Logan: New Crusaders MC (16 page)

Clay had no choice but to comply.  He could see he wasn’t going to get any help from the Iconoclasts or the Devil Kings, and Nicole definitely wasn’t going to stand up for him. 

Nicole stayed with Cork, watching with satisfaction as the two men disappeared into the office.  She looked around as the men slowly resumed their seats, going back to cold toast and stale coffee.  Rip settled into his booth and nodded at her when she looked his way.  She wandered over to him.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Don’t mention it,
chica
.  I like the huevos rancheros you got here.”

“Free coffee for life, Rip,” Nicole said.  “I mean it.”

“I’ll accept that.”

She smiled at him for a moment, but then her expression fell as voices started to pick up, floating through the door of the office.  Nicole saw Cork go on high alert over by the counter, and Rip slid back toward the edge of his seat.

The door to the office burst open, and Chuck shoved Clay out.

“That wasn’t a request,” Chuck growled.  “You come near my daughter or my restaurant again, there won’t be a safe place for you to hide.  Got it?”

“You can’t fire me, Chuck.  Not after all I’ve done for you,” Clay replied, his expression murderous.

Chuck raised an eyebrow, then turned to address the small crowd in the diner.

“I hereby revoke the protection of this diner’s neutrality for this man.  If any of you see him here, and feel like getting a workout in, there will be no repercussions.  I’ll even pay the man who carries out the punishment.  My way of starting to make amends for my wrongs.”

A couple of the guys looked like they were ready to make good on that right away.  Cork included.

Clay saw he was outnumbered and in danger.  He turned on his heel and stalked out.  Nicole was relieved to see him go, but she was sure that wasn’t the last she’d see of him.

“Cork, have a bite,” Chuck said.  “Coffees and sodas on the house, guys!  For letting me live!” 

That was enough to make most of the assembled diners very happy.  The three Devil Kings who had been part of the mob grudgingly paid their tab and walked out, clearly not ready to forgive so quickly.  Everyone else clanked their cups and mugs, ready for refills.

Cork settled himself into a booth.  Chuck went around with the coffee pot, and Nicole helped fill sodas.  Once everyone was satisfied, they left the floor to Kelli, who had been hiding out in the kitchen.  Chuck pulled Nicole into the office and closed the door.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you about him,” he said to her.  “Please forgive me.  I had no idea how psycho that fucker was.”

“I forgive you, Dad,” Nicole said.  “For Clay.  Now apologize for breaking your promise and coming here without me.  You nearly got yourself killed!”

“I had to do it, sweetheart.  The last thing I wanted was for you to get hurt, and that could have happened.  You shouldn’t have followed me here.”

“Yes I should have.  This is my fight, too, Dad.”

He smiled at her and pulled her into a hug.  “I keep forgetting how grown up you are.  In my eyes, you’re still a little girl.”

Nicole sighed and pulled back to inspect his wounds.  It didn’t look like he’d gotten beaten too bad.  She and Cork had arrived in time.

“Clay’s not gone for good,” she said.

“Probably not,” Chuck replied.  “That’s why I want you to have this.”  He pulled a small handgun out of his pocket and pressed it into Nicole’s hand.  “No serial number.  Keep it on you at all times.”

Nicole reluctantly accepted the weapon.  She wasn’t sure she could ever use a gun on anyone, but she wanted to make her dad happy.  She made sure the safety was on, then slipped it into her purse.

“Good girl,” Chuck said.  “Come on.  Let’s get Cork fed, huh?”

“Sure.”

Nicole tried to ignore the fresh weight in her purse.  She took out her cellphone and checked it for messages, but she had none.  Sighing, she joined her dad and Cork at the table.

“You happen to know anyone who’d make a good server?” her dad asked her.  “We gotta replace Clay.”

For some reason, Nicole’s first thought was the strip club.  She somehow felt that Bells might be able to help her out finding Clay’s replacement.

“I might,” she said.  “Let me finish out Clay’s shift with Kelli, then I’ll go look into it.”

Chuck reached out and took her hand.  “Thanks, Nicky.  I’d die without you.”

“And don’t you forget it,” she said.

Kelli brought them some burgers and drinks, and Nicole realized she was starving.  It was hard to believe it had only been a couple hours since she’d eaten breakfast.  She ate with gusto, then went to the back to grab an apron and an order pad.  It felt like it had been forever since she’d hit the serving floor. 

Cork caught a ride back to the clubhouse a while later with one of the club’s contacts, who was spending his lunch break at the diner.  Chuck disappeared into the office to reacquaint himself with the business.

Nicole stayed on the floor until the lunch rush came and went, and her replacement arrived.  Very few Devil Kings came through for lunch, much to her relief.  The few Iconoclasts she saw gave her odd looks and made comments about her getting into bed with the New Crusaders.  Rip once again stepped forward to defend her.  He quieted down his fellow Iconoclasts, then reached out to take Nicole’s hand.

“Happy for you,
chica
.”

“Thanks, Rip.”

She moved to leave, but he kept his hold on her hand.  When she turned back, he pressed a crumpled napkin into her palm.  Nicole glanced at it and saw that it contained a phone number.

“Anyone gives you or your old man trouble, you call me,” he said.  “Even if it’s someone from my own club.”

“You sure, Rip?” Nicole asked.

“I’m sure.  A lot of them need a lesson in manners.”

“Okay,” Nicole said, putting the napkin into her apron.

She went to the back to program the number into her phone.  Rip was gone when she got back out to the serving floor.

He’d left her a big tip.

Nicole couldn’t believe he was a Devil King.  He was nothing like the other members of that MC.  Even though she’d saved his number, she also took a minute to memorize it.  Then she tore up the napkin and threw it away.

Tired but satisfied, Nicole hung up her apron and went to say goodbye to her dad. 

“Call me if you need a ride, okay?” she said.

“I’m probably gonna crash here tonight,” Chuck told her.  “But I’ll call you if I need you.”

“That’s all I needed to hear.”

She got into the pickup and pointed it in the direction of Sinsations, knowing Bells would be behind the bar when she got there.  Nicole was starting to suspect Bells lived at that club. 

Sure enough, when Nicole stepped into the strip club, Bells was the first to greet her.  The bartender turned to one of the guys at the end of the bar and told him to find a different seat.  Only she didn’t phrase her request very politely.  It was something like, “Fuck off.  The owner’s old lady needs a seat.”  The guy didn’t seem to mind.  He stumbled away, and Nicole took the empty stool.

“You always that nice to your customers?” Nicole asked.

“If they’re lucky,” Bells replied.  “What can I do for you?”

“I…”  Nicole couldn’t form words.

She’d only gone to the club to ask Bells about potential servers for the diner.  Instead, she felt all her pent up emotions bursting free.

“I don’t know,” she sobbed, suddenly teary.  “I’m sorry.  It’s just all so… ugh!”

“Whoa,” Bells said, slapping a shot glass on the counter and filling it to the brim with tequila.  “Spill.”

Nicole knocked back the shot and, as Bells instructed, she spilled.

She hadn’t meant this to be like some kind of therapy session, but Bells was so open and sympathetic.  She was a great listener.  Nicole told her all about the gun sale that had gone wrong, how she hadn’t heard from Logan since he’d left.  She vented her worries about her father, especially after what had happened when he returned to the diner. 

“I’m just not sure I can do this,” she concluded.  “I just got my old man out of the fire, now I’m worrying about Logan constantly.  I swear I’m gonna go gray before I’m thirty.”

Bells laughed and poured out two more shots, one for herself.

“I never saw Logan with the same girl twice, you know?” Bells said.

“I know,” Nicole grumbled.  “Even before I met him, I knew that about him.”

“You’re still with him,” Bells observed.

“I don’t know why, though.  When I think about all he’s done, his laundry list of conquests… It should be enough to keep any sensible woman away.  Instead…”

“You love him,” Bells stated plainly.

Nicole dropped her forehead into her hands and nodded, like it was a shameful admission.

“You know why I brought up his, uh… ‘laundry list of conquests’?” Bells asked.

“I’m guessing it wasn’t to make me reconsider my choice to be with him.”

“No, it wasn’t that.  It was… Logan’s way of hiding.  He was young and moving up the ranks.  His old man had kicked it, and he was scared.  Confused.  You could see it in his eyes if you really looked.  Or if he was drunk enough to admit it himself.  All the women, the risky moves he pulled on runs… it was his way of avoiding his problems.  He tried not to establish lasting connections with people so he wouldn’t lose them.”

“Here I thought that was just the MC way,” Nicole muttered.

“Maybe Logan thought that, too,” Bells said, giving Nicole a pointed look.  “Until he met you, I thought he’d stay lost forever.”

“You did?”

Bells nodded.  She held up a finger, went to refill a couple drinks, pour some new ones for the waitresses to run to tables.  Then she returned.  Nicole was studying her empty shot glass.

“We’ve all got shit,” Bells said, raising her arms in a “What can you do?” kind of gesture.  “Point is, Logan’s willing to share his baggage with you, and you’re willing to share with him.  In this life, that’s a good thing.  Maybe the best thing you could hope for.”

“You think I should stay with him?” Nicole asked.

Bells leaned over the counter and looked Nicole in the eye.  “If I told you no, that I thought he was bad for you, would you listen?  Would you leave him?”

Nicole didn’t answer, but Bells took her silence as a response.

“There you go,” Bells said.  “Now what did you really come here to talk to me about?”

Nicole didn’t know why, but she felt like she’d just lost an important fight.  Despite that, she felt good, like a weight had lifted.  She explained the Clay situation to Bells.

“Son of a bitch,” Bells said.  “If I ever see that asswipe in here, I’ll blow his balls off.”

Nicole raised an eyebrow and the bartender laughed.

“With my
shotgun
,” Bells clarified.  “I will blow his balls off with my
gun
.”

Nicole laughed with her.  “So you know anybody we can use?”