Exacting Revenge Read online

  “Yeah, don’t you worry about it, darlin. Just time to get some shit done. This ain’t sleep away camp, you know?”

  “Yeah, I know.” She dips down, her mouth crashing down on mine. She’s a complete mind fuck. I can lose myself in her all damn day. I’m not surprised by the hard on when she gets up and starts on the dishes. I’m like a fucking thirteen-year-old boy when she’s near.

  ***

  “What’s all this bullshit?” Jesse spots the guns and weapons on the table.

  I step forward. “We managed to find all of the personal pieces we could find. Figured we’ll need them for the retaliation.”

  “I didn’t give that order.”

  Jesse’s immediate disapproval causes the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end.

  “Well, you weren’t here to give any orders. I did what I thought would be the next fucking step. It’s time to take out the Kings and to track down Zombie. It’s time to end this shit.”

  “That order comes from me. It’s when I say. Where I say.” Jesse shoots a slug of Jim Beam and falls back into a chair. The room falls silent. Everyone backs away.

  “Look, I don’t know what has you so fucking pissed off. You weren’t here. You didn’t leave any instructions. We’re not used to sitting around with our thumbs up our asses!”

  “Boy, you better stand down!” Jesse jumps out of the chair and stands toe to toe with me.

  I don’t move. I don’t speak. He stares at me and I stare back. It’s been a long time coming.

  “Hey baby, let me get you something to eat.” Ruth massages Jesse’s arm. He waits a few seconds before turning away and sitting down at the bar where Ruth makes them each a plate.

  After a few minutes, the rumbles of the room are back to normal. But not me, and not Jolene. I see her jerk her head toward the hallway and I follow her to the bedroom.

  Upon closer observation, I can see that she’s pale and trembling.

  “What the fuck was that bullshit?” She wobbles, gripping the wall for leverage.

  “Jolene, this has nothing to do with you, ok. I don’t want to get you involved.”

  She folds her arms across her ample boobs. “I don’t give a shit what you want. Where the hell did that come from?”

  I wait a few seconds and see that she’s not going to back down. “Sometimes a man has to mark his territory. That’s all this is, me trying to pave my way as VP. It takes some getting used to, that’s all.” I hope she eats the bullshit I’m shoveling.

  “That’s not what it felt like. Has it been like this since I left?”

  I shrug. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve been working your detail. I haven’t been around. I think he’s just knocking my dick in the dirt to prove I’m VP material, but I’m also not going to be degraded and treated like a fucking child.”

  “Well, whatever it is, I hope it gets settled soon.”

  I hate seeing her riddled with concerned. If I tell her that I bucked up at the church table, there’s no telling who’s side she’ll take and I can’t bare that right now. I need her to make it through this, whatever this turns out to be. Whether we survive, is another story.

  It draws closer to Chapel. My mouth dries up as my pulse races. My muscles tighten. I spent the day doing what I was told, staying busy.

  Jesse’s been making his rounds. The vote to see how we’ll proceed is majority rules.

  I’m sitting at the bar with Jolene when he storms into the room. “Chapel, now!”

  He’s pissed. I give Jolene a long kiss before I go and take my seat.

  “First things first, get Billy and Wizard in here.”

  Herc gets up and waves the prospects into the room. The two of them stand at attention against the wall, their gazes straight ahead. The whole scene resembles a firing squad, not too far off.

  “Time to vote for these two shit stains. If you think they got what it takes to be an Executioner, yay. If not, nay. Let’s start with Billy.”

  We go around the table. The brothers love taking their time, leaving the prospects worrying in agony.

  A full table of yays. Stoner delivers Billy with his cut. The same follows suit with Wizard. They’ve both proven themselves, taken some pretty hard hits, and still around, eager to don the colors.

  “Have a seat.” Jesse points to two chairs in the corners. “Now we have another vote on the table. Do we go after the Pistol Kings and Zombie now or do we wait until the dust has settled and we don’t have a target on our backs? Let’s start. Yay or nay for now. I say nay, it’s too dangerous to our club.”

  Stoner, “They decimated our brother’s body, man. I say yay.”

  Herc, “Yay”

  Clint, “We can’t keep sitting here waiting for the next hit on us, or our girls. Yay.”

  Wizard, “We don’t have to do it the way they expect. I say yay.”

  Billy nods. “Yay”

  “You know where I stand. Yay.” My chest puffs with validation. The old man is going to hit the roof, but it’s time.

  Jesse lowers his head and cuts his eyes. “The votes falls in favor of immediate retaliation.” He turns in my directions. “Looks like you get to take the lead, VP. Care to fill the rest of us in?”

  My heart hammers against my rib cage. I face my brothers with a new confidence. “It doesn’t have to be a single ambush. We don’t have to roll up in there and attempt to take out the whole crew in one shot. We can do some recon, keep watch, and then take them out in pieces.”

  “And Zombie?” Clint asks.

  “They’re bound to lead us right to him. If not, once the Kings are gone, he’s no longer protected and we hunt the mother fucker, driving him out of his hiding spot.”

  Jesse lights a smoke, eyeballing me. “Have you thought about the fact that while we’re taking them out one by one, the Kings come for retaliation on our club and they ain’t so nice. They don’t come for one at a time. Boom – we’re all gone.” He slams his palm against the table.

  I nod. “I have. We find another meeting point until it’s safe. It can’t be the Clubhouse or the cabin. It has to be somewhere we’ve never used before.”

  The old man presses the room. “Well, thoughts?”

  “I can’t think straight. Get some beers in here.” I jerk my head toward Billy.

  He hollers into the main hall. “Buds!”

  The door is left open as Bonnie supplies a round of drinks.

  “We need to brainstorm a place off the grid. A place we’ve never stayed before and a place the Pistol King’s would never think to look for us.” Clint lights up, puffing on the joint before passing it across the table.

  The room falls silent as a faint knock ticks against the wooden doorframe. Billy steps out of the way.

  What the fuck?

  Jolene.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  (Jolene)

  My knees are weak as I force myself to knock on the chapel door. I slip my hands into my back pockets to hide the shaking.

  Billy’s eyes widen as he steps out of the way. I glance over at Ronin who looks like he just saw a ghost. Women aren’t allowed in Church. And yes, that even applies to the President’s family.

  I step inside. Pop stands, angry. His narrow chest heaves. The meeting must be off to a bad start, and now here I stand, throwing a big ass monkey wrench into an already fucked up situation.

  “Jolene, this is unacceptable.”

  “I know, Pop. I just need a second.”

  “You need to wait.” He sits back down and looks at me pointedly.

  “Seriously Pop. I wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t important. I heard what Billy said about finding somewhere to stay. I think I can help.”

  Jesse purses his lips, flaring his nostrils. Everyone waits in silence. Ronin doesn’t dare look in my direction.

  “How’s that?” Pop finally asks.

  “Well, there’s someone I know who has a huge, secluded place out in Reno.”

  Clint keeps his eyes on the table. “Is thi
s someone who knows about the life?”

  “He may know about the life, but he definitely doesn’t know about the war.” The questions are starting to make me uncomfortable. I didn’t think this through.

  “Who is this person?” A loud voice echoes.

  I glance across the table and Ronin is staring straight at me.

  “It’s the vacation spot for one of my colleagues.” My insides flutter.

  “And he just makes it a habit to let just anyone borrow his fancy lawyer house in Reno? I find that hard to believe. Does the mail man get to use it too?” Ronin shoulders move with his ragged breath.

  “Enough.” Pop cut his eyes from Ronin to me. “Spill.”

  “He’s an ex-boyfriend. He’s also a major douche bag and may need some persuading.” I place both hands on the wooden table. “And if it means anything, I don’t give two shits about how you go about the persuading.”

  I don’t know if I should wait or leave the room as everyone looks to Pop.

  “This might work. Jo, let us discuss business.”

  I nod and back out the door, pulling it closed behind me. Not knowing what to expect when Ronin comes out is leaving me apprehensive. Then there was also the thought of having to deal with Brad again. The thought causes my stomach to curdle.

  I wait without mentioning anything to the women. I immediately regret bringing it up. Although, they don’t leave me a lot of time to squirm in my bad decision because the club comes out of Chapel with all eyes locked on me.

  “Alright Jolene, set it up.”

  The entire room stops to stare at me. My heart leaps into my throat.

  What have I done?

  As I pull out my cell, Ronin storms past me, clearly pissed for pulling my ex into this storm of shit hawks. There’s no way to win this one. I find his contact and click the dial icon.

  “Hey Brad, it’s Jolene.”

  “Ah, Jolene, it’s been a while. You must be missing me. Don’t be embarrassed. Everyone does sooner or later.”

  “Yeah, it’s not like that. I need a favor. It’s kind of a big favor.”

  “Sure babe. Anything for you. You know that.”

  “I need to borrow the house in Reno.”

  His voice immediately changes. “Yeah, anything but that.”

  “Come on, Brad. It’s just for a little while. You know I’ll leave it exactly how I found it. It’s just me and a few friends. We need somewhere off the radar to figure a few things out. It’s no big deal. Just a getaway.”

  “Sorry, babe. Can’t do it. Got to get back to these motions. Call when you’re free. I’d love to hook up. Later, babe.”

  I stare at Pop. “He said no.”

  Anger falls across his face. He points to Ronin. “Take Clint and Jolene and get our boy to say yes. Herc, stand watch here with the females. Make sure everyone is safe. Stoner, take Billy and start gathering everything we need for Reno. Wizard, you’re with me.”

  Ronin peers down at me. “Let’s ride.”

  Clint follows, but remains quiet. When Ronin is pissed, you can cut the tension with a knife. He makes it known to everyone.

  Here we go.

  ***

  I beg the boys to wait outside once we arrive at Brad’s office building. It used to be my office building. I’m not ashamed. I’m relieved I left. The corporate world isn’t for me. However, busting up in the building with the biker twins might be pushing it a bit.

  We strut down the corridor like we own the fucking place, and by the way people respond, we probably could.

  I glance at Brad through the big glass wall. He sees me and almost smiles until he spots the two humongous, bearded clads of leather who are swiftly on my heels. He jumps up from his chair and Clint quickly makes his way to the front.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Just sit down and relax. Everything will be fine as long as you sit and shut the fuck up. Got it?” Clint leans across the front of the desk.

  I can see that it pisses him off to be emasculated, but Brad sits down. “Jolene, you’re more of a cunt than I thought, you know that?”

  Ronin steps forward, grips Brad by the neck, and squeezes. “Apologize to the lady. Apologize to my lady.” His eyes are dark and brooding. He squeezes harder.

  Brad chokes out the words. “I’m. Sor. Ry.”

  Ronin tosses him back down into his chair. “When you’re ready to play nice, we’ll continue. If not, we ain’t in no hurry. I actually have the time to introduce myself to everyone in the building. Now, I may be nothing but a dumbass biker, but I’m liable to bet one or two are going to be your boss. Am I right?”

  Rubbing his neck, Brad nods. “What do you want from me?”

  Clint plays with Brad’s ugly tie. “Didn’t our girl here tell you? We’ve been working too hard and need a vacation. A little getaway. I hear you love to share what’s yours, am I right?”

  “You can’t just expect me to turn over a 1.4-million-dollar house.”

  “Oh Brad, we can and we do.” Ronin dishevels Brad’s hair. They are having a field day.

  “For how long? And how many people?” Brad is glancing back and forth. I believe he’s too terrified to look in my direction.

  “What’s the matter with you, Brad? You gotta ask questions? You don’t trust us?” Clint sits his ass on the desk and starts tossing around papers.

  People are beginning to gather outside the window.

  “Fine, fine,” he says. He opens his side drawer and pulls out a gold ring with a single key, round barrel with a hollow tip. “This will get you in the garage. You’ll find all the codes you need in there. Neighbors will be wondering what the fuck is going on. We have a secret word. Mine is beast mode.”

  Ronin and Clint nearly double over in laughter. They continue to mess with him and make fun of his nickname on the way out the door. I feel justified. The man treated me like shit. After all the time we spent together, I was nothing but a glorified booty call. Now, he can kiss my ass as I leave him dumbfounded and take his mini mansion in the process.

  “Now what?” I ask.

  “We get in touch with the crew, nomads too if we’re going to carry out our plan. Ruth can start organizing the pack down. We go ahead and do detail on the house and then wait for back up.” Ronin was killing it as the new VP.

  I can’t help but wonder if everyone else thought the same way.

  Clint starts up his hog. “Put Herc on Patsy if you can. She’s not gonna tell anyone she feels unsafe, but she’s scared shitless. She definitely needs a detail.”

  “Sure thing, brother.” Ronin pulls out a prepaid and fills Pop in on the recent events.

  I attempt to observe closely. Relief washes over me when I see Ronin nod. They seem to be in agreement, for now, anyway.

  ***

  “I can’t believe you ever dated that tool.” Ronin smirks, but I can tell he’s only half joking.

  “Do you really want to play this game?” I cut my gaze. “I can bring up a certain red headed nightmare named Angela.”

  He eyes me, lifting a strong brow. “Yeah, I guess not. It was a smart idea, the Nevada thing.” He leans against his bike and I rest myself between his strong, muscular legs.

  We’re waiting as the others make a gas and grub pit stop. My insides haven’t allowed me much of an appetite these days.

  “I figured it would be far enough off the radar and somewhere new, somewhere Zombie’s never been. The Pistol Kings don’t stand a chance at finding us this time. Not to mention, there’s plenty of room.”

  Ronin grabs two full hands of ass cheeks. “I guess you’ve been there a few times, huh?”

  “Come on,” I say, beaming my sexiest smile. “Don’t be like that. We’re going to be there for a while. It’s time to get our shit together. About that, how’d the call go with Pop?”

  I see it in his flared nostrils before he huffs, shoving me backwards. Here we go again.

  “He’s fine. We have the keys, got the task done. We need to get back to Jeri
cho, load up, and head out as soon as we get the go ahead.”

  “The go ahead?” I tilt my head, folding my arms across my chest.

  He shuffles the tip of his boot on the asphalt. “I’m sending Billy ahead to get eyes on the Kings. When he gives the all clear, we head out, convoy style.”

  “And Pop’s good with that?”

  “What’s the deal, Jolene?” He struts around to the other side of the bike, scratching his fingers through his wind-blown beard. “Why is it everyone questions me at every fucking turn? Am I not the goddamn VP of this club? Nobody dared questioned Jimmy X like this, nobody! I get no fucking respect!” The louder he speaks, the quicker his chest heaves.

  “Hey.” I gently place both hands in the center of his massive, swelling pects. “Where’s this coming from? It’s me, baby. What’s going on with you lately?”

  He pumps his fists before shoving both into the front pockets of his dirty jeans. Darkness stirs in his heavy glare, giving me chills.

  I rub my arms, waiting for him to answer. I watch as relief washes over his face. The crew files out of the gas station.

  “Let’s ride.” He announces, throwing one long leg over the bike, ready for me to assume my position.

  Deciding it’s not the time to start a shit fest, I relent. I straddle the seat, wrapping my hips around his. This time, the road doesn’t capture my attention. I stay alert, keeping a subtle distance from his back. Subtle, yet an action that yells, no screams volumes.

  The conversation with Ronin bounces around in my brain. I pick apart the last couple of weeks. I can’t figure out what’s going on in his head. He’s typically good at separating club and personal business, but this shit is trickling down to me.

  Whatever it is, it’s bad.

  My stomach flops in my empty gut. The thought of my family under fire is hard enough, but to be at odds with one another?

  Unacceptable.

  The hot flush of tears pool in my tired eyes. I concede.

  I gather myself up and mold my body around his. To my surprise, Ronin’s rigid body tightens even more. I wait for him to react, for his body to react to mine, something he’s never been able to control.