“Which means his guard is down for the time being. He’ll connect us to Cutter’s death and burning of the building. He might get an idea then.” I drank half the beer and watched out the window at the club’s front entrance. If I decided to kill Rip, his other chapters would show up in town for a battle. “We gotta go at this strategically.”

  “I’ll put our chapters on notice. Fayetteville is restless for action. Memphis wouldn’t mind a little throwdown either.” Cinder leaned back in his chair and scratched his crotch. The man’s dick would eventually fall off.

  “What’s up, babe?” Skittles stood in the doorway, looking perplexed.

  “Marcus, there’s something I need to tell you.” She glanced at Cinder, who stood. “You can stay.”

  I patted my leg for her to sit, and she did. She’d been my old lady long enough for me to know bad news was coming.

  “It wasn’t just Hell’s Messengers that broke into the house.”

  “Okay?” I slid my hand between her legs and parked it against her pussy. She squeezed her legs together and smiled.

  “Really?” Cinder said. “Get a fucking room.”

  “Once the two Prospects and Cutter had Mark and me tied up, Donna came in.”

  I pulled my hand away. “Donna? Why the fuck would she do that? She’s supposed to be on her way to Cali.”

  “She didn’t say. Cutter had already put a hood over Mark’s head so he couldn’t see her, but she made damn sure I saw her.”

  I moved Skittles off my leg and walked around the table. “She hates you that much?” Cinder looked guilty of something. “You gonna tell me, or do I have to beat it out of you?”

  “Fuck, Beast, it was nothing.” Cinder moved to the opposite end of the room.

  “What the fuck, you going to make me chase you?” I moved back to my seat and held the gavel. “Spill it.”

  “While you were in Varner, Donna came to me. Said she wanted back in. I told her no fucking way. Skittles was the queen, and that wasn’t going to change. She got pissed. Said she had a way back in. Didn’t say how, but offered me shit if I helped her off Skittles.”

  “What the fuck, Cinder? It would have been nice to know someone was trying to have me killed.”

  “I took care of it.” Cinder grabbed another beer since his was too close to me. He turned to Skittles. “If I’d told you that, you would have gone scorched Earth on that bitch, and we didn’t need that. She never asked me again.”

  “So now I gotta fucking deal with Mark’s mom. How the hell do I navigate those waters?”

  The other officers came in, feeling the intensity in the air. They took their seats, and Skittles left. Kickstand reappeared at the end of the table.

  I didn’t believe in shooting the shit when I had something important to say, so I said it. “Cutter confessed to Skittles that Rip is the one who killed Kickstand.” The room stayed silent. “I know what needs to happen, but we’ll vote on it first. Keep in mind killing a chapter’s president could bring ten kinds of hell from their other chapters. We need to prepare for war. That means I want all families here at the club. I want every Prospect and every member here to protect the club and its people.” I stood and walked around the room, watching Kickstand. “It’s going to get brutal.”

  “Let's go fuck them up,” Watcher said.

  I shook my head. “Not the way to go about it. We do it the right way. We need to separate Rip from his club. I want Rip. He knows I do. He knows it was always going to come to this. Let’s vote.” I sat and grabbed the gavel as we went around the table. Everyone agreed. I hit the table with the gavel to make it official. We were going to war.

  The door opened, and Diesel came in. “You’re not going to believe this shit, but Rip is outside with your ex-old lady. Mark’s crying, afraid Rip is going to kill her.”

  Everyone got up and started out. “Wait,” I said. I moved past everyone and went outside, where Rip had his hand around Donna’s neck. Mark stood a few feet away, crying, Skittles at his side.

  “I take it you found out this bitch, and Cutter were hooking up,” Rip said. “I didn’t approve whatever shit they had going on. As a peace offering, I’m dropping her at your doorstep, alive.”

  “Let her go,” I said, and Rip did. “Skittles, take Donna and Mark inside.”

  Donna was lucky that Mark was by her side. Otherwise, Skittles would have bitch slapped her and knocked her on her ass. I had to keep the two from each other when Mark wasn’t present.

  “You burned down one of our properties.” Although Rip stood alone, the roar of bikes coming down the street told me he wasn’t alone. I wasn’t going to have a war at the club’s doorstep.

  “You mean where you held my old lady? That's some stupid shit, Rip.” I took a few steps forward, and he took a step back. Ten bikers from his club pulled to our gates.

  “I told you, I didn’t know what was happening.” Fear washed over Rip’s face, and I took another step to keep that fear in place.

  “I know what you did, Rip. I know you killed Kickstand.”

  “You don’t know shit, Marcus. My patience is running out with the Brothers of Chaos.” His club revved their bikes, and he held up a hand for them to stop. “Don’t leave your clubhouse. You're a dead man the second you step outside these gates.”

  “Like Cutter?”

  “Cutter’s just fine.”

  “Is he now? I think once Pine Bluff Fire Department starts digging through the ashes, they’ll find a dickless Cutter beneath.” I moved within a foot of Rip, and his club pulled forward, lining up behind him.

  The Brothers of Chaos came outside, armed and ready for war—forty of us against ten of them.

  “Remember what I said, Marcus.”

  “Why’d you do it, Rip? Why kill Kickstand?”

  “He was in the way. I wanted to cut off the head of the dragon so the rest of the dragon would die.” He climbed on his bike, backing down from a fight he couldn’t win. “Watch your ass, Marcus. If Cutter really is dead, I’ll be back.”

  “I’m looking forward to it.” I walked toward Rip and the other bikers, happy for three or four to get off their bikes and come at me. But that’s not how Hell’s Messengers worked. They never came at you straight forward. They were a bunch of pussies when it came to other clubs. They liked to hide in the shadows and attack when other clubs were at a disadvantage.

  Hell’s Messengers pulled from the club, and the Prospects closed the gates.

  “He’s a little bitch,” Big Kentucky said. “They’ll be looking to pick us off one by one.”

  “Then make sure nobody leaves the club alone. I want a Prospect escort for everyone.” I patted BK on the shoulder. “It’s going to get messy.”

  Inside, I found Donna and Mark playing pool. Skittles stood at the bar drinking tequila. “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” Skittles said. “That skank of yours now says she’s not going to Cali. She’s going to hang around Pine Bluff and watch her son grow up.” She poured herself another shot. “Not sure I won’t kick her ass, Marcus. I don’t want the little cunt here at the club.”

  “She’s not hanging around the club. Can you keep an eye on Mark?”

  “Keep her away, Marcus.”

  “Mark. Skittles is going to show you around the garage. Some cool mods out there.”

  “Cool.” Mark put his cue stick on the pool table and ran over to Skittles. I waited for them to leave and then joined Donna.

  “Take your ass in church,” I said. She started to speak, but I wasn’t having any of her shit. “Keep your mouth shut and get the fuck in there.” I closed the door, and Donna opened her mouth. “Don’t.” I pinned her against the wall, and she tried to bring a knee into my crotch. I closed my legs and caught the knee before she found her target.

  “You letting that little cunt be Mark’s mother? You piece of shit.”

  Donna had always been a fighter. She’d tried to go up against me several times, and I quickly put her in her place. “Listen to me, skank. You’re never going to be an old lady in this club. You’ll never step your nasty ass back in here again. If you do, I’ll let Skittles take your saggy ass out. Do you understand me? She nodded, but I wasn’t convinced. “Did you really think the Messengers would let Mark go without hurting him? You almost got him fucking killed.”

  “You don’t deserve him,” she said, and I never wanted to slap a woman so bad in my life.

  I shoved Donna toward the door, and she hesitated to leave. “Leave. Walk your used-up ass out of this club and go to Cali. Don’t you show your face in Pine Bluff again.”

  “I’m not leaving my son, Marcus.” She put her hands on her hips as if she were challenging me.

  “If you don’t leave Pine Bluff, I will let the club decide what to do with you, and that shit won’t go your way. Get the hell out of my sight.”

  Donna left the room, and I watched her leave the clubhouse. I didn’t know if she would be back or not. Skittles wasn’t bullshitting about killing Donna. The club was her territory. She would protect it.

  “Cool shit, isn’t it?” I said to Mark when I entered the garage.

  “Can you teach me how to work in the garage?” he asked.

  Skittles shook her head at me while Mark turned his back to her.

  “Yeah, but son, you need to be in school.”

  Mark nodded to my surprise. “I know. I wanna go to school.”

  “After school, come here, and the club will teach you about modding.”

  “Mom’s not coming back, is she?” He turned to Skittles. “I know she helped those men kidnap us. She’s not a good mother.”

  Kids always seemed to know the difference between good parents and bad. I hoped I could stay on the good side.

  “She’s not, Mark. Skittles and me and the club will take good care of you.” I put my hand on his shoulder, and the touch made me feel like a father.

  “He has some things at the house he needs. His laptop is there.” Skittles grabbed her purse.

  “Stay here. I’ll get the laptop.”

  “Take help with you, Marcus.”

  “I’ll go through downtown. They won’t fuck with me out in the open.” Skittles made a pouty face. “Damn it. I’ll take Diesel.” Outside, Diesel was finishing off a beer. “You’re with me, cupcake.”

  We pulled from the club and went through downtown Pine Bluff. On Main, as we passed Lady Birds, I saw a group of Hell’s Messengers hassling someone inside. I pulled to the curb, and Diesel joined me.

  “We need to take care of that shit,” Diesel said. He turned his bike around, and I followed.

  I climbed off my bike and pulled Diesel to the side, peeking in the window. “Four of them.”

  “Then it sucks to be a Hell’s Messenger today.” Diesel opened the door, and we stepped inside.

  “Assholes,” I said, and the four assholes turned. “Go to the back,” I told the young woman. Seated customers got up and left.

  “We were just leaving,” a Messenger said.

  “Not yet.” Diesel charged forward.

  The four men went in different directions, but we managed to corral all four before they hit the door. Diesel hit the first guy so hard that he flew over the counter and smashed into a stack of plates. One of the assholes swung at me, missing wildly, and I put him next to the guy Diesel hit, leaving two assholes.

  The asshole closest to me charged forward, raising a chair above his head. He swung and missed. I let him twirl back around and take another swing. The chair smashed into a display case, ruining dozens of desserts. He came at me again, and the uppercut I shared knocked his ass out.

  Diesel grabbed the last guy by the neck and tossed him through the window replaced after our last fight at Lady Birds.

  We’d made a mess of the place, and we’d pay to fix it. The young woman came out from the back and shook her head. She then grabbed two pastries and placed them on the only standing table.

  “Beers?” she said, and we nodded.

  Diesel watched her ass as she went to the back. “She’s gotta be eighteen, right?”

  “Better ask,” I said.

  Diesel shoved the entire pastry into his mouth.

  “What are you, twelve?”

  “No. But I’m going to hit that shit before we leave.”

  “Ask her how old she is.”

  The woman returned with two beers, and Diesel put his arm around her lower back.

  “You old enough?”Diesel asked.

  The waitress took out her notepad and wrote her phone number. Women loved biker dick.

  We dragged the other three bikers outside in time for the Sheriff’s Department to show. They were in our pockets, but sometimes, we had to give them a win so the community would feel safe. The first deputy on the scene, a young man almost half my age and size, loaded us into the back of his cruiser. I’d never met him before, which meant he’d recently started the job.

  “Disorderly conduct,” he said. “I’ll have someone else take the others in if they’re still alive. Might be a murder charge involved.”

  That’s all I needed.

  By the time we got to the county jail, Tamara, the club’s attorney, stood on the front steps waiting. She was a hot little piece of ass, but everyone knew she was off-limits. Kickstand made it clear years ago that his niece had no interest in being an old lady or someone’s one-night stand. We thought maybe she was interested and Kickstand was protecting her from the life.

  “Bail’s posted,” Tamara said. “You have to go through the process, and then you can walk out.” She eyed Diesel as if he were a lollipop she wanted to suck on. “Owner refuses to press charges.”

  “You free tonight?” Diesel asked. I assumed he figured Tamara was no longer off-limits since Kickstand was gone.

  “You couldn’t handle this,” Tamara said, and Diesel and I laughed. She had no idea.

  After processing, Tamara took us back to our bikes. The Messengers were gone.

  “You’ve got feds sniffing around, Beast. I haven’t heard from them, but they’re here.” Tamara stepped in front of my bike. “Something you need to tell me? And you should vet your people in case of a rat problem.”

  “We had a load of guns go missing,” I said. “We’re trying to track them down. Everything else is above board, but you’re the second person to suggest we have a rat in the club.”

  Diesel climbed on his bike. “You know how to reach me. See you in a week.” He pulled away, leaving me behind with Tamara.

  “Is he always that arrogant?” Tamara watched Diesel until he was out of sight.

  “You should ask him in a week,” I said. Tamara moved, and I caught up with Diesel. We stopped at the next light. “Gigi, the waitress, and now Tamara. That’s too many even for you.”

  “Na, boss. The odds are in my favor. All three will be knocking down my door. Nothing like biker dick.”

  11

  Trixie

  Cutter had been a dumbass. We had Brothers right where we wanted, and he fucked it up by letting that Donna whore suck his dick. Like most men, a good dick-sucking made them weak. Donna agreed to give up the club if Cutter got rid of Skittles. I didn’t know what the stupid bitch was thinking by taking her kid along. That’s where everything went to shit.

  I stood behind the bar and served every officer and member who approached. It was hard to get a good read on who had a vulnerable side. First off, I needed to know what happened to Donna. She didn’t know who I was but had my number to call. So far, nobody mentioned her name.

  “Two beers,” Beast said and sat. He scanned the club. Only two other officers had stuck around for the evening.

  I grabbed two beers from the fridge, opened both, and placed them on the counter. “Mark is a cute kid. I think he’ll enjoy being around the club.”

  Beast looked me over suspiciously. “What do you know about raising kids?” His tone sucked. Although he knew nothing about me, he didn’t like me. Diesel came in and joined him.

  “I had a brother and sister,” I lied. However, if they ran any search, they would find I had a younger brother and older sister. They wouldn’t connect me and Kristine. “And changed a few diapers back in the day.”

  “Who brought you into the club?” Beast asked. He gave me his full attention.

  “Cinder did. We met at a farmer’s market. I was selling watermelons.”

  Diesel looked at my chest. I’d heard stories about him and the women he’d had in the past. I wasn’t interested in chiropractic care, so I avoided him. Watcher joined Beats and Diesel, and I gave him and Diesel each a beer.

  “How’s the pussy?” Watcher asked, referring to the punch Skittles’ friend had thrown.

  “In perfect operating order.”

  Watcher leaned forward and looked around Beast at Diesel. I’d made a mistake. I should have said sore, painful, and not able to fuck. Watcher moved from the stool, walked around the counter, and moved his hand around mine. For a moment, I thought it would be okay. Just Watcher and me, but then he nodded at Diesel.

  “You in, Brother?”

  “Fuck yeah. Let’s split some wood with this bitch.” Diesel finished his beer and patted Beast on the back. “Sorry, old man, you’ll have to sit this one out.”

  “Fuck you,” Beast said. “You make sure she comes out of it alive.”

  Watcher led the way down the hall, and Diesel walked behind me, filling the hall with his presence. I couldn’t explain it, but I could feel him close behind. Diesel didn’t have a private room at the club like the officers, so we entered Watcher’s room. The lights were out, and only a sliver of light from outside chased away the darkness. Diesel closed the door, and a breath caught in my throat. Things were about to go sideways, and I was scared shitless being alone with these two.

  “I don’t know,” I mumbled, not knowing how to get myself out of what I thought was a terrible situation.

  The two men removed their kuttes, glanced at one another, and parted.

  “You’re free to leave,” Watcher said. “You look shit-faced scared. Go if you can’t hack it.”