Broken Memphis (11 page)

Ford and I order our food then sit across from each other so we can share snide glances and kick each other under the table.

I've just dipped into my hash browns when Sharpie sits down next to me. Normally the fucker keeps his distance since slapping him around is one of my hobbies.

"You know that job you wanted me to look into at your place?" Sharpie asks me.

"No."

"The one in the backyard for the kid staying there."

"Did you dream this, Sharpie? I know you fantasize about me a lot, so I wouldn't be surprised."

Ford kicks me under the table, and I glare at him. He only stares with his dark blue eyes until I get the message. Grunting, I glance at a nervous Sharpie.

"I'm not overpaying just because you're a club bro, so don't pull any shit with me."

"Do you always have to be an asshole?"

"I do what comes natural."

Sharpie rolls his eyes. "I'll give you an estimate. If you don't like the numbers, you can fuck off."

"Fine. Talk to me about it after I eat."

The rest of breakfast is Big Dick babbling about a few dealers giving the club trouble. His big plan is having Zombie deal with them. Ford gives me a look that means nothing to the others, but I know he smells a con. Zombie isn't a guy sent to do dirty work alone. He makes a fucking mess even when he has a grownup looking over his shoulder. Fuck, I've even been nervous around Zombie.

What Zombie lacks in sanity, he makes up for in loyalty to Uncle Trigger. These days, apparently loyalty to a bad plan matters more than protecting the club.

I don't add anything to the discussion. My mind returns to killing Taz's lackey and Bebe's expression when she saw him dead. Reminiscing our every moment in bed, I miss the part where breakfast is over.

Ford waits for me to shove my final sausage links into my mouth. I hold his gaze and chew widely, so he can enjoy the view. His steely expression never falters. I finally swallow and grin at him. He shares my smile as we stand.

"Sharpie, we have shit to do today, so come over now and give us the estimate," Ford says.

The jackass to my right nods. He also shoots me a nasty look. I can barely contain my need to punch him in the face.

Outside, Trigger is laughing his ass off. He still looks sickly after his heart attack months earlier. Despite his health issues, the man is living the dream. All he needs to do is kill off his vice president and a few of Joker's loyal guys.
Yeah, everything is fucking peachy for Trigger.

18

Pax

Switching Sides

Lula hears me enter the house and squeals in excitement. Too bad I can't get that kind of welcome wherever I go. She's waiting for me at the top of the stairs. Picking her up, I'm overwhelmed with guilt when she hugs me. The kid relies on me too much already.

Bebe is in the kitchen, washing dishes and ignoring my arrival.
What's a man got to do to get her to squeal? Oh, I can think of a few things.

"You bored of me already?" I ask, holding Lula while finding a Coke in the fridge.

The expression on Bebe's face puts me in the awkward position of getting hard with a damn kid in my arms. Bebe smiles and takes her daughter.

"When are we leaving to get the tree?" she asks.

Grinning at the way Lula squeaks with excitement, I pop the can open. "I got a guy coming over to talk with me and Ford. We're playing some game I don't know the rules to. Once he leaves, we'll take the truck and get our tree. Think you can wait that long, Lula?"

Nodding, she looks ready to burst out of her skin. I can't remember being that excited about things when I was little. Of course, I don't remember a whole lot from when I was little, besides Ford always being around and how much I loved hot dogs. Otherwise, good riddance to my childhood.

Lula slides on her shoes and lets Bebe fix her hair. Sitting on the couch, I watch my girls and think about being a family man. I can do this shit. If an idiot like Sharpie can have a wife and kids, I can nail the father and husband role.

Bebe glances at me, and I see lust in her eyes. She nibbles at her bottom lip then lifts a brow as if to fuck with me. I glare at her for making me hard, but my irritation only makes her smile. She needs me to want her. Since we met, I noticed how she tried to disappear when men were around. Sex wasn't something she craved. Oh, how things have changed.

I laugh at the idea of her as a sex-craved manic. Lula laughs too because she's bouncing off the walls. Nearby, Folgers trots downstairs, and I know Ford is here.

"Are you getting the boys a tree today?" I ask my brother as we wait outside for Sharpie.

"Yeah. Bebe told Shay, so now Shay wants to get a tree this very minute. I swear she's as excited as the boys."

"Wanna go together?"

Ford kicks at the rock garden near the steps. "Sure, but I'll need you to hold my hand and hug me and shit."

"I promise."

Ford grins. "Joker called and said he thinks Sharpie might be setting us up. Then he called back and said Madden told him Sharpie was gonna ask for our help."

"Pretty boy always knows shit."

"And rarely shares any of it."

Frowning, I whisper, "You think he'll take out his dad?"

"No, but I've been wrong before."

My plan is to point out the many times he's been wrong. We hear an approaching Harley, so I keep my mouth shut.

Sharpie is a big guy, and most people fear him. A few houses over, our elderly neighbor hurries inside at the sight of the biker. Ford and I might seem safe after all these years, but the club terrifies the locals.

As we sit in the carport, Sharpie pretends to be interested in engines. I don't want to listen to him bullshit us. Not when Lula is in the house waiting for her first real Christmas tree and Bebe is waiting to reward me later for making her baby happy. Sharpie's problems don't mean crap to me.

"Zombie is stalking my little sister," he blurts out.

Ford nods. "Yeah, he'll do that."

"She goes to the community college and has a job. She's trying to do right, and now that fucker is stalking her."

"You talked to him?"

"Yeah, but he just nods and says the sky is blue or the wind smells like mint. I talked to Trigger too, but he says Zombie don't mean any harm."

Crossing my arms, I mutter, "So why are you telling us, if the boss says to let it drop?"

Sharpie looks me in the eye. "Trigger is planning to kill Joker."

Ford and I glance at each other then back at him.

"Did he tell you that?"

"He told the club that. Not you guys or Lucky or the people Joker brought in. Trigger's been having secret meetings."

"You know telling us this shit could get you killed, right?"

Sharpie's stupid face twists into a panicked frown. "Trigger's gonna let my sister be raped and killed. We'll find her in a ditch somewhere, and he'll pretend he doesn't know who did it. That leaves me with two choices. I kill Zombie myself and wait for Trigger to kill me. Or I come to you and swear allegiance to Joker. He knows it's bad to have fuckers like Zombie running loose."

"Where's your sister now?"

"I had her move into my house. Once she finishes the semester in a few weeks, I'm sending her out of town to stay with relatives."

Ford scratches at his dark beard "We can't make promises. I mean, you're coming here and making accusations against our president. It's not like Joker is going to just gonna take your word."

"What might help," I say, understanding where Ford is headed, "is you keeping your eyes and ears open. Play cool about your sister, so they don't get suspicious. We'll talk to Joker and see what he says."

"Zombie is a freak. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, we know, but it's not like we can go kill him without approval from Trigger. Now if Joker were president, things would be different. Of course, if we kill Trigger, his guys will kill us, and we'll have a war. Your sister won't do well in that scenario either. For now, be cool while we'll figure things out."

Sharpie doesn't want to wait. He wants Zombie dead this very second and to hell with the bloodshed that follows. I don't blame him for being on edge. If Zombie was after Bebe or Shay, I'd want him dead immediately. I wouldn't be able to sit around and wait either.

Life refuses to give a shit about our wants though. No doubt Joker won't care much either when the target is on his back. Thinking long term, our VP is making more moves than we know. He's also juggling playing nice with Trigger while trusting the not-too-trustworthy Madden.

This is why I'm an enforcer. I kill who needs killing and leave the details to other guys.

19

Bebe

Best Brother Wins

Pax has club business on the mind, but he still manages to be excited about buying a tree. Ford apparently suffers from the same work brain as he arrives with Shay, Donnie, and Devin. After giving his brother a smartass hello, Pax carries Lula around the lot and dismisses those trees beneath his standards.

Shay and I walk behind the men and kids.

Nudging me, she smirks. "You look crazy horny."

"F U C K you. I hide my horny well."

"He is pretty cute with Lula."

My heart clenches at her words because Pax is damn perfect with Lula. All those months fantasizing about this sexy bastard, I thought about sex and more sex. I knew Pax would be fun, and I need fun. What I never expected was he'd be so tender.

"I think I could love him," I confess.

Shay doesn't laugh. Not after she fell for Ford "Crushes People with a Bat" Reed.

"I think he already loves you."

"Why?" I ask, thinking she's messing with me.

"Ford said Pax had a crush on you since the first night at dinner. He says that's why his brother acted like a turd that night. Usually Pax's pretty smooth with girls, but he was a huge asshole to you."

"Yeah, I remember."

"Months ago, Ford said Pax would lose interest as soon as the fantasy was over. Then he said it again when we got back from the trip and you'd moved in. I told him today he'd been wrong, and he just shrugged. That's Ford's version of admitting he fucked up. Pax isn't hot for a fantasy, yet he's still hot for you. That could be love for a guy like him, right?"

"Why are you asking me?"

Shay shrugs. "He'd be a good dad. I don't know how he'd do in the husband department since he's never had to be faithful before. He's good with my brothers, and you see how he is with Folgers. Ford told me how years ago he broke his foot. Pax took care of him, so much that Ford gained ten pounds from being a lazy bum. When the Reed boys love, they love something fierce. I hope Pax can do that with you. Can you imagine double dating and having play dates and other couple stuff?"

Shay links our arms as we catch up to the men, who've narrowed the choices to two trees. Ford and Pax struggle to decide which brother is hotter. The winner gets the better tree.

Lula looks at me over Pax's shoulder, and her expression nearly sends me into tears. My baby feels like a princess in his arms. The tree means little compared to how this man treats her. I know how she feels.

"How about Shay and I arm-wrestle for the best tree?" I ask.

The Reed boys study us then glance at each other. Their smirks indicate they're fans of the idea. After Pax tries to talk us into a mud-wrestling match, Shay and I sit at a picnic table and clasp hands.

"I work out a lot," she says, already laughing before she finishes lying. "Don't feel bad if you lose to my buff self."

"Eat S H I T and bow to my F U C K I N G awesome biceps. Wait, those muscles the guys show off are biceps, right?"

Shay just shrugs. We notice Ford telling Donny not to announce what words I spelled.

"Ready, ladies?" Pax asks.

Once we nod, he says go. Being a maid apparently gives me superior muscles than a former stripper turned hotel front clerk turned stay-at-home fiancée. Yeah, I whoop Shay good.

Pax leans over and whispers something to Ford. Whatever he says causes his big brother to want to shove him. I've seen this routine before, but Pax is holding Lula. Ford grunts before slapping his brother upside the head.

"He hates to lose," Pax tells me with fake sympathy. "So we get the best tree in the lot. As it should be."

After I high-five Lula, she rests her head on Pax's shoulder. A moment passes where I know I'm in love with this man. The fear of losing him makes me want to puke. Not noticing my tension, Pax grins.

"I'm gonna reward you for that win, baby."

My stomachache disappears as all the heat in my body flows to between my legs. Pax's grin widens. He knows exactly what his rough voice does to me.

The guys at the lot take the trees and prep them. Lula covers her ears when the chainsaw roars but is in a state of bliss otherwise. She barely even reacts when Pax hands her to me when he and Ford meet with Joker.

Shay and I remain with the kids, but our minds are with the men. We know something is wrong in the club, and I sense the brothers are on the outs. More than once, I've thought to ask Shay what is happening. The possible answer scares me, so I keep my mouth shut. She probably doesn't know anyway. Club guys don't tell club secrets.

20

Pax

Seeing Only You

Lula and Folgers sit in front of the tree, staring at the flashing lights. I've seen too many horror movies not to be creeped out by their behavior. My brain focuses on them being weird until Bebe joins me on the couch and rests her head against my arm.

Sliding up my tee's sleeve, Bebe kisses the pinup girl on my arm. I feel her teeth nip at the flesh, and every part of my body goes soft except between my legs. Now I'm rock hard, and we have a kid ten feet away.

"You made her so happy," Bebe whispers. "She thinks you're amazing."

"What about you? Are you still a fan of mine?"

Bebe gives me a sly grin. "If it was just me when we met and I didn't have a little girl to worry about, I would've thrown myself at you that first night."