Page 39 of King

Bailey narrowed her eyes. “I don’t have to explain myself to you, asshole. You don’t own me.”

“I beg to differ. I told you exactly what would happen last night, and you didn’t stop me. In fact, you were most welcoming.”

Pyro and Jess’s heads whipped back and forth as if they were at a tennis match. Ignoring them, I added, “Besides, you need to stay here. We got a lead on Czar.”

“So,” Bailey huffed, planting her little hands on her hips. “You’re the big, bad King. You take care of him. I’ve got a business to run.”

“You still have a broken hand.”

“And who’s fault is that?”

Fuck, she was in a damn mood. Would have thought that fucking nap might have made her more amiable.

Guess I was wrong.

Jess stood, smiling. “My uncle has no manners. I’m Jessica,” my niece said, extending her hand towards Bailey. My woman took the offered hand. “Bailey.”

“So how do you know King?”

“Been trying to forget him. He’s like a sore tooth. Won’t go away.”

“Jess,” I cleared my voice. “Bailey is my woman.”

“Really!” Jess grinned from ear to ear. “Does she know that? Because she looks ready to castrate you.”

“He also suffers from delusions. I think his age is showing,” Bailey smirked.

“I can take you into town. I need to check on the twins, anyway. Whenever you are ready, we can leave.”

“Jess,” I growled.

“I’m ready now,” Bailey smiled brightly.

My eyes narrowed. “You are staying here, cupcake.”

Ignoring me, Jess hooked her arm with Bailey’s as both women walked out of my office, talking as if I didn’t exist. “I parked my car out front. So tell me, how did you meet King?”

What the fuck just happened?

Chapter Thirteen

Bailey

Jessica talked my ear off all the way down the mountain. In the short twenty minutes it took to get to town, I learned Jessica was the only daughter of King’s sister, Cassandra. Kidnapped from her college dorm room, Cassandra disappeared, never to be found again. Later, King, Gunner and Pyro discovered that the Golden Skulls had taken their sister, Cassandra. The club kept Cassandra hidden and treated her horribly until one of their brothers killed her. The very club Jessica’s husband belonged to.

I didn’t claim to understand any of it. The entire story seemed outrageous. But Jessica explained that the Golden Skulls were different back in the day, more volatile and harsher. Though the club was having problems now, they were nothing like before. Still, I didn’t understand how she could love a man who belonged to the very club he associated with was the reason her mother was no longer living. That boggled my mind. If it were me, I would have walked away and never looked back.

Unlocking my shop, I walked in and asked, “I don’t get it. Why do you still associate with the Golden Skulls then? I mean, they killed your mom.”

“I know I sound crazy. Sometimes when I think about it, I think I must be nuts, but I fell in love with Lucas. When his sister died, everything changed. Kitty was my best friend growing up. We have known each other since we were kids. I always had a crush on Lucas. I thought he was the most handsome man I ever seen.”

“But King killed Lucas’s father, right?”

“Yeah. Back then, my grandfather, Steel, was the President of the Sons of Hell. He knew the Golden Skulls took my mom but couldn’t prove it. There was a lot of bad blood between the two clubs, so grandpa instituted a standing order that lasted for years. Any Golden Skull caught near the Sons of Hell territory was to be killed. No questions asked. When King killed Bear, he didn’t know that Bear was coming to tell him everything he knew about my mom.”

“Do all motorcycle clubs hate each other?”

Jess shook her head, taking a seat in one of my chairs. “No. A lot of the clubs have alliances and get along great. It’s the small few that give M.C.’s a bad name. The Golden Skulls had a shitty hand from the beginning. It took years for Max and a few others to clean it up. Though legal now, the club wasn’t always clean. I’m sure you’ve seen and heard about them in the news.”

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