Filthy Bastard (Grim Bastards MC) (9 page)

“With the shit with Crank, I should’ve known,” I mumble, as I roll out the plastic. “Hell, someone had to make Crank the fucked up piece of shit he was. No one is born that fucking evil; that shit’s gotta be bred into them.”

I knew Crank was a stupid fuck, out for no one but himself. I should’ve known there was no way he could’ve come up with a plan to take down the club by himself, so I should’ve known that someone was behind him calling all the shots. Still, I never could have guessed it was Stone playing puppet master. It was, though, and that’s something we are all gonna have to learn to live with. Even after he’s buried, it’s gonna take a long damn time for any of us to accept that truth. For the brothers that didn’t hear it from Stone’s own lips, that’s gonna be even harder.

Taking in a deep breath, I look to my President and friend and offer him the one thing that I hold above all others. “As Sergeant at Arms, it’s my job to watch your back. I fucking failed. If you want my patch, I’ll understand.”

“Fuck you, brother,” Boz growls out, pointing a finger in my face. “I ever hear that shit leave your mouth again, I’ll do more than take your patch.”

He then motions toward Stone’s body and orders, “Clean this shit up and get his fucking sorry ass out of my clubhouse. Bury him out back, right along the tree line. He doesn’t get a fucking marker, nothing reminding us of him. Just put him in the ground.”

With those words, Pres leaves the room and stomps up the stairs. I wait until his footsteps fade away, before I release the chains on Stone’s arms and pull him onto the plastic. Once done, I roll it around him then shove his body to the corner and grab the bleach.

Smoke walks over to the faucet we have in the corner of the basement, and as he turns the water on, he says, “We will have to go by and check on Stone’s old lady. I know he said not to tell her anything, and I agree with that. Still, we need to find out if she knows anything. He could have died with secrets that would haunt the club for years.”

“You’re right. We have to figure out what she knows.” I nod in agreement.

I hope like hell talking to her ends up a lot cleaner than talking to Stone did. I’ll do what I have to do for my club, for the brotherhood. Hell, I’d do anything Boz or Smoke asked me to do. Still, it’s gonna be hard as fuck torturing a woman. Just putting the fear of God in Cherry was nearly more than my stomach could handle.

“Have you ever met her?” I ask, wondering what kind of woman could possibly give birth to a monster like Crank.

“Seen her once, when he first brought her in,” he says with a look of disgust on his face. “She was so damn young, barely legal from the looks of her. She didn’t look all that happy to be by his side either, and I think she was scared to death of Crank.”

“What?” I ask, trying to make sense of his words. “I thought Stone was married to Crank’s mom. Hell, he talked about her all the time.”

“Nah, she ran off about seven years ago. He just never got over her leaving him with a kid. I think sometimes he liked pretending she was still at home waiting for him. The new woman showed up a few months or so later.” His eyes cut to me as he adds, “You weren’t around back then. I’m thinking you were still inside.”

“Yeah, I was,” I reply, shrugging. “Guess we’ll find out what she knows when we talk to her. Might have been a reason she didn’t look all that happy with Stone.”

“Wanna ride out after we get this cleaned up?” he asks, running a hand through his beard.

Shaking my head, I mumble, “No, man. Tomorrow or even this weekend is soon enough to question her.”

He nods and adds, “We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

“Let’s get this shit done and over with. I want to get a fucking shower, clean the stench of the son of a bitch off my body, then climb in bed with my woman,” I say, without thinking about the words coming out of my mouth.

Smoke’s eyes jerk to mine, and a smile spreads across his face. “Your woman, huh? You laying claim to Red?”

All thoughts of blood and retribution fade away as my mind fills with Addy. “I’d like to, but I’m thinking she ain’t gonna let it happen.”

As much as I want to make her mine, at least give it a fucking try, I know it’s not possible. She has something holding her back from me, but I’m not sure what it is. It may be the club, her family, or even school. Hell, it could even be another man. With time, I could probably figure out what and work around it. Now, though, we know the truth about Hoss’ club, so the girls are gonna be free soon. I’m betting Trix will stay with Boz. For me, though, my time is up.

“That woman wants you, brother. You’d have to be blind not to see that,” Smoke says, as he starts spraying down the floor. “If I had a chance at something that sweet, I’d be grabbing on with both hands and never letting go.”

His words ricochet through my brain, making me want what I can’t have even more. It takes every bit of willpower I have not to do just what he says and forget all my responsibilities. Instead, I unscrew the bleach and get started on the cleaning.

“I can’t do that, Smoke. She needs to live a life without all this shit in it,” I reply, hoping he understands what I mean.

“Did you ever think this shit might be worth it, if you had someone to go home to at the end of the night, someone that cared whether you came home or not?” He nods to the blood then looks over to Stone’s body.

“Of course,” I reply, sloshing the bleach onto the floor. “It’s all I’ve thought of since I grabbed her ass from that parking lot.”

“Well, brother.” His eyes cut to me, as a grin spreads across his lips. “Did you ever think she might feel the same way?”

No, I sure in the hell didn’t. Now, it’s all I’ll be able to think about.

Addy

SITTING AT
the picnic table, I look around the yard at everyone having fun. This is my last day at the Grim Bastards MC, my last day of freedom. Tomorrow, I go home. I go back to school, back to my parents’ disapproval, back to my sister’s tears. Tomorrow, I go back to being my brother-in-law’s prisoner.

Who would have thought, being kidnapped would allow me to be free for the first time in my life? I was able to eat what I want without worrying that my mother would make a comment about my fat ass. I was able to go to sleep without worrying my sister needed me. I was able to get out of bed in the morning without dreading Blake’s text.

Instead, I lived free and wild. I partied, drank, ate. Hell, I even smoked weed for the first time. I have laughed until I cried, slept half the day away, even spent the entire day lounging in bed a time or two. All things I had never done before. Nobody bitched, complained, or acted like it was out of the ordinary. Hell, they pretty much let me do whatever I wanted, besides be outside of my room without Brew, but I was ok with that. He wasn’t bad company; he actually makes me feel alive. After the first day, after I realized these guys weren’t going to hurt me, I had a fucking ball. That all changes tomorrow.

“You need to eat, Red,” Brew says, bringing me out of my dreary thoughts.

I paste on a smile and reply, “I am gonna fix me something in a few minutes.”

Setting a plate in front of me, he takes a seat beside me at the picnic table. “Well, now you don’t have to get up.”

I look down at the paper plate, piled high with food. “Do you expect me to eat all this?”

His hazel eyes light up as he smiles at me. “If not, I’ve got your back.”

With those words, he grabs a piece of chicken from my plate and takes a bite. Drawing a laugh from me, he smiles around the chicken then takes another bite. I take the opportunity to look at Brew, really take in his face. It’s not like I haven’t looked at him before, plenty of times actually. This time, though, I wanna burn it in my memory, so I’ll never forget.

His hair is the first thing that grabs my attention. It looks so soft; it’s hard to keep my hands away from it, and I know first-hand that it’s as soft as it looks. During the kisses we’ve shared, I couldn’t stop myself from grabbing a handful. More than once, I’ve had to fist my fingers to stop from reaching out and running my hands through it again. His hazel eyes are almost solid green at the moment, but I’ve seen them turn a deep brown when he’s angry. Luckily, they’ve never been directed at me at the time. When I first saw Brew, he scared the hell out of me. Having a six-foot plus man running at you, wearing a leather cut, would scare the shit out of anyone. Now, I only feel safe when I’m at his side.

I have dwelled on the fact of me leaving tomorrow long enough. There’s nothing I can do to change the fact that tonight is it for me and Brew. I might as well enjoy the last night that I have here and enjoy the time I have with him.

I look back up at Brew and say, “I think if we’re gonna do this party right, we need tequila.”

Brew nods his head, laughs, and says, “All right, Red, let’s get you some tequila.”

We make a quick trip back into the clubhouse, grabbing salt and lime slices out of the kitchen, before going to the bar and grabbing a bottle of Josè. We head back outside, and I look around for Trix. It’s no fun drinking at a party without my best friend. I see her standing off to the side talking to Boz’s mom, Letty. I hate to interrupt them, but I’m ready for a drink.

“Hi, Letty,” I say after we make our way over to her and Trix.

She tells me hi back, before waving us away. I lead Trix over to the grill where Boz is, so we can see if he’s ready to quit cooking and drink with us.

As soon as we walk up to him, he wraps his arms around Trix and asks, “Are you having fun, darlin’?”

“Not yet,” I answer for her, lifting up the bottle of Jose. I then nod at Brew and say, “He has lime and salt.”

“Shots,” Trix says, sounding just as excited as I am about it. “You joining us?”

He looks down at the grill then shakes his head. “Give me a few, and I’ll be there.”

Brew lifts his chin to Boz, before leading Trix and me to the picnic tables. He finds an empty one then takes a seat, pulling me down beside him. As soon as Trix sits down across from us, I open up the bottle of tequila and get the party started.

“I’m ready to have some fun,” I say, a smile spreading across my face.

I take a drink and push the bottle to Trix. While she takes her shot, I grab one of the limes and suck the sour juice into my mouth. Grabbing the salt, I get ready for my next shot.

Trix swallows the fiery liquid. “That shit’s good.”

“It sure is,” I reply, pulling the lime from my mouth.

Brew laughs at our antics before brushing his light brown waves out of his face and taking his first shot. Then, he pulls me to him and licks the lime juice from my lips. His tongue slips past my lips, giving me a taste of him mixed with tequila. The mixture causes my pussy to clench with anticipation.

Pulling back, he smiles. “Now, that right there is damn good.”

A blush covers my cheeks while I savor the flavor on my tongue. I can’t keep the smile off my face as I jerk my eyes to Trix. I lift a brow at her, my smile growing impossibly wider. She lets out a laugh before grabbing the tequila from Brew and taking another shot.

Just as I go for another shot, the sound of bikes pulling into the yard reaches my ears. We all look in their direction and see Satan’s Revenge is here. When Trix’s dad climbs from his bike, she gets up from the table and runs over to him.

“Do you think he’s gonna take her home?” I ask, hoping like hell he isn’t.

“He’s gonna try, but Boz won’t let him,” Brew replies, taking another drink.

I stare at my best friend while she talks to her father. Anyone could tell by looking at the two of them that the conversation isn’t going well. For a split second, I start to worry. When my friend looks back at Boz and smiles, I let out a relived breath.

“Being here makes her happy. It’s where she belongs.”

Brew grabs my chin and turns me to look at him. “What makes you happy, Red?”

“I’m not sure how to answer that,” I tell him honestly. “I can say, I’ve never been happier than I am at this very moment.”

It’s not long before the sound of
I Love Rock ‘N Roll
by Joan Jett and The Blackhearts hits my ears. A smile spreads across my face as I jump up and search the yard for my best friend. A second later she is running toward me. Just as she stops inches from me, I shout out the first line of lyrics. She joins me, arm in arm, and we sing our favorite song together, the song her mom used to sing as she flitted around the clubhouse.

As soon as the last cord is done, we both laugh and join Brew at the picnic table. I reach over to the bottle of Tequila and down a shot. Trix follows closely behind, doing the same thing. One more shot, and my mind fills with thoughts of Brew and his tongue on my lips. I know today is the last day I’ll be with him, and I have to take my chance.

Knowing it’s now or never, I swallow the drink and turn to him. Not waiting for his approval, I plaster my lips onto his. His mouth opens, allowing my tongue to slip inside. The taste of him sends a shiver all the way down to my nipples. When his hand cups the back of my head and he deepens the kiss, a wave of pure pleasure runs through my body.

When he finally pulls back, I’m gasping for air. It only takes a second to realize I just made the biggest mistake of my life. I knew better; it took forever to get over the first kiss we shared. This time, it will be even worse. In fact, I have a feeling I’ll be spending the rest of my life looking to recreate it.

Pain hits my chest when I look into his beautiful hazel eyes. I can tell he wants more, and that more includes things that happen in and out of bed. I wish, fucking wish, I could give that to him. That’s not going to happen, though. He deserves better than me. He deserves someone who is clean, someone that’s not filthy all the way to her core.

Not willing to dwell on the negative, not today, I jump up from my seat and run around the table. I pull Trix up. We spend the next few minutes laughing and singing along with AC/DC. Just as the final notes of
Back in Black
play, Boz walks over and pulls Trix away.

I smile as my best friend falls into the arms of her man. Seeing how happy he makes her sends a wave of longing through me. I want that; I want it with Brew.