Renegade Reject (17 page)

It’s probably a bad move on my part.  Ice told me about how she used him to escape Kidd before he went to prison, and now I’m using him to escape Preach.  I don’t really have a choice though.  I just don’t think I can take any more of Preach tonight. 

As Timber and I walk toward the door, I can feel the hostility radiating from behind us.  When I glance back, I see Preach with his fists clenched at his side and his face masked in rage.  Before we’re out the door, I see Leah prance over to him and wrap her arms around his neck.  When she leans in for a kiss, I feel my stomach drop to the floor. 

A nasty smile covers his face as his fists unclench and his arms go around her waist.  Hand roaming down her body, he cups her ass.  Even though I’m holding Timber’s hand, I still stiffen at the sight of his hands on her. 

“Come on, Little Flower. You don’t need to be watching that fucker make an idiot of himself,” Timber says and continues pulling me through the club doors.

Chapter Twelve

PREACH

The boys and I are sitting around our normal table at The Kitty Kat, but I know we’re not here for the entertainment.  Kidd has something on his mind, and I’m sure it has something to do with that fucker, Timmons.  Ever since that bitch showed up a few days ago, shit has been heating up at the clubhouse.  Something’s going down with the Mateland charter of the Renegade Sons, but I’m not sure what.  I do know that it has something to do with Ice and what happened to her when she was just a kid. 

“Any news?” Kidd asks Reese.

He shakes his head.  “Nah, man.  It’s like the motherfucker disappeared overnight.  Not one brother or any of the girls has seen him.  Timmons is a ghost, man.”

Timber leans into the table, placing his palms on top of it.  “I got an idea.  Don’t know if it’ll work, but it’s worth a try.”

Kidd looks toward him.  “Tell me.”

“I think we should consider sending Preach to Mateland,” Timber says, lifting a hand toward me. “You all know that he’s got a talent for getting information.  He’s got a way of getting a guy to talk, and you never even realize you’re telling him all your fuckin’ secrets until it’s too late.  If they know where Timmons is, he’ll find out.”

I picked up that talent in Prison.  Being eighteen inside is not easy.  You have to learn a way to survive, and I did that by becoming a good listener.  People trusted me, told me shit they would never tell anyone else.  I used the information to save my ass more than once.  “I don’t know if it’ll work, but I’m willing do anything to keep Ice safe.”

Kidd nods.  “Sounds like a plan to me, but I don’t want him going out on his own.”

“I’ll ride with him,” Reese adds.

“As much as I’d like to get your ass away from Jenna, I think it’d be better if you stayed here.  I’ll need all the help I can get if Timmons goes after my old lady,” Kidd says, not at all happy to admit that he needs help protecting Ice.

I take a minute to think about the situation.  I can’t go to Mateland alone, but I have to be careful of who I take with me. “I think you should send Maker with me.  He’s a good brother, but he’s dumb as fuck.  You send him with me, and it’ll help get their guard down.  There’s no way the Mateland crew will think I’m searching for information with Maker around.”

Chipper clears his throat.  “That’s a good plan.  The only hitch is that Kidd already called Brew.  They know we’re on the warpath, but they don’t why.  It doesn’t matter though. They’ll be keeping shit tight until they find out.”

“If that’s true, why don’t you just ask Brew?  He hates Timmons.  If he knows anything, he’ll give it up,” I ask, not understanding why we would risk going to Mateland if we could handle it from here.  Yeah, I learned shit while I was in Mateland, and what I learned was not good.  That chapter needs a serious clean up.  They have way too fuckin’ many internal issues.

Reese shakes his head.  “No he won’t.  He’s protecting Timmons, so that Timmons will keep protecting him. Brew doesn’t want his secret getting out.”

Kidd looks toward Reese.  “You know about Brew and Ice?”

He nods.  “I’ve known since the day Chipper took her out of that shithole.”

“What in the hell are you two talking about?” Chipper asks, looking between Reese and Kidd.

Kidd looks to Chipper with regret. “Brew is Jenna’s father.”

Chipper’s body grows tight.  “No, he’s fucking not.  Her father’s name is David.”

“Her father’s name is Peter David Brewster,” Kidd says.

Chipper slams his fist onto the table.  “She fuckin’ lied to me.  I took care of her ass for years, and she fuckin’ lied to me.”

He starts to get up, but Reese grabs his arm and pushes him back down.  “She was a scared kid.  All she knew about the club was what her dad and Timmons told her.  Timmons had her convinced that no one could take her away from him.  She was afraid you’d be forced to take her back to him.”

“Why the fuck would I do that?” Chipper asks, anger radiating from him. 

Reese reluctantly says, “He claimed her, made her his old lady.  Her dad and Timmons told Jenna that no one can take an old lady away.”

“What?” Chipper and Kidd shout at the same time.

Reese looks between the two of them.  “I’m not sure of everything that happened when she was there.  She refuses to talk about it, but I do know he claimed her.  I also knew she was Brew’s daughter the moment she told me her name was Jenna.  I wasn’t in Mateland long before I came here, but long enough to know that Timmons had claimed Brew’s daughter, Jenna. I was also told that she didn’t get a choice in the claiming.”

Oh, shit.  Jenna’s the daughter of the Mateland VP and was claimed by the President’s son. This shit keeps getting worse and worse. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Chipper shouts out.  At the same time, Kidd asks, “Why the hell didn’t you help her?”

“I never saw her. I didn’t know she was just a kid.  Didn’t have any fuckin’ idea what he was doing to her, or that she was being abused either.  Do you honestly think I would just stand around and let her be hurt?” Reese asks, angry at the accusation.

Kidd shakes his head.  “No, I don’t.  I know you better than that.  I shouldn’t have even asked that shit.”

Reese looks toward Chipper.  “As for you, I didn’t know you well enough at first.  By the time I did, you and your father had made me swear not to tell anyone about Timmons.  If I remember correctly, your father threatened to cut my fuckin’ balls off if I did.  I figured if I had to keep one secret, it was best to keep them all.”

Chipper buries his face in his hands, his pain is obvious.  “She never trusted me.  All this time and she never trusted me.”

I can hear the heartbreak in his voice.  To him, Ice is his daughter.  To learn that she has been keeping secrets all this time has to be killing him. 

“That’s not true,” I say. “She trusted you with everything but her father’s name.  If I understand right, she even gave you part of that.”

Chipper shakes his head and again says, “She never trusted me.”

“She trusted you enough to run to you when she was in trouble,” Kidd says to him.  “I was sitting a few feet from the door when she came in the clubhouse after finding out Timmons was in Big Clifty.  She ran right past me to get to you.  When she needed somebody the most, she went to you.  If that’s not trust, I don’t know what in the hell is.”

After a long pause, Chipper finally nods.  “You’re right.  Even if you’re not, it’s my fault.  I listened to Pop when I should have taken Timmons down.”

I can’t imagine what he’s feeling right now.  He let Timmons live, and now, the motherfucker is after Ice again.  This time, the bastard won’t be walking away.

Timber slaps Chipper on his back.  “Well, you’ll have your chance to take him out soon.”

We get quiet as the sound of
Heaven
on Fire by Kiss floats across the club.  I look toward the stage and am relieved to see that Daisy isn’t the one up there taking off her clothes.  Instead, she’s serving drinks.  She’s been to our table twice tonight, neither time sparing me a single glance.  It takes every bit of my willpower not to grab her when she gets near me. 

I feel like a fuckin’ caveman, wanting to throw her over my shoulder and shout that she’s mine.  It’s tearing my heart out to restrain myself. I still can’t believe I fucked everything up so bad. 

I hear voices behind me and turn my head to see the new bitch crawling onto Kidd’s lap.  I watch as he tries to get her off, but she clings to him like a fuckin’ vine.  Turning away from them, knowing that Kidd will handle his own shit, I see Daisy walking toward our table.  Her eyes aren’t on me but instead are locked on Kidd and the slut mauling him. 

I watch as shock crosses her face, and the drinks she’s holding slip from her hands.  Before I can even get out of my seat, she is running out the door.  A second later, I hear a crash behind me.  Jerking my head to look, I see Kidd staring daggers at the door.  Fuck, please don’t let Daisy be stupid enough to tell Ice what she saw. 

****

Leaving The Kitty Kat, I see Daisy’s old Toyota Camry sitting a few miles down the road.  The hood is up, and she’s leaning against the driver’s side with a phone in her hand.  Pulling in behind her car, I cut my bike off and slide to the ground.  “What are you doing?”

She looks at me and rolls her eyes.  Motioning toward the front of her car, she says, “I just figured the engine needed a little air.”

“Smartass,” I mumble as I walk to the front of her car.  “Did it overheat?”

“I think so.  I could smell it when I got out, but the gauge never showed it was getting hot.  It was driving just fine, but then it just quit.  I had to push it off the road.”

I can smell burnt oil too and figure that the car is headed toward the junkyard.  The cost of repairs will be more than what the damn thing is worth.  Daisy shouldn’t be riding around in this piece of shit anyway. 

“Did you call your Gramps or Holt?”

She nods, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.  “I tried, but they’re both gone to the city for the night on club business.  Grams is with them.  I tried Dad, but he’s too drunk to drive.  Ice has her own shit to deal with, so I ended up calling Timber.  He sounded busy, but said he’d be here as soon as he could.  He’s gonna take me home and have one of the prospects tow my car to the garage.”

Yeah, Timber is busy with one of the girls at The Kitty Kat.  When I left, some brunette was pulling him into a private room.  “I’ll give you a ride home.”

She shakes her head, stepping away.  “No, I’ll wait for Timber.”

No fucking way am I letting her get on the back of his bike.  I ignore her and pull out my phone.  After shooting Timber a text to let him know I got Daisy, I grab her hand and lead her to my bike. 

“There’s no reason to stand here waiting on him, when I’m already here,” I say, climbing onto my bike. 

She stands there for a second, just looking at me.  I can tell her mind is working, trying to come up with a good excuse not to get on my bike.  “Daisy, get the fuck on.”

“Fine,” she grounds out, crawling on behind me. 

As soon as she wraps her arms around me, I feel like I’m finally home; somewhere that I haven’t been since the day she left me.  I start the bike and head toward her parent’s house.  I hate taking her to the home she shares with parents, but I don’t have a choice.  If I did, I would ride away with her and never come back, but I can’t take the chance that I might get drunk and hurt her.  I can never take that chance again.

****

Fifteen minutes later, we pull into the driveway.  I barely have time to shut off my bike before Daisy crawls off and heads toward her garage.  “Thanks for the ride,” she says, not even looking at me as she walks away. 

I stop her a few feet from the bike.  “You didn’t tell Ice what you saw, did you?”

“I told her what happened, but I also told her that Kidd was doing everything he could to get Krista off of him.”

“You should have kept your mouth shut.  You know what happens within The Kitty Kat is private.  You never share that shit with old ladies.”

She shrugs.  “I did what I thought was best for my friend.  I can guarantee you that one or probably more of the other girls called her.  I know none of them would’ve told her the truth.  I wanted to make sure she knew Kidd didn’t do anything wrong before she did something stupid in retaliation.”

As much as I hate to admit it, she probably did the right thing.  I can only hope Kidd agrees.  She broke a cardinal rule by sharing that shit, but hopefully, Ice will explain that she broke it to save Kidd’s ass.

“Is that all?” she asks defensively. 

Damn, she’s pissed off again.  “Yeah, that’s all.”

She doesn’t even bother saying goodbye before turning back around.  I watch her open her door and go inside, seeing the house is completely dark.  Looking around, I notice Lula’s car and Maker’s bike aren’t in the driveway.  It’s nearly two in the morning, and no one is home.  She’s alone, and I just can’t leave her by herself.

Climbing from my bike, I make my way to her door.  I don’t bother knocking, just walk in and slam the door behind me.  “Are you here by yourself?”

Daisy is standing only a few feet away with her hands on her hips.  “What are you doing in here?  You need to get out.”

“Answer my fuckin’ question.  Are you here by yourself?”

Nodding, she says, “Yeah, Mom left this morning.  Not sure where she went, but she told Grams she wouldn’t be home for a few days.  Dad was at the clubhouse when I called.”

“Is he coming home?”

She shrugs.  “Doubt it.  He’s too drunk drive, so he’s probably staying the night, unless one of the brothers brings his ass home.”

It hits me like a punch in the gut; I’m alone with Daisy.  Lula’s not around to tell Wayne or Holt shit. Even better, my ass isn’t drunk.  I don’t have to worry about what I’ll do to her.  Without a second thought, I rush to her and pull her into my arms.  Not giving her time to say a thing, I crash my lips onto hers.

At first, she tries to pull away, but I’m not giving in.  It’s been forever since I’ve touched her, and I can’t let her go now.  It only takes a few seconds for her body to melt into my mine.  I slip my tongue into her mouth, tasting the sweetness that is pure Daisy.