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“No, you weren’t. Wouldn’t be surprised if you were an ol’ lady to one of them. That’s the only way they’d keep your ass,” I tell her, setting her outside the gate but bringing her purse back in with me.
Opening it up, I pull out the phone we provided for her and the wad of cash sitting in the bottom of her purse.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? You can’t take my money!” she screeches out, filling the night air.
“The phone and money belong to the club. It’s not yours,” Death states, his voice low and menacing. “Get the fuck outta here.”
“How am I supposed to do that? You’ve taken my phone and money,” she questions, still shrieking loud enough to call all the dogs in a twenty mile radius to her.
“Figure it out. Not our problem,” I tell her, nodding to Cal to close the gate as I toss her purse out and turn my back on her.
Death and I make our way back inside the clubhouse. The guys are still filling the tables as one of the TVs shows the cameras from outside. They’re all watching Mona pace back and forth trying to plead with a stone faced Cal to let her back inside the gates. She’s crying, pleading, yelling, and doing whatever she has to in her attempts to get back inside. It’s not going to happen. Bypassing everyone, I head straight for my room so I can take a shower and figure out what to do now. With Mona being out of here, I have no doubt Eric is going to up his game to get to Hartley. We have to make sure she’s protected at all costs.
IT’S BEEN FIVE days since I last saw Lash, I completely understand he’s busy running the club and dealing with Mona being pregnant with his kid. He said he’s not sure she’s even pregnant or if the baby is his, but I’m not like him. If I were in his position and someone told me she were pregnant, I’d be by her side and have her back regardless of what I believed. At least until I could make sure the kid wasn’t mine. So, it’s no wonder he hasn’t been around. Still, I also know if Mona weren’t pulling her shit, Lash wouldn’t be around. Even Trina said he’s been hanging out at the clubhouse. Anyone who wants to see him goes there and I haven’t been asked to go there. So, it tells me all I need to know. We had our night and I understand his point about the possibility of me being pregnant. It’s not something I’ve even been thinking about.
Who am I kidding? It’s all I’ve been thinking about. Jae and I have had more than a few conversations about it since he found us at the motel. She honestly had no clue Lash and I had even slept together let alone figured I would be dumb enough to not use a condom. Even I know it was stupid not to talk to him about using something and me not being on birth control. My only reason is he makes me forget to be rational and I wasn’t thinking about anything other than his body and what he was about to do to me. There is no excuse for not making sure we were both protected. Now, I might be finding myself being a single mother to a child Lash doesn’t want or need in his life.
The day after we stayed in the nasty no-tell motel, Jae and I found a small two-bedroom apartment. It’s on the outskirts of town and nothing special at all. We have a lot of work to do cleaning the place up and making it somewhere we can live without worrying about the shit with Eric or the club coming at us. At least that’s what I keep trying to tell myself. No one knows where we’re living and the older woman, Marian, who is renting it to us knows we are hiding out from something. Or someone more importantly. However, she’s going to let us paint it whatever color we want as long as it’s not obnoxious colors that will be hard to paint over when we move out. She’s the one who also told us to go have breakfast at the diner because it’s the best food around according to her.
“Jae, are you heading to the diner with me?” I call out from the hallway in front of her bedroom door. “I have to be at work soon and need to eat something.”
“No. I’m gonna hang out here and clean some more. I’ve got some school work to do today too. Have a good day Hartley,” she says, walking out of the bathroom. “And, don’t forget to call me when you get to work. Is Austin going with you or staying here with me.”
“I’m not sure. As far as I’m concerned, he can stay here with you. I’ll be surrounded at work and won’t take my break in the back alone or outside. Nothing is gonna happen to me,” I tell her, wrapping her up in a hug before grabbing my purse and heading out the door to my car along the side of the road.
Austin is sitting on his bike, watching me walk closer to him and my car. He’s got an eyebrow raised and I know it’s just a matter of time before he’s calling Lash to let him know my sister and I aren’t going to be in the same place at the same time today. There’s really nothing he can do without having another prospect drop what they’re doing and follow one of us. As long as Jaelyn is covered and being watched, I’m happy.
“Where you goin’?” Austin asks, not moving a muscle as I get closer to him.
“I’m going to grab breakfast before heading to work. Can you stay here with Jae? I’m more concerned with her safety than I am my own,” I tell him, opening my driver’s side door and climbing inside without waiting for an answer.
Starting up the engine, I pull out from the curb and head straight for the small diner, Knight’s Diner, Marian told me about when we got this place a few days ago. We barely have any food in the apartment yet so it will be easier for me to grab something on my way to work than take food my sister can eat while I’m gone today. Before leaving work, I’ll get us some groceries. Yeah, I’m spending more money I really don’t want to, but we have no choice at this point. There are things we need and can’t live without. One day I’ll find a way to replace it all. Including what that asshole Eric stole from me. For now, I’ll go without when I can and make sure my sister has what she needs.
By & By,by Royal Bliss fills my car as I make the trip into town. Turning up the volume, I try to push away my worries and keep my eyes on the road. Before I know it, I’m in town and pulling up to Knight’s Diner. It’s actually not that far from the clubhouse. Just down the road from the compound. Pulling in the parking lot, I take in the number of cars filling the limited space that’s shared with what appears to be a gym and a larger empty building where it sits in the back of the parking lot. It would make a perfect place to open a center for the kids in town to have someplace to go after school and on weekends when they might be left alone to fend for themselves.
After finding a place to park, I make my way inside to find most of the tables and booths taken up. Since I’m here alone, there really is no reason for me to take up a table or booth. At the counter sits an older man who’s reading a newspaper with a cup of coffee in front of him and a plate full of food he’s ignoring. Taking a look around, I take in the décor of the small diner. The walls are painted a dark red with white trim. Black and white checkered tiles cover the floors. Stepping up next to a table, it’s laminated and metal with red padded chairs surrounding them. The booths are also red with black tables sitting in between them. Pictures fill the walls along with vases holding fake flowers sitting in the middle of the tables. It honestly reminds me of a fifties diner with the pictures of people from years ago to present day. Including more than one of the club members all in a large group.
Walking further in the place, I take a seat at the counter which matches the tables. The edges are metal with a black and red laminated surface. A younger woman walks up to me with a smile on her face. Her name tag lets me know her name is Kari. She’s got light brown hair with blonde highlights and her face is innocent and free of make-up. A black tee-shirt with Knight’s Diner on it covers her top while jeans cover her lower body.
“How can I help you?” she asks me, never losing the smile on her face.
“Um, I think I’d like a cup of coffee, a small orange juice, eggs over easy with two slices of whit toast, and some bacon please,” I tell her as I smile up at her.
“Perfect,” Kari responds, turning around to the coffee pots behind her.
“Always so damn cheerful,” the older gentleman sitting a few stools down from me mutters. “Do you always have to be so fuckin’ cheerful and ready to help everyone Kari?”
“George, you come here every single morning, and this is how I am. It’s not going to change anytime soon. Either deal with it or quit coming here for your meals. I’ll be here when you come back tonight too,” Kari tells him, not caring he’s glaring at her trying to kill her with his eyes. “Don’t mind him. He grumbles and complains about everything he can. He’s a harmless old man who doesn’t know any better.”
“Who are you callin’ old?” George questions her, his voice raising several octaves.
“You. You’re old enough to be my granddaddy and there is no way in hell anyone else sitting at the counter can be called an old man,” Kari says, laughter filling her voice as my head twists and turns with their argument.
It seems to me it’s a standard argument between the two of them. I want to laugh, but I’m not sure I want to incur the man’s wrath as several other customers don’t contain their laughter as he turns to glare at them. It does absolutely nothing to stop them from laughing as they sit and wait for what’s going to come out of his mouth next.
“Girl, if I were your granddaddy, I’d take a switch to your ass for your sassy mouth. Now, warm up my coffee so I can finish my paper in peace,” he growls out, his voice not quite as hard as it was before.
George is one of those men whose voice is loud and booming no matter what he’s saying. You know, the ones who sound mad as hell even when they’re in a good mood. Turning my attention from him, I use the creamer and sugar in front of me to make my coffee the way I like it. Taking a large gulp, the coffee warms me from the inside out.
