Chapter 17
Pike
Knowing she’s in my space is doing shit to my head. I like it. I love it. I want her scent on everything in this place.
I watch her as she walks around, taking in the house. It isn’t much, and it doesn’t have a lot of furniture, but it should be good for her. Not that I want her here alone. I don’t. I want her with me, but I know that’s moving a little too fast for her. I don’t want her to be overwhelmed or pull away from me.
“You like it, Jailbait?”
“It’s nice, Pike. Not what I expected, though.”
“What did you expect?”
“A lot of darkness,” she laughs, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve heard.
“I wanted it to be different. Not like the clubhouse. Some place I could just come and be me.”
“And who are you, Pike?”
“I’m your man.” Her smile fades as she stares at me before it brightens back up. I watch it tug across her face before she moves toward me. She wraps her arms around my waist, and I hold on tightly.
“I think I like the sound of that,” she whispers.
“You do, huh? You sure about stayin’ here? You could have me all to yourself every night,” I remind her.
“I appreciate that more than you know, but I need some time. I can’t jump from one man to another overnight, Pike.”
“It ain’t like that with us, Feather.”
“I know that, but you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do. Well, you’re settled in and all that. I should go back to the clubhouse. I showed you how the security system works and all that shit.”
“I can’t thank you enough for this.” I don’t need her thanks. I need her. Naked. In my bed. I need her heart in the palm of my hands. Fuck, I’m falling hard and fast for this girl.
“Not a problem, baby. You need anything you call me. That alarm goes off, and I’m here,” I tell her. She nods her head before I kiss her once more. I don’t want to leave her. I want her with me and only me. Leaving her here is safe, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
I watch her face for a long second before kissing her again. I can’t help myself with her. Once I’m partially satisfied, I pull away from her and walk toward the door.
“I mean it, anything at all you call me,” I tell her over my shoulder.
“I will. Thank you, Pike.”
“Not a problem, darlin’.” I walk out the door, closing it behind me then I wait. I wait until I hear her lock it. I wait until I hear the small beeps from the alarm being set and I smile to myself that she actually listened for once.
Walking down the steps, I regret leaving her. I wish she would have said she wanted to stay with me but I understand her reasoning. I won’t push her any more than I have to.
I’m on my bike and revving the engine when I change my mind. I kill the engine and sit watching the house like a stalker. I want to know when she goes to bed, when she’s settled in. So I sit and stalk the goddamn house like a madman when my cell rings. I pull it out and answer it quickly.
“Yeah?”
“Where are you?”
“What’s the difference?”
“Really Pike? You gonna be a prick now?”
“I’m gettin’ Feather settled at the house. What’s goin’ on?” I ask Free.
“Prez wants to talk about RRMC. Figured you want in on that,” he says. I grit my teeth. Talking about them pisses me off more each time.
“I’ll be there in an hour,” I tell him. He chuckles into the line.
“In an hour? After you fuck her senseless?”
“I’m not fuckin’ her. In fact, I’m not even in the house,” I respond truthfully.
“You stalkin’ her?”
“Somethin’ like that. Just makin’ sure everything is good before I leave.”
“Heard that. I’ll let Mask know.”
I hang up the phone and slide it back into my jeans before I look up at the house. The lights slowly turn off from room to room, and I know she’s getting ready for bed. I smile to myself, knowing she’s okay in there. That’s all I want for her. I want her safe from that asshole who has done so much to tear her apart. One day, he’ll get his. One day, I’ll find him, and I will make him regret ever looking at her the wrong way.
When the final light goes out, I rev the bike once more and pull out of the driveway. I head toward the clubhouse with a lot on my mind. I want them. I want RRMC, but that’s a war. It’s a war we’d have to wage, and I wonder how many of the guys would be behind me on that. Technically, if they aren’t the ones who shot me, I shouldn’t have any issue with them. Feather wasn’t mine at the time. She wasn’t with me, wasn’t my girl. Now she is. It’s a thin line I’m walking with her and this mess. It could turn ugly for the club, and I need to be one hundred percent sure this is what I want to do. In my heart, I know it’s the right thing to do. She didn’t deserve that shit.
Blake, on the other hand. He deserves everything he’s going to get. I plan on making his life a living hell starting with a car bomb I’m going to plant as soon as I find his ass. I don’t plan on blowing him up. No, that would be too easy, and it would ruin the fun I plan on having with him.
I’m going to hunt his ass down and play a little game with him. I’m going to make him regret ever fucking with Feather. I smirk to myself as I pull into the clubhouse parking lot and kill the engine. I have so many plans for that man and he won’t see any of it coming his way.
I climb off my bike and leave the helmet on the seat as I whistle and stroll inside. Free spots me smiling and narrows his eyes at me.
“What the hell did you do?”
“What makes you think I did somethin’?”
“That smile on your face. What did you do?”
“I didn’t do shit yet. It’s the plans I have floatin’ around this head of mine that’s makin’ me smile, brother.”
“What plans?” he asks as he passes me a beer. I take it, bring it to my lips, taking a long pull.
“For that asshole, Blake. I’m gonna cut him limb from limb, brother. I’m gonna make him wish he was dead,” I inform him, keeping that smile in place. Maybe I’m a sick fuck for thinking that way. Maybe I’m an asshole, but that’s the thoughts running through my head at the moment.
“You gonna carve his ass up?” Free asks when Van walks over to join the conversation.
“Who you carvin’ up?”
“Blake.”
“Did you find him?”
“Not yet, but he’ll show up eventually,” I remind them. They both nod their heads and agree with me. He’ll show up.
“And that’s why you’re smilin’?”
“Goddamn right, it is. That and I got the girl.”
“You had the girl. I saw that shit in the hospital,” Van tells me.
“She wasn’t on board then. She is now.”
“You got her all settled at your place?”
“Yeah, she is. Made sure she was good before I came back here,” I tell them. They both nod when Mask walks out of the office, and the other guys start filtering in.
“You ready?” he asks. We nod and walk over to the room, and head inside. We all take our seats as Mask stands at the head of the table.
“This will be short and sweet. RRMC did attack Pike. They were testin’ us, testin’ our response to things. We failed. We failed Pike as a brother,” he says as I shake my head.
“Like fuck you did. You were out there in a matter of seconds, Prez!” I snap at him.
“You shouldn’t have been out there alone. That’s on us,” he argues.
“No, the fuck it isn’t. I went outside for some air. I shouldn’t need a babysitter to do that. They snuck up on me. That isn’t anyone’s fault.”
“Either way, I feel like shit because of it, Pike. It shouldn’t have happened that way. I’m sorry,” he says. I nod my head, knowing there’s no reason to argue with him when he’s like this. He won’t back down, but neither will I. I won’t let him blame himself for shit that was out of his control.
“We’re good, Prez.”
“We will be good. We’re gonna make plans. We’re gonna make this right. We’re gonna take them down,” he says with a growl. The boys cheer in agreement. It’s been a while since we’ve gone to war, and they’ve all been eager lately.
“When and where?”
“We don’t know yet. We need to stake them out. Find out how they’re movin’ and where. Find out what they’re up to. I want to know every fuckin’ move they make. I want intel.” He looks around the room at the rest of us. We grunt as I pull out a cigarette and light one up.
“I’m in,” I tell him. The others follow suit.
“We get what information we can while keepin’ out of sight. They got close once, but that won’t happen again. Do what you gotta do to get that intel, too.”
“Does that mean we can grab one or two of them?” I ask with a smirk.
“Not yet. I want to see what we find out first, and then we’ll grab them. You’ll get to have your fun, Pike. I promise you that much. This is as much about your old lady as it is about you. I wouldn’t take that away from you.”
“Speakin’ of her, she’s safe at my house. Ain’t no one gettin’ in there without me knowin’ about it.”
“That’s good. We want her safe, but when shits close to goin’ down, I want Feather here. I don’t care how you have to sweet talk her or tie her ass to your bed. She’s here, and that’s final.” I nod my head. I agree with that. Once we start moving in on them, they will pull out all the stops. They will do what they can to hurt us and use her if they find her. She’ll be safer here when we lock down the clubhouse.
“Heard that, Prez.”
“Van and Free, I want you to take about five guys out with you tomorrow night and start gatherin’ intel. I want to know every move they’re makin’. I want to know every time one of them shits the wrong way,” he tells them.
“We got this,” Free adds.
“Good. I think that’s it for now unless anyone has anything else to bring to the table?” he asks, looking around the room. No one speaks up, so that’s the end of church.