Page 25 of Jake's Angel

“He’s a nobody.” Jayde supplies, not sounding the least bit impressed with him. “Just a prospect trying to earn his patch.” She slides her sunglasses down just enough to allow me to see her eyes roll.Whoever he is, I don’t think she likes him much.

“What’s a prospect? I mean, what does he do?”

“A prospect is a mindless slave.” Jayde tells me, chuckling. “He’s the grunt of the club. He waits on the other brothers hand and foot, if they ask. They do all the dirty jobs like cleaning up after parties, or mishaps that happen from time to time.” She gives Sadie a side glance. Sadie’s eyes widen as if to sayshut the hell up.I want to question them about it further, but decide it’s probably best if I don’t.

Sadie tries to appease my curiosity by explaining, “Blake is a prospect for the Kings. He wants to become a member. In order to do that, he has to first earn his patch. To do that, he has to follow orders given to him by the President or otherclub members to the letter. No matter what they ask of him, he can’t question it. He just must obey. Apparently, I’m his newest assignment.” Sadie huffs.

“He’s here because Gabe, the President, ordered him to be wherever Sadie is.” Skyler explains. “Because apparently Sadie pissed off her uncles, and this is her penance.”

We make our way into the mall and immediately sigh when the gust of cold air hits us. I take my hoodie off, wrapping it around my waist. Jayde gasps. I completely forgot about the purple marks on my upper arm.

Shit.

“What the hell happened?” Jayde whispers, inches from my face. Sadie’s eyes grow wide and full of anger. I wince at the pain I see in her glare.I couldn’t tell you.As I stare back at her, I hope she can see the words I'm thinking.

Deciding I need to give some explanation quick before Sadie loses her shit, I tell them a slight variation of the truth. “I refused a proposal from a certain male, and when I didn’t give the right answer, things got a little heated.” Jayde’s hands shake with rage as she holds me by my shoulders. I’m not sure if she’s trying to comfort me or herself. “I’m okay, really. He didn’t hurt me.” I lie. “I left before he could hurt me anymore.” She breathes in deeply, her eyes never leaving mine as if she’s processing the words that I’ve spoken.

“You sure he can’t hurt you anymore?” Skyler asks, her voice low and full of menace. She’s eyeing me suspiciously, but there’s something else I see behind her eyes … is it pity? Empathy? I’m uncertain, but I don’t want to discuss my past in the middle of the mall.

“I’m sure.” I say with conviction. “I’m never going back there.”

“I don’t mean to be a bitch or anything, but people are starting to stare. Since we have the leather-clad babysitterswatching our every move and reporting back to whoever, I think we should move things along.” Jayde tilts her head subtly toward the sexy man in a club cut and aviator glasses, who’s been perched in the corner by the door, intensely watching our whispered exchange.

“Shit,” I grumble. “Yeah, let’s go.”

“Relax.” Sadie says with a smirk. “They probably think we’re plotting our escape.” Jayde laughs.

“Not yet.” She turns to me. “But I’ve got ten bucks that says Sadie finds a way to lose them by the time we get to the dance club tonight.”

We all laugh, because it’s probably true.

Sadie wraps her arm around my shoulder as we walk. Leaning her head close to my ear, she whispers, “They’ll never hurt you again. You have my word.” I glance at her, but don’t say anything.

Skyler crowds closer on the opposite side and says, “You’re in the King’s territory now. They don’t go for that shit.” I nod at her words, not knowing how I should respond. The Kings have nothing to do with me. They’re here to protect Sadie and Jayde. I’m only safe because I’m with them.

CHAPTER EIGHT

JAKE

We all grabour drinks and make our way into church. Settling myself into my seat at the table, I take in the black-and-white photos of past members and their families lining the back wall. One of my favorites is the one of Gabe and his family with my mom and Pop.It’s the last photo taken of all of them together before the car accident. It was taken at their little girl’s second birthday party here in the yard.

A few short months later, everything changed.

Don’t dwell on shit now. The picture’s always been there. You’re remembering because you’ve been having nightmares again. Get a grip!

The memories don’t seem to want to stop lately. Of course, the drive on the way to and from Ethan’s fight probably didn’t help. The road has been repaved. The guardrail is no longer a mangled mess. The skid marks have all been erased. If it weren’t for the wooden cross and flowers Liz leaves there every year, no one passing by would ever know there had been an accident.

The picture next to Gabe’s family is of Caleb and his brother, Jonah. The club’s President and VP at the time. Jonah was shot and killed in cold blood during what appeared to be a robbery. We later learned it was a setup.

Caleb stepped down as President weeks later pending jail time for manslaughter. He served a two-year jail sentence for fatally injuring a man in a bar fight. The club’s attorney got him the shortest time possible, using his grief over the loss of three family members in such a brief span of time as having clouded his judgment. Witnesses at the bar attested to the other man having started the fight, therefore placing Caleb in a position to defend himself. I heard Pop talk about it often, how he and the rest of the club thought it was a bullshit charge. They felt Caleb should’ve gotten off on self-defense, but the court felt he needed to serve the minimum sentence to prove a point. A warning for other Kings to stay on the right side of the law.

We do.

For the most part.

When Caleb went to jail, Thomas, Gabe’s older brother, was next in line to be Caleb’s successor as President. From what I overheard, because I was a nosy little shit and was often in places I should not have been, the other club members believed Thomas to be too unstable. He was heavy into drugs at the time and wanted to get the club involved in illegal shit. In the best interest of the club, and in keeping with the way Caleb wanted things to be run, the officers voted to make Gabe President instead. Everything spiraled out of control afterward.

After Jonah was laid to rest, his only son Jameson inherited half of Fury Firearms and was also voted to take his father’s place as VP. Gabe bought out Caleb’s half of the firearm business, giving Liz plenty of money to run the stables and farm, and to be taken care of herself should anything happen to Caleb while he was away. It was what Caleb wanted.

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