6 – Spike
“ Y ou’re goin’ back to school,” I growl, watching her face tense with emotion. “You need this, and what’s happenin’ with the club ain’t your concern.”
I know Ciara, and I know she’ll do anything to stop the path I’m on. She’s concerned and wants to get involved. The last time someone I love got involved, she had a hole blown into her head. I’m not going to let that happen here, not this time. Ciara is staying away from all of this, and her going to school is exactly how I’ll make sure that happens.
“You send me away, but what about the kids?” she argues. “If it’s not safe for me to be here, then there is no way in hell I’m leaving them here.”
My chest tightens. “I never said it wasn’t safe, I just said it ain’t your concern. Go to school, I won’t bring this business around the kids, and you know it.”
“They tossed his body in the front gates, what comes next?”
“Ciara,” I growl. “I will not say it again. You’re goin’ back to school, and everything will carry on as usual. You hear me?”
The defiant, strong nature that I love so fucking much about her washes over her face as she stares at me with utter frustration. “Maybe I should take the kids to my parents’ when I go to school ...”
Wrong thing to say.
A wild, uncontrollable rage grips my chest as my eyes widen and my fist clenches. “What did you fuckin’ say?”
She knows she’s wrong, I can see it in her face, but she doesn’t back down. “I don’t mean so you can’t have them, I just mean while I’m not around. It will give you a chance to do what you need to with the club.”
“You don’t trust me with those kids.”
“I never said that ...” she argues.
“You didn’t have to.”
“Danny, for crying out loud, what do you want me to do? You won’t talk to me, you won’t tell me what’s going on or what you’re feeling, and you just want me to be okay with leaving my babies.”
“They’re my babies too,” I bellow. “And I don’t like you assumin’ that I can’t take care of ‘em.”
Anger flashes in her face. “A man got dumped in the fucking biker lot and died. Can you honestly not see why I’m concerned? Not to mention, you haven’t said two words to me in the last few days. You’re off in your own little world, and I’m scared you won’t be giving them the attention they need.”
“You better be very fuckin’ careful what your next words are,” I hiss, my hands trembling with rage, my body tight with an emotion I can’t understand.
Fear.
Fear of losing the two things I love so fucking much.
“Do not threaten me, Spike.”
“You’re the one tryin’ to take my babies.”
She throws her hands in the air. “Oh, grow up. I’m not trying to take anything. I’m just trying to keep them safe. I’m their mother. I have that right.”
“I’m done with this conversation.”
“God dammit, Spike,” she yells, her voice cracking, “why do you always have to make things so damned hard? I’m trying to talk to you, to help you. We’re in a relationship, or have you forgotten that?”
“I’m not the one who forgot that,” I growl.
I know the moment the words leave my mouth I’ve pushed the wrong button. I’m wild, angry, but fuck I never meant it. I know it, yet it doesn’t make me take them back. I have a knot inside my chest, an angry bubble that needs to be unleashed, and Ciara decided today was the day she wanted to fight.
Fuck me.
I’m being a cock, I know it.
She is only trying to help.
I open my mouth to respond but I don’t get a word out, the absolute pain in her face and her words stop me. She’s wild now, angry and upset, and I don’t blame her. “How dare you,” she hisses, her hands shaking. “You were the one who told me to go, to find who I am and now you’re going to punish me for it?”
I grit my teeth and close my eyes, fighting for calm. “Didn’t mean it.”
“And yet you said it.”
A tear rolls down her cheek, and I know I’ve crossed the line.
“Tom Cat ...”
“No. I’m done with this bullshit. If you’re not going to talk to me, to tell me what’s going on in your head, then I’m not going to waste my time standing here. I am taking the kids to my parents’ when I go this week, so you can have a god damned minute to figure out who the fuck you are and what you want.”
There goes that rage again. “Those fucking assholes are not lookin’ after my children.”
“Those fucking assholes are their grandparents.”
“Because they did a fuckin’ stand up job with their own kids,” I bark.
Ciara shakes her head as more tears roll down her cheeks.
“Try and fight me on this, Spike.”
She turns, walking toward the door. “Ciara!”
She doesn’t look back.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.
“TELL ME WHERE TO FIND the fucker,” I roar, slamming the man against a tree as he splutters blood from his split lip all over my face. “Fuckin’ tell me before I gouge your fuckin’ eyes out with my bare hands.”
“I don’t know,” he croaks. “Only a few people have that privilege.”
“Then tell me,” I grind out. “Where the fuck do I find the privileged?”
“You’re going to kill me anyway, so I’d rather die not telling you a fucking thing.”
This guy, he’s young, maybe late twenties, but he has a strength about him that I admire. No matter how hard I’ve pushed, or what I’ve done, he won’t break. He doesn’t scream, he doesn’t flinch, he just holds strong, his piercing blue eyes never leaving mine. There is a level of respect for someone who is that loyal, and if I were running my own club, I’d take him in.
A thought comes to my mind.
I loosen my grip. “Tell me somethin’, and I’ll let you be.”
His eyes flash, and he narrows them with suspicion. “I’m fuckin’ listening.”
“Why are you workin’ for these people?”
My question shocks him, and as his eyes dart across my face, I can see he’s trying to come up with an answer.
I know he’s being honest when he speaks, I know because he sounds exactly like I did once. A somewhat broken soul who is looking for anywhere to call home.
“It’s that or I die on the streets. Least this way, I get to eat.”
“You do drugs?”
Shaking his head, he growls, “Never touched one in my life.”
I release him, and, for a minute, he looks like he is considering running but he doesn’t. He holds strong, shoulders back, his eyes never leaving mine even though I overpower him significantly. I take a step back, turning away from him.
“Why are you letting me go?”
Pausing, I look back at him. “I respect loyalty. You ever want to get away from this shit, you know where to find me.”
That’s written all over the back of my jacket as I walk away from him.
Reaching my bike, I get on and start it up.
I don’t look back, I take off into the crisp morning light, heading for a new location.
I will find who ordered this hit on Bear, and I will make them wish they were never born. I’m not letting this one go. We lost a loyal and passionate member of our club to some fucked up drug scum, and I’m not going to sit by and let it happen again. They think their little attack on us was retaliation for me killing one of their own, but they don’t know who the fuck they’ve just unleashed.
I’m just riding on the outside of town when I notice I’m being followed.
A low growl rumbles through my chest as I recognize the bike trailing me. It’s Cade, I’d know that bike anywhere.
That motherfucker is following me, and he’s doing nothing to hide it.
Pulling over onto the side of the road, I get off the bike and spin toward him just as he comes to a stop. His boot barely hits the dirt when I growl, “What the fuck do you think you’re doin’, Cade?”
He stares at me with that intense gaze that can read my soul better than anyone else. “I’m makin’ sure you’re not doin’ stupid shit. We lost a club member, Spike. We don’t need a fuckin’ war.”
“We do need a fuckin’ war,” I bark. “Because those fuckers took one of our own.”
“Because you’ve been goin’ around droppin’ people like flies and leavin’ them to be found. That ain’t how we do things.”
“That ain’t how you do things, that ain’t how Jackson does things, but it’s sure as fuck how I do things.”
His eyes narrow with rage as he steps toward me. “You’re playin’ with fire, and you’re goin’ to get more of our members hurt if you don’t pull your fuckin’ head in.”
My heart jumps and my chest tightens. “What did you just say to me?”
“You fuckin’ heard me. You mess with people, they come back and we lose ours. It’s fuckin’ careless. You know better.”
I hit him, it comes out of nowhere, just a release of anger that I’ve been smothering in my chest for months. His head swings to the side and he stumbles backward, but by the time his eyes meet mine again, they’re filled with the same kind of unhinged rage. His fist clenches, and he drives it into my jaw, the loud crack filling the silence around us.
Then, it’s on.
I lunge at him, slamming my body into his as he topples down to the ground. My fist finds his face, over and over I drive it in, unable to stop. Using his knee, he launches me off by kicking me as hard as he can, and then he’s rolling toward me. His elbow connects with my jaw as his body comes over mine, and we roll through the dirt, fists flying.
“Fuckin’ break it up.”
The sound of Muff’s angry voice barely pierces my ears. I didn’t even hear the bike.
I don’t stop, and neither does Cade.
“I said,” Muff bellows, using his boot to launch me off Cade when I get myself back on top of him, “break it the fuck up.”
Panting, I land on my hands and knees, staring up at him like an unhinged animal, wild with unleashed fire.
He pulls a gun from his jacket and points it at me. “I won’t kill you, Spike, but if you lunge at me I will fuckin’ put one in your arm.”
Cade pushes to his feet, his fists clenched, his body heaving as he stares down at me with utter disgust. His face is covered in blood and dirt. Releasing a growl, I push to my feet, blood dripping off my chin as I stare at them both.
“Here’s how this is goin’ to go,” Muff grinds out. “Cade, you’re goin’ to get on your bike and leave. Spike, you’re comin’ with me and we’re goin’ to talk about whatever the fuck it is that’s makin’ you like this because I’m done with it. Argue, I’ll take your fuckin’ kneecap out.”
Muff rarely gets angry, but when he does, he means it.
Cade turns without another word, getting on his bike and roaring off, leaving us in a cloud of dust. Coughing, I angrily turn to Muff and growl. “Not in the mood for your shit, Muff.”
“I don’t give a fuck. You’re comin’ with me or I’ll make sure you’re limpin’ around for months, unable to do whatever the fuck it is you’ve been doin’. Just try me.”
His eyes don’t waver.
Fuck.
“Fine,” I grunt.
Moving to my bike, I get on, swiping the blood off my face with my jacket as Muff’s bike rumbles to life behind me.
Well, this should be fucking interesting.