Iron & Bone (Lock & Key #3) Page 10

  I tore off my sneakers, socks, shorts, oversized T-shirt, and underwear. I tossed the clothes into the wicker basket and got in the shower, more relaxed than I’d been when I first entered the house.

  Ten minutes later, I was in my bathrobe, heading back to my room, rubbing a towel through my wet hair. After applying my body and facial moisturizers, I tugged on a pair of cropped yoga pants and my new bra and panties. I found my favorite pale pink T-shirt in my drawer.

  Dizziness swirled in my head, and I held on to the edge of my dresser as I took in a breath. The T-shirt fell from my feeble grasp.

  “Hey, where are the diapers? Ma said you had more in here. We gotta talk, too.”

  I pivoted toward Catch’s loud voice.

  He stood in the doorway, his eyes trained on my body. His head jerked back, nostrils flaring. “What the fuck?”

  “What?” I leaned over and grabbed my shirt. The dizziness surged inside me again, and I teetered and stumbled back against the bed.

  He charged into my room and grabbed my arm, pulling me up from the bed.

  “Ow! What the hell are you doing? Let go!”

  But he wouldn’t let go. His grip on me tightened, and he shook me.

  “Stop it, Catch! You’re hurting me!”

  “You’ve been here a few months, and you’re already knocked up with some other guy?”

  Oh dear God.

  “You did it with me, and now, you’re doing it again?” His voice shook.

  “What? I never did anything on purpose! You were the one who didn’t want to use anything, remember? You wouldn’t listen to me.”

  “Now what? You just got knocked up again to get with somebody? I don’t even have to ask whose it is. I’ve had eyes on you, you fucking slut, and sure enough, my point has been proven.”

  “You’ve had me watched?”

  “You are such a fucking joke! You ran off from me, all accusing and a total fucking bitch about me and other women and how you were being treated. Then, you come here, and bam, you hook up with a One-Eyed Jack. You’re such a fucking train wreck.”

  “Shut up! Your mother—”

  “Yeah, you came up here to take care of my ma, to make a family for our daughter. What are you doin’? Skipping out in the middle of the night to fuck your Jack? Or maybe you’re letting him in here to fuck your brains out while our kid is in her crib in the next room? This was my room, growing up. My bed!” He pointed to the bed I slept in. “Jesus!”

  “That’s not how it is. It’s not what you think!”

  “You think I’m an idiot?”

  “No. No, of course not. But it’s not—”

  “Are you pregnant or not?”

  “Catch—”

  “Answer the motherfucking question.”

  “Will you lower your voice? Please—”

  His eyes seethed. “Answer me!”

  My stomach curled. “Yes, I’m pregnant.”

  He gripped my chin, his fingers digging into my jaw. “Is that what you do? Go from man to man, club to club, getting knocked up?”

  I shoved at his chest. “Fuck you!”

  “What are you, his mistake, and he’s out, partying with his bros?”

  “’Cause that’s the way you did it, didn’t you?” I scooped up my T-shirt and tugged it over my head.

  “What we had was different. I used to think it was. You used to say—”

  “I used to say a lot of things,” I spit out. “Things that fell on your deaf ears.”

  “My sister whoring herself out to them, too?”

  “You are such an asshole.”

  He smacked me, and I fell back on my hands on the bed. My face burned, tears sprang in my eyes.

  He towered over me. “What I gave you wasn’t enough?” His voice was low, controlled, yet full of fervor. “I need to remind you?” His fingers went to his belt.

  My hand shot up, my legs coming up against my tummy. “Please, please don’t do this! God, please—”

  His hand lashed at my face again, and I fell further back on the bed, the wind knocked out of me. His fingers dug into my hair and pulled. My scalp screamed. I choked on a breath.

  “You’re not worth my dick, bitch. I knew it would happen, was waiting for it, but not this.” He shoved me onto my back, his eyes smoldering over me. “The Jacks think they can fuck with me? With the Flames? What did they promise you, huh? You been telling them shit about me? About my club?”

  “They’ve never asked me a thing. And I’ve never said anything to anybody.”

  “You think you’re the shit, don’t you? So smart. Instead, you got yourself pregnant, like some idiot teenager who didn’t know any better. They’re just using you to get to me.”

  He yanked at me and gripped my arm. His large hand clamped over my shoulder, steering me, shuffling me out of my room, pushing me down the hall.

  “Ma, me and Jill are gonna go out and grab a drink.” He swung open the front door. “We got stuff to talk about.”

  The cool night air rushed over my skin. I managed to shove my feet in the flip-flops I kept by the front door.

  “What’s going on? Drew! You leave that girl alone! Drew!” Rae’s voice echoed behind us as he pulled me down the driveway toward his bike.

  “Catch, please, we can’t leave your mom and Becca alone. Please!”

  “They’ll be fine. Get the fuck on, and don’t fall off, baby.”

  “I’m not even wearing real shoes!”

  “Shut the fuck up, and get on the goddamn bike.”

  “GIMME ANOTHER, MAN.”

  Dawes handed me another bottle of brew. “You okay?”

  Nothing a club party couldn’t fix, right?

  Butler was officially being welcomed back into the fold. Over two months had gone by since he first arrived, and he’d been a very good boy. Jump had finally called a meeting, and we’d taken a vote and reinstated Butler as a fully patched-in member once again. He and Nina had rented a small place in town, and he’d been helping at the Tingle.

  The club courtyard was jamming with loud music and brothers I hadn’t seen in a while up from Colorado, North Dakota, Montana, Iowa along with plenty of good food and plenty of sexy women.

  Yet I couldn’t wipe the frown from my face or the glower in my soul.

  I spotted Grace laughing with her friend Lenore, who owned a shop in town. Yeah, the lingerie shop Jill had been talking about.

  Lingerie and Jill.

  Jill in lingerie.

  Jill out of lingerie.

  Jill naked.

  Ah, shit.

  “Yo! Shut it! Speech!” rang out over the crowd from all corners of the yard.

  Jump stood up on a table, his hands in the air. “As president of this club, I want to say a big welcome back to our brother Butler as a fully patched member here in Meager.” He held up Butler’s battered leather vest with his club patches, his colors, the South Dakota rocker back where it belonged. “Everyone, give it up for Butler and his old lady, Nina. Welcome home!”

  Everyone hooted and clapped, whistles tearing through the courtyard. Nina and Butler stood together, a huge grin lighting up his face. He lifted his chin, a fist raised high. Nina’s smile was blinding. She soaked up her moment in the limelight.

  I remembered the night Butler had gotten patched in the first time. It was the same night Dig had claimed Grace as his old lady. That night was pure amazing. The world had been ours. Nothing ahead but blue skies and endless road. I squeezed my eyes shut. Now, Dig was gone, and Grace was married to someone else. But she had a shot at more of that amazing, at another baby, thanks to Jill.

  Jill, Jill, Jill.

  The memory of her squirming on her kitchen counter, my fingers sliding inside her, made me suck in a breath.

  Dawes handed me a fresh bottle of beer, and I gulped half of it down as I watched Butler shaking hands and hugging brothers from our Colorado chapter.

  Once upon a time, he used to be a king. He had risen to president of our North D
akota chapter. He’d made good. Then, his own wife had gotten killed in a freak accident, and shit had gone downhill from there for him. Booze, women, drugs. And the ultimate twist on his road to hell—skimming off the top of his own club and helping out a rival MC. After Jump had forced Grace to spy on him, a shit-ton of crappy truth had come out in a whirlwind of blood and disappointments. Butler had resigned and taken off on his own.

  I’d been in touch with him off and on, more often in the past few months. He was a bro from the old days, and I couldn’t turn my back on him. He’d needed a friend encouraging him to get clean, stay clean, and keep on keeping on. Yeah, he’d fucked up big, but he still had a good heart down inside. He’d just had to find it again.

  It’d be swell if I could take my own advice.

  “I’d also like to welcome two members of the Flames of Hell from Ohio, who came out here to party with us. Brothers!” Jump raised his beer bottle in the air.

  More cheers and howls.

  Nina planted a kiss on Butler’s mouth, clutching onto his upper arm. Butler and his younger woman. He had himself an old lady again after all these years. He was settling down, settling in.

  What was I doing?

  I was here, where I’d always been. Comfortable. No, I didn’t function by considering my level of comfort. I was free from hardship, unhurried. That was how I set my calibration. That was what I considered success.

  Yeah, I was good.

  I swiped at the beer on the edge of my mouth as I leaned back against the bar.

  “Hey, sexy on a stick.”

  That was a creative come-on since I was the thinnest of all my bros. A redhead stood in front of me, her tube top of a dress leaving nothing to the imagination. That was always convenient—you knew what you were getting, all of it easy, accessible.

  “I’m Shelley Anne. Mindy told me all about you. Said I should introduce myself. So, I’m introducing myself.” She licked her overly-lined lips and held out her hand. “Hi.”

  I stared at her.

  She swept her hair to the side, posed her legs at an angle, and smiled huge at me, her cheeks puffing with the action, like she was on the runway at a beauty contest.

  Was she waiting for me to pass judgment and give her a score? Yay or nay to get between my legs?

  Her shoulders dropped. “You’re Boner, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Oh, good. Can I get you another drink, Boner?”

  “Just got one.”

  Her lips tipped up. “Something to eat maybe?”

  “Nah.”

  She leaned into me, her hands against the bar. “I auditioned today at the Tingle. I’ve never danced professionally before, but I’ve been taking classes. And I just got these.” She arched her back and thrust out her full hard tits.

  Sure, suck my cock, and I’ll get you a job.

  What else do you need from me? What else can I get out of this deal?

  Because it was a deal, a bargain, an enterprise, a game. A game that gave me what I wanted in return for some spare change. A game I never minded.

  Button pushed.

  I minded today.

  “How old are you, Shelley Anne?”

  “I just turned twenty.”

  I’d figured as much. No desire to touch her flared over me. No desire to flirt or toss a few ridiculous dirty jokes came over me.

  She grinned at me, and in that grin, I saw what I was to girls like her. So many girls.

  “Sexy on a stick.”

  “Bone me, Boner.”

  “Is that boner for me?”

  “Have I got a lady boner for you, baby.”

  “I can make that boner better.”

  “You got any pot? Your pot is famous all over the Wild West. Just like your cock.”

  “I love the way your bike roars. You can put your metal between my legs anytime.”

  “You met Shelley Anne, babe?” Mindy, her brown hair curled into long coils, plenty of makeup glittering on her face, flashed me a tight grin. Expectant, almost daring.

  I leveled my gaze at her. “Says you sent her over.”

  “I did.” Mindy planted a long kiss with a hint of tongue on my lips, her eyes on mine, a hand lingering on my chest. “I thought you’d like to meet her. She and I have been spending some time together, and we wanted to hang out with you tonight. Make it a memorable night.” Mindy’s heavily made up eyes seemed to dance in the lights shining down on us.

  Shelley Anne giggled.

  Fuck no.

  Grace’s laugh rang out, and my body snapped at that sound. That was real, that was…

  I drained my beer in one long swallow, clapped it on the bar, and charged in that direction.

  “Hey! Wait up!” Shelley Anne’s voice piped up from behind me.

  Grace and Lock were kissing hard. Lenore stood with them. Today, Lenore’s hair was pink and the bottom half dyed a sea blue that matched her huge eyes. The woman was covered in ink and constantly changing her hair color. Something was up with that. She scanned the crowd, her posture rigid.

  “Lenore.”

  Her eyes landed on me, and she visibly relaxed. “Hey, Boner. How are you?”

  “I’m good. You seen Jill? Is she here?”

  “No, I haven’t seen her.”

  “Jill’s home, watching a movie with Rae,” said Grace, Lock holding her from behind.

  Lock whispered something in her ear, and they both laughed.

  “I don’t need to watch that movie when I have you,” she said to him.

  A hand shoved itself in my back pocket, and I jerked to the side.

  Shelley Anne.

  “Found you,” she said on an eager giggle.

  Lenore grinned and winked at me, and I untucked Shelley Anne’s hand from my pocket.

  “You gonna show me your bike?” she asked, her voice high.

  “No. And, sweetheart, I don’t hire dancers for the Tingle. All the best to you.”

  “Oh. Okay. But, um, don’t you want to hang out or something?”

  “No.”

  “But Mindy said—”

  I strode back inside the clubhouse, got behind the bar in the lounge, and poured myself a whiskey.

  Mindy leaned over the bar. “Something wrong?”

  “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “Thought you’d enjoy mixing it up a little. She’s game for anything. Trust me, not to be missed.”

  “I’ll miss.” I knocked back my drink.

  “Seriously?” She let out a hard laugh. “Well, something sure has you in a mood. What could that be?”

  “What’s he doing?” a woman’s voice shrieked in the distance.

  Hollering rumbled from outside. A chaos of voices and bikes clamored though the dark courtyard. One man yelled above the others.

  I tracked down the hall and out into the courtyard.

  “Where the fuck is he?” bellowed that male voice.

  My instincts caught fire, and I looked over the sea of heads. A circle had been formed around a tall guy with dark hair. A guy pulling on something.

  “Don’t do this! Let me go, asshole!” a woman’s voice rang out.

  My heart stopped. My blood rushed through every vein.

  “Shut off the music!” I barked out.

  The music cut off.

  “Oh my God!” Grace’s voice. Full of pain, shock.

  A razor scraped up my neck and around my throat.

  “It’s a fucking Flame, man!” Tricky shouted from where he stood on top of an old wooden table. “It’s Catch.”

  I gestured at Tricky with one hand, and he hopped down from the bar, Dawes alongside him, their guns drawn.

  Venom filled my blood, feeding me, as I charged forward, pushing women and men out of my way. My insides boiled and roared, my heart steamed. I was going to kill him.

  I searched for Lock in the crowd. His stillness gave him away. He caught my gaze and nodded once. He moved seamlessly through the opposite end of the throng, toward Catch.
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  “Put her down! What the hell are you doing?” Grace said, her voice loud, firm, diving off the edge of frantic. “Let her go, Drew. Now!”

  Grace had known Catch since they were kids. He was her best friend’s younger brother. She was trying to talk him down any way she could, using his real name was either a panicked reflex or a ploy.

  Jill pulled on Catch’s hold with both her hands, but he only yanked on her hair. She gasped loudly, stumbling. A purple bruise swelled on her face.

  My blood roared. Motherfucker.

  “How did you let this happen, you stupid bitch?” Catch yelled at Grace.

  Butler yanked Grace back, but she only pushed against his arm, her face red.

  “Catch! Don’t do this!” Grace said.

  “Catch, let Jill go,” Butler said. “You got a problem? Let’s talk about it inside. But you let the girl go.”

  “Was this part of your sweet little plan all along, Butler?” Catch said. “What else you got up your sleeve, huh?”

  I slowed my pace down, slinking through the people craning to see, all my senses tuned to the joker holding court.

  “What the hell is your problem?” Grace asked, her voice sharp.

  He shoved Jill in front of himself, her rounded belly sticking out of her pink T-shirt. “She’s fucking pregnant!” he growled. “I let her come up here with you and my sister. You’re supposed to be watching out for her and my kid. You fucking promised. And this is what happens?”

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Grace’s eyes flared. “Let her go now! You’re hurting her!”

  I remained still as I followed Lock’s progress.

  “I told you. I warned you, warned you both. She’s got my kid up here, and she’s been fucking a Jack the whole time while she’s in my house, in my bed?” He pushed at Jill’s rear with his knee and aimed his gun at her belly. “Didn’t take long, did it?”

  Butler pulled Grace behind his body. “Put the gun down, man. Not on a woman.”

  “No!” Grace jumped in between Butler and Catch, her arms outstretched over Jill.

  “Fuck off!” spit out Catch, twisting Jill away. “You think I haven’t been watching her? I’ve seen them together. Where is he? He too much of a pussy to show his face? Is he partying without her tonight? He got himself another whore here at his club while this one’s at home?”