Us (14 page)

Chapter 20
– Elle

I'd gotten some great sleep last night, and I was happy to be back in the States. Not that I didn't think Mexico was the shit, but I missed home. I missed my friends. I'm sure Chris tried to call, but I wasn't even sure where my phone was. The last few weeks had been a blur, and I vaguely recall J insisting I destroy my phone. Of course, so much had happened that one event seemed to run into the next. Did he destroy my phone in Monterrey, or in Sabinas? Or did my purse eat it? That was a definite possibility.

I'd have to find out from J what all he was
comfortable with me telling Chris. Normally, we shared just about everything, but this was J's deal too. Chris had many of my secrets in her vault. Hell, the way we met is a secret we both kept locked under heavy chains. Mexico was a different story, and Chris wasn't J's BFF, so that'd be a conversation to have as soon as we could.

I was also fired up to see the clubhouse. I'd read about enough of them in books to have an idea of what I
might be walking into, but to see one up close and personal was like your favorite book coming to life. It was more than just a reader's fantasy that had me curious about the clubhouse though. I wanted to see into this aspect of J's life that he kept so closely guarded.

I put the idea out of my head that he wouldn't stop Burns. He had to stop him and get his club back. The opposite wasn't an option.

But what happened when he did?

Would he go back to the club? I knew he had doubts. Even if he never spoke of them, I could hear it in his voice when he spoke with Dig about it, or I should say, when he avoided conversations with Dig about how they'd handle both chapters once Burns was out of the way. You can't evade the master evader.

Was it me? Did he think I didn't want to be a part of the club? Was it because he'd be expected to stay at one of the chapters, either in Kansas City or St. Louis? Did he just not want to be a part of the club anymore? These were all questions that whizzed though my head as the scenery changed from that of big city OKC to the flatlands of Kansas.

I needed J to know I'
d support any decision he made. I wasn't joking when I told him it was ride or die for me and him. I'd be there with him no matter what he chose, and I hoped he realized his choice was his own. He didn't need to give up the club for me, only if that was what he wanted. And at this point, I had no ide what he wanted. The woman in me wanted to interrogate him with a million questions, but instead we were silent most of the ride. Questions could be answered later when our future wasn't based on the death of one man, a bastard MC Prez whose days were numbered.

We stopped at a gas station just outside of Kansas City to fuel up. I
soon realized it was a debriefing as well.

"Come here for a second
." J motioned me over to where he was standing pumping gas.

"What's up?"

He put his arm around me, pulling my body flush against his. "I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. We're gonna stay at the clubhouse for now. Isabel and the kid are coming with us. I gotta call my Zeta contact when I get there to handle the girl. The boy is staying with us until it's safe for him to go to his family. Can you make sure he doesn't contact anyone?"

"Of course."

"And can you have some girl talk with Isabel?"

"Girl talk?" I laughed. "What exactly is that? You know me and Chris don't talk like most girls, so you're gonna have to be a bit more detailed in what I'm telling her."

J sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. Though I slept like a damn baby the night before, I got the impression he wasn't quite as fired up as I was.

"I don't know if she means to or not, but she has a way with men." He said it so... delicately, like he wasn't sure how to say what was on his mind.

"Out with it." He didn't need to beat around the bush with me.

"Men want to fuck Isabel, and it appears Isabel likes to fuck. I can't have that right now. I can't watch her and you. Plus there's Son."

"What's up with Son?" I mentally rubbed my hands together, ready for the good gossip, and I knew there was something up with Isabel and Son.

"They sort
of had a thing when we were hiding out, before you got to Monterrey. Boy's got it bad for her. He doesn't know she came with us. I'd like to keep it that way for now. You're by my side, twenty four-seven. All I can focus on is you and Burns, so Isabel needs to keep it low pro, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah. I got you, darling. I think a bathroom trip is in order. You want anything from inside?"

"Nah." He leaned down and kissed me. Not a searing kiss that burned through my veins, but a smoldering one that left a slow heat running over every inch of my skin. Fuck, but I loved this man.

I broke away from him before I got waterfall action in my panties. As it was, all I had was the clothes on my back and my purse with the SOA knife—no Kindle. Fuck!

"Isabel, you need to go to the bathroom?" I poked my head in the driver window and saw her staring at Fernie in the front seat. Yeah, my man was right, Isabel was like a beautiful Medusa—one look and a man became rock hard. Add the sex pouring out of her eyes and you had one helluva weapon on your hands.

"OK." She tore her eyes away from Fernie and walked into the gas station with me.

"Do you want to go first?" she asked once we were outside of the bathroom door.

"Nope. We're going in together."

"I like men." I laughed at her mater-of-fact statement.

"Me too, girl, but we gotta have a chat, and here in the States girls go to the bathroom all the time together. Don't sweat it."

Isabel seemed unsure, but obliged. Once inside, I wasted no time getting to business, both ways.

"We gotta talk about you and the guys," I told her from the toilet. She was facing the door, making sure not to see me taking a piss. "You know where we're about to go?"

"Yes. To a motorcycle club."

"And do you know what that is?" I asked, zipping up my jeans and then flushing.

"I'm not stupid, and we have them in Mexico."

"You gotta go?" She turned around and I motioned to the toilet.

"No." Her arms were folded and she held a defensive posture. I didn't mean to be a bitch or insinuate she was stupid.

"Sorry. I didn't mean anything by the question. It's just that we're about to go into some heavy shit, and I want to make sure you
have all the information."

"My life is heavy shit."

She had a far away look in her eyes as she said this. I realized that as the niece of a drug cartel leader, she probably wasn't a stranger to danger. I decided to try a new tactic.

"There are going to be a lot of men where we'll be staying, and you are an extraordinarily beautiful woman. And I don't mean that in a lesbian way. Anyone with eyes can see it. Plus, here in Missouri, you're an exotic beauty. The men are going to be clawing to get at you, but for now it'd help J out a lot if you declined the boys' advance
s, and they will make advances. You know what I mean?"

She seemed to relax a bit and nodded.

"I'm really sorry, but I need to bring up Son."

"Son will be there?" Her eyes lit up.

"He'll be at the other clubhouse. We're going to the Kansas City chapter. He's in St. Louis. Son really needs his head in the game, and you and your exotic beauty will do the exact opposite to him. After all is said and done, you can do what you want with Son, but for now he's kinda off limits. Feel me?"

"I'm not a whore."

I gently put my hand on her shoulder. "I know. You're beautiful and sex is awesome. Shit, I wanna fuck J all the time, but he's got the weight of an MC on his shoulders right now, as do the rest of his club brothers. I know you're not a whore. You're too classy for that. I'm sorry if I offended you. It wasn't my intention. I just wanted to let you know all the information. There's a man out there who wants to kill MY man, and a club full of bikers about to go into battle for their lives, their families, and their club. The most we can do to help them is to keep them focused on the war that's already started, and not on us. I might look good, but your ass is fine as hell, so you're gonna have to work a little harder than me at keeping them focused. They need to be thinking with their heads, and not the one between their legs. You walk in, and all their thoughts go south. It's not you. It's them. We straight?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Elle. I appreciate you giving me all the i
nformation and your kind words."

"Anytime. Oh, and that accent of yours, it's gonna kill them, just so you know." I winked at her. Bitch almost made me want to be a lesbian. Those boys were in for it, that's for sure.

We walked out to the car to find Fernie alone.

"Where's J?"

"Bathroom." Fernie kept his eyes to the ground as he answered, no doubt avoiding the beautiful Medusa.

"Step out and talk to me for a second?"

He got out of the car and Isabel got in, both avoiding eye contact. It seemed my talk had already taken effect.

I leaned on the trunk of the Camry and motioned Fernie to join me. "Anyone know you're here?"

"Huh?"

"Does anyone know you're here? Did you tell your mom or Abuelita that you were coming back to the states?"

"No. Well. Yes."

I smacked my
palm on my forehead. The adult Fernie was forced to be in Mexico was replaced with a fucking American teenager who had the ability to annoy the shit out of me with his monosyllabic responses.

"Who did you tell?"

"We had Wi-Fi at the hotel. I messaged Genny."

"Shit."

"I told her not to tell. I know what's going on. I'm not stupid."

Well
, damn. Twice in the course of an hour I'd made someone feel stupid. Fuck. I tried again.

"Fernie, I know you're no stupid. You're one of the smartest and most annoying teens I know. That's why I love
you so much." I smiled, laying it on thick. "I know Genny won't tell, but when we get to the club, I need you to call her on a burner and express to her how important it is that she doesn't tell anyone. You can't go home just yet. It's not safe. You'll have to stay at the clubhouse for now. You cool with that?" He didn't really have a choice, but I offered it up anyway.

"Yeah. I'm cool."

"Bet. Let's get out of here. I'm ready to get back to Missouri."

J came strolling out
of the gas station, and I remembered my speech to Isabel. Would sex cloud J's head? Did I really need to keep my legs closed, too? We were together, so I wouldn't be some chick he was trying to score. He already scored, my heart and my body. He could keep scoring, right?

Fuck, he had
swagger. He might as well have been on a runway, not a gas station parking lot the way he walked. His eyes were focused on me as if I were a beacon calling him home. Fuck, those eyes were filled with sex. Or was it my eyes that were filled with sex and projecting it onto him? Fuck. I shook my head, attempting to shake out the naughty thoughts.
Just get in the car, Elle.

I had my hand on the car door when I felt J behind me.

"Penny for those dirty thoughts I see in your eyes?"

I broke out into lau
ghter. Guess it was obvious what was on my mind.

"Later." I got on my tip toes, pulled him down to me, and placed a chaste kiss on his lips, forcing myself to pull away quickly. "Let's roll."

We both got into a car filled with sexual tension and I laughed on the inside, unable to not see the humor in this whole fucked up situation. Why did sex and violence seem to go hand in hand?

Chapter 21
– J

To say I was nervous to take Elle to the clubhouse would be an understatement. KC was a little bit wilder than St. Lo
uis. They'd been an independent chapter before Burns lured them into Mayhem. They did what they wanted, when they wanted, how they wanted, and made no apologies. Not that they weren't good men, but there were more old timers in St. Louis. I wasn't sure if any of the brothers at the KC clubhouse had an old lady. It surprised me that Dig would send Son over there. Seems like just the thing to get his ass herpified.

We pulled up to the outside of the building that I'd delivered guns and drugs to many times. Unlike St. Louis where most of the brothers had day jobs and the clubhouse was just a small mechanic shop up front
, KC specialized in custom bike detailing. They did cars on occasion, but we were bikers, choppers were our specialty. Even though many of the brothers had day jobs, they all loved working at the bike shop.The business had served Burns well in his dealings. Even before Burns, KC used it as a front for whatever seedy deals they had going on, but the business itself was fully legitimate, and it brought in a good amount of money to the club. Our little mechanic shop in St. Louis was just that—a little mechanic shop. The only people who really came to us were those who were serious about their bikes, knew Ratchet, or were lawyers and CPAs who had a bike and wanted a taste of club life.

I parked the Toyota, hoping to never drive a Camry or Corrolla again, and readied myself for the boys and the introductions that would follow.

"Elle, come with me. Fernie, you and Isabel hang tight for a minute, OK?"

Poor, Fernie. I could tell the last thing he wanted was to be alone in a car with the Latina Sex Goddess, but he was going to have to suck it up and keep
his dick from exploding while I handled a few things inside. I wasn't trying to bust up in there with a gang of people.

Elle got out of the back seat and came around to my side. I put my arm around her and looked down into her golden eyes, eyes I hoped to stare into for the rest of my life.

"You ready for this?"

"With you, I'm ready for anything, dear. Let's do it."

Lincoln, AKA Link, saw me outside and met me at the front door of the shop. All the garage doors were closed as if there hadn't been much business lately.

"J. Long time no see." Link gave me a few slaps on the back.

"Abraham Lincoln. See you're still sporting the beard."

"You know, it comes and goes. This your old lady?" Link held his hand out to my woman.

"Sup?" Elle shook his hand. I could tell she had her game face on, and for some odd reason it turned me on. Maybe it wasn't only Fernie who'd have to keep his dick in check.

"Woman of few words I see."

"Oh I got words." Damn, I rearranged my dick in my pants at her statement. She was in street mode, even though she didn't need to be. I'd make sure no one fucked with her. I suppose it was second nature to her, kind of the same for me. New people, new places, new situations—all were grounds to have your guard up on the streets.

Link was about to open his mouth
, and lord only knew what might come out of it. I held my hand up for him to shut it. He was older than me, but not by much, and this was my woman he was talking to. He knew the deal. Hell, everyone knew the deal. I'm sure Son got drunk more than once with these boys and gossiped like a little bitch. Regardless, I needed Link to keep his tongue in check or he'd not only have me to deal with but Elle as well

Link was
the VP when Burns took over the KC club, and their president of a few decades, Link's dad, has chosen to get dead instead of get onboard with Burns' plan. It was the fuel that fired Link's desire to get rid of him. We knew from the start he'd be on our side, but were initially unsure of the rest of his club. According to Dig, though, they'd all gotten right on board.

Despite being an independent club for years, KC had been an
ally of MM. They were as hardcore with their legitimate business as with their illegitimate deals, and their partying. Despite this, they were good men. Good men who liked to party and get fucked up, but good men nonetheless. Mostly, this was due to Link's dad. He always put the club first, and when it came down to it, he refused to watch Burns destroy what he'd built. It was his dying wish that Link take out Burns and get his club back. It seemed he'd accomplished the latter, but we still had work to do on the former.

"Grab Cash and show
me the rooms you got for us? I want to have a chat, the four of us, before Elle brings the youngin's inside."

"Gotchya, brother. Head to the back. You know the rooms. Yours is the last one on the right. I got the two across the hall for your friends. I'll grab Cash and meet you there."

Link held out his hand for me to bump, as was his signature move. I bumped, though I chuckled inside because everyone made fun of his fist bumping. It was his thing, though, and who was I to judge? Especially considering my woman was a fan of the fist bump also.

I led Elle
past the main garage and through a door that lead to the official clubhouse. The door was usually locked during business hours, which we were technically in the midst of, but it seemed business was temporarily closed. I'd make sure to get them up and running as soon as possible. I knew the brothers here had drug money, but they needed to start earning money on the up and up. I assumed Dig had enough suits on the payroll for no one to look twice, but you never could be too careful.

"So what do you think?" I asked Elle as I led her through the back door, into the clubhouse, and down the hall to the room we'd be staying in.

"It's a lot of sensory input. It seems sanitary at least." She shrugged.

"You're on defense, aren't you?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Just to me,"
I reassured her. "It's OK. It'll take some time to get used to. When Link and Cash return, we're going to talk about Isabel and Fernie, then we'll have church. Sorry, baby, but you know you can't come to church, right?"

She laughed. "Yes, dear. If I hadn't read a million MC books, I've still seen enough episodes of Sons of Anarchy to know church is off limits to the ladies. You'll come back and fill me in, right?"

I wrapped my arm around her and brought her body to mine. There'd never be any starfishing again between us. I trusted her with my life, my heart, and the plans of my MC.

"Of course, baby."

"Well look what the cat dragged in!" Cash was Link's opposite. Whereas Link was dark, almost as dark as me, with a fro that came from his mother's side which he typically kept cut down to a fade, Cash was the classic surfer boy—blond hair, blue eyes, and this
I could give a fuck
attitude. He'd come with his dad to Kansas City when he was a teen, already having been part of the MC life in California. His dad was in the Gulf War with Link's father. They were both patched in together, but Cash's father died many years ago of cancer. Since then, Link's dad had taken him in and he'd been ready to die for his club ever since.

"Speak for yourself, brother. Cash, this is Elle. Elle, Cash."

Cash got a head nod from my woman, but didn't she say a word. Link had come up behind Cash and stared at Elle, probably trying to figure her out. Good luck with that. Well, this was going to be interesting. I got down to it rather than fucking around with whatever Cash was going to say about my old lady.

"So you know shit got deep in Mexico and we had to come back." Both men nodded. "And you know I didn't just bring my old lady? I got two kids in the car."

"Fuck, when did you start having babies?" Cash declared like I'd cut my balls off.

"Man, when did you start
smoking crack? They aren't my kids, and they really aren't kids. Fernie's like seventeen, and Isabel is a little older, I think."

"That fine ass bitch in the Camry?" Link's eyes got huge.

Fuck.

"And that's what we need to talk about. The boy is hanging around here for a minute.
I'll fill you in later, but he's proven his loyalty to Elle more than once. I'm sure he'll do the same for the club. The girl is off limits." I paused to let it sink in before I hammered it home.

"Come on, brother. You gonna bring a fine ass bitch like that around and not let us have a taste
?"

Cash, the manwhore extraordinaire.

"If you want to die by the hands of the Zetas, then by all means fuck the head honcho's niece."

And that was the nail that needed to be dug into Cash's brain, but I hit it a few more times for good measure.

"The boy is terrified of her cuz he says any man she's been with ends up dead."

Both Link and Cash were silent, unsure what to make of the information I just dropped on them.  Kansas City was big, and there were plenty of women who didn't want to get involved with a biker, but there were plenty who wanted nothing more than to fuck an MC President or Vice President. Neither man
had trouble getting laid, but they'd also never had someone as off limits as Isabel hanging around.

"Fuck, man." Cash was the one to finally spe
ak up, probably because he was most likely the one to try and hit it. Link, as the KC Prez, had a more level head, probably why he was Prez and not Cash. We'd have hundreds of MC babies if Cash were Prez.

"You wanna die, here's your chance." Elle laughed at my blunt comment, and both men looked at her like she was an alien. I'd heard Elle giggle, but it was something she only did with me, maybe Chris and Aaron. Her public laugh was deep and smooth, that of an old lady. Fuck... I'd been here less than ten minutes and was already considering her my old lady. We hadn't talked about it. I mean, she was wearing my ring, but she'd never seen club life. She had agreed to be with me, all without seeing what my life truly entailed. After what was about to go down with Burns, seeing it up close and personal, would she change her mind?

"Hey," she whispered, putting her hand on top of mine, the one clutching Gramps for dear life. "You OK?"

"Yeah, just thinking. Can you handle Fernie and Isabel while I go get church over with?"

"Course."

"I'll show you their rooms."

Even though Link was the official Prez here, St. Louis would always be the mother chapter for them. Despite the fact that no one had been officially voted in as the St. Louis Prez, though Dig was informally acting as such, I'd hold rank over all of KC from here on out. They all knew what I did, getting Burns out, managing the deal with the Zetas, and dodging bullets in one country, soon to be two. For this, Link and Cash would always default to me.

"You said the rooms for the
stowaways were across the hall?" Cash stepped out of the room first, followed by Link, Elle, and I.

"Everything is all set. They gotta share the bathroom down the hall. You two lovebirds got the master room with the fancy attached bathroom." Cash went back to his joking self.

"You got a prospect you trust?" I asked Cash.

We walked back into the main hall and Cash whistled a kid
over who looked barely older than Fernie.

"P, this is J and his woman Elle. Give them whatever they want. Got it?"

"No problem." The prospect was taller than Elle by an inch, something I know she didn't miss based on the smirk she wore. No doubt she was contemplating the suitcase full of heels that she left behind, and the fact that they would all have her towering over the prospect.

"We're about to hold church. Go with Elle to get the two kids we brought and show them to their room, OK?
Have the boys to meet us in twenty for church. Tell them not to come in until Link tells them to."

"Yep."
The prospect was all business. Good.

"And hands off any and all pussy, P. Don't fuck up." I smiled at Link acting like a true Prez, his voice stern and not holding an ounce of humor. His dad would be proud. 

I turned to Elle. "You good?"

She leaned into me and pulled my ear to her lips. My dick twitched. "You got a burner? Fernie fucking called his woman
at the hotel and told her he was coming back. He needs to call her again and make sure she keeps her mouth shut."

"Why the fuck would he tell her? And when did he have time to call her?" Did he not get the situation at hand? Why was he telling anyone?

"He told her for the same reason you do anything for me. He loves her. She'll keep her mouth shut. Of that I have no doubts, but he needs to remind her. And Facebook, dear. Maybe I'll introduce you to it when we're normal again." She winked at me as I placed the burner from my pocket into her hand.

"Just make sure this doesn't blow back on us, OK?" The last thing I needed was for some teenage lovers to fuck shit up.

"I got this. Go handle business and I'll handle those two." She nodded towards the tarmac where the Camry, that I wanted to turn into scrap metal, sat. 

I kissed her, but not long enough. It would never be enough, though I wasn't about to share passionate kisses with my girl in front of Link and Cash. I watched her walk out with the prospect and hoped she could accept this life—and me.