Chapter 5
Five
Blitz
I’m beyond pissed at Token right now. It is no goddamn secret that I do not like to fly.
That doesn’t mean the motherfucker needs to drug my ass.
We touched down in Tucson, and I hardly remember getting my ass off the plane.
Rhino and Token guided me through the airport and out to meet Short from the Arizona chapter.
We climb into the SUV and I lay my head back, trying to get my rolling stomach and fucked head under control.
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I check to see if Charlie has replied to my text message.
My heart stutters slightly when I find there isn’t a reply from her.
Anger and worry burn my gut, causing all the drinks to turn sour.
She always messages me back when I’m away.
The swaying of the car and me reading on my phone is causing my head to spin and stomach to roll, so I lay my head back and close my eyes.
Not at all surprised when my thoughts go to the woman who haunts my every waking moment—hell, even my dreams.
I must pass out because the next thing I know I’m being shaken awake as we pull up to what’s left of our Arizona brother’s clubhouse.
We slide out of the SUV, and I growl because I’m still unsteady on my feet.
The guys heard me into a building where, thank God, there is fucking AC.
I fall back onto the couch, while squinting at Token.
“Token, I’m going to kick your fucking ass for this,” I snap.
He smirks at me before shrugging. “Shouldn’t be such a little bitch when it comes to flying.”
Along with the California chapter, we spend the next two weeks helping the Arizona chapter rebuild their bunkhouse.
I’ve texted Charlie a dozen times, and with every unanswered message, my stress and anxiety grow.
Add in the unrest due to whatever the bitch Shea had to say, and I’m fighting every molecule in me not to take off for home to make sure that she is okay.
As far as I know, they haven’t found out anything that could lead to Charlie being caught in the crosshairs of the shit-show going down.
As we get ready to leave Arizona, Token comes to me with his hand out and two gummies lying on his palm.
I eye the gummies for a long time before biting the bullet and taking them.
We make it through security with no issues and head to our gate.
Sitting at our gate waiting, the gummies start to take effect and I’m feeling okay until the moment the door closes. Yep, I cannot fucking do this.
I move to stand from my seat when Rhino’s hand lands on my shoulder. “Sit the fuck down. Once we’re in the air, we’ll get you a drink. If you cannot do that, a well-placed pressure point jab will put you out. You fucking decide.”
Rumbling low in my chest, I reply, “You might as well knock me the fuck out.”
“Sleeping Beauty, your wish is my command,” Rhino chuckles.
The very next thing I know is people standing to get off the plane. I stretch my neck, trying to work out the kinks from being in a single position for a long time.
“Take a good nap?” Rhino smirks.
“Fuck you.” I flip him off as we stand grabbing our bags from the overhead compartment.
The need to get to Charlie sweeps away all drowsiness.
As we make our way through the airport, I relax at being home.
We make it outside to find Twitch leaning against one of our blacked-out SUVs.
After a round of one-armed man hugs, we slide our cuts off and climb into Token behind the wheel.
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I check once again for a message from Charlie, and when I don’t find one, I shoot her a message:
ME: Charlie, I’ll be home soon. You had better have a good reason for not answering me.
I have to bite my tongue so hard I taste blood to keep from interrogating Twitch about Charlie. It only takes us about thirty minutes to pull up to the gate at the clubhouse and what greats me has me groaning and pissed as hell. Rhino glances at me with a matching expression on his face.
“Why didn’t you tell us we were coming home to an open club party?” Token snaps.
Twitch shrugs. “Not my information to tell. Seems secrets are still the way of the club.”
The way he says his words causes the radar in my head to go off.
The need to find Charlie is now riding me so hard that I’m starting to vibrate.
I am not in the mood for this shit after being gone for two fucking weeks.
I can't even begin to recognize the multitude of cars and bikes filling the parking lot.
Token eventually finds a spot for the SUV.
The smoke from a bonfire fills the air, and the steady boom of the music from inside the clubhouse drifts to us as we open the doors.
Sliding out, I pull on my cut and leave my bag for Twitch to deal with.
Making my way to the front of the clubhouse, I pull the door open, searching the crowd for the only person who matters.
As I make it through the room, shaking hands and speaking to those who speak to me, I never stop searching for her.
Every second I don’t see her causes my heart rate to kick up.
My anxiety grows as Twitch’s words ring in my ears.
The bar is standing room only, and I have to fight my way to the bar.
I finally make it and don’t even fight the growl that surges from deep in my chest when I find Sunny working her ass off with Anvil working right along with her.
It doesn’t take long for them to catch sight of me.
Anvil’s eyes meet mine, narrowing before he makes his way over to me, “Blitz, it’s good to see you guys made it back safe!”
“Safe is a relative term,” I answer. “Little surprised to see you behind the bar on a night like tonight.”
“It appears we lost a bartender about an hour ago,” Anvil’s tone is accusatory.
My heart turns to stone with his words, “What the fuck do you mean you lost a bartender? Where the hell is Charlie?”
“That’s what we’d like to fucking know. If you find her, let her know Raider is fucking pissed, and she has a lot to explain.”
I spin around, pushing back through the crowd, scanning every face I pass, searching for Charlie.
I circle the great room four times before checking the kitchen, bathrooms, and even her fucking room.
Each lap, each room that I don’t find her sends me closer to the fucking edge.
What I cannot figure out is why I’m so fucking obsessed with her.
I went and saved her when the call came in.
She was also one of my oldest friend’s woman.
To fall for her would do nothing but betray him as well as my brothers.
Pushing through the back door, I take in the scene before me.
There are people everywhere—by the pool, crowding the outdoor kitchen and picnic area—the bonfire is lit, and it looks like there are a few people playing a game of baseball.
Raider had a field built for his son River.
I walk every inch of the property, searching.
A cold, crawling fear wraps itself around me, getting tighter and tighter with every second I don’t find her.
It’s when I’m taking one final lap around before I sound the alarm that I decide to go closer to the lake.
As the path opens onto the sandy area, I come to a stop when two figures come into view.
They’re standing under the full moon, giving me enough light to make out the people arguing.
The woman is Charlie, standing with her arms wrapped around her middle as if holding herself together.
The other is a man I’ve never seen before.
He stands a good three to four inches above her.
As he seems to berate her, he holds a hand out with a little bag wedged between his fingers.
I watch Charlie shake her head, moving to walk away from the man.
She gets about five steps from him when his words ring out, stealing what little sanity I was holding onto.
“I’m telling you right fucking now. You’ll do exactly what we ask of you and get the information, or I will ruin everything that you love,” the man yells.
Charlie stops walking and turns back to him. “Why the fuck are you doing this? It’s been fucking years. Why won't you just let me go?”
The sneer on the man's face makes him look like a man possessed or just too fucking high. “NOS will never let you go, and now he has the in he needs to take down the Kings.” He holds his arms out wide.
Done with whatever the fuck is going on here, I step out onto the sandy beach. “Charlie? You okay, sweetheart?”
Charlie spins around, looking at me with true panic on her face. “Blitz, I didn’t know you were back.”
“Just got here. Anvil and Sunny are in the weeds at the bar. They seem to need some help from the best bartender around,” I tell her, making my way slowly to her.
“Yeah, sorry. I stepped away to go to the restroom and then ran into an old friend,” she mumbles, waving a hand behind her.
Sliding my arms across her shoulders, I pull her into a hug, whispering, “We’ll talk about this when I get rid of this asshole.”
Charlie just nods before stepping away from me.
“Now introduce me to your friend.” I grin, reaching out a hand to the fuckhead glaring at us.
“Blitz, this is …” Charlie’s words are cut off by the soon to be dead man in front of me.
“You can call me Chuck,” the asshole says, holding out his hand. “I’m an old friend of Charlie here, and we were just catching up.”
“I don't recall her mentioning you before. Either way, it’s nice to have you at our open clubhouse party. We ask that all guests stay close to or inside the clubhouse.” I drop his hand, turning back to Charlie. “Let’s get you back to the bar before Anvil beats someone's ass.”
She just nods at me before turning to make her way back towards the path leading to the clubhouse.
I stand there watching her go, my emotions raging with every step she takes away from me.
The moment she has disappeared through the trees on the path, I spin around, eyeing the man smirking behind me.
“I’m going to ask you once and only once.” I demand, “Who the fuck are you and what the fuck do you want with Charlie and my club?”
The fuckhead slides his hands into his pockets, matching my glare. “Seems like if Charlie wanted you to know who and what I am to her, she would’ve told you. Seeing as she didn’t, fuck you.”
I step into his space, looking down at the man. “You seem to have forgotten where you are currently. You are standing in the middle of Kings of Anarchy land, and that doesn’t mean you get to walk away from it. Decide now.”
The man's eyes darken with a knowing that tells me he isn’t who he is trying to portray to the club.
We stand there, not a word said for several beats before screaming from the clubhouse breaks me from the trance.
Spinning around, I take off in that direction without a backwards glance.
Bursting through the tree line, gun drown, I rush towards the crowd of people standing at the edge of the clubhouse.
As I make it to the front of the crowd, I find my brothers gathered around a woman lying on the ground.
Remedy is on his knees on one side of her, and another man I don’t know is on the other. They work in unison, trying to figure out what her injuries are and if she is able to be moved.
“What the hell happened?” I question Rhino.
“No one knows. There was the sound of a bike, and then Ivy started screaming, and now here we are,” he throws his hand out in the direction of the two men working.
Raider turns to us. “Clear the fucking clubhouse. I want anyone that isn’t a brother, Ol’ Lady, child, or Club Bunny to get the fuck out.”
Instantly everyone moves, rounding everyone up and getting them off the property.
Once everyone is out and the gate is closed, I go into the clubhouse to find all the brothers hanging around in the great room waiting for word on what to do next.
Looking around the room, I relax just marginally when I see Charlie behind the bar slinging drinks.
Watching her closely, I grit my teeth because her smile is wide and bright, only slightly distracting from the panic I see brewing in her eyes and the slight shake of her hand as she works.
I march behind the bar, caging her in so that our backs are to the open room.
“This seems to be a bad habit for you,” Charlie tries to joke.
“Seems sense the day I rode out to South Carolina to honor a marker, I’ve gained more bad habits than I know what to do with,” I whisper across her ear.
Charlie turns her head so she can see me from the corner of her eye, “All I ever needed was a ride. You decided to play the hero.”
Dropping my forehead to rest on the side of hers, my voice trembles. “You’re right, and that was my original plan, but it seems I’m not as good a man as anyone thought. Giving you up after the marker was completed was never an option.”
Charlie takes a shaking breath. “Don’t say shit like that! We both know that I’m nothing more than that—a marker, an obligation for a favor you owed my dead husband. You will never be able to see me as anything else.”
Her words hit me hard in my chest. Knowing that she isn’t wrong, she was the wife of one of my oldest friends, and I will respect his place in her heart, but can there be room for me? Can I live knowing that she can never completely love me? I don’t know, but I’m fucking done.
Done fighting against what I want.
Done sitting around pissed off because she is so close but untouchable.
Fucking Done!