Twenty One

Twenty-One

Ana

B efore mama died: before she was murdered, I’d always harbored some twisted, romanticized image of a bad boy. A man who could – what? Protect me? Look after me? I’d never really needed protecting, or looking after. Mama had brought me up to be strong. Independent. And yet, I’d always gravitated toward these men. And then this club came into our lives, and turned my world on its head, and suddenly these men were evil, in my eyes. These men had caused my mama’s death, purely by being who they were. I wanted nothing to do with them. Nothing to do with this life, and I still don’t want anything to do with this life. That, I’m still fighting. But these men…? Or maybe it’s just one of them…

“Two days in a row, huh?” Cady throws herself down next to me on the battered leather couch beside the pool table in the clubhouse. “Something going on I don’t know about?”

“Like what?”

“Woah, missy, what’ve you got to be so defensive about?”

I cross my legs up underneath myself and reach for my mug of coffee. My head’s a little delicate after the party last night, and those whiskey shots I downed before, and after, Joel and I… Joel and I, what? What did we do, exactly?

“Hangover, right?” Cady smirks.

“Something like that.”

“Did you have a good time?”

I shrug. I’m not sure I did, on the whole, it was nothing more than a lot of loud music, over-cooked meat, and men huddled in corners with women draped all over them. I’d wanted to go home as soon as I’d left Joel, but I had to wait for Dag and Freja before I could go anywhere. There were too many eyes on me because they still don’t trust me not to make a run for it.

“Do you think there’ll ever be a time when they’ll stop having me watched?” I ask, completely sidestepping any more questions about last night.

“They’re not really watching you, Ana. They’re keeping an eye on you, that’s all.” She curls her legs up underneath her, resting her arm on the back of the couch. “Do you still want to run?”

“Even if I did, what’s the point? Where would I go?”

“You’ve got no more family? Anywhere?”

I shake my head and stare down into my coffee. “Not really, no. Mama had a brother, but he died a few years ago. The only family I had was Mama, and Lars and Lea.”

My head shoots up as the clubhouse door opens, and Cady follows my gaze. “You looking for someone?”

“No!”

Cady’s face breaks into a grin. “Okay. Touch defensive there, again.”

“I’m not being defensive. I’m just tired.”

“Sure you are.”

We sit in silence for a few minutes, my eyes occasionally glancing up at the huge TV screen on the wall opposite: at the music channel playing rock videos.

“Skip said he would get me a job. He even said he could set me up with my own business again, if that was what I wanted.”

“ Is it, what you want?” Cady asks, and I look at her. And shrug.

“I don’t know.”

“It would go a long way to helping him trust you. You take on a job with the club, or run your own business within the club, in their eyes that means you want to stay. Even if you don’t.”

I frown. “I – I don’t know what you mean…”

“I know you don’t really want to be here, Ana. And I know I told you that you had to suck it up and accept that this was your life now, but the more I see you, the more I talk to you, you’re never going to stop trying to find a way out, are you?”

I think about Joel. What we did last night. And I don’t answer Cady’s question, because I don’t know what to say.

“So, you ran your own business, huh?” She’s changing the subject, and I like that she knows when I don’t want to talk about something. “Tell me more about it.”

I start to tell her about the shop. About Lars and Lea and everything we’d achieved. “It was really starting to take off, Cady. We were even talking about finding a bigger place, expanding our stock...”

“Okay, here’s a thought,” Cady says. “Why don’t we do it together?”

I frown again. I still have no idea why this woman is being so nice to me, but it makes me feel a little safer, if she’s being genuine, and I think she is. I hope she is.

“Do what together? Run a business?”

Cady nods. “It’ll give us both something to do because, to be honest, since I got back here I’ve been at a bit of a loose end. I’m not one of those club girls that likes to hang out here all day, keeping this lot happy, I need a bit more stimulation than that. So, how about it? You fancy working with me?”

“I – I don’t know… I mean, yes. Why not?”

It would get me out of the house. And if Cady was with me maybe they’d start trusting me more. Leave me alone more. But, it would also mean Joel wouldn’t be around as much…

“Come on.” Cady jumps up off the couch. “Let’s go scout out some potential locations.”

“Shouldn’t we talk to Skip first?”

“I know the club’s property portfolio, kiddo. I know where to look, and what would be best for us. We’ll plan it all out, then we go to Skip. Then all he needs to do is sign it off, and he’ll do that no problem.”

“You think?”

“I know. I used to be his old lady, remember? That carries a lot of weight.”

“It all sounds too easy.”

She smiles. “It can be. If you know the right people.”

“I suppose I’ve got nothing to lose.”

“Exactly.” She holds out her hand and pulls me up off the couch, and I feel a flutter of excitement, something I haven’t felt since… since last night. When Joel was inside me…

Joel

I watch her leave with Cady, watch her straddle Cady’s bike, cling onto the grab rail as they speed out of the compound. I missed seeing her by minutes, and I’m pissed at that. We haven’t spoken since last night. Since we did what we did, and I need to see her. Speak to her. She’s all I can fucking think about, and I’m not used to this shit.

“Where are they off to?” I ask Kit. He’s giving Skip’s bike the once over, several cloths flung over his shoulder, smudges of engine oil on his face.

“No idea. They practically came running out of the clubhouse, jumped on Cady’s bike and sped out of here.”

Disappointment floods through me, and I take a deep breath, what the fuck is wrong with me?

“Hey, Joel!” I look over at the clubhouse, at Skip standing in the doorway jerking his head back to beckon me over. “I need a word… Kit?”

“Yes, boss?”

“Meeting in half an hour. Get everyone rounded up.”

I head toward Skip, I need to focus now. “What’s up?”

“My office.”

Once inside, Skip closes the door and I lean back against the wall, arms crossed.

“Emil Renard,” Skip starts, pacing the floor, his hands in his pockets. “We’ve got a bit more information, from Rik.”

“Anything useful?”

Skip stops pacing. “Turns out Emil Renard wasn’t always quite so high up in the organized crime world. Word has it he was on the other end of that shit, to begin with. Owed a lot of dangerous people a lot of money, and Christ knows what he did to pay it all off, but he managed it, and now he’s running the fucking Balke family. But that’s about all we know. All Rik and his contacts can come up with, so far. Seems like Renard’s kept himself pretty much off the radar, until now. But we need eyes on him, Joel. Eyes on Sofia’s old house. We need to watch him. We need to know if he’s got some kind of problem with us.”

“Why? What the fuck have we done to him? We’d never even heard of the guy until yesterday.”

“Well, we know about him now.”

“Is he moving in on our territory? Is that it? Is he here to set up something for the Balke family?”

“We don’t know. That’s why we need to watch him. I’m also calling in some of the other Viking chapters, in case we need back up. We need to be focused here, Joel. Okay? We still need eyes on the Hawks, we can’t let our guard down. We all need to be focused.”

“Okay.”

“’Cause I don’t think your head’s been in the right place for a while now. You want to tell me why?”

Huh? My head hasn’t been in the right place? Is he fucking kidding me? “My head’s fine, Skip. I’m focused.”

Skip’s eyes narrow. “You sure about that?”

“I’m sure.”

He lets a beat pass. “Good. Go help Kit round everyone up, let’s get this meeting started.”

Once back outside, I take a minute to catch my breath, and I know that all this shit with Ana, I need to take a step back. I should leave it alone, for so many reasons. She’s too fragile, and I’m too fucked up to be that man. I’m done…