Lucifer’s Fury (A Motorcycle Club Romance) (10 page)

Big Brass gave a curt nod. “I’ll send them home. Having an alliance with this crew is big, even for a club our size. No used-up club pussy is better than that. I’ll get it done.” He headed out, leaving the door open.

Suicide and I followed behind Big Brass, watching as he entered the main room, hustled the prospects together, and barked out a few orders. They scuttled off, rounding up the sweet butts and herding them into the meeting room. One by one, they wiggled their asses into the room, looking back and forth between each other with questioning glances.

Big Brass smiled back at us as he walked through the door to the meeting room. Suicide and I stepped just inside the room, enough to block the door, our arms crossed and ‘I don’t give a fuck’ expressions plastered on our faces. We watched our brother work the room, his fierce cold stare working from one woman to the next. They stiffened as he moved around the room, realizing this was a serious situation.

“Some of you have forgotten what your place in this club is. Our President isn’t happy, and when he isn’t happy the shit runs downhill… and you ladies are at the bottom of that hill, so hear this, and you better listen real damn good and take in my every damn word or the Prez and Suicide will be dealing with you personally. I can promise you that will not be pretty for any of you.

Your services will not be needed for the rest of the day. If you want to know why that is, talk amongst yourselves and you’ll learn the reason… or maybe not. Look who I’m talking to. I’ll make it clear for you so there’s no fucking confusion. The faces being made behind the backs of our new allies, the Gypsy Riders, will not be tolerated. This is your only warning. Heed it or don’t. We don’t give a fuck. In the end, each one of you will just pack your shit and be gone. After all, you’re easily replaced.” He growled out the last bit, eyes burning with fury.

After lunch, the old ladies vacated the premises, leaving us to take care of business. The sweet butts were long gone, many of them upset, some crying, when they learned the reason why they were sent away because they loved being part of the club, however small that part might be. I knew who the problem cases were, and if I caught wind of more of that shit, they would be history. Blackballed from the club permanently. No loss really.

A few prospects slid a couple of tables together in front of the bar and added six chairs. Pandora and I sat in the center side by side, facing a room full of patched bikers, the few ladies sitting at a table front and center. To our sides were our Veeps, and next to them, our Warlords.

Lola and I thought the best way to approach the meeting was to allow anyone to ask questions, as long as it stayed controlled and respectful. She requested that I handle the formalities as it was my club and the majority of those attending were my men. I agreed, but not because of that. I wanted us to appear as equals, showing measured respect to each other, but above all else, the unity between us needed to shine through without words. Without question.

“Now that we’ve had a chance to become better acquainted, it’s time to get down to the brass tacks and handle some business. Before we get to the business, I want to remind everyone to be respectful. Pandora and I want everyone to be comfortable with this arrangement and feel free to ask questions as they arise. We have all day. With that said, I’m handing it over to Pandora, who will bring everyone up to speed on their interactions with the Twisted Bastards.”

“Gentlemen and Gypsies,” she began, with a wink to her girls. She slid her chair back and gripped my shoulder, chuckling. “Excuse Jasper... er... Blaze. He likes to hear himself talk. Always has.”

Everyone laughed and a few ‘hell yeah he does’ were shouted from the back of the room. I ignored it and smirked as I glanced up at her.

“My girls and I haven’t really interacted with the Twisted Bastards openly until recently. In the shadows, we have had about a dozen or so encounters. A month or so, back after we screwed up yet another one of their shipments, they went quiet.

We thought it was over and they’d moved on. They didn’t. Word got back to us that they were still at it so we hit them hard again, and I screwed the pooch royally. I stepped out of the shadows without my mask on and killed their President. One of their guys got away and reported back to whoever was in charge. As you all saw on the news, we took a hit and lost one of our girls... Juju.”

Trixie choked out a sob, catching everyone’s attention. Pandora hesitated for a minute before continuing on.

Moving away from me, she headed for the table her crew sat at, her hand patting lightly on Trixie’s shoulder as she began speaking again. “Trixie was one of the girls taken by the Twisted, and the only one to survive them. Her girlfriend, Juju, wasn’t so lucky that day. I did get a damn good look at the men that showed up at the gate of our club that day, and I won’t forget their faces anytime soon, but that’s all we’ve got.”

A hand in the back of the back of the room shot up like a rocket. “Do we know who the new President is now?” a young dark haired man asked.

“I don’t know his name but half of his face is covered in scars. A real nasty bastard, that one,” Pandora answered flatly.

Questions came in a flood for over an hour, each one answered fully before moving to the next. Most questions related to the Gypsy Riders’ methods of attack on the Twisted. The last question caught both Pandora and I off-guard.

Trixie stood up from her chair, her gaze bouncing from me to Pandora. In the softest voice imaginable, she asked, “Are the clubs planning to merge? I heard a few whispers around the room during lunch and I’m sure I’m not the only one that’s curious. Maybe I’m just the only one with big enough balls to ask the hard question. So is that something that’s in talks?”

Pandora shot me a look and gave me a slight nod and a smile. If she was against the idea, surely she would have spoken up quickly, putting a halt to the idea before it spread like a disease. I mean hell, I’d spent the entire night claiming her.

“There isn’t an easy answer to that question as of yet. For those of you that don’t know, Pandora and I do have a history. Given time, we might take our clubs to a merge, but we might not. The better question is, if that were to happen, is anyone opposed? Remember, this is an open meeting and all opinions are welcome. So, for now, a show of hands in favor of a possible future merge would be a good start.”

Almost every hand in the room raised without hesitation. Pandora’s girls hesitated for a moment, though, spinning in their chairs and glancing around at the raised hands behind them. They smiled before raising their hands too. Pandora stood frozen, her eyes darting to me as if waiting for something or searching for something. I wasn’t sure which.

“From the looks of things, everyone is in favor of a possible merge. We shouldn’t have any issues if that becomes a real possibility so we’ll keep it in mind as we move forward.”

Pandora took her seat beside me and smiled. I took her hand in mine, giving it a light squeeze as we pushed forward through ideas and into the planning of how to handle the Twisted Bastard MC.

The final agreement was that Lucifer’s Fury would have riders spend time in Gun Barrel at the Gypsy Riders clubhouse, letting themselves be seen in and around the area with Gypsy Riders, hoping that showing that we were working together would be enough to make the Twisted Bastards back off without a war.

For safety purposes, all riders would ride in pairs or greater at all times in both Gun Barrel and Shooter’s Hollow. Pandora’s shoot to kill order with the Gypsy Riders was to stand as is, and Lucifer’s Fury would follow that order, too.

Chapter 11: Pandora

One night was – hell that wasn’t even right – it only took a few damn hours for all of the old feelings to spark to life and make me feel alive again. Him too. Ten long years and he never stopped loving me, and I guess I never really stopped loving him, either. I had wanted to push him away but the heart wants what it wants and mine wanted Jasper “Blaze” Stone. We weren’t slapping a label on it right now but we both knew exactly what it was between us.

We were back together.

Being in his bed, writhing and burning up beneath him as he fucked me and loved me in equal measure was utter bliss. I didn’t want it to end – EVER. There was so much to be done, though, and we had a long road ahead of us all before this mess I got us in ended. As much as I might want to focus all of my attention on Jasper, I just couldn’t. If I wasn’t careful, he would consume me entirely.

After the meeting, he kissed me stupid in front of everyone and it felt so damn good I didn’t want him to stop. The fiery heat in his gray eyes told me he didn’t want to, either. Being there wasn’t any more club business to handle for the afternoon, he rode out with me and the girls and a dozen of his guys. They wanted to check out our clubhouse and the surrounding area to get a feel for what they were dealing with.

I had to agree it was a good idea.

My girls would have to do the same in Shooter’s Hollow at some point. I had to say when the vote in favor of a possible merge was unanimous, I almost choked on my own damn tongue. Lucifer’s Fury had damn sure changed and so far, all of the changes were good. Great, even.

Our bikes growled along the highway, the sun already beginning to set as we rode two by two the whole way. The weather had been nice and sunny, not a cloud in the sky all day long, but we were too busy to ride until now. Jasper kept looking over at me the entire drive, and each time I felt the heat of his gaze travel over me. Even hidden behind those dark shades, I knew his eyes looked the same as they did in his bed when he saw me in nothing but my skin. It was a dirty sinful look and I couldn’t wait to see it in his eyes again when we were completely alone.

As we neared the turnoff to my clubhouse, a couple of firetrucks cut us off, sirens blaring as they flew by in a roar, headed in the direction we were going. Blaze raised his hand just as I raised mine, our fists clenched tight, halting our crews. When the trucks passed, we followed behind at a safe distance. A billowing black cloud of smoke curling into the sky like a damn demon rising from the depths of hell was coming from our street. My chest tightened so badly I could barely breathe. 

Snapping my head in Jasper’s direction, I shouted over the roar of the bikes, “That’s on our street.” My finger pointed at the plume of black smoke.

We jetted forward, making the turn onto my street slowly, and any hope I had of it being another building on fire ended. Easing to a stop in the middle of the street, just behind the firetrucks, I pulled off my helmet, tossing it to the ground with a thud, and ran to the gate, dodging firemen and uniformed officials. Jasper and Suicide were right behind me, Cherry Pie and Siren not far behind them.

“Those bastards burned down my damned clubhouse.”

Bile rose in my throat at the sight of everything Cherry Pie and I worked so hard to build go up in flames. The shop didn’t appear to be a complete loss, it being a separate building from the clubhouse, but everything else was a total loss.

“Jesus. So glad we weren’t there. Shit. They’re going to pay for this.” Cherry pouted as tears welled in her eyes. The anger would come soon enough. It would take her a hot minute to grasp a hold of it and find the rage inside her. She dashed a small hand across her eyes, wiping away the tears. Usually that rage appeared after the first tear fell, making her feel a bit too much like a girly girl. She hated feeling soft and emotional. Then she turned into a battle-ready warrior, sniffing out blood and vengeance. She would be downright deadly and all of that anger would be focused on the Twisted Bastards.

Jasper put his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug as I watched my entire world burn to the ground.

“I’m sorry, doll. We’ll get them. I promise. For now, let’s get back to the clubhouse and figure out a new approach because our plan as it was won’t work now.”

“I know. The fuckers are so going to pay.”

Wiping my tears away, I looked up at him and nodded. The day may have started out good but as of now it was shitty. Too shitty for more words. Cherry Pie and I talked with the fire chief and the local police and gave our contact information. We were smart enough to make sure we got the necessary insurance so we were covered if we chose to rebuild, but right now I wasn’t sure I wanted that. So much had changed, after all. Everything happens for a reason, right? Maybe this was a sign.

“Let’s get the hell out of here.” I could barely look my girls in the eye as I strode to my bike. No one spoke but the somber expressions said enough.

The ride back to Shooter’s Hollow wasn’t enough to erase the pain of seeing all of that hard work all of our dreams go up in flames. One thing was certain. I would damn sure keep my word to erase every Twisted Bastard from the face of the Earth.

As we pulled into the parking lot of Lucifer’s Fury clubhouse, the gates rolling closed behind us, I decided that all of this was happening for a reason. Maybe this was where I was meant to be. Maybe our clubs were supposed to merge. Removing my helmet, I sat idle on my bike, letting the rumble of the engine soothe my bleeding heart as I thought about the future. I sat in a daze, staring straight ahead, my thoughts running wild.

“Lola? Lola, are you all right, doll?” Jasper asked, his hand gripping the back of my neck. Not hard, but enough to let me know he was there.

Shaking myself out of my thoughts I looked up at him. “I’m good. I need a fucking drink after that shit, though.”

“Then I have you covered.”

I killed the bike, got off my ride, and took his hand.

Once inside the clubhouse, we all grabbed a seat and waited on the sweet butts to bring us our usual rounds of ice cold beer. Five shots and a couple of pitchers of beer later, I found my backbone.

“We should do the merge,” I said, a little louder than I had planned. Damn liquor mouth.

Jasper went still. Everyone in the room went quiet. I glanced up at the frowning sweet butt standing across the table from me as she slammed a picture of beer on the table. Some of the contents sloshed onto the tabletop.