Soldiers of Chaos- Chaos Abounds: Book 1 in the Soldiers of Chaos series (11 page)

The theme song for Walker Texas Ranger started playing, her ringtone for Tex. She stood on shaky legs moving towards the sound searching the floor for her bag. She found it slightly hidden under the desk. She plucked it out and stood up catching her reflection again in the mirrored wall across from her. She looked over herself. Her wrists were seriously chaffed from the cuffs. She lifted her skirt gingerly checking the line across her thighs where the lip of the desk had been hitting her. The scar on her upper thigh was pinker than usual because of the friction with the desk. Her phone began ringing again and she absentmindedly flipped her phone case open and answered the call "Yeah." She turned her ass to the mirror. "What the fuck Nikki? You don't fucking learn? Where the fuck are you?" Tex yelled down the phone at her. Nikki's ass and thighs were red raw and she could clearly make out several handprints, "I'm nowhere" she replied quietly. "Nikki I don't have time for this bullshit. There's shit going down and I need you safe. I need to know where the fuck you are now." She pulled her skirt back down wincing as the material slid across her ass. "Nikki!" Tex yelled loud enough for Nikki’s eardrums to hurt. "For fucks sake Tex I'm fine. I'm a grown woman and last I checked I can take care of myself." "Really I don't know when the last time you checked was cos the last time I checked you nearly got yourself gang raped and probably dead in some fucking back alley somewhere. Now you will tell me where the fuck you are so I can drag your stubborn bitch ass back here where someone other than you can be in charge of your fucking safety." He was firing on all cylinders but she wasn't copping that shit from anyone, bad ass bikers especially. "Fuck you" she practically spat it at him, the venom in her voice clear as day. Then she hung up. Fuck him. Fuck everyone. She grabbed her shit and slipped out the office door. She was heading home for a fucking shower and a large bottle of vodka. She’d not quite reached the club’s exit when she bumped into someone. “In a hurry Miss Jones?” She looked up to see Roger looking her over with concern on his face. “Got somewhere I need to be” she tried to side step him. “Does Mister Cole know you’re leaving?” That question caused her to reassess his body language. Was he seriously blocking her exit? “I’m sure if Mister Cole has concerns about my whereabouts he’ll find me.” Nikki’s phone began to ring again. She glanced down at the screen, unknown number. She frowned but didn’t answer it. “Now if you’ll excuse me I really have to go.” Roger stepped aside and she gingerly made her escape.

Nikki made it back to the house without getting in an accident, without anyone attempting to rape her or cut her up or shoot her ass. Thank you very much Tex. Her ass and thighs, however, were certainly burning like all hell from rubbing against her dress and the heat from her leather seats. A cold shower might have to be the order of the day. She slid under the cold water and after the initial sting it worked wonders at soothing her skin. When her ass was nearly numb from the cold she climbed out patted herself dry and went in search of something that would cover both her ass her thighs and her wrists. She found an old long sleeve Harley shirt that used to be Tex's, it came to halfway down her thighs and the sleeves went past her hands. She rolled the sleeves up a bit so that her fingers weren't hampered and as was her regular routine headed straight for the bar. The bottle of Goose on the middle shelf was calling her name. She sat at the table staring at it for an hour while her phone went off nonstop and her body ached. It took her another hour of staring at the bottle and listening to her phone and feeling her body ache to decide she didn’t actually feel the need to drink that bottle. Her head wasn't hurting her, her chest wasn't aching, her insides weren’t trying to claw their way out, sure her body was sore but that seemed to be keeping the rest of her quiet. Marcus Cole. Her phone rang again. She put the bottle back in the cabinet and headed for her room. She texted Trace telling him she was at the house and she was good then she put it on silent and went to bed.

Nikki woke to the sound of yelling. "Fucking move Trace she needs to be taught a god damn lesson." "I'm not fucking moving till you chill the fuck out. We can't keep her locked up she's a fucking grown woman, not only that but she's a fucking Soldier of Chaos, she is not some frail little bitch who can’t handle herself." She picked up her phone to check the time and notice a missed call from a private number. The whole private number thing was getting weird. She checked the time. 3Am. For fuck's sake. "She certainly handled herself last fucking weekend didn't she? This shit is serious and it is not fucking going away and everyone needs to be careful. We have to keep her safe whether she fucking wants it or not." This shit was driving her crazy. She got out of bed and pulled open the door. Trace was providing a physical barrier between Tex and her doorway. "Let him past Trace" She left the door open and wandered back into her room. Tex came storming in with Trace at his shoulder. She turned to face him. His eyes were hard and narrowed on her, his mouth tight, his body was stiff and his fists were curled at his sides. He was pissed. "You are a fucking selfish bitch." He took a step towards her and Trace stepped with him. "Tex" Trace warned. "We left Brodie with you to keep you safe and what do you do? Lead him by his dick to your bed then leave him cuffed to it meanwhile the rest of us are out getting our asses shot at and we have to bail on the brothers leaving them two men down because we couldn’t get hold of either of you. All so you could go out on the town to party with some rich boy. I should cuff you to your fucking bed till this shit is done." She was not out partying with some rich boy. She opened her mouth to tell him that. "Don't Nikki! Slick saw you at the mint with your new boyfriend and called me. So now you're sucking rich cock you think you can do whatever the fuck you like?"

Her anger went from zero to one hundred in three seconds. "I'm not sucking anyone's cock rich or otherwise and you've never given a shit before now who I fuck. You think I walk around with my fucking eyes closed, that I don't know shit is going down. I fucking know. I fucking know because I live through that shit alongside you, I do more than my fair share with the girls and I do my fair share working deals and while doing that I keep the workshop going while you’re all out doing your shit, I help the Doc stitch you boys up, I have the memory of my mother’s fucking mangled body stuck in my head and I fucking know because I have the cuts on my body the bullet wound in my shoulder, my leg and the fucked up memories to prove it. So don't talk to me about fucking selfish I have bled for and because of this fucking club and I have killed for and because of this fucking club. You think I’m ever gonna forget that shit. I won't but I will not let you, the club or any of that shit send me running and hiding scared of my own fucking shadow. I'm not fucking stupid and I don't usually take fucked up risks and even if I do usually I'm armed which is enough to tip the balance in my favour, last weekend was a one off and it won't happen again" Tex just stared at her his breaths still dragging in and out through his clenched teeth. Some of the tension had eased out of his body and his fists were no longer clenched. "I get that you’re worried and I get you got a lot of shit other than me going on but you know I hate being caged in. I can’t fucking deal when you do that shit. You can't keep me locked up Tex, all this shit in my head, I'll end up going insane." The fight went out of him then and he sighed running his hand through his hair "Things are rough at the moment Nikki, dangerous even, and I don't have a lot of energy to spend on worrying about your safety. I don't wanna lock you up but I need you protected. If something happened to you” Tex paused and shook his head as if to clear that thought. “You stay at the clubhouse when we can't be home with you. You go out somewhere you take one of the boys. You go out somewhere by yourself I wanna know where, I wanna know who the fuck is there, you ring me when you get there, you ring me when you leave, you ring me if your plans change, you keep your phone on you at all times, I call, you answer and you get the slightest whiff of trouble yours or someone else's you call. Got it?" As far as demands go it could've been worse a hell of a whole lot worse.

"I need back in on the jobs I was doing Tex. I can’t sit around like some old lady doing fuck all but wondering what the hell is going on. You give me that I’ll give you the rest." His shoulders sagged "Fine, but we go slow. And just so you know Brodie is mighty fucking pissed at you." She felt bad about that. "Yeah the hand cuffs were probably overkill I should've just got him drunk and let him pass out." The boys both laughed at that. "I don't think it was the handcuffs I think it was the fact that you ditched him for rich boy dick. He seriously thought you wanted him." Rich boy dick. Her thoughts went back to a certain rich man’s dick. Her body tingled with the memory. "For the last fucking time I didn't ditch anyone for rich anything. I have some friggen scruples you know. I don't do snobs, I don't do old, I don't do overweight, I don't do ugly and I sure as hell don't do prospects." Nikki shot them her most devilish grin. Tex's grin matched hers as he shook his head. “What were you guys doing tonight?” They both got serious but it was Trace that answered. “We were escorting a shipment had to put on more protection because of this Crows Bridges shit. Someone tried to mess with it and there was some fire exchange but we outgunned them. Didn’t catch up with them so we’re not sure who it was.” Could’ve been anyone but she had a feeling it wasn’t “You reckon it has to do with Bridges trying to make a move on the Crows?” Tex shrugged “Could be? My thoughts are maybe he’s testing us, all of us trying to figure how much of a threat we are.” She nodded. It made sense. “You find out anything else about Bridges?” Silence.

She looked them both in the eye. There was something there. Tex sighed “We’re not sure yet. A meeting between some of the Crows and Bridges thugs. But it’s not a concrete thing at the moment Ace.” She wanted in she didn’t care what it was, anything that got her closer to Bridges “I want in Tex. Don’t you dare try and keep me out.” She stared hard into his eye’s letting him know there was no way she would back down. “Fine.” Trace shook his head and Nikki turned to him with the same look. “I don’t like it baby girl but if it’s what you want then you know we’ll do it.” She nodded in acknowledgement "Now can I get back to sleep cos I am dead fucking tired." Tex took a couple of steps towards her and pulled her into a hug. Her arms went round his waist and she sighed into him. She loved them both, in different ways, but in equal measures. She glanced around him to Trace who was glaring at Tex's back. Shit. Her wrists. The sleeves of her shirt had ridden up some when she put her arms around Tex. Tex kissed her on the top of her head and then let her go. He turned and left while Trace lingered. He rose his eyebrows at her "you gonna explain those?" gesturing towards her wrists. "No" she shrugged and went back to her bed. "You ain't saying much these days baby girl." "Nope." He just shook his head and left. She went to sleep dreaming of handcuffs and green eyes.

She stuck to the arrangement. At work one or more of the brothers were always with her anyway, it was the MC's shop, and the shop fronted the clubhouse compound. She'd slept all week at the clubhouse, if you could call it sleeping. Her sleep had been punctuated with strange dreams she couldn't recall that left her feeling uneasy and the boys coming to check on her when they returned from whatever shit they were taking care of. The only highlight of the week had been working over a John who decided to play rough with one of the girls. The boys had let her come along without the intention of letting her do much but she was not gonna sit by and let them have all the fun. She’d seen the girl he’d taken his fists to and it had been bad. The guy had been a first time customer and fucking stupidly arrogant too. He paid with his own credit card so it hadn’t taken long to track down who he was and where he lived. In the early hours of the morning they rocked up to his place and Nikki knocked on the door. “Hi sorry to bother you I’ve just broken down and my mobile’s flat. Can I borrow your phone to call a tow?” The jerk had looked her up and down from head to toe his eyes lingering on her cleavage too long, and then opened the door for her. She’d smiled sweetly and just as he was about to shut the door Tex’s big mit grabbed hold of it and pushed. The guy scrambled quickly grabbing a baseball bat and taking a wild swing in the boy’s direction as they entered. Nikki tackled him hard from the side taking him by surprise. They both crashed to the floor with him underneath her cushioning her fall. She heard the breath wheeze out of him. He was winded and she dove for the bat wrenching it from his weakened grip.

The guy scrambled backwards away from them as Nikki stood with Tex and Trace flanking her. Trace took a step forward and Nikki waved him off. “Not so big and tough now are you?” She smirked at him and she could smell the guy’s fear. “People like you disgust me. Pick on people weaker than you cos it makes you feel like a man but when it comes to an actual fight you cower in the corner like a weak piece of shit.” “What do you want?” he asked his voice weak. Nikki smiled at him “That girl you beat up a few hours ago, she was Chaos property and we don’t take kindly to people fucking with our property. So what I want is recompense. Now stand up.” The guy slowly got to his feet using the wall as support. “I’ve got cash I can pay you.” She shook her head and laughed “You can pay me? You think you’ve got enough to cover her medical expenses, the loss in wages and profits till she’s healed up? I don’t fucking think so mate. That’s not how this shit works.” She handed Trace the bat and took a couple of steps towards him. “How this shit works is I give you a reason to never raise your hand to another woman again and you give me that feeling of satisfaction I’m gonna get when you’re lying on the floor in a pool of your own blood and vomit.” She punched the guy hard in the face the crunch of his nose sent a thrill through her. She didn’t waste time revelling in that and fired another fist into the guys kidney causing him to double over. She stepped back to Trace and grabbed the baseball bat from him. Nikki turned and swung underarm hitting him fair and square in the junk with the bat. The guy sank like a stone to the floor wailing. She could hear Tex and Trace wincing in sympathy for the guy. “Harden up you two.” Then she swung again hitting the guy in the side probably cracking a few ribs. Then a few swings to the stomach and the guy was gurgling in pain. She bent to one knee beside him and whispered in his ear “You feel that pain you’re suffering now. That is nothing compared to what I’ll do to you if I hear about you so much as looking at a woman wrong, ours or otherwise. And I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what’ll happen if I get a visit from the cops now do I?” She stood up weighing the bat in her hand “I think I like this bat. You don’t mind if I keep it do you?” The guy groaned and shook his head. “Didn’t think you would” She gave him one last whack in the ribs then left with Tex and Trace trailing behind her. Her feelings of satisfaction had been incredibly short lived and left her feeling worse for it.