Red Rider (Little Ruby Red Book 2), page 5
“Got it,” Wheelz nods as Cain lets him go, walking over to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, leading me back inside.
“Don’t ever come back to this club or Knights ever,” Colin says before following us.
“Why is it always me?” I groan as they lock the doors behind us.
“Everything ok?” Mum frowns walking up to us as her gaze reaches my neck which must have some sort of marks from his grip on my neck.
“We had a problem, but it’s dealt with,” I nod slowly.
I hated feeling like a damsel in distress all the time when shit like this happened, but every time it did, no matter how much I knew how to punch I froze…
“Everything is tidied up and everyone is ready to go, we’re just waiting on… Ruby… Who was outside? Ruby, what happened to your neck?” Tess exclaims.
“Don’t worry, it’s dealt with and I am not repeating this all night so can we get everyone out so I can lock up and go home please,” I sigh as she frowns, nodding and going to get the others.
“Here’s your stuff Ruby, I grabbed it for you… What…” Alex begins throwing my jacket at me and my bag.
“Don’t,” I hold my finger up as he looks towards Cain before I gesture everyone to go outside, the lights being turned off as I’m the last one out, locking the doors.
“He’s still in the alley,” I hear Colin say as he peers down there.
“Fuck sake, is he ok?” I sigh walking up to them as the others begin to take notice.
“He hurt you and you’re asking if he’s ok…” Cain shakes his head at me before going into the alleyway.
“Fuck off, I don’t need your fucking help,” Wheelz snaps at him.
“Wheelz, you’re drunk and a mess, stop being a little bitch and get the fuck up so I can get you home,” Cain growls.
“I think you’re wearing off on Cain,” Colin says to me with a smirk.
“Whoa! What happened to you, my dude?!” Zuri booms seeing Wheelz being helped out of the dark alley.
“Fuck off,” Wheelz says.
“Looks like he deserved it, to be honest, guys like him need a beating sometimes,” Brooklyn sniggers at him, glaring at him.
“Ok guys, enough of the show, go home, rest, sleep, I will see you back at work tomorrow, bye guys!” I say as most of them leave, leaving just my family and friends.
“I’ll take ‘im home, he lives near me,” Zuri walks up to Wheelz and Cain.
“I don’t need no fuckers help, let me go!” Wheelz groans as he shoves off of Cain stumbling away.
“I’ll call a squad, they’ll pick him up,” mum sighs making a phone call as Wheelz walks away wobbly on his feet, clutching his stomach.
“Whoever hit him did a number on him,” Toby says behind me.
“I just wish I knew who it was so I could thank them, I’m taking you guys didn’t hear me shout,” I reply.
“We heard nothing, those doors are pretty soundproof,” John says looking at them.
“Shit, Cain you'll have to check my tattoo at some point, he pushed me against the wall pretty hard, I don’t know if it will fuck up the healing process,” I sigh turning back to him.
“I can take a look at that, we’ll follow you home, give your old man peace of mind,” dad says.
“Ok,” I nod.
“Right, well apart from this, it was a very successful night, so well done guys,” Callie smiles at me as I mouth a thank you to her for trying to change the subject.
“Yes, now, we should all head home, it’s very late… or early depending on how you want to see it, so I am saying goodnight, Ruby I will email you tomorrow with the extra details for my friend's party,” Cameron smiles giving me a small hug as one by one everyone says goodbye.
“I’ll make sure Wheelz doesn’t come near you again,” Cain says standing next to his car with Amelia as I get on my bike, my parents and Shaun having already left.
“He was drunk which probably didn’t help, as long as he keeps away that’s fine, but it’s not going to stop him at the races,” I reply.
“Yeah I know, but he can stay well away from you, all the same, get home safe angel,” he says before they get into the car, waiting for me to start up my bike and ride out of the car park first.
When I got home dad took a quick look at my back and luckily it didn’t look damaged so hopefully, it would heal just fine still. My neck was a little red but wouldn’t bruise.
“Everything went great tonight and we got some great photos too, I’ll send them over to you guys so you can put them online, sleep well guys, love you all,” mum smiles kissing my head before dad does the same and they head home.
“I am going to grab something to eat quickly then head up, you guys want anything?” I ask.
“Are we dismissing what happened with Wheelz tonight?” Shaun asks.
“It’s done, it’s dealt with, nothing else needs saying, I’m ok,” I sigh leaning up against the kitchen side as they follow me.
“Are you sure?” Callie asks.
“Yes, I only wish I knew who it was that helped me, but that’s unlikely to happen so let’s move on please, I don’t want to ruin what was an amazing night,” I reply.
“Ok, well we are going to bed, goodnight Ruby,” Callie kisses my cheek before heading out.
“Uncle, I’m fine,” I sigh as he stares at me.
“That’s what you say every time you’re not fine Ruby,” he huffs.
“Shaun, I am fine, I promise, I’m not letting it get to me, see it as… growth,” I smile at him.
“Fine, you’re as stubborn as your mother, you know where we are if you need us, goodnight Ruby,” he says hugging me before going upstairs.
“Hey boy,” I scratch Patch’s head as he nuzzles into my side as I grab a cereal bar from the cupboard.
“Want to come in my room tonight? Keep me company?” I smile as he follows me upstairs, making himself comfortable on the bed as I get changed and wash before jumping into bed as he nuzzles into my side.
I couldn’t let what Wheelz did ruin my night, I wouldn’t let it, tonight was a good night and the club worked like a dream.
Chapter Five
It had been a couple of weeks and everything was going really well with the club, it was working like a well-oiled machine. Knights would be opening in the next few days and I could tell Shaun was getting excited to open back up again, he was a little jealous of my club right now.
“Have you guys got the list for tonight?” I ask John as I’m getting the VIP room ready for Cameron’s friends sixtieth.
“No, I thought you had it…” he says.
“I told Rhys to give it to you! Fuck sake,” I growl, stomping towards the others as they were setting up the bar.
“Uh oh, what happened?” Tess asks.
“Rhys, where’s the VIP list?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” he shrugs looking away from his mobile phone for a mere second.
“I gave you the list to give to John about an hour ago, how can you have lost it?” I snap.
“You never gave it to me!” He argues.
“Rhys… back pocket,” Cameron says pointing to his trousers as his hand darts to his pocket.
“Ah…” Rhys mumbles looking at the scrunched up paper.
“Give it to me, for god’s sake Rhys, you’ve torn it… How about you learn how to treat things better at work and do your job? Plus, get the fuck off of your phone!” I exclaim, the sheet of paper was all scrunched up, balled like a piece of waste, torn edges, I would need to re-print it.
“There is nothing else for me to do, I was just checking it,” Rhys rolls his eyes at me.
“Nothing for you to do, how about I give you something to do, I want every fucking glass in VIP polished so they shine. The next time I catch you slacking you better have a better reason. Check your socials on your own time, not mine, we might all be good buddies here but I don’t see anyone else checking their phones every five seconds, this is still a workplace and I am still your boss, this is your first warning,” I say sternly as he huffs, putting his phone in his pocket, nodding before stomping like a child to VIP.
“He’s not going to last long here,” Tess murmurs.
“Not if he carries on like that,” I sigh.
“RUBY!” A voice squeals from the doors.
“Hey Amelia, what are you doing here?” I laugh as she hugs me tightly, a huge grin on her face.
“I have huge news!” she giggles happily, grabbing my hands as Cain comes up behind her with an equally big grin.
“What?” I ask raising a brow.
“I’m pregnant!” She squeals as my eyes widen in shock.
“Holy shit guys! Congratulations!” I smile hugging them both.
“Ok… What’s wrong… You don’t seem yourself…” Amelia suddenly frowns at me.
“I am honestly so happy for you guys, I’m just stressed tonight, Rhys is being problematic and I have Cameron’s friends all here tonight. I want to make an impression, I’ve heard some of them are some rich, top-tier CEO’s and it’s making me nervous,” I say not letting them know the truth that I still hadn’t had my period… could Cain have knocked us both up after our night of fun?
“Ruby, here you go,” Callie walks in not noticing who was beside me as she passes me a bag from the chemist.
“What’s that?” Cain asks as Callie turns quickly, her eyes widening at who was stood with me.
“She’s… uh… got an itch,” Callie says as I groan, slapping a hand over my face.
“Oh… Uh… Sorry to hear that,” Cain mumbles before kissing Amelia saying he was going to get to work.
“Callie! I’m pregnant!” Amelia says to her excitedly as I excuse myself to head upstairs. Callie looks at me as she hugs Amelia too, her eyes darting to the small paper bag in my hand.
I put the bag on the desk as I go through the computer system to print off another list for the security team tonight, resting my head on my hands, groaning at the test that was staring me in the face.
“Ruby… Can I come in?” Cain knocks.
“Yeah, come in,” I sigh sitting up.
“It’s not an… itch… is it? I know you Ruby Red,” he comes in, closing the door behind him.
“I wish you didn’t sometimes,” I mumble.
“Are you pregnant?” he asks coming around to my side of the desk.
“I don’t know…” I whisper.
“That’s what that is, isn’t it? It’s a pregnancy test,” he nods to the bag.
“Yeah, this is a fucked up situation Cain,” I sigh.
“No matter what we’ll work it out,” he sighs.
“Heard that before,” I roll my eyes.
“Listen to me right now Ruby, I am not like the rest of them, if you are pregnant I will take care of you and the baby, me, you and Amelia will all work together, we will work this out but you need to do the test,” he holds my shoulders firmly.
“Ok,” I whisper getting up slowly before grabbing the bag and heading to the bathroom where I rush to get the test done. My hands were shaking nervously as I waited, pacing in the bathroom.
Two minutes… why did two minutes always feel like an eternity with these things?!
“Ruby! We need you downstairs!” Camden calls through the door.
“Fuck, two seconds!” I call out.
“Rhys smashed a box of glasses!” she shouts as I groan.
“Fuck sake!” I snap as I grab all my stuff, glancing at the test in my hands before sighing in relief. Not pregnant. Thank fuck for that… though I knew Cain would have been true to his word and would have taken care of us the last thing I needed was to steal Amelia’s limelight by having a child with her husband.
“Is that a pregnancy test?” Camden frowns as I come out of the room. I swear as I rush into the office to throw it in the bin inside.
“Yes, it’s negative so no need to spread that one around, got it?” I say as she nods.
“No problem, now… Rhys…” she murmurs as I roll my eyes grabbing the new printed VIP list and rushing down the stairs.
“New list, thanks John,” I almost throw it at him as I rush to the bar.
“It’s not like I did it on fucking purpose!” Rhys shouts at Tess.
“Of course not, you were just checking your phone and not paying attention, so who’s fault is it then?” Tess argues.
“I thought I said no more phone! God damn it Rhys! That’s like twenty-four glasses! Our best ones too! Tess pass me the broom, can you get our back-ups from storage?” I ask her.
“Of course I can,” she nods heading off.
“Sweep, you made the mess, you clean it up,” I hand Rhys the broom as he looks at me in shock.
“I’m not a cleaner,” he scoffs.
“Excuse me… I believe you’re a general assistant, which includes cleaning, especially mess you made, if we have a problem you are more than welcome to terminate your contract and get the hell out of my club,” I raise a brow at him.
“Fine, this job isn’t worth it anyway, I quit,” he shoves the broom in my hand and walks out of the room.
I groan in frustration before getting to work on sweeping up his mess, I guess I had been lucky that he seemed to be the only one out of all our new recruits that had an issue.
“Where did Rhys go?” Tess walks back in with a frown.
“He quit,” I roll my eyes.
“Thank fuck for that,” she sighs.
“Who destroyed my bar?” Adam huffs walking in next as we’re cleaning up the mess.
“Rhys, don’t worry he’s gone now, he quit when Ruby got firm with him,” Tess smirks at Adam.
“I have never been so glad to hear that, he was a dick,” Adam says.
“Hold on… Did I miss something? Why did no one tell me there were issues?” I ask.
“It’s only been the last few days, we were going to tell you soon, we just thought maybe he was having some issues we didn’t know about and was giving him time to sort himself out. But then today happened and I kind of wish we had of told you now,” Tess bites her lip nervously.
“It’s ok, I get that. Next time tell me straight away. That way I can keep an eye on them or have a word rather than this little explosion,” I gesture to the mess.
“Give me that, I’ll finish this up, you have people waiting for you boss,” Adam takes the broom from me as I thank them both before heading off.
“So…” Cain grabs my arm as I was walking over to the DJ podium.
“Negative,” I answer as he nods slowly.
“Did you hope it was positive at all?” he whispers.
“A small part of me, but you have Amelia and she’s having your baby, you two are going to be great together and will raise gorgeous kids the right way, I’ll get my chance again one day,” I smile sadly.
“Yeah, you’ll find someone Ruby Red, I know you will. But if you don’t… I’d… Uh… I’d be happy to be a donor if you wanted one… A kid I mean…” he says.
“Thank you, Cain, I appreciate it, now go see your wife before work starts, I have work to do,” I smiled kissing his cheek before heading up to Zuri.
“What’s up gorgeous?” he grins at me looking at his screens.
“Hey, you ready for tonight?” I smile leaning against the speaker.
“Born ready, I’ve got the birthday mix all sorted, some oldies in there for him with the songs Cameron asked for, it’s gonna be banging,” he grins.
“Fantastic, doors open in half an hour,” I smile.
“I’ll be ready,” he replies.
The club was all set up as we readied ourselves to open up, the queue had already formed outside as I headed upstairs to the bathroom quickly, rolling my eyes, sod's law that now would be the time that my period came… AFTER doing a pregnancy test… Was my body trying to wind me up?
Sorting myself out I ran down the stairs as I watched them open the doors, the lights dimmed and the music pumping.
“Ruby! The VIP lounge looks spectacular! Thank you!” Cameron and Hayley walk up to me with presents in their arms.
“No problem, anything you need let me know,” I smile hugging them as they head in to put their presents on the table which included a birthday cake I had had specially made for the event that they didn’t know about.
