Page 20 of Courting the Consequences

Johnny continued to smirk down at her. She swallowed thickly.Interesting, he thought,did Rockstar have a little conversation with her already?“Well, Princess,” he nodded toward Devil, “that’s our cue. Have a nice night.” He turned and headed toward the truck.

“I’m getting used to watching you walk away,” Kara shot back at him.

“The fuck you say?” he snarled before he even realized it. He spun on his heel, about to march back toward her.

He vaguely heard Devil curse.

“You heard me,” she snapped back, crossing her arms over her chest.

His phone rang; he hit ignore without looking at it and stalked toward her in three powerful strides. She held her ground, arms crossed over her chest as she stared him down. Johnny spared Kevin half a glance and saw his brother watching him, amused.

Johnny stepped right into Kara’s space. He grabbed her jaw and tilted her head back. She was leaning back against Kevin while he had his hands on her hips. Her eyes widened in shock as Johnny gripped her chin, not so gently, and moved his face toward hers. “Let’s get one thing straight here,Princess,” he drawled. “You may be with my brother now,” he grinned wickedly, “but my brother and Ishare everything. And I don’t like my women talking back to me,” he growled.

She let out a scoff of annoyance. “You fucking asshole,” she snapped and pushed his hand away from her face.

Johnny chuckled darkly and grabbed her face again. “Baby, you have no idea,” he growled before he slammed his lips down on hers.

“Shit,” Devil cursed from behind him.

Johnny’s phone started ringing again, and he groaned as Kara’s mouth opened to him. He ignored the phone for a moment longer before he broke away breathless. He watched Kara’s eyes slowly open as he pulled back and answered the phone. “What?” he snapped.

“Mayhem, it’s your dad. Feds just arrested him,” Hotrod’s voice was clear on the line.

“Motherfucker,” he spat, clenching the phone tight. “I’ll be right there.” He ended the call. “Let’s go,” he snapped to Rockstar and Devil. Both men were instantly alert, they knew he’d fill them in on the way.

Kevin turned Kara and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “I’ll call you later,” he said before he walked past her.

Kara looked shocked and confused, but Johnny didn’t have time to think about her feelings right then. He had to leave. He turned on his heel and walked away from Kara without a look back.

Johnny headed toward the truck, barely hearing Devil tell Kara that her wheel was all set, that she just needed to put the hubcap back on, before he climbed behind the wheel of the truck and fired up the engine.

Kevin’s and Derrick’s doors had barely slammed shut before Johnny was gunning it out of the parking lot, tires screeching on pavement.

It took twenty minutes to get from the Carmichael building downtown to the clubhouse on the south side. Twenty minutes too long for Johnny’s temper. “Fucking move!” he shouted as he flew around a car going the speed limit.

Johnny didn’t know what he expected to find when they got to the clubhouse. Hotrod had made it clear that his father, was already gone. The feds had been quick about serving the arrest warrant.

It didn’t stop him from tearing through traffic and sliding through the open gates of the compound. “Why the fuck are the gates open?” he growled as he parked the truck.

Rockstar shot out of the passenger seat and headed toward the gates. “Close the gates!” he yelled as he walked away.

Johnny climbed out of the truck and stormed into the clubhouse. The main barroom was packed with patrons in for an after-work drink; friends, family, and trusted employees of Taylor Construction loitered around. All of them looked a little rattled in the aftermath of the president’s arrest.

“Mayhem!” Hotrod called from across the busy barroom.

Johnny barely spared him a glance. “Church!” Johnny barked to anyone that was anybody, trusting Hotrod and Devil, who was hot on Johnny’s heels, would get the word out. Devil peeled off, hearing the demand.

Johnny headed for the double doors at the back of the long room. The bar ran the length of the long wall on the right, some forty feet of counter. Johnny stormed past it and the pool tables and dartboards on the way. He threw the black double doors open and walked around the large conference table that took up most of the room.

As vice president of the Ravager Knights motorcycle club, Johnny’s usual seat was at the right hand of his father, the president, who sat at the head. Johnny eyed the seats and slowed his roll as he walked toward them. There was a weight that came with sitting in the top seat. It wasn’t his first time filling in for his father over the three years he’d been vice president. There was just something aboutthis timethat didn’t feel right.

He didn’t have long to make up his mind, though. Boots scuffed the floor behind him. He took the seat at the head of the table. His brothers filed in and circled around the table to their usual spots. Mammoth, Hotrod, Vagabond, Welder, Bandit, Darrel, and Lemmy sat down. Rockstar and Devil were the last to file in and closed the double doors behind them.

Rockstar took the chair to Johnny’s right, not hesitating to take Johnny’s usual chair. As club sergeant at arms, the club enforcer, Devil took the seat to Johnny’s left. Derrick was one of two club enforcers, along with Welder; their job was to do the dirty work. They were usually called in to torture and end lives.

Welder was in his mid-thirties, with a deadeye stare that could burn through your soul. He may have looked like Mr. Clean with his bald head and bulging muscles, but that’s where the similarities ended. He had a thick gray beard that came down to his chest. Johnny couldn’t remember if he’d ever seen the guy smile. He was not a man you wanted to meet in a dark alley.

Devil looked downright gentle compared to Welder. Derrick had his Fabio mane of brown hair and a beard that was thick and maintained, about an inch off his face. He looked more hipster, with his long hair back in a ponytail, than club enforcer, but Devil had a switch; once it was flipped, there was no going back. If the Devil came out to play, blood was spilled and lives were lost.

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