Whizz (18 page)

“We have an agreement. You let Sunshine work for me and I pay you to stay the fuck out of our business. Do you want people to know about your debts? I’m paying them off for you, Hank.”

“You’re older than her, Alex. This is wrong.”

“Business is booming and you want to back out of our deal? Sunshine’s mine. You just never expected me to collect. Where was your conscience when you allowed her to be part of our bargain?”

“I made a mistake.”

“No, you made a business deal. You just thought you could outsmart me, Hank. No one outsmarts me.”

“What could a Skull want with my daughter?” Hank asked.

“You don’t want to know the answer.” Alex closed the door, leaving himself in peace and quiet.

Yes, he’d paid a parent for access to their daughter. Sunshine didn’t have a clue that her parents had as good as sold her to the highest bidder to get out of debt, and to hide Hank’s debts. Alex didn’t know if her mother even knew about his debts. He didn’t care. He just hoped Sunshine never found out the truth.

Chapter Nine

Whizz watched Lacey sleep. He’d fucked her multiple times throughout the night not giving her a chance to rest or to catch up on her beauty sleep. She looked so peaceful in sleep. He eased a strand of her hair off her face so it didn’t block the view of her beautiful face.

“It can’t be morning yet,” she said, opening her eyes to smile at him.

“How long have you been awake?” he asked.

“Long enough to know that you’re watching me.” She smiled up at him. “It’s a little creepy you staring at me.”

“Get used to it. I’m not going to change.”

“You made sure that I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.” She changed the subject quickly.

“When it comes to your body, I can’t resist. You tempt me with your ways.”

In the background they heard some banging and shouting. She let out a groan, pulling the blanket over her head. “Why are they moaning?”

“Eva’s dad, Ned Walker, is due to come to Fort Wills today. He’s not the biggest fan of Tiny. Things could get a little crazy seeing as he’s bringing a couple of fighters with him.” Whizz rested his head on his hand, watching her.

“Do I even want to know how bad that’s going to be?”

“Tiny’s seen Ned several times and is still breathing. It’s probably down to the fact Tiny’s fucking his daughter.”

She shook her head at him. “You can be crude when you want to be.”

He stared at her wondering what she was thinking, and asked her.

Lacey let out a breath. “Nothing, not really.”

“I know you well enough to know you’re thinking about something.”

“I’m just thinking about children. Nothing important. It must be nice for, erm, Ned to visit his kids.” She smiled, but he saw the pain in her eyes. Lacey wouldn’t get that chance.

“So, I was thinking instead of us being here when Ned arrived, we could take a trip to the beach.”

“The beach? We’re miles away from a beach.”

“I’ve got my bike. We’ve got no responsibilities. You, me, the beach, perhaps a condo where it’s just us?” He tried to tempt her with his offer. “What do you say?” he asked. Whizz wanted to get away from the clubhouse, and he wanted Lacey with him by his side.

“Just get up and go.”

He nodded. “No one else is invited, just us.”

His heart raced with excitement at the prospect of having her all to himself.

She smiled. “I’d really like that.”

Whizz got to his feet, tugging the blanket off her. “Get dressed. We’ll go right now.” He didn’t give her a chance to protest as he led her into the bathroom. They got changed together even though it killed him to put his aching cock away in the tight pants he wore. He took the lead, grabbing her hand and leading her down toward the kitchen. Whizz wasn’t prepared to hear any protests. Ned Walker coming to the clubhouse with no threat in sight was not something Whizz wanted to witness. The older man had a bad reputation for hurting men that caused any pain to his daughter. Tiny hadn’t caused Eva any pain, but he was her husband and took the full blame in Ned’s eyes.

“Tiny, will you relax?” Eva asked, following her man across the clubhouse with Tabitha on her hip.

“Your father is a menace, Eva.”

“We owe him.”

“Exactly, he’s probably coming to take it out of my organs.”

Whizz chuckled. Tiny loved teasing his woman about her father.

They stopped in the kitchen to see several couples already up. Kelsey was in the room, looking pale and sickly.

“She’s got a stomach bug,” Killer said. “She’s not pregnant.” Killer looked disappointed.

“Where are you off to?” Tate asked.

“We’re going for a ride. Call me if you need me.” Whizz sneaked toast off Angel’s plate. She only smiled at him as he apologized.

“My wife’s food is not yours, Whizz,” Lash said, glaring at him.

Gripping Lacey’s hand, he headed out of the clubhouse with no one else stopping them.

“Why are you rushing?” she asked.

“I mention the beach and we’ll have people coming along for the ride. I’m not into making it a gathering with anyone else. I want you to myself.” He climbed onto his machine, giving Lacey a helmet. “Quick before someone sees.” She stuffed the toast into her mouth as he finished off the slice he had taken. He’d stop for breakfast when they were a safe distance away.

She climbed on the back of his machine, wrapping her arms around his waist. Whizz was out of the compound just as Zero and Prue were making their way out of the door. They stopped, looking confused as he left. His cell phone buzzed in his pocket, but he ignored it. When he was far enough away he’d call the clubhouse.

“This is completely insane,” Lacey said, shouting loud enough for him to hear.

“We’re going to spend the day away from everyone else. This is what living is all about.” He let out a whoop then concentrated on the road.

Whizz hadn’t felt this carefree in years. The last time he’d had fun going on a ride was way before Alan. He cut the thought off. If he never heard the name Alan again, he’d be fucking happy. That man was not going to define his future. The torture at his hands was all in the past, and Whizz was determined for it to stay there.

Lacey didn’t try to talk. Thirty minutes later, he pulled the bike to a stop outside of a diner.

“We’ll eat here.”

She handed him the helmet. Her blue hair looked a mess from being contained in the helmet. “I can’t believe we’re doing this. I feel like we’re sneaking away from our parents.”

“We are. I’m just going to call the club to let them know not to worry about us. I don’t want them out looking.”

“I’ll go on ahead and order.”

He watched her walk into the diner before dialing the club’s number. Tiny answered the call into the fourth ring.

“What?” Tiny barked the question out.

“It’s Whizz.”

“Why the fuck did you run out on us?”

Whizz chucked. “He’s your father-in-law, not mine.”

“We’re a club. We stick together.”

He stared through the window to see Lacey had taken a seat near the window. Her head was bowed over the menu she was reading.

“What have you decided about Butch?” Family meant more to him now than ever before. The Skulls were his rock whereas Lacey was his reason for breathing.

“I’m not discussing this on the phone.”

“You talk about sticking together, but you’re prepared to throw Butch under the bus.”

“He’s living.”

“I demand a vote on it.” Whizz would talk to every single member if he had to. Butch didn’t need to be thrown away like that. They were a family for a reason. If Butch didn’t want to be part of The Skulls, he wouldn’t have given away the Savage Brothers’ location. Butch had helped them to end the club that hurt the town. Lacey had even helped them to understand Butch’s part in it, which wasn’t much.

“Fine. I’ll tell the guys you want to vote.”

“Make it the end of the week. You’ve got a lot of shit to get through. I don’t want any part in it.” Before Tiny could say anything more, he hung up. There, he’d done it. Putting a call through to Cheryl, he waited for her to answer.

“Hello, Whizz” she said, whispering.

“How’s he doing?”

“He’s going to live. Apart from that he’s not doing good. It doesn’t help that none of the club have come by to say hi. They’ve abandoned him. I know why they’re angry, but this is hard for him.”

Whizz cursed. “I’ve demanded a vote to keep him in. I can’t promise anything, but will you do me a favor?”

“Sure, I’ll do anything for Butch.”

“Talk to Alex. He’s the one you need to see to reason with Tiny.”

“Whizz?”

“You’ll do anything for Butch.”

“Yes.” He knew she was speaking through gritted teeth.

“Then talk with Alex. He’ll be the one to talk to Tiny. Butch will have to be voted back in or we’ll have to talk about it. Speak with Alex, reason with him, and I’ll be back in Fort Wills in a couple of days.”

“I will. Whizz, thank you. I know you didn’t have to do this, but I’m grateful all the same.”

“Don’t mention it.” He hung up the phone, heading into the diner.

Taking a seat opposite her he flagged down the waitress passing them. He ordered them both two strong coffees. “Have you ordered anything?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No, I’ve not seen anything I wanted yet.”

“I put a call through to Tiny. He believes we all handle this like a team and should be there together.”

“What do you think?”

“I think we’ll be around Tiny and Ned in a few days. He can handle the meet and greet.”

“I can’t believe we just got up and left. It seems wrong for some reason.”

They both stopped talking as their coffees were delivered.

“Let me know when you want to order,” the waitress said before walking away to deal with other customers.

He picked up his drink, taking a sip of the dark liquid. Whizz picked up another menu and started to look through.

“Is Eva’s father really that bad?”

“Tiny has to keep up relations. Imagine having the father who knows all the shit you’ve done, and then you’re screwing his daughter as well. Eva kept her identity of who she was related to under wraps for a long time.”

Lacey ran her finger down the menu. Whizz merely watched her. He liked watching her, the way she moved or looked. During all the time he looked at her, he’d never seen a smile on her face when she was deep in thought.

The time he’d spent with her he knew she was a caring person. In The Skulls, she’d thrive around the children and people. Lacey was a naturally caring person. The club, when they gave her a chance, would see how loving she could be. Angel and Prue already liked her. When she let her guard down, Lacey was a likeable person.

“Do you want to have children?” he asked.

She jerked in her seat, glancing up at him. “Why are you asking me that?”

“I know what happened. I know you can’t have any.” She turned her head off into the distance. He saw the glistening of tears in her eyes. “I don’t mean to bring up something hard. I wanted to know more about you.”

Lacey didn’t answer any of his questions. She continued to look down the list on the menu. He noticed her fingers shook a little. Whizz was a patient man. He wanted to know more about the woman he’d fallen for.

“I think the eggs benedict will be good. I’ve never had that.”

“It’s a hollandaise sauce over poached egg on an English muffin.”

“I’ll have that with some bacon. What are you going to have?”

“I’m a simple guy. I’ll just have the pancakes.” He signaled the waitress, putting through their order. Whizz wished there was something for him to say to make life a little easier for Lacey. She didn’t have anything in life to look forward to. He’d taken so much from her, and yet there was nothing to give back. Those bastards had also taken from her. When had she not had something taken from her? The Savage Brothers needed to die. They were a menace and a danger to everyone, but in getting rid of them, he’d taken from her again.

The waitress left them in silence. Lacey’s hands were locked together in front of her. She didn’t pick up her coffee or make any move to prepare her drink by adding milk or sugar.

“When it happened I didn’t think it would matter. I woke up in the hospital, and the doctor was there telling me all these things that had happened. Dalton, he was there holding my hand. I remember thinking I couldn’t have kids, who cares. I was ten years old. Kids were the last thing on my mind.” He reached out to touch her hands. She stared at his hands but didn’t pull away. “As I got older and I started to realize what was taken from me, it started to hurt. I can’t have kids. I’ll never be able to experience that pleasure or pain, carrying and then birthing a child.” She grabbed a napkin and dabbed under her eyes.

His heart was breaking for her. Most of the women at the club knew what it was like to carry a baby and to give birth.

“It has been hard. I’m not going to lie and say it hasn’t. There are times I find myself wishing for a family. I think about the future, which is insane because I’m thirty years old. My younger days of planning the future are over. I’m not going to find anyone to settle down with. I can’t have kids. My life has been about revenge for so long. I don’t even know if I can join back up into the world of the living.” She shook her head. “I would have loved to have lived a normal life, going out to work, coming home to a husband and a couple of kids, or even staying at home being the wife.” Lacey pressed fingers to her temples. “I’m going insane. There are a lot of things I wish for, Whizz, but there are a lot of people who wish for the same kind of crap and don’t get it. I’m no different from all of those people.”

“You are different, Lacey. People get to have that dream at some point.” He thought about Rose. She couldn’t have children either. Whizz didn’t know why she couldn’t have children. Her life was falling apart, and she couldn’t even have children.

Lacey held his hand once again. “Whizz, I’m fine with being a little different. I’m used to it. If I could have kids I would have loved to have them. I love children. I love family. I get why Butch means so much to you. Family, they’re important. I see how The Skulls work. You’re a family, and no one can take that away from you.”