Page 5 of Catch a King (Five Kings 1)

Millie

Marina helps me with my luggage and shows me to a room that could sure use Bonnie’s talents. The brass bed that is set against the wall looks a little too small and I’m not sure if the sheets are even clean. There’s a single cupboard in the corner and a chest of drawers that doesn’t match. The blind at the window looks yellow and torn and the light fitting hangs down almost at the end of its life.

There’s a bathroom through another door with a small shower that could use a good scrub and a sink with a toilet, so at least I have my privacy, although I’m not intending on spending long in this room because it’s depressing to the extreme.

Marina looks around and sighs heavily. “Sorry, this is the best on offer. The guys don’t believe in spending on material things, and most of this stuff was brought in from the trash.”

“Excuse me?”

I feel quite faint as she shrugs. “Stuff left on the sidewalk, abandoned and brought here to live again. If I were you and thinking on staying, I’d put my first pay check to good use and head to the local furniture store. You could use some new bedding and I hope you brought your own towels because I’m not sure the rags in there qualify.”

“Is this normal, does everyone live like this?”

“Pretty much.” She shakes her head and says with a little disgust. “That’s one of the things I chewed Axel’s ear about. Made him redecorate our rooms before I’d move in. Got me a painter and decorator on the sly and when he returned from riding, presented him with a pink palace.”

She laughs fit to burst and I can’t help joining her. “He must have hated that.”

“He sure did. I will never forget the look on his face when he came into the room, but you know, that look changed in a second when he saw me standing there dressed in matching pink underwear with the fishnets. I wrapped a pink ribbon around me a with a bow and he was so keen to unwrap his treat, he never mentioned the room again. So, as a result, no one’s allowed inside except us because if word got out, his rep would be smashed to oblivion.”

“You mean the guys don’t know?”

“Of course they do, I told every last one of them, but Axel don’t know that. He continues to be the badass president who sleeps in Disneyland.”

She laughs again and I can’t help but join her. The image of the ferocious president sleeping in pink satin sheets with white furniture and pink furry rugs, is in direct contrast to the image he likes to portray. That makes me go from liking Marina to adoring her and gives me hope that there is light in this world of darkness after all.

“Well, I’m not waiting for my first pay check, I’m starting as I mean to go on.”

“Which is?” She looks interested and I grin. “I’ve got a credit card and I’m not afraid to use it. I’m ordering my own stuff along with the contents of a cleaning store. First thing tomorrow, I’m going to transform his room into a hospitable one.”

“Good for you, honey, I’ll help you if you like.”

“Thanks, I’d like that.”

Sighing, Marina looks around and shivers. “Come on, I’ll show you the bar. They should have settled down by now and I don’t know about you, but I could sure use a drink right now.”

We leave the hovel behind and head back the way we came in and I feel the nerves fluttering around inside as I prepare to face the rest of them and if they are anything like the Channing brothers, then God have mercy on my soul.

* * *

I’m usedto bars in an MC club. Hell, I’ve run one for the past two years, but where the Reapers bar is well ordered and runs like the military, this one is a free for all. The stench of sex and whiskey hits me as soon as I step inside the door and the moans and grunts of men banging their victims against the wall, on the couches, or on the floor, make me feel as if I’ve fallen into a drunken orgy. I’m no prude, far from it but this, well it sickens me.

Marina just steps over bodies and around them as she pulls me toward a small bar set up in the corner of the room and says to a guy helping himself to a beer, “Get your ass out of there, Gibbs, we have a new bartender, so scoot.”

The man that leers at me makes me feel dirty as his eyes slide the length of my body and he drawls, “Fresh meat, I claim her first.”

Luckily, Marina shakes her head and frowns, “Remember, Gibbs, this is Axel’s friend, he told you no touching allowed.”

“Fuck, this is her?”

Marina nods and he groans. “Axel’s a fucking sadist. Why’d he bring honey like that into a hive, the man has no soul?”

Marina laughs as he hauls his ass out from behind the bar and she whispers, “They’ll try anything but remind them who you are and it will act like the best defense. They may pretend to be hard-assed bikers, but they’re scared shitless of Axel and won’t touch in case he hands them their dick on a plate.”

“Thanks, I’ll bear that in mind.”

As I look around, I see the bedroom isn’t the only area in need of a shine because this place is filthy. There are spills from months back, attracting more on top, and the glasses appear rinsed but not clean. The optics have obviously never been cleaned, and the stench is almost unbearable. Watching one of the bikers grab a woman nearby and sit her on the bar makes my blood boil even further as he pushes up her skirt, showing she’s naked underneath. Then he proceeds to go down on her in full view of everyone in the bar, and I can only imagine what germs they are spreading as it smears on the not so shiny surface. I think I have a headache coming on as Marina yells, “Fuck off the bar. I’ve told you before, Hendrix, take your fun to the bedroom.”

He says nothing and just drags the woman off the bar and pushes her against the wall instead, and Marina sighs. “I’m sorry, Millie, you can see why the last girl left. This place is an std that will affect us all. Maybe we should clean this up a little, as well as your room.”

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