Game Changer (Hell's Saints Motorcycle Club) (9 page)

Prosper and I took off after breakfast. We talked about ordinary things, trying to find our way back there I guess. Or really establish a new ordinary. There was still a lot to be settled, but we had done a hell of a lot of that already and we both needed to put that away for a while. As we walked arm and arm, I remembered how much I loved being with Prosper. That hadn’t changed and as the day wore on cemented itself in. He made me laugh, remembering little things about me and Claire. And about my mom and dad. Funny little things that not another living soul knew about us. Family things.

It was a perfect day. Blue skies and white fluffy clouds. We sat down on a big boulder in the sun and Prosper took out two beers he had brought along in a backpack. As a surprise, he had also packed some of the cookies that Pinky had made before she left to see her family. I was still full, but we had been hiking a couple of miles and the beer and the cookies went down easy. The cookies tasted like that summer at the lake, and I brought my head down to Prosper’s shoulder. We sat in the warm sunshine, my head on his shoulder and his arm around me.

I wanted to give him something, so I took out my little harp. The look of pleasure in his eyes when he saw it made my heart sing. I played a few little tunes for him, shy at first. When he clapped and cheered with suspiciously bright eyes after the first round, I really started to show off. Like he had taught me to do, he carried his own music wherever he went, so he reached into his pocket and we played together. I had never been prouder when there came a moment, on that perfect sun filled blue sky day, that the student became the teacher. I taught Prosper a couple of new harmonies of some old songs that I knew had been his favorites. The strong clear joining of our voices singing Arcapella in perfect harmony filled me with the most perfect bit of contentment that I had ever known. For the first time in a long time, I was really happy.

It was late afternoon when we walked back into the compound. Diego was sitting with a bunch of the guys in the yard. When he saw Prosper and I walk in from the woods, he raised his head and watched us approach. It had been a wonderful afternoon filled with good memories, homemade cookies, perfectly sung music and well, love. A perfect day, really. Because I was still feeling that and I was sick of being at the receiving end of Diego’s petal pulling game of “I love her, I love her not,” I met Diego’s eyes from across the field and smiled, big wide and happily at him.

Let’s see what he does with that, I thought wickedly.

The response lifted him off his chair. I just couldn’t figure him out, but just then I wanted to be happy, so I let myself be.

Diego nodded to Prosper, then put his arm around me. “Good day, babe?” He pulled me close.

“The best.” I answered, because I was still feeling it. And because he was being nice again and I wanted to go with that.

Prosper did a back hand wave as he walked away from us.

“You up for a ride?” Diego was asking me.

I nodded happily because this was definitely going to be my day. I loved motorcycles and the thought of being on the back of Diego’s excited me. He took my hand and led me to the bike. Then he passed me the helmet. I tried to put it on but the heavy bun in back of my head was in the way. So I unpinned my hair, and shook it out. Then I dipped my head back and ran my fingers through it. I pulled the heavy strands all to the side and began to weave it into a braid. I dipped my fingers into my pocket and pulling out the cloth covered rubber band that I always kept on me for hair emergencies. I heard the sound of someone clearing his throat and looked to the picnic area where the eight guys who Diego had just left, were all sitting in absolute silence staring at me.

I looked at Diego. To my surprise he just looked at me and smirked.

“Damn fucking wet dream.” He murmured. Then he said, “You good, Raine?”

I nodded and pulled my leg over the bike, adjusted the helmet and wrapped my arms around him.

We roared out of there and I held on tight. The beautiful day was turning into an equally beautiful dusk with red and deep blue streaks shooting across the sky. The wind was fresh and cool against my skin. Diego was a great driver and I was an experienced rider so our bodies dipped and straightened, weight shifting in harmony. It felt like a dance. Along the way, he would slow down and point out little things that he thought might interest me.

Eventually we pulled into a little cantina. He took my hand and pulled me along behind him. Once inside, he pushed me in front of him, his hand guiding me by the small of my back. A pretty, young, obviously pregnant woman smiled when she saw him. He said something to her in Spanish that made her blush and place a hand on her stomach. Her eyes were warm when she smiled at me.

She seated us at a table at the end of the room and I noticed that Diego seated himself with his back against the wall. The woman put her hand on his shoulder and in response, Diego grabbed it, turned it palm out and planted a kiss right in the middle of it. The woman laughed and hit him with a towel, eyes shining.

“Ah! Diego when are you going to get a woman of your own and stop making my wife blush?” A smiling man had come upon us quickly. He put his hand protectively and more than a little proudly over his wife’s baby bump and stated, “All this excitement is not good for my son.”

He had a long dark ponytail, a rosary hanging around his neck, a silver wedding ring on his left hand and a detailed scripted tattoo on his neck that read Alejandra. The pretty pregnant woman, whom I assumed was Alejandra, looked lovingly into her husband’s eyes then nodded at me. She said something softly in Spanish. Her husband turned to me in an exaggerated display of surprise. I knew he had noticed me and was up for giving Diego a hard time.

“Well, well, well, who do we have here?” He smiled at me.

I extended my hand and introduced myself. “My name is Raine. Nice to meet you. I’m a friend of Diego’s.”

At “friend” Diego lost a little of the mirth that danced behind his eyes, but just a little.

Alejandra’s husband took my hand, then turned it palm
down
and placed a kiss upon it. His wife shook her head smiling and Diego actually rolled his eyes. Someone called from the kitchen and he said, “Unfortunately duty calls but I’m very pleased to meet the new
friend
of Diego Montesalto.”

Then he turned to Diego, “Anything you want brother.”

He slapped him on the shoulder and they did a thing where they shook each other’s hand but way up so they were more grasping their arms. That thing that guys do

Diego ordered for us and the food was cheesy, spicy and perfect. I had a margarita and Diego had a Dos Equis. Diego Montesalto, the most interesting man in the world. I smiled into my margarita thinking of the ad for beer. Diego was relaxed and entertaining. He told me how he had met Alejandra and her husband Rafe. It was a good story and made me laugh.

It was late when we started back and the night had turned really cool. Diego reached into the leather bag on the bike and took out a big thick sweat shirt. He stood close and raised my hands over my head. Then he slipped the sweatshirt on and pulled my braid out of it. He bent down and touched his lips to mine briefly, then full on kissed me. I pulled away when I heard a shrill whistle coming from the cantina and turned to see Rafe standing in the shadows smoking a cigarette and wagging his finger. Diego good naturedly flipped him the bird and we were off.

When we pulled into the MC compound there was music playing, loud conversation and firelight. The Hell’s Saints were gathered around the fire pit with their women. They were casting long shadows and it made me uneasy.
Something wicked this way comes
. I hadn’t liked these gatherings as a child and I still didn’t like them. I wanted to go inside. I turned away from Diego to undo my helmet and saw her. The woman who had flashed me the superior smile and had plastered herself against Diego when I first arrived. Had that only been a couple of nights ago? It seemed like a lifetime.

She was staring at me and not looking happy. At all. She looked mean. Crazy and mean. I stared back, a chill running up my spine. I had had enough of crazy to last a lifetime. I knew this kind of crazy and where it was coming from. If she thought she had a claim on Diego, so be it. I barely knew him, and if it came down to that, that’s what I would say.
Have. At. It.

I wasn’t the kind of woman who fought over men. I never got that. There were so many other things you had to fight to keep in this life, a man should not be one of them. But I knew there were some that didn’t see it that way and this woman full on worried me. I pulled my arms around me, and held on tight. Diego had been talking to Reno and when he turned and looked at me, a frown crossed his brow. He looked passed me and his eyes skirted the wooded edge. By then, she was gone.

“Raine.”

I looked at him.

“You okay Babe?”

I managed a smile. “Yeah, thanks for a nice night, I’m going to head in now.”

Diego shook his head, “No babe, you’re not. Prosper got his groove on the harp, you seriously gonna miss that?”

“What time is it?” Something had just occurred to me, and all of a sudden the time had become very important.

He looked at his phone. “11:05, why?”

I had was only fifty five minutes left to end a day that had been just about perfect. I honestly could not ever remember having that before. Ever. And it was something I had aspired to. One day of not worrying about anything
. One whole Day.
I really didn’t want anything to mess that up for me. But Diego had grabbed my hand and was pulling me along. What could possibly happen in fifty five minutes, I thought to myself. Then the wind tugged at my hair loosening a tendril and whispering in my ear.
Something wicked this way comes
.

The air was electric in the way I remembered it as a kid. But now I forced myself to look at the scene before me with adult eyes and damn if I didn’t feel that same shiver go up my spine. It wasn’t the good kind of shiver. It was the kind of shiver that came from being a lifelong watcher and knowing that the secrets that lie deep within these shadow people weredangerous ones. They were the kind of secrets that knowing about could hurt you and even get you killed. These might be Prosper’s people and Diego’s people but they were not my people. These were the kind of people that scared me.

As I walked through the sea of badass outlaws and their women I felt cold inside. No matter who my dad was, or who my Prosper was, or who the man I was on the arm of was, I wasn’t a part of this. A bunch of bikers and their women. Their women. Some of them were old ladies, some were girlfriends, and some were honest to goodness whores. They were definitely a type. They were fat and skinny, short and tall, blonde, brunettes and red heads. Some were older some younger but definitely a type. Big hair, lots of makeup, and lots of tit showing. Whether those tits were large or small, they were on display. They smelled of cheap perfume, cheap booze and desperation. They were hard women. Hard loving, hard living, hard hearted women. Dangerous women wanting to be owned by dangerous men. Willing to do anything to make that happen. The men knowing that and taking that on. The air crackled with it.

I looked past all that to Prosper. Prosper definitely had his groove on. He was jamming with Crow and they were both playing some mean guitar. I recognized some of the rifts and my fingers were itching to blow them on my harp. Then Prosper looked at me and crooked his finger. Oh no! No… no…. nope! There was no way I was going to make a display of myself in front of a bunch of bikers. It was one thing belting out a tune in my own back yard, or this afternoon with Prosper alone and soaking in the sunshine. But sharing my music with the people of the shadows seemed wrong.

Then Prosper was on me and pulling me with him. When he sat me down next to him and called out to the night, “This one is for Maggie.” I came undone. How could I refuse to sing along to a song dedicated to my mom? He had me there. Crow began to strum out the beginning chords of Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page.” I took the harp out of my back pocket and replaced the soulful sax with some sweet harmonica. I had been playing this for years by myself and honestly playing with Prosper was a dream come true. Then Prosper and I sang Seger in perfect harmony, taking twists and turns that, while not in the original version, worked well for us. This had been my mother’s swan song and I was going to sing the shit out of it. And I did

When it was over, Crow, Prosper and I were grinning the hell out of each other and the shadows were going wild with applause. Almost against my will, I turned my eyes to look for Diego and saw him walking with Ellie away from me and towards the porch area. I felt a burst of jealousy that I pushed down. I turned my attention to Prosper when I realized he had been saying something. The something was that Pinky’s sister had gotten into a pretty serious car accident and Prosper was flying down that night to be with her while she sat with her sister. He had just been waiting for me so he could tell me and the playing, I think had taken his mind off it for a moment. I was grateful he had given me that moment and hoped with all my heart that Pinky’s sister would be okay. He thought not longer than a week and that I should stay at the compound.

I didn’t want him to go. And if he had to go, I wanted to go with him. I didn’t want to stay with people I didn’t know and I was really starting to miss Claire. We had never been apart this long and I knew she missed me as much as I missed her.

But if he had to, I wanted Prosper to go with a clear state of mind. So I smiled, kissed him on the cheek and told him that I would be fine. And I would be, because this was my perfectly happy day. He got on his bike and left for the airport. It was 11:45.

I was tired and started heading away from the crowd and back to my room at the kitchen house. I felt Jules fall in step with me and I was glad because I didn’t want to walk alone in the dark. I also didn’t want to run into Ellie and Diego doing whatever the hell they were doing. I couldn’t help it. I wanted to help it but I couldn’t. As I walked by my eyes searched for them. And Bingo. There they were. Ellie was plastered against him
again
but this time Diego had his hands in her hair and his mouth was moving against hers. Just Great. While I watched I saw him pull her head away from him, a scowl on his face and she was smiling up at him. My heart hurt and before I could look away, he saw me.