Ride dirty vegas vipers.., p.16

  RIDE DIRTY: Vegas Vipers MC, p.16

RIDE DIRTY: Vegas Vipers MC
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  After a time, Honey felt that she’d cried all the tears she had in her.

  “Sorry,” she said. “It’s the baby or something; I’ve just been an emotional wreck.”

  “The baby, and the fact that your boss took you hostage and threatened to kill you,” said Grit. “Cut yourself some slack; you’ve been through more tonight than any woman should have to go through. And you’re still standing.”

  “How … how the hell are you so calm about this?” Honey asked. “You look like you aren’t bothered in the slightest.”

  “Because I’m the man in charge,” said Grit. “I don’t have the luxury of letting my emotions get the better of me. My men look to me for guidance, and I’ve got to be there to give it to them.”

  But then Grit looked away for a moment, and Honey could tell that there was something else on his mind.

  “But still, when that motherfucker Charlie had that gun to your head, I wanted to tear him to pieces more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life.”

  He took Honey’s hand into his and looked deep into her eyes.

  “I swear, so help me God, that I’ll never let another man do what he did to you tonight. I’m gonna be watching your back like a hawk from this day forward, whether you want it or not. I’ll always keep you safe, Honey.”

  Honey knew that his words were sincere. And she could still see that the image that she imagined was in his mind of Charlie holding her hostage was causing him to lose a bit of his composure. He looked as if the walls that he kept around him had come down, if only just a bit.

  “Honey,” he said, taking her chin into his hand and looking into her eyes once again. “I love you.”

  Honey nodded, and more tears flowed from her eyes.

  “I love you, too,” she said. “More than I’ve ever loved anyone.”

  Grit pulled Honey close and held her tight. At that moment, for Honey, there was no one else in the world but the two of them.

  However, there were still grave concerns on her mind.

  “But,” she said. “There’re men still out there. And they’re not gonna be too happy about what happened tonight.”

  Grit nodded.

  “They’re fucking done,” he said, standing up and pacing back and forth in the room. “I was fucking stupid for letting Emile go. I should’ve snapped his neck like a fucking twig and sent a nice, clear fuckin’ message to the rest of those assholes about what happens when you screw with the Vandals. Tomorrow, I’m gonna start tracking those assholes down and dismantling them, one by one, piece by piece. By the time I’m done with them, they’re gonna wish they were never fuckin’ born.”

  Honey found it so hard to believe that Grit had both of these sides to him. One moment he was expressing his love for her in a way that she knew was pure and sincere. And now he was like a dog let off a chain, ready to kill to protect the ones he loved.

  “I’m gonna keep you safe,” he said. “And it’s gonna start with killing the men who Charlie was working for. You have my word.”

  But that wasn’t what Honey wanted. Not at all. Despite knowing that Grit was speaking and acting out of a protective instinct, she didn’t want what he was offering.

  “No,” said Honey, her voice soft.

  Grit turned to her with a quizzical expression on her face, as though she’d said something in another language.

  “What did you say?” he asked.

  “I don’t want that,” she said. “I don’t want any more violence.”

  Grit narrowed his eyes.

  “Are you serious?” he asked. “These are the men who almost killed you tonight. They’re criminals, thugs, murderers. They need to be taken off the streets.”

  “Then let’s get them off the streets,” said Honey. “But I’ve seen enough bloodshed tonight to last me a lifetime. I don’t want the father of my child out there like some lawless vigilante, killing criminals left and right. I need to know that you’re going to be coming home at night, that you’re going to be the father I need for this baby.”

  She placed her hand on her belly to make her point.

  “But … this is who I am,” said Grit. “This is the life that I lead. I’m the president of a fuckin’ bike gang.”

  “And now you’re going to need to be a father,” said Honey, her voice stern and calm. “You said yourself that there’s enough evidence to link the bosses to Fantasies. Once the cops find the drug lab, they’ll have all they need to put those men behind bars where they belong. What I need is to know that you’re going to be the man that I need you to be. A real man, not some kid prowling the streets looking for a fight.”

  Grit nodded, understanding just what Honey was asking of him.

  “You’re right,” he said. “If I’m gonna be running this club, I can’t be risking my neck looking for a fight. Especially with a kid on the way. All right, Honey—I’ll keep the dogs at bay for now. But if those fuckers go out of their way to threaten you and our baby, then I’m gonna do whatever it takes to keep you safe. No questions asked.”

  ***

  Honey’s heart warmed at Grit’s words. And looking at him standing before her, tall and strong, a look of deep determination on his face, she knew that she could trust him to do the right thing. She rose from where she sat and placed her hands on his shoulders and looked up into his eyes.

  “I … promise I won’t make you regret this,” she said. “I promise that I’ll be a good mother for this baby, and a good woman for you. I’ll be by your side and support you through anything.”

  Grit nodded slowly, taking in Honey’s words. Without saying a thing, he took her by the hand and led her out onto the hotel room balcony. Together, they stood in front of the grand sweep of the city, the casinos and hotels of the Strip glittering and flashing in front of them. Off in the distance, the suburbs of the city seemed to stretch into forever, the grand mountains of the desert, deep purple in the evening light, rose majestically behind them. Grit wrapped his arm around Honey’s shoulders and pulled her close.

  “I never had much of a childhood,” said Grit. “I got passed around from foster home to foster home, and I had to grow up fast—the other kids at the homes had no tolerance for weakness, and I wasn’t about to show them any. As soon as I got out of those places, I swore two things: one, that I’d never have to rely on anyone else, and two, that if I ever had a son or daughter of my own, I’d never let them grow up without being there for them at every step of the way.”

  Honey felt tears form in her eyes as Grit talked. She could tell that he was opening up to her in a way that he might’ve never opened up to anyone before.

  “And after all this time, here I am, ready to let a woman into my life and rely on her to be the mother that I know she can be.”

  He took Honey’s chin into his hand and looked deep into her eyes.

  “Honey, I know this is strange for both of us, and more than a little frightening. But if there’s one woman I want at my side during a journey like this, it’s you.”

  Tears streamed down Honey’s eyes. She’d never before felt so overwhelmed with joy. She couldn’t even begin to imagine the words she wanted to say back to him. Just hearing him speak was enough to fill her with the kinds of emotions that she’d never felt she’d share with another man.

  “Then, if you’re ready, I am too,” said Grit.

  Honey smiled.

  “I’m more than ready, Grit. Let’s do this. Together.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Honey

  Ten months later …

  “Okay,” said Honey. “Now, stretch!”

  Honey placed her foot on the barre in front of her, her tiny foot clad in a light pink ballet slipper. The muscles of her leg felt hot and tense at first, but as she rested her foot on the elevated barre, blood began to rush through her muscles, the feeling of tight tension replaced with one of loose suppleness.,

  Honey scanned the room at the women in various stages of pregnancy, from skinny suburban moms in expensive gym wear stretched around tiny, almost fashionable baby bumps, to thicker-bodied women with cheap muumuus draped over baby bellies that looked like they might burst at any second. They all seemed to be staring at her with the same expression of confusion.

  “Come on, girls,” said Honey. “Get those legs on up there!”

  “Um,” started one of the women, a trim, young girl with blonde hair pulled into a tight bun. “That’s … really high up. How do you even do that?”

  Honey’s eyes shot to her foot where it lay on the barre and she realized that the girl was right: it was fairly high up. In fact, her foot was on one of the barres that she hadn’t been able to reach since she was in the early months of her pregnancy. She regarded the elevation of her foot with a small, proud smile; she knew that it meant that her body was recovering nicely after her pregnancy. Soon, she understood, she’d be back to her full strength and ready to take this class to the next level.

  Sure enough, as she glanced over to one of the mirror-lined walls of the ballet practice room, she saw that her slim body was in quite the contortion.

  For now, she thought, I might want to go easy on these girls. Some of them look like the most stretching they’ve ever done involves whatever their husbands and boyfriends want in the bedroom.

  “Hmm,” said Honey, speaking out loud to the class. “Might be a little advanced for a beginner class.”

  She kept her leg propped up on the bar, the position becoming easier by the second.

  “But here’s what I’m gonna expect out of you all in the next few months.”

  “No way!” said another one of the women, a fatter woman in her mid-thirties, dressed in expensive-looking exercise wear. “There’s no way that I’ll be able to do that. Your foot’s, like, higher than the rest of your body! You look like a pro!”

  “Well, I am a pro,” said Honey, a smile on her face. “I am teaching this class, after all.”

  With a fluid, graceful motion, she brought her foot off of the barre, held it in the air for several moments, her toes pointed above the heads of the women. Then, feeling in total control of her body, she brought her foot down onto the ground. Then, she raised her hands above her head in true ballet style.

  Slight gasps slipped out of the mouths of the women in the class. Honey couldn’t help but feel a little pride herself; truth be told, she was just as surprised with her movements as the rest of the girls were.

  “Just a little something to look forward to,” said Honey. “But let’s start with some more basics. But make no mistake—in a few months, you’re all going to be doing moves that’re going to be so fluid and graceful that you’re going to feel like you’ve stepped out of your own body. There’s grace in all of you, and it’s my job to help you bring it out.”

  Honey scanned the room and saw that all of the women had smiles on their faces.

  “Now,” she said, placing her hands on her hips and taking her teacher tone, “let’s start the class for today with some pointe exercises. A good pointe is the foundation of any good ballet technique, and I’m going to hammer you all hard until we get it down pat.”

  “Would be easier if I didn’t have two little monsters about to shoot out of me,” said one of the women, a petite, slim brunette with one of the biggest baby bumps that Honey had ever seen, a teasing smile on her face.”

  “Well,” said Honey, “if you can pull it off now, just imagine how easy it’ll be when you’re not carrying a set of twins around. Maybe they’ll learn a thing or two and come out pirouetting. Now, when I say ‘pointe,’ then stand on those little tiptoes of yours. Ready?”

  The class all nodded in eager anticipation, and Honey gave the command.

  “Pointe!”

  The girls stood up on their tiptoes, some having more trouble than others.

  “Down!”

  The girls fell back on their feet, relief washing over the faces.

  “Pointe!”

  “Down!”

  “Pointe!”

  “Down!”

  “Pointe! And hold!”

  Honey watched the women as they struggled to hold their positions She walked slowly in front of the line of women, carefully examining their position and posture. And all of the women did their best to hold the pointe. During her time as a ballet instructor for expecting women, she’d found that she had somewhat of a knack for inspiring her students to want to impress her. And she intended to use that skill for all she could get out of it.

  The rest of the class time passed, and soon, the hour was up. Her students all were exhausted, loose, and their skin shone with sweat.

  “Great class, everyone,” said Honey, looking over her students. “Now look at yourselves in the mirrors—every last one of you has that lovely pregnant glow. And all of you did awesome today! See you next week, same time.”

  The girls broke up, chatting among themselves as the class dismissed. Honey took up a position by the door, saying her goodbyes to her students, all of them seeming fresher and sprier after the hour that Honey had put them through.

  Soon, the students were gone, and Honey was alone in her ballet classroom. She walked over to the back wall, the top half of which was a long window that looked out onto the suburban office park where the gym where she worked was located. She’d never thought she’d be happy to be in suburbia, but now that she had a job that didn’t involve her straddling a gold pole into the small hours of the morning, she realized that she couldn’t be happier.

  “You know, when a former stripper came in here and asked for a job, I couldn’t help but be a little skeptical.”

  Honey turned and saw that the voice belonged to Melanie, one of the owners of Maxx Gym, the place where Honey had been working for nearly a year. Melanie was a brunette in her mid-thirties with close-cropped blonde hair and the sort of tight, toned body that girls half her age would kill to have.

  “But every time one of your class gets out, every girl has the same beaming smile on her face. I don’t know how you do it, Honey, but you’re really kicking ass here.”

  Honey flashed her a smile as she stepped away from the windows and approached her boss.

  “I don’t know,” said Honey. “I just really, really love doing this. I’ve always loved to dance, but stripping is all I thought I could handle. But now that I’m teaching students, I don’t know, I just found that I have a passion for it. I never thought I’d have a job that I actually looked forward to coming into.”

  Melanie nodded, pleased with the answer.

  “Let me get you a protein shake, on the house.”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  The two women left the ballet room and began walking side by side through the hallway that led to the main gym floor. Once they reached the area, Honey took a look around the place.

  Maxx Gym was a three-story, ultra-modern gym that catered to the elite of the Vegas suburbs. The place was packed full of hard-bodied men and women in expensive workout gear, all of the clients looking like they’d just stepped off of the cover of a fitness magazine. The weights and exercise machines all were sleek chrome and black, and upbeat dance music blasted through the space.

  I can’t get over how this place is pretty much the exact opposite of Fantasies, though Honey as she and Melanie walked up to the top floor, where the shake bar was located. The two of them did some meet-and-greets, saying their hellos to regular clients. After a time, they arrived at the bar and Melanie ordered them two mango protein shakes.

  “Coming up on a year here,” said Melanie.

  “I know,” said Honey. “I can’t believe it’s happened so fast. It feels like just yesterday that I came in here, asking you if you were hiring.”

  “And it feels like just yesterday that you had the baby bump to end all baby bumps,” said Melanie.

  Honey looked down at her now-flat stomach, still not used to how light she felt now that she didn’t have to tote a baby around inside of her.

  “No kidding,” she said.

  “How is Elise doing?” asked Melanie, referring to Honey’s newborn baby.

  “Amazing,” said Honey. “She’s getting bigger every day, and … I don’t know, I still can’t believe I’m a mother. It’s so strange to me. But I love it.”

  Honey thought about her adorable baby girl, who was currently in the nursery at the bottom level of the outdoor mall where Maxx Gym was located. Honey wished that she was holding her baby in her arms right at that moment, and a smile formed on her face as she imagined it.

  “And how’s the BD doing?” Melanie asked, a sly smile on her face.

 
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