Hidden Secrets (Satan's Prophets MC) (18 page)

JD looked deeply into Jasmine’s eyes. “Have you? Cause I sure as hell can’t stop remembering. It was good between us, baby. I thought we were heading for the real deal here. I just need to understand why you did what you did. You ripped us apart. Just give me a reason, at least.”

Jaz’s temper was rising fast. He still thought she was guilty. Her mouth opened and she had no control over the words that came out. Raising her voice, she was nearly shouting. “Reason? You want a reason? Well, I’ll give you a damn reason. Joe drugged me that night. You and your macho pride. If you took one minute to stop and really look, you would have seen the truth. No. Instead, you think the worst of me and go off half-cocked like the damn jerk that you are. How’s that for a reason? Good enough for you?” She finished ranting at him. Raising her hand and using all the strength she could muster, she slapped JD hard across his face.

JD allowed that one slap thinking maybe he deserved it. He took hold of her arm and was about to say something, when he was jerked away from Jasmine and knocked to the floor.

Mick noticed Jaz was gone a long time and started to worry. He walked down the hallway and saw that biker having a hold on her and when she slapped him, he’d lost it. Mick let loose and punched JD, right in his face. Mick pushed Jaz to the side and told her to go. Jaz ran to get Big Daddy. She didn’t want Mick fighting over her, especially with all these bikers around. They could hurt him bad.

JD jumped up and swung. By the time Big Daddy, Roach and Drifter got there, it was a full blown battle. Jaz was screaming for them to stop. When no one would interfere, she tried to break it up.

Drifter grabbed a hold of her and held her wriggling body back. “Stay back, darlin. You don’t wanna get in the middle of that. The way their fists are flying, they won’t even know it’s you.”

Roach knew better than to interfere. JD was one mean motherfucker when riled and Roach wasn’t having that anger directed at him.

Finally Big Daddy had seen enough. He knew if he didn’t break it up, they’d beat each other to near death. Motioning to some brothers to help him, they stepped into the fray.

JD and Mick were evenly matched when it came to size and muscle. It took the bros’ a few minutes to subdue them and when they had them apart, Mick and JD were straining against their bonds to reach each other again.

With eyes blazing fire, Mick growled, “You touch her again, you’re a fucking dead man. You hear me? She’s under my protection.”

JD tried to break loose once more, but he was held back securely. “She don’t need your fucking protection from me. I’d never hurt her.”

Mick grabbed ahold of Jaz and dragged her outside. “Come on, drive us home,” he ordered, trying to get himself under control. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Back at the motel, Jaz took Mick into her room and was busying herself making an ice pack for his rapidly, swelling cheeks.

“You want to tell me what that was all about?” Mick near shouted at her. She started to cry as she walked back over and held the ice pack on his cheek.

“We had a thing going, but it’s over now.” She sat down on a chair and looked at Mick. Jaz knew he deserved the truth, but it was just so hard to talk about it.

“It didn’t look like it’s over to me.” Mick took the ice pack out of her hand and set it down. Talking in a softer voice, “Looked like there’s still a whole lot of feelings between you two.”

“He broke my heart. He didn’t believe in me.”

Taking hold of her hand and rubbing it softly, Mick was trying to be calm when he spoke. “Tell it to me, darlin’.”

Jaz repeated what happened that night, leaving nothing out. She was relieved to bring it out in the open and put her trust in someone again. She knew Mick would stand by her and believe in her innocence. It felt really good.

Mick was furious, all over again. He tried to hide it, but Jaz could tell every time his body tensed.

“All right, Jaz.” Mick pulled her in and hugged her tight. Mick was thinking if he knew this shit before, he would’ve killed that prick instead of just giving him a beating.

“It’s gonna be all right. If you don’t want anything to do with him again, you have me here. Don’t you worry about a thing.”

Jaz hugged Mick back tightly. “What would I do without you here? Thank you, I feel so much better now. I’m going to go to bed and I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Can you let yourself out?” She kissed Mick on his cheek and went to bed. Her mind was in a turmoil.

Mick sat there for a long time thinking. He hoped Jaz never found out why he was really here. He was doing his best to watch over her, he just hoped it would be enough.

“I send you over there to get information and what the fuck do ya do? Ya come back with your face beat to shit. Just fuckin’ great.” Striker was on a roll, totally pissed off.

“If there was a spot left on your face that wasn’t already hurtin’, I’d hurt it some more.” Striker kicked over a chair that was in his way and kept on pacing.

“And over what? A fuckin’ piece of ass?”

JD stood there and let Striker have at him. He did screw up—big time—but thought it was more with Jasmine than anything else. And who the hell is this guy that’s watching out for her? Maybe she really did move on. That hurt him more than he wanted to admit. And what information did this guy have that he was protecting Jasmine? How did he know she needed protection?

Drifter was happy to jump in and report some good news, hoping it would diffuse the tension in the room. “Lori, the girl from the motel is going to start on the books tomorrow. She was only too happy to earn the extra money.”

That calmed Striker down a bit. “Yeah, well at least you didn’t fuck up. You make sure you’re there the first couple of days and make sure things run smoothly. I don’t need that dumb-ass Danny or whatever the fuck his name is, giving her any crap.”

Wonderful. Just what I need—to be hanging around Lori,
Drifter thought.

Striker finished off his beer in one long swallow. “Tomorrow—Church at four. Everyone be there, no excuses. I’m heading on home now. I kept my old lady waiting on me long enough. I don’t get laid tonight, that’s on your heads, too.”

By the time Striker left, nobody was in too good a mood.

Lori had to bang on Jaz’s door to wake her up the next morning. When Jaz finally opened the door, Lori invited herself in.

“I was just about to give up. I wanted to check in on you and see how you are before I head over to the bar.”

Jaz’s eyes were red from crying and she was still half asleep. Yawning, Jaz asked, “What time is it?”

“It’s near eight o’ clock. Are you okay, Jaz?” Lori asked, looking over at her crumpled up bed.

Jaz was trying to put on a brave face. “Yeah. I’m okay. I didn’t get much sleep after that fiasco last night.”

“What happened? By the time we knew something was going on, it was over. Did you and JD talk?”

“Somewhat. He still thinks I went with Joe on purpose. I blew up and slapped his face and then Mick comes along and fists start flying.”

Lori couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, I’m proud of you girl. You should’ve slapped him harder, that asshole. What now?”

“I don’t know?” Jaz replied, shrugging her shoulders. “I’ll just go on like he isn’t here, I guess.” Plopping herself down onto a chair, Jaz looked at Lori—her eyes glazed with sadness. “What else can I do?”

In a low, calm voice, Lori had to ask. “Do you still love him?”

Jaz looked away. She couldn’t answer. She didn’t want to admit out loud that she still did. She was afraid Lori would think she was crazy. Hell! Even she thought she was crazy!

Lori could see that she did. It was written all over Jaz’s face. She shook her head sadly, at her friend.

Jaz had to change the subject fast before she broke down crying again. She’d shed enough tears over that bastard. Trying to speak without a noticeable tremor in her voice, she asked, “Where did you say you are going, over to the bar? What for?”

“Oh, I wanted to tell you,” Lori said with a big smile lighting up her face, “I got a job doing their books. Now we can hire a cleaning crew for the motel. I guess my college degree is good for something,” she laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

Disappointed there was no reaction from Jaz, Lori inquired, “What are your plans for today?”

Rising from the chair and slowly walking towards the bed, she answered, “Sleep. I plan to sleep all day.”

“Okay, sweetie. You get some more sleep. I’ll wake you later. When I get back we’re going to do something special today, something fun.”

Jaz just rolled over and pulled up the covers.

By the time Lori made it to the bar’s office Danny was there, waiting for her. That didn’t surprise her, but seeing Drifter there did. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of stale cigar smoke and the cluttered mess that was all over the desk top.

Drifter moved fast over to a bookshelf that he’d just noticed, had a stack of pornography magazines on it. He hurriedly hid them in a lower pull-out drawer.

“I had Danny come in to help you find everything you’ll need—ya know—like receipts and stuff.” Drifter looked at Lori, wondering how she could look so good so early in the morning. He noticed her face wasn’t mucked up with all that make-up shit girls loved to wear. Instead, her skin had a fresh, healthy glow. And she smelled good, too—like flowers and citrus. He grimaced inwardly, telling himself to stop thinking like a love-sick school boy.

“Uh, thanks.” Lori had to silently chuckle. Neither of them looked too happy to be there. When she looked at Drifter standing next to Danny, she had to wonder how she ever thought Danny was handsome.

Drifter looked so yummy. His faded jeans emphasized his strong thighs and tight ass—and the white tee shirt under his colors emphasized his muscled chest. His tattooed arms were corded with muscle. She loved the way Drifter wore his beard trimmed close to his face and with all that long brown hair pulled back in that sexy ponytail, he was pure sex on two legs. Memories came floating back to her of the night they had hot, passionate sex. She could feel her face flushing.

Realizing Danny was speaking to her, she turned to him. He filled her in on where he kept the receipts and orders for the stock. Lori caught on fast and got right down to business. She was so busy she didn’t notice that Danny had left. Looking up, she caught Drifter staring at her.

Drifter was thinking back to that same night when he had fucked Lori on the side of the road.

Lori was getting tired of his lingering looks, like he wanted to devour her and yet did nothing about it. She wanted him. Lori was never afraid of sex, she loved it and she wanted more than just sex with Drifter. Before she knew what she was doing, she got up from behind the desk and walked over to stand in front of him. “I really like you Drifter and I think you like me, too.”

Drifter didn’t move, he just stood there staring into Lori’s eyes. “I don’t think this is a good idea, Lori.”

“Tell me, Drifter. Tell me what’s got you so spooked of getting close to women.”

Drifter didn’t want to talk about his past, but he really did dig Lori and wished he was the guy for her. He wanted her to understand… “I loved a woman once. When I got drafted, she promised to wait for me. She wrote to me a lot in the beginning, then her letters became fewer and fewer, until they stopped altogether. It was when I got discharged and went home that I found out the truth. She was pregnant with my kid when I left for Nam. Her parents told me she had a baby boy. They also told me of how she came home one day without the baby, having sold him (for the money) to a couple who couldn’t have kids. Tina left town that same day with her latest lover. Her parents were devastated and they had no clue who has my son or where Tina went.” Drifter’s hands were clenched and he braced himself on the back of a chair. “She never even told me she was pregnant. He’s about four years old now. I have a private investigator searching for my kid, but so far no luck.” He picked up the chair and sent it flying across the room. “I’m gonna kill that bitch with my bare hands when I find her. I’ll never stop looking, not until I have my kid back.”

“I’m sorry you’re in so much pain, Drifter.” Lori knew he was hurting bad. Drifter didn’t answer her, he couldn’t. He had to get out of there. The walls of pain were squeezing his chest so tight, he couldn’t breathe.

“I’m sorry too, Lori,” was all he said before he silently walked out the door.

Striker started the meeting with his usual fist pounding on the table. The members could tell he was still in a foul mood, when he leaned over the table and got right down to business.

Staring intently at Drifter, he asked, “That new book-keeper show up for the job today?”

“Yep, and good thing I told Danny to meet us there. He showed her where all the receipts for stock and stuff are kept. He seemed relieved to turn the job over to her.”

“At least we know that new bartender isn’t part of Carlo’s gang. His name is Mick, by the way and he’s been watching over Jasmine like a hawk.” Roach directed this last bit of news to JD.

“How do you know all that?” JD spoke up, totally interested.

“Susanna told me. I met her for lunch today. Figured I was due to check up on her and while I was at it get some info, too. She claims he’s strictly a friend and that’s he’s known Jasmine for years, since she was a young teen. He was her father’s apprentice in the tattoo shop. Starting to make sense now: Carlo on the prowl, missing money and Mick showing up to supposedly watch out for Jasmine.”

JD looked around the table at the other club members. “His showing up is a little too convenient, don’t ya think? And he watches her like a hawk. Why is that, I wonder?” When no one had any answers or suggestions, he stood up.

“I need a drink.” JD had to get out of there before he blew his lid. His temper was at the boiling point, just thinking about that prick being anywhere near Jasmine. He was at his wit’s end and couldn’t stop thinking of her. Did she really find it so easy to get over him, like she claimed? Hearing her say those words cut him deep and he didn’t want to face the fact that it might really be over between them. He had hoped they could talk it over and when he finally got the chance, that fucking prick has to come at him with fists flying. As if he would ever hurt her.

Seeing Jasmine again made him realize, she was worth fighting for. He knew he had to find a way to make their relationship work. Thinking back on what she had said, made him re-think that night. She was right. He didn’t hang around to give her a chance to explain. Well, he was going to hear her side of the story and if that prick gets in his face again, he vowed he would finish what Mick started. And when he finds that fat prick of a manager, he was one dead fuck.

Lori ended up staying longer at The Den than she had planned. Danny’s take-over of the books had them a jumbled mess, but she managed to bring them up to date. It was almost noon before she got out of there.

Arriving at the motel, the first thing she did was knock on Jaz’s apartment door. When she got no response, she became worried. Getting her master key, she opened up Jaz’s door and went in. Jaz had closed the curtains and the room was in darkness. She heard Jaz snoring softly from under a mound of covers. Undecided what to do, she gave in to her better judgement and flung open the curtains. Bright sunlight flooded the room.

“Jaz.” She yelled her name as she was shaking the bed. “Wake up.”

“What for?” Was groaned back at Lori from under the covers.

“Get out of bed and get dressed. There’s a town get-together that starts soon and we’re going. What better way to meet the town’s people?”

“Who wants to meet them?” Jaz mumbled, sounding churlish and sulky. “I hate this town and everyone in it. Especially those damn bikers.”

Lori knew Jaz was depressed, but she wasn’t giving up on her. She was going to get her out of that bed and out among new people.