Breaking The Biker (The Biker Series) - An MC Gold Vipers Motorcycle Club Biker Romance Novel (2 page)

I heard the Judge’s motorcycle pull up to the house and grabbed the bottle of Jack from the counter. There were some things I wanted to discuss with him about the Devil’s Rangers, and knew it might be my only chance to talk to him face-to-face for a while. When I stepped outside and noticed that he had his arms around Jessica, I decided to wait. They obviously wanted some privacy and I wasn’t thinking clearly anyway. In fact, I was pretty fucking hammered.

Waving at them, I lit a cigarette and sat down on the porch, still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that my old man was really dead and that some stupid bitch, with ties to the Devil’s Rangers, had taken him out. That shit was eating me up inside, especially not knowing who the chick was or where in the hell she was hiding out. All I could think about was finding this girl and avenging Slammer’s death. But, Raptor was urging me not to take matters into my own hands and to wait until we had all the facts. He’d also convinced me to put it on the table, for a club vote.

“
This has to be done right,” he’d said, after the funeral. “No more secrets from the rest of the club. Look at what happened with Slammer. We don’t exactly know why this girl murdered him in cold blood anyway.”

“It doesn’t matter. She did it and needs to pay.”

“But don’t you want to know why?”

“I know why. Rumor has it that she’s mixed up with the Devil’s Rangers. It was more retaliation.”

“I don’t know. This doesn’t feel right. They don’t normally send a chick to do a hit. They wouldn’t trust her to get the job done.”

It didn’t exactly sound right to me either, but the fact was, my old man was gone and the shooter was going to pay. I didn’t care what kind of affiliation she had to the Devil’s Rangers or any other club. I needed to punish someone for my old man’s death and it was going to be the bitch responsible.

Sighing, I took another drag of my smoke and watched as the Judge drove off and Jessica walked up the steps toward me.

“Hey,” she said, smiling sadly.

“Hey.”

“Are you okay?”

I nodded.

“If you want to talk…”

“I’m okay,” I replied, looking away. Jessica had her own problems to deal with. I wasn’t about to stress her out any more than she already was. “I just need some time to myself.”

“I understand.” She squeezed my shoulder. “Goodnight, Tank.”

“Goodnight.”

She walked into the house and I finished my cigarette. After tossing the butt into an empty coffee can, I grabbed my cell phone and called Cheeks, one of the club whores. It was getting late, but I was too hopped up on coke to sleep and needed something to take my mind off of shit.

“What’s up, Prez?” she asked, sounding pleasantly surprised.

“Hopefully my cock in about thirty minutes or less.”

She laughed. “Are you sure you weren’t trying to call for a pizza?”

“No, but now that you mention it… can you pick one up on the way over?”

“Seriously?”

I chuckled. “No. Just get your skinny little ass over here. I could use some TLC, darlin’.”

“I can do that. Where are you?”

“I’m at Frannie’s. Come to think about it, why don’t you pick me up and we’ll go back to my place? I don’t think partying here is a good idea.”

“Is that what we’re going to do? Party?”

“Yeah, just you and me, Doll. You up for it?”

“Anything for you, Tank. I’ll swing by in twenty minutes.”

“I’ll be waiting,” I said and then hung up.

I took another swig from the bottle of Jack and then went into the kitchen, where I wrote a note to Frannie, letting her know where I was headed. Afterward, I went outside and waited for Cheeks. When she picked me up, I lit another cigarette to cover the heavy stench of her perfume. It was some kind of flowery scent that I couldn’t stand, but didn’t have the heart to tell her.

“You still smoking?” she asked, opening up her window.

“Yeah. You smoke, don’t you?”

“I quit last January. It was my New Year’s Resolution.”

“Good for you,” I replied, meaning it. I’d never tried to quit but knew it was a struggle.

“I’m just surprised you still smoke. You obviously work out hard,” she replied, nodding toward my arms.

I smiled wickedly. “Darlin’, if you haven’t noticed, I do everything hard.”

She laughed. “Yeah.”

I took another drag of my smoke. “Truth is, I don’t smoke
that
much. Just when I’ve been drinking.” I chuckled. “Course, I’m always drinking.”

“That’s funny, but seriously, you should start taking better care of yourself, Tank.”

I sighed. Cheeks was in her thirties and pretty hot for an older broad, but I wasn’t about to let her, or anyone else, nag me about my health. I lifted weights and usually spent an hour a day on cardio. At least I had before Slammer’s death. The last two weeks, I’d been slacking.  “I didn’t call you over to give me a lecture.”

“I’m just trying to look out for you,” she said, reaching over to squeeze my knee. “I care, you know?”

“You just need to care about this right now,” I said, grabbing her hand and putting it on my crotch. “That’s all I need you to worry about, darlin’.”

“Looks like someone’s missed me.” She squeezed my cock. “How do you manage to pack it all in there?”

“It isn’t easy. In fact, I need to let him out. So that he can stretch and play.”

She chuckled.

I pointed toward a vacant gas station up the road. “Why don’t you pull behind there?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to wait until we get back to your place? I still have to pick up that pizza I ordered, by the way.”

“Forget the pizza. I need your mouth right now.”

She grinned. “Your wish is my command. I haven’t had me any Tank for a long time.”

“Then drive.”

Two minutes later, she was giving me head.

I grabbed the back of her head as she bobbed up and down on my knob. “Fuck. Glad it was just cigarettes you gave up, darlin’. Cause that mouth….” I sucked in my breath. “Was made for sucking.”

She smiled up at me, her eyes watery.

My cell phone suddenly went off, startling both of us. “Who the hell is calling me at this fucking hour?” I growled.

Cheeks wiped the side of her mouth. “Could be important?”

“It’d better be.” I grabbed my phone and was surprised to find that Bastard, the President of the Mother Charter, was calling me after midnight. I cleared my throat and answered the phone.

“Hey, kid,” he said. “Sorry to bother you at this hour. Hope you weren’t in the middle of something?”

“No problem at all,” I replied, slapping Cheek’s hand away from my dick as she began playing with it. “Bastard.”

Cheeks gave me a surprised look.

“The reason I’m calling you is that I’ve found out a little more information on who it was that killed your old man.”

I sat up straighter. “Who is it?”

“Now, hold up, son. Before I give you the information, I want to remind you that we don’t go killing women. That’s not who we are.”

I sighed.

“You hear me? If I give you this, I want you to give me your word that you won’t kill this girl if you find her.”

“What am I supposed to do with her, then?” I asked, trying to remain calm. My original plan was to take both her and the guy who ordered the hit out.

“You find out who sent her to do the killing and deal with him.”

“She should be dealt with, too. She’s the one who put the bullet through his head.”

“We don’t kill women. Besides, my source says that she’s been through some family shit and death would probably only be a relief to her.”

“Because of her, I’ve got my own family shit, now.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry for Slammer but I’m telling you, the woman is off limits. You can do what you have to, in order to get names, but do not kill her.”

I stared out the window frustrated. 

“Hey, you there?”

‘Yeah.”

“You understand? Don’t kill her.”

I wasn’t about to argue with him about it on the phone. I knew that it was a club rule, but so much shit had changed over the last twenty years that they were getting harder to follow.

“I know you’re pissed, but don’t you forget – you’re the president of your charter and need to make sure that you
and
your club abide by the rules we’ve set. That includes not murdering women or children.”

“I know.”

“And another thing,” he said, raising his voice. “You need to pull your shit together if you want to stay as active president. I know you’re mourning Slammer. I get that. But, you need to quit with the cocaine and any other illegal drugs your taking, son. I’ve heard talk that this isn’t exactly recreational for you right now.”

I wondered who’d been talking to him. I couldn’t imagine Raptor or Horse ratting me out. “I’ll take care of it,” I replied, knowing that it was the only acceptable answer. Bastard wasn’t anyone to argue with, and as much as I would have loved to tell him to ‘fuck off”, I knew that I had to keep my shit in check. Not only was he the most respected member of the Gold Vipers, but my old man had drilled it into my head that when Bastard told you to jump, you leaped.

“Good. Now, the van that picked up the girl, right after the shooting, is owned by a guy named Cole Johnson. He’s a prospect for the Devil’s Rangers.”

“So, it
was
retaliation.”

“Looks that way, doesn’t it? I’m still not sure who the girl is, though. I’m sure if you can get your hands on Cole, you’ll find out all you need.”

“You got an address for him?”

“No. His club is in Davenport, though. That’s what my informant told me. Their clubhouse is located in a warehouse, somewhere downtown. Anyway, I’m sure their president ordered your old man’s hit. Probably passed down by that fuck-head, Reaper, before The Judge took him out.”

“Probably. Who’s in charge of the Davenport charter?” I asked.

“The President is a guy named Schmitty. The V.P. is some douchebag named Ronnie.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“Bring this to the table tomorrow and tell me how you guys want to handle it.”

“Will do.”

“And Tank, I meant what I said. Don’t be spilling some girl’s blood over this. Everything is pointing to retaliation by the Devil’s Rangers, and you know goddamn well that someone higher up made the call. Those are the ones you concentrate on.”

“I understand.”

“Good. Now, get some sleep and let me know what your club decides to do, so I’m prepared for any fallout.”

“Will do.”

We hung up and Cheeks put her hand back on my knee. “Everything okay?”

“It will be. Do me a favor, darlin’? Drop me off at home and we’ll do this another night.”

She looked surprised. “Let me get this straight,
you
don’t want to have sex?”

“Sorry, Cheeks. I just have a lot of shit to think about.”

Like how I was going to punish the girl who murdered Slammer without Bastard finding out. Someone probably ordered the hit, but I needed the person who had looked him in the eye and pulled trigger to pay as well. Women wanted to be treated like men?

Right now, I was all for equality.

I might not blow the bitch’s brains out, but she wasn’t getting away without paying some kind of penance.

I woke up to the sound of my cell phone ringing and groaned when I saw what time it was. One-forty-five p.m. My shift at the bar had started at one.

“I know,” I mumbled into the phone. “I’m on my way.”

“You’d better be,” said Marie, one of the other bartenders. “I have an appointment at two-thirty that I can’t miss.”

“Sorry. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“You’d better,” she said sharply.

Fuck you
, I thought, hanging up the phone.

From experience, I knew that Marie’s afternoon appointments usually involved a tanning shop or a nail salon. Everything about the girl was fake, except for her personality. She was a bitch and didn’t try to pretend otherwise. Not with other women at least. When it came to men, that was an entirely different story. She flirted so badly that it was embarrassing to watch. Especially since she was married. The truth was, I’d lost count of the many times she’d given some guy a ride home, claiming he was too drunk to do it himself. Apparently, none of them were too inebriated to drive her. I’d found out her dirty little secret one night after closing. Her windows had been steamed up and the car rocking. Although I’d never given her shit about it, she’d seen me walk by. That didn’t stop her from being a
twat toward me. I wasn’t even sure why she disliked me so much.

Sighing, I dragged myself out of bed, wondering why I even bothered anymore. Life seemed so agonizingly pointless, now that Billy was gone. Sleeping was hard and waking up was even harder. To try and get my mind off of things, I’d been putting in extra hours at Sal’s, the bar my uncle owned. It was summer and it seemed we were always busy, which helped. But at night, when I was alone in my apartment, my heart broke every time I saw Billy’s ashes in my living room. I’d had him cremated after Mark’s brother, Phillip, had suggested it. It was strange knowing that all that remained of my baby was what was in that pewter urn. But, it was also somewhat comforting, knowing that part of him was close by.

My cell phone went off again, and this time, I noticed it was Sal.

“I’m on my way,” I said quickly.

“Relax and take your time. She’s scheduled until three anyway.”

So, he knew Marie had balled me out
. I grunted. “Really?”

“Yes. I see you’re scheduled at one.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I overslept,” I admitted.

“I’m willing to let it slide. You’ve been putting in a lot of overtime. Just get here before Happy Hour at four.”

“Thanks, Uncle Sal.”

“Anything for you, kid.”

Sal was our mother’s older brother and had been looking out for me and Cole ever since she’d died of a heart attack six years ago, when I was eighteen. He was single and lived alone. We were close, but not close enough for me to tell him about Slammer.

“How’s your brother been?” he asked. “I haven’t seen him around lately.”

“Okay, I guess. He doesn’t say much about himself. He’s been too busy worrying about me.”

“Sounds like him. Always was a quiet kid.”

I didn’t mention that Cole was worried about the fact that I’d committed murder. He was also afraid that Slammer’s successor, some hothead Neanderthal, would find out who I was. Apparently, he was his son and the word out on the streets was that he’d turn over mountains to find his father’s killer. I almost wished him success so that he could put me out of the misery that was now my life.

“He’s still a prospect?” he asked.

“Yes.” I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea but when I’d tried talking him out of it a few months back, he wouldn’t listen. He’d argued that they were like a brotherhood and once you were patched, they’d have your back for life. In other words – they’d own him for life. Body and soul.

As much as I’d tried to convince him that he was setting himself up for a short-lived future, my brother claimed that being around the club made him feel alive, which right now, I almost envied. But, I didn’t trust any motorcycle club that touted they were one-percenters. Even I knew that meant they took the law into their own hands and more than likely had their hands in a lot of illegal shit. Of course, after killing Slammer, I wasn’t about to start pointing any fingers. I could only hope that Cole would pull his head out of his ass sooner than later, and come to his senses. I was definitely worried about my twenty-three-year-old brother, I just didn’t have the energy to keep badgering him about it. I had my own issues to deal with.

“Wish one of us could talk some sense into him. He’s going to get himself killed.”

“Don’t say that,” I said softly. As much as I agreed, I couldn’t handle the thought of another death in the family.

“I know you don’t want to hear it, Raina, but those guys are poison.”

“Yeah, I know and I’ve razzed him about it myself. Cole is stubborn, though. He won’t listen to reason.”

“Believe me, I know.”

“If it’s any consolation, he told me that he’d walk away if they made him do anything he didn’t feel comfortable with.”

Sal laughed humorlessly. “Sounds like a crock of shit to me. It wouldn’t be that simple. You can’t just walk away from a club like that. Especially if they believe that Cole knows too much.”

“In which he probably already does.”

“He’s only a prospect, so he might not know much of the illegal shit they’re involved with
yet
. If you ask me, he should get out right now, before they patch him.”

I sighed. “I know. Maybe I’ll try and talk to him again.”

“You should. I know you love him with all of your heart, Raina. You don’t want to lose him.”

No, I didn’t. Besides, Sal, he was all I had left
. “Cole said he’s going to try and stop in tonight. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Here? At the bar?”

“Yes,” I replied. “Good thing Marie is getting off. I’d have to punch her in the face if she started hitting on him again.”

“She’d better watch herself,” said Sal. “Marie’s going to go home with the wrong man one of these days. I keep telling her she should get a divorce.”

“You can’t talk sense into a woman who thinks she’s smarter than everyone else.”

“I know. So Cole’s coming down, huh?”

“I think so. He’s out of town, I guess. But he plans on getting back early this evening.”

“I hope he doesn’t bring any of those pricks from the club. They’re always trying to start things with my regulars.”

“No. He wouldn’t,” I replied. Cole knew how Sal felt about the Devil’s Rangers.

“Okay, then. I guess I’d better let you go so you can get your butt down here. Sorry I kept you.”

Leave it to Sal for apologizing, when I was the one who’d overslept. “Obviously, it’s not a problem I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“I know you will.”

Knowing that Marie was in a hurry, I took my time in the shower, and for the first time in weeks, applied some makeup to cover up the dark circles under my tired eyes. Noticing they were also bloodshot, I grabbed the bottle of eye-drops and took care of the problem before adding mascara to my lashes. When I was finished getting ready for work, I was a little startled at my reflection. My cheeks were gaunt, and my dark hair looked dull and lifeless. Plus, I was drowning in my clothes. My voluptuous size twelve body was twenty pounds thinner; the weight I’d been prior to my pregnancy and one I’d struggled to get back to. But now, I couldn’t care less about my figure. I’d gain it all back and then some just to hold my son one more time.