Chapter 5

5

AMITY

" T his can't be right. Stupid GPS," Nevaeh says, looking around as she drives down the dirt road.

"Oh, it is. I remember one of the producers talking about contacting the club to see if they'd let them use this place for some scenes because of its out-of-the-way location. See? Stop the car."

Nevaeh pulls over and stops in front of a wooden sign that says, "Ravens' Nest." I can see the barbed wire just beyond it, but nothing else.

"I'm not sure we're at the right entrance. Can you see a gate anywhere?"

"No, I can't see anything."

"Okay, you stay in the car with Sleeping Beauty, and I'll get out and take a look around."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Yeah, don't worry. I'll be fine."

Nevaeh looks at me worriedly, and I smile. I reach down to grab my bag from the floor and take my gun from it before getting out. I take a moment to breathe it all in. Everything's so still and quiet.

I walk over to the chain-link fence and follow it until I see lights and hear music. After debating whether or not I should turn around and grab Nevaeh and Sleeping beauty, I decide to see if anyone's around to help me with him.

It takes me another ten minutes before I reach a large set of iron gates, guarded by what I'm guessing is a prospect watching them.

I slide the gun into the back of my pants and approach the gate.

"Hey, excuse me."

"You lost, lady?"

"No, but I think I have something that belongs to you."

He looks me up and down, his eyes pausing on my stomach. "You pregnant? Because if you are, it ain't mine."

"Are you calling me fat?"

"What?" He looks confused for a moment before his face goes pale. "Shit, no, that's not what I meant. I just mean, I've never fucked a whore without a rubber."

"So now I'm a whore?"

He opens his mouth but then shuts it, which is probably the smartest thing he's done so far.

"Are you the only one on the gate?"

He eyes me warily, his hand moving to the small of his back. I have my gun out and pointed at his head before he can even pull his gun free.

"You weren't very subtle. You should work on that. Relax, I'm not going to shoot you, but I'm also not going to stand here and let you pull a gun on me."

"I won't let you in. Shoot me if you want."

I shake my head. "Dude, I just told you I'm not going to shoot you."

He looks from me to the gun and back, as if to say, You sure about that ?

"Trust me, if I wanted to shoot you, I would have. You're kind of annoying. Now, what I need is for you to call someone else to come here and help me."

He crosses his arms over his chest defiantly.

"I'm really starting to rethink this whole not shooting you thing."

"Lady, I'm not calling anyone else down here so you can shoot them."

I roll my eyes upwards and decide I've officially run out of patience. "Thanks. You've been as useful as a chocolate skillet."

I drop my arms and walk away. He shouts for me to stop, but I ignore him, even though I know he's probably pointing his gun at me. The chances of him shooting me in the back are slim. I doubt these guys want any trouble from the police. Not to mention, Nevaeh would burn their clubhouse to the ground. She might be tiny, but she's fiercely protective.

I keep walking. I can still hear him yelling for me to stop. Yeah, I'll get right on that, jackass.

When I get back to the car, I tap the window, scaring the crap out of Nevaeh. She looks up, and when she realizes it's me, she pushes the door open. "You scared the life out of me."

"Silly me, I thought you'd be paying attention to your surroundings, given our current situation," I say, shoving my gun back into my pants.

"I think you're confusing me with you again. Next time you pound on the window like that, I'll pound you back."

"I tapped it with my nails, you drama llama."

"I scream like a crazy person when the toast pops up. I'm not sure why you think this was an overreaction."

I chuckle. "You're right. Now, help me get him out of the car. I'm going to drag him back. I'd leave him here, but knowing my luck, a bear would come along and make a snack out of him."

"Can't say I'd blame the bear. He might be dumber than a box of rocks, but he sure is pretty. His face is very symmetrical."

I blink at her choice of words. "Next time we go out, you should use that as a pick-up line."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh." I bite my lip.

She narrows her eyes at me. "Are you mocking me?"

I press a hand to my heart and gasp. "I would never."

She punches me in the boob.

"Ouch, that fucking hurt."

"You deserved it. Next time, I'll twist your nipple."

"Play with your own boobs. But before that, help me get him out."

Grabbing his arm, she helps me yank him out of the car with a grunt. He hits the ground none too gently with a groan.

I close the door and turn to Nevaeh. "Take the car and head back to the RV."

"What? Are you crazy? I'm not leaving you here."

"I'll be fine. I'm just being cautious. If something happens, I need you to point the blame in this direction. Besides, I can take care of myself, remember?"

She crosses her arms stubbornly.

"Look, if there are two of us here, they can threaten one of us to make the other do what they want."

"Maybe we should just leave him here and let the bear have him."

"You know I can't do that, Pippin. And neither can you. That's not who we are."

She growls and gets in the car, slamming the door behind her. She rolls down the window and shouts, "If you die, I'll kill you myself."

I dip my head to hide my grin and wait for her to drive away. Turning, I grab Sleeping Beauty under his arms and start dragging him toward the main gate.

"You need to go on a diet," I grumble as sweat beads across my forehead. I can feel my T-shirt sticking to my back.

He groans before his eyes flutter open, and he looks up at me.

"Hey, welcome back, buddy."

He doesn't ask me any questions, which is just as well because I'm breathing too hard to answer anyway. But it does make me wonder—how many times has someone dragged him home for him to be so chill about it?

He passes out again, and I leave him at the side of the gate so he doesn't get squished when it opens and head over to the dick on duty. As I get closer, I see a couple more people here than there were before and take them in before they notice me. The prospect sees me first and pulls his gun, aiming it at me with a smirk.

"Not so cocky now, are you?" he taunts as the others look at me curiously.

"You know, I never got the whole voodoo doll thing until I met you. Now I have the strangest urge to go out and buy a dozen sharp pins," I say before turning to one of the other guys, one who looks a couple of years older than the wet-behind-the-ears idiot with the gun.

"Hey, I'm Amity. I've got one of your guys here. He's heavy as fuck, so if you could just grab him and drag him the rest of the way, that would be awesome."

"What are you talking about? What guy?" He looks me over.

"He didn't give me his name before he passed out, but he's got a bunch of tattoos and piercings, if that helps."

"G," the guy grunts, signaling for the prospect with the gun to open the gate.

"Try anything funny, lady, and I'll shoot you."

"So, no yo mama jokes?"

He looks confused, which annoys me. It's not funny if I have to explain it. When the gate slides open, the two guys step out and ask where Sleeping Beauty is. I point to where I left him.

"Stay right where our prospect can keep an eye on you," the taller one calls over his shoulder as they head toward him.

"She has a gun," the prospect shouts, which makes the two guys turn and pull their guns, aiming them at me as I keep my hands loose at my sides.

"At this point, I'm questioning your club's standards if he's in the running to become a brother," I growl, fucking pissed off.

"Fuck you, bitch," the prospect snaps, and I watch as the taller one walks back to him and yanks the gun out of his hands before smacking him upside the head.

"What the hell, Toot? You're not siding with this bitch over a brother, are ya?"

"You're not a fucking brother yet."

"Call me a bitch again, and you'll be lacking the part that would make you a brother," I warn him. "And for future reference, you don't yell that someone has a gun like that unless they're a potential or immediate threat. I was neither, especially since you already had your gun aimed at me. What you did could have gotten me killed. I'm sure you would have loved to explain—to not just the cops but the rest of your club—how that happened."

I look at the guy the prospect called Toot. Resisting the urge to ask him why Toot, I turn and nod to the other guy with his gun still pointed at me.

"Can I go now?"

"Amity?"

My eyes snap to Sleeping Beauty and see that he's moved and is watching the scene with confusion.

"You okay, G?"

G? What kind of name is G?

"Hey, buddy, you wanna call off your friends? You should know, I'm really fucking pissed right now that I didn't just let you ride your bike home drunk," I lie. I never would have let him ride drunk. But I could have—and should have—stuck his stupid, symmetrical face in a cab.

"Tits McGee is with me," he tells them before passing out again.

I look up at the sky for patience, unfortunately not finding any, before looking back at the guy pointing the gun at me.

"You gonna shoot me or let me go?"

"You armed?"

"I walked up to an MC clubhouse in the middle of the night. Of course, I'm fucking armed," I tell him, my mouth running away with me. I know I should probably rein in my temper, but right now, I think sharp words are better for them than armor-piercing bullets.

"Hand over your gun."

"No."

"Lady, I'm not in the fucking mood. Give me your gun."

I cock my head. "So let me get this straight. You want me—a woman alone with three dangerous bikers, not counting Sleeping Beauty down there—to give you my only weapon that might protect me against you?"

"I'm not going to hurt you," he huffs, like I've offended him.

"That's what every woman hears right before they get hurt. How about this? You take your boy, and I'll stay here with my arms up and won't move until you're all safely inside the clubhouse."

"G seemed to know her, Mac. He'd be pissed if he sobers up and finds a bullet hole in her."

He hesitates for a minute before backing down. "Watch her," he says to Toot before he holsters his gun and walks over to G, picking him up and slinging him over his shoulder.

"I hope he pukes down your back," I mutter as he passes, making him pause and give me a death glare. I look at him innocently but don't move.

Of course, my phone chooses that exact moment to ring. "You might want to hurry this along. If I don't answer that, the cops will be all over this place."

"That a threat, girly?" he snarls, stepping closer.

"It's a warning. If I don't answer, my friend—who's worried about me because she knows I'm here returning your guy—will call the cops to look for me. She's looking out for me like you all are supposed to look after each other."

"Supposed?"

"He was with someone else when I got to the bar. Whatever they were talking about looked pretty intense. Then the other guy left, and this idiot spent the next fifteen minutes making an ass of himself. He's lucky I found him funny and not offensive, or this could have gone very differently."

He rubs his hand over his face. "You get a look at the guy?"

"Not a great one. I could tell he was older than G. He was wearing an expensive-looking suit with biker boots, of all things. That's what made me pay attention. He was handsome and had this… I don't know, aura about him. It's hard to explain."

"Sounds like King. You hear what they were talking about?" Toot asks.

I shake my head. "No, but even if I did, it wouldn't be my place to say anything anyway. It would be G's."

My phone rings again, and I look between them both as the prospect stands just inside the gate, staring daggers at me.

"Answer it."

I almost snap at his order but decide to pick my battles. Taking a calming breath, I slowly reach into my pocket for my phone and pull it out so they can see it.

I answer with a "Hey."

"Don't you ‘hey' me. I've been worried sick."

"It's only been forty-five minutes."

She mumbles something under her breath that I miss before sighing. "You're leaving now, right? Should I come to get you? I can come and get you," she rambles.

"Calm down. I'm just saying goodbye to my new friends. I'll call you back when I'm on my way."

"Friends? They're nice?"

"Oh, they're a fucking delight. I've gotta go. Stay safe," I say before hanging up and sliding my phone back into my pocket.

"Like I was saying, I have a friend waiting for me. I'd like to go home now. I promise if I see any other drunk bikers needing help, I'll just walk right on by."

"How about you come inside first?" Mac calls over his shoulder as he turns and walks through the gate with G still over his shoulder.

"I'm good. I'd rather set fire to my face and then try to put it out with a fork."

Toot chuckles before using his gun to gesture for me to follow.

"You might as well shoot me. I'd rather take my chances with a bullet than a dozen more of him." I nod toward the prospect, who's been quiet since Toot told him off.

"You said it yourself. Your friend knows you're here. Nothing's going to happen to you. But I need you to tell our president what happened. Then you can go."

This is why there are so few good Samaritans. It's just not worth the bullshit.

"I'll need your gun too, but you can have it back when you leave."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen. You can have my bullets and give them back when I leave, but not my gun."

"Told you she was?—"

"Smart," I interrupt the asshole that's begging to be castrated.

"The gun's registered to me. If I don't get it back and it's used in a crime, I could be implicated. The bullets, not so much."

Toot looks at me for a second before nodding. "Alright, take out your gun slowly and unload it."

I do what he asks as he walks over so he can check for himself. When he holds out his free hand, I drop the bullets into his palm before putting my gun back in my pants. A little sleight of hand and I slip two bullets into my pocket, just in case.

Toot puts his gun away and gestures for me to enter. I walk through the gate and wait as he talks to the prospect in a voice too quiet for me to hear.

He walks over to me and offers me a cigarette. "No thanks. I only smoke after good sex."

"Really? Because I'm game if you are."

I look him up and down but shake my head. "I make it a rule never to sleep with a man who points his weapon at me."

"Funny, most of the women around here love it when I point my weapon at them," he jokes as we head toward a large building.

I roll my eyes. "We're either gonna be great friends and laugh about this in ten years, or you'll be the precautionary tale I tell my daughters about while cringing."

"You have daughters?"

"Definitely a precautionary tale," I mutter as we reach the door. He pushes the door open, and I step inside a huge warehouse filled with bikes. I look around in awe until the door closes and the room plunges into darkness.