Page 13 of Denial

“What are you gonna do about her hitting me, Vault?” the skank on the floor questions, pulling out the fake tears as she looks up at the President of this chapter.

“Nothin’. She told you how things work around here and you were still gonna hit her. Hope has the right to defend herself from anyone in this clubhouse. You actually mean nothin’ and you will never take my wife’s place. I love my ol’ lady and you’re nothin’ more than a skank who spreads her legs for everyone here. Hope grew up in the club and if you truly knew what was good for you, you’d leave her alone. See that man with his arms around her? That’s her dad. He's not the Enforcer of the club for no reason. He will gut you without breakin’ a sweat or thinkin’ about you ever again. That’s just what he’d do for the members of the club. You bein’ a bitch to his daughter, his baby girl, means you get no leniency from him. He’ll fuckin’ torture you for as long as possible until you’re beggin’ for death,” Vault answers her, his voice lethal and full of menace as he looks down on her.

“Vault, that’s not fair!” she screeches as Annabell enters the room.

“No, what’s not fair is the fact that Hope is about to be up all night long to do inventory for the auto store and yet she’s in here cooking dinner for everyone. I’d have been in here before now, but I have children to take care of and a house to worry about. You know, the same house that Vault sleeps in every single night and the children I created with him. Yeah, we all know about your little speech and how you think you’re gonna take my man from me. Skank, I should’ve kicked you out a while ago. Ice, you’re no longer welcome in the Phantom Bastards clubhouse. You can take your little fuckin’ sidekick with you. Killer, get Hope out of here for a while. Savannah and I will finish dinner for everyone. Hope seems to have it almost all done already,” Annabell says, Savannah following her into the kitchen with my mom trailing behind them.

“You can’t kick me out, Annabell. Everything is up for a vote and the guys won’t let you get rid of me. They love how I make them feel,” Ice states with a smirk on her face as she thinks she’s won.

“Actually she can kick your ass out. Annabell is my fuckin’ queen and rules over the Phantom girls. Whatever the fuck she says is law and if she’s sayin’ your kicked out, then get the fuck outta my clubhouse. We don’t want lazy pieces of shit here. You contribute nothin’ and have been plottin’ since you walked in the door to become an ol’ lady. We all know you want Jinx and will do anythin’ to get him. Also know you haven’t lifted a finger to do anythin’ since you got here and manipulate everyone around you. Devil!” Vault states before yelling out for the Enforcer of the club.

“What’s up, Vault?” Devil asks, stepping into the kitchen from the shadows.

“Take out the fuckin’ trash. Annabell kicked these two out. They don’t get to collect anythin’ from the rooms they’ve been in or anythin’. I want them the fuck outta here,” Vault answers him, his voice full of hate as he stares the girls down.

“You can’t do this!” Ice screeches as the second girl starts crying and acting as if her life has ended. Fucking dramatic skanks!

“I can do anythin’ I want. I’m the President of this club and Annabell is the queen of the club. Our word is law here and no one wants you here. You’re lazy pieces of shit who don’t do anythin’ around the clubhouse unless your forced. Even then, you do whatever you can to get others to do the jobs you’ve been assigned,” Vault says as Devil grabs the girls to lead them from the kitchen and then the clubhouse.

The entire time he’s leaving with them, I can hear them shrieking and causing a scene worthy of an award for the acting they’re putting forth to make it seem as if they’re the victims in this scenario.

“Let’s get outta here, Baby Girl,” my dad says, his voice laced with anger as he pulls away and looks down at me.

Nodding my head, I let my dad lead me from the kitchen without saying a word to anyone. I hurt and don’t want to be around anyone right now. My heart is breaking with the knowledge that Jinx is with Morgan and I know it won’t be long until he claims her as his ol’ lady. Once these guys realize who their woman is, they don’t waste any time. I mean, Vault and Valor did with all the shit they went through with their women, but once they’ve found their one, the guys are all in and don’t waste time or energy trying to figure shit out.

My dad leads me from the common room and out to where all the bikes are parked in a line in front of the clubhouse. I stand off to the side knowing the procedure for getting on my dad’s bike. He gets himself ready and moves his bike out of line before he’ll help me put my helmet on. Once I’m ready to go, he’ll help me on the bike and then we’ll leave. My dad has always wanted to give us his full attention when he’s getting us ready to go on a ride with him. He refuses to miss something and risk one of us getting hurt because he didn’t give us his full attention. It’s one of the many ways he takes care of us and I love him for it.

Once my dad is ready to head out, he helps me and then I climb on the bike behind him. As soon as my arms are secure around his waist, he slowly leaves the compound parking lot and heads through town. We have no destination in mind and I simply enjoy the freedom filling me. This is what I need after yesterday and then the confrontation today with Ice and her skanky sidekick. For the first time in over twenty-four hours, everything in my life is forgotten. The only thing I focus on is the wind whipping around us, my dad’s control of his massive bike, and the peace that riding fills me with.

Faith and I don’t really get a chance to ride. Most of the guys in the club believe that no one gets on their bike with them unless it’s their ol’ lady. It’s a belief their dads taught them and they don’t break that for any reason. I can only think of one time when a guy broke that rule and it’s because Slim asked Vault to take a house bunny away from Benton Falls. King doesn’t even take Zoey on his bike when they go out together. He knows they’re only friends and that she’s in love with Savage. So, the only time my sister and I ever get to ride is if our dad takes us out. He firmly believes that his seat is reserved for our mom but takes us out when we absolutely need a ride to get away from the hell we’re going through.

My dad rides around for a while until he slows down and pulls into the parking lot of a book store down the street from the clubhouse. Looking up, I can’t help but smile in response. If I have a weakness, it’s buying books. When I first started working and earning my own money, I spent an entire paycheck on books and nothing but books. When I walked in the house, my dad laughed his ass off at me and shook his head. He knows about my love of reading and wasn’t surprised.

“I know you need some new books, Baby Girl,” he says once he shuts the engine of his bike off and helps me climb down before undoing the strap of my helmet.

“I do. It’s been a long time since I read anything new. I’ve been re-reading books that I brought with me,” I tell him with a smile on my face as he starts laughing.

“And how many times have you read the books again?” he questions me, lifting his eyebrow because everyone knows when I fall in love with a story, I have no problem reading the book more than a few times.

“I refuse to answer that question, Dad,” I tell him as we walk across the parking lot and head for the book store.

As soon as we enter the store, my dad finds a comfortable place to sit. He knows I’ll be in here for as long as he allows me to wander around, grabbing any book that piques my interest. I love finding new authors and will read at least one book by them before deciding if I want to continue on with a series or whatever the author writes. My dad has just given me my dream day of wandering around a bookstore.

After leaving the store with a ton of new books to add to my collection, my dad stores them in his saddle bags before we walk over to an ice cream stand. He buys me a sundae and we sit down to enjoy our treat.

“You know Jinx isn’t with Morgan, yeah?” my dad suddenly asks me, worry filling his voice as I drop my spoon back into my sundae and push it away from me.

“It doesn’t matter if he is or isn’t, Dad. Jinx doesn’t want me and I’ve accepted that fact. It’s why I accepted going out with Becker to begin with. I need to move on with my life. No one will ever call me a homewrecker and there is definitely something going on between the two of them,” I respond to him, finding it hard to breathe with the thought of my dad bringing this up to me.

“I’m gonna tell you a secret, Baby Girl. Jinx stepped up and talked to me late this mornin’. He waited up until I left your room once you fell asleep. That man stayed awake all night long just to talk to me. I know for a fact that he’s not with Morgan and only saw her as a friend. I’m not gonna tell you everythin’ I know, but I want you to make me one promise. When Jinx comes to talk to you, give him a chance. Listen to what he has to say and don’t let what you believe to be the truth cloud your judgment,” my dad says, a smile on his face as he looks at me from across the table.

My heart is racing with the thought of Jinx talking to me about anything. I absentmindedly pick up my spoon and start to eat my sundae once again. It’s so good and I haven’t had one in a long time. Honestly, I believe the last time I had a sundae was with my dad when he knew I needed to get away for a while. He always seems to know exactly what I need and that most everything that hurts me can be cured with an ice cream sundae. If he can’t take me to get one, he’ll buy whatever he needs to make one and we’ll have them at home.

“I promise, Dad. I’m not sure what’s going on, but if he wants to have a talk, I’ll listen to him. I always have,” I tell my dad as he smiles at me like I’m missing what he’s trying to actually tell me.

When we’re done with our ice cream, my dad takes me back to the clubhouse so I can get ready to head to Phantom Auto. I need to get this inventory taken care of so the store can open tomorrow. My dad offers to go with me, but I refuse. He can hang out at the clubhouse with my uncle Fox and the rest of the guys. My aunt Kim didn’t make the trip this time like we thought she would. I guess she’s not feeling the best and didn’t want to slow Fox down in getting here. Plus, she’s got a doctor’s appointment coming up that she can’t miss. I love her and hope she’s okay.

After changing into my most comfortable clothing, I head out of my room and make sure to lock the door behind me. Entering the common room, I find my parents sitting at a table with King, Jinx, and Devil. They all stop talking when I get up to them and tell my parents that I’ll see them when I get back. Jinx asks me if I want him to go with me, but I tell him no. I have a plan in place and if I need any help, Raptor has volunteered to come over and help me. Jinx’ face falls as he remains in his chair and I leave. I don’t have time to worry about what’s going on with him as my dad’s words from earlier come back to remind me that something has changed with Jinx. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I make my way to Phantom Auto where I get to work on inventory with music as my only company.

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