The Skulls (4 page)

Angel would hate that kind of existence, but some
women seemed to love it.

The room went silent as The Skulls noticed Lash and
her together. She felt their gazes on her skin and saw them look at her face
before looking at Lash’s shirt.

“It looks like you better get used to being in the
kitchen, sweet-butt. Angel has been taken,” Zero said.

“What?” Fern stormed out of the kitchen, and Angel
watched her stop when she looked at her.

“Oh hell no.
That
is not fair. She hasn’t even been a member
or
done the
time or the fucking the rest of us have. What does she have that the rest of us
don’t?” Her hands were on her hips, and the look Fern shot Lash would have
killed him if looks could kill.

“Lash made a choice. We accepted that choice, and
she stays,” Tiny said. He sat at the top of the table with his hands locked
together. The leader looked calm and frightening. Tiny always scared Angel. Her
grip tightened on Lash’s hand.

“You’ve got to wait until someone actually wants
your sweet ass, baby,” Nash said.

Angel glanced at Lash’s brother and saw the contempt
the other man had for Fern. Most of the men loved to fuck her, but none of them
liked her.

“Whatever.” Fern sent her a glare then stormed back
into the kitchen.

Lash took a seat next to his brother. She made to go
to the kitchen, but the hand around her wrist stopped her.

“I need to go and help,” she said.

“You’re not helping. Sit the fuck down and wait.”

Arguing with him was not an option. Glancing around
the table, Angel couldn’t see any available chairs free.

With one quick tug, Lash had her on his lap. She
felt the hard ridge of his cock, and she tried her best to ignore it, even as
heat filled her cheeks. There was no way for her to ignore Lash. He was too
large, and from the feel of his shaft against her ass, he was big everywhere.

Two cups of coffee were placed in front of her.
Angel recognised Tate,
Tiny’s
daughter, as she placed
the cup in front of her. The younger woman rarely came to the club, but when
she did the crew were always on their best behaviour. Tiny didn’t like bad shit
happening around his girl. Tate was older than Angel by a couple of years.

“It’s nice to see one of the men treating you nice,”
Tate said.

Angel smiled at her not knowing what to say. Tate
was like her, thicker than the other girls in the club. Angel once heard that
the men preferred thin women and hated old ladies who got fat.

If that was the case what was Lash doing with her?

She sat on his lap, and Lash grabbed a newspaper.
Everything felt surreal to her. She was sat on Lash’s lap, reading a newspaper
while being waited on.

“We got a lot of work to do today, boys. I expect
you all to be out to the warehouse for our meeting. No women, no old ladies,
only yourself and your bike,” Tiny said.

Fern walked back to the table, slamming down plates
and glaring at her.

Angel stayed still not wanting to draw any
unnecessary attention.

“Come on, man. When are we going to have a proper
fucking party? I need to get laid by real sluts,” Butch said.

“Shut your mouth, Butch, otherwise I’ll make sure you
don’t see any action for months,” Tiny said.

Angel saw him looking at his daughter as he spoke.

Butch’s mouth stayed closed while Tate placed food
in front of Tiny and then moved back to the kitchen.

“Sorry.”

“When Tate’s here, you stay quiet.” Tiny spoke while
cutting into his breakfast.

No member used his real name. She knew Tiny either
picked names out, or members chose their own names. From what she heard,
Tiny’s
name was chosen by his late wife.

When Tate brought her breakfast through, she saw it
was on one plate and was handed to Lash.

“I’m the one who gets to feed you.”

“Move,” Tate said. Angel turned to see the other
woman was speaking to Nash.

“Why do I have to move?”

“Because I said.”

Lash chuckled. “Come on, brother, you know she’ll
get what she wants.”

His brother moved leaving room for Tate to sit next
to them. “
It’s
archaic making her eat from your
fingers, Lash.”

“Only because you’ve never found
a man strong enough to stand up to your father.”

“That’s the truth. None of these men will have the
guts to stand up to Dad and make a play for me. In fact none of the men in Fort
Wills will touch me.” Tate let out a sigh and started eating.

Angel stared at the other woman in sympathy.

“I’m sending a Prospect with Angel today. She needs
new clothes, and I’ve not got the time to go with her,” Lash said, half-way
through breakfast.

“I’ll go as well. I need new shoes,” Tate said,
speaking up.

Around her people organised her day, and Angel was
left no choice other than to do what they asked.

****

Lash stood with his brother and Tiny. They’d gone
through the three Prospects they had and come to Prospect Steven. He was twenty
years old, skinny but could fight. From what Lash knew of him, he was a good
kid and loyal to the club.

“You’re on babysitting duty. Anything happens to the
girls it’s on your head,” Tiny said.

He counted off some notes and handed them to Steven.
Lash did the same.

“Whatever Tate wants, you get it her. I don’t want
to hear her moaning or anything.” Tiny gave some more instructions and then
left Steven to him.

Lash handed over plenty of cash. “I want good,
designer shops. None of the shitty thrift stories they have. Make sure you take
them to the mall out of town, and if you do, you pack your stuff. There’s plenty
of action from other crews. If you see other tags you get out of there.”

“I’ve got it. Take the girls shopping, make sure
they spend a shit load of cash, and keep them safe,” Steven said. “I’ll keep an
eye on them. Both of them will be safe with me. I promise.”

“Good.” Lash slapped the Prospect on the shoulder
and moved toward his woman. Angel was stood near the door, her arms folded
while Tate did nothing but talk. Tate clearly liked his woman.

“Here
comes
trouble,” Tate
said.

Angel looked, and he was caught in her green gaze.
Going to her side, he pushed the hair from her face and looked down into her
eyes. “You’re to have fun today. I’ve given the money to Steven, and I should
be back this afternoon.”

“You don’t have to pay for anything.”

“My woman, my rules, Angel.”
He
pressed his lips against hers. “See you later, and be good.”

Before he left the club he made sure Steven knew to
get her a cell phone. He wanted to be in touch with her at all times. Nash
stayed silent behind him as he instructed Steven. There were only a few years
between them as brothers.

“Man, you’ve got it bad,” Nash said.

They stood by their bikes on the forecourt of the
club.

Each of the men was saying bye to their ladies or
the women who satisfied their needs.

“I’ve always had it bad for Angel.”

“I know, but this is different and you know it.
You’re the reason Tiny called in the debt and the reason David is not dead
yet,” Nash said.

“There are times I wish you weren’t my brother.”

“Yeah, having someone know everything about you must
suck. Does Angel know the extent of your obsession?”

Lash glanced back at the club in time to see Tate
talking with Angel as they left the building. She glanced over toward him but
didn’t do anything else. Steven climbed into the car with the two women going
in the back.

“No, she doesn’t have a clue what I’ve done to keep
her safe and to keep her for myself.” Since the moment she turned eighteen,
Lash had done everything he could to keep her safe and to keep the problems her
father brought to their life, away from her.

Steven pulled out of the parking lot, and Lash
turned his attention back to his brother. “And you’re not going to tell her.
Angel doesn’t need to know everything, and I’ll tell her what I think she needs
to know when I’m good and ready.”

He put the helmet on and flung his leg over the
bike, straddling the machine.

“You better. I’ve heard shit like this has a
tendency to blow up in your face.”

“I don’t intend to have anything blow up in my face.
It’s going to work.”

Tiny pulled out onto the main road, and everyone
else followed suit. The two remaining Prospects stayed behind with the others.

Riding on his bike, Lash followed the rest of the
crew through town and out onto the main road. They needed to travel a good hour
to get to the warehouse that stored most of their business.

It had once been a boxing factory, but when the
recession hit, the factory went under and plenty of people lost their jobs. The
club had banded together and laid claim to it. None of the old ladies ever visited
the warehouse, and no one who wasn’t part of the club came close to the
warehouse, not even the law. Since the death of Lash’s and Nash’s parents over
turf, Tiny had done everything he could to make the town safe. No club deals
went down near town, and no other crew came to Fort Wills.

The ride was a long one, but it allowed Lash time to
clear his head. There were times he struggled to think when he was right in the
middle of a problem. Riding his bike gave him the freedom and the quiet to
think of every problem.

Angel was not a problem, but her father was. He
hadn’t been joking when he’d told her David wouldn’t make it to the end of the
year. The Skulls were trying to regroup their losses caused by David. Other
than get back some money, the rest of the club wanted him dead. Lash had asked
for a little more time. If they took David out of the equation too soon, Lash
would lose any chance he had with Angel.

Time was not on his side. It wouldn’t be long before
the club voted against David being gone. The older man was stalling too damn
much and making it hard to believe his stories. The guy was full of it. The
death of Angel’s mom had left David broken in some way. Whatever the reason, it
wasn’t something the club took into consideration.

By the time he pulled up outside the warehouse Lash
wasn’t any clearer as to what he wanted. Climbing off the bike, he lit a
cigarette and waited for Nash and the others to pull up the rear.

“
Whoo
,” Nash said,
laughing. “There’s nothing like a ride to put the air in your lungs.”

There was a bolt across the door along with several
locks in place to keep people out.

“I know what you mean.” Taking a long pull on his
cigarette, Lash looked up at the sky. It was a hot, clear day, and his thoughts
returned to Angel. He wondered if she was having fun. Tate was an amazing girl.
She’d been a little toddler when Tiny took him and Nash into the fold. His old
lady was still alive back then. Pain struck whenever he thought about
Tiny’s
woman, who’d been like a mother to him. Patricia
cared for everyone, and Tiny was her whole world. It was watching and listening
to the pair that made Lash know he’d never have a sweet-butt for a wife.
Patricia had been an outsider, but her love for Tiny kept her by his side. Her
death hit their leader hard, but Tiny finally worked his way out of the
heartache. Tate was like Patricia in a lot of ways. Tiny wouldn’t let her get
involved in the club even though the younger woman wanted to.

“Thinking about Patricia?” Nash asked.

“Yeah, she was the one who suggested this place to
Tiny.” Lash looked at the warehouse. How Tiny still made it through the doors
was beyond him. He couldn’t imagine losing anything so precious to him. If
something was to happen to Angel, he couldn’t even breathe at the thought let
alone live with it. There was never going to be a way for him to live with it.

“I miss her, too. She was a strong woman. I could
never allow myself to love someone that much and then watch her die.”

“Is that why you fuck and take blow jobs from women
you won’t keep?” Lash asked.

“It saves being alone and in pain.” Nash slapped him
on the shoulder. “Come
on,
let’s go so you can get
your pansy fucking ass back to Angel.”

Together they walked into the warehouse.

David was sat at a desk typing away at the computer.
Several other members of The Skulls were stood around the warehouse. They all
took turns in babysitting David. When they left, whoever stayed behind was
locked inside the warehouse until the next morning.

Lash had spent two nights with the bastard,
listening to him mutter on about his wife and daughter. He didn’t like the
older man, but he was his woman’s father. Lash had no choice but to try to help
him out.