all I need to hear.” He doesn’t look at me as he orders them from the room. “Don’t contact us or return to the clubhouse. Go.” He gestures at the door. “Now.”
And just like that, the Vipers become involved.
Storm can be a dick, but he draws the line at women and children being harmed, especially when he can stop it.
Ava leads Letty to the door and opens it. There’s about five seconds where our eyes meet, and I want to tell Letty that everything will be okay now, but I can’t. I have to let her go.
Again.
Once the door shuts, I turn to my president. He’s as close as a father to me. The only one who gave a shit when my life was falling apart. He offered me the chance to prospect and find a better life than the one my father tried to force on me.
I owed Storm more than I could ever repay.
“Sit down, son. We gotta talk.”
I drop into the chair in front of his desk, propping my elbows on my knees. I know I won’t like what he’s got to say. I’m too consumed with everything I just heard to focus on it. “Fuck.”
Storm shakes his head. “This changes nothing. You still have a year.”
“I know.”
“Do you? Is this gonna be a problem?” He has a right to ask. My actions affect everyone in the club. If I choose to start a war with my father, it will force everyone else to become involved.
I won’t do that. Not yet.
“I know, Pres. It won’t be an issue.”
His shoulders ease as he sits back in his chair. “Mifflin is a problem for another day.”
“Agreed.”
“But Liam and Theo, I give you freedom to deal with however you choose.”
My response is swift. I laugh because I’ve been wanting to deal with them ever since they started harassing Letty after Homecoming eighteen months ago. Liam and Theo were the ones to spread rumors. They talked shit about her, thinking I would be okay with it. I was fucking pissed when I found out.
After that, we stopped hanging out. I turned to the club and my brothers in the Vipers. Liam and Theo formed their own gang, stealing, dealing drugs, and talking shit behind my back.
I lost count of how many times we fought at my dad’s house or at school. Things got bloody and heated. Then Mifflin and Cynthia got married. Shit got worse. I had to fucking leave or risk doing something stupid.
My father is a corrupt bastard. That’s never been a secret.
But finding evidence? That’s tricky. He’s too fucking smart to leave records of the shit he’s involved in or the powerful men he controls.
That’s because Mifflin deals in a currency that everyone knows.
Secrets are his lifeline. They save his ass and fill his bank account.
But someday, I’ll take him down.
Until then, my focus is on Letty. “I won’t contact her,” I assure Storm. “But I can’t say I won’t keep watch, especially now.”
“I won’t give an order to stop you.”
Thank fuck.
“Take your cousin, Zoo, Cash, and Heathen. Get justice for Letty.”
I pop to my feet, grinning before I leave his office. It hasn’t been long since Letty and Ava left. If I’m lucky, I’ll accidentally bump into them in the parking lot.
When I rush outside, I can see I’m too late. Storm kept me just long enough that all I could see was Ava’s car leaving the lot. Letty doesn’t notice me as they turn onto the road and drive away.
Storm isn’t cruel. His order is meant to protect me, not fuck with me. But it does because I can’t have what I want, who I want.
Guilt consumes me for not preventing all the shit that’s happened to Letty.
I’ve been watching her often, but I obviously missed that things escalated with Liam and Theo.
They’ve been careful. Fucking with her when I can’t see, which means they know I come by the house at night.
They fucking know when I’m around. The bastards think they’re smart.
Not after tonight.
I’m standing there, pulling out my pack of smokes when Bullseye joins me.
He watches me light the end and inhale until the cherry sizzles. “Well, cuz, we gonna fuck up Liam and Theo?”
“We are,” I admit.
“I vote baseball bats.”
It’s a good choice. Painful. Bloody. “Then we use bats.”
He grins. “Zoo, Crash, and Heathen?”
“Yep.”
“I’ll round them up.” Bullseye whistles as he walks away, as eager to give a beat down as I am.
Nobody fucks with Letty and gets away with it.
IT’S HOMECOMING.
Two years since the night I first touched Letty.
Six months since I saw her at the clubhouse and busted down the door where Liam and Theo were partying.
I took a bat to every guy in the room. No one escaped my wrath.
Crash, Bullseye, Heathen, and Zoo spread out, eager to help.
They were relentless. We broke bones and shattered kneecaps.
Blood sprayed the walls crimson. It was a brutal, visceral reminder that sent a message.
No one had touched or messed with Letty since that night.
I sit on my Harley across the street from Ava’s house, watching through the second-floor window where I can see the girls getting ready for the dance.
I’m not secretive about it. As the time grows closer for me to claim Letty, I let her sneak glimpses of me and show her that she’s not alone.
My girl is protected. Anyone who sees me and my cut knows to steer clear.
It’s worked. No one talks to her unless it’s some fucktard who wants to date her. I’ve had to chase away more than one. She doesn’t know, and I don’t fucking care. I won’t lose her to some asshole who only wants to get laid and break her heart.
Besides, her moans and her first time belong to me.
The only thing that matters right now is Letty in that dress. I can’t let her go to Homecoming without showing up and keeping every guy there from trying to get with my girl. Yeah, Storm would kick my ass if he knew. He won’t find out.
I blame the fucking dress she’s wearing.
It’s dark red and hugs her curves with a slit in the thigh that exposes her long legs as she walks.
I don’t know what a dress like that is called, but there’s nothing on her shoulders, no sleeves, and her tits are nearly popping out of the top of the heart-shaped fabric.
Her soft skin is on display, and I’m fucking drooling as I sit here, deciding what I’ll say to her and how much of the truth to expose.
Letty looks gorgeous, and her skin is glowing thanks to a tube of sparkly cream that both girls rub on their necks, chests, and arms. I can’t take my eyes off Letty.
I’m fucking salivating as I swallow, trying not to think of all the dirty things I want to do to her while she’s wearing that dress and heels.
Her long hair is swept back from her face but falls down her back in loose, dark brown curls. I long to wrap my hand around the length and hold the strands tight as I fuck her from behind. She doesn’t know what she does to me. How badly I fucking need her.
When a limo shows up, I snuff out my cigarette, retreating to the shadows. If she’s seen me before now, she’ll wonder where I’ve gone and when I’ll show up again. Good. That gives me the chance to surprise her.
Homecoming has a special theme this year. A masquerade. It’s so perfect, I chuckle in the darkness. No one will recognize me. They won’t know who I am, only that I’m making it known Letty is mine.
Two years ago, I stayed away from the dance, not giving a shit about making an appearance. Now, I won’t miss it. It doesn’t matter that I have already graduated. No one will stop me.