Stone (Knights Corruption MC Series Book 2) (4 page)

Driving home, I couldn’t help but be grateful at the way some parts of my life turned out. I’d always done well in school. I wasn’t a genius by any means, but I certainly was book-smart. Since I was a young child, I knew I wanted to be a nurse. Actually, I wanted to be a doctor but we didn’t have the money for such an expensive education, so nursing was the next best option.

My mother had been in and out of hospitals since I was in grade school, battling one illness after the other, all the while her spirits shining bright. She was the strongest woman in the world, and I was devastated when she’d been taken from me at the tender age of forty-six. I was only twenty-one, and I wasn’t ready to lose my best friend. Who was I going to talk to when I was having relationship issues? Who was going to help me plan my wedding, if such a thing ever happened for me one day? Who was going to teach me how to be a mother, if my life was ever graced with little ones?

My uncle Trigger was my mother’s younger brother, and since her passing, he had become even more protective over me, especially during the times when I was at the club. I couldn’t even count how many men he’d threatened when it came to me, or how many of them had met the end of his fist. Uncle Trig was just shy of fifty, much older than some of the men, but he had a mean right hook, so they knew enough not to piss him off. While I loved him dearly, sometimes my heart ached looking at him because of the resemblance he shared with my mother. It was quite uncanny. They had shared the same almond-shaped eyes and full cheeks, along with the same shade of brown hair, although his had been greying for quite some time.

Turning the key in the lock, I opened the door, but before I stepped inside, my next-door neighbor stuck his head out of his apartment and unintentionally scared me.

“Sorry, Adelaide. I didn’t mean to startle you,” Robby said, smiling quickly to relieve any fright he’d just caused me. Dropping the hand clutching my chest, I returned his smile.

When I moved here two years ago, Robby was one of the first people I’d encountered and I couldn’t have been happier. He was six years younger than me, which put him right at the tender age of eighteen when I met him. For him to be living on his own was surprising, but when he explained he didn’t have any family to speak of, I understood. He’d bounced around the foster care system his entire youth, and the second he could escape, he did. Graduating high school—which was a feat in itself, because he told me how much he struggled with his studies—he secured a job as well as his own place. He’d been living in the building ever since.

“That’s okay, Robby. How are you?” I asked, stifling a yawn I knew was coming.

“Great,” he replied, smiling wider since I was engaging him in conversation. I think he had a little crush on me, which was a nice ego boost, seeing as how he was quite the handsome little devil. Dark curls adorned the top of his head, defined cheekbones and full lips setting him apart from a lot of young men his age. He’d been much too thin when I first met him, but since then he’d filled out rather nicely. I tried not to notice because he was so much younger than me, but I was only human. Making sure never to encourage him, I treated him like I would my kid brother’s friend, if I had a kid brother. “Hey, I tried out a new recipe. Wanna taste it?” His new thing was cooking, something I benefited from on numerous occasions.

“Not tonight. I’m exhausted. How about tomorrow?” I offered.

His face fell, but with the hopes he could indulge me the next day, his blue eyes lit up. I made a mental note to see if there were any available young women at the hospital I could set him up with. We were scheduled to have a new class of nursing students starting on Monday. I’d have to scope out the potential candidates.

“Okay. It’s a plan.” He smiled and waited until I closed my door.

There weren’t too many apartments in the building—only four floors and I was on the top one, which I preferred. I didn’t need to worry about hearing people above me, walking around at all hours of the night. Each floor housed four apartments. Robby and I took up two of those on our floor. One had recently been vacated, by a couple buying their first home, and the other had been empty for renovations.

My landlord was a nice older gentleman, who lived out of the area. Whenever I ran across a problem, he sent someone by right away to take care of it. Robby was forever telling me he could fix things for me, but I didn’t want to rely on him too much, nor did I want him to get the wrong impression. I indulged him enough by trying out his new recipes from time to time because he didn’t have anyone else to give him an honest opinion. Plus, they were always fantastic, so I kind of benefited.

A little while later, after my much-needed relaxing bath, I headed to bed earlier than planned. Checking my phone, I noticed Stone had left me five messages and two voicemails. Most of them were apologetic, but at the same time he was sticking to his justification for wanting me to make an appointment with a woman, instead of keeping Dr. Weber.

I never replied to his crazy rantings. Pulling the blankets up to cover me, I turned off the side light and gave in to the sleep waiting in the shadows to drag me under.

Stone

“Where the fuck are they?” Marek asked, frustration written all over his face. Pacing back and forth in Chambers was only hyping him up, even more so than usual. Ever since we’d saved Sully, he’d been much more possessive over his time with her, despising some of the club’s activities because it meant more time away from his wife. Okay, ‘despised’ was a bit harsh. But he definitely wasn’t as integrated into the day-to-day dealings of the club as he had been. I was happy he’d finally found someone to share his life with, and even though they hadn’t known each other long, he seemed to be over-the-moon happy. And his version of over-the-moon happy was the slight smile he displayed whenever he mentioned her name. It was a big deal for him, and I acknowledged it by taking over many of the duties which required special attention.

Our local businesses needed to be overseen, especially once we finally cut all ties with the cartel. I knew without Marek telling me, that we had to cultivate our new, and old, endeavors to make sure they were as profitable as possible. The Underground was the club’s bar, the only patrons the club’s members. Yes, occasionally strangers wandered inside until they realized who owned the establishment, then they quickly disappeared. No harm, no foul, most of the time. So that business wasn’t necessarily profitable, more of a place away from the clubhouse where people could unwind and let loose.

Flings, the strip club we’d opened close to six months ago, was proving to be quite the moneymaker. Then again, pussy was a surefire way to secure a profitable income. Thankfully, there was no shortage of women willing to take off their clothes for some dough. A quick and easy way to earn money. The women were to follow the same rules as the rest of the Knights Corruption. No hard drugs. Plain and simple. We’d had an issue a few weeks back with one of the strippers snorting heroin before she went on stage. Not only was her performance shitty, but she had put us in jeopardy of getting raided if word ever got out there were drugs at the club. We possessed zero tolerance, and the bitch was fired as soon as Marek confronted her.

We didn’t need any reason for that prick of a DEA Agent, Sam Koritz, to bust into one of our places and start tossing our stuff around like he’d done the last time he and his buddies made a surprise visit to our clubhouse.

Marek was planning to open two more pussy clubs in the next couple months, although now that his time was occupied every second he wasn’t at the clubhouse, I doubted he would be overseeing anything when it came to location, liquor licenses, talent, etc. I’d probably have to step in and take over, and while the thought of interviewing potential talent was entertaining, I didn’t think Adelaide would appreciate me gawking at naked chicks all day.

Fuck! I hated when thoughts of that nature even filtered through my mind. I shouldn’t care what she thought. It was club business, and therefore none of
her
business. We weren’t even technically together—not that she would have a say about it even if we were. But the thought of her finding out, then being pissed off and doing or saying God knew what, already had me wanting to pass the job off to someone else. Not that any of the other guys wouldn’t jump at the opportunity.

I was so lost in thought I didn’t even notice Marek standing at my side. He gave me a ‘what the fuck’ look before he resumed his annoying pacing. Before either of us spoke, I heard shouts coming from outside the Chambers door.

Our guests must have arrived.
About damn time.
Sneaking a quick peek at my watch, I noticed they were an hour late, their tardiness grating on my last nerve because they thought nothing of keeping us waiting. But as ballsy as we were most of the time, we weren’t stupid enough to call and inquire as to their whereabouts. Even though Carrillo was repaying a debt to Marek of his own accord, we knew not to push the man.

Not waiting for direction, Marek and I exited Chambers and walked toward the common room. Standing by the front entrance were Rico Yanez and Rafael Carrillo, the two top men of Los Zappas cartel. While Carrillo looked put together and polished, his dark grey suit pressed to perfection, every strand of his dark hair in perfect place, Yanez looked anything but. He was wearing a pair of worn jeans and a T-shirt with two holes near the neckline. I was all for casual, but not for a man in his position. His greasy, graying hair was pulled back tight, making his face look even harsher than it already was. The man had beady eyes, which shouted he was not to be trusted. With anything. I was surprised a man as smart as Carrillo made him his second in command. There had to be a reason why, although I couldn’t fathom what it could be.

Carrillo approached us while Yanez hung back, assessing every member inside the club as if he were prepared to pop off at any moment and start some kind of war.

“Marek,” Carrillo greeted, gripping my friend’s hand. His smile seemed genuine, which made me relax. That was until I laid eyes on his watchdog again. Then my hackles were up and ready for anything.

“Carrillo,” I heard Marek return. “I hope your trip was uneventful.” My prez kept a straight face, but his tone was airy. I knew he trusted the cartel leader, a feat I didn’t possess myself. I was wary of most people, as was my friend. Normally. But I hadn’t orchestrated the agreement the two men had made. I would back my leader up a thousand percent, but I still had my suspicions.

“Shall we?” Marek gestured toward an empty room at the back of the club, nothing inside except for a few chairs. No one stepped foot in Chambers except for the members. Women weren’t even allowed back there. It was a hard and fast rule. The only exception was when Adelaide had to set up a quick operating room for Tripp when he’d been dropped off at the front gate riddled with bullet holes. And while I liked the guy just fine, even sharing a beer or two with him in the past, I hated the fact my woman was the one overseeing his recovery. She still checked in on him, which more than annoyed me.

Trying to focus on what was happening around me, I followed Marek and Carrillo into the room, Yanez walking closely behind me until we were all sheltered inside the small space.

Seeing as how it hadn’t been our first meeting about dissolving the club’s relationship, we wrapped up our little powwow in a half hour. Turned out Rafael Carrillo was indeed a man of his word. It took some time—a year and two months, to be exact—but we were finally at the turning point, and we welcomed it with open fucking arms. Not only would the Knights Corruption be on the way to legitimacy, but our enemy would fall to their knees, never to recover enough to be a threat to us ever again.

“If there’s anything you need, just let me know,” Carrillo offered, shaking Marek’s hand while we all stood back at the threshold of the entrance to the club.

“And if you ever want a free lap dance, you let me know.” Marek grinned, slapping Carrillo’s shoulder in a good-natured gesture. We remained close-knit, saying our good-byes when I saw movement from the corner of my eye. For some reason, I knew to give whoever was standing there my full attention. I’d only been half engaged anyway, allowing Marek to take the lead, as he should have being the Knights’ president.