Murphy (The Skulls) (2 page)

No more. She’d let herself love Murphy
, and she refused to let another man close to her. Blanking the prospect she started shopping, and as the hours passed, she felt something shift inside her.

Murphy was gone and never coming back
, but she didn’t need to be broken. No man deserved to be given that much control. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to not care. Stepping out of the shop she collided with the group of Lions. The men took a step back as the prospect pulled her behind him. She couldn’t even remember the guy’s name who’d been sent to babysit her.

Looking through the group she settled on Murphy. She couldn’t read his gaze
. Blocking him out, she turned to the guy she’d crashed into.

“Move,” she said. Her voice was hard and unwavering. The one man she cared about, loved, was gone.

Never let another man inside.

“Who the fuck are you talking to?” the guy asked.

Glaring at him, she looked up and down his body.

“Scum.” She shoved past the Lion and stormed away without looking back. Murphy was gone
, and there was no way she was ever letting him near her again.

Be the bitch he thought you’d be
.

Chapter One

One month from
Lash

“Of all the fucked up shit I’ve had to deal with in the last few weeks this is the worst,” Tiny said, yelling across the room. “My daughter won’t speak to me, and now she’s moved out of my home to live in town, alone.”

Murphy
listened to his leader, his president, curse Tate. He knew the anger as he was feeling the same. Tate refused to have anything to do with him or her father. Every member of the club had tried to draw her back into their world, but each time she cut them down short. The only time she’d talk to him was when he entered the dentist surgery where she worked. Holding in the chuckle, he wasn’t about to admit to his brothers his new obsession, stalking Tate Johnson.

“Something funny, Murphy?” Tiny asked. The older man had a short temper at the best of times
, but now, it was seriously short.

“Do you know where she’s working?” Murphy kept his hands locked in front of him. He was surrounded by his brothers once again
, and everything finally felt right in his world. For the past couple of years he’d been with another club, The Lions, to gain information for Tiny that would help his club. They were the longest years of Murphy’s life. He’d seen things that he never wanted anyone to know. The Skulls were hard, rough bastards, but they had rules. The Lions never lived by any rules.

“She’s a receptionist
for a fucking dentist. Yeah, I know where my daughter’s working.” Tiny threw down the cell phone he’d been holding, and silence fell in the room. Glancing around Murphy saw Lash was looking at his watch while Nash bounced his leg up and down. Butch, Hardy, Zero, Mikey, and several other members were sat waiting for the next lot of business.

The first line of business was dealing with Tate.
She’d been part of the club but was never allowed to stay over. Tiny was very protective of her and demanded the upmost respect for his only child.

“She’ll come around,” Lash said, interrupting the silence.

“Tate talking to Angel?”

“Yes.”

Murphy tuned out trying to think of a better way to deal with Tate than force her back, caveman style.

“I’m sending Steven to keep an eye on her. He’s healthy
, but I want to make sure he’s completely up to the job before we patch him in,” Tiny said.

A couple of months ago two of their prospects, Steven and Blaine,
had been shot and almost killed trying to protect their women. Their intended sacrifice and intervention had given them the patches they’d been waiting for. Murphy had a lot of respect for the two men, and he did believe they’d make a good addition to The Skulls.

“I want that job,” Murphy said, looking at Tiny.

“Tate hates your guts,” Nash said, speaking up for once.

“
My job was to take care of her before, and I can do it again.” Murphy ignored their stares. “I’ve got this. I fucked up, and I can fix it.”

Tiny stared at him for several minutes. Everyone knew not to interrupt him when he was thinking. “Fine, you make it worse and I’m shooting you. Next order of business, some of The Lions want to patch in. Murphy, give us the lowdown
on what’s going on.”

Sitting back, Murphy gave them the information on the three men waiting outside for a chance to patch in.

“They didn’t like the old ways, but they put up with it because they didn’t have anything else. The shit that went over there was rough.”

“If they do drugs then I’m out,” Hardy said.

“Shut up. Tell us about them.” Tiny gave him the instruction.

Standing up, Murphy moved to the blind and lifted it up. The three men were too busy looking around the bar at the old ladies and sweet-butts to see them staring.

“The big guy, over six foot five, is Killer. He’s a little like Lash and can kill with his bare hands. It doesn’t scare him to use them on men who need it. The Lions got kicks out of him killing for sport. Underground fighting and all that shit was where they got shit-loads of money.”

“Should we have someone like that on our team?” Butch asked.

“He’s a good guy and refused to go to your house, Tiny.” Murphy liked the guy and would do anything to get him in with The Skulls.

“Fine, we’ll talk. Stop fucking interrupting
, or I’ll deal with this alone. The next one,” Tiny said.

“
Whizz, computer geek and hard ass. Don’t let the glasses and skinny look fool you. He’s a hard-nosed bastard and doesn’t like to be crossed.”

“How the fuck did you escape then?” Lash asked.

Murphy knew Lash and Nash were going to be hard on him. They’d grown up with Tate, considering her a sister they needed to protect.

“
Everything I did was to help this fucking club. Don’t give me shit about stuff you don’t know about. The last one is Time. He was always on time for everything. The guy has a built in brain like clockwork.”

He sat back in his seat waiting for more instructions.

“Bring them in,” Tiny said.

Getting up,
Murphy opened the door, whistling for the three men to come inside. Killer took the lead with the other two following close behind him. Murphy stood beside them. He noticed The Skulls grew tense at the sight of insignia on the leather jacket. Most of The Lions were gone, but the cut was still being worn.

“Murphy vouches for you
, and that means something to me. One month probation and then we’ll give you a chance to get patched. After the month you can then earn your place within the club. We’ll decide when you become a member. It could take a week, a month, or years, but I get the final fucking say. If it doesn’t work out in this month for you guys to be given a chance, then you’re gone without a trace, get me?” Tiny asked.

All three men nod
ded.

“Good, give me your fucking jackets.” Each of the three men handed over the leather jackets with hesitation.
Murphy’s own jacket he’d burned, along with every single reminder of his time within the other club.

“Burn this shit.” Tiny threw the cuts at Hardy who then left to deal with it.
“I don’t know what shit went on back in your club, and I don’t care. Here, now, you respect my rules. No drugs, it’s not an option for me. We deliver them, but we don’t use or deal them here in Fort Wills. If you’re given a job, you do it without any questions asked. When a woman says no, it means no. Follow the rules, respect the club, respect the patch, and you’ll learn the rest as you go.”

Tiny slammed his hand down on the table. “Meeting finished
. Get the fuck out of here. Murphy, I want a word with you.”

He watched the others leave, nodding at Killer, Whizz, and Time to wait for him.

Lash was the last to leave, closing the door behind him.

“What’s the matter?” Murphy asked.

“Tate hates you, and I know shit went down with the two of you before you left. What’s going on?” Tiny stood up, looking every part the scary biker. He wasn’t wearing his jacket, and it showed his thick, tattooed arms folded across his chest.

“She was in love with me
, and there were feelings there. I broke her heart, but I did what I had to. I put the club first.” Murphy kept his gaze on the older man. He expected Tiny to lose it very soon. “I’ll always put the club first.” It was hard to get the words out, but he knew what was expected of him. Murphy knew the moment he made that promise all those years ago to Tate.

Tiny nodded. “Patricia learned to deal with the club coming first. Her death was hard to deal with. I had this place to keep me going. I love my daughter. Don’t make her promises you can’t keep.”

Murphy agreed letting himself out of the room. Several of the men were wrapped around the sweet-butts. Taking a seat near the bar he ordered a shot of whiskey. He needed to calm his nerves. For the past three months he’d been back in the fold of The Skulls. Some of his brothers were still apprehensive around him, Tiny included. Did they think he turned while he’d been away?

“Hey, baby, do you want some company?” Fern asked, sliding up against him. She was one of the worst sweet-butts in the club, fucking anyone
who’d have her. He remembered her trying to get one of the members to marry her, but she was a sweet-butt and would always be a sweet-butt.

“It’s not going to happen, Fern. Fuck off.” Murphy pushed her away.

“Do you seriously have a hang up on that fat bitch?” Fern’s voice rose. “Tate’s not even around here, and the last thing you’ll get is between those chubby thighs.”

Her words about Tate pissed him off. Acting without thinking, he grabbed her around the throat and slammed her head against the bar. The contact wasn’t harsh
, but it had her gasping and shaking. “You ever talk about Tate like that again and I’ll fucking kill you. You’re a whore around here, Fern. No one wants you for anything other than a good hole. Tate is old lady material. You, you’re not.”

No on
e interfered as he grabbed his beer and walked outside. He noticed no one went running to Fern’s defense. The old ladies hated her, and the men used her.

Going behind the club he stared out at the mass of trees located behind their building. He would stand out here many times when looking out for Tate. She was such a hard woman to
understand when he took care of her. Tate hadn’t been difficult or a bitch. She’d been this carefree spirit looking for a good time. Over the years he’d lost count of the parties he’d dragged her out of, but she’d never fought him when he removed her from the partying scene. He remembered the fact she simply stopped going to parties. Every time he did pull her out of a party he kept the information to himself and made sure Eva looked after her if she’d drunk too much.

Killer cleared his throat. Turning to look at him, Murphy saw the doubt on the other man’s face.

“What’s the matter?” Murphy asked.

“The men don’t like me or the others. We’re thinking of cutting and running,” Killer said, surprising him. Murphy never had them tagged for
quitters.

“You came from
another group known for its lack of rules. If you want to quit, then quit, but don’t make that decision lightly.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ll have a mark on your head like the rest of The Lions. Tiny wants you all dead, and he’ll find each and every one of you.” Murphy let his words settle between them. Reaching into the back of his pocket, he grabbed his pack of smokes and lit one up.

“I wasn’t part of that shit,” Killer said.

“Then prove it. Become a member and fight each and every one of them.” Murphy offered the other man a smoke.

“Fight, again?”

Murphy shrugged. “You want to die? Then run. You don’t want to die then you fight and prove to these men that you’re worth the risk of having you in the club.”

For several minutes he finished smoking his cigarette and threw the butt away. “I’ve got a woman to go and protect.”

****

Tate left the dentist building where she worked. It was fucking boring
, but it made her enough money to get by. The apartment wasn’t too bad either. Several of the women, dental nurses, and fellow receptionists mumbled as she passed them. She was used to the name calling and ignored them. Only a couple of weeks had passed since she left her father’s home, but she knew it was the best decision she’d made.

Grabbing her cell phone from her bag she saw several missed calls from Tiny, Lash, and Nash. She ignored them all, deleting any messages from the club. The Skulls was not her life. Her father would never let her become a member. Wome
n were not allowed in the club, and the club always came first. She was tired of being second best.

Pocketing her phone she headed away from the group of the women.

“Tate?” One of the women called out to her, but she kept on walking. “Tate.”

The sound of running feet had her stopping, turning around to see
a cherry blonde following her. The woman was on the large side, like Angel and herself. It amazed her how many of the sweet-butts were always so slim. They did nothing but fuck the club members.

She stared at the other woman’s bright smile.

“I thought you didn’t hear me,” the woman said.

Tate recognized her as one of the dental nurses. She was one that the other nurses mocked and called fatty.

“What do you want?” Tate asked.

“Erm, I noticed we lived in the same building
, and I was wondering if you wanted some company on the way home?” The cherry blonde smiled, and her face was red, from embarrassment or from the running, Tate did not know.

“Do you know who I am?”

“Yeah, you’re Tate Johnson.”

“I’m not part of The Skulls. If you’re hoping for a way in then go and find someone else. You can fuck your way into the club.”

Cherry held her hands up. “No, I don’t care about the club. I noticed you’re not friends with anyone, and I wanted to offer
you
friendship.”

Staring at her, Tate frowned. “What’s your name?”