Tease: A Kings of Korruption MC Novel (8 page)

“Travis?”

His steps pause, but he says nothing.

“I’m making stuffed manicotti for supper tonight.
 
Did you want to join me?”
 
Silence fills the air, its weight choking me.
 
“I always make too much and can never eat it all myself.”

“Not a good idea,” he grunts.

His attitude is starting to piss me off.
 
“Yeah.
 
Maybe you’re right.”
 
I clench my jaw and try my best to glare in his direction.
 
“I mean, who knows which one of your personalities is going to show up.”

Silence.

I sigh heavily and force the emotion from my voice, doing my best to sound dismissive.
 
“Thanks again for helping me out last night, Travis.
 
I didn’t need it, but thanks anyways.
 
Now, if you don’t mind, I need to use the little girl’s room, so you’ll have to show yourself out.”

More silence.
 
I’m beginning to wonder if he’d managed to leave without me noticing when he speaks again.
 
“What’s stuffed manicotti?”

I can’t help the smirk.
 
He always sounds so angry, but I’m beginning to wonder if that’s just his normal tone.
 
“It’s noodle tubes stuffed with different cheeses and smothered in a sausage and tomato sauce.”

More silence, broken only by the sound of his feet shuffling.
 
“What time?”

Excitement fills me – butterflies swarming in my belly – but I keep the cool tone in my words.
 
“Seven thirty?”

He grunts, “I’ll be here.”

Still sitting on my bed, my hand on Dex’s back, I listen to Travis walk through my apartment and out the front door.
 
The feeling of triumph freezes me in place, my face split in a wide and gleeful grin.
 
Apparently food really
is
the way to a man’s heart.

I jump from my bed about to do a victory dance.
 
Just as my foot hits the floor, pain sears through my wounded heel.
 
“Ow!
 
Shit!”

Abandoning my victory dance, my heart soars with excitement as I limp my way to the bathroom.

CLOSING THE DOOR TO Laynie’s apartment, I’m just about to move to the main door of the building when the door across the hall opens.
 
A young guy, about twenty-five, steps out and freezes when he sees me.
 
He glances from me to Laynie’s door several times and swallows hard.

“You the guy that let me in last night?”

His eyes locked on mine, he nods.
 
The guy’s terrified.

“You do that often?”

Eyes still wide, he shakes his head no.

I take a few steps toward him, causing him to step back and press himself against his apartment door.
 
“I ever hear of you letting another stranger into this fuckin’ building and tellin’ ‘em where to find Laynie, I’ll rip your fuckin’ heart out.
 
Got me?”

He stays pressed against the wall and says nothing as he nods.
 
Holding his stare for a moment, I glare at him, showing him just how fucking serious I am before turning and stalking out of the building and down the street to my ride.

My phone chimes with a text just as I’m about to swing my leg over.
 
Yanking it from the back pocket of my jeans, I see that it’s Gunner.

Gunner:
 
911. Church in 30.

A small rush of pride fills me as I realize that he’s added me to the group list of patched members.
 
After years of wandering this fucked up world on my own, I finally belong somewhere.
 
Glancing back at Laynie’s building, I grit my teeth.
 
Why did I agree to come back for dinner?
 
I may belong to the club, but I don’t belong in that girly fucking apartment with that woman.
 
I need to cancel.
 
I should never have agreed in the first fucking place.

The drive to the clubhouse is short, and I pull in beside Jase just as he’s getting off his ride.
 
He stops, waiting for me to get off my own.
 
“Where the fuck did you take off to last night, Romeo?
 
You got some pussy on the side you ain’t sharin’ with the rest of us?”

I shoulder my way past him, giving him a warning glare as I do.
 
He laughs out loud and follows along behind me.
 
“Oh, secret pussy.
 
I hear ya, bro.
 
Secret pussy is my favorite
kind
of pussy.”

I spin around, stopping him in his tracks.
 
“It’s none of your fuckin’ business where I went.
 
And I don’t want to hear about your fuckin’ pussy.”

As I turn and start strolling toward the clubhouse once again, Jase laughs.
 
“All right, brother.
 
I hear ya.
 
No more pussy.
 
You did miss a hell of a party after you left last night, though.
 
Lucy was looking for you too.
 
Wanted to give you a welcome to the club present.
 
She gives it to all the new brothers.”

I curl my nose at the thought of that nasty bitch touching me.
 
Sure, I’d fucked her a couple of times, but I’d never let her touch me, and I’d never touched her more than I had to.
 
Jase snickers at my expression, and we enter the clubhouse.
 
The common room is cleaned up, floors and tables gleaming.
 
You’d never know there was a party there the night before.
 
The old ladies of the club have been busy this morning.

The meeting room is full, a brother sitting at every available seat at the long oval table.
 
The only seats left are Jase’s, and what looks to be my newly appointed seat, directly between him and Reaper.
 
We enter the room and take our seats quietly, waiting for the Prez to tell us what the fuck is so important.

Gunner clears his throat and sits forward in his chair.
 
“I called you all here today because we have a situation.
 
Ryk, this one affects you the most.”
 
Ryker’s frame goes still as he waits for Gunner to continue.
 
“That sick fuck, Krueger, was killed last night in prison.”

Shock fills the room.
 
It’s not like we care – Krueger had it coming.
 
He’d gone rogue from the Devil’s Rejects MC and kidnapped Ryker’s woman.
 
He almost fucking killed her.
 
He’s lucky he lived this long.
 
I don’t know how Ryker didn’t kill him in the first place; I’d have turned that fucker inside out.

Gunner looks around the table, letting it sink in.
 
“I, for one, am glad the fucker’s dead.
 
The problem, though, is that the Devils think we had something to do with it.
 
Think we went back on our agreement to let them question him about some shit they have goin’ on in their
own
club.”

The room fills with voices all speaking at the same time.
 
I stay silent watching Ryker.
 
He says nothing, but his face is filled with fury.
 
I know he had nothing to do with it.
 
He wanted to kill that son-of-a-bitch himself, and had been working out a way to do it.

Gunner bangs his gavel on the table.
 
“Quiet!”
 
Everyone stops talking, restless energy pulsating throughout the room.
 
“The Devils are pissed.
 
They think we killed him before they got a chance to get what they needed from him.
 
I told them we had nothin’ to do with it, but they are convinced it was Ryker.”

Ryker clenches his fists, his jaw hardening.
 
I know he
wishes
that it was.
 
Not getting to kill that son-of-a-bitch himself is gonna haunt the poor bastard for the rest of his life.

“The Devil’s Prez told me that killing Krueger was an act of war.”
 
The room swells with outraged shouts and a jumble of angry protests.
 
“I couldn’t convince the stupid bastard that it wasn’t us, or our boy here, so I wanted you all to be aware.
 
The Devils
will
retaliate – it isn’t gonna be fuckin’ pretty.
 
Keep your eyes peeled and stay alert.
 
Nobody moves anywhere without carryin’ your piece and keep it loaded at all times.”
 
Gunner leans forward and spears each of us with his fierce, green eyes.
 
“We are officially at war, boys.
 
Stay safe.”

He bangs his gavel once more, officially ending the meeting.
 
One by one, the brothers stand, anger fueling every conversation.
 
I stand slowly, making my way to Ryker.
 
He looks up from his seat, eyes dark and furious.
 
Holding my fist out to him, I say, “Whatever you need, brother.”

Gritting his teeth, he just nods, bumping his fist into mine.

I get it.
 
I know what it’s like to have rage buried so deep inside you that you can’t speak.
 
To be so enraged that you fear opening your mouth will lead to insanity.
 
Being that angry is how I’ve lived my life for the last twenty years.
 
Giving him a chin lift, I turn and head out the door.

Just as I swing my leg over my bike, Mouse comes running up behind me.
 
“Tease!
 
I need to talk to you.”

I cut my eyes to his, waiting for him to say more.

“I met this girl –“
 
I don’t even wait for him to finish.
 
Mouse and his fucking women.
 
The guy is only nineteen and seems to think every girl he meets is going to be “the one”.
 
Then they turn out to be complete trash, and it just about breaks him every time.
 
For the first time ever, I’ve got my own fucking women troubles – I don’t need to hear about his.

“No!
 
Wait!”
 
I turn back and stare at him again.
 
“This one’s different.
 
I’ve been seeing her for a while now.
 
She told me this morning…”
 
He runs his fingers through his hair, body twitching with excitement.
 
“She’s fuckin’ pregnant, dude.
 
I’m gonna be a fuckin’ daddy!”

I don’t know what to say.
 
If some bitch told me I was going to be a dad, I’d lose my fucking shit.
 
“Fuck.”

“No, man.
 
It’s cool!
 
I’m gonna be a fuckin’ daddy!”
 
He grins at me, his whole face splitting wide with happiness.
 

I can’t relate.
 
Being a father sounds like my idea of a fucking nightmare.
 
Mouse will be a good dad, though.
 
He may be just a kid, but he’s a good person – always happy, and he would give you the shirt off his back if you asked for it.
 
If he’s happy about it, well, good for him.
 
I don’t know why the fuck he came to
me
about it, though.
 
Sure, we’ve spent a lot of time together as prospects, but if he hasn’t learned by now that I don’t participate in his whacked out conversations, he never will.