“That was amazing.”
“Truly heavenly,” Big Al teased.
I moved to glower at him. Instead, I stared dumbstruck at the look of sheer emotion on Big Al’s beautiful face as he gazed at me.
“I love you,” I blurted and blushed.
“Know ya do, baby, love you just as much,” Big Al said and jostled me into his arms. He squeezed me tightly, dropping a kiss on my head before letting me go. Big Al climbed out of bed, strode to the bathroom, and returned with a washcloth. Gently, he cleaned between my legs before throwing it on the floor. As he climbed in next to me, I snuggled against him and grinned when I felt his cock poke my thigh. I was in for a hell of a sexy honeymoon!
Four weeks later.
Big Al
“You slit Dodge’s throat over that girl and then claimed her as a wife?” Zeus demanded, surprisingly sober for once. Big Al leaned back in his chair, arms behind his head.
“Yup. Tati is over eighteen and therefore legal,” Big Al replied. Looks were exchanged around the room.
“So you’re telling me you married a bitch that you slit a brother’s throat over?” Zeus asked, and Big Al knew where he was heading. Big Al rose to his feet and drew up his height before placing his palms on the table.
“I slashed Dodge’s throat because that cunt didn’t care how old the girls he raped were. Shut it!” Big Al snarled, pointing at Beaker, who’d stood up. “Sit the fuck down, Beaker, because you do not want to cross me.” Big Al stared at Beaker until he sat.
“Now, as I was saying. Dodge had his throat slit because he was raping any female he could, no matter their age. You know it, I know it. And Hellfire charter says we put rapists and kiddie fuckers down. Tati was innocent and said no, as was her legal right. Dodge was a shit stain on humanity. So don’t pretend to sit there all up in arms because Dodge was a good guy who paid the wrong price. Dodge was a dumb, ignorant, crude animal and needed putting down. I put him down. Tati is legal, and my wife. I hadn’t touched her, and if you want, I’ll show you the bedsheet where Tati bled her virginity on our honeymoon.
“But nobody here calls me a kiddie fucker, because that will be to the death, and I will fuckin’ win. And should I fail, I have brothers who’ll stand for me. As Tati wears my cut, my ring, Tati is off-limits. Any man who touches Tati will meet the grim reaper. Ain’t messing about; tired of this bullshit. Tati remained innocent until we wed, and I can prove it. So stop messing about and acting as if you fuckin’ care what happened to Dodge. Because we all know you’re using Dodge as an excuse to get to me. You can’t. Not until I break the charter,” Big Al snapped.
“Stay out of our business, and we’ll stay out of yours,” Chance added, rising to his feet.
“What’s that meant to mean?” Zeus demanded.
“Exactly what I said. Because you don’t want us looking at some of your brothers who may have appetites like Dodge, and should we find proof, there’s a six-foot hole waiting,” Sunny warned.
“Bring it, brother,” Zeus sneered, and Sunny nodded. He lifted his arm and shot Brady and Greaser straight through the head. Gasps abounded around the table as both sides drew weapons.
“Got pictures of those two raping a thirteen-year-old girl. Now they’re worm food. Clean your little gang up, Zeus, before we put a lot more in the ground,” Sunny warned.
Big Al hid the grin at the shocked look on Zeus’s face. They thought they were big and bad, but they didn’t know how to handle Hellfire. And now they were going to learn exactly who the real Hellfire was.
Chapter Five.
October 2004.
Tati.
“Honey, come on, we’re waiting to ride,” Big Al called, and I rolled my eyes as I stamped on my boots. Big Al and the brothers had been so stressed lately that I’d rung them all and told them we were going on a ride. Downstairs was Chance, Bear, Shee, Celt, Tiny, Chatter and Rooster. Hellfire now had new members that Chance, Sunny, Bear and Big Al had recruited in the last few years. Diesel, Pyro, Levi and Shotgun were all outside. I could hear their bikes idling. Sunny had just arrived with Animal, but Whiskey, Saint and Chaser had begged off. Fair enough.
“Coming!” I shouted as Shee yelled up the stairs. Good lord, anyone would think they’d never ridden before. We’d agreed to ride to Magic’s bar, have a few beers, and then go to Chaser’s for a cookout. His old lady was already shopping for all of us with Whiskey’s girl. I stomped down the steps to cheers from the guys before flipping them the finger and climbing on the back of Big Al’s bike. I perched there primly and lifted an eyebrow as I waited for them to mount.
“Don’t say a word, woman.” Chance chuckled as he swung his leg over his motorbike.
“Not me who’s not on the motorcycle,” I retorted, and Chance grinned.
Chance pulled out in front, Sunny and Big Al behind him, and everybody else fell into their positions. Despite Zeus still firmly entrenched on Hellfire land, Chance had set everyone into their roles a few months ago. I knew what that meant. War was coming. Hellfire was finally ready to make a move.
While they did not wear the patches, Sunny was Chance’s VP, Bear an enforcer, and Diesel was a sergeant at arms. My husband remained Chaplin and Rooster was Hellfire’s secretary, and Tiny and Banshee were enforcers alongside Bear. Hellfire had clean money and legal businesses, and they were ready to claim what was theirs. The clubhouse, the land, the companies, their heritage and their patch. Zeus wouldn’t know what hit him.
We rode to Magic’s bar, feeling the freedom in the wind as it swept through our hair and blew our worries away. Today there was the Harley’s, the road and us. That’s what mattered. Not Zeus’s bullshit, not the crap surrounding Hellfire, nothing else but those three things. Magic greeted Big Al and Chance like long-lost brothers, which was amusing considering they’d seen each other a couple of days ago. We spent a few hours at the bar before Chance called time to head out to Chaser’s home.
As we pulled up outside, we spotted the front door was open. Nobody seemed bothered, and they climbed off their bikes unhurriedly. Chaser lived in a craftsman’s house at the end of a dirt road, and it was beautifully well kept. The boys were shoving one another and teasing as I walked in and noticed something strange. There was an odd stillness to the air and a coppery smell.