Jess
For as long as I could remember, my mother always told me that club business was club business. As a girl, it was my duty to stay out of the way. I did just that, until I was sixteen and walked into my mother’s bedroom to find her dead.
That was the day everything changed for me.
That was the day when my only friend told me the truth.
That was when I ran away and never looked back.
I ran so far away I didn’t even know who I was anymore.
Until they all walked into my hospital a year ago.
What no one knew was that I was the daughter of a Golden Skull Club member. My mother was labeled a club whore who married a man she didn’t love. From an early age my mother’s life was taken away from her. One good thing about my mom was that she knew the drill and she made damn sure I did too. Life wasn’t good but my mom loved me, doted on me, gave me what she could.
I wanted for nothing growing up. I had one friend who I only got to see once or twice a year, got good grades in school and even got my first kiss from a prospect one rainy afternoon. Life wasn’t bliss but what was?
Then everything went to shit.
The man my mother married Travis McNamara joined the club right after a stint in the Army. He had no family to speak of and when a buddy of his introduced him to the club life, that was it. That bastard wasn’t much to talk about. He was all about the club and everything that entailed. He fucked anything with two legs and drank heavily and when my mom told him she was pregnant with me, he married her.
I wish I could say they had a happy marriage but they didn’t.
The only thing that fucker did for me was to make damn sure his name was on my birth certificate. Oh, he showed up occasionally to a birthday party or school play but that was the extent of his parentage. He also made damn sure that my mom never forgot who she was married to. He showed her many times. She wore the bruises and blood to prove it.
She tried to divorce him twice before she got the memo and ended up in intensive care. She blamed the drink. He blamed her and I kept my mouth shut. I knew not to get in the middle of their toxic relationship. Which was fitting because that’s what the club called that bastard…Toxic.
I didn’t need to stick around to find out who killed my mother that day. I already knew. When I saw what he did to her, I called my only friend, told her what happened, then I packed a bag and left after I took care of my mother’s remains.
I never looked back.
Life on the streets wasn’t easy and there were some things I would never talk about but I survived it, even managed to get my GED before I applied to several colleges. Thanks to my grades and stellar SAT scores, I was able to get a full scholarship. When that first acceptance letter arrived, I packed up what little I had, got on a bus and made my way west where I spent the next four years studying to become a registered nurse.
I graduated with honors and when a private company offered me the option to become a traveling nurse, I jumped at the chance. For the next two years, I traveled around the United States and even to Haiti, before I decided to settle down in Louisiana. I didn’t know what it was about the state that I liked so much, but it felt like home to me. With the money I saved, I was able to find a cute apartment close to the hospital and over time, I settled down into my new life.
All was good. I had everything I wanted. I had a job I loved, I was starting to make new friends and an apartment that was all mine. Then one day as I worked a regular shift, the emergency room doors opened and in walked my worst fear.
The Golden Skulls.
Only it wasn’t the Florida Chapter. It was the main chapter from California, with the president himself, Reaper, running alongside a woman on a gurney.
It took all my courage not to run at that moment.
I wanted to.
I really did but they needed my help.
I had only heard of Reaper. He didn’t know me but I knew of him. He was hard to forget. It wasn’t everyday a young club member killed his own father and took over the largest motorcycle club on the West Coast. The man was a legend. I heard stories of him, some not good. Even though I ran away from the club, I still had my source and she kept me abreast of who was who. We didn’t communicate often. I only received a postcard once a year but it was enough to let me know to stay away.
Reaper may scare the crap out of me and I wanted nothing to do with him or his club but at that moment he was begging me for help. The woman on the gurney looked bad and before I could think I rushed towards her, shouting orders to the other nurses. Just because the Golden Skulls did nothing to help my mother, didn’t mean I would let a woman die on my watch.
I didn’t care who she belonged to or who was with her.
Over the next few days, I tended to the woman who I later learned was named Remi Anderson. The Ol’ Lady to the President of the Club. I had a job to do and though I watched my back and said only what was needed, I tried to distance myself from the club while they were in the hospital.
Tried was the operative word.
Imagine my surprise when one of the chapter members started following me around like a lost puppy. At first, I wasn’t happy about it. I knew all too well what single members of the club did, what they participated in and I wanted nothing to do with them. Yet, he was different. Unlike the hardened ruthless men I grew up around, this man was a nuisance and refused to take no for an answer. Yet somehow, unbeknownst to me, the big bastard got under my skin and before I knew it, he got me to smile.