“Did you send a text to Leia?” asks Raven.
I nod. “She got a birthday puppy,” I say, pulling out my phone and showing her the photo Leia sent me last night. “From a mob boss,” I add, and Raven’s eyebrows rise.
“She with him?”
I shrug. “I doubt it. Riggs wouldn’t allow it. But he’s giving her thoughtful gifts, so maybe he’ll worm his way in there.”
“I don’t know why you just don’t go back there. March on into that club and tell them Leia is yours and you’re gonna keep her forever.” She smirks and I roll my eyes. If only it was that simple.
The party is out of hand. I can see that, so I sure as hell don’t know why Cobra can’t. There’s wall to wall pussy and bikers getting their fill like one massive orgy. There’s drugs laying around. If the police raided this place right now, they’d make their bonuses because I ain’t ever seen this much white powder at a club party before. How the fuck are they making any money?
“Raven,” yells Cobra. “Get over here.” Raven gives me a wary look then dutifully goes to where Cobra is seated on a throne-like chair overlooking the room. I don’t hear what he says to her, but she kisses a brunette who is kneeling by his side as Cobra strokes Raven’s hair like she’s his pet. I shudder.
“Hey, brother,” says Kaine, fist bumping me. “You know anything about the afterparty?” I shake my head. “Shit, you gotta come. It’s a night to remember.”
“Yeah?” I ask.
“It’s in the basement at one a.m.,” he says with a wink and then he wanders away. I check my watch. It’s half past midnight already.
Raven’s putting on a show for Cobra, but I can tell by the way her fist clenches that she’s hating every minute. The brunette has her face buried between Raven’s legs. She’s not a lesbian or in the least bit bisexual, and she’s told me before how she hates doing this sort of thing. Cobra bites Raven’s breast and she cries out. He leaves an indent and I take a few deep breaths to calm myself. I hate this shit.
My phone vibrates and I see Leia’s name flash up, but I cancel the call. I don’t need to hear her voice when I feel like this cos I’ll climb on my bike and head straight back to her.
At one, Cobra shouts me over. “Tonight, you’re gonna prove your loyalty to me,” he says. It pisses me off. I helped create this charter and he’s treating me like I’m a fuckin’ prospect. “Come with me.”
I follow him to the basement where there’s at least eight other members. The two prospects are sitting in the middle of the room. “It’s their final initiation,” Cobra tells me. I take a seat to Cobra’s left. “Bring her in,” he orders and one of the men goes to a door at the back of the basement and unlocks it. A frightened looking woman falls into the room. She’s naked and dirty, like she’s been dragged around and dumped here. Her eyes dart around at the men all smirking in her direction.
“What the fuck’s going on?” I ask.
“This bitch stole from us. While one of our brothers slept, she took his wallet and stash. Over ten grand worth of coke,” explains Cobra. “Now, she’ll pay.”
“Why did he have that much stuff on him?” I ask.
“That don’t matter,” growls Cobra. “We do shit different round here. Now you’re here, you need to learn our ways.”
One of the prospects has the woman by her arms. She’s fighting, kicking out and trying to bite him. “This is fucked up,” I growl, standing. Cobra also stands. “Let her go,” I demand.
Cobra roars with laughter. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Kings Reapers don’t condone rape. This . . . ” I point to the woman who is now pinned to the floor by the other prospect. “Is not happening. I’ll kill both of them and then you,” I snarl.
“You need to forget about fuckin’ Riggs and his bullshit nice manners. We’re bikers, not pussies. Now, my boys are gonna hold that bitch down and you’re gonna fuck her until she remembers not to fuck with my club.”
I laugh and then swing my fist into his face hard. He stumbles back and lands on Iron’s lap. Bikers come at me from all directions and I do my best to fight my way against each and every one of them. I throw punch after punch and eventually reach for my knife, sticking it in anyone within reach. I back out of the room, grabbing the hand of the woman as I go. The other men stand back warily, some injured, others poised, ready to attack if I make another move toward them. I get out of the room and pull the iron door closed, sliding the lock across and falling back against the wall, panting.
“You’re bleeding,” cries the woman, holding her hand up to show me blood. I glance down to my side and see blood soaking my shirt.
“It don’t matter. We gotta get out of here before they alert everyone else,” I say. “There’re
members still partying upstairs.”
I’m sure everyone is too preoccupied with fucking and drugs to notice me, but I pick the woman up and wrap her legs around my waist just in case. “I’m gonna kiss you as we make our way through the room,” I whisper. “They need to think we’re sneaking off to fuck. But I promise that you’re safe with me. I won’t hurt you and I won’t let them hurt you anymore.”
She nods her head and some of the worry in her eyes, eases. We kiss and she grinds against me as I carry her through the room. She’s not the only naked woman in here, so apart from being dirty, she fits in. I break outside. There’re still a few brothers hanging around out here smoking and Raven, who glances up and frowns at me.
I head to my bike and Raven follows. “What the hell’s going on?” she hisses.
“I’m outta here. You coming?” I ask.
“Who’s this?” she asks, glancing at the naked woman.
“She needs a lift outta here too. Get on the back of the bike to hide her so I don’t get pulled by the cops.” Raven nods and gets on the bike without hesitation.
Chapter Nine
Leia
I have ten missed calls from Riggs. I hit ‘call back’ and press the phone to my ear. “Leia, why didn’t you answer your phone?” he yells.
“I’m at work,” I snap. “My boss doesn’t understand that I have a psycho brother who runs a biker club.”
“Have you heard from Chains?” he growls.
“No,” I say, my interest suddenly peeked. “Why?”
“Something went down at the weekend in Manchester. I’ve just got off the phone with Cobra and he’s looking for Chains. Says he injured a lot of his men for no reason.”
“That doesn’t sound like Chains,” I mutter, more to myself than for Riggs.
“Well, it wasn’t like him to decide to claim a woman he hardly knows and drive off to join another charter without speaking to me, but guess things change.” Riggs is still bitter that Chains left like he did, but I can’t exactly explain the reason why, so I bigged up his love for Dolly even though it killed me inside. “I tried to call and he didn’t answer. Can you try?”