Page 49 of Rise In Arms

“Get. The fuck. Out of here, Honey. Don’t make me ask you again,” I growl.

She looks up at me with puppy-dog eyes, and frowns. “But…. I thought…?”

“You didn’t think, that’s the problem.” I grab Honey by her arm and pull her off the bed, forcing her body to move toward the open doorway, picking her clothes up from the floor along the way. I shove them into her arms, and she falls back against the closed bedroom door. Looking into her eyes so she doesn’t miss my meaning, I say, “Listen here, Honey. I don’t want you or your mouth on my cock again. I won’t be needing your services any longer,” I add, in case the message wasn’t clear enough, and open the door and shove her out, bare-ass naked.

She turns to face me from the hallway, and her lips start quivering just before I slam the door in her face, not wanting to give her a chance to say a word. Sighing in relief that she’s out of my sight, I take a seat on the edge of my bed and run my fingers through my hair. Pulling at it, I growl out, “Fuck!” It does nothing to take the edge off my anger and frustration at what just went down.

A knock on the door catches my attention and I look up. I’m hoping Charity has come back but doubt it at the same time.

“Who is it?”

“Me, brother,” Quill answers from the other side.

“Come in.”

The door opens, revealing Quill, and he steps into the room and shuts the door behind him. His hands move to his hips, and the look on his face is apologetic. “Shit, brother. I didn’t see that comin’,” he says, lifting a hand to rub at his jaw.

I shake my head, putting my hands into my lap. “Not your fault, Prez. But you need to know”— I look up at him—“Honey means nothing to me. I didn’t know she was in my bed, she fuckin’ came in while I was sleeping, to give me a blow job.”

Quill whistles out a breath and smirks. “That’s one hell of a way to wake up, brother.”

I laugh despite how shitty I feel. “No kidding.” Then I straighten and lose my smile when reality kicks back in. “I’ve fucked up, haven’t I?”

“Yeah, I think you have. I don’t know what I was thinkin’. She woke up this morning all happy and shit, made us all breakfast—she kept asking about you, asking what you do at the club. If you’d be here. I had to bring her to see you. You should have seen her eyes light up when I said was headed here…. I asked her if she wanted to come, and she was already grabbing her jacket by the time I finished the question.” Quill runs his hand through his hair. “So here we are… didn’t think we’d be walkin’ into that.”

I clench my hands into fists in my lap, my chest starting to ache when I remember the look on Charity’s face before she disappeared. “Yeah, fuckin’ Honey. She’d better stay away from me, don’t need her fucking up things with Charity right now.”

“You want me to kick her out?” Quill asks.

I think on his words for a moment and then look over at him. “Maybe. Just leave it a bit, though. I’ve told her I want nothin’ to do with her, maybe she’ll move on to another brother.” Quill nods, and I can’t help but ask, “Where are the girls now?”

Quill points his thumb behind him, toward the door. “Getting the official tour from Jasmine and Lu. Lu came down especially to see who your new woman is.”

“Nosy, aren’t they?”

“What can I say, they’re chicks—nothing we can do about that. Now, I needed a word with you anyway. Guns are here, Tracker called me this morning and he’s here, unloading with Bear. I want all the boys carrying, I’m not taking any risks. The women are gonna stay here.”

I raise my eyebrows at that. “Here at the club? And the kids?”

“Jasmine’s parents are gonna take them for a couple of days, just till things settle down.”

I nod. “Sounds like a good idea. Sorry, man.” I feel guilty as shit for bringing problems to the club.

“For what?” he asks, linking his thumbs in the loops of his jeans.

“Bringing shit to the club. We just got through some fucked-up shit with Santana, and now this.” I reach up and rest my hands on the back of my neck.

“Look, man, I wouldn’t expect anything else from my brothers but full support. Your sister’s in trouble? Then we gotta protect her. We’re familia, right?”

Familia, family in Spanish. I stand, the weight on my shoulders lightening a little at Quill’s words. “Yeah, we are.” I tap his shoulder with my hand.

“Good. Now let’s go see what goodies Tracker brought back for us,” Prez says as he turns to open my door.

“Yeah.” I take a deep breath and follow.

Walking out of the room, my eyes automatically search for a glimpse of Charity but I can’t see her anywhere. When we continue on to the garage, I spot her playing with Jack by the playground, which Quill and Jasmine had the club build so the ever increasing number of members’ kids would have somewhere to play when they came to visit. Jack is squealing with excitement on a swing, while Charity pushes him, and Jasmine is laughing nearby while holding Rose. My heart constricts when Charity looks up and catches me staring at her.

A throat clears beside me and Quill’s hand rests on my shoulder. “Just give her a minute to cool down, she’ll come around. You know something? She reminds me a of Jasmine a little,” he says casually.

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