Normally this would be a mission for Casper, but she’s having a kid, and times are changing. The Ghost Riders are trying to stay legit and protect our town. And in order to do that, our Pres has decided we take off the head of the snake to show anyone and everyone that we might be clean for the most part, but if you fuck with us, we will fuck you right back. I’ve got no problems putting any of those men six feet under. They are all kinds of dirty. They don’t care what it is or how they have to do things to make money. Shit that makes your skin crawl, but they seem to just want to roll around in it.
Cobra is their club president, and his men are loyal to him but not one another. They fight like dogs to get to the top, wanting his approval and hoping to be the next in line at his side. They do what he says because they fear the consequences, not because they respect him as a leader. I’d bet anything most would stab him right in the back to take his place, unaware that what they would be getting is total and utter chaos that no one could really control. Their own president is barely hanging on.
That club is a band of misfits that can’t agree on anything except doing what he tells them to. There is no real unity or brotherhood. We take out the leader, and the club dismantles around it. They’ll end up eating each other alive trying to take his spot. We’ve seen it happen before when you get guys in your club that don’t have respect for anything. You can’t have a group of people trying to work together when you’ve got to watch your back to make sure none of them stab you. That’s how the Five Aces operate. Inside their own house, no one can be trusted. They’re sloppy, and bringing assault rifles to our front door is crossing the line. We’ve put up with their shit long enough, and Pres wants Violet and me to put it to an end.
“So, a bike rally?” I ask, looking over to get a peek of her cleavage and then back to the road, unable to help myself.
“It seems so. Pres says the Five Aces are going to be at a rally this weekend in upstate Colorado. All of them will be in attendance, and so will Cobra. They’re staying outside of town, so looks like we’ll be using that camping gear after all.” She looks over at me and catches me looking down her shirt. “Eyes on the road, Scribe.”
I wink at her and look away. If I’m not mistaken, I catch a smile playing at her lips. Finally, she gives me something.
“There’s just one problem with the camping gear.”
“What?”
I turn back to her and blatantly look down at her tits pushing against the tank she’s wearing. I lick my lips and then look back to the road. “Only brought one blanket. Guess I’ll have to keep you warm,” I tease her. It’s just my nature. It’s how I am. I’ve always been the lighthearted one. Cas and I can go back and forth for hours doing it. Hell, it’s how we spent many nights when all she had was me in her ear while she was high in the hills waiting for her shot or go call for hours. It helped. Sometimes laughter is all you can go to when death is beating at all the doors around you.
“That’s fine with me. I’m used to sleeping with dogs,” she says, and I clench my jaw.
Thinking about her being with someone else makes anger flood my veins, and having her call me a dog is just as bad. I’ve not so much as given any woman a second glance since I saw her. How can she possibly think I’m a dog? I know there are rumors about me, but that’s all bullshit. It still stings she believes that shit. How can she not see that she’s all I look at?
I grip the steering wheel with both hands and try to concentrate on the drive instead of pulling over and demanding things I know I won’t get from her. I want to shatter that wall she’s got around her. See who’s really standing there when the damn thing crumbles.
6
Violet
He’s cocky, he thinks he knows everything, thinks I’m not good enough for the club. He’s too muscled, he’s too tattooed, and his beard is too…too beardy. I tell myself all these things to try to push back what he makes me feel. Being in the vehicle with him isn’t helping. His masculine scent keeps filling my lungs and warming me in places it shouldn’t be.
I stand beside the SUV as he unpacks the camping gear and sets up the tent, if you could even call it that. It looks big enough for one person, and the blanket he mentioned is even smaller. I did bring a jacket, so I guess I’ll be sleeping in it tonight, trying not to freeze my ass off. It’s warm in Kansas City, but at this altitude in the Colorado mountains, it’s going to get cold tonight.
I agreed with Scribe it’s best to stay off the map as much as possible. He even had me pull my phone apart so we couldn’t be tracked. He did the same with his own and opened a burner. No one should know we’re here.