Diablo Chapter 9

When she didn't mention Amy at the beginning of this drawn-out discussion, I was thankful Jauhnna hadn't heard that part of Wolverine and my conversation. Well, I was obviously grateful too soon. I was worn out by the back and forth between us, but it had been necessary, just like this next part was.

That kiss had been better than I ever thought it would be. The best of my life, which made me feel a tad guilty because that included the ones I had with Amy. We'd been very sexually active together. She'd been a virgin. I wasn't. Over time, we discovered what brought us both the most pleasure. She wasn't the most adventurous woman I had ever been with, but it had been good, and I was satisfied. Since then, all my sexual encounters have satisfied my physical urges, but nothing more. There was no emotional connection involved. That one kiss with Jauhnna proved to me that emotions were already involved and would only grow stronger. I was so close to having her say yes to giving us a chance. There was no way I'd let my past with Amy ruin it. I prayed I could explain it adequately to her when it was confusing to me.

I took her into my bedroom and shut the door before taking her to sit on the small bench at the foot of the bed. I sat with her on my lap. I wanted to be sure she wouldn't run. She had a tendency to do that. I now knew when things got too emotional or uncomfortable for her, it triggered her to scurry away. I'd keep that in mind for us in the future, assuming we had one.

She wasn't looking at me. I let it go for the moment and launched into my explanation. Nothing was clearer to me than the fact that in order to have this woman, I'd have to bare myself to her. The same way she'd bared herself to me not long ago.

"I met my wife Amy when she was seventeen, and I was nineteen. We were immediately attracted to each other, and we fell in love over the span of a few months. Despite knowing she was underage and having sex with her would land my ass in jail if her parents or anyone complained, we did it anyway. We were careful to sneak around. The age thing wasn't the only reason we did. The bigger reason was her parents. They hated me. Early on, not long after we met, I saw her on the street. I stopped to talk to her. They happened along and hustled her off as fast as they could, after telling me to stay away from her, or they'd have me arrested.

"They said they knew who my father was, all about my motorcycle gang, and their daughter wasn't going to be used by a man like me. They had plans for her to go to college and marry a man they approved of who would be able to give her a respectable and comfortable life. I found that part out later from Amy. It's what they told her when they got her home that day. Anyway, we snuck around for nine months. I kept her away from the club, too. I didn't want her to be exposed to it until I was able to claim her fully. In those books you're reading, do they talk about old ladies and property patches?"

She nodded her head but didn't say anything. At least she was listening and not fighting to get away from me. I continued, "The day after she turned eighteen, she packed her things and told them she was leaving to be with me. They threw a fit and tried to lock her in the house. If they'd had the opportunity to do it, they would've sent her away. I knew she planned to tell them, and I was prepared for them to resist. I showed up at their door with my club. We surrounded it, and I went in. She let me inside.

"They argued, made threats, and did everything they could to make her stay. It didn't work. After an hour of going in circles, we were done. As we walked out, she informed them she was three months pregnant. They lost it and flung vile words after her. Called her a whore and told her never to speak to them again. From that day forward, she was dead to them. It hurt her so much, but I was determined she'd never regret being mine. We went to stay at a hotel that night. The next day, I took her to the clubhouse to introduce her to everyone. They knew about her and the reason for our secrecy. I had to tell them when I asked a few weeks prior for them to vote her in as my old lady.

"Some of them had tried to convince me I was too young to settle down. They told me I should sow my wild oats first. Dad just wanted to know if I genuinely thought it through and knew she was the one. Lucky for me, the club was cool about it, and other than some cynical comments, in the end, the majority of them voted yes to claiming her. I had her property cut made. When I brought her to the clubhouse that first time, I presented it to her.

"Over the months until Brooklyn was born, we settled into our life. I had a room at the clubhouse like other members did. It wasn't where I wanted her or our baby to be living. Dad and Mom had a house. They insisted we live with them until we got on our feet. They wanted us to save money for the baby and not jump into renting and the expense of a home right away. We agreed. I liked having her with Mom when we weren't home. It was safer, and my mom knew what to do if things got dangerous. She was great at helping to teach Amy about club life. Remember, Scorpion and I told you the club used to be into illegal stuff? Well, it was still that way when she and I got together."

I paused for a moment. The next part would soon get into the hard part. She was absently rubbing a finger on my arm, outlining my tats. Both of my arms were full sleeves. I found her touch soothing.

"After Brooklyn was born, we waited until she was six months old before we moved out and into our own small place. It was a tiny house on the edge of town. Dad knew the guy who owned it. He gave us a good deal on the rent. Everything wasn't perfect. She had to learn to be an old lady and a mom. I had to learn to be her old man and a father. We did marry not long before Brooklyn was born. Her parents stayed out of our lives. If they happened to run into us in town, they'd turn up their noses and ignore us.

"Brookie was two years old when Dad decided to step down as the enforcer for the club. He claimed he was getting too old for it and wanted to just be a regular member. To my surprise, I was voted to take his place. I was only twenty-three and the third highest-ranking member of the club. With it came a pay increase, which was nice. I believe my dad was tired because of the work we had to put in to clean up the club. It was around that time we got into the full swing of reforming it. Too many brothers and even prospects either died or went to prison due to the things we were involved in. We wanted to live and ride, not war all the damn time.

"So how did she die? Did she get sick or was she in an accident?" she asked softly.

"No. Over the next two years, things were hard, but we were making progress. No more war, or so we thought. Unbeknownst to us, another MC saw us as a rival, despite us not being into the same stuff they were anymore. In addition, one of their members, Piranha, had seen Amy and became obsessed with her. He was determined she was meant to be his. We had no clue. One night, when our daughter was four, Dad and I were gone on a run with the club. Amy and Brooklyn stayed at our house, and Mom was at my parents' house. Piranha and a few of his men broke into our home."

She gasped and straightened to look me in the eye, her eyes full of horror.

"Amy had enough time to hide Brookie in a safe room but not to get in there herself. She stopped to try and call the clubhouse for help. A few prospects had remained behind. Piranha and his guys grabbed her. I'm not sure what exactly happened, but I do know my daughter witnessed her mother being raped and then killed by Piranha when she refused to go with him. She told him she would never accept him. He flew into a rage and began to beat her, ending up killing her. We think they got spooked and left afterward. I came home to a murdered wife and a child who wouldn't speak a word for the next six months. We had no clue who did it."

Tears glistened in her eyes. She surprised me when she wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. I clutched her to me. I was misty-eyed. "How did you figure out who did it? What happened?" she asked.

"Well, I was a walking time bomb. I tried to hold it together for Brooklyn, but it was so fucking hard. We were trying our best to figure out who did it without success. When she finally spoke again, she told us enough so we knew who the club was based on the club's logo she described. We figured out it was Piranha based on her description of the scar on his face. They were known to us, just not anyone we thought we had to worry about since we were no longer into the illegal shit. We weren't their competitors anymore, or so we thought.

"As for what happened, we hunted them down, and together as a club, we tortured and killed every single member and prospect in that diseased club. Even though not all of them were there that night, we discovered they all knew what he had planned. No one tried to stop him or warn us, even though they were against what he was planning to do. The sick fucker was delusional and thought she wanted him, and he was rescuing her. When she shattered his delusion, he snapped. Their end was bloody, and I let them see why I earned the road name Diablo. Afterward, I went home to my daughter, able to reassure her the men who hurt her mommy would never hurt her. Luckily, she was too young then to understand what rape was, not that it wasn't bad enough for her. That came when she got older. After Amy's death, I buried the woman I loved, and I carried on living for my club and my child and nothing more."

"Diablo, I'm so sorry you had that happen. I can tell you truly loved her and losing her devastated you. Please, say no more. I understand why you still love and miss her. She was the love of your life. She was a fortunate woman to have a man who loved her so much that the love survived even death. However, I hope you can now see why this can't work between us. If there's a chance a man might feel about me a tenth of what you feel for her, then I owe it to myself to wait for him. I can't settle. Thank you for sharing your pain with me. I understand now." She placed a tender, brief kiss on my lips when she finished. I fought not to plaster her to me and devour her, but I wasn't done yet.

When she tried to move away, I shook my head. "I'm not done. Yes, I love Amy. For the past twenty-two years, no one has ever been a momentary consideration to take her place. I've had sex with numerous women, but it was just sex. No one was a threat to my heart or had a chance at becoming my old lady."

"I get it. Truly, I do."

"But you aren't getting it. Because all that began to shift and change when I learned my heart wasn't dead like I thought it was. That I still had the ability to meet someone and have a long-term, meaningful relationship with her. It all started when I opened the trunk of an abandoned car and found a woman covered in blood inside. I was wrong. My ultimate love story hasn't been fully written yet."

Her brow wrinkled. "So you think there's a chance you might be able to have feelings for me one day? It won't be love, not the kind you have for her or to that degree, but you could care for me? Is that what you're saying?"

"No, I'm saying I'm ninety-nine percent sure I can love you, not just care for you, and it won't be to the degree it was with Amy."

She opened her mouth to say more, but I cut her off before she had the chance.

"There's been this thing I've been wrestling with these past three weeks. The reason I've been going to the clubhouse so much isn't because I was there fooling around with those women like I know you think. It was to keep myself from touching you and scaring the hell out of you. I was trying to give you time to trust me. What has been scaring me is my growing conviction that not only can I love you, but it's already started, and when it's done developing, it'll exceed what I felt for Amy. Yes, there will always be a piece of me that loves her. She was the mother of my child. She gave me several good years. But that love doesn't mean the love I'll have for you is diminished. I've come to realize we're not given a finite amount of love to divide between people. It's limitless. I promise you, you won't be competing with her, Jauhnna."

She stared at me for so long, not saying a word, that I grew more nervous. Suddenly, she gave a loud cry, and she kissed me. Our mutual desire and stress of the conversations from today combined and exploded into a glorious outpouring of passion. Our mouths couldn't seem to get enough of each other. My hands were itching to slide under her clothes and feel every naked inch of her, then strip her bare and feast on her body before sinking my aching, throbbing cock deep inside of her, but I knew it was too soon. The kissing would have to do until she was ready for more. I hadn't forgotten her fear of not being able to stand to have sex. I was confident that with time, I could prove her wrong.

We gave each other deep, drugging kisses. I had no idea how long we'd been at it before we parted. We sat there panting and watching each other through passion-filled hazes. My cock was so hard and swollen it was trying to bust through my zipper to get to her. She was unconsciously rubbing back and forth over my bulge. I could feel the precum leaking from my cock into my underwear. She flexed her hips. I groaned, then grabbed her hips to hold her still.

"Darlin', you've got to stop before I blow my load in my pants. I'm only a man. I'm not made of stone. Fuck, that was amazing. Please tell me that kiss is the start of us. That it means you're willing to give us a chance. If you're not, kill me now."

She giggled and then massaged the back of my head. "Yes, it means if you're sure, then I want to give us a chance, Diablo."

Joy filled me. I knew there was one thing we had to get straight right now. To some, it might not seem like a big deal, but I needed it.

"Baby, my ravishing Serenity, I need you to do one thing for me from this moment forward."

"Anything."

"When it's us, especially when we're intimate, don't call me Diablo. The rest of the world calls me that. I want you to call me by my actual name. Call me Victor."

Her smile was blinding, and she made my day even better as she agreed. "I'd love to call you Victor. Thank you."

"No, thank you." Unable to resist, I gave her a quick peck on her swollen lips.

???

The remainder of yesterday was spent relaxing and spending time with Jauhnna. Now that we'd made the commitment to see where this would go between us, I stopped avoiding her. I never wanted to in the first place, but I did it to prevent myself from slipping up and saying or doing something that might spook her. With her knowing I wanted her, it wasn't necessary anymore. Later in the day, we went to the clubhouse and spent a bit of time with Aryan and Gio before they headed out today.

It was later, after we were back at the house for the evening, that I brought up the names again. She was uncomfortable, but there was no way I could allow those who had touched her to go unpunished. She wrote them down and handed them to me. I didn't read it in front of her. Instead, I put it in my pocket and then diverted her attention to watching a movie with me. It took a good twenty minutes or more for her to relax. We ended up watching a comedy. I felt we both needed a laugh.

It was hard to say goodnight at her bedroom door and leave it at a kiss, but I found the strength not to push for more. Although I knew it was too soon for us to progress to actual sex, I would've loved to have her in my bed, so I was able to hold her at least. Breaking that kiss had been damn hard. She had me so turned on, I had to take care of myself in the shower so I was able to fall asleep.

Being it was Monday today, I knew I had to go into Prep & Restore for part of the day. I wished Jauhnna could come with me, but it was better to keep her out of sight at the compound. I promised I'd be back as soon as I was done. She assured me she'd find something to do. I hurried through the work I had to do on-site, then rushed home to work the rest of the day from my office there. She came in and spent time with me. I enjoyed spending time with her, no matter if it was sitting together and not talking.

It was evening, and she was sitting in the common room with Zax and Liam while we had church. I brought her to the clubhouse because I hated the thought of her sitting at the house alone. The prospects promised to keep her entertained. I went to explain to her what church was before coming to the clubhouse, but she surprised me by telling me she knew. When she said it was from her books, I made another mental note to read what she was to see how accurate they were, as well as what they were like. She confessed they were romances. I was curious to see what she liked.

All the guys were gathered around the table. I loved church. It shouted Horsemen of Wrath everywhere you looked. To start, the long rectangular wooden table we used had the club's logo burned into the center of it. In addition, on the wall behind where I sat, was a vast flag depicting the same logo in our colors of red, yellow, and black. When the club was formed, the guys who started it were influenced by the old coat of arms, thus the resemblance to a standard. I thought it was a cool-ass design.

On the walls around the room were pictures of past and current members, and they were from a variety of events. At the head of the table was my chair, and I smiled every time I saw it. Several years back, the brothers thought it would be a good idea to get me a custom chair. It was a large, rather ornate one made of wood to match the table, with carved devil horns coming up off the back. To complete the picture, they got me a gavel to use to bring meetings to order and to an end. It was made to look like a large bone. Noting everyone was here, and in their seats, I took mine and then pounded my bone gavel on the table. All murmuring came to a halt, and all eyes were turned to me.

"Alright, you filthy animals, you'd better not have anything to complain about this week, or it's off with your heads," I told them with a scowl.

They all smirked. It was my standard greeting and how I started every meeting just about. This week, we were getting an update on anything new or causing problems at the various club businesses, and then it would be open to new issues. I planned to bring up the list of names with them. I'd already shared it with Micro but told him to keep quiet.

We had seven businesses to run through. Scorpion started first, and then it would run around the table. He oversaw Horsemen's Repair, our garage with the mobile mechanics and towing. Turbo worked there as a mechanic along with several citizens. Micro oversaw Vintage Rummages, our thrift store. Thunder managed Serenity Shores, our beach vacation rentals, and Punk helped him with upkeep and anything else the properties needed.

Butcher ran our repo business, called Wrath's Repo. All the club members pitched in to help when necessary, plus there were regular guys working there, too. It could be a dangerous business, so having the enforcer in charge was a no-brainer. Hook & Reel Charters was managed by Wolverine, and Cowboy assisted him. It was our fishing charter business, along with a bait and supply store. Lucky grew up in a family that had been in the restaurant business, so he'd been a natural to oversee Shipwrecked, our seafood restaurant. I was the last to go to update them on Prep & Restore. Crash worked there with me.

We were lucky. No one had anything significant happening, so the reports went quickly. Once those were done, it was on to new business. I'd let anyone else who had some go first, and then we'd talk about Vierra, Radigan, and the latest information I had. We'd been debating on and off whether to possibly add another business at some point. We just weren't sure what it should be. I wondered if anyone would bring a new idea to the table tonight. They had been doing so lately when an idea came to them. So far, we haven't made a move to do any of them.

"Okay, on to new business. Does anyone have anything new to bring to the table?" I called out.

Thunder's hand shot in the air. Seeing no one else had raised theirs, I nodded at him. "The floor is yours, Thunder."

"Thanks, Pres. I think I know what we should do for our next business. Check this out," he said, laying out his arm on the table. He pointed to a tattoo. It was a new one, still covered in clear plastic. As one, we got up and crowded around him. It was a fantastic eagle. One so realistic it looked like it was about to fly off his skin. I whistled. It was beautiful and made me itch to get a new tattoo. We were all ink addicts, and finding a great ink slinger was always a challenge.

"Where the hell did you get that?" Punk asked in awe.

"I heard about this guy at that tattoo place down off Saratoga and Sevilla. It was a guy who came in to pay for his rental for next summer who told me about him. He was bragging about the ink he'd just gotten when he saw mine. His was fucking awesome, so I asked him who did it. He said that place had a new guy, and he did it. I got his name and then called to see if I could get an appointment. His name is Darian. I consulted with him two weeks ago and told him what I wanted. I didn't say anything because I wanted to see what he could do. I went back this morning. It's why I took the day off. He showed me what he'd drawn, and I said hell yeah, without a single change. It was like he read my mind. We'd blocked out the time to be able to do it in one session. He's fast."

"Alright, that's great, and no doubt we'll all be after him to do some work on all of us, but what does that have to do with a new business?" Scorpion asked.

"I'm getting there. Anyway, while I was there today, I found out the owner is getting ready to put the place up for sale. He said he's had enough and wants to retire. No one at the shop can afford to buy it. They're nervous about what'll happen if a new owner takes over and decides to clean house or bring in their own people. I asked the current owner to give me a few days to see if we might be interested in it before he goes public with the for-sale notice. He said he was planning to post it in six weeks, at the beginning of December, with the hopes that by the end of the first quarter of next year, it would be sold. He plans to move to Southern Florida to live closer to his kids and grandkids. I don't know anything about the other ink slingers' work, but Darian alone is worth it."

"We have been looking for a new business to add to our portfolio, and a tattoo shop has been brought up before. We just had no idea which one to buy. If we go with an established one, we hopefully keep the clientele and the staff that comes with it. Assuming they're good, we'd keep them. What do the rest of you think? Should we do a preliminary check into the P&L on this place?" I asked.

Unlike others who had to rely on sellers being honest about their earnings on a business, we had Micro, who did his thing and got access to their profit-and-loss statements and anything else we wanted. I didn't ask how many laws he broke to do it. I just appreciated his work.

"Hell yeah, if the others who work there are even half as good as this Darian, then we'd make money. If we brought in a portion of the biker crowd, as long as they behaved, and add in tourists and regular folks, we'd make bank," Butcher said.

"It's a good location. It's in what's considered the downtown but not the historic district. Lots of foot traffic and businesses there. There were a ton of people walking by while I was there. I think we're not out anything by digging into it," Thunder added.

There were several minutes of murmuring and admiring his new artwork before I called it. "Micro, do your thing. Let us know if you believe it's worth pursuing. Send me the prelims you get."

"Sure thing, Pres."

"Does anyone else have new business to discuss?" I asked, impatient to get to mine. They all shook their heads, thank God.

"Good, then I do. I know we're still working to get all the dirt on Vierra and Radigan so we can get Jauhnna free of them, but there's more."

"What do you mean, more?" Crash asked.

"More. Yesterday, Jauhnna and I had a very involved discussion. As part of it, she revealed something that led to me supplying Micro with six more names. I want to know every detail he can find on them. They will be included in the ultimate punishment with the other two."

"Why?"

"Who are they?"

"What did she tell you?" These questions came from around the table.

"They're men who work for Radigan," was all I said as a lead-in.

I knew when she found out I'd shared the details with the brothers, she'd likely be upset, but they needed to know. I would never just tell them we had to torture and kill people without an explanation. This club, for the most part, was a democracy. I didn't make the decisions and they had to follow them blindly.

"Does this mean she knows they have greater roles in the businesses?" Turbo asked.

"I don't know if they do or not, but regardless, they will go down hard," I told him.

Puzzled glances were exchanged. Leaving them in suspense for much longer would result in them muttering for hours, so I supplied the rest after a warning.

"What I'm about to tell you, it doesn't leave this room. You're not to mention it to her. No one is to say or do anything differently than you've been doing. Understood?"

"Understood. Now tell us," Scorpion said.

"It seems after Radigan couldn't get her pregnant after several years, he made her get checked by a doctor. They discovered she was incapable of having kids. Despite knowing that, he continued to try, and whenever she didn't get pregnant or she upset him, he began to punish her more severely. He would give her to some of his men. Those six are the ones who've raped her."

The room erupted. Profanities poured out. Fists were pounded on the table. A few came to their feet to pace. Wolverine was one of those. I let them vent for a couple of minutes before I called them back to order. They reluctantly settled.

"They're dead men," Butcher hissed.

"Yes, they are. She has no idea I'm telling all of you. She knows I planned to give the names to Micro, which I did. She'll be uncomfortable with you knowing. Her life has been hell. When the time comes, I'll be taking the lead on Radigan and her brother. As for the other six, I'll want to spend some one-on-one time with them, too."

"You know we all want to help her. There's no need for you to do it all," Wolverine said.

I guess it was time for one more piece of news. "I appreciate all the help I'll get from you and the Dark Patriots. However, in this instance, it'll be more my responsibility to take care of them than any of yours."

"How do you figure that?" Lucky asked.

"Well, it generally falls to a woman's old man to do it. I'm just following biker code," I said offhandedly.

I had to fight to keep the smirk off my face as I dropped that bomb on them. Some might think I was jumping the gun with the old man remark, but short of her coming back and telling me she wanted nothing to do with me, I was determined she would be my old lady. Christ, that would take getting used to, but I was excited.

Utter silence fell as mouths dropped open and astonished looks were thrown at me. Well, from most of them. Wolverine and Butcher weren't surprised, although Wolverine still didn't act thrilled.

"Thank fuck you got your head out of your ass. Don't you blow it with her. She's exactly what you need," my best friend said, breaking the silence. This led to them talking over each other. I whistled to bring them to order.

"I'm not telling you more just now. All you need to know is she's off-limits and has agreed to see where this goes between the two of us. She needs time to truly believe not all men abuse you or only think of themselves. There's a lot of trust to be built. We've got to show her she can depend on us and our friends."

"And we will," Scorpion added.

There were a few more minutes of murmuring before I decided to call it a night. They'd want a drink, and I wanted to see how my Serenity was doing. God, that name was exactly how she made me feel when she wasn't arousing me or driving me crazy, that is. Walking out of that room, I had to smile.