Page 10 of Sinful Deeds
“Maybe,” she turns away. “It doesn’t matter now. If he catches me or I run, I lose everything again.”
“I get you don’t know if you should trust me, but I promise I won’t let that happen.” That’s a promise I can keep. Even if I can’t have her to myself. My gut tells me she belongs here. With us.
I roll down the window and lean my head out so the Prospect can see me and roll open the gate. I park her car off to the side, where no one can see it from the other side of the fence. The bikes of the brother’s I took with me are all lined up in their assigned parking spots, but the crash van is gone.
Raven doesn’t budge from her seat when I climb out of the car. I close the door and circle around to her side, opening the door and lending her my hand. She watches me for a moment before accepting it. I can tell she’s frightened, but the idea she’s afraid of me, even in the slightest, stabs at my heart. I’ve never claimed to have my shit together. Sometimes I’m unhinged, and right now I’m questioning my sanity. She spent last night with Fuel. My brother in the MC and my family. It’s wrong to want her as bad as I do.
She keeps hold of my hand as I lead her inside. Her steps are small and unsure. Tank, Cobra, Hound and Crusher are sitting at the bar nursing beers. Cat and a few of the other girls that are regulars here are sitting on the couch watching some lame talk show on the large screen TV. The kind where everyone on stage is yelling an octave too high about who’s sleeping with whose man. I chuckle under my breath at the irony. Barely five minutes ago I was questioning my sanity, but the folks on the TV screen define crazy. “If you don’t have a patch or a room, get the fuck out.” I grumble.
The compound is massive, there’s plenty of space for everyone and then some, but patch whores aren’t allowed to live here unless they’re shacked up with a brother. The officers all have rooms, but the older members live double lives. They smoke, drink and fuck here, then go home to their ol’ ladies and kids.
Tank pushes away from the bar and advances on us in a few hurried strides. “Sorry, Prez. We followed the truck as far as we could but lost him at the old bend down by the river. We sent a Prospect with the crash van to get your bikes.”
Your bikes.Only one is mine, but when a brother dies his bike becomes property of the club. Unless he has family to pass it on to. Fuel has no one to speak of. He came to us when he was in his early twenties after prospecting with another club. Things there didn’t work out for him, and he severed ties to head East. That’s where I found him. He was stranded on the side of the road, out of gas, out of cash and in desperate need of sleep. He’s been with me ever since. He doesn’t talk much about his time with the Viper’s Den, but his silence speaks volumes. Some dirty shit went down, and he was on the receiving end.
“Let’s see what we can find out before we assume the worst. Gather everyone with a patch, Church in twenty.”
Hound nods in agreement, pulls out his cellphone and fires off a 911 text. Anyone not already here will drop what they’re doing and get here fast. The ones on site will swallow down their beers, take a piss and file into Church.
I lead Raven deeper into the compound and motion to Mercy to follow. She bolts off the couch at the first sight of my gesture. “Let Mercy look at you,” I tell Raven “Then have a drink. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Mercy isn’t like the rest of us. She was born into this life, a daughter of one of our founding members, but she got out. She studied medicine at some fancy college and became a nurse. She found herself back where it all began for her, seeking the club’s protection when she crossed a dangerous man. Her intentions were pure but assisted suicide is still illegal in New York, and she made an enemy of the patient’s Ol’ Man. Now she protects us. Tending to our bruises, healing our wounds. She’s just as much one of us as any brother here. We take care of our own. That’s a code we all live by.
“Raven’s staying here until we sort this out, and she’s off limits to every one of you.” I toss over my shoulder on my way to Church, leaving Raven in Mercy’s capable hands.
Chapter 7
Raven
Mercy steers me toa small room toward the back. The room is crisp and clean. The smell of disinfectant makes my nose twitch. Chainz said she was a nurse, but I was not expecting a professional setup like this. Mercy slips a starched white lab coat over her tattered jeans shorts and crop top. She buttons it up to hide the belly button ring decorating her flat stomach. I stare for a minute at the tattoo on her arm. It’s a staff topped with a pair of wings and has two winding serpents around it. I recognize the Caduceus as a symbol of the medical profession. This chick’s legit.
Mercy motions for me to sit on the exam table. The fresh strip of paper covering the vinyl crinkles when I climb on top. She removes a band from around her wrists and ties her long brown hair back, exposing a row of piercings in the cartilage of her ears. She washes her hands before crossing the small room to where I’m sitting and raises my shirt off my stomach. I wince at the cool swipe of antiseptic on my skin. Mercy tends to my wound, using tweezers to pick out tiny slivers of glass.
Her touch is gentle and her voice soothing. “It’s not as bad as it looks, but you need a few stitches.”
I can’t help but wonder how she got twisted up with a bunch of outlaws. As curious as I am about her, I’m more interested in Chainz. He’s never far from my mind, but today he’s also on my nerves. “Why is Chainz such an asshole?”
