“You’re not backing away from the club. You wouldn’t even let Butch back away.”
“I’m not backing away. I just see it useless me trying to be something I’m clearly not.” Alex shrugged. “He was right.”
Tiny started laughing. “Devil and I are no longer talking and you’re going to back down from the club.”
“He was right.”
“What about Michael? What about your son? He’s part of the club whether you like it or not. Are you going to back down?” Tiny asked.
“Alex?” Sunshine spoke his name, drawing both of their attention away from the argument. “Would you both like a coffee or some food?” She was holding a blasted towel again. He hated her constantly holding a towel.
“I’d love one, Sunshine, thank you.” Tiny smiled at her.
“How do you know Sunshine?” Alex asked, jealousy hitting him.
“She’s lived in Fort Wills for a long time, Alex. I know her parents, for crying out loud. It’s a small town, and you need to get your head out of your ass or go back to Vegas. I don’t want you around if you’re about to go fucking pussy on me.” Tiny poked him in the chest before heading into the kitchen.
Tiny was right. Something needed to give in his life, and he had to make a choice.
Chapter Six
Whizz left Butch to Cheryl and Michael. He was really happy that he’d visited Butch. Spending time with him made him realize that Butch had only been doing what he thought was right. It hadn’t been and he’d put them all in danger, yet Butch had suffered the most out of the club. The civilians that lost their lives were a tragedy. The Savage Brothers had been a problem even without Butch’s involvement. From what he learned from Lacey, they were determined to seek revenge and use anyone they could to get what they wanted.
The look on Butch’s face when Cheryl and Michael walked in the room would stay with Whizz for a long time. Hope, happiness, and joy had crossed Butch’s face. They were a family outside of The Skulls. Cheryl had really come through for her man. She was strong through and through.
Climbing onto his bike he headed back to the clubhouse. Driving inside the compound walls, he saw Eva had most of the kids in the play area. Tate was sitting on one of the swings watching the chaos unfold. Hardy was sat on the wall beside his bike, smoking.
Parking the bike, he joined Hardy. He turned down the offer of a cigarette.
“Doesn’t your woman want you smoking?” Hardy asked. His voice was gravelly as if he was on the verge of breaking down.
“What’s gone up your ass and took a shit?” Whizz took a seat beside him. The last thing he wanted to do was deal with Hardy. Ever since the truth had come out, Hardy had become bitter. Whizz didn’t know about the other club members but he was tired of dealing with the asshole. Ten years ago, the fucker had made a mistake. It wasn’t anyone else’s fault but his own. Whatever reason Rose had for finally breaking apart was her own. Hardy wasn’t dealing and neither was Rose, and that was the problem. Rose hadn’t really been dealing with it for the past ten years. She’d been pushing it aside as if it didn’t matter. The couple was paying that price now.
“Where’s Rose?”
Whizz glanced at his watch to see it was after lunch. “Is Lacey out with Prue and Angel?”
“Where’s Rose?”
Murphy walked out of the clubhouse, heading toward Tate. Whizz watched his friend kiss her head, and he was shocked by what he saw. Tate smiled up at Murphy, reaching up to cup his face. His friend did the same to Tate. He read the words on her lips. “I love you.”
In all the years he’d known Tate, he’d never once seen her act like a human. This was a first for him to witness. The love on her face tore down the hard assed bitch he’d known her to be.
When the moment was over, Murphy made his way over to them, looking happy.
“Hey, guys, how’s it hanging?” Murphy pulled out a cigarette and took a long drag.
“Fine, you?” Whizz asked.
“I can’t complain. I’ve got a good woman, a good life, and for once in our life there’s no fucking enemy.” Murphy held his arms open with a smile on his face. “We’ve got the world to look forward to.”
“Life’s good for some of you,” Hardy said.
Rolling his eyes, Whizz glanced at Hardy. “For fuck’s sake it’s not the club’s problem that you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants. It would do Rose good if she gets rid of your ass. All you fucking do is moan.”
“What the fuck did you say?” Hardy asked, throwing his cigarette to the ground and stamping it out.
“You heard me. You’re the one who didn’t see what you had in front of you. Like always you wanted something more, something you shouldn’t have. Rose changed herself for you. What did you do?”
“I didn’t touch another fucking woman. I kept Rose with me at all times.” Hardy took a step closer to him.
“Wow, good for you,” Whizz said. “You gave her fuck all while she had to make the effort. What exactly did you do besides keep her pussy on tap for you? You don’t deserve her. Rose should leave your ass and find another man who can give her what she needs.”
Whizz fell on his ass from Hardy’s punch.
“Hold up,” Murphy said, grabbing Hardy.
“You little fucking punk. Come on, get up.” Hardy spat the words back to him.
Wiping the blood from underneath his nose, Whizz got to his feet.
“Everyone’s treating you like fucking porcelain around here because of the shit that happened to you.”
Any other time Whizz would have withdrawn. He’d walk away as the memories would be too hard to handle. Lacey’s face as he slid inside her warm heat invaded every single one of his senses, forcing the bad memories away. He was no longer held in place, scared, terrified. Standing tall, he glared at Hardy.
“And you’re too busy whining like a fucking pussy. ‘Rose is going to leave me. Where’s Rose? I don’t know what I’ll do.’ Be a fucking man,” Whizz said, mimicking Hardy’s voice before returning to his own. He told Murphy to let Hardy go. He wanted to take on the fucker.
Murphy let Hardy go, but Whizz was ready for him. He took the impact from Hardy’s body, sliding to the ground. Hitting his ass hard on the ground, Whizz grunted but rolled, slamming his fist against Hardy’s face. The other man jerked back but not before landing a blow to his stomach. Whizz welcomed the pain as he looked at Hardy.
“You’ve got no idea what you’re talking about,” Hardy said, wiping the blood from his lip.
“You’re right, I don’t. I’ve never cheated on one of my women with a whore. Or was she a sweet-butt? I wonder how many other brothers had her ass before you got to her. Rose was a virgin when you took her. I thought she was part of the club, but she wasn’t, was she?” Whizz asked.
The first time he joined The Skulls, he’d truly believed Rose started out as a sweet-butt. They’d gotten her confused with her friend. Rose had come with a sweet-butt and caught Hardy’s eye. She hadn’t been passed around the brothers like Whizz had thought. There was a lot about the couple he didn’t know.
Hardy landed a punch to Whizz’s face, clocking his ribs before he pushed Hardy back.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Sandy asked, pushing her way through the crowd. Eva was herding up the children to get them out of sight. The other brothers were crowding around them including the three prospects they’d taken on, Baker, Fighter, and Ink.
“Teaching this little bastard a lesson.” Hardy went to land another blow, but Whizz stopped him by blocking the hit, then slamming one of his own underneath Hardy’s chin.
They fought for a good ten minutes before they both ended up on the floor, rolling around, hitting each other, firing out curses. No one tried to stop them.
Whizz heard a car pull up in the distance. Both of them looked up to see Rose and Tiny climbing out of the car. They jerked apart as if their father had caught them. His body ached from the punches, and he might even have a cracked rib or two from Hardy’s fists.
“What the fuck is going on?” Tiny asked. Their president looked past the group to glare at Lash.
“Don’t look at me. I wasn’t doing anything.”
“You weren’t fucking stopping it either,” Tiny said, glaring.
Yep, Lash was trying to do a bad job so Tiny would have to pick another brother to take over the club.
“I’ll deal with you later,” Tiny said, pointing at Lash. “What are you two doing?”
Whizz looked to Hardy to see him looking back. “Nothing.”
“No, you don’t get to nothing me. For the first time in over five fucking years we’re enemy free. We’re getting our shit back together. Gonzalez took a shitload from us, we were forced to wipe out another club, and one of our brothers is laid up in hospital scared shitless that we’re going to off him. I come home to find two more brothers beating the shit out of each other. You better have a good fucking reason as to why you’re doing it as ‘nothing’ is not going to fucking cut it with me.”
Neither of them spoke.
“They were arguing about Rose,” Tate said, standing in front of Murphy. Whizz glared toward the other woman. She shrugged. “You were fighting about her. Hardy’s been whining about her being gone. Shit got said, and it escalated.”
He should have known Tate couldn’t keep her mouth shut.
“You can’t do it, can you?” Rose asked, glaring at Hardy. “Why can’t you give me some peace, just for once?”
Tears were in her eyes as she stared back at her man.
“Baby, I love you. I was worried.” Hardy’s entire demeanor changed. Whizz saw the love Hardy had for his woman, yet Rose held herself back. It hurt to see the two fighting so damn hard when they both loved one another.
“No, you were worried that I wasn’t coming back. You don’t love me. You’re used to having me around.” She shook her head. “I went to the spa to relax, clear my head, and I come home to find you beating the shit out of Whizz.”
Rose started walking away. No one stopped her or Hardy as he made to follow after her.
“I don’t want you to come with me. I’m tired of this. I’m done.” She looked behind her toward Tiny. “Will you drive me back home?” She started to walk toward Tiny again.
The devastation on Hardy’s face was clear for the whole club to see, but no one stepped in. This was not their fight.
“Rose, baby, don’t go.”
She ignored him. “I want to go back home. Can you please keep him away from me?” Rose spoke to Tiny with her back to Hardy.
“Are you sure about that?”
“I’ve tried to get some time to myself. He won’t give it me, and this is the next best thing.” She tucked some hair behind her ear. “This is the only way.”
Tiny looked over her shoulder toward Hardy.
“No, Tiny, please, man, don’t do this. Rose, baby, we can fix this. I promised you we could fix this. It was ten years ago.”
She whirled around and shoved him away hard. Hardy was invading her space. “It was ten years ago, but what have you given
me
, Hardy? What do I have to show for this? You’ve gotten everything you ever wanted. I was so scared of losing you that
I
changed. I never did anything wrong. In all the time we’ve been together I never once looked at another man, yet all you did was look at other women. I know you do. I don’t care how long it has been or what you need, Hardy. This is what
I
need, and for once I’m going to handle what I need.”
She was wrong about Hardy looking at other women. Whizz may have been mistaken about who she was with regards to the club, but Hardy didn’t look at any other woman but Rose.
No one stopped her as she climbed back into Tiny’s car. Whizz followed Tiny’s gaze to see him looking toward Eva, who was nodding her head. She agreed with Rose. It was time to take her home until Rose made a decision that was entirely her own.
Whizz’s heart broke for Hardy as he watched Tiny pull his woman out of the clubhouse. No one could stop this. Tiny had made his decision.
“I don’t get it. What does this mean?” Ink said.
“It means Hardy can’t leave the compound without one of us,” Lash said. “Rose doesn’t want him near her. It’s our job to keep him contained and away from her. Tiny makes sure women have a choice to leave the club without their man. This is a safety net for all women. It also stops any brother who is beating on his wife from getting away with it.”
He watched Hardy’s chest rise and fall with each indrawn breath. “It means she’s done with me. She’s going to divorce me now.” He turned away walking toward the clubhouse.
“Hardy,” Whizz said.
“Don’t, Whizz. I shouldn’t have hit out at you. This is my problem and has been for ten years, but I was too fucking stupid to see it.”
No one stopped Hardy as he made his way back into the clubhouse. The defeat could be seen in the way he carried his shoulders. The fight had left Hardy.
Slowly, the rest of The Skulls made their way to finish their business. Baker stayed behind. “How do you become a member?” he asked.
Frowning, Whizz turned to the prospect that he knew was favored to be voted in first. “You mean to tell me you joined a club where you don’t know how to become a member? Do you know how messed up that is?”
Baker shrugged. “The Skulls’ reputation is something I want to be part of. You’re a family. I see that every day I’m with you. I don’t have a family. I don’t have anyone. I’d rather do some crazy shit that makes me part of it than not.”
“What if we want you to take a woman’s cherry? Or sacrifice a chicken at dawn or some shit?” Whizz couldn’t believe there was a man who didn’t have the first clue what to do to make him part of the club.
“Then I’ll do it.”
Shaking his head, Whizz looked toward the door to see Eva standing there, waiting for Tiny to get back.
“We all agree that we want you to be voted in, and then we head up to the warehouse or we do it right here. You take on the brothers. If you’re still standing, you’re in. If you go down with one punch, you’re out.” Whizz hit him on the back. “Want my advice? Start practicing. These bastards will fucking kill you.”
He headed toward Eva. She was stood nibbling her lip looking nervous.
“Are you okay?”
“I don’t know. Tiny doesn’t look in the mood to deal with my dad, does he?”