Chapter 1

Hawk

I am getting too fucking old for loud music. The speakers are booming right inside my head, making me sick to my stomach. I just want to pull out the gun and shoot at them until it all stops.

Another option would be to just walk out of the strip club, get on my bike and ride the fuck away. 

Unfortunately, I can’t do either.

As a member of a motorcycle club, especially a high ranking one, you are expected to do what your president asked you to do. I am an enforcer for the Savages MC. And my president sent me here on a recon mission.

Our biggest rival is the Steel Lizards MC. It really suits them as they’re all slippery as fuck. It all starts with their president, Bricks, and his right hand man, Snake.

For the longest time, we were under the impression that Bricks’ son, Wrecker, was the second in charge. He is the VP after all. Color us surprised when we heard a rumor that Bricks was making moves to get rid of his son, and not by just throwing him out of the club. No, he wants him dead.

There are a lot of moving parts there, and last we heard, Wrecker had been shot up in Illinois where he was going to get his son.

Rumor on the street is that Bricks sent Wrecker out that way to meet with someone from another MC under the pretense that they had information on us. But the point of it all had been to bring Wrecker back in a body bag.

“I don’t think he’s dead,” Winger, our club’s secretary informs me. He speaks in the corner of his mouth while staring at his phone.

I bring the bottle of beer to my lips to cover them when I speak.

“How can you know for sure?”

We have to speak fairly loud to hear each other over the thumping music. There is no one close enough to hear us, however there are plenty of people capable of reading lips, especially in our line of work.

“There are no police records, no bodies found,” Winger informs me, never taking his eyes off his phone.

“That means fuck-all,” I mutter behind my bottle before taking another sip.

Winger’s shoulders shake a bit when he chuckles. “He made a call to get his kid.”

“After the shooting?” I ask for clarification.

“Precisely.”

I take another sip of my beer. It is warm by now, so I signal the wandering waitress for a fresh one.

“Devereaux is here,” Winger tells me calmly. Neither one of us moves. “He is in the back corner. His man is guarding the table.”

I nod but don’t say anything else. Devereaux is the reason we are in this fucking place to begin with. He is the biggest name in the underground world, and nobody dares to cross him. He is good to you for as long as you return the sentiment. 

Apparently, Bricks fucked up and thought he was smarter. He and Devereaux go way back. There’s some history there that none of us are familiar with. But because of that, Devereaux left Bricks alone for the longest time despite all the terrible business decisions he’s made over the years.

Bricks’ luck has run out though. Devereaux is here to collect, and he will not rest until he takes Bricks out.

“I’ll go first.” Winger finally puts his phone away and stands up. Without even looking at me, he walks away.

Since I have to wait for at least ten minutes, and now I don’t have anyone to talk to either, I let my eyes wander. 

I notice two members of the Lizards sitting right up front, staring at the stripper on stage. Sully and Puck. I know them both, and they are actually decent people, or at least as decent as life in a motorcycle club would permit you to be. 

Puck always seems to have a smile on his face, walking around like he has no worries in the fucking world. Putting bullets into people’s heads on the regular doesn’t seem to phase him any. I guess that’s the way to go when you’re in the life.

Sully on the other hand hardly ever smiles. He is like this silent giant that always looks over Puck. It’s one weird ass relationship they got going on there. I keep on oscillating between them being a couple or just really best friends.

If they are a couple, that’s kept tightly under wraps. Being gay in a motorcycle club, especially Bricks’ motorcycle club, would get them killed for sure.

Besides, there are some rumors about Sully’s sexual preferences, and they’re definitely geared toward the opposite sex.

I watch them for a few minutes, noticing how Puck downs the bottles of beer like they’re water, and Sully whispering in his ear every so often.

After a while, Puck points at the stripper, and she about falls off the stage in an effort to get to him faster. She picks up the money he hands to her, leaning forward for a kiss. He hesitates for a second before cracking some joke, because they all bust out laughing.

She stands back up and shakes her ass all the way to the curtain they have to the side. The music changes in an instant, not as upbeat as before, but still loud as fuck. It sounds like some sultry version off a song from the nineties, Pony. I’m pretty sure it’s originally an R&B song, but this is slow rock. Strange.

As I analyze the song choices in this establishments, I miss the new stripper entering the stage.

“Give a warm and loud welcome to Ruby,” the announcer calls out to the patrons. “Louder,” he insists.

She has her back to us, and I am temporarily distracted by the definition in the muscles of her small back. She is thin but strong, a lot stronger than people would assume given her size.

The breath gets knocked out of my chest when she throws her head back while hanging off the pole in the middle of the stage, elongating her neck. Her long dark hair looks like it’s past her ass now, which she teases with every so often as her hips start gyrating in perfect rhythm to the music.

I have an endless supply of women at my disposal, between the club whores and the strip club we always frequent. I also get hit on every time I am out and about. They love the idea of fucking a club member, thinking it’s as romantic as on a TV show. 

With that said, I have never felt such an instant attraction to any of them. I have no idea what it is about the stripper on stage. I can’t even see her face clearly since I am pretty far.

“Snap the fuck out,” I mutter to myself and stand up. It’s been long enough. It’s time I joined Winger and Devereaux, and I need a clear head for the meeting.

I nod to the security detail when I am close enough to the table. He moves out of the way, allowing me to have a seat.

“Mr. Hawk,” Devereaux greets me.

I have so many sharp replies to that but decide to contain myself. He gets right to business without blinking.

“Thank you both for taking the time to meet with me today.”

He basically called our president and told him he’d blow us all up when we least expected it if we didn’t meet with him.

“Very gracious of you to extend the invitation,” I mutter.

There’s the beginning of a smile in the corner of his mouth, but it goes away just as quickly as it appeared.

“Very well,” he nods. “Now that we got the pleasantries out of the way, we can get to the main reason why I asked for this meeting.”

He stops talking and waits for us to acknowledge what he said. Both me and Winger stare back, neither one of us willing to give him anything.

I almost jump out of my skin when Devereaux’s lips spread into a grin, a genuine one at that. 

“I like you guys.” He then turns to look at the beast guarding the table. “Malone, this was an excellent idea. Remind me to give you a raise.”

The man who we now know as Malone shakes his shoulders in laughter but never turns to look at us.

“Yes, boss.” His voice comes out incredibly deep and gravely. 

Suddenly, the smile drops off Devereaux’s face. He looks us square in the eyes, without blinking. For a split second, I understand why he has the reputation that he does. I’m pretty sure he could make us disappear and no one would dare to ask where we are. It is obviously better to be his friend rather than his enemy.

“Bricks is a dead man walking,” he informs us in his most casual tone. “And he knows it.”

I did not expect him to be this direct about his motives of being here.

“Why do you need us?” I finally speak up. “Sounds like you’re not in short supply of resources to eliminate him.”

Devereaux smiles again. “But where would the fun in that be? Besides,” he shrugs. “I need someone who understands the club mindset. I also need to blow up the entire fucking club of theirs.”

Winger, who was in the process of opening his mouth to say something, literally chokes on his own spit.

“You want us to blow up the Steel Lizards,” he repeats to Devereaux. It is obvious that we both hope we misunderstood the assignment.

“Very well,” Devereaux nods like a proud father. “It is always preferable that I work with people whose brains work at full capacity. Don’t do drugs, kids.”

I chuckle at that. “But you sell drugs.”

“Not as much as I used to,” he concedes. “Firearms are more my specialty nowadays.”

I stare at him for the longest time while Winger is doing his best not to fidget in his spot next to me.

“Why would we want to associate with you in this… mission?”

Devereaux places his hands on the table, his perfectly pressed suite making him look like he is in a board meeting. He gives off this power vibe that only incredibly rich people can pull off.

“Because I know what Bricks did to your club over the years. I also know he’s raped your women.”

I clench my teeth hard at that last part. It is true. When a couple of our girls disappeared, all signs pointed toward the president of the Steel Lizards. We could never figure out if the entire club was involved in that particular operation, but it’s safe to say, we hate them all collectively.

“He and Snake were hoping to get information out of them,” Devereaux tells us with a shrug. “He obviously thinks that your club is as sloppy as theirs.”

I about laugh my head off at that. What he is trying to do is make us think we are better than the Lizards. We might think so internally, but overall, all clubs are the same, especially the one percenters. No one has any scruples unless it involves illegal activity. 

“The whores are not worth starting a war over,” I tell Devereaux. My face is immobile when I say the words, no emotion lacing my tone.

Somewhere deep down, I do feel regret over losing those club girls. They were sweet and always up for a good time. One of them never said no to me, even when I asked for the kinkiest shit I could think of. But would I want to blow up another club just so that I could have a good lay with her again? Nope.

A folder suddenly appears on the table in between us. I’m not sure where Malone even had it before sliding on the flat surface. He doesn’t even turn around to look at us when he does so, and Devereaux doesn’t react at all when that happens.

“The whores are not worth it,” Devereaux agrees. 

There’s something in his voice that catches my attention. An underlying current, telling me that he doesn’t agree with me, despite the words coming out of his mouth.

“But maybe this will make it worth your time.”

With perfectly manicured fingers, he pushes the folder closer to me and Winger. I never take my eyes off him, knowing that if I do, he will take it as a weakness. This is not the kind of man you want to play mind games with, but he is the kind of man who would appreciate them the most.

“You will be perfect for the job,” he smirks at me. There is no hesitation there, he thinks we’re in.

“It will cost you.” Because he can’t expect us to do anything for free when it’s something of the magnitude he is suggesting.

He nods in agreement. “I have no doubt.”

I bring the folder closer to me and open in. It looks like a bunch of pictures, organized by date and location. Most of them have either Bricks or Snake in them, with the rest showing both of them. They have their posse at their backs, the men they trust the most in the club. None of them show Wrecker in them.

A surprising fact though is that all the pictures show them meeting with our business associates. We have a few agreements to transport guns. They are very lucrative, and they would bankrupt us should we lose them.

“He is offering them a bigger cut than what they make out by working with the Savages,” Devereaux confirms my instant concern. 

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Winger finally speaks up from next to me. “He knows that’s in our territory. We don’t go into theirs, they stay off ours.”

Devereaux’s eyes focus on him. “Yes, the outlaw code.”

“You may not play by the outlaw rules, but we never had to worry about it here,” Winger continues. “Even with scumbags the likes of Bricks and his men.”

Devereaux shows the first sign of genuine amusement.

“I made the outlaw rules. And I’ve ruled the outlaw world for a very long time now. It is no accident that I still do.”

He has a point there. He knows how we work, and there’s no need for us to waste out breath explaining it to him.

“Bricks closing these deals,” he points to the folder, “is bad news to your club. You know it, I know it, and he most definitely knows it.”

While he says that, I start flipping through the pages that document Bricks’ plans to basically take us out. I freeze when I get to the last ones. These are not with any of our contacts.

“What the fuck,” Winger whispers from next to me. “That’s my sister.”

There are eight pictures containing various relatives of our club members. They all have a few things in common – they are females, they are young, they are pretty.

“Bricks has been dabbling in human trafficking for a while now,” Devereaux tells us when he notices I finally got to the main attraction in his folder. “It is something we never agreed on as business partners. And one of the reasons I am about to pull the rug from under his feet, so to speak.”

“What are you saying?” Winger sounds incredulous as I stare at a picture of my younger cousin on my mother’s side. Her family is not part of the club, and I always made sure to keep this part of me separate from them. 

“How would Bricks even know our families?” I ask before he has a chance to answer Winger. 

“You underestimate the power of desperation, Mr. Hawk.”

Devereaux sounds almost sad when he says the words. 

“Is Bricks desperate?”

He nods in confirmation. “Very much so.”

“What’s changed?”

His eyes become pools of ice. “My contracts with Bricks are up in the next few months. I am pulling out all his resources.”

“So now he wants to kidnap our women and sell them on the black market?”

“Amongst other things,” Devereaux shrugs. “There is not much you can do to protect them either. The wheels are in motion. And the only way to stop them would be to blow all the fuckers up.”

I close the folder and push it back to the middle of the table despite the fact that I want to grab it and rush out of here. Our president needs to see this, especially since one of the girls in there is his own daughter.

“Sounds like you got a good handle on this, Mr. Devereaux,” I mimic his polite tone. “You don’t need us. Besides, we can protect our own women.”

He smiles at me, but it feels like a trap.

“I am willing to get in agreement with the Savages for all the contracts I am taking away from Bricks.” 

He pauses and stares at me for the longest time before dropping the proverbial bomb on us.

“With a sign-on bonus of twenty-five million dollars.”

“Ah fuck,” Winger echoes my sentiments.

There is no way our president would refuse to give his offer careful consideration if it involves this kind of money. It’s not just the millions he’s dangling under our noses, but also the very lucrative contracts Devereaux says he wants to take away from Bricks.

I decide that we need to buy ourselves a little bit of time.

“We do not have the authority to commit to anything today. We need to run this by our president. He will want to put it up for vote.”

I doubt anyone would vote against it, and Devereaux knows it.

“You have twenty-four hours.” His tone is just as cold as ever. “You are currently my top pick. But I have other choices.”

I nod in understanding. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a man of his stature. 

A new folder drops on the table. This time, I open it without being prompted. Just as quickly, I blink in confusion.

“What is this?”

“This is a list of people who I want alive at the end of this.”

“Wrecker, Puck, Sully and Shortie,” I read the names out loud. “Interesting choices.” 

My eyes go over the names, wondering why these four people are so important to save.

“As you know, Bricks and Snake like to come to this club quite a bit.” 

Devereaux speaks like my mind is not spinning into a million directions.

“They are paying one of the strippers here to get information on your club. You will have to get the stripper to work for you instead.”

Winger moves uncomfortably in his seat. We have our own club where we go, but he comes here when on his own. I’m sure he is worried about which particular stripper would be the mole.

“What is her name?”

“Ruby Santiago. They are planning on selling her as well.”

That grabs my attention. “Why would they sell her if she’s helping them?”

“She thinks you’re the bad guys. And they have no loyalty to anyone.”

I roll my eyes at that. We’re not the good guys in any type of scenario.

Devereaux taps a finger to the folder containing pictures of the girls related to the club.

“She’s scheduled to be on the same shipment as all your women.”

 

Chapter 2

Ruby

Another day, another handful of hundred-dollar bills.

That’s how I get myself through each day that passes. My bank account grows and my self-esteem drops a couple more notches.

It is weird how life deals you blows that take you on paths you never thought you’d travel.

As a young girl, all I wanted was to have a boyfriend who would love me so much, we would be together through high school, then college. We would then get married and have a couple of children. Life would be perfect.

What I got was being made fun of in school for growing up in a trailer park. All the boys thought I would be an easy lay. It didn’t help that I developed pretty early. My curves worked against me.

Eventually, one of them asked me out. I said yes. Four dates later, I gave him my virginity. On the fifth date, he brought his friends too. They took turns raping me and left me for dead.

I never went back to school. I did go to the police, but they didn’t take me seriously, basically implied I made it up. I was a girl from the trailer park right outside of town, whose parents were both junkies. They were boys from nice families, one of them the son of the mayor, with squeaky clean reputation.

The police decided that it was clear I was out to make a buck off them. I was seventeen and had no one in my corner. My parents ended up throwing me out when they paid them off to do so. 

I had fifty dollars to my name and a small bag of clothes. Getting a job in a strip club was the only logical solution. The easiest one, too. It was two towns over but still too close to home. Once I saved enough, I left and ended up in the Austin area. By now, I had enough experience in dancing. I looked for a club that was more upscale than the one at which I got my stripping career started.

It's been four years, and not much has changed. Stripping is the easiest money I’ll ever make considering I don’t even have a high school diploma, let alone any higher education. 

I was able to find a financial advisor who is not judgmental. I make the money, he takes care of investing it for me. Hopefully, by the time I’m too old to strip anymore, I’ll have enough of a cushion where I won’t have to worry about money.

“Ruby,” one of the girls calls out to me. “Someone’s here for you.”

I fight the urge to roll my eyes at hearing that. I do a lot of private shows since that brings even a lot more money than just stripping. Lately, I’ve had some bikers who’ve been eager to pay for my services.

They have a different agenda. Their ultimate goal is to make me get them some information from their rival club. They also have a member who comes here once in a while. Bricks and Snake, who are from the local club, have been telling me that the Savages MC kidnap children and sell them as sex slaves.

I obviously want to help with that, but they are crazy if they think I would just take their word for it.

I finish fluffing my hair up, making sure that it falls in perfect waves over one shoulder. 

The top I’m wearing is just for show as the only part of my body it actually covers is my arms. It is cropped just past the tops of my breasts. Since they’re still young and perky, they give the perfect glimpse of the underside. Men seem to be going crazy over that. 

I don’t bother with covering my bottom half, the thong I’m wearing being more than I sometimes wear on stage. Looking at my feet, I debate for a second if I should take my high heels off and go barefoot. My toes wiggle in anticipation, but I know that making an entrance in my high heels will be more effective.

“Here we go,” I sing song to myself as I make my way out to the private rooms.

I smile and wink at the few patrons I run into. They are on their way to the rooms they paid for, and I make more of an effort to make sure my breasts bounce and ass shakes as I strut by. That will make them want to ask for me next time they grace our club with their presence.

When I get in front of the door to the room assigned to me, I take a moment to fix my hair again. I put a practiced smile on my face and slowly open the door. My eyes easily adjust to the low light in the room, where all I see is the outline of a massive body sitting on the couch.

I cringe for a second, knowing all the things that have happened on that couch on a regular basis. But I also know that our boss is a stickler for hygiene, and she has the couch steam cleaned on a regular basis.

With no hesitation whatsoever, I sway my hips from side to side until I am standing in front of the man waiting for me. The closer I get, the more I get this feeling of foreboding. It’s like I am about to walk into a trap of some sort. 

I hold back a gasp of surprise when I notice he is wearing a biker’s cut. The name on it is what gets my attention. Hawk. Savages MC. They are the ones Bricks and Snake are worried about. 

For a split second, I hear them in my head as they tell me how I would be just their type, and they would make good money off selling me.

A sudden shiver takes over my body, making me hate this man on sight. I don’t stop until he can almost touch my legs with his knees. His dark eyes go up and down the length of my body in a way that’s not new to me, but it does new things to my body.

I’m not sure if it is the imminent danger that I feel I’m in, or if it is something else, but I have this sudden urge to ride him, fuck him as I try to find out all his secrets.

“Hi, handsome…”

I lean at the waist as I keep my legs straight, the move making my breasts popping out from under the minuscule top I have on. I lift a hand, ready to run the tip of my finger over his lips. 

Just as I am about to do so, his eyes snap to my face. It is in perfect coordination with the suddenly fast beat of the music playing in the background, and I jump back, bringing my hand down.

“Hmmm… I didn’t think you’d be this shy.” 

His voice sounds deeper than I’d expected, but I recover fast.

“You strike me as the type of person who would appreciate a shy girl.” 

I drop my head and watch him from underneath my eyelashes, pretending like I didn’t just notice his sudden intake of air. I turn him on, and we both know it. At least we’re on the same page as far as that goes.

“I do,” he grumbles just as his hands touch my hips on each side. 

The pads of his fingers sink into the softness of my butt cheeks. If he went a little harder, I’m sure he would leave marks. I don’t mind that as long as he pays for it and I am able to cover them with makeup up once we’re done. Although, I know some guys get off on seeing marks on the women they pay for.

I stand back up straight but don’t fight his touch. But I am surprised when he sticks one finger under the barely there piece of cloth covering my pussy. 

My mouth drops slightly open in anticipation, waiting for him to do more. His thumb is close to my entrance as it rests on my bare lips, if I moved an inch, it would slip right in.

I debate for a second if I should do just that, take control of the situation. But I’m pretty sure he is not that type of guy. He wants the control when he fucks, which I am perfectly fine with. 

I have to admit that the thought of him dominating me is a huge turn on, especially knowing he represents danger. Such a shame that he is into sex trafficking for a living. I now see him as a challenge. I will break him so that I can get all the information I can out of him.

“This is too easy,” he finally chuckles, taking me by surprise. His hands are still on me, with his thumb still close to my opening.

“What is?”

“This.”

He laughs again just as his thumb slips to the side. Considering how wet I am already, it is no obstacle for it to land right on my clit. I want to spread my stance a little and give him an encouraging push to do more.

He slides the thumb lower until he can dip it inside of me, moving it around and making me drip. I used to be ashamed of how turned on I could get, but I’ve learned to ride it out and just feel good. 

I whimper in distress when he pulls his hand away. He brings the thumb to his lips and sucks on it, making sure to clean all the juices he gathered off me.

“Not bad,” he shrugs when his eyes meet mine.

At hearing that, my jaw drops in shock. 

“Not bad?” It is now my turn to laugh. “You won’t found anything better,” I assure him.

I sound a lot more confident than I feel. My stomach is flip flopping with nervousness now, and I am scared that I am about to not only lose the money I should be paid for this session and any future ones, but also the opportunity to gather any information about the sex trafficking ring his club allegedly has.

Hawk leans against the couch, his head dropping back as he continues laughing.

“All pussies are the same, sweetheart,” he informs me. “Just a wet hole to dip our dicks into.”

I take a step back, putting a bit of distance between us. I debate for a second how hard I want to play here. He is the one who sought me out. Maybe he gets off on humiliation. That is the one thing I can’t stand, but he is paying more than the regulars, so I might have to put up with it.

“If that’s the case…” 

I spread my legs a little so I can balance myself better on my high shoes right before slipping my own fingers inside my pussy. He can’t see them as I dip them inside since they’re covered by the very thin material of the thong. 

When his nostrils flare and his hands tighten into fists as they rest on his knees, I know I have him. The need to put even more of a show overtakes me.

I throw my head back and close my eyes. For a few long seconds, I imagine that it’s his fingers touching me like this. My hand is too soft though, taking away from the excitement. 

Dropping my head back to look at him, I pull my hand out and never take my eyes off of his. I bring my fingers to my mouth and gently lick before I stick them more into inside and suck them clean. 

“It’s good enough for me,” I wink at him. “And since you don’t seem to be needing me, I’ll go take care of myself now.”

I turn my back to him and start walking toward the door. I have no intention of leaving since I can’t afford to lose then cash this encounter would bring, but I feel confident enough to fake it.

Just as my hand touches the doorknob, I feel his presence at my back. My lips lift in a smile, which I carefully keep hidden. Men are too predictable, really.

“Allow me,” he growls in my ear, making my skin break out into pebbles. I shiver delicately, anticipation fueling my fire.

That is why it takes me a minute to realize what he is doing. His mouth is now pressed to the sensitive skin on my neck. He sinks his teeth in just as his hand turns the doorknob to open the door for me.

“What…”

I don’t get a chance to ask more when he sucks hard enough that I have to lift on my toes to make sure he doesn’t stop. Unfortunately, he does stop, way too soon.

“I thought you were different,” he winks at me, much like I winked at him only minutes ago.

My breath catches in my throat, panic now taking full control of my body.

“What are you doing?”

I hate how weak my voice sounds.

“I’ll continue looking,” he shrugs.

His words are too close to what Bricks and Snake have been telling me. He is looking for girls to take and sell. For whatever reason, I am not what he is looking for, probably not meek enough.

“You can’t!”

I regret saying anything the moment the sound comes out of my mouth. The knowing looking in his eyes confirms it.

“I can do whatever and whoever I want, sweetheart,” he smirks at me. “And you’re not it.”

He walks around me, ready to leave, but then he stops while I am still frozen in the doorway. I watch as he puts a hand in the pocket of his jeans and pulls out a hundred dollar bill. 

I jump when he reaches forward, unsure of what to expect. With slow movements, he pulls on the thong and shoves the bill right in between my legs, making sure it is safely secure in between my lips. For a second, I think he is about to push it inside of me, but then he pulls his hand back.

He juts his chin forward, pointing toward the room behind me. “For the two minutes we were in there.”

Now, he is truly leaving while I remain immobile in the doorway. My hands are sweaty and my breathing is labored.

I tried to play with him. 

I lost.

(c) Andie Bale 2024