Butch (20 page)

Her mother paused, glancing over her shoulder at her.
“Really?”

“I love him. He’s amazing, attentive, hot—great, now
I’ve said hot.” Licking her lips, memories of the way he’d touched and made
love to her last night filled her mind. He’d been rough yet delicate. Butch set
her body aflame with desire.

“Have you talked to his father yet?” She pointed at
Matthew.

Cheryl shook her head. “I will soon. I promise. I know
I’m going to need to see him, but I don’t know. He doesn’t want anything to do
with Matthew, I mean, why would he?”

“I don’t know, honey. You’ve got to give the man a
chance. He’s with The Skulls, so he’s always got something going on. Doesn’t he
own a fancy casino back in Vegas?”

She shrugged. There wasn’t much she did know about
Alex. Their relationship had been fleeting, and the only lasting consequence
sat in her lap. Cheryl hadn’t been sitting around mourning for Alex, or wishing
for him to come home. There were a few times she wished he turned up as she’d
been terrified of raising a child alone. She’d never been alone though, as her
mother had stuck by her through thick and thin.

“I want you to be happy, Cheryl. I really do.”

“I’m happy, Mom. Butch makes me happy.” She smiled,
tightening her arms around Matthew. “Alex wasn’t anything special. I mean, he
was there, and then he wasn’t. There were no lasting feelings. Butch, I miss
him all the time. He’s out now, and I hope he’s okay. I’m not going to stalk
him or anything. I don’t know, maybe we’re moving too fast after finding out
about Alex, but I don’t think we are. He means everything to me, Mom.” She
pushed her hair off her face.

When Matthew started to get restless, she placed him
back in the high chair.

“I don’t know what you’re going through. If he makes
you happy then I’ll be happy for you. I never want you to suffer, Cheryl. Never
in
all this
world did I want you to go through what
you’ve gone through.” Her mother placed pancakes in front of her son then
handed her a plate. She took the food, diving into the fluffy pancakes. “When
you told me you were pregnant, I was worried. Raising a child is tough. Raising
a child alone is even harder.”

“You did it for the most part.”

“But your father couldn’t hack it, honey. He was
happier going out and sleeping with everything than sticking by his woman,” her
mother said, reaching over to touch her hand.

“Butch would never do that to me.” Cheryl knew without
a shadow of a doubt that Butch would love her and be loyal to her. The Skulls
were many things, but they were loyal to each other.

“I know. I’ve got the right to worry about you. You’re
my daughter, and I’ll keep worrying about you for many years to come. I should
warn you, I’ll always worry about you.”

Cheryl smiled. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

****

Frederick chuckled as he entered his hotel room. The
scent of bleach overwhelmed him the moment he closed the door. “Fuck, Ronald,
it stinks.”

“Tell that to Homer. He got in a mess with the girl,
and now he’s cleaning up the mess.”

Ah, the smell of victory. He was going to have The
Skulls and Chaos Bleeds eating out of the palm of his hands.

“What’s the next stage of your plan, boss? We’ve got
another delivery of coke due and a shipment of at least a hundred girls that
need to start earning their keep,” Ronald said.

Walking to his supply of scotch, Frederick poured out
three glasses. Homer appeared wearing a blood smeared apron. The sight appalled
Frederick, but there was nothing he could do. That ship had already sailed.

“We’re putting pressure on Tiny and his men. Gash will
be out within three weeks, but he’s going to be coming out to a whole load of
shit.”

He took another sip of the strong, expensive spirit.
His father didn’t have the first clue of how to handle an MC group. All of the
men who’d come before him really thought they knew their shit. They were all
mistaken. Frederick knew how to get what he wanted and kill every motherfucker
who got in his way. Devil and Tiny were only the first. Soon he’d own both MCs,
both towns, and along the way he’d get Vegas and start to expand his business
out. He’d be more powerful than any fucking criminal known to mankind. Whoever
thought of trying to sell shit on his turf would have to pay their dues.
Gonzalez didn’t intend to come cheap. After his father had taken out the Savage
Brothers over twenty years ago, Frederick thought it would only expand from
there. Instead, his father had gone back home, leaving it all dead. He was
going to change all that. “Daddy left a loose end from a long time ago. I want
you to find
Becca
Stanford, kill her, and send the
head to The Skulls. When you do that, send Ashley’s to Chaos Bleeds. We’re going
to get what we want, boys. I can almost taste it.”

Chapter Eleven

Two days later

After bailing those bastards out Butch hadn’t heard a
peep out of them. They had their kids back with the help of Rupert, but did he
get anything? No. No one had come to see him, not to even thank him for what he
did. His hard work had come down to nothing.

“Come on, Butch, we need those dishes, pronto.”

He glared at the boy demanding he work faster. In the
beginning working at the café had been fun, a change from the norm. Now, it
pissed him off. It was hot outside, and the back of the café was steaming hot
from all the hot water and food being cooked. He hadn’t seen the sun in almost
three hours, and he was pissed. The only consolation prize for him was Cheryl.
Going to bed with her every night made up for the hours spent in the café.

The problem, it was getting harder to want to go to
work. The Skulls were his home. He wouldn’t go back; he couldn’t go back.
Cheryl was going to be in too much danger if he joined The Skulls.

“Butch?”

“Get the fuck out of my kitchen and fuck off,” he
said, yelling out at the other man. Ten minutes later the manager walked in.

“Butch, we need to talk.”

Throwing the dishes to the floor, he heard every
single one crash onto the tiled ground. “Fuck you and fuck your job.” He
removed the apron and slammed it against the man’s chest.

Why did you think this was going to work in the first place?

The Skulls is your place.

Walking out of the café he didn’t stop until he was in
the florist. Cheryl was serving Nash as she finished wrapping a bunch of roses
in a bow.

“Butch, what are you doing here?” she asked.

Nash was staring at him.

“I quit my job,” he said, moving closer to the
counter. Matthew was with her mother like he was most days Cheryl was at work.
In a year he would be in school, and neither of them would have to worry.

“You quit? How is that possible?” she asked, handing
the bouquet to Nash.

He watched the other man pay, clearly listening to the
conversation.

“I couldn’t stand it anymore. I can’t work there.”

Cheryl gave him a pointed look then focused her gaze
on Nash. He shook his head. No, he wasn’t going back to The Skulls, even if he
wanted to. Butch knew he was being an ass, but he had his reasons for doing
what he was doing.

“I’ll find more work.”

“Where?
There’s not much call for work in Fort Wills,” she said.

“I’ll find something.”

“Or you could stop being a disloyal bastard and come
back and work for the club,” Nash said.

“I’m not talking to you.”

“You bailed us out because you owed us a favor.”

“Yeah, and look what happened. I got kicked out of the
conversation. It’s the last time I owe you shit.” The moment he’d picked the
crew up and driven them to the clubhouse, they’d all shut him out.

“You’ve told us more than once you don’t want to be
part of the club. What went down was club business. It had nothing to do with
you.” Nash’s arms were folded as they stared at each other. They’d kicked him
out of the meeting, and he wasn’t even surprised. He had nothing to do with the
club at his own choice, yet it still fucking hurt.

“I got that. I’m not part of the club anymore. I’m
fine, really, I’m fucking done.” Butch glared at the other man with his leather
cut.

Stop being a fucking baby.

“Butch, he’s a customer.”

“Don’t you worry your head about it, doll. Butch is
simply being a cunt. Sophia will love these, thank you.” Nash took his card and
walked out of the store.

“What the hell was that?” Cheryl asked, turning on
him. Her arms were folded, and she looked ready to murder him.

“He’s an asshole, and he knows what he was doing. He
was causing me problems.” Butch shrugged.

“I don’t care what he is to you, Butch. He was a
customer, and I don’t own this place.
Whatever you do to
drive away sales risks my job.”
She tapped a hand to her chest. “I can
get fired, and I need the money.”

“What if this was your shop?” he asked, firing the
question at her.

“What?”

He smiled, rounding the counter and tugging her into
his arms. She melted against him within seconds. His cock hardened wanting
inside her tight, hot warmth.

“I’d buy you this place, and then you could do
whatever the hell you want with it.”

“You can’t do that. It’s so expensive.” She stared at
his chest.

“Not if you’re my wife it wouldn’t be.”

She jerked, staring up at him. Staring into her eyes,
Butch knew there was nowhere else he wanted to be.

“You’ve just quit your job.”

“I’ve got money and investments with the club. Tiny stopped
my percentage a few months ago, but I got plenty from all the savings of the
last three years. Whizz works the stock markets for the club so there’s more
than enough money to go around. We all put a percentage in, and at the end of
the month, we get money back. Some of the brothers don’t put money in, and they
earn what they can at the club, baby. Because of that, I’ve got enough money to
put a deposit on this place. I’ve not spent much of my money that I earned in
the last three years. My biggest expense so far is renting out that apartment,
and I’ve been working as well, babe.” Reaching down, he gripped her ass moaning
as she rubbed against his cock.

“Is that a proposal?” she asked.

“Cheryl, will you marry me?”

Her mouth fell open.

“Do you not know what to say?” he asked.

“You’ve taken me by surprise. I was angry at you, and
now I can’t be mad at you.” The smile on her lips was worth it. She looked
totally taken aback.

“Well, don’t keep me in suspense, honey. Tell me if
you’ll marry me or not?” he asked, impatient to know her answer.

She was the first woman he’d asked to marry him.

“You’re being serious?”

“Serious as I’ve ever been about anything. Marry me,
Cheryl.” He closed the distance, claiming her lips. From the instant he left her
this morning, he’d wanted the feel of her lips against his. He was turning into
a fucking pussy with how he felt about her.

“Yes, I’ll marry you.” She answered him in between
kisses. Laughing, he picked her up, spinning her around. He’d never been so
happy about anything in his life. Cheryl was going to be his woman.

“Do you think we can get out of here?” he asked.

“No, I can’t get out of here yet. I’ve got to finish
work.”

He didn’t like that for an answer. “Give me your
manager’s number,” he said.

“Butch, you can’t force her to give me time off.”

“I’m not going to do anything. I’ve got to make a
call.” He rubbed his nose against hers, trying to relieve the tension. “Trust
me, baby. I wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

She let out a sigh. He watched her ass as she left the
store to grab the number. When she came back inside, he gazed at her large
tits. They were huge, and he wanted them naked, swinging in front of him.

“Here, please, she’s a nice woman. Don’t be mean.”

“Honey, I’m not mean.”

Taking the card from her, he pulled out his cell phone
and dialed her number. After thirty minutes of negotiation, he had bought a
florist shop for his future wife. He called a lawyer to finish up the contract
then entered the store as Cheryl hung up the phone.

“What did you do or say?” she asked.

“I wanted you off for the remainder of the day. Did it
work?”

She tilted her head to the side, glaring at him. “You
know it worked. She gave me the time off and told me to take care of you.”

Butch chuckled.

“What did you say?”

“I gave her over the asking price for this place.”

“You’ve bought it already?” she asked, looking
surprised.