Page 17 of Rascal

“I like Meadow,” Jinx said, and Vortex eyed him sternly.

“I like you, kid, but if Chill comes for ya, that’s my brother,” he replied.

“Oh, no! Not like that. Meadow makes great food!” Jinx stammered, and I laughed.

“Typical man, thinking with his gut,” I teased, and Jinx shrugged. I sobered. We all had guessed Jinx had a rough start in life. He’d known hunger, so none of us would give him a hard time.

“Motherfuckin’ asshole!” Chill bellowed from somewhere close by. We headed down the path that led to the town of Merritt. The Unwanted Bastards had done it up as an old Wild West town, and it was open to tourists. They’d kept as many of the original buildings as possible. Chill was flat on his back, being dragged down the dirt road by Hercules by his ankle. Nanci stood outside the clubhouse with a wicked expression.

Hercules dropped Chill in front of her and poked a finger in her face. “Back off now, Nanci!”

“Fine. But if he runs again, you’re the one who’s going to keep catching him,” Nanci retorted.

“No skin off my nose. Stay the fuck out of my love life,” Hercules demanded.

Nanci smirked, and even I knew she’d no intention of doing that. She reached out and patted Hercules’ arm. “Okay, Beastie.”

“Stop calling me Beastie!”

“Whatever, Stud,” Nanci quipped, and Hercules let out a loud growl.

“I don’t know how the hell Inglorious puts up with you,” Hercules snapped.

“He likes my blowjobs. Now you…” Nanci turned to Chill, who took to his heels. She shot Hercules a gimlet stare, and he chased after him. Movement caught my attention, and I turned and saw Inglorious watching. There was laughter on his face mixed with pain. The Unwanted Bastard Prez was healing, but his losses wouldn’t ever truly fade.

Inglorious met my gaze and nodded. “Nanci, we’ve guests.”

Nanci turned around and broke into a wide smile. “Jinx!”

“Every fuckin’ old lady loves him,” Vortex muttered.

“I know, it’s a cross I must bear,” Jinx retorted, and I laughed in surprise as he accepted a hug from Nanci.

“Kid grew a mouth,” Vortex said, shocked.

“He’s Hellfire MC; what did you expect?”

“True,” Vortex mumbled as Nanci came over to greet me. Inglorious gave me a death stare as she hugged me, and I grinned at him.

“You’ve a suicide wish.” Vortex smirked, and I shrugged. That was life!

Chapter Four.

Hallie

“Anything?” I asked King, as he frowned at his laptop.

“No. This woman is good, but she’ll slip up.”

“I want her, King. And I want Shane to realise I have her and watch him panic. Shane will go down for what he did,” I hissed.

“Hallie, I understand and am working hard,” King said, reaching out and squeezing my hand. “Never doubted your innocence, babe.”

“That’s because you never liked Shane,” I retorted and laughed.

“Proved me right though, didn’t he? Spineless coward.”

“Yeah. Shane certainly did. Jeez, I should have listened to you.”