Page 19 of Towles

I scoffed at the idea of going back to Paul. “I don’t have that life anymore, Mr. Waters. I don’t have much of a choice here. Ten years ago, I put all my eggs in one basket, and now they’re all fucking cracked. But thank you.”

We walked to Waters’ car and left county, fifteen minutes later pulling into the Brothers of Chaos empty parking lot. A woman sitting on a picnic table stood and approached the car. I got out, and Waters pulled away.

“They call me Skittles,” the woman said. “Beast, the club president gave me the name. You must be April Summers.” I think she noticed the terror on my face. “Only believe half the shit you’ve heard about us. The other half might be true, but I wouldn’t give it much thought.”

“You know Ethan?” I asked.

“I do. He asked that I help make you feel at home. Let’s go inside, and I’ll show you around.”

“Wait. How long have you been doing this?” I asked.

“Long enough to know I wouldn’t do anything else.” Skittles led me inside.

Although I had limited knowledge of biker life, nothing about what I saw inside surprised me.

Two women moved from stools by the bar. A third woman stayed behind the bar washing glasses. She had a face that couldn’t be trusted. Two pool tables sat directly in front of me, and three couches were along the wall to the right. The place was cleaner than I thought it would be.

“Gigi,” one of the approaching women said. She had golden, flowing blond hair and perfect skin. Her clothes were rich, and her accent educated. Nothing about her suggested she should belong to a biker club. She extended her hand, and we shook.

“I’m Wendy,” the other woman said, a forced smile crossing her lips. Despite not knowing me, she didn’t like me one bit.

Skittles pointed at the woman behind the bar. “That’s Trixie,” she said, whispering, “She’s an FBI informant. Think’s the club killed her sister.”

“It’s nice to meet all of you. Unfortunately, I don’t have clothes or anything else with me.”

“Not a problem,” Gigi said. “Enough girls stay here that we can round up everything you need. I’ll see what I can find. Towles probably has all the toiletries you need.”

I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of that. It made it sound like I was just another one of his booty calls.

Skittles hooked her arm around mine, and with a gigantic backpack full of trepidation, I followed along. Skittles opened a door, and we stepped in. My brain tried to tell my eyes they were really seeing what they thought they were seeing. In less than twelve hours, I’d gone from 4,ooo square feet of high-class living to 300 square feet of biker sub-standard living. I fought the idea I had made a huge mistake.

“It’s a lot to take in,” Skittles said. “A lot of the old ladies have given up a perceived better life for something that excited their soul and gave them a reason to wake up every morning. On the surface, it doesn’t look great. You stay with Ethan and never regret your decision to come here. I don’t.”

I nodded. No turning back. I was in the lion’s den and planned to stay there.

“Skittles,” Trixie said, entering the room. Her jeans were so tight that they created a gap between her legs that she could drive a car through. “A man outside says he’s here to get April.”

“Fuck.” I crossed my arms. I didn’t want ever to see Paul again. “I think it’s my husband.”

Skittles grabbed my arm as I started to leave. “You don’t have to go out there.”

“I’m okay. He needs to know how much I dislike him.” Skittles released my arm, and all three women followed me outside. They stood close as Paul approached.

“I want to apologize for treating you as I did today,” he said. He held out his arms as if I should run to them, but I didn’t.

“Paul,” I said calmly. “You need to apologize for the past ten years and how you’ve treated me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He put his hands on his hips, looking genuinely confused. As much as he had his head up his ass, he should have been a brunette.

“You narcissistic asshole.” I poked him in the chest. “I let you trick me into believing I mattered to you. I was nothing but an ornament on your tree of life. Leave, Paul. I don’t want you here or in my life.”

“You don’t tell me what to do, ma cherie.” He pointed at the car. “Get in the car.”

“Fuck you, Paul. This is over.”

Paul stepped forward, and the three ladies behind me stepped up. He sized them up and thought better of continuing. His hands, originally in fists, relaxed. “I’m meeting with Judge McKinley in the morning. The divorce papers will be on whatever doorstep you decide to be behind. It won’t be mine. Don’t come back. I’ll have all your shit dropped here.” Paul returned to his car and drove away.

“Beast is going to be super pissed when he finds out that man showed up here,” Gigi said.

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