Nothing Lasts Forever (Battle Born MC Book 2) Read online

  Walking over to me, she says, “He just wanted to hook up, crazy, right?” She says it looking away from me.

  “Uh huh, yeah, that’s crazy,” I answer back, not really believing what she’s saying. Even though I know Solo isn’t celibate, I know that if he were to go after anyone, I would bet on that girl being Tami. “Are you sure, though? What else did he say?” I question her.

  “Does it really matter, Dana? Why don’t you believe me?” She barks back at me.

  “Just asking. I can’t imagine Solo doing that and it surprises me, is all. Why can’t I ask?” My voice is rising higher with irritation at her snappy response.

  “Girls?” James says as he wraps an arm around Jenn’s shoulders and passes her a beer. Just then, I feel Axl slide up behind me and his hand goes to rest on my stomach.

  “Sorry, just a long day, you know,” Jenn says looking across the floor instead of at me as she says it.

  “It’s fine.” I say it, but I’m feeling at a loss for words right now. Jenn’s been different, and I just don’t know how to reach her. What the hell is going on?

  Allowing a few moments to pass, I watch Jenn move to a table alone, on the opposite side of the bar. I give Axl a kiss on the cheek then follow Jenn and sit next to her with my coke in hand.

  Jenn notices my glass and asks, “What, they didn’t have a coke in a glass bottle here for you?” She mocks my choice of drink.

  “You would think they would, right? What kind of a bar is this? Everyone needs a coke in a glass bottle. We serve beer in glass bottles, right?” I joke back.

  “Fuck yeah, we do, there should be that option, totally agree,” Jenn says with as much enthusiasm as possible, then looks away from me. She holds on to her cranberry vodka, wiping away the condensation off the glass.

  “Jenn, you know that all this shit will work out, right? Whatever it is that has your mind tied up, we can help when you’re ready for us to, babe.” My shoulder bumps hers.

  Jenn looks over to me, unshed tears making her eyes look glassy. “I know you can. My heart hurts so bad. The hollowness there is drowning me.” She breathes in and smiles back at me, blinking back the hurt along with the pain.

  “I’m holding it in, Dana. If I let go right now, I won’t come back as me, as the woman who I know myself to be. I’ll know when. I’m holding this together until then. You’ll see, I promise.”

  “I don’t doubt you at all. I just want you to know that I’m here, is all. I’ll always be here. Even when I wanna punch you.”

  “What kinda punch are we talking about here?” Jenn raises a scrutinizing eyebrow at me. “Face, stomach, tit, crotch, knee?” She questions.

  “Hmmm,” I laugh rubbing my chin. This running line has never changed from when we were kids. Where you got punched was how mad we were at the other one. “Stomach, I’m never punching your tit, and definitely not your crotch!” My eyes bug out and I frown at that thought.

  “Shut up, stupid. We never did punch each other in the crotch, but the threat was real.”

  “So real! Hey, no one’s been tit punched since sixth grade. I dare you to tit punch Vegas when she pisses you off.”

  Jenn’s eyes open up at the idea. “If I do it, you have to close late for me two times, on call, when I say.”

  “Deal.” Sorry, Vegas, it’s what had to be done for the sisterhood. At least I got my other best friend back, if only for just the night.

  Chapter 8

  Axl

  “What the fuck is this shit!” I bellow from the garage into the club house. “Solo, Pawn, go grab the brothers, we have some shit to go over. Church! Now!”

  Tank, that silly bastard, winks at me as I shake my head at him. “What?”

  “You remind me of Kat when you’re all squirrely. It’s cute,” Tank says walking in front of me.

  Cute? Fuck that. Balling up my fist, I nail that cocky asshole in his kidney where I know he has a bruise from last night and will hurt like a bitch.

  “Motherfucker!” Tank falls to the ground as his knees buckle under him and he lands on them. “Fuckin’ dick move, brother,” he says, heaving between painful breaths.

  Laughing at him, I say, “If you weren’t pissing blood before, you are now, cutie.” I wink and step around him, coming face to face with Blade. He looks amused at Tank on the floor, shaking his head and moving into Church.

  Since Vegas and Blade have been away and just got back, we have to update our Prez on business. All the brothers begin filing into the room. Solo and Pawn begin to walk back behind the bar and I yell out to them, “Oh, no, you two fuckers are the whole reason we have to be in here. Get in here.” Solo and Pawn’s surprised faces find mine and a worried look of what they would be in trouble for crosses their eyes.

  Taking my seat next to Blade, he hits the gavel against the table and looks right at Pawn and Solo. “What have you two been up to since I’ve been gone?” Blade questions in a cool tone.

  Pawn speaks up first. “Nothing, Prez, that we weren’t asked to do. Did our runs south, ran the bar and serviced the bikes,” he finishes, sounding confused.

  “And you, Solo?”

  Solo swallows. “The same as what Pawn just said, and followed Tony like you asked. That was all right?” He questions with a hint of uncertainty.

  “I don’t know, Solo. Axl,” Blade stops to look over at me,” Is that all we needed for the prospects to do?”

  “Yeah, that was all they needed to do. But now we have a problem,” I let out a long breath. “Since you two shitheads were following Tony around, we came across something interesting. Tony’s been meeting up with our club slut, CC.”

  “Yeah, I told you that,” Solo defends.

  “Yep, yep, you did. Now you need to go pick her up and take her to the mine. The bitch has got to die. She sold us out to Tony and you two are gonna torture the info from her. It’s your job, we’ll meet you both up there in two hours. Don’t start, and don’t say shit till we get there. MOVE.”

  Solo and Pawn quickly move to their feet and out the door, slamming it shut hard behind them. Spider cracks a smile. I’m not even going to ask what that crazy fucker is smiling about.

  “Dramatic. I liked how you two rolled with it. Are we doing a patch-in party tonight since we have all the clubs here still from the wedding?” Tank comments while taking a big bite out of a red apple. The crunch followed the chew noise and the juice dripping from his chin has us all staring at his dumb ass. Tank picks up his feet, tilting his chair back. We stare in some sort of fascination at his easy-going, goofy side, but bruises paint his face from the vicious beating he delivered last night.

  “Put your boots down for fuck’s sake, Tank!” Blade roars. “You act like a fucking teen still. Shit! Anyway, let’s take a vote. All those in favor of patching in Solo, after he takes care of CC, and Pawn, after he does a round in Tony’s ring later tonight, say aye. If they both hold their own, we’ll patch them in tonight?”

  A resounding “Aye” is heard from around the room. It’s gonna be a long night, but the idea has a smile stretched across all our killer faces.

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  The entire club walks into the old mine that’s way out in the dusty sagebrush filled hills of Nevada. The smell of sage is still strong even this time of year and this far out. Solo has CC gagged and tied to a chair in the middle of the room. The look of fear in her scared eyes has the wolf lying deep and engrained in us all eager to spill her blood.

  Circling around her, one by one we fill the room. There is no hope for this woman to come out of this alive. This pack of killers will be sending her off to hell. Never play with thieves or killers. A lesson these bitches never learn.

  Taking my spot next to my Prez, I look around the room taking in inventory. Fuego, the California Prez, Ice the Prez from Elko and, lastly, Stryker. We called them down for the patch-in party later tonight, and they decided to join us for this pre-party activity as well. The timing could not have been better. This girl is truly fuc
ked. There is no way she will leave here without the blood drained from her shaking body. Blade nods at Solo to get to it.

  Solo rips the handkerchief gag from her mouth, whipping her head forward with the force of it. Her brown hair is a ratty mess and black makeup runs down her face. Smeared red lipstick coats her face. Her body’s shaking from fear.

  “Where did you find her at?” Blade questions Solo. His death stare stays locked on CC.

  “She was down at the whorehouse, cutting deals with the druggies down there. Paying for their smack to get a hit before they fucked the prostitutes. Those who can’t pay, guess who was taking little kids over to Tony to be sold? This crazy ass cunt right here.” Solo backhands her across the cheek. Her head whips back with the force. She wilts as far forward as she can, allowing the sobs to wrack her body.

  “I grabbed her in the middle of her drug deal, told her I wouldn’t tell any of you as long as she gave me head and let me fuck her ass. Bitch was easy. One last ride for the road,” Solo smirks when saying that and the men howl with laughter like the wolves we really are.

  Blade nods in agreement for him to continue. Solo grabs CC by the hair at the back of her head, snapping her head back. “Got a couple of questions for you, cunt. Where did you get the blow and pills to deal?”

  CC shivers and struggles to swallow before she answers, “T-Tony has a supply. He would give me bonuses in supply if I delivered kids.” This time, Solo’s face heats up with frustration, and he takes a knife from his boot to cut the zip ties that are holding her arms secured to the chair.

  “Undress,” he says to her, then watches as she slowly starts peeling the clothes off her body. “Now!” He barks when she’s not moving fast enough, raising his leg to kick her back into the chair.

  Quickly, she raises to her feet, shoving and throwing clothes from her body. Once she’s bare, Solo walks behind her, grabbing and holding both her arms behind her back. “Lie to me again, bitch.” He raises the knife to her chest and starts slicing through her pale skin, drawing crimson lines from her chest down to her navel. Her screams and pleas pierce our ears as blood starts running down her legs.

  She pants a breath and shakily says, “I stole it from the club, skimming it off brothers after we would fuck.”

  “And?” he prompts.

  More tears fall as she confesses more, “I told Johnny that Vegas was fucking Blade.” She closes her eyes as she waits for it.

  Like a ghost, the reaper himself, Blade, is in front of her, knife in hand. He plunges the blade deep into the inside of her leg, cutting from knee to her cunt. He shreds her flesh on one leg, then moves to the other as Solo holds her steady up. Blade loses control to his task, stabbing her stomach and twisting the blade before pulling it back out. Finally, ready to finish the job, to deliver the last fatal blow, he brutally stabs her in the neck, all the way up through her skull.

  It all stops. Everyone is silent as her body hits the floor. “Fuck!” he yells out with his labored breaths breaking the silence.

  “Mijo,” Fuego calls out, trying to stop his manic rage.

  Blade throws his knife through the brothers, at the far-right wall. Saying nothing, he continues breathing hard before he storms out. Tires peel out, kicking up sand and rock as Blade leaves.

  “What the fuck was that about?” Tank asks.

  Stryker’s dark eyes look around at all the men standing in the room. “That cunt killed the baby Vegas didn’t know that she was carrying. She took that from him. Any of you speak of this again, utter a word of it and I will kill you.”

  Chapter 9

  Dana

  Walking into the office, I see that Vegas is passed out again on top of her desk. I nudge her with one hand and set the coffee under her nose. She perks up with eyes snapping open eagerly, taking the coffee from me.

  “Hell, yeah, you want to be sister wives? I’ll work, and you just take care of me,” she batts her eyes my way.

  “No, that would make me your bitch,” I state flatly.

  She smiles around another sip. “I thought you were though, huh? Weird,” she laughs.

  “Bitch,” I squint my eyes at her. “Seriously, though, Vegas, you got to cut back the hours you work. You put too much pressure on yourself. You are going to have a psychotic break one of these days.”

  “I know, but when do I have the time? I still need income until the brewery is up and running…”

  Before she can finish what she was going to say, Blade is barging in through the office doors. Vegas stands as his full attention is on her, storming in her direction. His arms wrap around her petite body, holding on to her and not letting go.

  Shutting the door on my way out, I walk over to Jenn at the DJ desk. “Hey, Jenn, I’m guessing it’s going to be a hell of a night. Blade just consumed Vegas in the office, so I’m assuming the guys aren’t too far behind him.”

  “Gotcha, boss lady, I got a new track ready for those assholes,” she says as she holds her hand up, signaling me to wait a minute. When she steps closer to me in the dimmed light, the dark circles under her eyes are more apparent, but I don’t say anything, not wanting to upset her.

  “I’m going to head out and grab some food before they get here. You want anything?” She asks while avoiding looking me straight in the eyes.

  “A salad or a burger, whatever. As long as it’s food, I’ll eat it,” I reply.

  “Kat,” Jenn hollers over to the bar. “Food?” Is all she asks.

  “Whatever you’re getting is good with me,” Kat yells back.

  Thirty minutes later, Jenn runs in handing us chicken burgers just as we hear the bikes roar up the road. We begin to scarf down huge bites before the night gets caught up around the crazy ass Battle Born parties. We hear the suburban pull up and several doors slam shut. All three of us swallow our food down as we lean in sync together to peek out the window, holding our sandwiches midair.

  “Patch-in,” is all we say in unison as strippers and sluts bail out of the two SUV’s carrying all the chicks. Snapping into action, I take another bite, saying around a mouthful, “Eat, hurry.” We keep scarfing down our burgers, and, right on the last bite, the doors open wide and the brothers flood in.

  Jenn runs over to her DJ table, finishing her food on the way, then placing her headphones on, ready to start her new mix. Kat and I hurry to take our spot behind the bar.

  The girls saunter up and start ordering margaritas, and thank God they do since we have our machine ready to go. Emilia starts her checking on tables and taking orders. These guys mostly want beer or whiskey, easy enough. Tami keeps the glasses clean in the back and stocks the bar with ice and more beer. Vegas is behind the counter helping to push the orders out.

  A good hour goes by before we hear more bikes pulling up, and I moan at the thought of how many more people we can cram in here before the fire department shuts us down.

  The bikes shut off and Blade whistles loudly to grab everyone’s attention. The front door creaks open and the bar is deadly quiet. Solo walks in with a limping Pawn. Collective gasps sound in the air at Pawn’s swollen and bruised up face.

  Axl walks in behind them, with Tank and Spider in tow. Axl belts out to the crowd, “You should see the other guy!” The crowd chuckles as he continues, “This pissant fucker gave it back to that asshole twice as hard.” Axl slaps Pawn’s back, causing the younger guy to wince in pain.

  Blade stands up, directing the attention to himself. “Solo, Pawn, bring your scrawny asses over here.”

  As they walk toward Blade’s table, which is closest to the bar, he continues, “You two, over the past year and some change, have proven yourselves and your dedication to the Battle Born brothers. This,” Blade points around the room, “Is your patch-in party. Don’t be stupid,” Blade finishes and sits back down while Pawn and Solo fist bump the air with a “Fuck yeah” from both. They then turn to each other and begin to give each other manly back slaps and fist bumps.

  All the guys cheer for the new mem
bers when Axl hands them their new patches and cuts off the prospect ones from their cuts.

  Tami comes running over with ice for Pawn and pulls up a chair for him. The brothers laugh at her worry and the care that she shows for him. Her face blanches, feeling embarrassed, and she turns around to walk back behind the bar. Kat turns from handing a beer over the counter and glares daggers at the men. Abruptly, they all get quiet.

  Tank starts laughing, “My little kitten has sharp claws, don’t ya, Kitty Kat?” He purrs at her. Kat rolls her eyes in response, but winks at him when no one’s looking.

  Warm hands slide up my sides, following their course and cupping my tits from behind. I jump and yelp from the quick progression, turning around to a cocky faced bastard who smacks a big kiss on my lips and those hands lower to find my ass cheeks.

  Giggling with our lips still stuck together, I pull back just a bit to ask, “Did you have a good day or what?”

  “The best, princess, but this is even better,” Axl says before his lips touch mine. Soon, his lips devour mine intently as they take them in a sweep of passion. His hands crawl up under my shirt. His fingertips graze my skin, and goose bumps pop up all over.

  Axl turns us around and leads us back into the office, our lips never leaving each other’s, then closes the door shut. Slamming my back against the door, he continues his aggressive pursuit by pulling my shirt off and grabbing my tits, then goes for my pants. He undoes the belt, slides the zipper down, then pushes them off and tosses them aside along with my thong, where they all land next to my shirt.

  He growls and tugs me from the door, then tosses me on my back onto the desk. His strong hands grab my knees, lifting them high and wide, almost painfully so. My gasp has him looking from my pussy to my face. His eyes dilate while looking into mine. A small smile plays at his sexy full lips. Stepping a little closer, his fingers dive into me. My back arches at the sudden aggressive intrusion.