Taking a Dare - A Hellion MC Novel (32 page)

Rodriguez shrugged his thin shoulders while his eyes
remained on Trey's. "I didn't say that your dislike was unprovoked.
But it was extreme in light of my former actions."

Dare had to bite his tongue in order not to call
'Bullshit' on the man. What the Ghosts had started more than
justified the Hellion retaliation they'd received. Had, in fact,
caused the club to either disband or flee and had Rodriguez
high-tailing it back to San Diego.

Or so they had thought.

"So holding the 94 hostage is your way of getting
back at the Hellions for something the Ghosts started?" Brand
asked, his deep voice holding a deep note of
you've-got-to-be-shitting-me.

"Oh no, Mr. Jovanovic. Killing both of your chapter's
presidents will be solely for my satisfaction." The scarred man
paused and his eyes roamed the Hellion side of the table as men
locked themselves down in order not to react to the obvious threat
that was given. Even the Czar side of the table were reacting.

But Rodriguez continued in spite of the sound of
cocked weapons. "To remove the man that disrupted my business will
be a joy even if he showed that I had aligned myself with a weak,
unskilled club. Restricting the freeway is just a…" the scarred man
with the maniacal gleam in his eyes flapped a hand as he seemed to
search for a word. "Bonus. Especially now that I am leading the
Czars, who you have to agree is a group to be reckoned with."

'Oh shit!'
Dare's mind warned but he wasn't
going to be provoked into taking his eye off the former Ghost
president who wielded his gun as if it was a fairy wand or some
shit.

Trey stiffly sat down again and Dare saw that
Rodriguez's weirdly gleaming eyes had moved to Gus. "And your
actions, Mr. Daniels, from years ago have convinced me of Hellion
cowardice. You too, must die."

All the men surrounding the table, whether Czar or
Hellion, looked to one another having no clue to what the scarred
man meant. But once the words, 'Hellion cowardice' had left the
crazy dude's mouth, Dare knew all hell was willing and gonna break
loose.

"Leading?" Ham repeated as he twisted to look up at
his new second in command. "You aren't leading the Czars, I am! I
brought you in on the recommendation of…"

The retort of the Beretta was loud and echoed in the
mostly silent room. Almost as loud as the squeaking of chairs as
the other Czar's eyes shot to where Ham laid slumped over the
table, a pool of blood seeping out from underneath him.

"What the fuck?" one of the other Czars yelled and
made a move towards Rodriguez. As the Czar turned his revolver
towards the other man, Rodriguez took a step back—right into
Pagan's Glock that was pointed at the back of his head. Dare hadn't
even seen his brother move to take a new position behind the old
Ghost chief.

"Drop the gun, you motherfucking murderer," Pagan
ground out. Two Czar's had also pulled out their weapons and had
them trained on the thin man. Seeing the other club's members in
place, Pagan barked out, "cuffs," and there was a flurry of
activity from almost everyone in the room.

But the thin man never wavered as he pointed the gun
at Gus. "You're first, Mr. Daniels."

Dare didn't even think twice before he jumped.
Leaping the two and a half feet to knock Gus and chair over in a
clamor of wood chair to wood floor. There was a similar noise to
his left, in the direction of where Leif had stood next to him.
Right behind Trey.

There were two sharp retorts that blasted overhead
and, as they did, Dare's eyes met Gus's.

To eyes that held equal measures of confusion and
fury.

*.*.*.*.*

The hours were agonizing as we waited to hear from
our men, none of us knowing what was going on. Only knowing that it
was bad, bad enough that it had to remain a secret.

I wasn't the only one that paced the forecourt as we
all kept our cell-phones in hand awaiting a call or a text message
and as the hours piled up, so did our tension.

"I fucking hate this waiting shit," Carly ground out
as our paths crossed in our strides around the property. "Goddamn
fucking
hate
it!"

I shot out my hand in a high-five pose as our bodies
came close and the resounding sting of her palm on mine helped to
calm me. I wasn't alone but had other women around who had as big a
stake in whatever it was our men were doing.

And were equally not willing to simply be a fucking
cheerleader in their play.

Whatever the fuck that goddamn play might've
been.

Chapter Thirty

With his blood still singing with the rush of
adrenaline, Dare held out a hand to Gus in order to help the other
man to his feet. As he did so, he saw the confusion had left and
now the Spokane president was just fuckin' furious.

Gus slapped at Dare's proffered hand. "Get your
fucking paws off me, punk!" While Dare did as instructed, he
watched as the older man struggled to his feet, using a nearby
chair to help him stand.

Dare's gaze slid to where Pagan and two Czar's were
holding the former Chaos president. One of the men wrenched the
skinny man's arms behind his back but the man being held didn't
stop talking. "Why did you not shoot me? I gave you ample
opportunity to do so and yet you didn't. Or is it simply another
example of Hellion cowardice in the face of a true biker?"

"Ain't doin' time for a fucked up motherfucker like
you," Pagan answered and Dare heard the snick of the handcuffs
being closed. At the noise, the entire group in the room seemed to
heave a collective sigh. Dare saw a couple of Czar's standing over
Ham's body as if to guard the remains of their former president.
Now that the situation was over, no one appeared willing to take
the next step.

Except Bishop.

The burly, long haired biker made his way around
tables, kicking at the chairs in his way as he went straight to
where Rodriguez was standing. Dare watched as his Hellion brother
stood directly in front of the other man.

Then in a blur of motion, he saw Bish's open palm
slap against the scarred cheek, the retort of his move loud in the
room.

"That's for the Hellion cowardice remark." Dare
watched as Bishop brought his hand back up again, made a fist and
cold-cocked the fucker on his jaw. "And that's for putting our
presidents in danger, dig?" There were murmurs of approval
throughout the milling crowd and Dare saw a number of grins on
biker faces.

Rodriguez shook his head as if to clear it and it was
evident that he was only upright because Pagan held him in that
position. As Bishop turned away, a Czar stepped up and copied his
movement of bitch slap then a punch which landed on Rodriguez's
nose from the amount of blood pouring out.

Soon, there was almost a line of men awaiting their
turn to slap then pound on the other man.

Dare went to where Bishop was standing next to Silo.
"What the fuck was that?"

Bishop's eyes moved to Dare's and he saw they were
filled with contained humor. "Just thought the mo' fo' needed
another bitch slap since the first one didn't, you know, like take
or some shit." Their eyes went back to where Rodriguez was slumped
against Pagan, head sagging and knees shaking. "Seems I'm a fuckin'
trend-setter since everybody else is following my lead."

Christ!

Bitch slapped?

In front of the very men you were trying to
intimidate?

Dare couldn't help his chuckle. Bish had it fuckin'
going
on
!

He saw Trey was being helped up by Leif as the other
brothers milled around to ensure all was chilly before finally
taking themselves outside.

Dare glanced at where Gus was standing, pissed as
hell at how the man had behaved at Dare's attempt to save him from
a bullet. Something the young Hellion hadn't even thought twice
before doing. But Gus's attitude afterward, the anger so evidently
displayed and the lack of gratitude for saving his old hairy ass
made Dare fucking furious!

It was almost like the fucker would've rather have
been killed than to have had Dare's help!

Dare angrily stomped towards the doors. As soon as he
was clear and out onto the fuckin' porch, he heard Gus's voice
behind him.

"You'll never have her, you know," the man bellowed.
Only four feet separated them so in Dare's mind, the fuckin' bellow
was overkill.

Fuck!

He'd had just saved the goddamn mouthy fucker's life
from a whacked-out sicko and yet the man's whole focus was about
him and Ryley.

"I'll never approve of her with you! Never!" came the
call from behind him causing his shoulders to tense and his
footfalls to stutter on the uneven asphalt. "I'll see you in
hell
before you get my girl."

Dare stopped in his tracks, his head dropping to his
boots as he considered how to respond. But Dare, being the man he
was, only thought it through for a moment before he just fuckin'
responded.

He turned his shoulders and eyed the red-faced, so
clearly pissed off man behind him. "Yeah? And what the fuck does
she
have to say about that?"

Gus growled and Dare saw the other man's hands were
fisted tightly as if to take on the world. Dare twisted until he
was fully facing the older man, facing the rage that was so evident
on Gus's flushed face.

"I fuckin'
love
her, man! Have loved her for
ten long fuckin' years!" Dare's voice was loud and harsh in the
breeze that kicked up the dust of the parking lot. "I know…fuck,
everybody
knows you hate me and don't want me and Ryley
together! But get a clue, dude. " Dare swallowed thickly before he
spoke again. "Gus, man. She's my
everything
. My fuckin'
world
. And we're gonna be together. Like it or not."

"Then she'll no longer be a part of my club or
family," the other man announced with a hard lift of his chin.
"I'll say she's not my daughter."

"What? You'd disown Ryley because of him?" Leif's
voice sounded incredulous as he stepped quickly to where his father
stood.

"You have
got
to be fucking kidding me," Brand
rumbled, planting his hands on his hips and shooting Gus a venomous
glare.

"Gus, to give up your daughter just because…" Trey
started on a let's-be-reasonable tone.

"But Ryley is a fucking
princess
!" Blaze
exclaimed, his head turning to look at his brothers as if to ask
for an explanation of what was going down.

"Fucking shit, man" came one call but Dare couldn't
tell who'd uttered it.

"What a dick," was the next.

"He'd give up his girl because she'd hooked up with
another
Hellion
?" someone else asked.

"They fucking share a history, see? A history Gus
don't like so much," Rio called back.

Dare allowed the brother's comments in but let them
slide away. As far as he was concerned, it was just him and Ryley's
father in that dusty, lone parking lot. "This is how you want it,
old man? Want to divide the Hellions because Ryley and I love each
other?"

At Gus's nod, Dare calmly slid the Hellion vest off
his shoulders and threw it hard at the other man where it was
caught with an audible 'oof'. "Then take it. Take my club, take my
family. Because Ryley,
my
Ryley, is my fuckin'
life
."

Without a glance at anyone, Dare stormed to his
machine and fired it up.

Then valiantly left the silent parking lot with only
a plume of dirt rising up in the air to mark his leaving.

Trey immediately stalked to Gus and grabbed the vest
from his hands. As the older president made to snatch it back, Leif
insinuated himself between the two men. "No, Pops!"

"Dare is not the one dividing Hellions, Gus," Brand
stated firmly, coming to stand next to Trey and pointing a finger
at the older man. "
You
are."

"But he's trying…" Gus blustered.

"He ain't
trying
shit," Silo intoned next to
Brand. "Our boy is fucking
doing
!"

Gus stared at the large, bald Missoulan Hellion
scowling deeply. "What the fuck does that mean, for god's
sake?"

"It means, Pop," Leif explained with sadness and
regret in every word. "You fucked up. You can't tell them 'no' and
expect Ryley and Dare to bow down to your control. Anymore than you
can tell me that Ryley's no longer my sister." He sighed deeply
when Gus made no response. "That's not how real life works."

"The punk gave me his cut. Willingly handed it over,"
Gus averred fiercely as his eyes swung over the men who were coming
closer in order to hear better. "You all saw it!"

"I only saw a brother take off his vest," Bishop
drawled, adding his two cents to the conversation. "Big fuckin'
diff between removing an item of clothing and turning in a sacred
patch, dig?"

There was a chorus of 'exactlys' and 'hell yeahs'
coming from the mixed group of Hellions which now surrounded Gus
and Trey.

Huff came running up to the cluster of men and pushed
his way up to where Trey stood. "The Czars said they'd hold
Rodriguez and deal with the cops, which I'm taking as our cue to
get gone."

Trey's glance raked over Gus in derision as he turned
away. "Asses on bikes, Hellions. We ride."

Gus, though, continued to stand alone in the parking
lot long after the last motorcycle had left, wondering how
everything had gotten so motherfucking out of whack.

*.*.*.*.*

My man had arrived in the forecourt, a flurry of deep
revs which had preceded his deeply yelled roar of, 'Ryley!' when
I'd found him waiting outside the clubhouse door. A big bad-ass
biker that was waiting for me to climb up on his bike behind him
without delay or question.

But I'd been already been warned of what his attitude
might be, prepared by the flurry of phone calls and text messages
made by the brothers to the Honeys and together, me and my girls
had pieced together what had gone down between my man and my
pops.