Page 5 of Crusher

“What about you, Reed? You’ve never lefthere. Did you ever want something else?” I asked him, he hadn’tsaid a word since he’d been in the room.

“No, not once. I never wanted to be anywhereelse.”

“It’s different for me,” I said, not only didI have ties to Haven, I now had ties to Black Hawk because ofSpeed.

“How so, Carly? And don’t say because womenaren’t part of the club other than club ass because all that doesis insult every old lady.” Wild Bill glared at me.

“I wasn’t going to say that. I don’t know whyI came here.” I looked down at my hands, I wasn’t going to getanswers here. Wallace was running and Clarice was dead.

“Bullshit,” Reed said and slammed his handdown on Wild Bill’s desk. I snapped my eyes at him. “Yeah, thatthere look, you had that out there,” he pointed in the direction ofthe common room, “Christ, you pulled your damn gun on Mondo, Carly.Shit, girl, growing up, you were tougher than some of theProspects. You jumped on my bike at fifteen when I told you not toand you rode that Fat Boy like you’d been on one all your life.Fuck, you and Sami left here at eighteen, lived in a strange place,you went to college and you only had each other. You never letStone’s and Clarice’s actions hold you back then, so why the fuckwould you start now? So you share blood with Speed, do you think hewon’t accept you? And don’t say you shouldn’t have come here, Havenis your damn home.” Reed glared at me and I glared back while WildBill watched us both.

“Goddamn, you two are so much alike. Thankfuck you didn’t get together.”

“Ewww,” was said simultaneously as Reed and Iturned toward Wild Bill.

“Got your attention real quick with thatshit, didn’t I?” Wild Bill chuckled then continued since drawingour attention back to him, “I know you haven’t been involved withanything that has to do with Black Hawk since you moved there. Samisaid you and Stroker’s son go head to head all the time. Your firsttime to visit her at Speed’s house was to help with the move.” WildBill cocked his brow in question.

“Sami talks too much.” I glared at Wild Bill.I wasn’t ready to deal with the Crusher issue. It was bad enough hehaunted my dreams the last six months and it didn’t help that everytime I was close to forcing him out, he would show up at the mostimpromptu times. He was strong, confident, and I was sure he wouldhave no problem going after what he wanted. None of the sons would.I put up the wall between us and so far it’s held, but what would Ido if he came at me like Speed had done with Sami. Then again, whywould he want a woman whose dad was the one to ramrod a plot totake over Haven? Crusher would be president one day, did he thinkBlack Hawk members would accept me as his old lady? And why thehell am I even thinking that shit, I didn’t want to be club ass oran old lady in any MC. If I had, I would have settled in Haven, notlike I never had interest shown in me here.

“Are you worried about Speed accepting you?Is that it? Or is it you don’t want to get to know him? You’regoing to be around him a lot if you’re going to see Sami and Ally.”I know Reed was right but I had been trying to distance myself fromMC life when in reality, to do this, I would have to give up thepeople I cared about the most. And I sure wouldn’t have come backto Haven, though here I sat.

“No, maybe.”

“What kind of damn answer is that? Family,Carly. That is what it is all about and it has nothing to do withthe blood that runs in your veins but everything to do with whoaccepts you unconditionally, no matter what. And if you think youaren’t worthy because of the shit Stone’s pulled, I should kickyour ass.” Reed stood and gathered up the dishes and placed themback on the tray. Reed was right again but no way would I admitthat to him, hell, he’d never let me live that down even if welived to be a hundred.

“Yeah, you can try. What makes you think Iwouldn’t shootyourass?” He stood, holding the tray andlooked at me. The smirk followed and then he laughed.

Wild Bill who had listened and watched theexchange stood, “Nice to know that nothing has changed between youtwo. Whoever said maturity came with age, never had to deal withyou guys. Let’s head to the house, get you settled in a room,Carly. Maybe fucked up shit that has brought you here but it stillgood to have you back even if only for a few days.”

“We’ll see if you still feel that way by thetime I get ready to leave.” We laughed and headed out the officedoor.

When we walked into the common room, a fewHaven men hanging around at the bar yelled for Wild Bill to comeover. As we neared the bar I recognized a few of the men, they’dbeen here before I left and the patches on their cuts showed that achange had occurred from my father’s betrayal. Sami and I werenever told what had gone down, only that the club was getting cleanof the infection.

“Hey, Carly, you remember Hawk, Moose, andPinch, don’t you?” Wild Bill asked.

“Sure do, Prez. And I see Haven voted in sometop quality officers.” I winked at the men when they shook theirheads and laughed.

“Damn, I’m taking this tray back to thekitchen. Shit in here is getting deep,” Reed grumbled and walkedaway.

“Fuckin’ A, Prez, I was told we had a cop inthe clubhouse and I had to see for myself because no cop is ever atthe Haven unless they’re picking up on a warrant.” Hawk was aProspect when I was ten years old, and at twelve when I firststarted to notice boys, he was the first true crush I had. Hehadn’t changed a whole lot other than the short blond hair cutclose to his scalp that showed a slight graying at his temples. NowHawk wore the patch signifying he was now Haven’s VP, making him mydad, Stone’s, replacement.

“But, man, if the cops around here lookedlike you, I wouldn’t mind getting cuffed.” Moose’s eyes traveledthe length of my body. I rolled my eyes at him, tall, dark, andhandsome as sin, and I felt not one ounce of draw to him.

“When did you get out, Moose?” I asked, he’dwent to prison before I left Haven, I’d known it had to do withsomething for club, but never knew the exact reason. Club businesswas club business.

“Only did a couple years, no biggie, anythingfor Haven.” Wild Bill patted his shoulder.

“You boys stay out of trouble. Hawk, text mewhen the men come back off the run. Taking Carly to the house toget her settled if you need me. If not, see you tomorrow.” The guysnodded, Reed walked up and we left. I mounted my bike and waitedfor them to do the same and as we pulled out of the lot, mydecision to come here felt right for the first time since I leftBlack Hawk territory. A few days at Haven getting my head togethercould be just what I needed.

ChapterThree

Crusher

The sun was cresting the top of the mountainsas I sat on the porch drinking my coffee. Sleeping through thenight was a distant luxury I hadn’t had in a while. When I’d comehome yesterday, I had showered, eaten dinner, and tried to relax bywatching some TV. Nothing worked. The only text I’d gotten was frommy dad letting me know they’d arrived home. After I laid down andclosed my eyes, a blonde kept popping into my head. Had she made itto Haven? Hell, had she even went to Haven?

At one point I’d tossed and turned so muchthat I thought about going to the garage to work on one of the bikeorders. If the garage didn’t sit behind Speed’s house I would have,but I didn’t want to disturb Sami and Ally.

My phone buzzed, pulling it out of my pocketI looked down to see private caller on the screen, it made like thetenth call in two weeks that came through like that. I clicked thetalk button to answer, “Russ” then the same as the last, nothingfollowed by the disconnect. Fucking shit was annoying, I was goingto have to have Coast see if he could trace it, if nothing else butto get whoever it was to stop fucking ringing me.

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