You Belong to Me (13 page)

The Clubhouse

Jasmine’s heart skipped a beat when they rode through the guarded gate of the Hells Vipers compound. There had to be at least twenty more bikes in the area, plus cars and trucks. Nuke parked his bike near a door. Jasmine suddenly felt overwhelmed and terrified again. “There’s a lot of a people here,” she said, more to herself than to Nuke.

“There’s a lot of us,” Nuke proclaimed, and they both slid off of his bike.

“Are you sure this is okay? What about the prospect? I can go to a motel. I don’t want…”

“Jasmine, stop!” Nuke took her hand. “It’s going to be alright.”

They walked toward what Jasmine figured was the main clubhouse. The huge compound had several other buildings from what she could see. The complex was much bigger than it looked from the street.

“Jesus! What the hell happened to her?” An older woman with sandy blonde hair approached the men.

“Grave Walker tried to kill her,” Nuke said before he introduced the woman to Jasmine. “This is Amy, Mitch’s wife.”

“Hello,” Jasmine managed to say. She felt dizzy, disoriented and emotionally exhausted. Her head and body were beginning to ache as the beating she had taken by the two-hundred-plus-pound man started to show its effect. She was practically leaning on Nuke for support.

“Damn, hurry up and bring her inside,” Amy urged.

Nuke put his arm around Jasmine’s waist and pulled her tight against him as they walked through the door. “Fill Vince in on what happened,” Nuke called to anyone behind him.

As they entered the hub of the clubhouse, it looked like a man-cave wet dream. Black leather couches trimmed in red, a poker table, a pool table, it even had a vintage arcade machine in the corner that if she was in better condition, Jasmine would have wanted to play.

“I feel nauseated,” Jasmine said to Nuke. He led her down the hallway and into the bathroom.

The clubhouse had more security cameras than an airport, as well as one long bar, two mini-bars, a dart board, and three flat screen TVs, which had several game systems hooked up to it. One of the things she liked most was the display of photos that lined one wall, showing the club’s history.

The moment they got inside the bathroom, she let go of Nuke and ran to the toilet to vomit.

He grabbed a towel and handed it to her, and he knelt down beside her. “You’re safe now,” he said, brushing back her hair. “I’ll have the prospect take a look at you. The one you heard about when you patched up Pipe. He was a medic, remember?”

Jasmine nodded as she wiped her mouth with the towel. She got up and walked over to the sink.

“Was this you?” she asked, pointing to the shattered mirror above the sink.

“Yeah, we haven’t gotten around to replacing it yet.”

As Jasmine turned on the water, she collapsed onto the floor.

***

She awoke lying on a leather couch with Amy sitting in a nearby chair. Jasmine looked around, noting that they were obviously in the room he had told her about, the one he used to create his tattoos. There was a tattoo chair and tattooing tools. Pictures of tattoos that Nuke had done were hanging on the walls. Her forehead was cold. She reached up and touched an ice pack.

“How you feeling, darling?”

“Like shit,” Jasmine said and pushed herself up to a sitting position, her back resting against the arm but her legs outstretched. “Where’s Nuke?”

“He and some of the guys had something to take care of. He’ll be back in a little while. The prospect thinks you might have a concussion.” Amy gave Jasmine a glass of water.

“Thank you. I think he’s right.”

“Would you like to go to the hospital?” Amy asked.

“No, that’s alright. I’ll just rest for a bit. If I feel worse, I might go then.”

“Can I get you anything else?”

Jasmine shook her head.

“You’ve been out for about fifteen minutes. The prospect checked you out, did what he could with the cut on your forehead. You’re going to be achy for a while, but you’ll be alright.”

“I’m not the fainting type. I hope that’s all there is to it.” She was upset that Nuke wasn’t here with her. What could be so important that he didn’t stay to check on her?

Amy stood up and said, “If you need anything, I’m right down the hallway for about another hour. Then I’m heading over to the hospital to check on Mitch. Don’t worry, though; I’ll make sure that someone checks in on you.”

Jasmine nodded. “Thank you. How’s your husband doing?”

“Better, he’s out of ICU. It’s still going to be a while before he’s home, but at least he’s coming home,” Amy said and smiled.

“That’s great. Nuke speaks highly of him.”

Amy nodded as she headed toward the door, but stopped when Jasmine called out to her.

“Do you have a moment? No, never mind…. thanks again.”

Amy gave Jasmine the once-over,
then she grabbed a chair. She pulled it over to the sofa. “Are you overwhelmed, terrified, confused or unsure about Nuke?”

Jasmine nodded. “All of the above. Well, not terrified.”

“Welcome to our world,” Amy laughed. “I’ve been with Mitch since I was fifteen. He was a prospect for the club then.” Amy leaned into Jasmine. “And way too old to be fooling around with me. He was twenty-two at the time. My dad lost his mind when he found out. Sometimes love can’t be stopped. We got married when I was seventeen.”

“It can be stopped,” Jasmine said as she shifted the ice pack to her ribs. “Life has a way of stopping it.”

“I’ve known Nuke for a really long time,” Amy said. “He’s insane, but that’s part of his charm. He’s well-read, which is impressive considering he didn’t go to college. He can get into these dark moods where he barely talks to anyone. ”

“Yeah, he also only tells you what he wants you to know. Nothing more and a whole lot less.” Jasmine tried to laugh but her face hurt too much.

Amy agreed. “There’s a lot of women out there,” Amy pointed out the door, “that would love to be you. You want to know why? Because it’s obvious that he’s in love with you. My question for you is, are you in love with him?”

“Yes.”

“You sure about that?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Then you need to learn to deal with the feeling of being overwhelmed, confused, unsure, and at some point in the future, you might be terrified. It happens to all of us sooner or later. Find your own coping mechanism. You did well today with how you dealt with things. Don’t sell yourself short. You have a good gut instinct. What does your gut tell you about Nuke and the club?”

“He loves me, and he’ll try to make them love me,” she said, with a closed-mouth chuckle.

“True. What happened to you today was a rare thing. You hooked up with Nuke at a bad time for the club. When things go back to normal, that’s going to be the real test to your relationship.”

“Why?”

“When he starts parking his Harley in your living room, the whole bad-boy biker thing will start to wear on your nerves,” Amy laughed.

Jasmine smiled. “I’m worried he’ll lose his patch over me. Then he’ll hate me.”

“Because you’re black? Oh, please, Pipe was screwing a chick that used to be a man. No one gave a shit about that. Pussy is pussy to these guys. They don’t care about that. It’s their world; we women just get invited in. An old lady, no matter what color she is, only needs to know one rule: Do as you’re told.”

“What about what happened with the prospect?”

“Nuke’s patch is safe babe. You’re safe here, too. You’re Nuke’s bitch, and that carries weight around here. He’s an officer in the club, and the only reason he’s not VP or Sergeant at Arms is because Nuke doesn’t want to be. He likes being Road Captain.”

“Thanks,” Jasmine said quietly. Mentally, she felt slightly better.

Amy stood up and moved the chair back to its place. “Get some rest. Nuke will be back in a little bit.”

“Okay, thanks again for the talk.”

“No problem.” Amy headed out of the door. “We’ll be seeing a lot of each other!”

***

Jasmine dozed off again but woke up when Nuke walked through the door three hours later.

“Hey,” he said as he sat down on the floor by her. “You scared the shit out of me, and I don’t scare easily. How you feeling, baby?” Nuke touched the bruises on her face. “The prospect said
you’ll be alright. You passed out because…”

“Probably because I was scared shitless,” Jasmine replied.

“Because you were traumatized and have a head injury,” he corrected her.

“That, too, but I was also in fear for my life. At least I didn’t trip over nothing at all like those chicks do in horror movies,” she said. “I kept it together until I felt safe with you.”

He smiled. “Jasmine, I’m sorry I got you into all of this.”

“I got me into all of this.” Jasmine touched her head. Her entire face was throbbing and so was her body. She hurt in places she didn’t think should be sore.

Nuke rose up and then sat down on the edge of the sofa as she scooted over. “You did what none of us could do. You found the snitch. That bitch was right in front of our noses. The club appreciates that. I appreciate what you did.”

“It was an accident. It’s not like I went over there suspecting her. I was trying to salvage my friendship with her. We hadn’t talked in over a month.”

“I know, but you kept your wits about you. You got proof. You did good, babe.”

“I really feel like shit,” she said, rubbing her head.

“I’ll get the prospect.” Nuke stood up. He was worried that she would pass out again.

She grabbed his hand and pulled to stop him. “No, wait.”

“I’ll be right back.”

“Please don’t go.”

Nuke hesitated. “We got him. The one that hurt you,” Nuke said as he sat back down. “You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

“Where is he?”

Nuke just stared at her. She felt the reality of wanting a bad boy weighing down on her soul.

“He’s not going to hurt you again,” he said, picking up her hand to kiss it.

She felt like she couldn’t breathe. “I need some air!”

“I don’t think you should get up,” Nuke said.

Jasmine looked over at what she assumed was a window. It was boarded up. “Why is the window blocked off?”

“Security reasons,” Nuke said.

This whole thing felt like she was living someone else’s life. “I hated boring,” she sniffed with a tiny laugh. “Cindy told me that I needed to learn to love it. I guess I got what I asked for.”

Nuke rubbed his hand across his face. He stared down at the floor, then back at her. “I know it’s hard, but my life, believe it or not, can be boring.”

“She was going to let him kill me. Cindy just stood there, Nuke, and did nothing as he hit and kicked me.”

Nuke reached out and brushed her tears away. “It’s handled, baby. I swear to you I won’t let anything happen to you again.”

“You can’t promise me that. We didn’t know it was going to happen this time. One minute Cindy and I were sitting there talking, eating chocolate. I go to the bathroom, and when I walk back into the dining room, my life gets turned upside down.”

“I guess I won’t let you leave the house without me,” Nuke joked.

“I don’t want to be Cindy,” she said and shook her aching head. “I don’t want to turn into a heartless person.”

“You won’t. You’re nothing like her.”

“Not now, but what…”

“She came in bitter. You didn’t.”

Jasmine looked away, shaking her head again. “You didn’t see her. She was thinking of herself and not me. She didn’t even attempt to help me.”

“Baby, you have a good heart. You’re the yin to my yang. Cindy sold us out. I don’t know for what reason, but I’m sure it was something as shallow as Kevin fucking around on her. She, all by herself, turned a feud into a war with casualties.”

“I don’t want to become her. I can’t…”

“Baby, look at me.” Nuke turned her face back toward him. “I know that the right thing to say would be I’m letting you go and that this life isn’t for you. I can’t do that. I’m selfish and I want you. I need you. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

“I love you, Nuke, but…”

“No, no buts.” He leaned in close, his face only inches from hers. “I’ll kill any motherfucker that hurts you, do you understand me? Anyone that hurts you, I’ll fucking put a bullet in his head and sleep well that night.”

She sat there speechless for several moments. “I don’t think you should say this to me in case I get indicted by the Feds,” she said and forced a laugh.

“I trust you.”

“I’m already turning cold-hearted. I don’t feel upset hearing this.”

“You’re relieved; that doesn’t make you cold-hearted. Do you know what he could have done to you? The torture he could have put you through in that house? Ask Pam, Jamie’s wife, when you meet her. He could have called over the entire club. When they finished with you, he would have put a bullet in your head or beat you to death.”