Chaos Bound (29 page)

He ushered Naiya inside and closed the door behind them. “The place looks like a fucking frat house after a party.”

Tank gave him a curious stare. “Whaddya you care? You never gave a shit about how it looked before.”

Why did he care? Holt didn’t know, but he felt embarrassed by the state of the clubhouse and ashamed to be part of a club that had no respect for its surroundings.

“This is pristine compared to the Black Jack clubhouse.” Naiya squeezed Holt’s arm and smiled. “They had so many pizza boxes lying around, they used to have competitions to see who could build the biggest stack, and there were things living in the corners—all sorts of critters.”

Holt knew what she was doing, appreciated her effort. She was like Tank in so many ways.

“It’s early,” Tank said, his face falling as they walked through the empty living room. “No one’s around, but the executive board is due to meet in ten minutes so you can meet the big guns first.”

Holt stared at the worn brown couch where he and Tank had watched crime shows and played video games with Hacker. His gaze traveled to the multitude of pictures of girls, bikes and girls on bikes on the walls. He and Tank had put up many of those pictures, given carte blanche by the senior patch to decorate in any manner they saw fit. But now, with Naiya at his side, those choices seemed crass, almost juvenile.

He heard voices in the meeting hall, a huge room that they had created by knocking down most of the walls on the main floor. Tank’s face lit up and he raced ahead.

“It’s Jagger and Cade, and I’ll bet the rest of the board is with them. Wait here and I’ll tell them I’ve got a surprise.”

“I’ll stay here,” Naiya said after Tank disappeared into the next room. “Give you some space to meet your brothers.”

“I want you there.” He threaded his hand through hers, pulled her to his side.

Pain flickered cross her face. “I don’t belong here. I’m sure the Sinners are all good guys, but being in a clubhouse again makes my skin crawl. What if someone recognizes me?”

Holt cursed under his breath. He hadn’t even thought about how hard it would be for Naiya to come to a clubhouse after what had happened to her. But he couldn’t imagine seeing Jagger and the rest of the brothers alone. He needed her to ground him, to keep the beast that still hungered for revenge at bay, to shake some sense into him if he lost track of who he was now and what he needed to do.

“Anyone touches you, threatens you, hurts you in any way, I’ll gut them like a fucking fish. And that will be the warm-up.”

She gave him a resigned smile. “Okay, but if I’m in the way, just let me know. I’m more than happy to wander around outside or guard your bike.”

“You will never be in my way, darlin’. You are the way.”

He took a deep breath and waded through the debris toward the main hall.

Show time.

*   *   *

“Hold up, everyone!” Tank burst into the meeting room, barely able to contain his excitement. Jagger and Zane stopped mid-conversation and Gunner scowled.

“Watch your mouth when you’re talking to the president, junior patch. Unless someone’s dead, dying, or come back from the grave, it’s bad manners to interrupt, even if the board’s not in session yet.”

“Cut him some slack.” Cade looked up from the table where he was tallying the accounts. “Not too often our Tank gets excited about something. Maybe he’s finally figured out what his dick is for.”

“You would know,” Zane said. “Weren’t you the winner of the ‘Most Sweet Butts in the Bed at One Time Prize’ and ‘Biker Manwhore of the Year’ five years running?”

Cade raised an admonishing eyebrow. “I handed those titles over to you after I got myself an old lady.”

“And I handed them to Sparky after I got an old lady and a son,” Zane shot back. “So far he’s not lived up to the title.”

“Maybe we should pass it on to Tank.” Dax gave an uncharacteristic smirk. “So what is it, junior patch? You got yourself some pussy?”

“Someone’s back from the dead.”

“You making fun of me?” Gunner took a step toward him. At the distinct sound of a cough, his eyes lifted, and he stopped dead in his tracks. “Son of a bitch. He wasn’t lying.”

Although he had been with the club for well over five years, Tank still admired the club’s senior patch members. No matter what the situation, they kept their cool. Ambush, shootout, or ATF raid—they never broke a sweat. But when T-Rex walked into the room, their mouths went slack, their eyes went wide, and for once they had nothing to say.

“He escaped,” Tank said into the silence. “He was in Viper’s dungeon for three months.”

“Fuck, T-Rex, it’s good to see you. Welcome home, brother.” Jagger took a step forward, hand outstretched, but T-Rex didn’t move to greet him.

There was another awkward silence. Naiya whispered something to T-Rex and pushed him forward. Finally, he shook Jagger’s hand. Hardly the reunion Tank had expected, but maybe it was just shock at seeing the brothers again.

Ice broken, Cade swooped in and pulled T-Rex into an awkward hug. Sparky clapped him on the back. Gunner punched his shoulder. The rest of the brothers greeted him warmly, but Zane held back until the end.

“What you did for my Evie…” His voice caught. “That’s a debt that can’t be repaid. You got my mark, brother. Anywhere. Anytime. Anything you need.”

Tank swallowed hard, disconcerted by seeing the club’s most recalcitrant member close to tears. But then he’d shed a few tears last night, too.

T-Rex introduced Naiya as a forensic scientist who had been the unfortunate object of Viper’s attention. Tank caught a hitch in T-Rex’s voice, knew he wasn’t telling them the whole story, but maybe it wasn’t his to tell.

The brothers peppered T-Rex with questions until Jagger called for silence. “Let’s give our brother a chance to tell us what happened so he’s not answering the same questions again and again.”

T-Rex clasped Naiya’s hand, pulled her against him, as if they were one person, not two, as if she was all the support he needed. Tank had the unsettling feeling of being the odd man out, and for the first time since he’d seen T-Rex again, he wondered if things could go ever go back to being the same.

“Not much to tell.”

Tank frowned. Not much to tell? Kidnapped by Viper? Three months in the dungeon? An unheard-of escape? T-Rex was the talker in the club. He loved a good story, especially when it was about him. He’d never held back, especially when he had something exciting to share. Maybe he was just off his game and needed a little nudge.

“Evie told us about what happened at Big Bill’s motorcycle shop,” Tank said quickly. “She said she was detailing a bike and Big Bill showed up. He’d been skimming weapons off his shipments for the Black Jacks. He figured they were on to him, and he needed to pick up some stuff and get out of town. But the Jacks showed up before he could get away and Evie walked in on them…” He trailed off, hesitant to repeat the details of Bill’s death in front of Naiya. She looked so sweet and innocent, and just a bit geeky in her black Space Invaders shirt. He had a feeling not many people would recognize the subtle silver block image on the front, but any retro gamer knew about Space Invaders. Her shirt gave her a hall pass to geek acceptance. And he would know. He had a Space Invaders shirt, too.

“Maybe Zane should tell this part.” He cast a hopeful glance at Zane and got a scowl in return. Of course Zane wouldn’t want to talk about the day he almost lost his girl.

When no one stepped in, Tank continued, more for T-Rex’s benefit than for anyone else’s. “So, yeah, Evie walked in, and Viper was fucking stoked to see her ’cause he wanted her so bad. But Evie wanted to try and save Bill so she took a small knife and stabbed Viper when he thought she was gonna give him some lovin’.”

Tank swallowed hard, looking over at Zane again. Did he really want Tank to repeat the story about how Viper had beat her up and tried to rape her in front of his men? Tank sure as heck wouldn’t be okay with anyone talking about what happened to Connie. She’d been there that morning, too, and Viper had torn her clothes and bruised up her beautiful face. Tank had spent the night with her, soothing her pain, keeping her safe as she cried in his arms, making love to her so she would know how much he cared. A lump welled up in his throat at the memory of the only woman he’d opened his heart to, and he coughed as he struggled to regain his composure.

“That’s when I walked in,” T-Rex said, saving Tank from an awkward situation and Zane from having his old lady’s private horror shared in public again. Tank let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. This was the T-Rex he knew. The peacemaker. The good guy. The man who could smooth over any situation, diffuse any tension, or stop any fight. The friend who always knew when Tank needed him and always had his back.

“I’d been tailing Evie, keeping her safe for Zane.” T-Rex stared at the window, his eyes vacant as he talked, as if he was lost in the memory. “I saw Viper and his men go into the shop, so I sent a text to Jagger and watched through the partially open shop door. There were too many of them for me to take alone so I was gonna wait for back up, but when Viper pushed Evie over the counter, I had to do something. I couldn’t just stand there and let him … hurt her, so I offered myself in her place.”

“Jesus Christ,” Zane muttered from the corner.

“Viper took the trade,” T-Rex continued. “Then he killed Bill and burned down the shop. I saw Evie and Connie escape as the Jacks pushed me into a cage, so I had no regrets. I figured since the Sinners had kidnapped Viper’s old lady, you’d make a trade and get me back.”

T-Rex drew in a shuddering breath. Naiya slipped an arm around his waist, and T-Rex leaned into her ever so slightly. Tank frowned. Why was he turning to Naiya for support when Tank was standing right here?

T-Rex’s gaze fell on Jagger, his anger almost palpable. “At most I figured I’d have to go through a couple of bad nights in their dungeon.” His voice caught, broke. “But one night became one week become one month and you never came.”

Protests rumbled through the room as everyone tried to explain at once. Viper had refused the trade. He didn’t give a damn about his old lady. And they had searched for him. Every brother had gone out to find him. They’d pulled every mark, used up every favor, blew up the Black Jacks clubhouse. Through the cacophony of sound, the message was loud and clear.
We didn’t abandon you.
Did T-Rex hear it? More importantly, did he believe it?

“We blew up half their fucking clubhouse and a semi-trailer to find you.” Jagger silenced the protests with a wave of his hand. He repeated the story Tank had told T-Rex last night about the rescue operation and the body in the dungeon.

“There was a Devil Dog in the dungeon when they brought me in,” T-Rex said. “After he died, they left his body and took me to another dungeon. Musta been in a forest ’cause it smelled like pine.”

Tank stuffed his fist in his mouth to stifle the groan that threated to explode from his chest. They’d heard a rumor that Viper had a dungeon under his house in the mountains, but not until after they’d been there to rescue Evie’s son. Just the thought that they’d been so close made the entire situation infinitely worse. Should they tell him?

As if he heard Tank’s unspoken question, Jagger caught Tank’s gaze and gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. Yeah, Jagger was right. What good would it do to tell him they’d been even closer than he knew? He was already hurting. Why hurt him more?

“What did the Jacks do to you?” Sparky asked.

Tank’s head jerked up and he glared at Sparky, the bastard who had stolen his Connie away. Did the fucking moron not realize T-Rex was already emotionally stripped bare? “Shut the fuck up.” He barked at the senior patch, stepping in front of T-Rex as if to shield him. “He was tortured. You don’t ask a man to live through the fucking details. All you need to know is you wouldn’t have lasted a fucking day.”

“Penalty for disrespecting a senior patch is an ass-kicking from me.” Gunner folded his arms over his massive chest.

“You lay a finger on Tank and I’ll put a bullet through your brain, brother or no.” T-Rex didn’t move and yet somehow his power and presence filled the room. Tank had no doubt he would do exactly as he said.

“Stand down. Both of you,” Jagger said. “Emotions are high. People are saying things they might not mean. Let’s cool down and hear about T-Rex’s escape.”

Tank looked over his shoulder and T-Rex nodded, the barest hint of a smile on his lips. This was how it was supposed to be. T-Rex had his back and he had T-Rex’s back, although Naiya had his side.

“Viper threw Naiya in the dungeon with me.” T-Rex put his arm around Naiya’s shoulders. “She was able to distract the guard, and I took him out. I put on his cut and we bullshitted our way across the yard and stole a bike.”

“He told them I was a hooker with an STD,” Naiya said indignantly.

Chuckles filled the room, lightening the mood.

Jagger’s face tightened with emotion. “What you did for Evie, for the club, what you went through … thank you is not enough. I don’t know many brothers who could have gone through what you did and walk out the same man. But damn we’re glad to have you back.”

When the clapping and cheering finally died down, and everyone had a chance to say a few words to T-Rex, Jagger dispersed the crowd and gathered the board members together.

“Well, we got a board meeting to get to. T-Rex, your seat is still at the table. Looks like we’ll need to get you a new cut.”

Tank reached for the saddlebag he had brought with him, but T-Rex caught his eye, shook his head. Tank clutched the saddlebag strap as a growing sense of uneasiness intruded on his joy.

“Naiya can wait here unless she wants someone to take her home,” Jagger continued. “Or she can wait up in your room. It’s still there for you, brother. Same as you left it.”

“I’ll join the meeting, but Naiya comes with me.”

And in that moment, Tank knew something was very wrong.

“Only full patch are allowed in the boardroom. You know that.” Jagger’s firm tone left no doubt about his position on the matter. “I can bend the rule about wearing a cut, but not the rule about closed meetings. Part of my job is to keep the brothers safe, and that won’t happen if we compromise the security and confidentiality of the club.”