Chapter Six
Maisie
DANI CLOSED THE kitchen door, so we could have a modicum of privacy, then we stepped into the scullery and closed that door as well.
“Spill,” I demanded.
“Rooster, Flea, and Katie all met Freshman year of high school. Rooster and Katie had first period together. Katie said it was love at first sight.” She gave me a cheeky little grin. “For him.”
I chuckled. “Cute.”
“Rooster’s dad used him as a punching bag anytime he had the chance.”
I frowned. “He did?”
Dani nodded.
“Arsehole.”
“Indeed,” Dani agreed. “He ended up crashing at Flea and Katie’s most nights apparently, but then he met your man who took both boys under his wing.”
I smiled. “Because he’s the best guy on the planet.”
Dani laughed. “Next to mine, yes.”
“So what happened after Hatch took Flea and Rooster under his wing?” I asked as I started pulling dishes out of cabinets.
“Well, I met them both after I met Booker, so by then, they were awesome young men. I can only assume much of that was because of your husband.”
“Well, duh,” I retorted.
“Of course, Flea and Katie’s mom can’t be discounted,” she said.
“I wasn’t sure about her with all that business with Grace, but Jan did end up being okay.” I shrugged. “Jury’s still kind of out for me, though.”
“Boy, you hold a grudge.”
I let out a quiet snort. “Oh, hello Kettle, I’m pot.”
Dani laughed. “This is true.”
“What ended up happening to Rooster’s dad?”
Dani shrugged. “No idea. He’s still around, I think.”
“I can’t believe Katie didn’t tell me any of this.”
“Hatch was still Sergeant when all of this shit went down, and you know him, he didn’t get involved in the guys’ love lives.”
I sighed. “He still doesn’t.”
“No, I know. The men annoy me in that regard. Although, Booker’s good for the occasional ‘gossip’ session, and he’ll listen, but then he’s all, ‘Stay out of it, baby,’ and ‘It’s none of our business, baby.’ He’s such a dumb boy.”
I grinned. “Well, that’s why we get away with so much behind their backs.”
“Do we get away with it, though?”
“Maybe not. But I’m surprised Hatch didn’t know about Katie and Rooster. He’s not blind.”
“Katie’s always been really good at playing her personal life close to the vest. If she didn’t want Hatch to know, he’s not gonna know. And Rooster’s not talkin’ if she’s not talkin’, so they’re apparently still a team.”
“Well, I see why every man Katie’s ever been on a date with has ended before it’s begun.”
“Hell, yeah, it has. As you like to say, the dates went tits up.”
I laughed again. “Your accent’s getting better.”
“Well, thank you.” She grinned. “Mark my words, babe, those two will be married within the year.”
“Or burn the world down.”
Dani wagged her finger. “Or burn the world down, but after they get married.”
“Okay, so why the soft spot, then?”
“What I’m about to tell you has to remain here.”
I frowned. “Of course, love. I would never repeat anything you tell me in confidence.”
“I decided to surprise Booker at Blush one afternoon with lunch. I had a day off, and he’d been slammed with both club stuff and the Blush stuff, so I headed down without letting him know.”
Blush was a local nightclub the Dogs owned and operated. Booker and Mack ran it most days, but several of the prospects helped out as part of their patch earning hours and Knight handled the liquor procurement side of things.
Dani leaned against the counter and bit her lip. “I made my way inside and it was eerily quiet. You know, you’ve been there in the daytime. All lit up and kind of creepy in a weird way.”
“Yes. It’s like Space Mountain when they turn on all the lights.”
“Oh my god, totally.” She bobbed her head. “Anyway, no one was around, so I made my way to his office and set everything down, then went looking for him.”
She took a deep breath and shook her head.
“What happened, love?” I encouraged.
“I went into the back and the door locked behind me.” She crossed her arms and started to run her hands up and down her biceps.
“I tried the handle, and it wouldn’t open, and there was just one lightbulb which was barely enough to see down the hall.
It was so fucking creepy. I pulled my cell out and of course, wherever I was, blocked any kind of signal.
I banged on the door, screamed, no one heard me. Until…”
Dani’s eyes filled with tears, and I frowned. “Bloody hell, honey, what happened?”
“A door at the end of the hall opened, and a man walked into the hallway. I didn’t know who he was, but he knew me. Nika Kozlov.”
“That crazy Russian guy who used to supply liquor to Blush?” I asked.
“That crazy Russian guy who used to short his liquor supply to Blush you mean,” she retorted.
“Right,” I conceded.
“Yes, one in the same,” she confirmed. “Anyway, he slammed me up against the wall as he tore my shirt and it didn’t matter how hard I fought, he was twice my size.”
I gasped. “Oh my god. He did that on Dogs property?”
She nodded.
“What the hell made him think that was a good idea?”
“I have no idea,” Dani ground out. “He was fuckin’ crazy.”
“Oh, Dani,” I rasped. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she said through a watery smile. “Because Rooster burst through the door, and Nika was on the floor, unconscious, his face rearranged and Rooster’s boot buried in Nika’s crotch.”
“Oh my god.”
Dani nodded. “He’d seen me walk through the door from the upstairs window and came to investigate.
Booker and Mack were in the basement checking on a liquor delivery that Nika had just made, and shorted them, apparently, but Rooster knew the door was sticky, so he figured he’d check on me before letting Booker know I was there. ”
“Well, thank god he did.”
“Right?” Dani sniffed. “If he’d even been five minutes later…”
“He wasn’t,” I pressed.
“No.” She smiled again. “And Nika’s dead now. My man took care of him, so fuck him in his skull.”
“Absolutely. But I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that. It must have been terrifying.”
“It was. I am forever grateful for these men, you know?”
“Oh, I absolutely do know.” I grinned. “And I can absolutely see why you have a soft spot for Rooster. He saved you from a fate worse than death.”
“He absolutely did. And he was a bit of a watch dog for all of us after that. Very protective.” She bit her lip again. “But I cannot figure out why he up and left. He broke Katie.”
“It looks like he broke himself,” I mused.
“So true, which doesn’t make sense.”
“Well, I guess we’ll need to let them figure it out.”
“God, you sound like my husband,” Dani complained.
I grabbed a whisk and playfully jabbed it at her. “Take that back.”
Dani burst out into laughter. “Promise me you’ll help me interfere with Rooster and Katie if the moment calls for it.”
I twirled the whisk and rolled my eyes. “Of course I will. I’m not an animal.”
“Right answer, first lady.”
“Right, what are we feeding these jackals?” I asked.
“Burgers and dogs?”
“For the kids, yes.” I raised an eyebrow. “Steaks for us.”
“Love it,” Dani said, and we got down to work.
* * *
Rooster
High School – Freshman Year…
“Yo, man, what’s up with all these nerd classes?” Gus asked, reading from the schedule he’d just snatched from my hands. “You’re supposed be in shop with us.”
“I have shop, dumbass. Sixth period,” I said.
Fred groaned. “But we all have shop first period.”
“You need to drop Geometry, so you can hang with us,” Fred said. “Besides what are you gonna need to know about shapes and shit anyway. We learned all that in kindergarten.”
“Why the hell did they sign you up for all those smart kid classes anyway?” Gus piled on. “Must have been some kind of mistake, right?”
I shrugged.
The truth of the matter was, I was smart like all the other smart kids, I just didn’t show it to anyone, because if I did, I got shit for it. Either by my friends or my dad.
“You gotta go into that class and tell Ms. Hamon you’re dropping it,” Fred demanded. “Then go to the office during break and move shop to first period.”
I nodded. “Yeah, okay, I will.”
“Geometry.” Gus laughed. “Fuck, these teachers don’t know nothin’.”
The next morning, I’d planned on doing exactly that. I’d been pissed off because my dad had decided to work on his boxing moves, using my face as the bag which had made me nearly miss the bus, so I was amped up and ready for a fight as I stormed into my first class of the day.
But as I approached Ms. Hamon, the prettiest girl I’d ever seen walked into class and sat down, and I lost my ability to speak.
“Mr. Cahill?” Ms. Hamon prodded. “Did you have a question?”
“Ah, um, no.”
“Okay, then, take your seat, please.”
Before Doug Walker could beat me to it, I sat beside the pretty girl and gave her a giant smile, regretting it immediately as my split lip stung, reminding me of my morning beating.
“Hey, I’m Kam.”
She frowned. “What happened to your eye?”
“Got hit by a door.”
She raised an eyebrow. “And your lip?”
“Hit me again on the way out.”
“Alright, class, settle down, please,” Ms. Hamon said.
It would take me until the end of the hour to find out her name was Katie Jameson and that I had no fucking intention of dropping the class.
* * *
I walked out of the bunk room to see Razor’s arm around Katie and tried to stamp down my rage. Jesus, I liked Razor. I’d always liked Razor. He wasn’t a threat. Katie had just confirmed that, but still, seeing another man comforting her was like a knife to the gut.
“Okay, sweetheart, what’s the verdict?” Hatch asked her.
“He can stay. I just don’t want to see him,” she said.
Hatch glanced at me. “I’ll do my best to make sure that happens.”
“Thank you.” She turned to me. “Hey, Chicken Run.”
“First of all, that movie is fire, and everyone knows it,” I said. “Second, the rooster in the movie’s not named Chicken Run.”
“No, I was telling you… chicken… run.” She turned and started to walk away.
“You’re not getting rid of me that easy.”
“That’s what the doctor said about your anal warts, but you sure cleared them up, didn’t you?”