Angels is doing well. It’s noted the press conference today probably hadn’t done any harm seeing as the location was mentioned in many news stories, and may prompt people to visit who haven’t been there before. The tattoo parlour is doing a great trade, the auto-shop making good money as well, and Shooter and Bullet have more business than they can handle in the construction trade.

  “How’s it working out with Zane?” Wraith enquires, referencing Drummer’s son who recently joined SD Construction.

  “Great having him on board.” Shooter grins. “His degree is coming in handy. We don’t have to outsource the surveying work anymore.”

  Though he tries to hide it, I see Drummer glow with pride. Both his sons have done well, his other, Hawk, being our VP.

  “When you going to be able to get around to fixing up the track?” Joker asks, as is his right as road captain. “It’s fuckin’ with all our shocks.”

  “Soon,” Bullet promises, casting a sideways glance at Shooter.

  “That’s what you always say.” Heart rolls his eyes.

  Lady opens his mouth clearly to back up his partner, but Wizard gets in fast. The state of the track is a regular bone of contention, but no sooner is it repaired, the summer monsoons and the heat of the sun soon do their job of breaking it back up.

  “Okay, moving on.” Prez looks at his sergeant-at-arms. “What’s the latest about the vultures hanging out by our door?”

  “All gone,” Hound notes, looking pleased. “None returned after the show at Angels.”

  “Could be they’re busy writing their stories and will just come back for more.” Hawk frowns.

  “What more can they want?” I contribute a question and answer it. “They’ve got everything they could have wanted. You can only run a story for so long, surely?”

  Mouse raises his chin at me. “That’s my view. There doesn’t seem to be any angle they haven’t already explored and exhausted. Old news doesn’t sell. Unless something else comes to light, and I’ll be fucked if there’s anything they’re missing, I think they’ve everything they could hope for now.”

  “So, Virginia doesn’t need our protection any longer.” Throttle, our enforcer, leans forward and raises an eyebrow at me.

  “She’s back on the compound,” Hawk observes.

  “She staying?” Cast asks.

  “Huh, Marvel’s got himself involved with a bitch and that I never expected to see.” Blade spins that fucking knife of his and accurately the blade stops, pointing at me. “They seemed pretty damn close just now.”

  Wizard puts his elbows on the table and rests his chin on his hands. “You and she went through some shit during the bank raid, Marvel. Clearly formed a connection.” He raises his shoulders and lowers them. “Never thought I’d be asking you this, but you going to claim her?”

  Claim her? How could I? Even if I was ready to take a woman of my own, would she want me? Sure, we’re getting close, but since the bank raid, we’ve been living in our own little bubble. Once we see each other’s lives, it will be obvious how incompatible we are. “No, I’m not.” I refute that notion fast, the denial sliding glibly off my tongue.

  “Never? Or just not now?” Rock asks, astutely.

  My lips thin. “I like her. She’s been through some shit in her life. But as for anything more, we’re both too old and set in our ways to be anything other than friends.”

  Hound breathes out a sigh. “Glad to hear it, Brother. Now we’ve got those motherfuckers off her back, she should go home and get on with her life.” He raises his chin to me. “And let you get on with yours. If she’s still worried, we can do some drive-bys and she can call on us if she has any more problems with the press. But I don’t see why she should stay here, taking up your bed.”

  “He wants her in his bed.” Blade smirks, picking up his knife and pointing it at me.

  I go to open my mouth, but I’m unable to deny Blade’s got a point. It’s the length of time I’d want her in it that’s an issue.

  “I’m okay with her staying for a while.” I’d brought her back here and hadn’t considered she’d be leaving so soon. I kind of like the idea of her being in my suite—or at least until I can assure myself that she’s okay.

  Drummer snorts. “So, you want her to stay, but you don’t want to make her your old lady? What do you fuckin’ want, Marvel?” His eyes roll. “’She’s a nice lady who’s probably not down for a quick roll in the hay.”

  “He’s never wanted an ol’ lady,” Hawk states firmly. “He’s given us enough flack when we wanted to hitch up with ours. ‘Bitches can’t be trusted’, isn’t that what you always say?”

  “Maybe he’s asking for time.” Heart rests his chin on his hands as he studies me. “Maybe Virginia is the one who can tame him.”

  Joker narrow his eyes. “I don’t believe in just two days he’s found one who’s made him change his mind.”

  Staring at me, Rock shakes his head. “We’ve known you for over two decades, Brother. Can’t see how you’re going to change now. You’ve never fuckin’ wanted a woman in your life. It’s not fair to lead her on if you can’t offer her something.”

  Shooter nods at Rock. “He gave me hell when I hooked up with my Charlotte.”

  That’s right, I had. I can’t deny it. Shooter had immediately had the hots for a friend who’d come with a hangaround. Despite my warnings he knew nothing about her, he’d gotten together with her pretty fast. That they’re still together after all this time shows he, not I, was right.

  “And you fell for her quickly,” I defend myself.

  “Not in forty-eight fuckin’ hours,” Shooter exclaims.

  Prez sits back and folds his arms. “I can’t fuckin’ work out whether you’re saying you want to claim her or not.”

  How can I tell him I don’t know? How do I put into words the betrayal from my past which influences my current actions? I promised her I’d tell them. Grimacing, I look down at my hands. The words to tell them what a fool I was stick in my throat. Without that, there’s no way to explain my hesitation now.

  Not when I don’t understand myself.

  “Why are you all giving me shit?” I cry out. “What the fuck does it matter whether I make her my old lady or not? Can’t you fuckers just let her be?”

  “We give you fuckin’ shit as payback for all the years you’ve been an ass about our choices,” Truck points out.

  Yeah, I don’t think I was very graceful when Truck settled for a club girl. Truth is, it’s hard to remember Allie as anything other than his old lady now.

  “The press are fuckin’ gone, Marvel,” Prez starts, his eyes zeroing in on me. “There’s no reason for her to be on the compound. It wasn’t the deal she was moving in to live. You want that, you claim her. If you’re not ready, and I’d agree that it would be fast, then let her go home and take it from there. Doesn’t mean you can’t keep something going with her.”

  “Sounds fair, Marvel,” Drummer states, backing the prez up.

  “What have you assholes got against her?” I yell out, bashing my fist on the table.

  “We’ve got nothing against her.” Sitting forward, Wizard pierces me with his eyes. “She’s a fuckin’ brave woman, and I, for one, like her. But she’s a civilian, a fuckin’ college professor, not someone who can adapt to our way of life. She’s like a fish out of fuckin’ water. The compound’s not the place for her.”

  “You don’t know that!” I scream at them.

  “Marvel, calm the fuck down,” Prez snarls. He waits for me to shut my mouth. “I’m not saying you can’t pursue anything with her. Fuckin’ date her if you want. If you want to claim her, then you can bring her back to the compound.”

  Hawk glances to his prez, then back to me. “Or claim her now.”

  I can’t fuckin’ claim her. Claimed a woman once and look where it got me.

  My mouth opens and shuts.

  I want her in my room. Want her in my bed.

  “Shit or get off the pot, Marvel.” Blade calls out, getting a roar of laughter going around.

  If they fucking knew, they’d understand why I can’t stand up and claim a bitch. And I’m certainly not going to tell them now.

  “Fuck this.” For the first time ever since I’ve worn the Satan’s Devils patch, I stand so fast my chair topples over, then I turn my back on them and walk out of church.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Virginia…

  While the men have been having their meeting, Tash and I stayed talking, gradually being joined by some of the other women. Knowing I was the magnet pulling them my way, I started to feel intimidated as they all descended.

  But after I deflected a couple of comments about the news conference today, they quickly picked up that I didn’t want to dwell on it and smoothly moved on to other topics. One being the strange circumstance under which I’d met Marvel.

  I’d thought that was bizarre enough, but as it turns out, none of the women had met their men in normal ways. Or what I would think was the accepted norm—the meeting of eyes across a crowded room, and the process of dating. Instead, hearing how they’d hooked up has been quite entertaining.

  “So, that’s how I met Blade.” Tash sits back and grins after I’d sat with a slack jaw, listening to her story.

  “You were foraging for food in the dumpster behind the Wheel Inn? The restaurant you manage now?” I ask for clarification as it seems unbelievable.

  “Sure was,” Tash agrees with a chuckle.

  “And Blade chased her away.” Sam who’s probably heard this story many times butts in with a laugh.

  Tash grimaces. “He did. And if it hadn’t been for Tommy thinking he was a ‘good man’,” she uses air quotes, “and going back for him when I got hurt, I most probably wouldn’t be here today.”

  “Tommy only thought Blade was a good man as he let him have some mouldy food as I recall.” Sophie rolls her eyes.

  “Where is Tommy?” Sandy looks around. “I haven’t seen him today.”

  “Or yesterday either,” Sam interjects.

  Tash’s face falls. “He’s not doing so good. He’s got oxygen to help him breathe. Hopefully he’ll be able to shake this chest infection off. He’s staying with us for a few days.”

  “Who’s Tommy?” I ask, as the other women look a combination of worried and sad.

  Sophie enlightens me with a chuckle. “He’s the longest serving prospect with the Satan’s Devils MC. He was living rough, and he taught Tash the ropes when she was on the streets.”

  “How long do they have to prospect for?” Tash and Blade have grown children, and I didn’t think anyone would have to prospect for so long. No wonder Razza mentioned he’d do anything to become a member yesterday.

  Sam snorts. “No one as long as Tommy. Most prospect for around twelve months. But Tommy’s an exception. For him it’s been, what, twenty-five years?” She glances at Tash who lifts and lowers her chin in confirmation. “Mentally he’s still a child, but he’s got a great heart. You should have seen his face when he was given his cut.”

  Everyone offers fond smiles, then Tash’s eyes cloud over. “He’s getting older now and the years are catching up with him fast. I owe him my life.” She gets out her phone. “Here, that’s him.”

  Glancing down at the picture she’s showing me, I see an older man with a long grey beard, sitting on a mobility scooter that’s shaped like a motorbike. He’s got a leather cut on, and in one of the pictures, I see on the back it reads, Prospect.

  “He parks his ‘bike’ outside with the rest of the motorcycles.”

  At Sophie’s explanation, I realise these rough bikers that society rebuffs have hearts of gold. It seems less strange how they went out of their way to help me.

  “We’re all getting older.” Tash shakes her head slowly.

  At the sadness in her voice, again, it’s Sophie who explains, “Tash used to write children’s books, and Blade did the illustrations. But then when his hands started going—”

  “That’s in the past,” Tash says overly brightly. “We had a good run at it.”

  Something tells me not to ask why she didn’t find another illustrator.

  Sam tops off the glasses of wine, and gets the focus onto her. “I met Drummer when I ran out of gas at the side of the road,” Sam states conversationally. “I’d come looking for my dad.”

  “And got more than you bargained for.” Sandy winks, making her stepdaughter blush.

  “That’s how I met Peg,” Darcy, who, the others informed me is a fire chief in Tucson, tells me with a grin, toasting Sam with her glass.

  “I came here for protection.” This comes from Sophie. “I was a bloody fish out of water.”

  “You still are,” Sam teases her gently.

  Sophie grins broadly and raises two fingers toward her friend.

  “I was a police officer investigating the murder of Heart’s first wife. I’m Marcia, by the way.” Another woman pulls up a chair and joins us.

  “Oh, my meeting with Shooter was quite boring. I came to a club party with a friend.”

  “Shooter took one look at you, Charlotte, and that was him gone.” Marcia laughs.

  As another pretty woman crosses the room to join us, she leans her hands on the back of Sam’s chair. “What you talking about?”

  “How we met our bikers. Virginia here, tops us all off, as it was during a bank raid.” Sam raises her coffee cup toward me in salute.

  The newcomer grins. “Hi, I’m Allie.”

  Sophie sits back, links her hands behind her head and raises an eyebrow.

  Allie’s grin widens and she shrugs. “I was a sweet butt.” When she sees my look of confusion, she explains, “A club girl, willing to make themselves available to all the men.” I look down at my hands, not knowing how to react. I can’t meet her eyes when she adds, “It was better than prostituting myself on the street, and I’d been so desperate, that was the only way I could get food to eat.”

  Charlotte nudges her arm. “Fucking the bikers must have had its own rewards.”

  Allie chuckles. “Oh, believe me, it did. But once I’d had Truck, he was it for me.”

  Sam turns to me and explains, “Club girls come here with only one dream, to become special to that one biker. Allie’s the only one who’s managed to make her dream come true.”

  “He didn’t make it easy for me,” Allie explains. “He was a firefighter, got badly hurt fighting a wildfire in California.”

  Sophie chuckles. “He used to like fascinating the kids by taking out his fake eye.”

  Allie snorts. “The kids think it’s a great joke.”

  I bite back the question of when she got together with Truck, wondering whether she knows more about Marvel than I currently do. But then, she might have been with the other women’s bikers too. They seem to have no problems with her. Telling myself it’s stupid to be jealous about previous liaisons firmly in the past, I bring myself back to the conversation, dipping my chin politely as Sam tops off my wine.

  “How did you meet Viper, Sandy?” Sam asks her stepmother.

  “Oh heavens, girl, I can barely remember.” Sandy barks a laugh. “We’re going back forty years or more. As I recall, he was riding down the street and stopped to ask me if I wanted a ride.”

  “I bet he did.” Carmen nudges her, giggling loudly, then continues, “Bullet came into my shop for a trim. When he kept coming in every week, I told him he’d better spit out what he was really coming in for else he’d end up with no hair.”

  “What are you lot plotting?” Amy enters, carrying her sleeping baby in a sling. As she approaches, the women part and make room for her, Carmen reaching back and pulling another chair closer.

  “They’re telling me how they met their men,” I explain. “How did you meet Wizard?”

  “Me?” She laughs. “I was born into the club. Marcia’s my stepmom. My birth mom died. I crushed on Drew, Wizard as he is now, from when he came here when I was about five. It took until last year for him to pull his head out of his ass.” She grins as she gives that short history.

  The clubroom door bangs open, and yet more women enter. This time two who are much younger appear arm in arm and make a beeline for our group.

  “Hi, Mom.” One waves at Darcy.

  “Hi, mom-in-law,” the other one jokes, then they walk off, giggling as they head for the kitchen.

  “My daughter, Lisa, and her best friend, Gwen, who’s now my daughter-in-law,” Darcy explains, looking fondly after the pair. “She’s going to make me a grandma soon.”

  I’d noticed she was pregnant. This isn’t a club, it’s a whole damn village, I think to myself. From what I’ve seen, I think the females outnumber the men.

  As Sophie starts to impart wisdom of the benefits of being a grandma rather than a mom, I glance around, noticing there are two more women at the bar. Unlike the others, they haven’t approached and are keeping themselves to themselves.

  After giving them a few sly glances, noticing how skimpily dressed they are, I can’t hold back my curiosity. Sam’s face twists when I ask who they are.

  Answering me discreetly from behind her hand, she informs me they are Sable and Clover, and explains they are what Allie had been before she’d gotten with Truck. Girls who made themselves available to all the men. Well, single men that is. She intimated that were they to approach one who’s attached, the old ladies would scratch their eyes out.

  It brings home to me how far apart my life and that of these women are. From what I gather, it’s more than likely, as Marvel is single, that he too has used these girls who had to be half his age. I know I couldn’t compete with anyone like that.

  With that sex on tap, why would he be interested in a middle-aged woman like me? I’ve tried not to let myself go, but years take their toll however much we try to prevent it. Apart from the kiss we shared, he’d showed no sign he was interested in more with me. Now I can clearly see the reason.

  While the women make me feel welcome enough, I start to feel more and more out of place. So much binds them together, and their conversation veers off into a multitude of names which I don’t recognise, and discussing events I was no part of, using terminology I’ve never heard before. They may not exclude me, but I do feel like a stranger. Maybe the way that news report ended does make sense. What the hell is an ex-college professor doing on the compound of the Satan’s Devils MC?

 

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