Page 8 of Holland
“You should really think about cutting back on that cussing there though Holly, it’s very unprofessional. Aren’t they on your asses about being professional?” Matt smirked before walking back to the picnic table he was sitting on with his girl. Taking a deep breath, I focused on the task at hand and not wanting to beat Matt’s ass.
“Yeah, well I don’t have to worry about being professional anymore. But you’ll find out soon all about that, I need to talk to Pops first.” That got Matt’s attention as his eyes got as big as saucers in surprise. Everyone else at the table glanced back and forth between the two of us, trying to decipher what I’d meant. Matt knew, he’d figured it out quickly, and by the look on Jesse’s face she’d figured it out too.
“Shit man, I’m sorry. I know how much that shit meant to you.” Matt was an asshole, but he was still one of my best friends. He knew how much I’d struggled with my decision to become a cop and was there when I finally got the courage up to tell my dad.
“Yeah, well shit changes man, you know that as well as I do.” I jerked my chin to his girl sitting beside him. It wasn’t too long ago that his girl, Jesse, was struggling with some heavy shit, but he’d helped her work through her issues. Things hadn’t been easy, but then again nothing worth having was.
“Yeah man, I know shit changes.” Matt looked over at his girl like she hung the fucking moon and she looked at him like he was the center of her damn universe. This was a different Matt from a few years ago, this was a man in love, and I couldn’t be happier for him, but damn it I wanted that shit.
“Sometimes the changes make life worth living though man, just remember that.” I nodded in understanding as I made my way inside the clubhouse.
The clubhouse hadn’t changed much since I was a kid running around, fetching drinks for my dad or one of the other club members. Things back then were simpler; I was completely oblivious to all the illegal shit the club was doing. I could just enjoy the camaraderie, the sense of brotherhood that seemed to permeate the air, and it always felt like one big family. When the blinders came off about the illegal activities the club was into, I couldn’t stick around. Something inside me demanded truth, justice, and order.
There was a time I thought about joining the military, but I knew that wasn’t where I could do the most good for my community. The police force called to me, they claimed that they were a family, a brotherhood, and I thought it was the perfect solution. Turns out, I was wrong, seriously wrong.
“Well smack my ass and call me Sally, look what the cat dragged in guys.” Bart yelled from the bar, tipping his beer towards me.
“Come have a drink with me man, I haven’t seen you since we got the twins back.” It looked like Bart was well on his way to being drunk, and it was only five in the evening.
“How are they doing? Your dad doesn’t say much, but I can tell it’s been rough on him. Matt’s brothers keep trying to talk to them, but they have been holed up with your dad refusing to see them.” Bart was talking loud enough for the whole club to hear my sister's business and I didn’t like it. Haley and Harley had already been through enough without having to deal with gossip.
“They’re fine, they need time to heal.” I spoke quietly to him, hoping he’d get the point.
“You should know how that is, Bliss needed time to heal, remember.” Bart looked a little green when I mentioned Bliss. They were expecting their first baby soon, but before they got together, Bliss had been brutally raped by her ex-boyfriend. We didn’t find her in time, yet another reason I should have already left the force, because I couldn’t get the information, I needed to track him down soon enough.
“Yeah, I get it man. I need to call my girl.” I nodded as he pulled out his cell phone to call her.
“Baby, can you come pick me up?” He paused while listening to whatever Bliss said.
“Yeah, I was celebrating with the guys.” He put his hand over the receiver looking at me.
“We’re having a girl.” He smiled as he went back to talking to his girl and I walked towards Pop’s office.
Chapter Six
Bella
“I’m not leaving you!” Crimson looked close to tears.
“You can’t face them alone, I’m staying.” I loved my little sister's stubbornness, but in times like these, I hated it. I needed her to run as far and as fast as she could away from this place.
“I’m not going to face them alone; I have the club backing me.” Crimson gave me a look that said she wasn’t buying what I was selling.
“Okay I have most of the club backing. Fine they’re all throwing me to the fucking wolves happy!” You piss off the wrong guy and suddenly your entire club, that you’re president of, is tossing you out. Admittedly, the guy I pissed off was Lorenzo Bianchi, one of Chicago's notorious gangsters, but we were supposed to have each other's backs. Figures they would abandon me as soon as shit got too deep though.
You go to one nightclub, get hit on by one fine mofo, you start dancing with the fine ass man only to find out he’s Lorenzo Bianchi. Now normally I don’t mind gangsters, I love a hot bad boy, they do it for me. But Lorenzo’s outfit was linked to the sex slave trade and after what happened to Crimson there was no way I was getting involved with that shit.
Lorenzo didn’t take my rebuff very well; alright he was downright pissed. He tried to forcibly remove me from the club; I could still feel the bruises he left on my upper arm. Thankfully we were in public and we weren’t in Chicago. I fought like a wild woman scratching and kicking until the bouncers at the club stepped in. While he was distracted by the bouncers, I got the fuck out of there as quickly as possible.
I didn’t think he would find me; I didn’t think he’d be able to track me down, I was wrong. The next day not only did he find me, but he sent me a very clear message in the form of my VP Mongo’s body. They dumped him right on the front steps on the clubhouse with a note demanding I return to him. At first the club was pissed, they wanted revenge, until they found out who it was. They wanted nothing to do with Lorenzo and his gang; honestly, I couldn’t really blame them. I didn’t want anything to do with him and his gang either.
Instead of waiting for them to turn on me completely I grabbed Crimson and we hauled ass to Kentucky. My husband, Cain “Cash” Graves, the previous president of the Riddler's Ryders MC left me with lots of places we could hide. At least he was good for something, he wasn’t good for much when he was alive, but at least he’d given me a place to run to. Marrying him had to have been the biggest mistake of my life, one I never planned to repeat, ever again. He got me out of my parent’s house, which was exactly what I needed at the time.
When we met, he was the perfect bad boy I needed, willing to do whatever it took to keep me by his side, sound familiar. It wasn’t until three months into our blissful married life that the real Cain came out. The first time he hit me I was so in shock I didn’t even react at first. I kept thinking that there was no way he would ever touch me like that. He apologized of course, begged forgiveness, and said it was the stress of dealing with the club business. Stupid me, I forgave him again and again.
The day he started using club whores for his needs, I remember breathing a sigh of relief thinking that meant he wouldn’t want to touch me anymore. I was wrong, and the more I fought him, the worse it was for me. He wanted a son, a boy to carry on his name, to become his sucessor. What he didn’t know was that I was on birth control, and there was no way I was ever giving him a kid to raise. By that time, I was resigned to the fact that one day he’d kill me, and then a miracle happened.
All right so it wasn’t really a miracle, more like an act of Karma, but still it benefited me. Cain and most of the club were on a ride together, when a semi-truck plowed into the whole group. The club was left with nothing but old ladies, their kids, and a few prospects. After all the funerals, everyone started looking to me for guidance, someone to lead them, and my dumbass agreed to step in as president at least temporarily.
