Butch (4 page)

“I
know,
kiddo. I wish you
were mine as well.” He sat with his back against the wooden bed and picked up a
story book. “It’s time for a story.
Lay
back down and
be quiet.” Opening the first page, he started to read the book. None of the
words registered in his mind, but he spoke the words, using emphasis to help
entertain Matthew.

Cheryl joined him within minutes, and together they
read the story. This was what he loved about being around her. He felt normal,
if that was even a way to describe what was happening to him. The club had been
his life for so long, and being away from it gave him an opportunity to be
human instead of a guard.

“He’s asleep,” Cheryl said, taking the book from him.

Standing up, he watched her kiss her son and turn out
the nightlight. There wasn’t much furniture or toys, but what they did have was
taken care of. Cheryl was a hard working woman and made sure Matthew never went
without. Butch knew she did though. She hadn’t bought herself something nice in
three years. Whatever her son needed came before her own needs. Butch wanted
the right to be able to treat them both.

“Thank you for that.” She tucked some hair behind her ear,
walking downstairs. “I don’t have any beer, but I made you a tea.” He followed
behind her into the kitchen. They took their drinks into the sitting room. The
sofa was threadbare, and he felt a spring or two dig into his ass. She had
nothing and yet never complained about it. “You know you don’t have to spend
your free time hanging around with me. I’m sure you’ve got more interesting
things to do,” she said, smiling.

“I like hanging out with you.” All of his friends were
part of the club, and if they weren’t part of The Skulls, they were part of
Chaos Bleeds. He wanted a clean slate with no danger. Cheryl was his only true
friend in the world. “You and Matthew are awesome.”

“I’m sure you’re used to excitement and living life.
I’ve never been to a Skull party, but I sure hear about them. I also serve some
of you boys with flowers.” She pulled the band from holding her hair up. The
long thick waves fell around her face and shoulders looking glossy and silky.
His cock responded, and he inwardly cursed. The last thing he wanted to be
thinking about was sex. Cheryl deserved more than a rough pounding. He’d never
leave her when he finished. Cheryl was the kind of woman you stayed around to
see. She had lived with a broken heart from being used once before. He wasn’t
going to put her through any painful experiences.

“Yeah, club life is not like real life.”

“You sound sarcastic. Why?” She pulled her legs up to
her chest and stared at him.

“Are you really interested?” he asked.

She shrugged.
“Why not?
It’s
not like I’ve got anything to talk about. You know my story. Let me know
yours.”

Turning toward her, he crossed his legs feeling like a
teenager. He removed his shoes the moment he walked into the house. “The Skulls
is my life, and the parties we have are fun. There is always an available woman,
and it’s a family. That’s what I love the most, the family way of life. The
Skulls stick together through thick and thin.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter who you are or what you are. You got
that patch on, you’re part of the family and the brothers will love you. Don’t
get me wrong, you’ll earn that patch. Every night of being a prospect will feel
like shit and like you’ve got no chance of ever being trusted or respected.
Then, you earn your patch, and the world changes. You’re part of something
bigger, amazing.” He smiled thinking about the love the family gave. Tiny and
Eva were the parents while all of the others were their children. It was a
strange way of looking at it, but it worked for him even if he was a grown ass
man. “Tiny doesn’t discriminate against any member over size, color, or even if
they’re homosexual. We’re a family, and providing they’ve got each other’s
back, no one cares.”

“Sounds nice,” she said.

“Doesn’t matter how nice it sounds, it all comes with
problems.”

“You don’t have to talk about them if you don’t trust
me. I’ve heard you’re all secretive and won’t allow an outsider into the fold.
I won’t hold your secrets against you.” She was caressing the back of the sofa,
running her hand along the edge. He wondered what it would feel like having her
hands wrapped around his cock.

“I trust you. Some of the crap that went down, you
don’t
need to know. We’ve got enemies intent on hurting us.
Tiny has rules within the club, no drugs, no underage sex, and no beating on
women. He takes care of the town and expects his men to follow those rules.”
Butch liked the rules. They were the reason he respected Tiny. Maybe if the Savage
Brothers had had more rules, they wouldn’t have ended up dead. Pushing those
thoughts back, he brought his focus back to Cheryl.

“Why did you leave?”

He turned to look at her.

“I can see you love the club and your brothers. Why did
you leave?”

Staring down at his full cup of tea he shook his head.
“Because we were never out of danger, and it was all we were dealing with on a
daily basis. None of us could get away from it. The women were always in the
hospital. Lash, one of my brothers, he’s taken his woman abroad to Italy to get
her out of danger. They’re not due back for a few months. Every woman in the
club has been killed or hurt in some way.” He looked back toward her. “I don’t
want to worry about you. This is not the life I want to bring you into. You and
Matthew do not deserve to be in danger. I won’t let you be part of it.”

He reached out to touch her cheek.

“Butch, we’re friends.”

“And yet you know how I feel about you.” He ran a
finger over her lips. She didn’t pull away. Staring into her eyes he saw the
conflict there. “I know you’re not ready for me or for this.”

“You quit the club for me?” she asked.

“Yeah, I quit it for both of us.”

“I’ve got a son by another man. I’m a single mom.”

He chuckled. “Babe, you’re not upsetting me with
this.”

“We know nothing about each other. I don’t know your
parents or who you are.”

“They’re dead. They died a long time ago. I watched
all of them die, including my sister. I ended up in care, and I’ve not looked
back since.” He gritted his teeth at the truth spilling from his lips.

She pressed a hand to her lips, gasping. “Butch, I’m
so sorry.” Her arms wrapped around his body, and he enjoyed the feel of her
body against his. The softness of her breasts pressed against his chest. He
wanted to feel them naked pressing against his chest. Stroking a hand down her
back, he simply enjoyed the feel of her close to him. She smelled like citrus
fruits, sweet yet tempting.

“Don’t be sorry for me, baby. I forgot about them a
long time ago.”

“Who was it?”

“I don’t know, but they’re all dead.” Butch cursed. He
shouldn’t tell her what happened. There was something about Cheryl that made
him want to be honest. “You can’t share any of this with anyone.”

“I won’t.”

“My dad was part of an MC years ago. He didn’t love my
mom, but his way of life wasn’t like
Tiny’s
. The men
in The Skulls stay loyal to their women. We don’t stray. My dad fucked
everything that walked.” Butch looked down at his lap. He took a sip of the
lukewarm liquid, forcing himself to drink it. “The club did drugs, and as time
went on and another sweet-butt started showing she was pregnant with my dad’s
kid, my mom started using drugs to hide. Over time she got in debt. That debt
caused a few problems between the club and my mom’s drug dealer.”

He’d not spoken to anyone about this. His past would always
stay there.
Becca’s
warning was still firm in his
mind.

“To cut a long story short, the club tried to fuck
over the drug dealers, and they all ended up dead.” Butch frowned as he thought
about what Tiny and Alex had said to him that afternoon. “I’ve got to go.” He
placed the cup on the coffee table.

“What? You don’t have to leave?” She went with him out
to the main hall. It was such a small house.

“I know, but there’s something I’ve got to do. I’m
sorry about this shit.” He leaned down, kissing her cheek. “This weekend is the
Fort Wills fair out at the main field.”

“So?” She was shaking her head. “You’re all over the
place. I’m confused.”

“Will you and Matthew go with me this Saturday to the
fair?” He used to go with The Skulls to make sure nothing bad happened to the
club.

“You want us to go with you?”

“Yeah.
We could have a picnic, some fun.”

“I’d love to go.” Her beaming smile would stay with
him for a long time.

“Good. I’ll be back to see you soon.” He closed the
door refusing to leave until he heard the lock going.

Climbing on his bike, Butch knew he needed to help his
brothers. He had information that could help them all.

****

Tiny stared at Devil across from him. His friend had
brought a few of his men to come to Fort Wills. In the next couple of days some
of the Chaos Bleeds crew would be coming to town to enjoy the fair they had
planned. The barbeque they were supposed to have had been cancelled. Tiny
wasn’t taking his woman or kids to a town where Gonzalez was.

“How’s Lexie?” Tiny asked.

“She’s scared. All the women are scared. He came into
my fucking clubhouse, Tiny. Insulted
me
and my club
and now I’m having to deal with this shit. He killed Jerry. I know the bastard
was a pimp, but he was a fucking pimp with standards.” Devil’s leg was bouncing
up and down, showing his agitation.

“I’ve heard of Frederick. He wants in on the MC
action. It’s not unheard of,” Alex said. His former brother-in-law was standing
by the window looking out at the night.

“I don’t give a fuck who wants in on the action.
Piston County is my town. No one controls Chaos Bleeds. I’m president of my
fucking club, and yet I’m supposed to take fucking orders from a bastard pimp?
A foreign fucking
pimp
at that, bastard!” Devil
slammed his fist against the desk.

“We’re all a little pissed,” Pussy said.

“He shot Jerry in front of our fucking women,” Vincent
said. Tiny hadn’t seen Vincent on the road in years. The fact he was here put
Tiny on the alert. Nothing got Vincent to leave his town unless he thought
there was a real threat. The man had pulled his act together since meeting
Phoebe.

“This fucker made sure my name was mentioned?” Tiny
asked.

“He made sure to tell me how scary you were.” Devil
stood, pacing the small office. All of his men were outside waiting for the
news. Devil showing up with six of his men was enough to put them all on the
alert. Since Alan, Zero’s enemy, had taken them by storm, the whole club had
tried to stay out of trouble. Now, Devil was bringing them a shitload of
trouble, and Tiny didn’t like it.

“Have there been any sightings of him in town?” Tiny
asked, turning to Alex.

“None that I
know of.
Ned refuses to help. Frederick is not a man you fuck
over without getting killed. His orders are to stay away. He wants Eva out of
the line of fire. If you can’t stay away from him, Ned wants Eva and the kids
in Vegas with him.” Alex stood beside his desk.

“I’d never put my woman in danger. He needs to stop
worrying about my woman and start taking care of his boys.” Tiny cursed as he
thought about his woman’s father. Ned Walker was a pain in the fucking ass, but
Tiny loved Eva, and unfortunately for him, they came together. “What does he
want you to do?” Tiny asked.

Pussy leaned forward. “We’ve got a drug run. He wants
us to ship coke across states.”

“We do that anyway. Our drug runs bring in the cash.”
Tiny didn’t do drugs, but he did move them for a hefty price. He moved the
product to make sure it stayed out of his fucking town.

“We’ve got to transfer it out of Mexico, across the
border and get it to a contact in Vegas.”

Leaning back, Tiny cursed. No one in their right mind
would ever agree to something that dangerous. If they get caught it would be
life in prison easily.

“He’s insane.”

“That’s not half of it,” Devil said. “He’s got a
shipment of girls as well coming in from Europe. He wants them working in our
clubs, and we’re to put them straight to work. Some of them are not the right
fucking age.”

“How do you know this if all you’ve got to deal with
is the drug runs?” Tiny asked.

“We’ve got a woman on the inside. She’s putting her
life at risk to get us all the information we need.” Devil rubbed his eyes. “My
gut is telling me this shit is bad. The worst we’ve ever faced. Gonzalez will
not stop with us. He’s up to something, something fucking big.”

“This shit is not mine, Devil.”

“We’ve helped you deal with your own shit for fucking
years,” Death said, speaking up. “Do not turn your fucking back on us when we
need you.”