Page 4

Havoc

I t had been exactly eight days since the sprinkler incident when I got the text from Storm that I had been dreading—the one summoning me to his office for a well-deserved tongue-lashing. I knew I’d fucked up, more than once lately. It seemed like every fuckup was a lesson in disguise, one I somehow failed to learn growing up.

I stopped in my tracks at Storm’s doorway because he already had visitors. I knocked tentatively on the doorframe and asked, “Do you want me to come back later?”

Storm motioned me in and said gruffly, “Hell no. I want you to get your ass in here. I have someone I’d like you to meet.”

I strode into the room and came to stand by Storm’s desk.

He gestured to his old lady and said with a chuckle, “You already know Zoe.”

I gave her a genuine smile. “Yes, Prez. It’s nice to see you again, ma’am. I hope everything is going well with you and your little ones.”

“Yeah, they’re great, because they ended up with my bright, sparkling personality rather than my husband’s surly disposition.”

I wasn’t sure if I should be amused by her gently teasing her old man. Storm barked a laugh. “You got that right, sweetheart.”

Finally, Storm introduced me to the stunning redhead sitting with them. “I called you in here because I wanted to introduce you to Riley Dalton.”

I reached out my hand to shake hers, and realized the woman looked familiar. “It’s nice to meet you. Do we know each other? I feel like we’ve met before.”

Before she could answer, Storm did. “She was at Neon Vibes the night of the raid.”

Memories of that asshole cop pestering her floated to the front of my mind. I jerked my chin at her. “Yeah, that’s exactly where I remember you from, now that Storm’s jogged my memory.”

When she pulled her hand from mine, I realized I had held onto it too long. For some reason I couldn’t fathom at the moment, I wiped the palm of my hand against my shirt and then lowered my hands to my sides. I was awkward as fuck and didn’t know what to do with my hands sometimes.

She told me, “It’s nice to meet you, too. I’m sorry you and your friends caught charges for the distraction you pulled. None of us wanted to end up getting hassled by the cops that night.”

“Yeah, that place was packed, and they were talking about searching everyone individually.”

Storm cleared his throat. “Riley gave me some information that might be helpful to your case, but that’s not the reason I wanted the two of you to meet.”

My head snapped up to look into his eyes. Storm’s expression was guarded. He motioned to the empty chair and told me, “You might want to sit down for this.”

Shit. Was my club president throwing my ass out with a couple of witnesses? At least he was saving me the embarrassment of doing it in front of my club brothers. I sat in the fucking chair and schooled my face into a blank expression.

Storm started the little speech he had clearly prepared for the occasion. “I already talked to you about the long string of fuckups you’ve made since you joined our club. At first, it was no big deal. We accepted you in spite of those moments of really messing up. However, the last few fuckups have been too serious to take lightly.”

“Yes, Prez. I plan to be more mindful and to be better.” There was a knot in my stomach that wouldn’t let up.

Storm responded, “Well, that’s great to hear because I’ve arranged for Ms. Dalton to help you with that goal. She’s a life coach.”

I immediately told him, “I don’t need any help. I can do this on my own.”

“No, Havoc, you can’t do it on your own. Want to know how I know that?” Without giving me an opportunity to speak, he continued, “I know you can’t do it on your own because you’ve tried and failed. You need help. If I were you, I wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

“I don’t want this woman’s help.” I didn’t say that it was emasculating to have my own private life coach following me around, trying to help me keep my shit straight. This was one step away from those mentors for mentally disabled kids. No. Just no.

Zoe spoke up, “I don’t know what you think is going on here, but Riley is the best life coach in Griffinsford. She’s just going to give you some pointers on how to get rid of this problem that’s been weighing you down your whole life. I honestly thought you would jump at the chance.”

I tried my best to explain my reluctance. “Look, I get why you’re trying to bait me into counseling with a beautiful redhead, but I want to do this on my own.”

Suddenly, Riley leaned forward and looked past Zoe at me. “I’m not a therapist. I’m a life coach. And being pretty has nothing to do with it.”

“I don’t need you in my life, Ms. Dalton,” I told her through gritted teeth.

“Don’t you at least want to know the nuts and bolts of what I have to offer before you turn me down? I mean, that would be polite, right? No one wants to be dismissed out of hand.”

I gave her side-eye because she clearly thought I was easy to manipulate.

“Fine, tell me what you do,” I said testily.

She began explaining, “I let you tell me what’s not working in your life, and we brainstorm solutions together. Your club president is offering you the services of a paid professional with expertise in listening when you need to logic your way through a difficult situation. When things go wrong in your life, you can call me up, day or night, and I’ll talk to you over the phone or meet with you in person. I’ll teach you how to stop making the same mistakes over and over again. I can even show you some life hacks to get you from where you are to where you want to be in life. Even you have to be able to see the value in that.”

‘Even me.’ That was a way of saying I was stupid without coming out and saying it. I told her, “You seem like a nice lady, and your heart is in the right place, but I don’t want a stranger rooting around in my personal life and digging up all the shit I most want to put behind me.”

Glancing at Storm, I said politely, “Thanks for the suggestion, Prez. This just isn’t what I need.”

Storm responded casually, “You might not want to think of it as a suggestion.”

Shock and anger battled for the top spot in my emotions. I asked him bluntly, “Are you saying I have to do this?”

“You’re a grown-ass man. I can’t make you do shit, even if it’s for your own good. What I can do is ask you to do this one thing for your club, so your club brothers don’t get caught up in your mistakes again. Do it for your club, me, and most importantly, for yourself. You need this, Havoc.”

Fuck, when he put it like that, it was impossible to refuse. “Alright. If you insist, I’ll go through with it.”

Storm’s blank expression melted away, replaced by a pleased one. “Thanks, Havoc. Trust me, you won’t regret it.”

I already regretted agreeing to this nonsense, but I didn’t say so. All I wanted was to get the hell out of that office and touch grass.

I forced myself to play it cool because Zoe and Storm were good people who cared about me. I couldn’t see either of them intentionally leading me astray. It wasn’t their fault that every woman I’d ever dated had been a judgmental, controlling asshole. It was the main reason I stuck to casual sex with club girls. The last thing in the world I needed was a judgmental, controlling woman that my club paid to annoy me.

By the time I made it out of Storm’s office, Zoe had talked me into giving her friend a tour of the clubhouse and having lunch with her. When we stepped out into the meeting room, Riley smiled awkwardly at me.

Her fiery red hair was neatly groomed, a cascade of smooth, gleaming beauty. I couldn’t help but notice how green her eyes were. She had a creamy complexion with a slight pink hue. I wondered if that pinkness was her natural coloring or because she was embarrassed. There was a tightness around her mouth that gave away some tension. Good—maybe she’d scoot on outta here and leave me alone.

I told her, “This is the room where we have our weekly meeting. It has to be large to accommodate our numbers.”

“Really?” she asked. “How many members does your club have?”

“We don’t disclose that kind of information to outsiders for security reasons.”

“Oh, I see. What kind of things do you talk about?” As if catching herself, she did a quick course correction. “I’m not interested in learning all the top-secret inner workings of your club. I mean stuff like, do you have a formal meeting structure where all your brothers give an update on their shenanigans and plan out charity events twice a year?”

I leaned against the doorframe and crossed my arms over my chest. “It figures that a woman like you would research our club. Yeah, we normally do two charity events a year. Last year, we raised fifty-three thousand dollars for charity.”

“What charities does the Dark Slayers MC support?”

I gave her my most terrifying glare. “Does it fuckin’ matter?”

She flung back fearlessly, “Not big on ice breakers or making polite conversation, are you?”

“I’m not in the mood to fucking shoot the shit with you. Come on, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”

She followed me to the kitchen. I could hear the click-clack of her high-heeled shoes on the floor as she struggled to keep up. I just kept walking, intent on not making this easy for her. When we came barreling through the door, there were two prospects preparing lunch.

“This is where the prospects make food. The brothers eat the food. Any questions?”

“Why do prospects make the food?”

“Because they’re fuckin’ prospects. Their job is to prove they operate as part of a team and to do what needs to be done around the clubhouse.”

She looked up at me with a wry look on her face. “So, you were obviously a prospect at one time. Did you cook for everyone?”

One of the prospects snorted a laugh, and I didn’t even take offense. I answered her question gruffly, “Yeah, I made food. Burned everything in sight. Good times. You ready to see the bar?”

“Wait. This is a huge building. You were supposed to give me a tour, not show me three rooms.”

I sighed, already tired of this woman and her stupid questions. “The security room is off-limits. You don’t need to visit the sex club downstairs or the guest suites upstairs ‘cause if I have my way, you’re never coming back here. Plus, there are a couple of other areas that you don’t even need to know exist in this building.” I was thinking of our lockup where we kept prisoners and the armory.

“Fine, lead the way to the bar.”

“Great, ‘cause I’m gonna need to throw back some whiskey if I’m gonna have lunch with you.”

One of the prospects popped his head up. “You want steak? We’ve got that thin-cut steak you like so much.”

“Yes, a Philly club sandwich would be amazing. Our guest will have the same.”

I smiled on the inside when Riley made a disgruntled sound, probably because I’d ordered food for her without asking what she wanted. Truth be told, I was being all kinds of abrasive, ‘cause I’d been forced into this situation against my will. Now, I knew I shouldn’t take that out on Riley, but I almost couldn’t help myself.

When we got to the bar, Rosie grinned at me but then her eyes went to Riley. “How wonderful. Another redhead. You’re in fine company here, girl. There are several of us, more than you might imagine in one club.”

“Really?” Riley cooed. “How many of us are there?”

“There are three club girls and five brothers,” Rosie said, completely ignoring the ‘cut it’ motion I was doing with my hand.

Riley’s tone turned excited. “Five. That’s a lot. Out of how many brothers?”

“Out of thirty-eight,” Rosie told her with a smile.

Riley turned her head to look at me triumphantly. “So, there are thirty-eight brothers.”

Rosie spoke up again, “Since Havoc has forgotten his manners, we’ll just introduce ourselves.”

Riley stepped closer to Rosie and held out her hand. “My name is Riley Dalton.”

Rosie gave her a huge grin, “I’m Rosie, and I tend bar. I’m Thunder’s old lady. I used to work a lot, but nowadays, I just pick up a few shifts here and there. What are you drinking today, Miss Riley?”

Riley leaned on the bar. “I don’t usually drink this early, but why don’t you surprise me?”

Rosie’s eyes lit up. “I’ll make you my specialty. It’s called a blue hurricane. You’ll love it.”

“Sounds good to me,” Riley said happily.

Rosie finally glanced at me. “What about you, Havoc? You still drinking whiskey on the rocks?”

“Yeah,” I told her, standing my ground about six feet away. “Best make it a triple.”

Her eyebrows shot up in a look of surprise as she began pouring liquor into a large hurricane glass. “You having a stressful day, Havoc?”

“No. I’m just thirsty as fuck, Rosie.”

“Well, I’ll fix you and your pretty friend right up.”

Riley pretended like I wasn’t even there as she chatted with Rosie. I could tell I was getting on her nerves. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part. She didn’t correct Rosie about being my life coach instead of my friend. I snorted a laugh at the thought that she felt like she needed to spare me the embarrassment of everyone knowing she was here to straighten me the fuck out.

I took a minute to look her over while her back was turned. This woman might have been irritating as fuck, but she had an amazing ass, a tiny waist, and that long red hair beat anything I’d ever seen. My cock got hard just looking at her. I willed the damn thing to go back down because I hated that my cock liked her more than I did. I knew that made me a perverted asshole.

One of the new club girls meandered by, gravitating towards me. She looked freshly showered and reasonably well put together, considering most of them didn’t even get up until early afternoon.

“Morning, Havoc. You’re looking mighty handsome this morning.”

“Same to you, Charlotte. What brother did you bunk with last night?”

She smiled slyly and sealed her lips.

I teased her, “Don’t get shy now, girl. You normally tell me all your secrets.”

She shoved her hands into her front pockets and twisted her body from side to side in a gesture I recognized as one the club girls used when they were trying to be cute. “Weren’t you the one who told me not to kiss and tell?”

I twirled my finger around one of her long blonde curls as we continued flirting. “Me? Naw, that doesn’t sound like something I would say.”

She told me, “It don’t matter, ‘cause whatever brother I’m with is always my second choice. You’re always my first choice. You know that, Havoc.”

Charlotte was lying through her pearly white teeth. She’d kicked me aside for another brother several times in recent memory. Unfortunately, that was what passed for flirting with club girls—lies and deception. All the club girls had their favorites. And although I rarely went without a partner, I was no one’s first choice. Which was actually fine with me. I didn’t want any of the club girls to get attached to me. It always led to trouble.

“Are you finished, or should I wait?”

I glanced up at Riley, taking the whiskey from her hand. “Oh, sorry. I forgot you were there.”

Charlotte asked curiously, “Are you a new club girl?”

I waited to see what Riley was going to say. She glanced from one to the other of us before shaking her head. “I’m afraid not. Would you like to have lunch with us?”

Charlotte was rightly confused because, around the clubhouse, women tried to get as much individual attention from the brothers as possible. So, Riley’s question didn’t make sense in the context of anything Charlotte was familiar with—except maybe a threesome.

I shook my head and jerked my chin towards the bar. “Amscray, Charlotte. Best get your first drink of the day before you turn into a pumpkin.”

Charlotte began looking down at her midsection. “Do I look like I’ve put on weight to you?”

“No, of course not.” God, sometimes I wished I could find a woman who understood my humor.

When she headed towards the bar, I led Riley out to the patio to grab some food.