Page 16 of Striker

Chapter 12

Striker

As we pulled up tothe clubhouse gates, Lilah was still holding on to me like there was no tomorrow. Two Prospects opened the gates and I glided my Harley to my spot in the front. I turned the motorcycle off and hopped off, turning to Lilah. I gently took her helmet off and grabbed her hand, guiding her to the door. We made our way into the clubhouse and placed our helmets on the rack inside. The place was quiet, no rowdy parties or normal chaos. The girls were nowhere to be seen and my brothers were silently sipping their drinks. The Devil’s Highwaymen MC Clubhouse was somber tonight and for good reason. There was a dark cloud hanging over one of our own, my Little Lark. Not only was she my Old Lady, but she was Maverick and Gooses’s baby sister, and half of the guys grew up with her. Lilah was an angel and everybody who came in contact with her, fell in love. How somebody could hurt a woman like her was beyond me.

“Alright, babe, we’ve got church, but I’ll be up soon. Your Mama should be upstairs in my apartment so you won’t be alone. Billy! Take Lilah upstairs, then head to church.” Billy came running over, eager to gain my approval so he could be patched over soon. I also knew that he had quite the crush on Lilah, which made my caveman side come alive. I knew he would never cross that line and that my Little Lark only had eyes for me, but that primal feeling still roared inside of me. That feeling won the battle inside me and I grabbed Lilah and pulled her toward me, ready to show the world just who she belonged to.

Leaning her up against the bar, I gently took her head in my hands and planted my mouth on hers. Biting her lower lip, I slipped my tongue passed her lips, intertwining our tongues together. Lilah moaned as she arched against me and wrapped her arms around my neck, her fingers threaded through my hair. I pulled back before I let myself get carried away. I wanted to bend her over the bar and take her right there in front of everybody, but I wouldn’t want anybody to see Lilah like that. Those little moans were for my ears only and I didn’t want anybody else to see this side of my Little Lark. Lilah looked up at me, her cheeks slowly turning red. I knew she was a little embarrassed, but I could tell how turned on she was.

I bent down and kissed her forehead and gently pushed her toward Billy, patting her ass. “I’ll be up in a little bit, baby girl. I’ll make this night better, I promise.” Lilah blew me a kiss and turned to head toward the door with Billy close behind her. I turned to the rest of my brothers, “Alright, boys, let’s head to church. We have some shit to handle.”

Goose looked at me and burst out with laughter. “Dude. I know I said I’m okay with you bein’ with my baby sister, but damn. I don’t want to watch you guys dry humping on the goddamn bar.” Everybody let out a good chuckle.

Moose stood and patted me on the back, “Lay off, Goose. Pres needs a good lay and I’m definitely up for watching. Your baby sister is a hot little thing.”

I pushed Moose out of my way and headed toward church. “Brother, I’ll let that one slide because it’s funny watching Goose get all worked up, but don’t talk about my Old Lady like that again in front of me. Now let’s go. Church.”

I opened the doors and made my way to my seat at the head of the large, wooden table. Our insignia was carved in the middle; a skull with wings on the side, mouth wide open with two wrenches crossed inside it, motorcycle handlebars protruded from the top of the skull. On top of that, our name, Devil’s Highwaymen MC, was burnt into the table. My Great, Great GrandPop made this table by hand from trees on our ranch. He had founded this club when he came back from the war as a way to still feel part of something. It grew from just a social club to a way of life. The club had saved this town and so many people in it. The Devil’s Highwaymen ran in my blood and I never planned on leaving. This was where I belonged. I rubbed my hand along the table, thinking about the club’s history. Looking up, I saw that my brothers were slowly coming into the room.

Everybody was finally seated as I banged my gavel on the table. “Alright, boys. Let's make this quick. We’re all tired and want to be done with today. Maverick, do you have the note?” My Vice President nodded his head yes and handed it over to me. “Lilah’s Pops truck was vandalized at the Medical Center today. All the windows smashed.” I lifted the note up in the air, my voice full of anger. “And this note was left on the driver's seat, a knife stabbed through to hold it in place.” Everybody started mumbling amongst themselves. “I know, brothers. I know. This is serious. Between the tracker and this, her ex is some serious danger. We gotta step up and find this fucker.”

Maverick cleared his throat and stood. “This fucker. This goddamn piece of shit is after my baby sister. Billy had to bring my Mama to the clubhouse to keep her safe. This is my goddamn family!”

I put my hand on Maverick’s shoulder, “We know, brother. It will be taken care of, I promise.” Maverick sat down and I opened the note. Clearing my throat, I started to read it outloud. “Lilah, you need to come home. It’s not safe here. That man you are involved with is bad news. Let me show you. Pick up my calls, goddamn it. If you don’t come back to me, I will have to make things quite difficult for you. I love you. Please come home.”

Goose punched the table and yelled, “What the fuck! I swear to God when I find this guy, he’s dead. Fucking dead for putting his sick hands on my baby sister.”

Maverick had a stone-cold look on his face as he placed his hand on his brother’s arm. “We’ll kill him together, brother. Make sure he never hurts Lilah or any other girl again.”

Every other brother was silent, brooding looks on their faces. We all knew this was serious and had the potential to go badly. Looking out at my brothers, I pointed to each one, “So keep an eye out. Stay out of trouble. Don’t go anywhere alone. Keep an eye on your shit. We’ll get this fucker, boys.” I banged the gavel and got up from my chair. “Alright, get some rest and we’ll make more plans tomorrow.” I headed out the door to the side of the clubhouse. I climbed the metal stairs to my door, exhausted, but excited. My heart started to beat faster, I was excited to get inside my apartment. I felt like I was sixteen again and asking Lilah to go on a date with me. I finally felt happy to come home because I knew my sweet Little Lark was waiting for me inside.

I opened the door, walked in toward my kitchen and smiled at the sight before me. My sweet Little Lark was still in her scrubs, dancing around my kitchen to some old school hip-hop. Her Mama was on one of the bar stools laughing at Lilah’s over-the-top dance moves. Her sweet little voice was singing all the words while she swayed her hips and waved her arms in the air. I leaned up against a support beam, just watching the beautiful sight in my kitchen. Even after everything that happened tonight, Lilah still had a smile on her face that was so infectious. I was a lucky man to have her and I knew I couldn’t lose her. I slowly started to walk my way toward the kitchen. Her Mama saw me and I placed my finger over my mouth and winked. Mama Crawford laughed and winked back at me. Lilah was so wrapped up in her dancing she didn’t even notice me come up behind her.

She swayed her hips, singing the words to Salt-N-Pepa’s ‘Push it’. Lilah doubled over in laughter as her Mama had tears in her eyes from laughing so hard. I let out a low whistle and clapped.

“Damn, baby girl! Who knew you were such a performer? Saves lives during the day and rocks the kitchen stage at night.”

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