CHAPTER 6
KADE “DRILLER”
The last few days since going to see my mom and sisters, I’ve been calling around to tattoo shops, searching social media, and driving by some shops. I hadn’t been able to find my woman and I was getting frustrated.
When I pulled up at the clubhouse tonight, Loot was dismounting his bike and waited on me. I held up a hand in greeting because I wasn’t going to put my problems on my brother. Still, it was hard not to lash out at him. I needed an outlet for my feelings and was thinking about asking our Treasurer if he’d be interested in doing a round with me in the ring.
The gym we have in the clubhouse is big enough for everyone to work out in without needing to go to the gym the club owns, Sinner’s Gym. Sometimes you need to see more than your brothers working out and we all have memberships to Sinner’s. I just wasn’t in the mood to be hit on by women; it would only make my frustration grow.
“Glad to have you back on dry land,” Loot greeted me once I dismounted my bike.
I grinned at him, but I wasn’t really feeling it. “Good to be back,” I forced out. With a sigh, I admitted, “I’m damn glad I’m taking off a little more time this go round.”
His eyes were assessing as he looked at me and I was afraid he’d see far more than I wanted him to. “You good, brother? Like really good?”
“Fuck,” I muttered. When he continued to stare at me, I ran a hand over my face and admitted, “Last shore leave, I met someone at Sanctuary. No,” I shook my head, “not just someone. My someone. Took her back to her place,” I refused to go into more detail, but the smile on Loot’s face still grew, “then I had to leave the next morning quickly when I got a call from the rig because someone was injured.”
“Aw, fuck man,” Loot’s smile fell, his tone was far too knowing. “Tell me you left a note.”
“I fucking wish I could,” I admitted.
Loot nodded; his face was grim as I ran a hand down my face. The whole thing felt like it was looming over me, and I needed a distraction, a break.
While there was a time when I probably would have walked into the clubhouse and blown off steam with one of the club angels, that held zero fucking appeal for me now after being with Emery. My dick didn’t even perk up over the last few days since I’ve come home, and the angels tried to show off their assets and entice me.
There was no way I was going down that road.
I shook out my hands and searched for something, anything, to stop the thoughts of defeat swirling through my head. “Did you end up finishing up that back piece?”
Loot fucking lit up and didn’t hesitate to strip off his cut and then pull off his shirt to show me the art he had done. He told me a while ago that he had found a new artist to work on him. As I stared at the tribute to his past and future on his skin, I was speechless for a moment.
There was something familiar about the art too, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
“It’s beautiful, man,” I whispered, a note of reverence in my voice.
“Right? Fucking killed it, brother,” he agreed with me.
“I’d love to meet the artist who inked that for you,” I prompted him.
Anyone who could do the kind of work I was looking at was someone I wanted to meet to pick their brain and talk shop. Hell, if I could ever open a shop for the club, I’d want to try and get them to join me.
“Need to get you shoreside permanently, brother,” Loot told me. “The shop they’re working out of doesn’t do their talent justice at all. The boss is an asshole too.”
I nodded as Loot covered up the beautiful piece and shrugged his cut back in place. “Working on it,” I admitted.
Even though he gave me a curious look, I didn’t say anything else on the matter. Not only were my future plans not out in the open yet, but by then we had walked into the clubhouse, and I was frozen on the spot.
Because my gaze immediately went to the woman I’d been dreaming about and yearning for since I rushed out of her apartment. Somehow Emery, my woman, was sitting in the clubhouse. It took a moment for me to take in more of the scene and my hackles immediately went up.
And that’s how I put my foot in my mouth and found out the amazing artist I was just talking about is the same woman that I want to claim and put on the back of my bike. I knew the art looked familiar, but I hadn’t had nearly enough time to study the few pictures she showed me when I wasn’t busy burying my cock deep inside of her.
Fucking sue me.
As I move closer to the table where my woman is sitting with an older woman and three leaders of the club, it’s hard not to start throwing punches. It doesn’t matter to me that they’re all happily committed to their women.
They’re way too fucking close to mine.
I grab a chair from a nearby table and plant it so close to Emery’s that it’s almost fucking on top of her. Even if it were, that wouldn’t be close enough for me. Fuck, I’m tempted to forget about the chair, pick her up, and plop her down on my lap.
From the fire in her gaze when she cuts her eyes in my direction, that would not be a good idea.
Or it’s the best idea I’ve ever had.
“You need me Prez?” Loot’s voice comes from right over my shoulder as I settle next to my woman, but I don’t bother looking back at him. Lucifer shakes his head and I expect Loot to move on, but he doesn’t. “You good, Em?”
My vision goes a little hazy with red hot anger, but I clench my fists and grind my molars together to stop myself from beating the hell out the man. He’s just looking out for someone he knows; someone he thinks highly of.
Hell, for all I know they’re friends. And, fuck, if that doesn’t make my stomach churn.
“I’m good, Loot,” her voice is strained as she looks over at him with a forced smile on her lips.
If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to make her smile. A real one.
The red dissipates slightly when she uses his road name instead of his given name. That shit is sacred for us. It’s why I gave her my name the first night we met; not that she would understand the weight of that one thing. Hell, she probably thinks it’s a small thing.
It isn’t.
Before my brothers can fill me in on what’s going on, I lean into my woman’s ear and murmur, “Ink, I’m going to get filled in on what’s happening and then we’re going to talk.”
“No,” Emery’s voice has an edge of panic in it before she spits out, “I don’t think we have anything to talk about Kade.”
My brothers still and not just the ones at the table with me. They know the importance of what just happened and what it means. Lucifer catches my eye and gives me a small nod of acknowledgement.
As much as I want to press my luck with my woman, I know now isn’t the time. But that doesn’t mean I won’t try again before she walks out of the clubhouse.
It doesn’t take long for Lucifer and Emery’s aunt to fill me in on why they’ve come to see us this evening. What is surprising is how intently Apostle is hovering over the older woman. Then there’s the way Dot’s eyes keep straying whenever one of my brothers moves through the room.
When she’s done explaining about who Jennifer is and her history, we lapse into silence for a moment before Dot gives Apostle an appraising look before landing the same on one Prodigal, Lucifer, and myself.
Her voice is loud enough to carry when she asks, “Have you ever considered a male review show? You know like those Magic Mike dancers?” My jaw hits the fucking floor and I’m not the only one. Emery’s face starts to turn a delicious shade of pink while Sioux lets out peels of uncontrollable laughter. Dot simply shrugs a shoulder like she didn’t just objectify a group of large, and sometimes violent, bikers. “At the very least you should do some sort of charity calendar. Maybe you could help the children’s hospital,” she suggests with a twinkle in her eye that goes against the innocence in her voice like she really is just trying to be helpful.
“Aunt Dot,” groans my woman, but the way she’s fighting a smile has my heart pounding in my chest.
I swear my woman is even more beautiful now than she was three months ago. An ache starts in the middle of my chest because I’ve missed her so fucking much.
Trust me, I’m aware of how fucking off the wall that sounds. But I can’t bring myself to care.
Considering everything—my dangerous job, the biker lifestyle, Dad’s death—I learned a long time ago to not discount my gut and to not assume tomorrow is guaranteed. My gut has been screaming at me that Emery is the one for me since she caught my attention that night at the bar. And it’s been pounding that truth home every single moment since.
My only regret is not making sure I had a way to reach her and running from her place without considering her. Now that I’m sitting next to her, with the way she’s trying to lean away from me, that regret becomes even more stark.
“We’ll have to take that to the table the next time we meet for Church,” Lucifer offers.
How the man can keep a straight face while he does it, I’ll never fucking know.
Emery’s voice is small, but no less powerful to my ears, “Church?”
Lucifer’s eyes soften as he looks at my girl. No doubt he sees the same thing I do—she’s ready to bolt. The worst part is that I know I’ll have to let her go. For now.
“It’s what we call our club meetings,” he tells her gently like she’s fragile. From the look on his face, it’s clear to me he’s not judging her, or the vulnerability written on her features. I think he respects her more for it. She nods her head in understanding as my gut twists this way and that.
I clear my throat and meet Lucifer’s gaze. “I’d like to help find Jen.”
Emery stiffens but doesn’t say anything. I’m not sure what has her lips thinning but I don’t like it. Not gonna lie, I do want to find Jen for Dot, but it’s not lost on me that Emery doesn’t seem as enthusiastic about finding her sister. I’m sure there’s a story there and I’ll find out what it is at some point.
Right now, my only concern is having an excuse to be close to my woman. If her sister’s disappearance is that reason, I’m good with it.
Lucifer gives me a nod as Dot gushes, “Thank you, Driller. I really appreciate it and,” she shoots a meaningful look Emery’s way, “I’m sure my niece does as well.”
My woman makes a humming sound and tries to lean away from me a little bit more. I’m not having it and sling my shoulder over the back of her chair. As much as I wish she’d melt back into my embrace, she doesn’t. I swear the woman is sitting stock straight to the point that I’m a little concerned for her back.
The warmth coming off my woman will have to be enough to keep me going. Hell, it’s more than I’ve had in the last three months. Nothing else seems to matter other than the way she feels next to me. I make a silent vow to do everything in my power to make this woman look at me again, forgive me for the way I fucked up three months ago, and fall for me.
Anything less is unacceptable.
The next thing I know, Dot is standing, and Emery shoots out of her chair, throws a wave to Loot, and is practically sprinting out of the clubhouse. She doesn’t even look back to make sure her aunt is following her.
Dot chuckles before giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze as she walks by me. “Fair warning, young man, my niece is stubborn.” I look up at her, hoping for something, anything, that might help me here. “She’s also worth it.”
“I know,” I tell her honestly. “I fucked up three months ago and then was out working on an oil rig.” Dot’s eyes soften in understanding when I mention my job. “I’m going to make it right. She’s mine and I’ll never treat her like anything less.”
“Good,” she coos. “That means I won’t have to hurt you,” she deadpans. The men around the table and the ones close enough to hear her threat chuckle. “Let me know if you need help with that charity calendar, Lucifer,” she addresses our Prez with a huge smile on her face and a wicked glint in her eye.
Then she’s gliding out the door to catch up with her niece. I want to run after my woman, but I hold myself back. Barely. Since Loot knows where she works and Lucifer grabbed her phone number along with Dot’s, she won’t be lost to me anymore.
I can feel the weight of my brother’s eyes on me as I stare at the clubhouse door with longing strumming through my heart.
I don’t bother looking at them as I tell them, “I met her three months ago at The Sanctuary. Spent the night with her but knew it was a fuck-ton more from the moment I saw her. When I got an emergency call because someone was hurt on the rig and I was needed, I fucked up and left without waking her up or leaving her a note. It’s been eating me up every single moment since then.”
“She’s a tattoo artist,” Loot provides as he plops down in the chair Dot vacated.
“Just makes her even more perfect,” my voice is thick with emotion. “I’m claiming her. She’s going to be my old lady.”
There’s a chuckle in Prodigal’s voice, “Maybe after you grovel.”
I grin at the thought. I don’t have a problem making it right with my woman. And I’ll do whatever I need to do to make sure she never wants to run from me again.
“What about the rig?” Lucifer’s question pulls my attention away from the door of the clubhouse.
“I’m done with it,” I admit. “I’ve known for a while that I need a change. Emma is graduating soon, and Miley is right behind her next year. I can’t keep doing this shit to my body. Everything fucking hurts,” I groan.
“And it’s time for you to chase your own dreams,” Lucifer reminds me.
He’s not fucking wrong. As I look at my Prez, something crosses his face, but it’s there and gone too quickly to figure out what it means.
Hell yes, it’s time to chase my dreams. Now, it’s not only my dream. I’m going to make sure my woman gets everything she’s ever wanted and a lifetime of love to go along with it.