Banger's Ride: Insurgents Motorcycle Club (Insurgents MC Romance Book 5) (26 page)

“Sounds like a plan. When do you want to bring Rock and the others into it?”

“Let’s give it a few days. Then we’ll bring them in and spread the shit about the money.”

“Sounds good. Fuck, it gives me a bad taste to know a brother’s betrayed the club. Damn!” Hawk opened the door. “You coming? We both need a few shots.”

“Yeah. I’m comin’.” The president and his VP walked to the great room with a heavy gait, their shoulders tight.

A few hours into nightfall, Banger received a frantic call from Belle. Between her tears and stuttering, he couldn’t figure out what the hell the problem was. He understood enough that it had to do with Emily, but he couldn’t grasp what she’d done. “Babe, you gotta calm down, because I can’t understand a fuckin’ word you’re saying. Tell me slowly what the fuck’s up with your daughter.”

Belle hiccupped over the phone, and he heard her inhale and exhale several times before answering. “She’s run away. Holly called me, and she doesn’t know where she is. Emily has never run away before. What if something happens to her?” Her voice thinned out.

“I’ll find her for you, but you gotta stay calm.”

“I never should have let her stay with Holly. This is my fault. Emily thinks I don’t love her because I sent her away. What the fuck am I going to do if she gets hurt? I can’t—”

“Belle, stop. You’re getting worked up again, and it’s not helping shit for you to be freakin’ out. I need you to calm down if I’m gonna help you. Okay?” A few more hiccups crackled over the phone then a long sigh. “Belle?”

“I’m okay. I’m freaking out, but I’m okay. Please, find her. Please.”

“Does she have a boyfriend?”

“Not that I know of. I asked Holly the same thing, and she told me no.”

“Who’s her best friend?”

“Chelsea.”

“Good. Give me the girl’s full name and address. You sit tight. I’m sending Cara and Addie to keep you company while I search for her.”

After finally calming Belle down, Banger arranged for the two old ladies to sit with Belle and keep her calm while he found her daughter. Enlisting the help of Rock and Puck, the threesome started their Harleys and blasted into the chilly night.

Chelsea proved to be a fountain of information, especially when she saw the three tatted and muscular bikers whose soft-spoken words held an undercurrent of danger. She relayed the fact that Emily had met a man who was a good ten years older than she, and they hung out a lot at his place. The trio thanked her and left a terrified Chelsea standing on her moonlit porch.

The Harleys parked in front of a run-down bungalow with several beat-up cars in the front yard. The gate creaked when Banger pushed it open, and he and the others walked toward the door, their boots catching every so often on the broken sidewalk. In one long stride, Banger leapt onto the porch, opened the broken-down screen door, and pounded on the inner one.

A medium-sized man opened the door, his eyes widening as he scanned the threesome in front of him. He looked to be around twenty-six years old. His head was shaved, he was shirtless, and his arms were covered in tattoos of dragons, snakes, and a busty, half-naked woman swigging a bottle of beer. “What do you want?”

“Emily. Get her now and there’s no trouble. It’s fuckin’ simple.”

“Who? I don’t know who the fuck you’re talking about. Get off my porch.”

Banger fixed his stare on the man right before he threw a punch to his stomach. The man bent over, groaning. “Maybe you didn’t hear me so good. Get Emily. I don’t like fuckin’ repeating myself.”

Gasping for air, the doubled-over man shook his head.

Banger pushed his way in. “He needs some persuasion,” he said, his eyes locking with Rock’s. The Sergeant-At-Arms grinned, exposing straight, white teeth. Banger moved aside as Rock’s fist met the man’s jaw.

“Fuck!” the guy sputtered as he fell to his knees. “She’s in my room, hiding in the closet. I don’t have anything with you guys.” He rubbed his jaw. “No bitch’s worth this.”

“You’re right there. No bitch is worth shit.” Rock placed his heavy boot on the man’s hips and pushed him down.

Banger tried a couple of doors before he found the bedroom. He went over to the closet and threw open the door. Emily was curled up in the corner, glaring at him.

“Get the fuck out,” Banger ordered.

“No fucking way, asshole.”

The skin on his arms prickled, and a burning rage rushed to his head. He stared at her, breathing deeply, trying to quell the rage which threatened to explode. After a couple of minutes, he hissed, “Get out, or I’ll drag you out.”

“Just because you’re fucking my mom doesn’t give you the right to tell me what to do.” She defiantly tipped her chin up.

“You,
missy,
don’t have the fuckin’ right to hurt and worry your mama. Now, get your ass outta there.” Before she could answer, Banger grabbed her by the hands and dragged her out as she kicked and cussed at him.

He held the flailing Emily until she tired herself out. Looking at him with a gleam of hatred, she said, “Just leave me alone. You don’t know anything about me. My mom tells you how she loves me, but she doesn’t. She dumped me at Aunt Holly’s. She fucking threw me out.”

“She fuckin’ saved your ass from foster care.”

Emily stopped screaming and looked at him. “Foster care?”

He told her what he knew, what Belle had shared with him. “Do you know how fuckin’ hard it is for a parent to send their child away just to protect them? Fuck, you don’t know shit. Talk to your mama and fix whatever shit you two got going. I came to get you and I did, so now I’m takin’ you to your mother.”

Fixing her eyes on the floor, she mumbled, “I didn’t know. Why didn’t she tell me?”

“I don’t know why the fuck you two aren’t talkin’. I’m no fuckin’ shrink. Now, let’s go. Oh, and the asshole gave you up in no time. You don’t need a pussy like that.”

On the way out, Banger leaned down and snarled in Emily’s boyfriend’s face. “Don’t even think of calling or seeing her again. The law can get you for stat rape, but I’ll get you for not fuckin’ listening to me.” He punched him in the stomach again, smiling as the guy grunted and crumpled over. “Let’s get the fuck outta here,” Banger said, as they walked down the pathway toward their Harleys, Emily sandwiched between them.

He watched Emily trudge up the driveway to her house, head hanging down. Belle had flung open the door the minute Banger had turned off the engine. He felt a twitch in his groin when he saw her curvaceous figure outlined by the glow of the amber porch light. She stood there, chewing on her fingernail. As he approached, he saw her puffy, red eyes smile through the veil of tears.

“Emily,” she said, as she hugged her daughter tightly. Looking over the girl’s shoulder, she mouthed, “Thank you,” to him. He jerked his head then pulled back, letting mother and daughter go inside. He turned to look at Rock and Puck who patiently straddled their bikes. “You can go.” Without answering, the two men took off. Banger sat on one of the porch steps. The light from the neighboring homes flickered like an old movie reel on the ground, which appeared to be swallowed up by the inky darkness of the night. He jerked around when he heard the screen door open.

“You want to come in?” Belle asked in a low voice.

“You got stuff to talk about with your kid.”

“I know, but I’d like you to come in.”

He rose to his feet and walked in, placing a quick kiss on her lips. “Talk to her. I’ll watch TV.” He went into the living room, plunked down on the couch, and turned the set on.

After a long time, Belle came into the living room and sat next to Banger. Noticing her swollen eyelids and red nose, he stroked her cheek. “You two work some shit out?”

“A little. Emily told me she wants to come back home, so I called Holly and told her. For some reason, she acted pissed. Anyway, I want my daughter with me. If the judge doesn’t like it, then I’ll have to deal with it. The biggest thing is that Emily asked to come home
and
she’s agreed to go to family counseling. That is huge.” Her voice hitched, and she stopped to blow her nose. “Thanks for bringing her home.”

“No need to thank me. I’m glad you two are getting shit out in the open. I know you have to do it. When Grace died, I couldn’t talk to Kylie about it. Fuck, I didn’t know what to say, so I pretended everything was fine when it wasn’t. My sister finally told me I had to talk to the girl, and be there for her no matter what. It wasn’t easy, but we got through it.” He folded his arm around her, pulling her into the crook of his arm, then kissed her forehead.

Belle snuggled closer to him, and he breathed in her floral scent, which always got his cock going. But even though he wanted to be inside her, he knew what she needed was his comfort. So he gave it to her. He sat there quietly holding her, listening to her stuffy-nose breaths, feeling her soft hair tucked under his jaw, as he watched the blue flames curling and swaying in the fireplace.

A
fter she dropped
her kids off at their schools, Belle went back home and poured herself a cup of coffee, then sat down at the table to eat a slice of coffee cake she’d picked up from the bakery. She had cancelled her weekly walk with Holly, not in the mood to rehash Emily’s decision to return home. Belle had been elated when Emily had told her she wanted to come home, and she couldn’t understand why Holly seemed so angry about it—after all, Emily wasn’t
her
daughter. Holly had had an attitude with Belle ever since they went to the burger restaurant and Belle had bumped into Banger. And when they’d reconciled following his month-long silent treatment, Holly had been so pissed at her that she hadn’t spoken to her for a week. It seemed strange, but Belle remembered when Holly had become angry at her for forgiving Harold when he’d had an affair with his secretary. Belle appreciated her friend’s concern, but she’d wished several times that she’d just fucking butt out.

As she finished the last morsel of cake, her phone rang. Hoping it was Banger, she picked up.

“Hello.”

“You’re not going to get away with it. I know you killed my dad, you greedy, vindictive bitch. I’m going to make sure you spend the rest of your life behind bars.” The voice of one of her least favorite persons assaulted her ears.

“Jessica, I didn’t kill your father. You’re being ridiculous, and you know it. Are you that angry about not getting any money from your father’s estate? I told you he was broke when he died. You need—”

“I need to have you pay for killing my dad,” Jessica snarled. “I found the syringe, and when they do the tests, the cops will believe me. I never believed he died of a heart attack, and you refused to have an autopsy, even though I wanted it.”

“Jessica, your father would never have wanted that. The doctor said it was a heart attack. What more do you want? There’s no money at all. I don’t have a clue what he did with the millions he stole from the company. If I did, I would give you and your brother your share. You need to move on.”

“You’d like me to just forget the whole thing, wouldn’t you? Well, I won’t. I’m going to make sure you get everything that’s coming to you. You think you can get away with this?”

Belle pressed the disconnect button. Her quiet time had been ruined by Jessica’s call. She had thought Jessica would have grown weary from her vendetta against her, but she hadn’t. From their conversation, it seemed she was more crazed and obsessed than ever. Her malevolent accusations were making Belle’s life miserable, and having the detective snooping into her life was embarrassing.

Belle shook her head. Jessica had always been a spoiled girl; her father had placated her childish tantrums even though she’d been married with children. Belle hadn’t said much since it wasn’t her business, but she’d thought he was crazy to give in to her demands all the time. Harold had given Jessica a shitload of money over the years, and now she blamed Belle for the money being gone. The woman was a nutcase.

The phone rang again, and Belle ignored it. She was done with Jessica Dermot Hoskins, and if she kept bothering her, Belle would just have to make sure she stopped. The nut job was out of control, and it was high time someone pulled the reins in.

A
few days
later, Belle tried to tame her mass of curls before Banger came by to pick her up. He’d called earlier that morning, telling her to be ready in an hour because she was spending her day off with him. Her insides sang, and when she hung up, she immediately arranged for Emily to pick up Ethan at his school.

Since starting family counseling, she and Emily were working through some issues, and even though they had a long way to go, they were at least speaking to each other civilly. For Belle, that was a huge plus, and she’d hoped that all the darkness, the bitterness, and the hatred would eventually dissipate and they both could be whole again.

She heard Banger’s cams from a block away, and her skin tingled with anticipation. She’d never ridden on the back of a motorcycle before, and even though it was something she’d always wanted to try, she never had. When she and Banger had first hooked up, it was too snowy and icy to ride on the back of his bike. It was now spring, and they were back together, so she’d been bugging him about being his “biker chick” on the back of his Harley. When he’d told her he was coming by on his powerful machine, she was beyond thrilled.

Closing and locking the door behind her, Belle waved at Banger and hurried down the sidewalk. “I can’t wait to feel the wind in my hair,” she said as she hugged him.

“I can’t wait to feel your tits pressed against my back. It’s fuckin’ awesome to have a woman wrapped around you while you’re flying.” He handed her an orange bandanna. “Put this on to keep your hair from going crazy. You got a lot of hair, woman.”

She did her best to tuck her thick tresses under the scarf before she grabbed hold of his thigh and swung on, positioning herself until she felt comfortable and balanced. He instructed her on what to do, and as he spoke, fear coiled around her. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Before she could debate it with herself any further, she let out a squeal and held onto Banger’s waist for dear life as the Harley let out a pane-shattering roar. They were off.