Chapter 13
Jax
R unning out of the clubhouse Bolt behind me shouting, “What’s wrong?” I don’t stop but shout back at him. “Alice is under threat.”
Tearing out of the compound with Bolt, Gunner, Beast, Black, Tank, Yam, and Rash on my heels, I don’t slow for anything, storming through lights, overtaking anything in my path.
Reaching Alice’s place, I see the biker taking off. He must have heard our engines, and with so many of us, he couldn’t miss it. Yam, Tank, and Gunner take off after him, the rest of us pull up in front of Alice’s apartment.
Black runs to the front door, banging on it hard. “Alice, open the fuckin’ door.”
Now, I’ve seen some things, but I’ve never, and I mean never, have I seen Black panicking. But he is in full-blown panic mode at this moment.
The door opens and Alice flies out, wrapping her arms around Black's neck, and hanging on. He wraps his arms around her waist and rocks her from side to side gently, giving them both the comfort they need.
“Are you okay?” I hear Black ask, and when she replies, “I’m okay, Papa,” we all sigh with relief.
Stepping up, I gently take Alice away from Black, and although he gives me a scowl, he allows it. “You okay, Goldie?”
“Yeah, I was just frightened with you all saying someone could try to snatch me. He was just sitting staring at the house. Where is the prospect you said I would have?”
Shouting to Rash and Bolt, “Find the prospect.”
Both of them rush away and I pull Alice with me into the house, followed by Beast and Black. We take a seat in the kitchen, and I look Alice over. She’s perfectly fine, she just has her nerves jangled somewhat.
“I’ll be moving in tonight. It’ll be late by the time I get here. Do you have a spare key?”
Alice gives me a nervous look but walks over to a cookie jar and takes out a key before handing it to me. “The spare room is made up.”
Blinking, I grin at her. “Won’t be needing the spare room, Goldie. I’ll be right with you.”
Alice looks startled by my comment, but fuck if I’m going to leave her swinging in the wind now that she’s my woman. I have admired her for a long time, and now is my chance to truly show her that.
My phone vibrates, and taking it out of the back pocket of my jeans, I grin when I read ‘Got the fucker.’
Rash shouts from the front door, “Found the prospect. Gotta take him to the clubhouse so Bones can check him out. The fucker nearly cracked his skull by the look of it.”
“Okay, tell Bolt to take him, and you stay here with Alice. I’ll be over at the clubhouse in a few minutes. I just want to make sure Alice is okay.”
“Will do, Prez.”
“You gonna be okay?” I ask, but Black responds before Alice can.
“I’m staying here, at least until you get back. I’m not leaving her where something could happen,” Black snarls, and I grin when Alice slaps him on the bicep gently, then gives him a ‘stop it,’ look.
Kissing Alice after pulling her back to me once more, I place my forehead against hers. “I’ll be back a bit later, with some of my gear. Black is staying with you, and probably Beast…” looking over I see him give me a nod, “so you’ll be good. You may have to have tomorrow off work.”
“Nope, I’m not having time away from my work. I’ve just been promoted to manager, and I’m not letting Ronald and Jeffrey down.” Now, I see the stubborn side of her nature, and it’s all Black. He’s as stubborn as a mule, too.
At the clubhouse, I walk over to the shed, where we do our wet work. Opening the door, I see Sting tied to a chair and looking rather roughed up. He has a black eye, a split lip, and a nice bruise on his jaw.
“So, Sting, you were sitting outside my old lady’s apartment, but for what reason?” I try to keep my tone on the friendlier side.
Sting looks at me, and I wait while he decides if he wants to talk or not. I can see the moment he makes that decision. “I wanted to ask her if she’d seen Melody. She’s missing, and I know she was seeing Sacks, who is Alice’s man. No idea why you are saying she is your old lady.”
“Because all the bullshit from Melody had Alice ditch him, ditch her as a friend, and walk right into my arms. I couldn’t be fuckin’ happier.” I drag a seat in front of this fucker, and make sure he sees I’m pissed. “We have Melody in a room, in lock-up basically. She’s using. Did you know that?”
“No, she’s pregnant with my kid.” Sting struggles to break the bindings, but he’s not getting out of here until we are ready.
“There never was a baby, Sting.” I watch as he stills, gives me eye contact and I can see the disbelief and shock. “She’s a liar, and there never was a pregnancy. We are deciding what to do with her since she’s part of the dealing issue in town. She’s been buying, selling, and using the shit.”
“No!” Sting throws his head back, shaking it from left to right.
“Yes, she’s a smackhead. Now you have a decision to make. When we are ready to release her, do you want her back? But if you do, you take her out of our territory or we’ll bury her six feet deep with no sorrow over doing it. Or you let her go and she goes with our National President, to probably become a worker in our brothel. Your decision.” I’m not enjoying this because I can see he had genuine feelings for Melody, and finding out she lied about his child has hit him. “You know she told Sacks the child was his? She’s been playing you, Sting, and playing Sacks.”
“You can take her, I’m done.” Sting looks me in the eye, “Let me out of here and I’ll make sure the fuckin’ dealer is dealt with even though he’s on the edge of both our territories. I’ll let you know when it’s done.”
“I’ll need to speak to our National President before I can agree to that. But I can have you placed in a room, give you something to eat and drink. You could clean up too.”
Sting nods, “Okay, that’ll be good. Let me know the decision, then I’ll get my brothers together and take out the trash.”
After making the call to Beast, he speaks to Sting before giving me the decision to let him go. But if he doesn’t stick to the bargain Beast will call all chapters to arms and Sting’s MC won’t survive.
It’s been a hell of a long day, but I straddle my hog after giving Bolt his orders for the next morning. Then make my way to Alice’s apartment. Black and Beast have been with her all evening and it’s late now. I’m sure they are ready to leave and get their heads down.
Walking into the apartment, I grin when Beast and Black have their heads back on the couch they are sitting on, snoring. I look at Alice, who is reading a book, and shake my head with amusement.
“They’ve been like that for over an hour.”
“Some watchdogs they are,” I chuckle, leaning down and kissing the top of Alice’s head. “Wake the fuckers up so they can get back to the clubhouse, and I’ll take a shower.”
“I’ll show you where…”
“No need,” I interrupt. “I’ll find the shower.” I pick up the rucksack I’d thrown down as I entered the apartment, and make my way upstairs. Now, I’m not sleeping in the guest room, so Alice best get her head around the fact I’m in her bed.
After showering in the bathroom adjoined to the main bedroom, I wrap the towel around my waist and walk into the bedroom where Alice is sitting up in bed, looking more than shocked I’ve sauntered into her room. The bathroom is between the two bedrooms, so there is a door for each of them. Her shock is comical, but I’ll not mess with her as yet, anyway.
“W-w-what are you doing in here?” Alice stutters.
“I’m going to sleep in here. We are a couple, Alice, and as such, we don’t sleep in separate rooms. Now, you gotta get used to that before we take this further, but we will take this further in time.” I give her my best smile, drop my towel, which has me smirking when she gasps at the sight of me naked and climb into the bed next to her, lay back with an arm under my head and one over my abs. After sighing, I close my eyes, mumble “Good night,” and quickly fall asleep.
The next morning Alice is out of bed early, and downstairs as I head out to deal with the important issues of the day. Grabbing Alice as I pass, I tip her chin and press my lips to hers. As she gasps I quickly slip my tongue into her mouth and taste the mix of her, the toothpaste she used, and the coffee she has been sipping.
Leaving her with a glazed look, I feel satisfied I’ve started the day right, and climb on my hog. I give the prospect a wave as I pass and he stands a little straighter, puffing his chest out. We all know that feeling, we’ve all been a prospect at one time, and recognition from your Prez is always special.
Two hours later, I stand smirking while Melody is placed in a van. She has tape over her mouth so she can’t cause any drama, and she has her hands cuffed behind her back.
I give a nod to Nails, who has come from the National Chapter along with Chainsaw to collect her. Beast whispers something to Melody, which has her shaking her head no, and tears leaking down her cheeks. Now Nails is so-called because he’s as hard as. He is as cold as you can be with anyone he doesn’t know, but he is solid for his brothers and club. He’ll not give a shit about anything Melody may say to wriggle out of the mess she is in.
Rubbing my hands together, I head back inside the clubhouse and to my office. What a fuckin’ good start to the day I’m having, I think to myself. Getting a kiss from my woman after holding her in the night, to getting rid of trash like Melody. Next is to lose a brother that can cause my woman trouble.
Sitting behind my desk, Beast in the seat near the window, while Black is standing while eating a breakfast sandwich of some kind, all patient and awaiting Bolt, who is bringing the brother whose life is about to change.
The door opens and Bolt, along with Sacks, walks into the office. “Sacks here as you requested, Prez,” Bolt unnecessarily states.
Before I can speak Beast does, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Sacks, you did the dirty on your old lady after being put in a position that I don’t think you should ever have been placed.” Beast gives Bolt a look that would have any lesser man piss his pants, but Bolt remains calm, showing no emotion on his face. “You cannot remain in this chapter when Jax has claimed Alice as his old lady.”
Sacks looks at me with shock, anger and then defeat. Turning back to Beast, he nods, “I can understand that, but this is my home. Jax has been a nomad for the National Chapter, never settling in one place. I think it’s not right that you want me to leave my home and town, where I was born and have lived all my life. All because I did what my Prez at the time asked me to do. I’m being punished, and it’s wrong.”
Beast lets him have his say, then continues, “I understand what you are saying, but this isn’t a punishment. We are offering you a promotion. The Dakota Chapter needs a strong, reliable, and honest VP. The chapter has been having issues, and now we have taken out the trouble, we are placing new officers. All the officers except the President will be from outside that chapter. I want you to take the VP position, and know that the current Prez won’t be standing for more than around eight years. He is in his fifties already and is doing this as a favor to me. He will be more than happy to hand over the position once we all know you can handle it, but Sacks, you need to prove you will never do something fucked up like Bolt did.”
We can all see the shock on Sacks’ face, as he takes a seat rubbing the palm of his hand down his face before looking at each of us in turn. “Okay, I’ll move to be VP, but if I don’t gel with them, I’m comin’ back. Bolt is the one who made the mistake, not me. I did what I was asked to do for the club. I admit I didn’t think it through fully or I wouldn’t have done it. But one thing this has shown me is that Alice isn’t my one. If she had been, I would never have done this. My first reaction would have been as the other brothers who were asked. I hope it all works out for you with Alice. She deserves someone who’ll stand by her, be true to her, and put her first whenever he can.”
Two hours later I watch as Sacks rides away from the clubhouse, with his hog piled with belongings. The rest of his stuff will be taken to him in the club's van in a couple of days when the old ladies have had time to clean out his room.
Walking back into the clubhouse, I feel that things are going to work out. But I’ve got to claim and announce my woman. Where’s Teckie, as I have to order Alice’s cut?