Chapter Six
Raider
Sitting in the corner of the club, I watch as my brothers enjoy a night off.
We’ve all been busting our asses between the businesses and digging further into the sex trafficking ring.
They need a night to blow off some steam and just relax.
I watch as several of the club bunnies strut around the room in nothing more than their imagination.
Terro is sitting beside me looking at something on his phone.
I swirl the scotch in my glass as I look over my shoulder when raised voices catch my attention.
Watching with amusement as Rhino charges around the pool table towards Blender, who is leaning against the wall twisting a throwing star between his fingers, as always looking bored with us all.
Mercy is sitting to his right, with Ansley on his lap, with his hand wrapped around her throat, watching the show with a small smirk.
A pang of something I cannot acknowledge slams against my ribs.
I throw back the last of my scotch just as a shadow falls over me.
“You’re looking awfully lonely, Prez,” Ivy, one of our club bunnies, croons seductively.
I turn to look at her leaning back on the couch, spreading my legs wide as I take the glass she holds in her hand. “And you think you are the one to fucking change that?”
Ivy falls to her knees, leaning in a way that gives me a direct view of her overdone tits.
She runs her hands up my thighs to grip the top of my jeans where she runs her fingers along my stomach.
When she looks up at me through her long lashes, I cock an eyebrow, taking a sip of my drink.
Ivy runs her hands to the button of my jeans at the same time she leans forward, placing a kiss just above the waistband.
Laying my head back on the couch, I work to clear my head and enjoy getting my cock sucked. She continues kissing along my waistband, teasing me. Fucking done with her shit, I fist the hair on the back of her head, pulling her back so that she can see my face.
“Quiet fucking playing. You will either suck it or fuck off,” I demand, pulling harder on her hair, so she gasps in surprise.
I let her hair go, lift my hips allowing her the space to pull my jeans down releasing my hard cock.
Ivy wraps her hand around the base, taking the tip into her mouth like the pro she fucking is.
Reaching out, I take hold of her hair once again, holding her in place at the same to I thrust my cock into the back of her throat.
Ivy drops her jaw open, allowing my cock to slide further to the back of her throat.
I keep control of her movements, using my free hand to wipe away the tears running down her cheek.
“Shit, look at you. That edge of fear laced with pleasure,” I growl low.
Ivy digs her nails into my thighs, causing my balls to draw as I get close to blowing my load down her throat.
I cum down her throat, nearly seeing stars.
Standing, I pull my pants up, pat her on the head turning to go to my office to do some work.
I make it to the hallway when Hermes bursts out of his office, distress written all over his face as he rushes in my direction.
“It’s on fire, Prez,” he calls before he ever reaches me.
We both turn to run back out to the common room. “What is on fire?” I question him.
“The farm,” he says almost in a whisper.
“Goddamn it! What part?” I snap.
“That’s what makes this so strange. It’s the house,” he states flatly, a small trace of fear written in his eyes.
We make it back to the great room. “Load up,” I call out to anyone in the room. “We have problems at the farm.”
Rhino, Blender, and Anvil immediately head for the door. Mercy slides Ansley off his lap and, using his hold on her throat, tilts her head up so he can capture her lips in a kiss that leaves her breathy and bright red.
“What of the product?” Terro asks from behind me.
“As far as I can see from the cameras, it’s just the house,” Hermes mumbles, scanning the iPad in his hand.
Terro and I look at each other. “Fuck! Aunt Lynn. Mercy, we've gotta move now,”
I call, rushing across the room and out the door to find everyone already mounted with bikes running.
I climb on, turning it over as I pull my helmet on.
The Prospect has the gate open, and we’re pulling out onto the road in a flash.
My heart is in my throat with thoughts I refuse to acknowledge.
I’ve been avoiding Petty Cleaning to make sure I did not run into Anastasia.
Now, the thought that something could have happened to her or Lynn has me pushing my motorcycle harder as we race across town.
We pull down the drive, slowing so as not to lay the bikes down on the gravel.
Coming around the last corner, we’re met with the flashing lights of fire trucks, police cars, and two ambulances.
My heart is in my throat, and my vision blurs.
The house is burning brightly and hot, unnaturally so.
I kick down the kickstand of my bike, killing it as I stand and pull my helmet off.
Terro comes over, placing a hand on my shoulder as the rest of the brothers make their way over to me.
“This is not an accident,” Anvil observes, watching the flames dance.
That statement is what I need to get my ass in gear and to stop acting like a lost child. “Rhino, Mercy, and Blender, go check all the product. Anvil and Terro, you’re with me. Let’s go see if we can find someone to tell us what the hell is going on.”
I get a round of “yes, Prez” as they move.
Striding towards the ambulance, I take in the chaos of men moving around.
I circle the first ambulance to find Remedy standing at the back talking quietly to what looks like a teenager.
I place my hand on his back to let him know we’re here when, in the darkness, a scream like a wounded animal breaks the night.
Spinning around, I search the yard to find Anastasia being held by a cop as she tries to fight her way back into the house.
Without another thought to anyone around me, I rush across the yard until I’m standing in front of her.
Her eyes meet mine and go wide for a second before her fight with the cop’s hold on her intensifies.
“No, you can’t fucking be here. This can’t be happening to me,” she screams, fighting with everything in her. “I can’t do this. I can’t lose her and deal with the past.”
I don’t think—I just act.
Reaching out, I fist a handful of her hair with one hand and wrap the other gently around her throat, the way I had so many times before.
I’m not hurting her—that’s not the purpose—but it’s just enough to shock her still.
I step in close until we’re chest-to-chest. The officer who had been holding on, lets her go and quickly steps away.
We stand there just staring at each other as the tears carve rivers through the soot on her face.
“Tasia, stop,” I drawl, my face inches from hers. “I know this is hard and you’re struggling, but you will stop fighting the officer and let my brother check you out. Then when that’s done, we’ll figure out the rest of this shit. Do you understand?”
Her eyes are wide with emotions flickering across her face so fast that I can’t even start to read them. Tasia doesn’t move or seem to breathe for a moment before she nods.
“Oh no, Tasia. The rules have not changed,” I murmur, letting old emotions seep into my voice.
“I understand,” she answers softly, placing her hands on my chest.
As I ease my grip on her, she uses her hands to push me away.
“You have no fucking right to touch me like that,” she snaps, turning away from me and rushing to the ambulance.
I follow behind her, taking in the sight of her. She is in nothing but a long t-shirt that sits just below her ass. Her legs are as thick and curvy as they’ve always been, only now instead of a girl, she is all woman.
We make it to the back of the ambulance, and she nearly knocks Remedy away from the boy sitting on the back of it cupping his face. Tasia checks him over, talking quietly to him. Remedy turns to me looking as if he has seen a ghost. Confused, I step up to his shoulder so I can speak quietly.
“Why do you look as if you have seen a ghost?”
Remedy looks back at Tasia and the boy and then back to me. “Did you know?”
My brows furrow at his odd question. “Did I know what? Remedy, what the fuck has gotten into you?”
Terro and Anvil have nearly identical looks on their faces as well. I look around for something, fuck anything, to tell me what has them so shaken up. Tasia continues talking to the kid in front of her when the fire chief steps up to us.
“Excuse me, Anastasia, can we have a word?” he asks as he shakes all our hands.
She turns, stepping away from the kid.
He looks around at everyone standing there, a hard line set in his jaw. There is something familiar about him, yet I can’t fucking place where I would have seen him before.
Then his eyes land on mine, and all the oxygen is knocked clean out of my chest. I’m staring into a goddamn mirror. Looking back at me is a replica of myself as a teenager. I stumble back, my head is spinning, and Remedy reaches out, catching my arm to keep me from going down.
His eyes are so wide I can see all the white.
Tasia steps in front of him, like a protective mother, but that can’t be true.
I would have given this woman everything that a twenty-year-old could, but she turned her back on me and left without a word.
Now she is back, wreaking havoc on my mind and soul when I do not have time to sacrifice them to her.
The fire chief pulls her aside, speaking quietly while I just stand there, frozen, staring.
Thankfully, Terro follows them to catch whatever the chief has to say.
I start toward the teenager, but Terro calls my name.
When I turn, I see Tasia clinging to Terro, her body wracked with sobs.
The sound of heartbreak is raw and undeniable.
I know I should go to her, try to comfort her, but anger burns through everything else.
Before I can even think it through, I storm across the space between us.
I grab her arm and spin her to face me. I open my mouth, unable to find words as my anger continues to burn hot and bright.
I finally manage to speak, and the words that come out surprise us both. “You will go to the clubhouse and stay there. Both of you will stay until I say otherwise.”
I stare at her for a long moment before dropping her arm and marching to my bike. My head is spinning in more directions than I can process. I need to get away, to escape for just once. I just want the universe to decide to stop fucking with me.
As quickly as I can, I get on my bike, get it started and put a helmet on my head before speeding away from the house. I hit the road and nearly lose the bike when the tires find purchase on the asphalt.
Speeding up the road, I pass several cars that in my current headspace mean nothing, but in the weeks to come I will wish I had paid attention instead of having my head shoved up my ass.