Chapter 13

Alicia

I walked out of Storm’s office on shaky legs. Mace and his club brothers clearly didn’t like me being an informant for the US Marshals service. Mace was trying to be supportive of me and even told me he loved me, but I felt like I was skating on thin ice with his club brothers.

It didn’t take long for Amelia to amble over and climb onto the barstool beside me. I was wearing comfortable jeans, sneakers, and a sweater. Not Amelia. She was all dolled up in booty shorts and the tiniest crop top that I’d ever seen. Small to the point that she was showing under-boob. She’d paired that with bejeweled cowboy boots and tons of sparkling jewelry. I didn’t know if she was all blinged out because it was a holiday or this was simply her weekend wear, but it was a lot, especially so early in the morning.

She gave me a knowing grin. “I see you got sent to Storm’s office. What did you do to make him pissed.”

Rosie threw down the towel she was using to dry glasses and said angrily, “Can’t you just mind your own damn business for once?”

Amelia jerked back like she’d been slapped. She shot Rosie a confused look. “Hey, don’t jump down my throat. I wasn’t taking a dig at her.” Bringing her hand up to tap her chest, she added, “You are looking at the girl that’s gotten in more trouble than anyone else here.”

Rosie scowled, “Not even close, but you are a troublemaker. I’ll give you that much.”

Amelia’s expression turned suspicious. “If she’s not in trouble, I guess Mace was breaking it off with her in front of his club brothers. It was bound to happen. Mace has never been one for long-term relationships and always comes back to us club girls because he knows we treat him right.”

I opened my mouth to tell her it wasn’t like that, but her hand flew off her chest and she held it out in front of my face. “No, don’t even start with a bunch of excuses. No insult intended but, girl, you are nothing to write home about. Maybe you were okay for Mace when he was just a prospect but now that’s he’s fully patched member of the Dark Slayers, he’s got to prove to the other men in this club that he can get a high-class woman.”

Rosie slammed her hand down onto the bar. “That’s enough of out of you for one day, Millie Johnson.”

Amelia frowned at her. “You know I don’t like being called Millie. The fact that you’re trying to piss me off is proof that I’m onto something here. Storm’s wife is a famous local news blogger. Hell, Hash’s old lady is Crystal Conner, the movie star, and Blade and Thor’s old ladies are mafia princesses.”

I barely recognized the one she described as a movie star. She played a supporting role on a television series I used to watch and then disappeared from acting. I guess now I knew why.

Meanwhile, Amelia kept going on and on about how great all the old ladies are. If I was being honest, I’d admit that she’s absolutely right. I didn’t run a cutting-edge news blog, I didn’t have a degree in public relations, and I was certainly not a mafia princess who turned against her family to wear her old man’s property cut. It really did seem like the men in this club went for old ladies who had done something important with their lives. Not ones who were dragged to the country illegally by their criminal fathers.

I could hear Rosie naming all the old ladies who are just regular stay-at-home moms, but I couldn’t really compare myself to a woman who has been wedded and bedded by her dream biker and made a baby with him. Any hope I had of something more with Mace flew right out the window.

I hated that Rosie and Amelia were fighting because of me. I hated it even more when Mace and Thunder came storming out of their meeting to find out what all the commotion was about.

Amelia pointed to me but before she could start playing the blame game, I spoke up,

“I’m sorry. I asked a bunch of stupid questions and triggered a bit of an argument.”

Mace’s eyes lifted to Amelia who quickly agreed, “Yeah, it happened just like that. It’s all her fault,” she said pointing at me.

Meanwhile, Thunder walked over to Rosie and pulled her into his arms. Rosie whispered something to him and his lips pressed into a firm line. “Amelia, get the hell out. You can come back this evening after dark to entertain whichever brother will have you.” Jerking his chin towards the door, he barked, “Hit the road, girl. I don’t like repeating myself.”

Amelia made a disgruntled sound in the back of her throat but grabbed her purse and stomped towards the door.

Thunder turned to me and gave me the evil eye. “And I think you must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed. Why don’t you go back up to Mace’s room and chill out.”

“Don’t tell my guest what to do,” Mace ground out from several feet away.

“If she’s just a guest, I’m within my rights to give her instructions and expect them to be followed. Are you saying she’s more than your guest?” The harsh tone of the older man’s voice told me that me being here was blowing back on Mace, making his club brothers resent him.

So, I didn’t wait for Mace to argue with him. I volunteered to go, “I’m tired. Maybe taking a break would be a good idea.” Without waiting for anyone to say anything else, I turned and almost ran upstairs. Nine ran right behind me making a whining noise.

***

Once I was inside our room with the door shut firmly behind me, I slid down with my back to the wall and burst out crying. Nine crawled into my lap and rubbed his head against my hand. I wrapped my arms around him and just let it all out. A nice cry always made me feel better.

But once the crying was over, the worry set in.

I started pacing as I tried to figure out why I just took the blame for Amelia’s shit. Nine sat staring at me with his head between his gigantic paws. It didn’t take me long to realize it was because she was already trying to blame me, and I wasn’t sure if the brothers were forced to choose, that they would choose me. She was the happy-go-lucky woman who drank with them and gave them sex. I was the outsider who brought danger their way. If I were them, I wouldn’t choose me either. Diffusing the situation and apologizing seemed the better option.

I probably shouldn’t have come clean with them the way I did this morning. I took a chance because I trusted Mace, though I still hadn’t told him everything. I only had three options. Between the cartel, the feds, and the Dark Slayers, the latter seemed the safest bet.

Now I was thinking more clearly, I was second guessing myself. I probably should have gone with the feds because they were the only ones who could guarantee my mom a way to get back to the US. I messed up and didn’t know how to fix it.

I was still stressing about it when there was a gentle knock at the door. I opened it to find Rosie standing on the other side with a tray of food. “I brought us some breakfast. Thought we could eat together and maybe talk about what just happened downstairs.”

“Does Mace want me to leave?” I asked.

Rosie shook her head, “Don’t worry about that. Things sometimes get heated here. The guys are busy talking about what to do about your father and the cartel. Mace asked me to check on you.”

I stepped back, because what choice did I really have? Rosie was an old lady. I was just a visitor. That meant what she said was what needed to happen. The minute she stepped through the door, Nine tried to jump on her, probably because he smelled bacon. I know that I sure smelled it. I quickly grabbed him by the collar and held him back.

She flipped out the legs on her tray, turning it into a little table. We pulled over the only two chairs in the room and sat down to eat. Eating was the last thing in the world I wanted to do. However, Rosie had been good to me, if she wanted to have breakfast with me and chat, I was there for it.

She uncovered two plates, which were both loaded with bacon, eggs, toast, and hash browns. She set one in front of me, along with a nice hot mug of coffee.

“Thank you, Rosie. It was nice of you to think about feeding me. I’d have probably stayed up here all morning worrying myself sick.”

Rosie shot me a sympathetic look as she held out a piece of bacon for Nine. He gently took it from her hand and devoured it. “Yeah, I’ve been there before. When I first came to the Slayers’ clubhouse, I was really young, like you. It was hard dealing with the club girls because I didn’t really understand them. To me they just seemed evil, always trying to lay claim to different brothers, always insulting each other and they picked on me a lot because Thunder was drawn to me. It felt like they were always trying to drive a wedge between us.”

“That must have been hard,” I responded, honestly thinking she got a raw deal. We took turns feeding Nine bits of bacon. There was a lot of it, so she probably planned to share with him, I reasoned.

“Oh, it was. It’s one reason why Thunder’s so protective over me to this day.” She took a sip of her coffee and pushed her food around her plate for a moment before telling me, “I told him what really happened and the reason he suggested you come up here until Mace is out of their club meeting was because the club girls can get a little persnickety. He was trying to protect you.”

Shock hit me hard and fast because all this time I thought I was safe here. “Protect me? From what exactly?”

“If they think one of them was treated unfairly, the others will kind of gang up on you. Don’t get me wrong, they won’t physically hurt you or anything, but they can be a mouthy, insulting bunch when they want to be.”

“Aren’t you afraid they’re going to target you for bringing me food and supporting me?”

She snorted a laugh. “Old ladies are off limits for all their shenanigans. They have to treat those of us in a property cut with as much respect as they treat the brothers. If not, Storm will bounce them out of here on their ass.”

“But Amelia was arguing with you,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, they’re allowed to have their own opinions. Storm isn’t a tyrant. Thunder threw Amelia out for the day because she upset me, and she got that message loud and clear. Being thrown out by Storm is an entirely different matter because she wouldn’t be allowed back on any of the club’s properties.”

I nibbled on a piece of bacon as she explained. When she was finished, I had to ask, “Why do they tolerate the troublemakers?”

Rosie finished chewing the bite of food in her mouth and took another sip of coffee before answering. “That’s a really good question. The truth is they’re all troublemakers on some level. Women willing to hang around the clubhouse and entertain bikers often but not always have issues of their own. They’re attention seeing, have low self-esteem that they cover by acting like they’re all that and often have a gigantic chip on their shoulder when it comes to women who get chosen as old ladies.”

“Wow, I never would have thought that. They seem so strong and self-confident.”

“The club girls aren’t the bad sort. Once I got to know them, I tended to think of them as a work in progress. Some of them work hard to overcome the bad things they’ve been through and come out the other side people that I’m proud to call my friend. Being strong is the one thing most of them have going for them because if they weren’t, they’d have given up on life long ago. I try to support and guide them in the right direction. Some listen and unfortunately some don’t. Amelia is walking a thin line right now.”

“I feel like I just learned more about club girls than I ever wanted to know.”

Rosie gave me a knowing smile. “Yeah, the thing is, club girls aren’t all that different from the rest of us, except their issues run deeper which leads to more dysfunction. Now, do you want to tell me why you took the fall for Amelia?”

I sighed and gave Nine the piece of bacon I was holding before wiping my fingertips on a napkin. “She was already trying to lay the blame on me. I just thought it was better to apologize than to take a chance on Mace picking me if he had to choose.”

“That’s crazy talk. Of course Mace would pick you. Even if he didn’t, the other brothers would make sure you were okay and hold up the bargain you made with Storm this morning. You wouldn’t have been thrown out on the streets. The Slayers aren’t like that.”

I grimaced, “I’m already sleeping with Mace. I wouldn’t want to have to pick another brother to provide protection because I’d end up in his room and he might expect sex as well.”

Rosie was staring at me, and I watched her expression turn into one of shock. “I’ve never known the Slayers to trade protection for sex. Like I said, they’re not like that. They’re all good men, some may be a bit rough around the edges, but they’re gentlemen in their own way.”

I shrugged. “I grew up with a father involved with the cartels. They trade protection for sex a lot and my own father was set on trafficking me to his right-hand man. Only he pretended like he was doing me a favor by calling it marriage.”

Rosie’s voice turned furious. “Fuck your dad, Alicia. Fuck him and the horse he rode in on.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her odd turn of a phrase. “That must be an American saying, I don’t think I’ve heard that one.”

Rosie grinned, lightening the mood. “It is, and I’m sorry your dad was trying to marry you off to a criminal.”

“Yeah, me too. It’s lucky for me that Mace rescued me. I don’t know that I would have found my way out of that forest on my own.”

“Mace is a good man,” she assured me. “You’re better off with him than anyone else. I promise you that much.”

I glanced away, noticing that Nine was all curled up on the rug apparently having had his fill. “When Thunder asked if I was more than just his guest, he didn’t say that I was. I thought that Amelia was right about him not thinking I’m good enough now that his dream of being a member of the Dark Slayers MC has come true.”

Rosie started shaking her head before I even finished talking. “It’s not that. He almost got into a fight with Thunder after you left. He accused my old man of sticking his nose where it didn’t belong and trying to scare you off. Mace made it very clear to him that you were his, but that he wasn’t going to rush you into a property cut. He said you had a lot on your plate and until you got out from under the threat your father poses, and your mother was free he wasn’t going to start pressuring you about a relationship.”

Something tight loosened in my chest. “Did he really say all that?”

Rosie nodded and took a big bite of her eggs before mumbling with her mouth full. “You better believe it.” She swallowed and pointed to my plate with her fork. “Eat up, before your food gets cold. All the people who count around here like you. That means you’ll always have a place here for as long as you need it, regardless of what happens with Mace.”

That was a gigantic relief. I tucked into my food as I turned her words over in my mind. Regardless, of who else liked me among the brotherhood, I only had eyes for Mace. That much was clear in my mind, along with the fact that I was suddenly starving. Rosie and I ate, chatted about more lighthearted things and, once I’d finished my breakfast, I followed her down to the bar to wait for Mace to come out of his meeting, feeling more secure about my place here than ever before. Nine was a pretty good protector when Mace wasn’t around. He never left my side, not once.