Duke (Aces MC Series Book 2) (11 page)

We drove the short distance to Chanel’s house in Upshire and
pulled up outside. The terraced house looked shabby in comparison to the others
in the busy street but was lit up like a Christmas tree with every single light
on.
Chanel shook her head slowly, placing her hand on my arm for comfort, “He’s
home Taylor!”
I leant over and squeezed her thigh. “It’s fine. He won’t be able to hurt you ever
again.”
We got out of the car and the guys pulled up behind us. If her dad wasn’t aware
of our arrival, he would be now. Duke and Bear quickly joined us on the
pavement.
“What’s the plan?” I asked as I wrapped my arm around Chanel’s shoulder pulling
her closer to give her the reassurance she needed.
“We go in with Chanel so she’s not on her own.” Bear stomped up the path
towards the front door.
I turned and noticed that Chanel looked uncomfortable.
“What’s up Chanel?” I asked worried by her expression.
“I’m a little embarrassed. It’s filthy in there. I’ve never brought anyone home
before.” She said quietly looking at the ground.
I started to think of just how many years of neglect she may have suffered.
Duke grasped Chanel’s chin gently in his hand, encouraging her head to turn
towards him. “We’re not gonna judge you Chanel. We’re here to make sure you’re
safe.”
Chanel nodded her head slowly making it clear she understood his comment and I
could feel my heart swell inside my chest. This bad ass was full of surprises.

Bang, Bang, Bang! Bear thumped on the wooden door. It took a
while for Chanel’s dad to finally open the door.
“What…the fuck you…doing?” He slurred leaning on the doorframe for support. 
“We’ve come to pick up Chanel’s stuff.” Bear stated as he pushed past him. His
facial expression was priceless. He was so intoxicated he probably wouldn’t
remember this in the morning.
“Chanel, where’s your room darlin?” She pointed to the door directly at the top
of the stairs and Bear casually jogged up them taking everything in his stride.
“Hey! Where you going?” Chanel’s dad was getting louder and started to strut
around the living room looking confused and anxious.
He was making me feel uncomfortable. A drunk man was an unpredictable man which
made me quickly step just slightly in front of Chanel to offer some level of
protection.
“Dad you need to calm down and take a seat. I’m gonna stay at Taylors for a
couple of days so I just need to pick up a few things.” He swayed in the
corridor and had to lean on the wall for support to make sure he didn’t fall
over.
“Chanel, Taylor, you go and help Bear and the boys.” I glanced over at Duke and
nodded as I gently took Chanel’s hand and led her up the stairs.

Chanel’s room looked out of place among the squalid
conditions of the rest of the house. It was clean and tidy and had been
recently decorated in girly shades of pink and purple. Chanel quickly marched
over to her closet, removing items to make neat piles on her bed for us to pack
in an array of different holdalls. She’d mentioned to her father that she only
planned to stay at mine for a couple of days but the amount of clothes she was
packing suggested otherwise, not that I minded.
Once the holdalls were full, the guys ferried them to the van.
As we walked down the stairs, I was surprised to see a more sombre man sitting
in the arm chair. Duke was standing in the living room with his thumbs casually
looped in the waistband of his jeans. His expression was unreadable as he
watched us.
Had Duke said something to Chanel’s dad or was he so drunk that
he was incoherent?
“Bye dad, I’ll see you in a couple days.” It broke my heart to see Chanel
grasping for love from her shit of a dad.
“No you won’t, I’ve got a new job up north. I leave on Saturday and won’t be
coming back.” He looked over to Chanel with glazed eyes as he tried to focus. “You’re
old enough now to look after yourself.” He turned back to watch the television
dismissing her completely.
“Come on Chanel.” Buster said softly as he took her hand and led her to the
car. I caught her eye and she gave me a tight smile that didn’t touch her eyes
and I could clearly see that she was holding back her unshed tears.
Duke nodded his head in the direction of the door indicating for me to leave
the house, leaving him inside with Bear. I walked out slowly, clearly not
understanding the audacity of Chanel’s father. He had clearly hurt her both
physically and emotionally but had no remorse or empathy to how she may be
feeling.

I slid into the driver’s seat next to Chanel and placed my
hand gently over hers giving it a little squeeze of reassurance.
“It’s going to be okay. You can stay with me for as long as you like.” She
smiled briefly and turned her head so that she was looking out of the window
clearly not wanting to talk.
We didn’t wait for Duke and Bear to come out as I wanted to get Chanel home and
settled as it was now getting late. I took the slow drive home and was
surprised to see Duke and Bear ride into my street as I pulled up outside my
house. There would be a few twitchy curtains this evening at the noise of the
Harleys in this leafy community which made me smirk. I parked on the driveway
and exited the car. Chanel hadn’t spoken the whole journey and I didn’t want to
push her. She was mature for her age but dealing with rejection wasn’t nice at
any age and I was still mindful that she was only seventeen.

Suddenly it was a hive of activity. The prospects quickly went
about emptying the trunk of my car so I promptly opened the front door and
explained which room to put the holdalls into.

I let out a loud sigh as I was physically and mentally
shattered. It had been an emotionally draining day and I needed a cup of tea to
unwind and relax. As I filled the kettle, Duke startled me by wrapping his
large arms around my waist and I sighed heavily as I leant into his chest. He
knew exactly what I needed.
“How you doing babe?” He asked kissing the side of my head gently.
“It’s been a crazy couple of weeks Duke.” I turned so that I was facing him.
“Is it always like this?” Duke gave a wry smile, “I’m afraid so Ash, I’m not gonna
lie to you.”
I looked deep into his eyes and contemplated what he’d just shared.
“I don’t want you to but I totally understand if you want out.” He stroked my
cheek with his thumb as he cupped my face with both hands.
“I told you on Saturday that I’ll give it a go. I don’t think I’m cut out for
all this…” I waved my hand around looking for the correct word, “drama but we’ll
see what happens.”
Duke leaned forward and took my mouth, deep and forceful. He was such a passionate
and dominate male. I’d never experienced anything like this before but I was
loving the journey he was taking me on.
Duke moved his hands so they were now cupping my arse, gently needing my flesh
through my trousers. I could feel his arousal digging into my stomach as he
pushed me back towards the kitchen cabinet.
“Ahem!”
Duke ignored the intrusion and continued his onslaught as he lifted me onto the
kitchen worktop. I could hear the shuffling of feet and was now very aware of
someone in the room. I opened my eyes as Duke continued to kiss me and glanced
towards the archway to find Bear standing with his hands on his hips. He smirked
at my obvious discomfort and continued to stare with a huge grin on his face. I
pulled back slightly allowing myself some air and time for my breathing to
return to normal.
“This better be important Bear.” Duke stated as he pressed gentle kisses on my cheek
and neck working his way down my body. He didn’t once turn around and I
wondered how he knew it was Bear that had interrupted us.
“Diesel called. He wants to meet at the Cross Keys. I told him half an hour.”
He continued to grin as he backed up slightly lingering to watch the show. I
wasn’t an exhibitionist but Duke was so talented and had a way of making me
feel desirable that I didn’t want him to stop.
I turned my head so that Duke could get better access to my neck and I felt his
smile as he continued to nibble and caress my neck.
Duke pulled away slightly, “Sorry Ash, I’ve gotta go.”
I pouted and crossed my arms like a petulant child.
“Don’t make this any harder than it already is.” He stuck his hand down the
front of his jeans to rearrange himself. “I’m the one walking around with
this.” He said looking down at his erection, trying to hide his smirk.
I gently eased myself off the kitchen worktop and rearranged my wrinkled
clothes. “Thank you for helping Chanel out this evening. I know you’re busy but
I really appreciate you looking out for her.”
Duke looked at me intently and grabbed me around my waist, “Club business will
always come first Ash but I’m not totally heartless. If I’m able to help out
with things I will.”
I gave a tight smile understanding what he meant. We’d discussed things in
length on Saturday night. We were both new to this, he didn’t do ‘drama’ and I
didn’t do dominant males although I was starting to enjoy them! Whatever this
was just seemed to work at the moment as long as I kept an open mind and I
wasn’t about to jinx it. For the first time in ages, I was starting to enjoy
myself.

Duke leaned closer and gave me a brief kiss on my head. “Are
you going out with the rest of the girls on Thursday?” he asked searching my
face for a reaction.
I started to laugh, “Yeah. Amy said it was a twenty-fifth wedding anniversary
hen night!”
“Something like that. We’re gonna be there too. I can’t keep the boys away from
a karaoke machine!”
He laughed at the confusion on my face as I tried to picture these fine
specimens of men singing karaoke.
“I’ll see you Thursday.” He said as he turned to leave the kitchen.
Thursday! Didn’t he realise it was only Monday?

Duke

I closed the door behind me and stood in her front garden,
placing my hands on my hips as I slowly breathed in the cold evening air. She
was right the last couple of weeks had been crazy. Letting out a loud sigh, I
started to walk down the path to where my motorcycle was parked.
“What’s on your mind Romeo?” Bear asked with a smirk.
I shook my head trying to shake off the unfamiliar feeling I had building in
the pit of my stomach. “Everything’s fine man. Come on we need to meet the guys.”

We pulled up on our motorcycles outside the Cross Keys cafe.
The prospects would join us later once they’d helped Chanel unpack her stuff. I’d
told her sorry excuse of a father that the boys would be round on Friday to
pick up the rest of her stuff before he disappeared. What an arsehole to up and
leave his daughter. I know things were rough for him at the moment but drinking
wasn’t the solution. He had a loving daughter in Chanel but he couldn’t see the
wood for the trees because of the alcohol. Fucking arsehole!
We parked our Harley’s next to Diesel’s and Spike’s. The prospects knew to keep
watch once they arrived as we didn’t want anyone tampering with them. I was
surprised to see Diesel out, especially on a week night. Since Ink had become
his old lady they’d set up home and we rarely saw him of an evening unless
there was club business to attend to. Who would have thought that Diesel
would’ve settled down? He was the biggest player of us all. Don’t get me wrong
Ink is gorgeous, with a body to die for and a fighting spirit that any man
would be grateful to call his own but I just didn’t see Diesel falling so hard
and so quickly.
I pushed the door open and walked into the cafe to be greeted by Emma the
owner. She always went out of her way to make us feel comfortable. Her arsehole
of a son Josh had broken Savannah’s heart among other things. I was always
looking for an opportunity to get back at him although Savannah wouldn’t hear
of it. I tried to not get involved but my heart ruled my head where Savannah
was concerned which resulted in me beating the shit out of him in this very car
park a few years back. It turns out that he preyed on innocent girls and was
involved in a sex trafficking ring. After the news spread he took off but was
quickly arrested, come to think of it he was nearing the end of his sentence.
If he knew what was good for him he wouldn’t come back around this way but
stranger things have happened, I made a mental note to check when he was up for
release. I think Emma was worried that we would cause her trouble after the
event but we don’t roll like that. You hurt us directly and we’ll kick your
arse. We weren’t gonna take it out on a sixty year old lady and besides, I love
this cafe!

The guys stood as we approached and we hugged, patting each
other on the backs in mutual respect.
“Hey, how’s it going?” I said with a nod of the head towards Diesel and Spike.
“It’s going good.” Diesel said picking up some chips and stuffing them into his
mouth.
We were interrupted by the waitress. She addressed us by name which I found
surprising and I quickly gave her my order. She was a hot little thing but she
didn’t do anything for me. She didn’t have the same sophistication that Taylor
had, you just couldn’t buy class. Oh my god, I was going fucking soft. I must
have zoned out with my thoughts. I shook my head and looked at the guys who
were all now laughing at me which was turning into a regular occurrence.
“What?” I said getting annoyed at their continued amusement at my expense.
Bear chuckled, “You’ve got it bad man to not notice that set of perfect little tits
bouncing about in your face.”
Spike chipped in, “You’re cold man. She was doing her best to get your
attention, sucking on that pen as you gave your order.”
I hadn’t even noticed. “Not interested. Women come with drama and I don’t have
time for that.”
All three of them erupted with laughter. Pricks!
Kayleigh interrupted us again by placing our drinks on the table. I looked up
at her because she was lingering like a bad smell.
“I was thinking about a career change Duke and was wondering if there were any
jobs going at the club?” She asked playing with a strand of her hair
seductively.
We were actively looking for strippers and she wasn’t ugly. I looked over at
Diesel, “What day are we interviewing next week?” I said taking a sip of my
drink.
“Monday. Come to the club around 5.00pm if you’re seriously interested.” Diesel
continued to eat his chips, unaffected at the attempts she was making to get
some interest off of one of us.
Bear piped up, “I can help you with your routine before that if ya like?” He
said gyrating his hips.
I spat coke all over the table at his comment and cried with laughter at the
wails coming from Spike and Diesel.
Kayleigh obviously didn’t appreciate our humour as she turned quickly on her
heels stomping over to the kitchen.
“What’s up with you lot?” Tyler asked as he joined us, standing casually with
his hands in his pockets.
Tyler was now our longest serving prospect. I genuinely liked the boy, he was a
good worker. I know Hound had his reticence when Tyler expressed his desire to
join the club. I suppose all fathers want their kids to grow up and have a
respectable job, earning a good wage but Hound had been affiliated with this club
for so long that Tyler, at nineteen probably didn’t know anything else.
“Who’s with the motorcycles?” I asked eagerly.
“Buster. I just wanted to know what your plans were.” He asked shuffling from
foot to foot.
I pointed to the counter, “Grab yourself both a coffee, we won’t be too long
tonight.”
Tyler smiled as he left us, making his way over to Emma to place his order.
“You’re too soft on him. Viper didn’t cut us any slack when we were prospects!”
Diesel grunted as he moved his arms allowing Kayleigh to put down the rest of
our food.
“I like him. He reminds me of me!” I stated as a matter of fact.
This comment was met with another rounder of hysterics. I really had to start
watching what I said otherwise I’d be the butt of all jokes.