Chapter Seventeen: The Aftermath
Numbers
Hurt like hell. The first woman I was willing to get serious with in a while and I put it on the line with her. Took all the right steps. Got to know her and look where it got me. Smack bang into a world of hurt and betrayal. A place I never thought I would be. The first person I wanted to unleash the information to was Smoke.
I called him as soon as Mia left out. “Smoke. I have to talk to you. Can I come over?” I asked with a sense of urgency in my voice. My whole body felt tense and wired with withheld anger, and I needed someone to speak to about it.
“Sure, Naomi is here. Are you cool with that or you wanna go out and talk?” He must have sensed it was a serious issue.
“No, she can be there too. Maybe I should let her know what’s going on as well.”
“Sounds full-on. Do we need hard liquor for this or are we good? You’re scaring me, man.”
“Smoke, nothing scares you. Come on. But I will ask you if you got any whiskey?” I wanted to get a little loose because I didn’t like being wound up so tight. Not my typical attitude, but Mia had screwed up hard and my head was spinning around in orbit. All I could see was red when she spoke. I wasn’t prepared to listen to a word that came out of her pretty little mouth. Should have known that Snake and Doc would send a woman in. That trick seemed to be a Devil Riders’ favorite. If I was a man who played an eye for an eye, I would’ve sent a woman Snake’s way. He might be married, but he always liked to have a side dish with his main meal.
I remembered when he was two-timing with two girlfriends at once. His wife was none the wiser, but she never hung around the club much anyway. It was almost as if she lived in the dark about Snake, or he kept her there. This was about the same time that the prostitution ring was in full swing. I shuddered to think back over those days. We weren’t involved with illegal activities anymore. We were changing and evolving into a different club or trying to. The transition wasn’t proving to be easy.
“Yup, I got that good ‘ole Southern whiskey,” Smoke stated over the cell. “It’s close enough to lunchtime. I might even be able to persuade Naomi to whip us up some steaks. Sounds about right?”
“I want to get twisted right now, so for me, it sounds fine.”
“Come on, man. It can’t be that bad. Let’s talk it out. Come on over.”
“Okay, see you in a little bit.” I showered, brushed my teeth, splashed on some cologne and slicked my hair back before I went over to Smoke’s.
The door was already open and I walked right in.
“Hey. Whoa. You look like absolute shit. This has to be a woman issue,” he said, taking one look at my sullen face.
Naomi was seated on the couch facing towards the TV. It looked like she was watching a movie. “Hey, Numbers, you all right?” she called out.
I felt slightly uncomfortable that Naomi was there, but this was their house together, and they were like family to me, so I let it go of the embarrassment. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
She leapt up and turned around to look at me. “Oh, shit. What happened? You look pissed!”
I ran a hand through my hair in frustration as I glanced at Naomi.
“Cough it up, man. Tell us what’s going on,” Smoke urged.
I exhaled a huge sigh of defeat. “Mia,” I said. Saying her name was like wildfire on my lips. “I’m going to need that drink now, I think,” I told Smoke.
“Coming right up, but let it loose now and tell us,” Smoke coaxed.
“Alright, it’s going to blow your mind because it blew mine,” I warned him.
He frowned. “I’m prepared for my mind to be blown, go ahead with it.”
“Mia is working for the Devil Riders. I saw a text message she received from Doc. The VP.” I saw the crestfallen look on both their faces as I delivered the shocking news to them.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” Naomi countered as her mouth dropped open wide.
“No, Naomi, I’m not,” I confirmed with conviction.
Smoke moved over to the liquor cabinet and grabbed his bottle of top-shelf whiskey. “Damn, we are going to need a drink for this one after all. Are you sure? How do you know she wasn’t working on our behalf? Sometimes, things aren’t what they appear to be,” Smoke reasoned as he pulled out two short glasses, setting them down on the kitchen counter.
His disbelief over the situation was forcing me to think a different way, and I wasn’t prepared to. I knew what I saw on her phone. I leaned against the counter, more confused than ever. “When I asked Mia about it, she didn’t deny it. She said she was sorry and that she had no choice,” I relayed. “She could have told me if she was in trouble. She is working with him, that’s for sure. What’s even worse is that if Doc had anything to do with that overdose thing, she might have known. I can’t trust her. The whole thing is screwy.”
Naomi was tapping on her teeth. “This just doesn’t sound like her. I swear she is a stand-up woman. She never betrayed us when we were at the club, and she could have. I don’t know, Numbers… I know you’re heated right now because you like her, but you should talk to her some more about it,” Naomi said carefully as she gauged my reaction.