Butch (11 page)

Butch wanted to hurt Alex. He wanted to kill the
motherfucker.

“You’ve got to make a decision,” Tiny said, speaking
to Alex.

Gritting his teeth, Butch shook his head. “I don’t
have to listen to this shit.” He walked toward the door.

“You can’t back off, Butch. We can’t protect you or
your woman if you’re not part of the club.”

“Fucking better than any fucking soap,” Pussy said,
eating more snacks.

Turning to look at his ex-president, Butch felt a
whole load of respect for the other man, but that respect was no longer present
right at that moment.

“I can protect what’s mine.” Butch looked Alex in the
eye. “I don’t follow these rules anymore. Stay the fuck away from me, Cheryl,
and Matthew. If you don’t, I’ll fucking kill you.” Butch slammed the door
behind him on his way out. He was done with the club or at the very least, done
with Alex.

****

“Tiny, don’t,” Eva said, reaching out to stop him from
following Butch. He couldn’t let one of his men leave, not like that. Glaring
at Alex, he was ready to kill the fucker himself. Not only had his former brother-in-law
fucked a woman, but he’d left her alone in Fort Wills fending for
herself
and a son. No matter what Butch said, Matthew was a
Skull. He was a family man through and through. Tiny felt like he’d failed
another member’s woman. He didn’t give a fuck
who
Cheryl belonged to. The son was a Skull and should have the respect deserved by
the family.

“My office,
now!”
Tiny yelled to be heard and pulled Eva in his arms.
“Get Tate to look after the kids.”

“Tiny?”

“No,
don’t
fucking test me. I
want you tonight. Just you and me and none of the kids demanding I stop fucking
you. Your pussy is
mine
tonight. I need this. Please
don’t argue.” He slammed his lips down on
hers,
silencing any protest she could speak.

Her arms circled his neck, tugging on the strands at
the base. Tiny loved this woman. He loved her more than life itself. The moment
he’d finally claimed her, he’d woken up to the land of the living. She gave him
a reason for breathing.

“Okay, I’ll handle it. What do you want me to tell
Lash when he calls?”

Blowing out a breath, he looked around him. “Tell him
the truth but not to cut his vacation. Angel deserves time away from all of us,
and I’m not going to take that away from her either.”

Pulling away made him ache, but business needed to be
attended to.

None of the Chaos Bleeds crew
were
inside his office. This was for The Skulls, no one else.

“What’s the matter, boss?” Steven asked.

“This situation with Butch, it threatens us all. I
don’t like to be weak.”

“Gonzalez wants Devil and his crew. He knows not to
touch us,” Stink said.

“Not yet but he’s going to.” Tiny took a seat, resting
his head on his hand. “We’ve got to be stronger now than ever before.”

“We’ve been attacked before. Why will this be any
different?” Murphy asked.

“Gash is getting out in a few weeks. He’s going to be
looking for a fight,” Nash said. “We’ll be a lot weaker then, trying to keep
him in line. He’s going to want revenge and hurt everyone in his way.”

Tiny had thought about everything. Glaring at Alex, he
waited for the anger to subside, but it never did. “You fucked a woman without
waiting to see if she was pregnant? What was that shit out there?”

“You want Butch back, and now we’ve got the means of
keeping him here.” Alex shrugged.

“Do you really not care what the fuck has happened?”
Whizz asked. “A bitch carried your son and struggled to make ends meet.”

“I don’t give a fuck. It was a screw. I don’t want
anything more from her.”

“Then what was that shit with Butch?” Zero asked.

“Leverage.
He’s left The Skulls, but none of us want him to fucking leave. We all
want him back. There’s nothing we can do to lure him back. We need him. This is
the means of getting him to stay,” Alex said.

“You’re talking about blackmailing him?” Zero sounded
disgusted.

“I’m not going to do shit like that. If Butch wants no
part in the club then he stays out of it.” Tiny couldn’t stop the small twinge
of regret. All he needed was for Alex to offer that ultimatum and he’d have
Butch back.

No, you can’t
fucking
do it.

“You’re not going to get him back, Tiny. The bastard
is happy.”

“Then leave him happy,” Whizz said. “We’ve all lost
shitloads through this fucking club. I say we leave him the fuck alone and deal
with this shit without him.”

“I’m with Whizz. Butch walked away from us. We’ve done
everything to try and bring him back. I don’t think we should keep trying,”
Nash said.

Zero stayed silent while Murphy shook his head. “Butch
is still part of the team even if he is acting like an ass.”

“We can’t do it,” Killer said. “He’s part of the team,
but if he doesn’t want to come back I don’t see why we’re always fighting with
him.”

Tiny nodded. “We’re not blackmailing him. I won’t let
that happen.
Any news on Gonzalez?”

“Nothing that we
didn’t already know.
He’s investing in a lot of
underground shit. Money, drugs, guns, women, it all fits with what Devil says.
The Chaos Bleeds crew will not last long with the runs they’re talking about.
It will only be a matter of time before they’re caught,” Whizz said. “This man
is fucking dangerous, and he doesn’t give a shit who he drags down providing
his name is not the on the warrant.”

Tiny leaned back. He could do two things in his mind.
One, he could sit back and take for granted that he wouldn’t be approached, or,
option two, he fought before he got taken over. Could it be so hard to believe
that Gonzalez may not even want him or the club? Tiny didn’t trust him, and he
knew it was only going to be a matter of time before trouble came knocking at
his door again.

“What about the prospects?” Tiny asked, looking toward
Whizz.

“All three are clean. One of them is a mean-ass tattoo
artist,
another a
baker, and another a fucking
fighter.” Whizz handed him the folders on the three new prospects he needed to
interview for the club.

“Fresh blood is coming,” Murphy said. “Lash will be
pleased.”

Chuckling, Tiny opened up the file and turned the
conversation to a different tack. The last thing he needed to do was get his
men worked up when nothing would happen straight away.

Chapter Six

Tears falling down her cheeks, Cheryl slammed the
front door. She wiped the tears away trying to hide them from her son. Her life
had been turned upside down, and she didn’t know what the hell to do. Alex was
back. Why was he back? No, she couldn’t think about him or the fact he was part
of The Skulls. How could he be part of The Skulls? Did he deceive her three
years ago? Fuck, she didn’t know what to do. What did it all mean? Could she
still be with Butch? The thought of never being with him filled her with pain.

“Mommy?”

“It’s okay, baby. We’re going to stay home a little
while.” She smiled at her son, knowing in her heart she would do anything to
make him happy. “Will you sit and play with your toys in front of the
television while I cook?”

He nodded. Seating him in front of the device, she
turned the cartoons on and started to work in the kitchen on making them some
supper. Her hands were shaking, and it took several minutes of deep breathing
before she gained control over her functions again. The fair had been a
nightmare, and she didn’t want to continue it again. Opening up one drawer then
another, the pain started to return. He knew where she was this whole time.
Alex had used her for some quick slice of pleasure, taking her virginity and
putting a baby inside her. The door was banged on pulling her out of her
thoughts.

Dropping what she was doing, she headed out to the
front door. Her mother stood there looking sad.

“Hey, honey, what’s going on? I heard something went
down at the fair. People love to talk, and Mrs. Perry just had to let me know
about you.” Her mother’s arms were around her within seconds. Cheryl held onto
her. The tears didn’t fall. In fact, since seeing her mother, she’d gotten
angry. For the past three years she’d been dealing with Matthew on her own,
thinking Alex had simply left. Not only had he not left town, he’d not even
cared enough to check on her.

The bastard had used her, given her a child, then
left.

“I’m fine, Mom. Alex is back. I don’t know what it all
means.”

“He’s not going to take Matthew away, is he?”

Cheryl shrugged. She would fight tooth and nail for
her son. No one, not even his father, was taking him away from her. “He’s part
of The Skulls, Mom. He can do whatever the hell he likes.”

“He’s been in Fort Wills all this time?”

She nodded. It didn’t take a genius to work out that
he’d not even cared if she’d been around. The only feeling she had toward Alex
was that of anger. She hated him for using her then walking away. Did he know
the condom had broken? Did he even care? Did she mean that little to him?

“I don’t understand?” Her mother frowned. “How can he
have been here the whole time, but no one’s seen him?”

“You didn’t know what he looked like. I knew, and it’s
easy to stay away from town. Only groupies go to
their
place. I wouldn’t be at the compound for anything other than
getting my car fixed, and seeing as I don’t own a car, there’s no point in me
going.” She pulled out of her mother’s arms. There was no comfort to be had by
her parent. “I’ve got to make food. Today didn’t go how I thought it would.”
She took deep breaths as the tears threatened to fall.

She left her mother standing in the hall way as she
entered the kitchen, her domain. Once she started cooking everything would be
all right.

“What are you going to do, honey?” her mother asked,
following her.

“What I’ve always done. I’m going to cook a meal for
us all, and then I’m going to play with Matthew. I’m not at work tomorrow, so
I’ll wait until Monday and go back to work. Everything will return to normal. The
only person I need to consider right now is Matthew. He’s all that counts.”

“It’s okay to cry.”

Slamming the pan to the counter she glared at her
mother. “Why? What good would
crying
do me? I’ve got
nothing to be sorry about. I slept with a man within hours of meeting him, and
he got me pregnant. Just because he didn’t stay around doesn’t mean I’m
anything special. Crap like this happens, Mom. I’m not surprised by it. Crying
will not change anything. I’m not going to suddenly have a new change of
perspective with a few tears. Everything will be the same.” Cheryl refused to
cry anymore.

She was hurt. Her first time with a man had been nothing
but a bunch of lies. The time she spent with Butch had been more magical. Alex
had used whatever means possible to get her into bed. She’d been seduced and had
fallen for it just as easily. Looking back, she couldn’t help but think she was
gullible.

“I’m going to go and sit with Matthew.”

Cheryl didn’t comment. The last thing she wanted was
to talk to her mother.

Closing her eyes, she counted to ten before getting to
work. Opening up some tomato sauce, she set to making meatballs for all of
them. Halfway through the meatballs simmering the door went again.

“I’ll get it.”

Wiping her hands on a towel, she opened the door to
find Butch on her doorstep. Staring into his eyes, she saw the pain within his
depths. That pain responded inside her. She didn’t deserve this man. “I’m
sorry,” she said.

“Don’t be sorry, Cheryl. This is not your fault.” He
stepped through the door. She knew in her heart she should stop him, but she
couldn’t. For a few seconds she wanted to feel his arms wrapped around her
body, holding her close, loving her. His chin rested on her head as he held her
tighter than ever before. “I’m not letting you go.”

His words did little to soothe the pain. She took what
he offered, pleased to have him with her. Cheryl didn’t expect him to come back
to her after the revelations of today.

“I didn’t know who he was.”

“Alex is a first class asshole. I’m not worried, and
neither should you.” He cupped her cheeks, forcing her to look at him. “Do not
let him come between us. There is nothing to be embarrassed about.”

She bit her lip trying to keep the tears inside.

“How can you even want to be with me after everything
that has happened? He’s your friend while I’m nothing to you.” She stared at
his chest, wishing there was something more to be said.

“You mean more to me than nothing, Cheryl. I’m not
going anywhere, not even back to the club. You’ve got me for life.” He wiped
away the tears that had fallen, forcing her to tilt her head back to look at
him.