Bull, page 2
We didn't want our bikes crippled by gunfire.
As soon as I walked through the back door I was accosted by Bambi, a new club girl who'd been with us for about a month. Right now she was a favorite among my brothers, and to say she liked sex would be an understatement. The woman was insatiable, but to me it came across as desperation, and while I liked easy pussy, aggressive bitches turned me off. Before I could give her the slip, she jumped in front of me.
"Hi, baby."
I couldn't help it, my gaze dropped down to the tits on display. I was a man, after all. Only her nipples were covered by a tiny triangle of red cloth, the same bright, slutty color as her lips and nails. Her face was made up like a Las Vegas showgirl. Her makeup too much and too thick, including the extra-long eye lashes that framed her blue eyes.
Her hands flattened against my chest as she gazed up at me with an invitation in her eyes. "I've been looking for you."
"Yeah? Was I lost?" I smirked. I wrapped my hands around her thin wrists and pulled her hands away from me. "Got church." She didn't take the hint by stepping away, so I gently moved her off to the side. "Maybe later."
"I'll be around," she said as I walked away.
I knew she would be. "I'll look for you," I lied. As I walked towards the room where church was held, I caught Jade’s eye and gave her a wink. She was more likely to be the one who would ride my dick later. Jade had joined us six months ago. A pretty little Asian girl, with alabaster skin and midnight hair down to her sweet little ass. Her figure was more on the boyish side, no tits or curves whatsoever, but she had amazing talents with her hands and mouth.
The other club girls were nowhere in sight.
I opened the door to church and walked into the room. LD was at the head of the table. Cappy, our VP, sat to the left of him. As enforcer I would be at the right. The other officers included TJ, who oversaw security; Blade, our secretary; and our road captain, Yogie. LD didn't include any soldiers at our meetings. He liked a small room, liked to keep club business to the officers. It made it easier to keep shit from getting out that way.
"How's Uncle Tom?" LD asked just as I plopped down into a chair.
"Never got to see him." I pressed my lips with disappointment. "Someone called church."
He smirked. "Club business always comes first," he grumbled. "You'll have time to go back later."
I gave him a chin lift. For some reason, my mind drifted to the hot nurse I'd seen outside of Morning Glory. How come I had never run into her before? I had been visiting my uncle there for over a year. Maybe she was new.
"I called church because Radar has been spotted down on the strip."
Fuck. I leaned back in my chair with a snort. "After all this time?" The man was like a bad penny. "Shit."
LD nodded. "Agree, Brother. Got the call from Pooch." He was just one of many eyes we had working for us to be on the lookout. "I let Demon know. If Radar stays in this area, he wants us to handle it. Also gave Trip a heads up."
Trip was the president of the Vegas Watchdogs.
"Makes sense, he's only one bastard," Cappy said. "Enough time has gone by, and Radar hasn't made any moves." The older man shrugged. "Was he wearing his cut?"
"Pooch said no colors. Said he was coming out of a store when he saw Radar on his hog at a stop light. Said he almost didn't recognize him. Shaved his head and was clean shaven."
"I'm surprised he's still around since his mother up and left."
TJ wasn't saying anything the rest of us weren't already thinking.
"I'll take a ride down the strip, see what I can find out." Looked like I wouldn’t be seeing Uncle Tom after all.
"Take some brothers with you," LD ordered. He pinned his eyes on Blade. "Hack into surveillance cameras along the strip. Might get lucky." Blade handled anything to do with paperwork, background checks, and research.
I hoped we all got lucky.
Radar needed to die.
Chapter 3
VIOLA
I gave Lissa a long look, envying her ability to look so chic and put together in a body-hugging red dress and stilettos, her black hair as smooth as silk against her shoulders and her professional makeup job giving her a sexy, sultry look. She looked nothing like the toned-down girl I worked with every day. In fact, if I hadn’t known it was her, I wouldn’t have recognized her.
Compared to her I looked like a frump in my ankle-length full skirt in red, a beaded belt around my waist, and a gauzy white blouse with big sleeves and colorful buttons down the front. Not a stiletto kind of girl, I wore black flats because they were comfortable. I didn't wear makeup, and my dirty blonde hair was in a thick side braid hanging over my left breast.
Lissa gave me a smirk and pushed her way past me into my apartment. "Tell me you're not going to the club dressed like a gypsy," she said in exasperation.
“It’s bohemian.”
“You look like a gypsy.”
I shrugged. “Maybe I don’t have a particular style.”
"Can't you just once dress like you're going clubbing and not to the flea market?"
I laughed. "I like to be comfortable." We'd had this same conversation a hundred times. "Besides, if I dressed like you, I wouldn't have any fun, I'd be too worried about sucking everything in."
She rolled her eyes and scoffed, "You're the size of a fairy! What are you, a size four?"
Lissa was right, I was small. She was a graceful five-foot-eight, while I barely topped five feet. "I'm a size six," I corrected her, as if that made a world of difference. "And it's not because I have curves." Which I did. "If I wore form-fitting slutty dresses like you I'd feel self-conscious. I'm not used to putting all this—" I ran my hand over my baggy clothes, indicating the body beneath, "—on display."
She burst out with a laugh. "Maybe if you did, you'd get laid more often."
Now I rolled my eyes. "This is one of the reasons Nick and I didn't make it. He didn't appreciate my Bohemian style and remarkable décor choices." I waved my arm around the room we were standing in.
Lissa glanced around. It wasn't the first time she had been inside my apartment. “As if he ever made it inside your apartment!” she laughed.
“He did! He even made it to my bedroom!”
Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “And you didn’t tell me? I thought we told each other everything.”
“That’s another reason we didn’t make it.”
Lissa laughed.
We were the opposites in every way. She was organized and put together, color-coordinated and classy. Her place was decorated like a home you would see in a magazine, while my room exploded with disarray and color. It wasn't dirty, but it was cluttered and messy, because I was a firm believer that there were more important things in life then wasting time and energy making sure that everything was neat and orderly.
"I'm not trying to change you," Lissa said as she shook her head. "Just give you, um, different alternatives to try. I don't always go out dressed like this. Sometimes I dress down, for comfort. But you, sweet V, always dress in a particular style that screams carefree and wild and attracts attention. Just not the right kind."
I wondered what she meant by “not the right kind.” I released a heavy sigh. "I'm unique."
"People think you're peculiar."
Well," I shrugged, smiling. "Peculiar is unique."
Another eye roll. "Jordan is nothing like you," Lissa said with regard to my younger sister. "One of you must have been adopted."
Like me, my sister was a nurse who worked at Shands Hospital in Florida. Jordan was quiet and shy, and sadly a little distrusting of everyone until she got to know them. I knew that her caution was the result of what had happened to us a few years before, when we had been abducted by a motorcycle club. That incident had scared her. It had me, too, but I had bounced back after a week or two. Life was too short to be worried that something bad could happen at any time, and it wasn't as if anything bad had happened to us anyway. Another club had come along and rescued us, and eventually they had made sure that we’d made it home safely.
"Are we going or not?" I finally broke down and asked, impatient to be off. I'd waited all week to go out and have fun, to let my hair down, drink a little, and dance a lot. Lissa was fun to hang out with; we were besties.
"Come on, there's a new place I want to check out." She took me by the arm and we walked toward the door. "Let's go find you a new man. One that doesn’t look and act like a freakin' Ken doll."
I raised my brows. "Why do I need a new man?"
"Because you don't sleep around," she laughed.
That was true.
Lissa had a habit of hooking up when we went out. Rarely did she end up with the same man twice. I couldn't do it. I liked to meet new people, liked to have fun, maybe accept a drink or two from a stranger, but I made it clear that it wasn't a free ticket to my bed. If a guy wanted a one-nightstand, they were barking up the wrong tree with me. I didn't judge Lissa for liking sex with strangers, but I did worry about her. One night she was going to go home with the wrong man.
At least we had a system in place. Before she left with someone, she would text me a picture, the guy’s address, and his phone number. Sometimes they only went as far as the parking lot.
Ten short minutes later we were at the new place she wanted to check out, Grinders, and I realized that what she’d meant 'by new' was a place that we had never been to before. By the look of Grinders, it had been open for a long time. It had that established look, and it wasn't a club. It was a bar. Big difference in my book. The parking lot was jam packed with bikes and trucks, which revealed what kind of clientele was inside.
I parked my car, turned it off, and pinned disbelieving eyes on Lissa. "Really?"
Her crushed expression said it all. Apparently she hadn't been expecting this either. "You want to go somewhere else?"
I looked back at the building. It was old, and in spite of the lighting that surrounded it, dark. The door opened as someone came outside, and I got a quick look at what was going on inside. The lighting was not much better, but I did make out a room full of occupied tables and servers meandering about. As the door closed, it blocked out the music that was thundering from inside.
I exhaled loudly. "We're here now and it's already ten o'clock. Let's at least check it out." Never judge a book by its cover, I thought to myself.
We opened our doors at the same time and exited my car. The heavy aroma of weed and cigarette smoke hit us at the same time, and I noticed that there was a group of people standing off to the side. They were clustered in a tight circle, and every once in a while when someone took a drag off whatever it was they were smoking, the glowing tip made me think of lightning bugs.
I smiled as that reminder brought forth a cherished memory of when Jordan and I had been kids staying at our grandparents’ farm. We had spent many nights outside chasing lightning bugs and filling mason jars with them.
Someone let out a wolf whistle, which we both ignored. "Why did you think this was a club?" I asked Lissa as we walked up to the door.
"A friend recommended it." There was disgust in her tone. "Now I think he was playing a trick on me. I don't mind bars, but this one looks like it caters to the rougher crowd."
I giggled. "Well, one thing is for sure, you're going to make an impression. I doubt anyone else in here looks like you." I opened the door and we went inside.
I was right. Several eyes turned our way and stayed on us. I didn't pay much attention to them because I knew they were all focused on Lissa. I took in our surroundings while Guns 'N' Roses blasted through the speakers. Naked girls were dancing on platforms and grinding on stripper poles. Every stool at the bar against the wall was full, and there were two bartenders hustling behind the counter. Several patrons there turned to gawk at us, too.
"It looks harmless enough," Lissa said.
"I see a booth over there," I indicated with a nod, and began to pull her behind me. Of course, it was sectioned off in the corner, and I was surprised that it wasn't already occupied. Just as we were about to scoot in, one of the servers came over.
"I'm sorry, ladies, but this table is reserved."
"For what time?" I asked.
"All the time," she smiled. "It belongs to the owners."
"Oh. Are they here?" I looked around the room as if I would know them if I saw them.
"Not yet. They don't come in every night."
"Well, we're not going to be here for longer than one drink," I began, ignoring the skeptical look Lissa sent me. "We'll just use it for the one drink, and if they show up before we're done, we'll move." I smiled.
The server hesitated, and I could tell that she was considering my proposal. Finally, she relented. "I guess that will be okay." Lissa and I scooted in the booth. "What would you ladies like?"
"We'll both have a white Russian," Lissa responded.
The server laughed. "Sorry, ladies, you won't get that here. We don't make cocktails. You can get beer, whiskey, wine, bourbon, tequila—"
"I'll have a beer please. Whatever is on tap."
Lissa sighed, clearly not happy. "White wine."
"I'll be right back." She spun around in a kind of dance-like move and rushed off.
"I'm going to kill Richard," Lissa mumbled under her breath. "This was payback for the blind date I hooked him up with."
Richard was Lissa's brother. I laughed and sat back. Those two were always pulling crap on each other. "I actually like it here."
"You would!" she breathed out. "You like everything!"
"Relax, honey. It's not that bad. We'll have one drink and then go somewhere where we can get our groove on."
The server returned with our drinks, dropped them off, and disappeared before we could thank her.
"So, where do you want to go after we leave here?" I always left it up to Lissa because her mood decided where we would go for the night. I was easy and managed to make do no matter where we ended up.
"I was thinking about...ah...um...oh, my God, V, my panties just caught fire!" Lissa exclaimed in a loud whisper as something drew her attention toward the door. Suddenly her expression lightened up and a predatory gleam that I recognized filled her brown eyes.
She had her target for the night.
Smiling at the transformation, I followed her gaze, expecting to see a Chris Hemsworth look-alike or some equally drop-dead, gorgeous hunk walk into the place. But all I saw were three huge, imposing bikers sauntering into the room, and it was hard to gauge which one Lissa had set her sights on. They were all equally mouth-watering in very different ways. Not Lissa's usual type, but I could see why they had caught her interest.
As they walked further into the room, it was the fourth biker, the one who came in a little behind them, that caught my eye and caused a reaction in me that I hadn't expected. My heart was suddenly in my throat as sharp awareness fluttered in my belly. The man was taller than most and thick with muscle. Even with a thin t-shirt and cut on I could make out the ripple of muscles lining his torso, see how tight the sleeves fit around his defined biceps. His arms looked powerful; the length of his forearms lined with blue ropey veins.
My eyes continued down his body, appreciating the way his faded jeans fit snugly over the bulge of his cock and around his thick thighs, ending at the big, clunky boots he had on. On the return trip back up, I couldn't help lingering on the outline of what had to be a very sizable package behind his zipper. I suddenly felt hot, and my eyes darted up his body to examine his face.
Handsome did not begin to describe it, the disfiguring scar on his left cheek taking nothing away from his appeal. It disappeared beneath the darker stubble on his face. He had nice lips, and a slightly crooked nose. His thick, blonde hair was pulled back with a tie, exposing the corded muscles of his thick neck. I finally made my way to his eyes.
They were dark brown...and looking directly at me.
I caught my breath, and then slowly smiled.
I knew him.
Chapter 4
BULL
I was a few steps behind Yogie, Jolly, and Frenchie when we entered Grinders. We had just returned from a run and had decided to stop there on the way to the clubhouse. It was late, we were thirsty, and Jolly wanted to see his girl, Trina. She was one of the dancers and was supposed to be on tonight.
My eyes adjusted quickly to the dim interior of the bar as I walked through, taking in the crowd. I saw the usual truckers, locals, and a table full of Vegas Watchdogs drinking and watching the entertainment. A couple of the Watchdogs acknowledged me, and I responded with a chin lift. I recognized their VP, Murphy, and enforcer, Bigfoot (BF), among the six sitting at the table. BF had Polly, another of Grinders' strippers, sitting on his lap.
My eyes lit on Honey, and with a sharp nod in her direction I motioned her to meet us at our usual table. Her bright smile disappeared when she saw me, and I wondered what was up. It didn't take me long to figure out when I saw the two women who occupied our table. My gaze quickly skimmed over the gorgeous one in the red dress. She was a stunner and had the whole fucking package, but her eyes were on Frenchie and it was clear that she had set her sights on him.
I swung my eyes to her friend and snorted to myself. With the exception of her face and arms, she was covered from her neck to her feet. Her clothes were loose, but they couldn't disguise her nice tits. She had no makeup on whatsoever, but then I realized that she didn't really need any. She had the kind of beauty that was fresh and natural, and those big blue eyes of hers made me want to dive in and never come out. They were mesmerizing and looking directly at me.
Fuck. In a heartbeat I realized who she was. The very woman I had watched at Morning Glory that morning, and once again there was something else that seemed familiar about her to me but remained deep in the background of my memory. Since she worked in the same place that my uncle was living, I reasoned that I'd probably just seen her before in passing or something.
