Strays (Red Kings #1) (14 page)

18

May 29
th

She had to tell him. She had to.

She couldn't
not
tell him.

The baby was his too after all. He had the right to know.

But would he want the baby? Hell, did
she
even want the baby? She wasn't ready for a baby.

Would he make her get rid of it? She could never do that. Maybe she shouldn't tell him.

No, she had to tell him.

How had this happened? They had been careful every time. She stopped to think back on the multiple spur-of-the-moment fuck fests that Dean had instigated on different occasions.

Okay, so it's possible that they forgot once.

Jackie sat rooted to the spot in her truck, which was currently parked in front of Eastside Mechanics. She had been sitting there battling with herself for the past ten minutes. To tell Dean or not to tell Dean?

Sighing, she quickly got out of the car before the courage left her. It had taken her three days just to work up the nerve to drive over here. She couldn't lose it now. She was going to find Dean and tell him that she was having his baby.

Closing the car door behind her, she stopped as a commotion unfolded in the middle of the lot.

“You can't expect me to pay this. All you did was change the fucking rims.”

From her vantage point next to the truck, Jackie could see somebody arguing with Taco. The poor prospect looked as if he were trying to calm the customer down, but to no avail.

“Sir, rims are really expensive. Especially the ones you ordered. We had to overnight those things from Japan.”

The car in question was a bright red sports car, complete with racing decals and a shiny new set of rims on the tires. It sat patiently waiting in front of the garage for his owner that matched one hundred percent. The stranger had a red leather jacket, long scraggly hair, and sunglasses that probably cost more than Jackie made at the diner in a week.

Overall, the guy looked like a total dick.

She tried to focus on her mission of finding Dean, but the car and the argument were blocking her path. She momentarily wondered when they had moved the sports car because it hadn't been sitting there when she pulled in.

Jackie took a step forward, intent on taking the long way around the lot to get to her destination safely, when a group of bikers walked out of the garage loudly. They had all apparently heard the commotion and were now curious about the customer causing problems in their lot.

Well, she couldn't go over there now. She would just have to wait quietly by her truck until this situation was resolved.

In retrospect, she probably should have waited in the car.

“What's going on?” Mack asked Taco, glaring at the stranger.

“He says we overcharged him for the new rims.”

“Did we now?” Murphy asked rhetorically, all smiles at the events he knew were about to go down.

“Six hundred and fifty bucks for some rims is ridiculous!” The stranger yelled angrily, waving his hands around for emphasis.

“Your car is ridiculous,” Dean growled from the back of the group, looking incredibly bored with the conversation. “Why don't you just pay the man and get the fuck outta here.”

“Hey, asshole. Why don't you shut the hell up.” The stranger was either oblivious to the fact that he was greatly outnumbered or he was a complete idiot.

“What'd you say to me, punk?” Dean charged forward, his hand reaching for the ever-present gun in the waist of his jeans. He was stopped only by Nash's firm arm that shot out against his chest.

“Relax.” Dean cut his eyes at Luke as the man approached from the garage, not eager to obey him at the moment. The charter president walked slowly towards the cocky young man who was so sure he was protected by some kind of government law.

But should he continue to open his mouth, there were no laws that would save him from these bikers.

“Look here, boy.” It was obvious to Jackie that Luke's patience was thoroughly annoying Dean, who looked as though he wanted nothing more than to pummel the kid. “You can either pay the bill for the rims you wanted, or you can leave your car here until my guys have time to take them off and pay the labor bill for that. Either way, you're gonna give us some money.”

“This is some fucking bullshit, bro.”

Luke's eyes darkened at the term. “I'm definitely not your bro. You need to quit pushing your luck. Pay and get lost.”

“Fuck you and your gay biker boyfriends and your fucking rims.”

In a split second, Dean had tackled the man to the ground and was punching away.

From where she was standing, Jackie could only see the biker's top half, but she was quite sure she didn't want to see what this guy's face would look like when it was all over. She stared in horror as the rest of the club members did nothing to stop Dean's attack. Sure, she knew he was one of the club's more aggressive members, and she had seen him use his intimidation skills the very first time they had met. But this was something entirely different. She had never seen this kind of rage from him before. What she could see of Dean, he was still throwing punches at the man on the ground. 

On the other side of the car, Dean was swinging with blind fury. His fists were now covered in blood and the stranger's face was completely unrecognizable. What had started as a simple defense of him and his brothers had turned into a major stress reliever for all of the shit that had been happening the past week. The man on the ground was no longer some punk with a big mouth.

He was the snitch, who's lady had landed him in hot water with Luke.

He was TJ, who had been teasing him endlessly about his relationship with Jackie.

But most of all, he was Luke, who'd been doubting his loyalty to the club and ability to do his job for months now.

Dean knew that Luke had talked to Jackie because she was now leery of being in the same room with the man. And that only made Dean even angrier. He was going to use this punk to take out all of his frustration that a punching bag at the gym just couldn't relieve.

So in the moment, Dean barely registered Luke calling him off. “That's enough.”

The voice only grated on his nerves even more, and his fists flew harder into the bloody face below him. The next thing he knew, Mack and Murphy were pulling him off of the unconscious man.

“Shit, D. You almost killed him,” Mack said hesitantly. Dean easily shook the two men off, but didn't try to resume the beating. He stood there breathing heavily, slightly disappointed when Murphy indicated that the punk was still alive.

Luke sighed and motioned to Mack. “Get him to a damn hospital. When he wakes up, make sure he doesn't remember anything. And take the prospect with you.”

Mack nodded dutifully and gestured at Taco to help him pick the punk up. “Let's get him in the back of the van,” he said casually, looking towards the street to make sure the fight hadn't drawn too much attention.

Dean grunted and ran a hand through his dark hair, still very wound up. He paced in tight circles as he tried to calm his breathing, but the mere sight of the bright red car sent him into another round of anger and frustration. He wasn't even mad at the punk anymore. The moment had just been the perfect opportunity to let it all out. But now he was having serious trouble reigning it back in. Self-control had never been a strong suit of his.

He looked past the sports car, hoping to push it from his memory. But what he saw brought it all rushing to the surface tenfold. The whole source of his current pile of problems.

Jackie.

Jackie stood in her original spot, completely horrified by the act of violence she had just witnessed. She had never seen Dean like that before. His fierce intimidation and air of danger that usually gave her a deep sense of security now had her fearing for the welfare of herself and their unborn child.

No,
her
child.

There was no way that Dean could take care of a baby. Not now, not ever. His violent temper was not something that Jackie wanted to have her baby around. She just wouldn't tell him. She could raise this baby on her own, Elaine and Tyler would help and support her.

Tyler. She hadn't even told him about the baby yet. He had gone with TJ to South Carolina for club business two days ago. She would tell him when he got back later that night. Now she just needed to get out of the lot while everyone was preoccupied. It was at that precise moment when her eyes met Dean's, the blood draining from her face quickly.

Dean growled and cursed under his breath, trying to control his anger. He moved towards Jackie, but was stopped once again by Nash's arm. The older man gave him a knowing look, but Dean shrugged him off and continued on his way. Nash rolled his eyes and slowly moved to follow him, waiting for round two that he knew was about to go down. Luke stood next to him, the pair watching from a short distance as Dean approached the small girl.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Dean said roughly, quickly moving into Jackie's face.

She swallowed and looked past the man as Mack and Taco tossed a limp body into the back of the club's black van.

“I asked you a question, dammit!” He banged his hand on top of her truck, his eyes staring wildly into hers.

Jackie stared at him hesitantly, still in total shock over the last few minutes. “Jesus Christ, Dean. You could have killed him.” It came out as a whisper as she stared at him. “What is wrong with you?"

“This is what I do! I hurt people. I always have and I always will. I'm not just a little short-tempered or aggressive. I fucking kill people. It's my job and I like it.”

The gleam of excitement in his rage-filled eyes scared her and she took a few steps back, bumping into the side of her truck. “What are you talking about?”

“I'm talking about the fact that I'm a murderer. You remember the first night we met? When I almost slit that guy's throat? That's the real me. I'm a cold-hearted killer. I torture people for fun. This good man that you think you know? That's not who I am. Never was.” His ranting turned frantic as the words he had been bottling up started to pour out. “I've tried to keep my shit away from you, to give you something better, but it's so hard. I'm tired of having to shelter you from what I really am – a killer.” The anger coursing through him made the words fall from his lips in uncontrollable waves. It felt so good to get the truth out. He was so sick of hiding himself from her.

Dean closed the distance between them and stared down at her coldly, the words suddenly monotone and lifeless. “I could kill you in an instant. I wouldn't blink. I wouldn't give it a second thought.” She stared in horror up at him, at the blank expression on the face of the man she thought she knew. “Is this what you wanted to hear? Every time you asked what I was doing, what was going on – is this what you wanted me to say?”

Jackie shook her head slowly, trying not to let the tears fall down her face. Dean's eyes shot to the right as he felt a hand grasp his upper arm. “Let's go, Dean,” Luke said carefully, looking from the biker to a shaky Jackie. “You've done enough damage.”

When she looked back on this later, Jackie would marvel at the fact that Luke was the one to intervene, though not necessarily on her behalf. Dean snorted, but followed Luke toward the clubhouse.