“It is over, Charles.” I pointed at the gate. “Time to go.”

  Charles did as told, his football team following. No fucking way the asshole or Gigi’s father was giving up that easy.

  “I’m sorry,” Gigi said. “He can be a real asshole.”

  Gigi’s phone buzzed in her back pocket, and when she pulled it out, she walked away, her fingers furiously tapping the screen as she replied to the message she received. The scowl told me it wasn’t good news. She turned, and tears were filling her eyes.

  “What’s up, G?” I asked. I pulled her into my arms, and she turned the screen.

  I didn’t want to say her father was being an asshole, but the message on the screen didn’t sound right. Her father claimed her mother had fallen ill and that she should come home as soon as possible. I thought it was bullshit.

  “What should I do?” she asked.

  I was her Daddy in bed, not when making her decisions. “Do what you gotta do,” I said. I sat on the picnic table and grabbed a beer from the ice bucket. I drank half before Gigi spoke.

  “I wanna go with you tomorrow, Diesel.”

  “Then go.”

  “But what about my mom?”

  “Then go see her.”

  Gigi put her hands on her hips, eyes burning a hole through my head. She didn’t like my answers, but I wasn’t raising a child.

  “You’re no help!” She looked at the message again. “We should discuss this.”

  And so it began. We needed to talk about it. “Okay. I think your old man is pulling some shit on you. You go home, and he won’t let you leave.”

  “You’re saying he’s using my mom?” She shook her head. “I can’t believe you’d think that.”

  I finished the beer because beers were meant to be finished. “Yeah. That’s what I think.”

  “Fuck you,” she said.

  “What’s wrong?” Skittles asked, exiting the club with Beast.

  I nodded at Gigi. “Her old man thinks he can keep her there if he gets her home.”

  “My father sent a message that mom is sick and needs me to come home.” Gigi pointed at me. “This asshole thinks my father is lying.”

  I got up from the table, grabbed another beer, and started toward the door. “I told you. Do what you gotta do.” I left Gigi with Skittles. They could figure that shit out.

  “You okay?” Beast asked when I sat at the bar.

  “Every fucking woman I meet wants to fix me, brother. I don’t get it.”

  “You did invite her along.” Beast grabbed a beer from behind the bar, placed his elbows on the counter, and stared at me. “What’s going with you, brother?” He twisted the top off his beer. “You wanted to kill those guys behind the dick house.”

  “I sure the fuck did.” I told him about the ringing in my ears and the voice that spoke to me more often than I wanted to admit. I told him about the Ushers, his face a fucked up look of confusion. There was a reason I never talked about my past.

  “So we go and figure this shit out.”

  “I don’t wanna take you away from club business.”

  “This is club business, Diesel. We don’t leave anyone behind.”

  Big Kentucky, frazzled, joined us. “We got a problem at the farm.” He glanced at me, worried. “Couple of the Prospects caught two Messengers trying to steal guns. Stimpy says the Messengers told them more of the club was on the way to fuck them up.”

  We left the bar and went straight to our bikes. Cinder, Watcher, and Slash joined us. Gigi and Skittles were gone, as was G’s car. I guessed she’d made her decision. I believed what I believed. I had the years and the experience on G. We all had to learn the hard way, her included. We left the club as I tried to push her from my mind. Pussy had me in its crosshairs, and for whatever reason, I didn’t want to be anywhere but there. Goddamnit, I loved the woman, and I just fucking met her.

  Twenty minutes later, we pulled onto the farm property too late. The house’s front door stood open, and two Prospects lay on the porch.

  Beast checked the bodies. Neither was Stimpy, but both were new Prospects. “Check the fucking house.” He pointed at me. “You find a messenger, and I want him alive.”

  In the house, I found two dead Messengers but no Stimpy. For once, it wasn’t me killing someone.

  I told Beast what I found, and then a glint from the waist-high grass caught my attention. We pulled our weapons and approached the grass.

  “Diesel,” Wendy said. She got up and threw her arms around me. She turned and showed us the injured Stimpy. “He snuck me away. They thought we ran off.”

  Watcher and I helped Stimpy up. The bullet wound in his shoulder oozed blood. The asshole would win club member of the year the way things were going.

  “What the fuck were you doing out here?” Beast asked Wendy.

  “I asked Stimpy if I could come.”

  “Sorry, Beast,” Stimpy said. “It was stupid.”

  Beast took out his phone when it buzzed. He studied the screen and shook his head. “Wendy, take the van and drive Stimpy back to the club. Have Big Kentucky fix him up.” Beast waited a few minutes for Wendy and Watcher to get Stimpy in the van. “Skittles sent me a message.”

  “Okay,” I said, knowing it had something to do with Gigi. “She’s not fucking coming back, is she?”

  “No.” Beast looked at the screen again. “Skittles got a message from Gigi that her mother was really sick and she needed to stay there. I’m sorry, brother.”

  “It’s not a big fucking deal. I was done with that ass anyway.” I walked away and climbed on my bike. Beast followed with Cinder in tow. “Still leaving tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, man, but I need to do this shit on my own if you don’t mind.” I nodded toward the house. You gotta clean this shit up anyway.”

  “When you headed out?”

  I patted my saddle bags. “Gonna stop by my place now. Load up and get the fuck out of town. Give me a week?”

  Beast shook his head. “No. Take all the time you need. We’ll figure this shit out while you’re gone.”

  “Thanks, brother.”

  I pulled away from the farm and headed home. An empty home. Like it always was. For the first time in my life, I didn’t want it to be that way. But, like I told G, deal with the cards dealt.

  4

  Gigi

  “Whose idea was this, Charles? Yours or my father’s?” I grabbed at my phone but Charles pulled it away.

  “We thought it was best, Gigi. Neither of us wanted to see you fucking up your life over some piece of biker trash. I don’t understand why you can’t see there’s no future there. What’s he got on you that makes you want to stay in that crap?” Charles tossed the phone on the bed.

  “You don’t own me, and he doesn’t control me.” I went for my phone but stopped when my father entered the room. For the first time in my life, I hated that he always wore suits, even to our meals. The suits made him appear powerful, but we all knew people in power lived in constant fear of someday losing that power. Being on a pedestal also meant being imprisoned by the life you created around you.

  “Leave the phone,” he said. I grabbed the phone anyway and read the message sent to Diesel. “A complete fucking lie, Father. He was right. He said you were lying.”

  “I do what I have to do to protect my family.” He took the phone from my hand. “I pay the phone bill, remember?” He stuck the phone inside his jacket. “Now, let’s talk about what you will do next.”

  “What I will do next is leave. I don’t wanna be here, Father.” He walked to the door. I knew what was next. He’d done it too many times to count when I was a child. It’s how he operated when he couldn’t control a situation. He locked people in or out. In my case, in.

  “Charles,” he said, and Charles left the room. “You disappoint me, Gigi.” He left the room, and moments later, the door lock clicked.

  Dad never did anything without a backup plan. He learned that from years of making mistakes in the technology world. I went to the window, blasted with cold air when I opened it. Leaning forward, I saw the trellis had been removed from the house. As a teenager, the trellis was nothing short of my best friend, allowing an easy escape to parties and boyfriends.

  I lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering if Diesel thought I was an asshole. I’d learned a lesson. Listen to what Diesel had to say. I went to the University of Arkansas, and he went to Harvard. Enough said.

  I fell asleep thinking of Diesel and woke after midnight thinking of him, seeing his apparition in the corner of the room.

  “I told you so,” he said. “Assholes like them stoop to levels the rest of us know nothing about. Money fucks people up.”

  Cold, I noticed the window slightly open. “What the fuck are you doing in my room?”

  Diesel laughed. “Thought you were seeing a ghost?”

  I went to the window and looked out. “Where the hell did you get a ladder?”

  “Toolshed around back.” He opened the window. “Grab your shit, and let’s go.”

  “I need my phone.” We stood next to each other, me completely speechless. He had come to rescue his Rapunzel from the castle. He could pull my hair later.

  “I brought a burner.” He pulled an iPhone from his back pocket. “Best I could do with short notice.”

  “Gigi. I’m sorry,” Charles said from the other side of the door. “Can I come in and we talk about this?”

  The lock clicked, and the knob turned. I rushed across the room and slammed the door shut as it opened.

  “No,” I said. “I need some time alone to think about what you and my father have done.”

  “Fuck,” Charles whispered. “Okay. I’ll come back in the morning.” A minute later, he said, “I love you, Gigi.”

  I turned to find Diesel with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. I pointed at him, not to say a word. He grabbed my ass as I walked to the window.

  There was something about how much Diesel touched me. Charles always waited for permission. Diesel didn’t. He knew what he wanted and just did it. No asking and no waiting. He pushed the window open and held my hand as I backed onto the ladder.

  “I can’t believe you did this,” I said. “Where are the others?”

  “At the club. Just going to be you and me, babe.”

  I descended the ladder, looking up at Diesel’s ass as he came down after me. At the bottom of the ladder, he kissed me, one hand on my ass, the other on the back of my neck. A man with strong hands was a man every woman should keep.

  “So, it’s going to be like this,” my father said, appearing from the darkness. “I should have you arrested.” He pointed at Diesel.

  I stepped in front of Diesel. “Father, don’t. Let me decide this part of my life.” I glanced up at Diesel. “He needs my help with something in Boston. Let me go.”

  “Let her go, John,” Mom said. She joined my father. “He’s a good-looking man, Gigi.”

  “Thank you, Ma’am.” I could hear the arrogance in Diesel’s voice. He’d ride that compliment all the way to Boston and back. “Your daughter is in good hands.”

  “I’m sure she is,” Mom said with a smile. “John. We should go back inside and get to bed.”

  “Anything happens to my daughter while she’s with you, I’ll ensure your club burns. I did my own digging into you and your gang. I know what you did to your rival. I can’t prove anything at the moment, but all those dead members were at your hands.” He took Mom by the hand, and they went back inside. My father had a lot of power, but Mom’s voice was loud and clear.

  “You thought you were sneaky,” I said. “Didn’t you consider my father would have the place laced with cameras?”

  “Yeah, but I probably shouldn’t have flipped the bird to the security cameras.”

  Diesel put his arm around my shoulders and led me into the darkness. We found his bike parked in the trees bordering the property next to the road. I climbed on back, thankful my ass was feeling better, and put my arms around Diesel when he got on.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “He’s not done, G.” We pulled onto the road. “No father wants to lose his little girl to another man, especially one like me. Charles is his bitch, and he knows it.”

  Diesel was right. Dad would come up with something else. It might include a lie, or it might not. Whatever he did, it would be underhanded.

  We stopped at an all-night gas station, and Diesel filled his tank while I went inside. As I grabbed two bottles of water, I noticed two hooded men enter the store, both carrying guns. The store owner reached beneath the counter, but one of the men fired before the owner could grab his weapon. The owner dropped to the floor, taking a row of cigarettes and rolling papers down with him.

  I hid at the far end of a food aisle, eyeballing a packet of Hershey bars, and watched one of the gunmen go behind the counter. I turned to the left, where I could see Diesel racing toward the door. He’d be dead before entering the building.

  “Hey, assholes,” I said.

  The two men stopped what they were doing. The one behind the counter ignored the cash drawer and jumped over the counter. They turned away when the door opened and started shooting. I heard a crash, and then everything went silent.

  Peeking down the aisle, I saw the two men approach the entrance. When they were out of view, I moved to the next aisle.

  The two men pointed their guns and laughed.

  “I got him,” one of them said.

  “Fuck that, I did.”

  “Shit. He’s still alive.”

  They raised their guns, and I stood. “Assholes!”

  “She’s mine,” the larger of the two men said.

  “Na,” the other guy said. “There’s enough pussy there for the both of us. We’ll split that bitch right down the middle.”

  The two men started toward me, and I backed up until a display of Budweiser stopped me. I grabbed the mace from my purse and sprayed it when they were close enough. Unfortunately, nothing happened.

  They laughed again, and the bigger guy handed the smaller guy his gun and jacket. “Check out those tits.”

  “I’m gonna hit that ass,” the other guy said.

  Between the men, I saw Diesel standing at the aisle’s end. He started down the aisle, and even if I wanted to stop him from killing the men, there was no way I could.

  The entire store had mirrors where the walls met the ceiling. The men noticed Diesel approaching, but it was a second too late. Diesel knocked out the man holding the guns and then grabbed the other man by the neck. I’d never seen terror on anyone’s face like he had on his. He knew death was knocking on the door.

  Diesel slammed the man into a glass door, sending milk and juice flying into the back room. The second man came to and reached for a gun. I had no choice. I stomped the man once in the face, and his head hit the floor. Blood gushed from his nose and oozed from his skull.

  “Diesel,” I yelled when the man jumped through the shattered door.

  Diesel caught the man in mid-air and tossed him sideways through another glass door. He didn’t move again. Diesel stood over the man. I could tell he was listening to the voices again.

  I looked in on the man and saw his chest moving up and down.

  Diesel raised his foot.

  “Diesel,” I said softly. “Don’t. Let him live.”

  “I can’t. The voice is telling me he has to die.”

  “Don’t listen, baby. Push the voice away.” I placed my hand on his forearm, the large muscle flexing. “You can beat the voices.”

  Diesel turned. “The voices always win, G.”

  “They don’t have to,” I said. “Just take a step back. That’s all I want.”

  Diesel stepped away from the man. He put his arm around my lower back and lifted me into his arms. “You’re gonna help me, G.”

  “I am, baby. You gotta trust me. Let’s go.”

  Diesel carried me back to the bike as sirens blared in the distance. I scanned our surroundings and saw nobody. Maybe we were free. Nobody would ever know what happened.

  5

  Diesel

  I considered going back inside the store and killing the two men. The man G had stomped was waking up as we left. The other guy would need an ambulance, emergency surgery, and year-long rehab.

  Something told me the voices were pissed. When the next time to kill a man came around, the voices would give me no other choice.

  I patted G’s leg and pulled away from the store, passing three police cars a few minutes later.

  We spent the next two and a half hours on the road, speeding beneath the stars, the night's heat chasing away a summer breeze. Riding at night with little to no traffic was a biker’s dream. Though G was behind me, I was really alone with the night. Clearing my head of the incident at the store, I thought about my childhood, my parents, Harvard, and G.

  G had gone out on a weak and dangerous limb, coming with me and ignoring her father’s demands. Actions always spoke louder than words, and I did not intend to disappoint her. Was I in love with a woman I’d just met? It was pretty damn close. She’d also saved my life back at the store. Yeah, maybe I finally loved someone.

  We rolled into Memphis a little after midnight, and G put us up in a Hilton, using Hilton points she’d accrued during her travels. Left to me, we’d stay in a low-end motel with stained floors and shitty towels.

  “I’ll check us in,” she said and went to the counter. I grabbed a seat in the lobby, watching the entrance. I’d learned a long time ago always to watch the entrance of any establishment I entered. If someone came in with a gun, I’d have more time to react.

  “You’re pretty fucking hot,” I told G when she was done and joined me. I got up and walked to the elevator with my arm around her shoulders. “You’re my hero.”

  “Because you’re not sleeping in a rat and roach-invested motel tonight?” The elevator opened, and I followed her inside.