Chapter 38
Itold you he wouldn’t show. Spineless bastard.” I shake my head while we all sit around the table waiting for Greaser.
“Let's just give him another fifteen minutes; he could be stuck at the garage,” Rocco suggests, lighting himself another cigarette.
“You could get us started: tell us why we’re all here?” Sinner rests back in his chair and kicks his feet up to rest on the table.
“Nah, we all need to be here for this.” Wrath still looks seething.
“Well, as long as we’re waiting, I’m getting myself a drink.” Ruckus gets up from the table and heads to the door.
“I need a coffee.” I get up and follow him, despite all the excitement; I can feel myself lagging.
Mia was up almost every two hours last night, and although Alicia told me to go get some sleep in the other room, I was never gonna leave her to deal with her alone.
It sounds crazy, but I don’t wanna miss out on anything she does.
They say babies don’t smile until they’re six weeks old, but I swear she shot me one while I was changing her diaper last night.
“That was a quick meeting.” Freya smiles at Ruckus as he heads for the bar.
“It ain’t started yet, darlin’, we’re waitin’ on Greaser.
“You’ll be waiting a long time.” Anita laughs.
“What do you mean by that?” I ask, sensing something’s not right.
“I spoke to Iris this morning. She came here specially to see me so she could say goodbye. She and Greaser are moving back to Bakersfield.” She looks surprised that I don’t already know.
“What?” Ruck looks as shocked as I am.
“It was all very last-minute. Iris wasn’t all that happy about it bu–”
“Wrath!” I call out, abandoning any idea of having a coffee.
“He can’t have gone far; his bike’s still here,” Wrath points out as we park up in the garage parking lot.
Wrath slams his fist at the steel garage door. “Grease open up!” he yells, but gets no answer.
“He’s bailed, his car ain’t here. That fucker knew we’re on to him and he’s run scared.” I pick up a hubcap from the pile by the door and fling it across the yard in a temper.
“Vike, calm down, we don’t know if any of this is fact yet. I need to speak to the boy who got arrested. Find out if Greaser was really choppin’ cars here.
“Of course, he fuckin’ was. Raze found out, he confronted him, and like a pussy, he shot him in the back of the head.
“Wait, you think Greaser killed Raze?” Sinner shakes his head and laughs.
“Nobody is accusing anyone of anything, right now.” Wrath gives me a warning look.
“Well, you can wipe Greaser off your suspect list if Raze got killed the night he went missing,” Sinner explains.
“How can you be so fuckin’ sure?” I check.
“Well, for a start, I was watchin’ him bury the bone into Trinity for most of the night.” Sinner laughs some more, winding me the fuck up.
“Wait, what? That was the night before he was supposed to marry Alicia." None of that makes any sense.
“You watched?” Dev shakes his head in disgust.
“It gets boring around here, and if people ain’t gonna close their blinds, I’m gonna take advantage of a show.”
“You're fuckin’ sick.” Ruckus shakes his head.
“Hey, before your old lady strung up your balls, you’d have done exactly the same. Gotta be said though, I don’t blame you for being a one woman man with that one; I’ve seen the way she sucks yo–”
“You’ve watched my old lady and me?” Ruck grabs him by the front of his cut.
“Sorry, boys; Ruck’s won the comp on this one, but if it’s ridin’ we’re goin’ on, Mill–”
“Say my old lady's name and I’ll fuck you up.” Dev cuts him off before he can finish, stepping up beside Ruck and looking ready to kill him.
“Can you all just stop?” I yell at them; I was sure Greaser did this. So fuckin’ sure.
“Sorry, Vike, don’t look like Greaser’s our guy.
He’s in some fuckin’ shit for lying and undercutting the club, but if what Sinner’s saying is true, he can’t have killed Raze,” Wrath explains, calmly moving across the yard to where Sinner is and knocking him on his ass when he slams his fist into the side of his face.
“Ever speak about my sister that way again, and I’ll remove both your eyeballs from their sockets.
” He continues walking to his bike, and we all follow, starting our engines and letting him lead us back to the club.
“Trinity!” I knock on her door, and when she finally opens it, it looks as if I’ve dragged her outta bed.
“Hey, Vike, bored with Mommy already?” She pouts as she steps back to let me inside.
“I ain’t coming in; I just need to know if Greaser was here with you the night Raze disappeared.”
“No.” She shakes her head and suddenly looks scared. “I swear he wasn’t here. I don’t know who told you that, but they ar—”
“Sinner told me,” I explain, and she immediately drops her act.
“That boy loves it when I put on a show for him.” She shakes her head and laughs.
“So Greaser was here that night? Can you remember how long he was here for?”
“He was here a while, enough to get his money's worth.”
“Money?”
“Baby, I only fuck the ones I like for free.” She slides her finger between my chest, trying to be sexy.
“You lied; you told Alicia we spent the night together. Why would you do that? You weren’t looking out for me.”
“Greaser paid me to say we fucked. I don’t know why, but I figured I was doing you a favor. How long do you think you can keep playing Happy Families, Vike?” She giggles, and when she reaches out to touch me again, I grab her wrist.
“I ain’t fuckin’ playin, and I never want a favor from you again.” I drop her and march back into the clubhouse so I can cool off.
“Hey, brother, I know you wanna find out who killed Raze, and that it being Greaser would have given you an excuse to beat the hell outta him again, but look on the bright side. He and his mom leaving gives you and Alicia all the breathing space you need.” Dev slaps my back, and when Millie comes over, I can see she’s got something to tell him from the excitement on his face.
“Peyton knows,” she tells him.
“You told her?” Dev smiles back at her proudly.
“Not exactly; she guessed, but she’s so happy for us. You were right, we should have told her before.”
“So it ain’t a secret anymore?” I can see the excitement building up in him, too. It's good to see, because there was a time I never thought this man would smile again.
“It doesn’t have to be.” She shakes her head and bites down her smile, and when Dev rams two fingers in either side of his mouth and whistles, it gets everyone’s immediate attention.
“Bout time this club had some good news, and I got some for ya.” He drags his girl closer and wraps his arm around her neck, almost choking her.
“Millie here is gonna have my baby. I knocked her up,” he tells everyone proudly, and while they all cheer, she elbows him and turns red.
“You could have put it nicer than that,” she scolds him.
“Baby, it don’t matter how I put it; now everyone knows.” He kisses her like there ain’t no one else in the room, and I shake my head and laugh. Dev is right, it’s about time this club had something to celebrate.
“Alicia’s gonna be gutted she missed this.” I know how excited she’s been for Millie and Dev. Secretly, I think she’s enjoyed being the only one outta the girls who knows Millie is pregnant.
“Well, it’s her own fault she did. I stopped by the house on my way here to see if she wanted to come with me,” Millie tells me, while Dev spins her back round and rests his chin on her shoulder.
“I don’t think we could have kept it a secret much longer.” He smiles as he pecks her cheek and strokes his hand over her stomach.
“Are you calling me fat alre–”
“What do you mean she wasn’t there?” I check. Alicia left here hours ago.
“I stopped by the house about half an hour ago, and she wasn’t there. Her car wasn’t there either, so I assumed she’d be here.”
“Fuck!” I take out my cell and try to call her, but she doesn’t pick up.
“Vike, relax, she probably went to the grocery store or somethin’.” Dev can see that I’m starting to freak out and releases his girl.
“Nah, something’s not right.” I rush out the door so I can get on my bike and check for myself that she’s home.