“What do you mean?”
“He struck her, and she passed out. He picked her up and left. I tried Dylan. I really did. I wasn’t strong enough to stop them.”
“Fuck,” I said, soothing her. My woman was traumatized, my best friend was taken, and I just killed a man. My mind raced as to why this happened. Was it random, intentional? Of course, it was. It always was with those kinds of people. That’s why my mother insisted I leave, and when I was settled, Layla soon followed.
“Kitty, that man, he’s….”
“A Black Vulture, I know.”
“How?” I asked, confused. How in the hell did my girl know about the Black Vultures? Did she have a previous run-in with them? Had they done this to her before? Where they after her instead of Layla?
“My brother, Lucas, is a Golden Skull.”
I tensed and really looked at my girl. The one person I loved above everything. The woman carrying my child in her belly and wondered what else I didn’t know about her. She was always full of surprises, but I never expected this. Taking the bull by the horn, I asked, “What’s his road name, Kitty? The one the club calls him?”
“Savage.”
“Holy FUCK!” I shouted, getting to my feet. “He’s part of the main chapter in northern California. He’s the Sergeant at Arms for the club. Reaper is the President, isn’t he?”
“How the hell do you know about Reaper?” Kitty whispered in shock, getting to her feet. Her tears were gone now, and in their place stood confusion, speculation, and resolve. Yeah, my girl wasn’t one to stay down for long. She kicked ass and took names later. One of the reasons I loved her so much. Another reason I loved her was her ability to see through the bullshit, and there was no way in hell I was going to be able to hide my past, not now that I gave her that small nugget of information. My girl was like a fucking dog with a bone. She would chew on it until she got to the marrow. “What did you do, Dylan?”
And there it was. Her fucking internal bullshit radar pinged, and she was staring at me. Pacing, I considered my options. None of them worked, of course, so I was left with only one choice. Turning to her, I told her everything from the beginning.
I had to give it to her. She stayed quiet, listened, and thought about everything I said. She gave no hint of condemnation, regret, or fear. Instead, she yelled. “It was you! Son of a bitch, Dylan. Do you know what you started? The club has been in retaliatory mode ever since. They are still investigating the incident. Fuck! Reaper is going to freak the fuck out when he finds out.”
“We can’t tell him. Ever.”
“No shit, sherlock,” Kitty deadpanned as she too started to pace, absorbing everything I told her. My girl was cunning, devious, and downright diabolical when the mood suited her. She was intelligent, brave, and a fucking survivor. “You have no choice, Dylan. You have to join the Golden Skulls.”
“Did you not hear anything I said!”
“Yeah, I heard every fucking word dipshit, but you have no choice. We have no choice. I don’t like it either. I got away from them, and now I’m going back. You are going to need my help, and when this baby is born, I will need yours. So, this is what we’re going to do.”
Over the next hour, Kitty and I planned for every contingency. It wasn’t a pretty plan, but it worked as long as we both stuck to our stories. She would be safe and protected, and I would do the one thing I promised my mother I would never do, join a biker club.
When the body was rolled tightly in plastic, I waited until just after midnight to sneak the dead body out to my truck. Once it was secured, I ran back to the apartment to find Kitty, looking around, making sure everything was in its place. I hated this for her. She shouldn’t have to deal with my mess, yet she refused to leave my side.
“Are you sure about this?”
“Nope,” she whispered.
“You still have time to change your mind. We can still run.”
A cell phone began ringing. Kitty and I panicked as we both searched for the ringing phone when I saw her pick it up.Her face paled. “Oh fuck, it’s my brother.”
“Your choice baby. You choose.” I said, taking a good look around the apartment. This was bad, like really fucking bad. I didn’t have to wait long for her to make up her mind as she connected the call.
That was it.
The plan was in play.
It had begun.
God help us all.
“Dylan?” Kitty yawned, placing her hand on my thigh. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing baby. Just thinking about how this whole mess started.”