Finding Me: Dominant Devils Book Three Read online

  Without seeing for myself, I don’t have a choice but to take Happy’s opinion on the matter. “I don’t think your girl has a clue about what’s coming to her. The paper trail makes me think the parentals were trying to get their hands on the money without Bree knowing about it. After checking a little deeper I figured out why or at least have a reasonable hunch. Charlie likes to spend money like it's nothing. The bitch maxes her credit cards out every month and has shit in her personal accounts. Derek, the pretend daddy, isn’t hurting per say but he doesn’t have two million cash at his disposal. Most of his money is tied up in real estate and investments. They could be liquefied but it would take a while. If the right set of eyes started going through the company’s files and cross checks with his he might be in deep shit. Derek likes to buy properties to write off as a loss from the family business and then buys them personally dirt cheap to resell and pocket the money for himself. The shit can’t be legal but don’t know the logistics of that shit.”

  “So those two fucks have been after her money and she knows nothing about anything? You would think the grandmother would have at least hinted at the idea over the years. From what Bree has told me they spent a lot of time together,” I tell Happy in disbelief.

  “Not saying the old bird never hinted to anything but none of the transcripts from the court hearings show that Bree was present for them. I know Breezy is shy and sweet but my gut tells me if she knew she would be entitled to two million cash and her parents were trying to steal it from her she would have made some kind of attempt to stop them.”

  “Yeah, I guess your right about that. What the ever living fuck, man? This is going to totally screw with her head on top of finding out the man she's known as her father for the last twenty-four years wasn’t her father. I think she already knows her mother is a bitch. I think we may have to worry about her flipping out more so than Wall and we both know that fucker is going to go apeshit when he finds out he’s got another sister. You know that shit with Rowdy not being able to keep his dick in his pants over the years fucks with him. The asshole has avoided any kind of commitment cuz he thinks he’ll be just like his dad,” I try to stress my point.

  “You’re forgetting one major piece of the puzzle, though. Think about how Queenie’s going to react. She can be nothing but drama on a good day. She’s gotten close to Bree over the years and how do you think that will play out when she finds out Bree is her husband’s bastard child. If I were you I’d be over there making that bitch mine before shit hits the fan and she has a chance of running off. This shits gonna get ugly quick,” Happy finished.

  I had to agree with Happy, there. While I sat with Happy for about an hour sipping on the bottle of bud prospect Aaron brought me, I tried to work out a plan of action in my head. The only thing I could come up with was to get her ass on the back of my bike and take a ride somewhere. Somewhere I could pull off and have a heart to heart with her before I broke the news hanging over us. At least if I had her on the bike and could get far enough away from town, I wouldn't have to worry about her taking my keys leaving me on the side of the road or her trying to walk back to the house.

  “How about we head over to the house? We ain't gonna get anything accomplished tonight. Might as well crash, this shit’s been stirring for twenty-five years, it can wait a few more hours,” Happy says as my phone begins to ring.

  Without even looking at the ID I knew it was Wall by the sound of Mudvayne singing Scream with me. “Yeah,” I answered quickly.

  “Get your ass over to the house now. Throttle’s sending a crew to the bike shop, the fire alarm just went off,” Wall shouted before hanging up.

  I scanned the room realizing, other than the prospects, Happy and I were the only ones let in the clubhouse. I looked back to Happy with a nod as I jumped from the table to head out the door. I said nothing until we were dismounting the bikes at the back door of the house. “Not sure what’s going on but a crew’s riding into town. Fire alarms are going off at the bike shop.”

  With Happy on my heels, I ran into the house. I could see Throttle, Hawk, and Blaze moving about in the den readying themselves to leave. “Something doesn’t feel right about this. Fucking Axle and Avery aren’t back yet. Happy run down to check on the girls. Make sure Athena’s ass is awake and has her piece handy. Make sure they know to keep their asses put until someone comes for them. If anyone shows up that doesn’t belong to this chapter you tell her to empty the clip in their chest. The other women are good but that crazy bitch is a better shot than me,” Throttle sprouts out while pulling his rag on. “Tank call over to the clubhouse. Have the Prospect wake the boys from the Rowensville Chapter. Have them stand guard at the clubhouse while you, Wall, and Zeus stay back here at the house with the oldheads. If this is some fucking ploy to get us away from the house I want you fuckers ready for whoever it is. I’ll let ya know what we find when we get there. Keep your damn phone line open.”

  Happy was gone down the basement steps before I made it to the kitchen. Part of me wanted to run down and reassure Bree that I’d keep her safe but my brother was the VP and his order was law second to only Axle. Reluctantly I went straight past the open door leading to the basement out the back door to make the call. Wall was leaning against the deck railing with a cigarette hanging from his mouth as he was dropping the clip in his 45 before slipping it back in the shoulder holster.

  I dialed the number for Prospect Aaron and sandwiched the phone between my shoulder and my chin so I could ready my own weapon. “Tank, what’s up man,” Aaron answered on the second ring.

  “Prospect, I’ll school you later on how to answer me when I call you, but for now you need to ready the troops. Wake the boys from the Rowensville chapter and you need to get Prospect Dylan’s ass up. Keep an eye out for anything. Got a crew riding into the bike shop to check out the fire alarm that sounded. Make sure you all stay put and by all means stay away from the basement over here. The women have been warned to deal with any threat that isn’t a patched member who lives over here.”

  “Yes, sir. What do I tell the guys when they start asking questions,” the Prospect asked.

  “Look, just wake their asses up and stand watch. With them overlooking the clubhouse a few of us are left here at the house. Don’t know exactly what’s going on; could be nothing. Throttle’s not taking any chances in case the fire alarm is a decoy to get everyone away from the house. I’ll call ya when I got more for ya. Until then do as I tell ya,” I snapped before hanging up.

  “Little testy, brother? You seem a little on edge, man,” Wall asks from his spot on the deck.

  “I’m good, Wall. Just don’t like having a damn prospect questioning what I tell him.”

  “You can deal with that tomorrow, but we both know that ain't the only thing bothering you. It gets better, fucker. You’ll learn to handle club business before checking on your woman. It ain’t easy but you’ll learn to trust that these fuckers would lay their life down for her if you’re not around.”

  “I know that. Hell, I’d lay my life down for anyone of those women in this damn house. It’s just a new feeling that I don’t know what to do with, asshole. I’ve never had to worry bout someone that was mine alone. I haven’t even told her I’m planning on claiming her ass yet,” I tell my enforcer before looking away.

  “I get ya. I’ve been like that with Madison for years now. It’s why I’m standing outside rather than in the house. I’m close enough to hear if she needs me but far enough away to keep myself from rushing down the steps to check on her. One, I can’t be seen as a pussy. Two, she would get all bitchy and tell me just how she can take care of herself. Third, Happy’s told Athena to empty a clip in anyone’s chest that is familiar. After the events of tonight, I’m not so sure that bitch wouldn’t do it for spite then act like it was an accident later. Later after I was dead that is.”

  “You wanna tell me bout that shit earlier? I’ve known Madison since the day I was born and I’ve only seen that crazy bitch
cry a total of four times, one of which was tonight,” I asked thinking maybe my brother needed to talk shit out.

  Wall was quiet for a few minutes while he just stared at the ground mulling things over in his head. I was beginning to feel it was a closed subject when he dropped the bomb that apparently he was the only one privy to. “She got into UCLA. She’s going to be packing her shit and moving as soon as she can. She said she needed space from me and the club for a while. She’s running, man. Running as far away from me as she can.”

  “You know for a fact that Axle is going to go apeshit. Between him and Boomer, that girl ain’t going nowhere. They’ll never let her ass leave,” I say trying to reassure him.

  “I won’t let them stop her. I told her that earlier. If this is something she really wants, I’ll do my damndest to make sure it happens. I lied to her, though. I told her if she left I wouldn’t be here waiting for her when she came back.”

  “Why the fuck would you tell her that if you didn’t mean it? You might not have been a saint all these years but you’ve been Madison’s shadow since she was three.” I was completely lost on this one. The last few days he’s made a point to tell me how much of a dumbass I’m being and how if given the chance he would make shit right between him and Madison. Now he’s telling her to go and that he won’t be waiting for her? WTF?

  “Because I want her to live, dude. Madison might be a hard ass but I know in my heart if I tell her I’ll wait here for her she won’t believe me but she won’t date or try anything new while she's out there either. When I take what’s mine I don’t want her having any regrets or miss out on anything just to be with me. She’ll be back when she graduates and if not I’ll go get her ass. Now enough with my shit, you got your shit squared away yet,” Wall flips the script to me.

  “Working on it. Was on my way over here to throw her ass on my bike for a ride when I got the phone call about the alarms. Hopefully, this shit is just a false alarm and I’ll be able to get it taken care of in the morning.”

  The two of us were still outside when the text came through from my brother.

  Throttle: Fucking shop is lost, brother.

  Me: What you mean it’s lost?

  Throttle: I mean the whole fucking top floor apartment and tattoo shop are engulfed in flames right now. Fire department working their asses off to get it out.

  Me: Fluke thing or was this shit set?

  Throttle: Don’t know yet but when I got here it looked to have been started towards the side of Romy’s shop

  Me: You get ahold of Ax yet?

  Throttle: He’s here now. They saw it on their way back to the house. Blaze is bout to lose his shit. Make sure Ghost knows what’s going on.

  Me: Romy? Izzy?

  There was a pause in the texts, leaving me staring at my phone for what felt like forever before the final text came through.

  Throttle: Ax says to leave it up to Ghost. If he wants them to know it’s his decision. Fire’s just bout out now. Let ya know more when I can.

  This isn’t good. Ghost would never keep this shit from his daughters, especially now that he was given the choice to do so. I put my phone away and looked at Wall. He had been watching me in silence while I had the conversation via text with my brother. “Throttle says to get Ghost. Let him in on what’s going on. Says it’s his decision on whether or not to let Izzy and Romy in on the situation.”

  “What situation? What aren’t you fucking telling me, Tank,” Wall questions me with a weary face?

  “The shops a loss, man. Throttle seems to think it was started in Romy’s tattoo shop or her apartment. Says Blaze is about to lose his shit. It ain’t good, man, but the fire department almost has the fire out. He’ll let me know more when they do.”

  “FUCK! That means that shit was set for the girls. The question is whether or not it was a warning? Are they trying to send a message or did they think the girls would have been home tonight?” Wall said exactly what I was thinking. Before everyone left for California, Axle had let the girls ease back into work at the bike shop and tattoo parlor. Only because Ghost and Blaze were there at all times.

  “Let’s go find Ghost and fill him in. We’ll let him break the news to Romy and Izzy is he wants to. If not he can wait until the rest of the crew gets back from town. Let’s go.”

  Finding Ghost was easy. He, along with the rest of the oldheads, were taking up spots on the couches in the living room. Wall moved in the room to find a place to sit between Boomer and Doc while I sat on the end of the coffee table looking Ghost in the eye as I explained what my brother relayed to me about the situation in town. Ghost took things surprisingly well until I divulged the last bit of information. When I told him the location Throttle thought the fire was set I watched as the man’s face showed a raging storm.

  Everyone in the room remained silent as we waited for Ghost to react to the news. He remained quiet but didn’t sit still. Like a flash of light, he was up from the couch rushing towards the door of the basement. Worried that he was about to end up with shots fired at him I followed him and pulled him back from opening the door. “What the fuck do you think your doing, old man. We gotta knock on this mother fucker first or you’ll have those crazy ass bitches filling you full of lead before they even stop to see who they shot.” I pulled Ghost behind me and proceeded to pound on the door. We both said nothing as we listened for movement behind the door. I couldn’t hear anything other than not one but three hammers being locked. No doubt in my mind if we had just stormed in we wouldn’t have made it out easily.

  “Who the fuck is it,” I heard Athena yell from behind the door?

  “It’s me, Tank. I’ve got Ghost with me too. He needs to talk to Romy and Izzy. We can either come in or we can go back upstairs and wait for you all to come up.” I heard my phone start to go off with Buck Cherry’s Crazy Bitch screaming through the hallway. “Yes, Madison.”

  “I figured I’d check and make sure it was you before we opened the door. Wasn’t sure if we were going to have to rescue your ass or not,” she was saying as I heard the lock on the door turn before she pulled the door open. “We couldn’t be too careful, ya know.”

  “Yeah, I’d rather you all be cautious but damn, girl. If I was led her at gunpoint I’m thinking I would have found a better excuse for you to open the door then Ghost needing to talk to his girls. Speaking of which, why don’t the rest of you follow me back upstairs and let the three of them have a little chit-chat.”

  “No, I think they all should come upstairs, it’s a little too cramped down here for my taste. It ain’t like my girls are going to keep their mouths shut. The rest of them would know before I even made it up the steps. Grab your shit and follow me up to the living room.” By “shit” Ghost meant the guns the girls had close to them. When everyone was in the living room he continued. “Now listen up everyone, I ain’t repeating myself,” Ghost says pulling everyone’s attention to him. “From what I’ve been told the building housing the bike shop, Romy’s tattoo parlor and the upstairs apartment is a total loss.”

  I stood back and listened as Ghost told the group about the fire that ripped through two of the family’s businesses as well as Romy’s and Izzy’s home. Surprisingly the girls waited until Ghost was finished before bombarding the men with questions. It only escalated when the sounds of bikes pulling up the driveway silenced. Romy was up off the couch meeting Axle toe to toe as soon as he stepped into the living room.

  “WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO MY SHOP?” Romy screamed as soon as Axle walked through the door. Izzy ran up behind Romy to grab her before she launched herself at the Prez but was unable to stop her. Romy ran straight into Axle and started banging on his chest. The girl was pissed and needed to get the shit out, but I wasn't sure how long the Prez was going to stand for it. When a few of us stood to grab her, he waved us off. You could see the fight leaving Romy’s tiny frame. In no time at all, she was a sobbing mess with her face buried in the President's chest. “Why Axle? What the hell
have I ever done to deserve this shit?”

  “Nothing Munchkin. You’ve not done a damn thing to deserve any of this. I will find the ones responsible. As soon as the smoke clears babe, we’ll rebuild the shop. Besides I think you’ll be more than busy enough helping my woman plan a wedding,” Axle said to her trying to calm her and get her mind on something else. The mention of a wedding had the attention of more than a few in the room changing directions.

  “She said yes? Did you at least get the ring I sent a picture of,” Romy asked causing the group of us to laugh?

  “Why don’t you have her show you? I’m sure you’ll be happy with what I came up with Munchkin.”