Felon: The Hellions MC Page 7

  I hadn’t known him long, but I felt like I had a pretty good sense of who he was, of the type of man he was. He seemed very genuine and passionate. He seemed deep. There was more to him than just the rough biker exterior. He was after more than just a piece of the girl working behind the counter.

  At least that was what I told myself, because I wanted him to be that guy. I wanted the old lady to be right, and I wanted him to surprise me with flowers, or a phone call, or maybe even a surprise visit.

  I worked an odd shift that day, so I didn’t have to stay until closing time. I left a little ahead of that time and went home. I knew I could have called Rogue just as easily as he could have called me, but that wouldn’t have proven anything to me. All that would have done was make me look desperate to him, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.

  I didn’t want him to know that I had just spent the entire day checking my phone every five minutes or so in expectation of a call or a text from him. He would have thought I was crazy, and then he certainly wouldn’t have called.

  Instead, I was going to go home and pretend the day had been normal. I was going to get ready for bed and maybe put on a movie or something while I waited patiently to see if he called or came by. I wanted to believe what that old lady had said to me, that he was going to surprise me, and that everything was going to be alright.

  After all, he was definitely worth the worry.

  Chapter 9

  Rogue

  “Guys, I called this emergency meeting because we need to figure out what the hell we’re going to do about Titus. The situation is getting out of hand,” I told everyone, starting the meeting.

  “What’s happened?” Brodie asked. Everyone else was staring at me, waiting for an answer.

  “Last night, I went out and accidentally found a bar that’s under his watch right up the street from here,” I told them.

  “Andy’s?” Reese asked. “We’ve gone in there hundreds of times, and we’ve never noticed anybody there.” If they really did frequent Andy’s the way Reese claimed, that explained why the bartender acted like he was in the MC.

  “I know. That’s why I went, but Titus was there waiting on me. He has a little office in there where it looks like someone keeps his books,” I explained. “Anyway, one of his security goons grabbed me and carried me back to that little office, where Titus threatened me for seeing his sister.”

  “Damn, you didn’t even have to sleep with her after all,” Mason said spitefully.

  “No, I haven’t slept with her yet. He’s pissed off just because he knows I’ve been working on it, but that’s okay, I’m still going to keep her in my back pocket, just in case, you know?” I replied.

  “So, now that he’s threatened you, you want to do something about it, huh?” Mason asked with that same spiteful tone in his voice. I wanted to reach across the table and punch him right in his fucking throat.

  “Yeah, now that he’s issuing threats, I think it’s time to handle him before things get out of hand,” I told him.

  He laughed. “Good. It’s about damn time. It’s good to have you back brother.”

  “What did you have in mind?” Brodie asked.

  “Well, do we have any information? Drake, Vance, do you guys know anything?” I asked.

  “There is one thing that came across this morning, so I’m glad you called the meeting,” Reese started.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “There’s a pretty huge drug deal going down this weekend, and Titus is going to be involved in it. I’m still not sure what capacity. I don’t have any intel indicating that he’s buying or selling, but I think his men will be there as security,” Reese told me.

  “Have you guys seen his security detail?” I asked them. “They’re men in black. They’re practically Secret Service. I’m concerned about what capabilities they might have. The guys I saw last night were wearing shades in a very dimly lit bar, and it didn’t seem to hinder their sight at all, so I’m not sure what all they’ve got going on, but they’re the real deal.”

  “Damn, this Violet girl must be something else,” Mason said, laughing at me again. “I swear, Rogue, it’s like you’re going soft. Are you seriously worried that we might not be able to handle some punks in black suits hired by the likes of Titus? We can walk in there right now and put all those guys in the ground. It won’t be any different when we show up to this party they’re guarding this weekend.”

  “Reese, try to get more information on what role he’s playing. I’ll see what I can get out of Violet. I’m sure she knows something, even if she doesn’t know exactly what it means. She has no idea what her brother really does for a living. She thinks he runs a simple consulting firm, but she might have some information that can help us,” I added.

  “So we’re definitely going to plan on raiding it?” Brodie double checked with me.

  “Yes, we’re going to plan on raiding this sale. If he’s trying to expand into this security business, and it looks like he is, we can really hurt him by disrupting this sale. Not to mention wrecking business for whoever is involved. Surely, if they’ve hired him to protect the sale, they’re already competition for us.” I was really just thinking out loud at that point.

  Disrupting any sales of drugs in our area was good for us. It established this as our territory. Anything involving Titus disrupted his business as well. We needed to crush him, and this was our opportunity. I wanted to put him out of business for good. And any drugs or weapons coming through our territory needed to come through us first.

  It felt like we were having to reestablish ourselves. When I went in, there was never any talk of our competition trying to run drugs right under our noses with another competitor trying to provide protection for them. That was just outrageous. At the same time, it was pretty ingenious of Titus to branch out into that part of the business.

  “Alright, Mason, start getting guys and weapons together for it,” Brodie said.

  “Awesome. It’s about time we start kicking ass again.” Mason smacked the table.

  “Hey, guys,” I started, following my train of thought on Titus’s security business. “What would you think about running security detail for anyone passing product through our area? Like, if they’re taking it somewhere else, but we offer them a safe place to conduct business, what do you think about that?” I asked.

  “Wouldn’t that encourage trade within our territory, though?” Reese asked.

  “I don’t think it would. I think it would let them know that this is our territory, and if they want to do any kind of business here, we’re going to be involved. Plus, it will help us keep track of what’s moving through our area,” I explained my train of thought.

  “I like that last bit,” Mason said. “We definitely need to keep track of what’s coming through. And offering security or protection allows us to essentially tax anything that passes through here.”

  “I like the way you’re thinking, Mason,” I said. “Just keep an open mind, guys. I want to consider that once we’re through with Titus this weekend. I have a feeling this is going to be it.”

  “Alright, before we call the meeting,” Brodie started, “let’s get a quick recap of what we’re doing.”

  “Okay. Reese, you’re getting more information from your sources. Mason and Brodie, I want both of you getting our boys ready to go with weapons. Vance and Drake, I want you two working on recruiting,” I said.

  “Recruiting? We’re about to raid a sale that Titus is overseeing somehow, and you want to talk about adding new members?” Vance asked.

  “Right. We lost a lot of people while I was gone. We suffered a lot in my absence, and I’m sorry I wasn’t here to keep that from happening, but we’ve got to regain some ground here. Part of that is going to require having more numbers. We need more members to get back on top, especially if we’re going to start planting our men in these out-of-town deals going down in our city,” I explained.

  “We got it,” said Dr
ake. “We’re on it.” I could see in his eyes he already had some people in mind. I liked that look.

  “Awesome. And I will see if I can get any information out of Violet before this weekend. She might know something useful.”

  “When are we meeting back here?” Brodie asked as the others were getting up from the table.

  “Reese, when’s the deal supposed to be going down?” I called to him before he walked through the door.

  “Saturday,” he said, turning back.

  “Thanks. We’ll meet again on Friday to finalize everything,” I told everyone.

  “That gives us two days, Rogue. Do you think we can do it?” Brodie asked, standing up next to me.

  “You know better than to ask me something like that, man. Yes, I think we can do it. I’ll call Violet later tonight, give her some time to get home from work, and see when she’s available. Hell, I’ll probably just go on over there tonight. I can probably get her into bed pretty easily at this point. She’s practically begging for it already,” I told Brodie candidly.

  “Well, be careful, brother. If Titus is getting in the security business, he might have someone watching the apartment for you,” Brodie warned.

  “Then why don’t we get someone to watch the surrounding area for his men? Don’t we have some former military guys in the club still?” I asked.

  “I can call around and see who’s available short notice,” Brodie said.

  “They should all be available on short notice, shouldn’t they?” I chuckled to cover the veiled threat.

  “Should and are aren’t the same thing these days, boss,” Brodie commented in reply.

  “Good point. Let’s see what we can do to get eyes on that apartment building so I’ll know if anyone’s there before I head over there,” I told him.

  As he left the boardroom, I leaned on the table and wondered what the hell was going on with my MC. Before I had gone to prison, we had a reputation on these streets. People knew better than to mess with us. When I got back, it was like we were amateurs again, just starting over and trying to figure it out all over again. We weren’t amateurs, and it was time for us to take out place back at the top. People needed to be afraid of us again.

  I was going to wake everyone up by finishing the job with Violet and crushing Titus’s spirit so that when the weekend job came, he would be a worthless wreck, making him an even easier target for us. He’d grown too confident over the last few years and too organized. We needed to put a stop that immediately. Then we needed to make sure everyone else in town knew who the hell we were and knew that they were to respect us.

  If we were going to have to start doing things the way they did in the old days and start taking down innocent people to get to these other bosses, I wasn’t going to let it be beyond me. It was time to bring back the one percenters and strike fear in the other crime lords in the area. We were not dead. We were not gone. We were still right where they left us.

  There were just a bunch of punk asses waiting on me to return to grow their balls back. It was pathetic. I sent Vance and Drake out to start recruiting because we needed some men with backbones on our side. I hoped that they could find some people to replace some of our leadership members with. I needed to talk to the bartender over at Andy’s to figure out what his story was. He seemed like a good candidate, unless he was already on someone else’s payroll, and it really seemed like he was.

  I grabbed the keys to the Cadillac parked next to the building. If someone was watching Violet’s building, I at least wanted to be in a car instead of on my bike. I headed downstairs where the guys were talking, making further plans for the raid on Saturday. The talk sounded promising. It sounded serious for the first time since I’d been back.

  My phone buzzed on my way out the door. It was Brodie.

  Two sets of eyes on her place. No one from Titus.

  Thanks, I texted back. Heading over there later. Tell them to stay put.

  Got it.

  I stuffed the phone back in my pocket while I started up the car. I sat back in the driver seat and tried not to feel confined in the small space. It was the first time I’d been in such a small space since prison. But at least I could take solace in the fact that I was on my way to a much, much tighter space between Violet’s thin, tender legs.

  The car also offered something the bike really didn’t—a stereo. I cranked it up and lowered the windows to give myself that open-air feel that I was going to miss once I left the parking lot.

  I took a deep breath and put the Cadillac in gear. Violet was a job again. She was no longer on her way to becoming my girlfriend. I had to deal with that. What I was doing was for the MC, and that meant more than she ever could have on her own. I hated myself for thinking like that, but I pulled out of the parking lot and started down the road towards her apartment. It was time to seal the deal and take that sweet little virgin to bed.

  I couldn’t deny how much pleasure I was going to get from sleeping with her, even if it did feel wrong to use her.

  Chapter 10

  I didn’t drive directly to Violet’s apartment. First, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t being followed by anyone, so I drove around downtown, taking ridiculous turns and driving around the same block a couple of times to make sure the same set of headlights wasn’t staying behind me the whole time.

  Next, I decided I needed to bring something to eat with me. I didn’t want to just show up and drag her to the bedroom to take advantage of her. I felt like I owed her a little more respect than that.

  I also felt like I should have been able to find another way to get information from her without getting her into bed first. I kept having to remind myself that it was just for work, that it didn’t mean anything. It was never supposed to mean anything with her. The whole point of getting involved with her was to get her in bed, take her virginity, and break her heart.

  “Come on, Rogue,” I told myself in the car. “You can do this. It’s just another job. She doesn’t mean anything.”

  I wrestled with my guilt over what I was about to do all the way to the Chinese restaurant to pick up some quick takeout. I didn’t know what she wanted, so I just grabbed a few things, hoping at least one dish would be right. Chinese was always a safe bet. Pizza was, too, but I wasn’t sure pizza would get me in her bedroom.

  Once I had food in the car, I knew I couldn’t delay any longer. I needed to get over to her apartment before the food got cold. I pulled up in the parking lot and sat in the car for a few minutes before calling up to her to get her apartment number.

  I checked the time on my phone. It was after ten o’clock, so I was pretty sure she would be at home. I texted Brodie to keep stalling.

  Anything?

  I waited a couple of minutes for his response.

  Nothing. Are you there? he texted back.

  Will be soon. Let me know if anyone shows up, I said.

  Sure thing, boss.

  I killed the engine, grabbed the food, and hopped out of the car with my phone in my hand. I walked up to the door and realized I didn’t need to call her to find out her apartment number. There was a call box next to the door with names and apartment numbers listed on a digital menu. I searched her name and got her apartment number. And I didn’t even have to get her to buzz me in. Another tenant held the door for me when she came down, letting me in.

  I took the elevator up to her floor and walked down the hall to her door. She had no idea I was there. It was going to be a great surprise. Or, it would have been a great surprise if I wasn’t there for one reason, and one reason alone. I pushed my guilt back. I wanted her, and there was nothing wrong with getting her in bed with me for any reason at all.

  Besides, there was nothing saying I couldn’t come back for more after getting the information I needed and relaying it back to the MC, right? I just had to do it in a way that wouldn’t burn this bridge in the process.

  I knocked on her door and waited.

  I heard her unlock the door, and my n
erves knotted up in my stomach. I felt like a school kid again, filled with anticipation for my first real date.

  She opened the door and looked up at me with surprise in those beautiful blue eyes.

  “Rogue!” she said in shock. “You didn’t call.” She held the remote control for her TV in one hand and put her arm across her chest when she saw me. She was just wearing a white, silky-looking nightgown.

  “No, but I brought Chinese.” I held the bag up for her to see and offered her a smile like those two things solved everything.

  “Okay, I’ll let it slide this time,” she said as she stepped aside to let me in.

  As I walked past her, I leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on her lips. I felt her lips trying to linger on mine as I pulled away and kept walking.