Page 7 of Striker

Chapter 6

Striker

Iwas so angry I couldn’teven think straight. Some asshole had put his hands on my beautiful Little Lark. I was going to kill him when I found him. He didn’t deserve her, didn’t even deserve to look at her for fucks sake! I kicked my motorcycle into sixth gear as I tore down the highway. I could see Goose and Maverick coming up behind me on their motorcycles. They were just as mad as I was and were itching to find the asshole. Lilah had lied to them about what happened with her ex. She knew we would protect her, but still chose to try and handle things on her own. Lilah had always been a little spitfire and tried to keep up with us when we were all little. As much as I admired her determination, I was still upset that she tried to handle this on her own. This wasn’t something little to sweep under the rug. Somebody had hurt her and they needed to be punished for it.

We pulled up to the clubhouse and the Prospects opened the gates for us. Parking my motorcycle right up front, I stormed inside. “Yo! Church in half an hour.” Everybody was already inside and I couldn’t give a fuck if they weren’t. Word would spread among everybody and they would all be there; my brothers didn’t mess around.

I made my way up the stairs to my office before one of the club girls stopped me. “Hey, baby. You look so upset. Why don’t you let me take care of you, big daddy?” Tammy rubbed herself up against me, running her long, red fingernails down my chest.

“Get the fuck off of me. I got shit to do.”

She pouted her big red lips at me and tugged her skimpy tank top down, letting her nipples free, “Awe come on, Striker, let me blow you while you work. I know you love it. Just give me five minutes, big boy.” Her hand started to roam toward my pants zipper. I grabbed her wrist and slammed her against the wall.

“I. Said. No. You better remember your place, Tammy. Club slut is all that you’ll ever be. Don’t talk back to me or any other brothers with a patch. Now get the fuck out of my face before I throw you out on your ass.” She ripped her hand from me and stormed off, probably looking for attention from somebody else.

I opened the door to my office and slammed down in my chair. I needed to find out who this Danny was and where he lived. The club was going to pay him a visit and remind him to stay away from my Little Lark. Not wanting to just sit around, I grabbed my gavel and headed down to church.

Everybody was already in their seats when I came in. I took my spot at the head of the table and banged the gavel. “Alright, boys. It’s been pretty peaceful and I know you all are itching for a fight.” Everybody started to cheer and I almost lost my cool, but took a deep breath, reminding myself that they had no clue what was going on with my Little Lark. “Alright alright, listen up! Goose and Maverick’s baby sis has some fucking piece of shit ex bothering her. Put his hands on her and stalked her when she lived in the city. Now he’s calling her and I have a feeling he’s just getting ramped up for something big. Fuckers like him don’t know when to stop.” I turned to Moose, one of the biggest guys in our club, “You’re good with all that computer shit. find out who he is, where he works, his family, his car, when he fucking shits and sleeps. I want to know everything on this shitbag.”

Moose just nodded his head and opened up his laptop. “On it, Pres.” He bent down and started typing aggressively, trying to find anything he could.

I turned to Goose and Maverick, “Find out more from your sister. She won’t fucking talk to me so you boys will have to do some digging on her end.” They both nodded, fire in their eyes.

“Wait a minute, Pres...” I turned to see who was questioning me. My road captain, Hawk, was fidgeting in his seat uncomfortably. He stood and grabbed the table. “Is her name Lilah? Lilah Crawford...?”

I stood and stared right at him, my hands shaking as I gripped the table, “Yeah, that’s her fucking name. Get to the point brother.”

He took a deep breath, “Look, I didn’t grow up here, so I don’t know everybody and thier fucking mother. Anyways, Lilah’s ex, Danny, is a fucking detective; like a big time detective, but was dirty. There was a news story on a crooked detective in the city and I remember seeing that people couldn’t believe it because his girlfriend was an angel. Mentioned she worked at the hospital and that everybody loved her. Guess she started a ton of programs and really did some good for that place. Anyways, some nurses had commented about her coming in to work with bruises, but she didn’t say anything. People knew he was bad news. Ties to the mob and shit.”

Goose stood up, tipping his chair over in the process, “Fucking bruises?! She didn’t fucking tell us about any of this! I’m going to kill that motherfucker. NOBODY touches my baby sister!”

Maverick put his hand on his brother’s shoulder to calm him down; he was always the more level-headed one. “I fucking know, brother. We’ll get this asshole. I promise.”

Moose looked up from his laptop with a shit eating grin on his face, “Looks like Pres has some more reasons to get his guy huh? Little miss Lilah and him were quite an item back in the day!” He was laughing as he turned the laptop around. There on the screen was a picture of me and Lilah before I became president of the Devil’s Highwaymen. We were at the county fair, my arm was around her. She was wearing a little white sundress, her hair in curls down her back. I was in my leather club vest and jeans. Heaven and Hell. Under the picture was the quote, “When opposites attract: Will Miss Lilah Crawford soon be Mrs Levi Walker?” It was from the town’s damn gossip rag. “Looks like Striker still has some feelings for that little angel.”

Everybody started to laugh as I reached across the table and slammed the laptop shut. “That’s none of your fucking business. It’s the past and that’s where it stays. Church is fucking over.” I slammed the gavel on the big oak table. Everybody was staring at me instead of leaving. “What do you want to know? Fuck!”

Moose grabbed his laptop and looked at me. “We want to know what’s going on, Striker. Are you doing this to help Goose and Maverick out? Or are you doing this in hopes Lilah takes you back? Maybe just to get in her pants again? If this guy is part of the mob, then shit can go downhill fast. Either way, just let us know what’s going on so we can decide if we need to take a vote on it.”

I slammed my fist down on the table and everybody jumped. “We fucking dated. Shit happened, we broke up. End of story. We all can guess why she’s home. Lilah didn’t come to the club asking for help; in fact she hates the club. So no, I’m not looking to get in her pants. I’m staying away from her since I have plenty of options right here. That’s all you need to know. No need for a vote. Now get the fuck out of here!” Everybody stood and made their way out of the room. I turned and saw that Goose and Maverick were still in their seats, staring at me with a cold look in their eyes as they waited for the rest of the club to leave.

“You gotta talk to her, brother.” Goose reached out and put his hand on my arm. I could see the concern in his eyes.

Maverick stood up and pointed in my direction.“Yeah, brother, clear the air. Lilah is home for good. Can’t have that shitty past messing things up around here. She’s our baby sister and will always come first. Lilah isn’t going back to the city anytime soon. We really don’t want to have to pick between you two again.”

Goose got up and started to pace in front of the door. “She needs you now more than ever. You gotta protect her. If we lose Lilah, I don’t think Mama could handle it. Hell I know there’s no way I could handle it.”

Maverick headed toward the door, then turned to me. “Don’t hurt her, Striker. Lilah can’t get hurt again. She’s already been through enough and doesn’t need you playing with her emotions.”

I ran my hand down my face and grumbled, “I know brothers. I fucking know. I promise I’ll make things right with her. We can be friends again. I’m not gonna hurt her.”

Maverick was out the door already when Goose looked my way. “You better fucking not. Because you already broke her heart once. I won’t let it happen again. Brother or not, my baby sister comes first.” His green eyes had that same angry look as his sister.

“I know, Sawyer. I’m not going down that road again. Friends and that’s it. I promise.” I said to Goose as he walked out the door.

I sat down in my chair and let my head rest on the table. The mob and the motorcycle club were enemies, yet here I was driving us right into the middle of them with a dirty fucking cop. I was doing this all for Lilah, who hated my guts and wanted no part of me or the club. She was my one weakness; the only person who could bring me to my knees. I knew I needed to keep my distance, but how was I going to do that when I wanted Lilah in the worst way? I scrubbed my hands over my face as I tried to come up with a plan. There was no way Lilah would willingly talk to me. Our talk the other night went horribly and that’s certainly not how I planned our reunion to go. “Fuck!” I screamed and banged my fists on the table. This was going to be harder than I expected.

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