Skitter nodded, but there was hate in his eyes. He’d attack again when he thought my guard was down. What Skitter didn’tknow was that my guard was never lowered. I yanked the grenade out of his mouth and wiped it clean on his cut. The ultimate sign of disrespect.
“Don’t fuck with me. The stories are truer than you think,” I warned, but knew he’d ignore it.Asshole.
“Hit the bikes,” Skitter ordered. “You’ll regret this, Magic.”
“Leave the trash. I have a disposal site for it,” I said as Onyx’s brothers moved in. Pirate, Wyvern, and Baker slammed their boots into the heads of the three downed men and sent them night-night. I jerked my head, and they grabbed their legs and began dragging them away. Alice wouldn’t ask, but Laila would. No doubt she’d not seen violence like this before.
Finally, the question I should ask filtered through my mind. Why was Laila here? And alone?
“Magic, I want my brothers,” Skitter commanded.
“Get fucked,” I ordered as I moved towards him. “If you don’t? There are IEDs buried under your bikes, and I’ll blow them the hell up. Then you’ll disappear too. Your choice.”
“What the fuck? Who the hell buries IEDs in a parking lot?” Pinata from Riders demanded.
Storm shrugged. “It’s Magic. There isn’t much sound judgment in his thinking.”
I resented that. I had plenty of common sense. Although the way everyone was staring at me caused me a moment’s doubt. Skitter finally left, muttering threats and curses as he did. Onyx shouted a declaration of war and laughed as Skitter told him to go screw himself.
“What are you doing here, Laila?” I demanded, turning to her.
“Well, I came to see you,” Laila responded coolly.
“Appreciate that, honey, but I don’t suppose your mom would want you in a bikers bar,” I replied, moving slowly towards her.
Laila began laughing, and I had an ‘oh shit’ moment. Had what she’d seen unhinged her? I glanced at Alice helplessly, who stepped over and rubbed a hand up and down Laila’s arm.
“That? You think that scared me?” Laila moved her right hand and flipped her wrist. Stunned, I gaped as a knife appeared. “I’d have cut his fucking balls off if he’d touched me further.”
“Nice,” Alice nodded in approval. Screw nice. What the hell was my sixteen-year-old daughter doing tooled up?”
“You didn’t hear Mom, did you? Not properly. My dad was in an MC. Lars and I grew up around biker bars and clubs. Did you imagine I was some princess sitting in a stone tower? Bullshit.FarandOnkel Kanon(Dad and Uncle Gun), trained us all to fight from the moment we could walk. Especially me. Most men believe women are weak.FarandOnkel Kanonmade sure I could defend myself alongside the best of them. Mom taught me some dirty tricks, too,” Laila replied calmly.
“Great. Laila, why did you come?” I asked bluntly, unprepared for this meeting.
“To speak to you,” Laila said.
“Well, you can’t talk here. There’s an apartment upstairs. We can chat up there,” I suggested. Laila looked unsure, and I raised my hands. “Or we can go outside.”
“Outside,” Laila replied.
I turned and led the way through the kitchen, and Laila followed. There was a bench and a table in the rear area that the staff used, and I waved my hand towards them.
“Want something to eat or drink?” I inquired.
“A Coke would be good.”
I strode back in and fetched Laila one and a sandwich. I was gone long enough that I thought she might have left when I returned. But nope, Leila was still waiting. I placed the plate and glass down and sat opposite.
“Did you love my mom?” Leila asked immediately.
“Yes. Worshipped the ground she walked on. Jody was the light of my life. I always regretted losing her.”
“What happened?”
“Life, honey, life screwed us both over. The truth was, I’d come out of prison for underground fighting and was banned from running the bar. I got involved with the wrong people for the money, and shit went bad. Instead of talking to your mom, I tried protecting her and made a series of fuckups I can’t take back.”
“Do you wish you could?”
