Taking a Dare - A Hellion MC Novel (31 page)

I shook my head even as I scrolled through family
memories for a clue as to what Dee meant. My parents had always had
a tumultuous relationship. Lots of loud words, hateful words
sometimes, but both Leif and I had known that our parents loved
each other and us in spite of the almost daily bickering. But there
was that one week…

"Gus wasn't even on the council then but as one of
the brothers, he was supposed to ride out against the BKC's in the
war that had erupted over turf," Dee muttered, her eyes holding
mine and bringing me back to the there and then. "He told Maggie
and allegedly she went off. Citing he was a father and had more of
a responsibility to his family than he did to a club embroiled in
some kind of a whacked-ass turf war."

"You can't do this, Gus!" I saw one of my mom's hands
shoot out from her hips as she got up in my dad's face. "You have a
fucking family: Rye and Lee and me. What happens to us if you get
your ass shot off, huh?"

"Fucking shut it, Mags!" My dad was loud, louder than
I could ever remember him being. "You and the kids mean everything
to me, but I'm a fucking Hellion and do what I'm told!"

"Maggie convinced him that his responsibility was at
home and not out on his ride," Dee told, her voice going deeper and
turning sad. "So Gus kept his ass at home with his family when he
was supposed to be out with his team."

Ohshitohshitohshitohshit,
my mind chanted even
as my stomach clenched.

"The three Hellions hit a group of five BKC's and
shit went down. We lost two Hellions permanently. One that didn't
die but that never rode again," Dee finished and I could see the
sorrow in the heaviness of her gaze. One of those Hellions had
meant something to her, something at a heart-level.

"Word went out," she went on, but her gaze had left
mine and dropped to the island. "No Honeys were to know nothing
beforehand." She sucked in a breath that had a hitch to it. "So we
couldn't interfere or remind them of…"

"Jay-sus," one of the girls from one of the corners
murmured and as if on cue, all of us went to the dark-haired,
older-than-us woman who had her teeth sunk into her bottom lip. I
was at Dee's back, my arms around her waist as I angled my mouth to
her ear. "I'm sorry, honey," I whispered. "I was just a little
girl. I didn't know."

She nodded and over her shoulder, I saw a splash
occur on the countertop next to her hand.

"Ain't never seen Dee cry before," one of the girls,
I think it was tiny Lily, murmured. "Not even when Big Duke
passed."

"Who was he, honey?" I asked, keeping my voice soft
and on the edges of a whisper.

I felt her body flinch and almost heard her swallow
before she answered.

"My brother, Chip."

I pressed my cheek into the back of her head and
tightened my arms. Yeah, I got it. If a Hellion was supposed to be
a part of a team, he didn't show and Leif bit it? All because the
brother's woman talked to him of priorities? Oh fuck. No!

"I'm so sorry, Dee," I repeated but at my words, she
pushed back against me, disentangling herself from my hug and gave
a wet sounding sniff.

"Don't have time for this shit," she sniffed,
bringing both ring fingers up to wipe underneath her eyes which
came away with black smears. I released my arms fully, allowing her
to have her play. "Our spaghetti dinner won't make itself you
know!"

She was covering, working the false bravado card and
all of us in the sunshine that lit kitchen knew it. But there was
good in that knowing and in the support I knew each one of my
sisters were silently sending to Dee.

Just then, I understood. Understood why Dallas, who
was so new to the Hellions and the Honeys, had given the reins over
to Dee. Dee was Dallas's mentor. The one who had the know-how and
was teaching her precisely how to be a Honey. How to lead and how
to act.

I was finally seeing how the torch of responsibility,
of leadership and of caring for the Hellion brotherhood was passed
among their women.

Chapter Twenty Nine

The bar was small, tiny in Dare's opinion, but with a
massive parking lot that had signs directing motorcycles to the
left of the building and auto/trucks to the other. If he were to
guess, he'd say that way back when, the structure had been a family
home and with the amount of available acreage that surrounded it,
was of the farmer variety. Even if there was a stand of trees that
bordered the biker lot. Something a lot of folks planted in order
to break the fierce wind that tended to blow across the
flatlands.

After the Hellions had parked, each brother filing in
and then walking his ride into a space, rear-wheel first, the five
that were to hit the building did a small huddle before breaking
away.

Only Trey looked back at the others and did a chin
lift giving a signal Dare knew meant to get into position.

"You ready, bro?" Dare asked, shooting a glance at
Leif, knowing the other man was completely unaware that at some
point in the near future they would be much more than members in
the same club. They would be brothers.

"Absolutely," Leif shot back and performed the same
maneuver in adjusting his leathers back up as Ryley used. "Who's
got our ears?"

"Pagan," Dare replied as he walked the uneven
asphalt, his boots making small clouds in the residual dirt that
had accumulated. He wanted the position straight in front of the
large red door that Trey and the others were just walking into. If
shit was gonna go down, he wanted point.

"Milk's new man? Shit," Leif mumbled. "Wanted some of
that before she decided to settle on just one brother." His clear
blue eyes slid to Dare. "Like 'em quiet until you light 'em up
yourself, dig?"

"Gotcha," Dare said, pushing the thought of any and
all pussy out of his head. But Ryley, the thoughts of her at least,
wouldn't budge and just sat on the periphery of the playground of
his mind.

Motherfucker!

He had it bad for that girl.

So bad, his mouth didn't waste any time in informing
Leif of what was doing. "Asked your sister to marry me."

Leif's tread went out of cadence before resuming.
"Yeah?"

"Yeah," but Dare's voice was only a shadow of its
normal self and he couldn't look at Leif at all in case the
reaction wasn't good.

"It'll be over our pop's goddamn body," Leif growled
as the two men stepped across the dusty parking lot. "You are aware
that you're hated by the Daniels?"

Dare let a little of his smile, his happiness, out as
he glanced at the other man. "Think I can fuckin' hang with that
hatred, bro' since not
all
of the Daniels seem to be of the
same fuckin' mindset."

He heard a snort from Leif as the other man held out
his left arm in order to maintain a straight line as he moved to
the right of Dare. "Ryley hasn't been right in the head since…"

Dare felt his eyebrows raise, wondering how Leif was
gonna complete his fuckin' sentence even as he watched the man pace
off fifteen yards. When his soon to be brother-in-law held his
silence, Dare completed it for him. "Me. She hasn't been right
since we left each other." He eyed the door and his position before
turning his face back to his Hellion brother. "And just to let you
fuckin' know? Neither have I."

Leif stopped dead in his tracks and stared at Dare.
"You're shitting me."

"Wouldn't lie about that, amigo. The stakes are too
fuckin' high to lie when it comes to Ryley," Dare affirmed and
watched Leif's eyes narrow as he took in what Dare had said.

"You fucking hurt her again and you're dealing with
me, motherfucker," Leif growled, his whole body attesting to the
truth of his words.

Dare stared back but made sure Ryley's brother could
clearly see the verity of his feelings. "Would expect no less,
Leif. Real and true."

They shared stares before Dare saw Leif's chin dip on
a nod before taking stance that would allow him to pull his weapon
from where it was tucked into his lower back at a moment's
notice.

Dare planted his own feet and softened his knees as
his hands went to his hips in the exact position Ryley's brother
had assumed. He looked to his left and saw Si and Blaze situating
themselves. On the other side of Leif, Pagan and Lo' Ball were
waiting.

He caught Pagan's sudden movement and turned to look
at the other man who'd straightened from his at-ready crouch,
holding a finger to his ear. "They want Leif, Dare, Silo, me and
Blaze on the inside."

What the fuck? Why the change in plans?

Dare turned and waved to Chucky, silently asking him
to take his position. With the other man's military experience and
calm under pressure attitude, Chucky was the perfect choice to hold
point on the front door. After assuring that the other men summoned
had replacements, he joined them and entered the building getting a
nostril full of stale beer and even staler sweat in the musty air
of the interior. Their group paused just inside the door in order
to allow their eyes to adjust to the dim light.

It was just as Dare had imagined, with a long length
of battered bar-top on the left, the worn barstools standing as
sentries before it. Letting his eyes roam, he saw the right hand
side of the space was littered with scarred wooden tables and
chairs pushed closely together. Seeing how there was a four foot
space around the only occupied slab, he determined that a little
re-arranging of the seating had taken place beforehand.

There were already four men seated which was then
being encircled by Trey, Gus, Bishop, Rio and Brand. And as Dare
looked further, he saw another five men standing in the shadows
more than a few feet back from the table.

So that's why they called us in
, Dare
realized.
But why are there only four Czars sitting?

The Hellions pulled up chairs and sat down across
from the four Czars.

"Thought you said five," Trey said without
preamble.

Ham Banks, or the man Dare assumed to be the Czar
president, stared unblinking at Trey for a couple of seconds before
answering. "He's coming. Just had something he had to do first.
Since you asked for this fucking meeting, Jackson, you open."

"Need unrestricted 94 access." Trey started the
negotiations, stating exactly what he and the Hellions wanted
straight up.

Ham glanced at his men before turning back to the
Hellion president. "Why?"

Trey didn't answer but Dare saw the broad shoulders
minutely shift under his cut. "That's privileged info but the fact
of the fucking matter is: no club can or should call a freeway as
their turf. The Hellions have no designs on your goddamn streets
but are taking objection to having a public highway off-limits
without permission."

"The Czars do," Ham stated flatly. "We control who we
want going through our towns."

"Understand Czar control for the towns of Belgrade,
Butte and Livingston," Trey began with a chin lift. "And the
Hellions respect it. But absolutely fucking do not agree with Czar
command of 94."

Ham remained silent and Dare saw the other man's chin
jut. "And I say that restrictions are needed to prevent anyone from
getting ideas about a take-over."

Bishop gave out a small laugh, drawing the attention
of all the men in the room. "We ain't interested in those towns,
Ham," Bishop said with a snicker. "If the Hellions had wanted them,
we would've had a presence there long ago."

The Czar president's face more than showed that he
didn't believe Bishop's words.

"Hellion Construction has even stopped taking bids in
those areas, which is a bigger loss to the towns than to our
business," Bishop continued. "So you don't have to worry that the
Hellions want to sneak in to your acreage. It's just a fucking
fly-by, man. Not looking to even stop in your portion of it."

"Your men did it before. Stopped in Livingston," Ham
sputtered. "Didn't even try to get permission first."

"But we didn't know the Czars had claimed it," Trey
shot back. "As soon as we were informed of what was doing, we gave
respect and left." Dare saw Trey's head move and guessed he was
looking around the table. "We'll give deference to the Czars for
the towns but the shit with holding the freeway as Czar territory
won't work."

Gus threw in his two-cents for the first time. "The
Hellions have shown respect for Czar turf but seems to me the Czars
fucking didn't when they entered Missoula. Need to come to an
agreement on how this is to work between our clubs."

"And make no mistake, we would like it to work and
not keep cock-blocking each other. But right of access through your
town is what is needed and what the Hellions expect," Trey went
on.

From his position, Dare saw a shadow shift in the
deeper gloom of the furthest wall. As the shade moved closer to the
light, he saw its outline become clearer until it was a tall, thin
man with an acne-scarred face.

"As usual, Mr. Jackson is attempting to push his own
agenda onto others," the cultured voice of a new addition to the
Czar side of the table said. "And what will happen this time if the
Hellions do not get their way? More childish bullying before you
bring in law enforcement?"

"Rodriguez!" Trey exclaimed as he stood quickly. Dare
soon found why Trey was on his feet when the dim lights caught on
the Beretta held in the other man's grip. Dare saw he wasn't the
only Hellion reaching for his piece at the sight.

"Meet the Czar's newest vice-president," Ham offered
with a cheesy, shit-eating smile. "I believe you boys know one
another."

"Indeed we do," Rodriguez affirmed with a head nod.
"Mr. Jackson and his group took a disliking to my last club, making
it impossible to do business in Missoula."

"After you killed one of my recruits, interfered with
my business and kidnapped my girl," Trey reminded.