Chapter 9 #2
“Thank you,” she finally sighed, her shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry I used your spot, but—”
“Use my spot whenever you want. I don’t mind,” I assured her, leaning back to put my feet on the handlebars. “Did it help?”
“I feel a little better. I had to get out of the house but I was going to end up murdering Skeet or something, so I found myself coming here instead.”
“Want me to murder him for you? I’ll do it for free,” I deadpanned, and she rolled her eyes.
“No. I’m angry, but he’s dealing with a lot more than me. At least I can grieve and shut myself away if I want. He’s stuck having to keep a mask in place and run a crew.”
“He needs to whip his boys into gear. You shouldn’t have had to skip the funeral for your safety. My guys would never go against my orders like that,” I stated with annoyance.
“Was it a good funeral? Would Slash have liked it?” Her voice cracked, and I fought the urge to go to her and hold her again.
Whatever had happened in that dark theater room was a once-off, and she wouldn't tolerate it out here.
“I think so. Make sure you go and see him though. He’ll struggle to rest until you’ve said your goodbyes,” I warned her, watching her nod.
“I will, just not today. Maybe not being able to go today was a blessing, I’m not ready.”
“That’s okay. He’d be happy waiting for you. Keep him on his toes,” I smiled, flicking the ash from my cigarette. “How’s your face?”
“Sore. Skeet’s fist is like a brick, you know?”
I pointed to my face, knowing there was visible damage. “I’m very aware.”
She chuckled, pushing off the car and moving towards me. I didn’t move, hoping she wasn’t about to shove me over.
“You need to stop getting in fights. The only good thing about you is your face.”
“You’re always black and blue, hypocrite. Are you calling me pretty, Donovan?” I teased, fighting the urge to grab her shirt and tug her closer to kiss me. She’d knock my teeth out.
“You’re definitely pretty, Pretty Boy. I really hope you guys can heal from your past. I know things will never be the same, but it would be nice to have you all in the same room without punches being thrown. Just once,” she grinned, her fingers reaching out to brush across the logo on my jacket.
I gently took her wrist, not wanting her to leave yet.
“I’d like that too,” I replied softly, sitting up and letting her wrist go, thankful when she didn’t step back. “At least then we could hang out without him murdering me, right?”
She scoffed, giving me a look of amusement. “I highly doubt he’d ever be okay with that.”
“C’mon, me and Skeet are a good team. You’d like us getting along, trust me.”
“Aw, you think he’s going to loan you my pussy?”
“I was kind of hoping he’d lend me your ass, but I’m not fussy,” I winked, light laughter leaving her. She thought I was joking, but that was okay.
“Skeet’s not the only guy in my life, and I promise you the others won’t let you near me. You’ll have to keep chasing Lexi for your kicks,” she teased.
“Bit hard when she’s locked up. I’m visiting her next week but we don’t get conjugal visits, unfortunately.”
“She must be pretty.”
“My bestie is stunning and very skilled in the bedroom, but I wouldn’t date her,” I said honestly, pulling my phone out and finding a photo of her to show Rory. “See?”
“No wonder Archer wants to kill you, she’s hot,” she teased, taking my phone to inspect the picture.
It was one of me and Lexi at Wet Dreams doing shots with one of her friends.
Her bleached blonde hair was all the way down to her ass, her makeup perfect as always, and she was wearing the smallest crop top and mini skirt that showed off her tattooed sleeves.
She was leaning into me, fighting a laugh from something dumb I’d said.
Archer had punched me a few hours later when he got sick of seeing us dancing together.
We honestly didn’t fuck as much as he thought, I just didn’t correct him.
“Lex and I just understand each other. She’s had it rough, and I’m one of the only people in her life that she can trust to have her back one hundred percent. You guys would be good friends, but Skeet might make that difficult.”
“I doubt Archer would let her buddy up with me anyway.”
“He’d get over it. She does what she wants,” I chuckled, taking my phone back and putting it in my pocket. “I won’t invite you back to mine since I can feel that’s not the vibe tonight, but you can show up if you need me. Let me know when you get home safely?”
“I will.”
I watched her climb into the Corvette and leave, and I waited until I couldn’t hear it anymore before getting on my bike and heading to Mount Mercer, which was only the next town over.
Marco eyed me from the loft at our warehouse as I walked in, a few guys beating the shit out of each other in the cage below. I walked up the stairs to join him, his forearms resting on the railing as he watched the guys.
“Feel better?”
“Absolutely. What’s been happening here? What did Dom do to piss off Hammer?” I sighed, noticing Hammer wasn’t messing around tonight. He was one of our best fighters, but also one of our most controlled.
He was twenty-six, built like a house, and was ex-military.
If he was flipping out, Dom had done something to deserve it.
Dom was twenty-three and a cocky asshole, so I also wasn’t surprised to see him getting his ass beat.
“Hammer’s sister’s apparently a hooker,” Marco answered without any more context.
“So?”
“He found out because Dom brought her back here to fuck her,” he smirked, motioning to a girl in a fishnet dress with black panties and a matching bra, who was literally tied to a chair in the corner.
“Jesus Christ,” I grumbled, heading down the stairs to the cage. “Hammer!”
He stopped his beating instantly and turned to me, leaving the cage when I crooked a finger at him. I approached his sister and studied her for a second, her brown eyes staring back at me unwavering.
“Your sister’s hot, man,” I finally said, Hammer’s shoulders straightening when he realized I could possibly take her for a ride and he’d have to get over it. Looking back at her, I smiled. “Who do you work for, babe?”
“Myself,” she said carefully, glancing at her brother.
“What corner?”
“I don’t work the corner. I take calls. Were you interested?” she asked hopefully, and I knew it wasn’t because she wanted to fuck me, she was after the money.
“Streets aren’t safe right now, you need to be careful. Where do you live?”
“The Heights.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“One, stop telling a stranger all your personal information,” I said dryly, her mouth slamming shut. “And two, Hammer can take you home. Here.” I took some bills from my wallet, offering them to her as Hammer untied her. “Hammer, get her out of here.”
The girl seemed confused about the money as I turned to look at the cage, finding Dom picking himself up from the floor.
“Hey, Dom. Did you know who the fuck she was?” I called out, and he shook his head, spitting blood. “Nah, man. She was hot, that’s all.”
“Then why the fuck are you guys fighting? Clean yourself up and go spend your money at Wet Dreams. Keep the peace with Hendricks.”
“If you stopped dicking his girl—”
“Stop talking,” I warned, and he grunted.
“Yes, boss.”
I rubbed my temples, pausing the motion when Derek approached me. “Preston hasn’t made contact since eleven.”
“Who’s with him?” I asked, knowing he was at a party in Rawson Grove selling drugs.
“Bobby and Faris.”
I glanced at the time to see it was somehow almost three o’clock in the afternoon. From the way Marco was frowning, no one had mentioned this to him.
I tried calling Faris and didn’t get a response, so I scowled. “No one thought of saying anything earlier? Derek and Marco, you’re with me. The rest of you have shit to do, so get to it. Hammer, you take the day to handle your family.”
Everyone murmured their agreement and split up to do their jobs, and Marco came down to join me and Derek.
“I tried all three of them. No one’s answering,” Marco muttered as we headed outside.
“After an hour someone should have gone after them. The fuck, Derek?” I hissed.
“You know what they’re like. They wander off,” Derek argued, and I glared at him.
“They need to learn to wander off with a fucking call first.”
We decided to take two cars instead of the bikes, just in case any of the guys were injured, and I made sure Derek was with me so I could scold him the whole damn drive.
Considering it was only the afternoon, the party was booming, and I made a beeline into the house in search of my guys. I spotted the host instantly, the girl chatting away to a bunch of her friends, and her eyes went wide as she saw me stomping towards her.
My hand wrapped around her throat, almost pulling her off her feet as I got in her face to talk over the music.
“Where the fuck are they?”
“Upstairs!” she squeaked, my hand tightening a little more. “They told me to watch their stuff!”
I let her go and glanced over at the table where our drugs were sitting, motioning to Derek to grab it.
“If anything’s missing, you’re fucking dead. Understand?” I growled at the girl, stalking towards the stairs and going through all the rooms until I found the one I wanted.
Preston, Faris, and Bobby were all naked, two girls between them.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I bit out, all of them swiveling their heads towards us. The girls giggled, but my guys all jerked back and started grabbing their clothes. “You left the stash unattended in a roomful of people and ghosted us for hours, for some pussy?”
“Sorry, boss,” Faris muttered, having the balls to look me in the eye.
“If anything’s missing, I’ve got to kill the girl and you’ll go in the fucking hole with her,” I warned, all three of them scrambling a little faster. “Get the fuck back to the warehouse. Marco and Derek, you stay here.”
Marco snatched the bag from Derek, giving me a nod. “I’ve got it.”
“Not alone.”